Morgan Hill releases investigation dismissing allegations that mayor pushed councilmember

After two investigations into whether Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner pushed and berated Councilmember Yvonne Mart nez Beltr n at a February meeting a description made community this week rebuts those charges finding insufficient evidence to aid Mart nez Beltr n s declares While the two often vote together on the regular business of the city Turner and Mart nez Beltr n have a history of residents sometimes heated disagreements during city council meetings especially on politically salient issues ranging from a tax deal for a luxury hotel remote access to meetings and a peace resolution for the Israel-Hamas War Numerous of these came to a head when the two faced off in a mayoral race last November which saw both exchange barbs publicly over their experience and accomplishments before Turner returned to the mayor s seat with a -point lead In February one of these disagreements led to the exchange that resulted in the probe Before a special meeting to set priorities for the new council on February Mart nez Beltr n solicited Turner to include an item on the agenda seeking a resolution stating that the City Council would protect the rights of residents regardless of immigration status Turner however directed Mart nez Beltr n to use the council s usual process which takes several weeks At the meeting Mart nez Beltr n argued that given the political setting the issue was too urgent to wait leading to discussion riddled with cross-talk between Turner and Mart nez Beltr n Martinez Beltr n s request to vote for a special meeting on the issue ultimately was denied and the mayor subsequently called for a break According to the charges against the mayor included in the overview Mart nez Beltr n disclosed that during the break Turner yelled and pointed at her notified her to get in line and pushed her She brought her complaints to the Morgan Hill Police Department and to the city which set off an examination by the third party Kramer Workplace Investigations The assessment included conversations with all councilmembers City Manager Christina Turner and City Attorney Donald Larkin who both description to the mayor and City Council Available video of the occurrence shows Mart nez Beltr n in red approaching Turner in grey who appears to touch her forearm Turner is then seen engaging in a discussion offscreen presumably with Mart nez Beltr n where he is seen nodding then briefly extending his right arm as he turns to sit down No audio is heard of their discussion While the witness accounts included in the analysis differ on the order and phrasing they largely agree that Turner touched Mart nez Beltr n on the arm recounted her to calm down and that she responded by saying don t touch me Given the video evidence and interviews with observers the scrutiny by the third party announced there was not enough evidence to promotion Mart nez Beltr n s charges While she also filed a police description the District Attorney has rejected the episode and will not file charges In a written announcement to this news organization available in its entirety here MB called the statement incomplete and whitewashed saying that investigators failed to contact relevant observers which she had identified This was not a misunderstanding it was verbal and physical assault by Mayor Mark Turner an escalation of his misogynistic behavior his disregard for those he believes himself entitled to dominate and his ongoing inability to restrain himself she announced arguing that she made the assessment not just for myself but to prevent future harm to others In his own written comment Turner expressed gratitude for the investigators and their efforts to ultimately reveal the truth and disappointment in Ms Beltran s decision to fabricate these asserts following her loss in the mayoral ballot last November These false accusations and subsequent investigations have been disruptive to our collective work and to the society trust we are obligated to uphold I hope we can now move forward refocusing our attention on serving the region in a way our residents and businesses deserve he revealed According to City Attorney Larkin the City Council excluding Turner and Mart nez Beltr n met to discuss the findings of the assessment and voted to refer the overview to the Fair Political Practices Commission a non-partisan state body that oversees enforcement of campaign and conflict of interest laws and to the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury an independent body that examines complaints into actions or performance of citizens authorities and agencies The council also voted to hold a special meeting on the description on July which Mart nez Beltr n revealed she had requested to have moved back to August since she will be unable to attend the July meeting