SAN DIEGO — During a San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Chair Nora Vargas addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s departure to rehab and the announcement that he will resign his post as supervisor next month.
The meeting comes following Fletcher’s resignation as Metropolitan Transit System board chair after a former female employee accused him of sexual misconduct.
“Over the next few weeks we will follow a process established by our board policy and charter,” Vargas said.
The board moved on to the business of the county and then it was time to turn the mic over for public comment.
The same group of individuals who consistently railed against Fletcher in particular and against the entire board in general were at it again, only now calling for the immediate resignation of Fletcher.
The board has no authorities to remove a supervisor — that can only happen by recall — but District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond says he would like to see Fletcher resign now.
“He used the excuse of PTSD and alcohol abuse and things like that — more of a cover-up for his sexual transgressions and I really think that in and of itself should lead to immediately resigning,” Desmond said.
Last Sunday, Fletcher announced he was entering rehab and two days later, an MTS employee filed civil litigation against Fletcher and the agency on four complaints including sexual assault, harassment and retaliation.
“If this was a department head here at the county who had these same allegations and admitted to these transgressions, we’d have him out of the department that day,” Desmond continued.
One woman read aloud several direct messages allegedly sent from Fletcher to Grecia Figueroa, the MTS employee who filed the complaint, including the following excerpt from the complaint:
“As Fletcher pursued Ms. Figueroa, he pressed her to always delete their text conversations to cover his tracks. For example, he wrote, ‘Can you do me a favor and delete our chats. I would hate for someone to grab your phone.’ … ‘My staff has access to my account so delete as we go.'”
The next step will be for the board to appoint another member. If they cannot come to agreement, they could have an election which, according to Desmond, could cost $4 million.
