TS - County officials satisfied

County officials satisfied with outcome of Stoen probe
By James Tressler The Times-Standard

EUREKA -- Humboldt County officials on Wednesday remained tight-lipped regarding a recently concluded investigation into allegations that Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen sexually harassed a female clerical worker in the District Attorney's Office.

A report on the investigation, which found Stoen's alleged conduct did not violate the county's sexual harassment policies, will remain under lock and key at General Services Manager Kim Kerr's office.

"The process worked," Kerr said. "We had the complaint and we followed that process."

Stoen declined to comment on the outcome of the investigation.

Details on the alleged harassment remain sketchy, with county officials reluctant to comment on the specific nature of the allegations out of sensitivity to both Stoen and the woman who made the accusation.

Kerr said every effort was made to ensure both parties got a fair hearing by bringing in an outside party to lead the probe. The investigator, who specializes in sexual harassment claims, was hired from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Kerr said that the only people who've seen the final report, which is not being released to the public, are Kerr, Personnel Director Rick Haeg and District Attorney Paul Gallegos.

Stoen has been a high-profile and controversial figure ever since Gallegos hired him after taking office in January 2003. He's the lead attorney in the district attorney's fraud lawsuit against Pacific Lumber Co., a case that became a focal point during an unsuccessful Palco-backed effort to recall Gallegos earlier this year.

Stoen's critics have assailed him for his association in the 1970s with People's Temple founder Jim Jones -- an experience Stoen has said he deeply regrets. Stoen's 6-year-old child was one of more than 900 people who died in a mass suicide organized by Jones in Guyana in 1978, after Stoen had broken from the group.

Stoen also toyed with the idea of running on the Republican ticket for U.S. Senate last December. However, after officially announcing his candidacy, Stoen changed his mind 24 hours later and abruptly dropped out of the race.

On Wednesday, Gallegos said he's satisfied with the outcome of the probe, and he remains "absolutely" confident in his assistant district attorney.

"If anything warranted going for (additional action) we would have," Gallegos said. "I look at anything like that (harassment) very seriously. And I want to make sure everything was done as fairly and impartially as we can do it. That's why we looked to get an outside investigator.

"There's work to be done in our office," Gallegos added. "Let's not isolate Tim or any of the other parties involved. All of us in the office as a group need to move forward."

Jill Geist, chairwoman of the county Board of Supervisors, said she and the other supervisors steered clear of the investigation.

"We don't get involved in those kind of things," Geist said. "Paul is an elected official. Any kind of administrative or management issues are for him to deal with. It doesn't come into our purview."