Co-Chair
Energy & Environment Committee
Government and Public Affairs Manager for Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Mark Lomeli is the Government and Public Affairs Manager for Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He has a distinguished background in Government and Public Affairs, Public Policy, Media Relations and Communications in the private and government sectors.
As the government and public affairs lead for Southern California, representing the leading refiner in the United States – which distributes under the ARCO and Speedway brands, Mark is charged with unprecedented community and local government engagement. Previously, he served as Chief of Staff in the state legislature and served ten years as a staffer for various state and local elected officials. Before joining the legislature, he was a field campaign consultant for various state-wide elected officials.
What a great way to land post scandal.
Blogger’s Note – note how thorough this investigation was as opposed to the blow-off of the issues related to Bill Brough. What a difference between 2015 and 2016 regarding the seriousness of investigations. I add highlights for Emphasis.
SACRAMENTO —
An investigation by the California Assembly has substantiated complaints that a former chief of staff to Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D-Carson) grabbed a Capitol employee’s buttocks and sent inappropriate text messages to another staffer, according to records released Friday.
The Assembly report states that Mark Lomeli, who worked for Gipson in 2016 when the alleged incidents occurred, violated the house’s sexual harassment policy. Lomeli appealed the findings and the Assembly Rules Committee upheld its investigation, denying the appeal July 30.
Lomeli did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Assembly does not comment on sexual harassment investigations as a standard practice.
The records disclosed Friday provide little information about the alleged encounters outlined in the complaints and some details, including the names of the women and claims that were not substantiated, are redacted. In a letter to Lomeli, the committee said that its investigator, Benjamin Webster of the law firm Littler Mendelson, interviewed more than two dozen witnesses.
Blogger’s Note: They interviewed a dozen people, what a contrast to the 2015 Complaint against Bill Brough that they blew off.
The records say that on April 12, 2018, a woman told human resources that Lomeli “grabbed [her] breasts, vagina, buttocks and pushed his penis area” on her in a sexual assault that occurred two years earlier, on May 4, 2016. The investigation determined that he “more likely than not” grabbed her buttocks, inappropriately touched her body and made unwelcome comments about her physical appearance.
The day after the first report, a second woman came forward and alleged inappropriate behavior by Lomeli, according to the Assembly Rules Committee. The investigation substantiated a claim that he sent unprofessional text messages to her on Sept. 6, 2016.
Lomeli is barred from contacting the women, according to a letter sent to him by the Assembly Rules Committee. He left Gipson’s office in early 2018 and now works in the private sector.
The case is the latest in a series of sexual harassment and assault complaints against legislative staff members and lawmakers since the #MeToo movement emerged at the state Capitol in October 2017.
In response to an outcry from women working in California political circles, the Legislature appointed a new workplace conduct unit and panel of legal experts in January to review and investigate sexual harassment claims in the Senate and Assembly.
The account of the assault is eerily similar to that of one of Bill Brough’s victims. There is definately a problem in the bowels of the capitol.
Your intrepid blogger obtained the 9 page file. It is linked here for your perusal.
Regarding Bill Brough – here is the most explosive part from the Assembly Rules Committee Complaint:
In February of 2015, Assemblyman Bill Brough followed me into the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel and sexually battered me by pressing his erection against me and saying, “You know I’m really into you, right?” I was shocked and disoriented and stammered something about being married. I’ve no idea why I said those particular words, but he replied, “So am I.” This happened after almost two years of subtle and overt attempts to initiate an intimate relationship with me. At all times, he has been in a position of power over me. When the un-welcomed conduct began, he was a Chief of Staff working for the Assembly and I was a district representative working for the Senate. The power imbalance remained when he became a legislator and I accepted a governmental affairs position that required me to lobby state legislators, the position that I still hold…
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