St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her indicates she will stay in office amid sexual harassment lawsuit

St. Paul, Minnesota, Mayor Kaohly Her is indicating that she will not leave office as a new lawsuit keeps sexual harassment allegations against her in the spotlight. If anyone else wants her gone, it would be a somewhat complicated process to remove her from office. A spokesperson for Her told WCCO that she will "continue to lead Saint Paul" after St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry filed a lawsuit against her alleging multiple instances of sexual harassment. The lawsuit came after Her's office claimed that an independent investigation "did not substantiate claims of sexual harassment or retaliation" after Henry first reported Her to the city in the spring. That independent investigation wrapped up on Sept. 14. Henry's lawsuit became public days later, stating that Her had made sexual innuendos about the size of his genitals, placed her hand on his upper thigh multiple times in a meeting and went out of her way to "surprise" him out of the office at a golf simulator in Woodbury, Minnesota, among other allegations. Most city council members, including President Rebecca Noecker, did not respond to WCCO's request for comment on Thursday. Council Member Saura Jost's executive assistant said that "It is the City's policy not to comment on pending litigation." Council Member Cheniqua Johnson, however, was already scheduled to speak with WCCO on another topic. Johnson said that she also felt it was "inappropriate" to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, but said that the city was running smoothly behind closed doors. She said that she and other councilors found out about the lawsuit at the same time that the media did. "I hope individuals can handle being able to put their jobs first," Johnson said. WCCO asked whether there are any conversations within council chambers about confidence in Her. "There are no conversations about that. I would just simply say I trust my electorate and the people who are placing her there in the first place," Johnson said. Noecker did not make herself available on Thursday, but appeared with Her at a forum on Sept. 8 hosted by The Theater of Public Policy and moderated by Tane Danger of Danger Boat Productions. When asked about the investigation into Henry's complaint from the spring, before the lawsuit became public, Noecker indicated that she was looking forward to getting past the "elephant in the room." "The city council is certainly waiting for it [the investigation] to wrap up as well; personally, I think it's a major distraction from the really good work we're trying to do in the city," Noecker said on Sept. 8. The city council does not have the ability to impeach Her, based on the city's charter. A legislative aide to a council member stated that "our charter does not provide for censure nor an ability to remove the Mayor from office. That responsibility lies with a petitioning public."The charter spells out several conditions that need to be met for a petition to be successful; if those conditions are met, a special election would be triggered unless a regularly scheduled election was already on the calendar between 30 and 90 days after a council approved the petition. Professor David Schultz, a legal expert with Hamline University, said that he cannot recall a petition-based recall on a local official in recent history in the Twin Cities. "At the end of the day, the decision is up to her or a combination, I'm going to say, of judges and the voters," Schultz said. Henry's attorney, Chris Madel, did not respond to WCCO on Thursday. He provided a statement on Wednesday criticizing the city's handling of the initial investigation. "Axel Henry is an honorable man and a dedicated public servant. He didn't come forward for attention or advantage — he came forward because what happened was wrong and needed to be reported. We look forward to proving our allegations in a court of law, where all evidence, not some sanitized summary written by the City about itself, can finally be heard."