A jury found Montclair Councilman Ben Lopez guilty of sexual harassment this week for subjecting two current male city employees to repeated solicitation against their will, according to court documents and interviews.
But despite repeated calls from city leaders and residents for him to step down, Lopez has given no indication that he plans to resign. His decision to stay on the City Council has already saddled the Pomona Valley community with hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance costs, city officials said, and included the cost of two employees — both of whom still work at City Hall.
“It feels like we’re back to square one,” said one plaintiff, Edmund Garcia. “I still feel like I have to watch my back.”
Lopez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and continued to do so even after the verdict.
“I have kept my innocence. I don’t think the city should have been dragged into this process at all,” he said at a council meeting on Monday. Lopez did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Times this week.
Only Montclair voters have the power to unseat Lopez, according to Brian Hannemann, the attorney who represented Garcia and his co-defendant, Mike Fuentes. Because the case was heard in civil court, Lopez does not meet the legal threshold for automatic removal from the council — which would require a criminal conviction.
“In any other workplace, a manager found guilty of this behavior would be fired immediately,” Hannemann said. “But because he’s an elected official, the victims still have to see him use the power. That’s the injustice here.”
In a ruling issued Monday, San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Kory Mathewson ruled that Lopez violated California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act by repeatedly subjecting Garcia and Fuentes to unwanted sexual activity, including anonymously sending lewd photos and messages on dating apps.
The court found that Lopez was guilty not only of sexual harassment but also of fraud, oppression and hatred, the highest legal standard allowing for punitive damages. Each plaintiff was awarded $488,000, and Lopez was also ordered to reimburse the city of Montclair for its settlement costs and legal fees.
The lawsuit has cost Montclair taxpayers more than $950,000, according to City Manager Edward Starr, who said Lopez’s refusal to resign has exposed the city to ongoing litigation, which could amount to $500,000 in additional annual insurance costs. Those combined costs would represent 3.7% of Montclair’s $39.5 million general fund budget for the current fiscal year.
“That’s money that should have gone to our parks, our police, our roads, but it was wasted by the actions of one man,” said resident Alice Garcia, Edmund’s mother, at a council meeting Monday. “Mr. Lopez, you’ve ruined our reputation for this city. You’ve cost the taxpayers over half a million dollars, and you’ve ruined my family’s peace of mind.”
According to the court’s findings, Lopez used fake names like “Looking2Suck,” and “Down2Play” on dating apps and sought out Garcia, the city’s IT manager, even though he was a direct subordinate.
In the messages, he hid his face, sent graphic sexual images and repeatedly invited Garcia to have anonymous sex, which he refused.
“If we could do that completely anonymously between us. Do we know how we could do it? Where we didn’t have to see each other’s faces all the time? Leave the mystique and do some kind of action,” Lopez wrote in detailed messages in court records.
But in recent messages, Lopez is said to have sent a picture of her face. Garcia told The Times that she felt disturbed and feared that the communication could be used to deceive or defraud her.
Lopez has maintained that she was hacked or impersonated online, a defense Mathewson rejected given evidence, including financial records associated with the accounts involved.
Fuentes, the city’s director of economic development and housing, testified that Lopez engaged her in unwanted comments about her appearance, sexuality and health, culminating in a two-hour lunch meeting that Fuentes believed was work-related, but focused on probing questions about her sexuality.
Both men reported to Lopez for city leadership in 2021. A third-party investigator retained by the city later confirmed their allegations and found Lopez to be dishonest, according to the court’s findings.
The City Council formally censured Lopez in 2022, barring him from committee appointments and limiting his contact with city staff outside of meetings. He may not be able to enter many areas of the city, restrictions that Starr said are difficult to enforce and have already hampered operations.
Under California law, the city has limited authority to pursue disciplinary action, Mayor John Dutrey said at a Dec. 15 council meeting, where he and other board members urged Lopez to resign and “save the city further embarrassment.”
“But that’s unlikely,” Dutrey said.
Lopez has been on the council since 2020 and was re-elected for a second term in 2024.
Garcia and Fuentes are both still employed by the city, but they say the case has changed their daily work lives. Fuentes no longer personally conducts council meetings, although it is a primary responsibility. Both men said they avoided public events where Lopez might appear, according to interviews and documents.
“I grew up in Montclair,” Garcia said. “I was already a public speaker, always at events, council meetings and grand openings. I was always there meeting new people and trying to put a happy face on it. … I can’t do that.”
The decision follows years of controversy surrounding Lopez, who once lobbied for gay marriage and other issues with the Traditional Values Coalition, a now-defunct Christian organization, which the Southern Poverty Law Center named an anti-LGBTQ hate group.
“I can’t control what people think of me,” Lopez said at Monday’s council meeting. “To anyone who feels like I hurt them, caused them pain, etc., real or perceived, I’m sorry.”
Starr said he is working with the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office to explore legal options to remove Lopez from office, including proving he committed a crime or betrayed his oath of office.
The only way it can be done is for Lopez to resign, for voters to remove him in an expensive recall election, or for the passage of a state law that expands the violation that causes removal. His current council term runs until 2028.
“Elected officials must be held accountable for their actions,” Fuentes said. “The state needs to use the legal process to check what are the available ways to deal with a corrupt council member.”
Meanwhile, the council will hold a closed-door meeting next month to consider stripping Lopez of his monthly salary and benefits.
