For Immediate Release
February 8, 2018
DeeDee Garcia Blase, Co-founder SOMOS INDEPENDENTS
(480) 200-3748
Lydia Hernandez, Former Arizona State Representative
(602) 463-9900
Former Arizona State Lawmaker Receives Backlash From Phoenix Vice Mayor After Coming Forward At Phoenix City Council Regarding Sexual Harassment
Phoenix, AZ -- SOMOS INDEPENDENTS is a national organization led by Mexican American women who are independent registered voters encouraging voting in our National and local elections. Again, we are happy Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and City Councilwoman Kate Gallegos are on the record for supporting a ‘zero tolerance’ sexual harassment policy with regard to Phoenix government, however, we are disappointed in Vice Mayor Laura Pastor’s backlash against former Arizona State Lawmaker Lydia Hernandez shortly after we gave our testimony to the Phoenix City Council Meeting dated February 7, 2018.
Vice Mayor Pastor chastised Hernandez for not receiving a courtesy phone call from her prior to the City Council Meeting, however, we know Pastor’s office was in receipt of our press release last week. We emailed Pastor’s office to no avail and we did not receive a phone call or an email. We would like to see Pastor withdraw her endorsement of John Gomez who is running for City Council District #5 because John Gomez listed Dwight Amery as his campaign chairman and Mr. Amery is the man who sexually assaulted former State Rep. Lydia Hernandez.
We believe the City Council leaders who have endorsed John Gomez should withdraw their endorsement of him because “zero tolerance” of sexual abuse should be just that. Laura Pastor should get on board with the Mayor’s “zero tolerance of sexual harassment” leadership and follow suit. We are additionally disappointed in City Councilman Daniel Valenzuela who may have communicated an untruth during the City Council Meeting. According to Valenzuela, he claims Mr. Amery is no longer with the Maryvale Planning Committee(MPC), however, shortly after the City Council meeting yesterday, Hernandez and Blase went to the MPC office and verified that indeed Mr. Amery is still on the MPC board. We hope we receive an official written notification with regard to Amery stepping down as Chair of MPC. Mayor Stanton tried to prevent City Councilman Valenzuela from disclosing information that would violate open meeting laws, however, Valenzuela continued despite the Mayor’s objection and stated Amery was no longer on any City Boards. Because it appears Valenzuela violated open meeting law (because the item was not on the agenda), SOMOS INDEPENDENTS believes City Councilman Daniel Valenzuela is not yet ready to run for Phoenix Mayor when he steps down in the future as City Councilman and decides to run for Mayor of Phoenix.
Furthermore, it was Dwight Amery who is responsible for ensuring Lydia Hernandez was removed from her home located 3607 N 51st Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85031 when he signed a Warranty Deed dated August 28, 2017, as President/CEO of Maryvale Revitalization Corporation. Shortly after Lydia was forced to uproot from her home of 10 years, she discovered her home sold to another party for $130,000.00 after she made an offer to buy the home for $130,000.00 before she was kicked out. We believe John Gomez may have known about this considering Amery was his Campaign Chairman during this timeframe and was given an award by the MRC.
(Above images received from Maricopa County Recorder website.)
Lydia Hernandez, former Arizona State Representative states:
I am completely shocked and disappointed to be confronted with additional backlash after having come forward. At a time that the City Council has discussed and has formally committed to a “0 Tolerance policy on sexual harassment.” The words speak “0 Tolerance but the actions say, “only when it’s not my friend?” I realize that we will need a lot of work moving forward. I ask our elected leaders, especially those seeking higher office, to not lose sight of why they ran for office in the first place. I honestly believed that those I knew would do a good job in working for its people. I come forward publicly regarding my sexual harassment and assault and I still get chastised for having done so. Councilwoman Pastor communicated to me her frustration at my lack of a courtesy call. Councilman Valenzuela, during the call to the public, felt compelled to address the issue right then and there with no regard to the Mayor's instruction. Valenzuela announced that he had spoken to my perpetrator before the meeting, and that he had informed him that he had "resigned from all committees. However, I have not received any written notification.
SOMOS INDEPENDENTS believe the MRC should make former State Rep. Lydia Hernandez whole again considering Dwight Amery, an agent of MRC (see above images from Maricopa Co. Recorder's Office) was instrumental in uprooting her entire family late last year. She has suffered enough considering she was essentially terminated for reporting Dwight Amery for his sexual assaults against her while employed at MRC. We also hope to see Mayor Greg Stanton restore Hernandez to her MPC board member position and on the days the MPC board meetings were held prior to Amery moving the board date meetings he knew would conflict on the days Hernandez needed to attend her own School Board meetings of her district.
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