The Windsor Town Council will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday evening about embattled Mayor Domonic Foppoli.
Six women have now come forward with allegations that Foppoli sexually assaulted or raped them. The stories appear to show a pattern where Foppoli would meet a woman at a party, isolate her and then take advantage of their inebriated state. Many of the women say Foppoli’s strong ties to the community made it difficult for them to speak up.
Since the allegations came to light last week, Foppoli has been ousted from the Golden Gate Bridge District Board and fired from his position at his family’s winery Christopher Creek.
He is also facing growing calls to resign as mayor and the council is expected to take up a recommendation demanding his resignation.
Foppoli has vehemently denied the charges and levied an accusation of his own against Lemus, saying that he was forced into a sexual situation at a government conference.
The Windsor City Attorney has deemed there are no conflict of interest issues between Foppoli and Lemus as council members, and Foppoli is expected to attend the meeting tonight.
Much remains up in the air ahead of the meeting, even for the council members themselves.
“If we all show up and the mayor shows up, the mayor will start the meeting and preside over the meeting,” said Councilmember Deb Fudge. “And we can’t stop him from doing that, legally.”
Fudge says there are limits to what the council can do.
“I wish that we had more power as a council but laws were set up for a reason in terms of how government runs, and we have to comply with them.”
Fudge says she considered having the council force a recall, but that is not allowed under city law. She is also considering issuing a censure against the mayor, but is not clear what sort of penalty that would carry.
If two members end up leaving the meeting before a vote, the council can no longer take any official action.
But Fudge says she is committed to carrying out the meeting and will shift to a community meeting if needed, so that all public comment can be heard.
“I’m trying to prepare myself mentally today to be able to go with the flow and be there for the community with whatever happens, and just keep our meeting open and sit there as long as I need to.”
The meeting is expected to run late into the night.
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