COMMENTARY: It has become clear to me that our Vice Chair, Neomi Martinez-Parra, feels that I pressured her to drop her allegations of sexual misconduct against a member and elected official of our Party, John Vasquez.
Courtesy photo
Richard Ellenberg
It was never, under any circumstances, my intention to pressure her in any way. I have apologized to Vice Chair Martinez-Parra personally, and I want to extend that apology to all the members, particularly the women, of our Party.
I believe that victims of sexual misconduct have every right to determine for themselves whether they want their stories to be public or to be kept private.
I fully back Vice Chair Martinez-Parra in whatever course she chooses. My only goal in our initial conversations about this matter was to try and be as helpful and supportive to her as I could, based on what I believed her wishes to be.
My later conversations with Mr. Vasquez, in which I urged him to resign from his position in our Party (which resignation I had no power to require), were based entirely on my understanding of her wishes. It is now clear that my memory of our conversation and that of Vice Chair Martinez-Parra are very different.
I was wrong about what she wanted me to do. That is the basis of my apology to her, and as I have told her, I will stand beside her in any way I can moving forward.
In response not only to Mr. Vasquez’s posts and remarks, but to the nationwide awakening to the problem of sexual misconduct, we are requiring all candidates to attend sexual harassment training, and to behave in accordance with such training if they expect the support of the State Party.
We take this issue very seriously — already we have withdrawn support from a candidate on this basis, and that person is no longer running for office. I am glad that we were able to cause Mr. Vasquez’s resignation as a Caucus Chair.
In the last several months we all examined our approach to issues of harassment. I, too, have listened and learned a great deal about what I consider a crisis facing our country, and the role each of us must play in supporting women as they step forward. Like many men in positions of power, I have erred on the side of being too cautious in reaching conclusions which support calling someone out. I recognize that and need to do better. Moving forward, you can count on me to be a more conscientious listener, more careful, and a more vocal advocate for women in all our communities because of the many conversations I have been privileged to have.
And that starts now. Although we successfully forced Mr. Vasquez out of his Caucus Chairmanship, we can and should go further. While I can’t force his hand, I am calling on John Vasquez to resign from the County Commission and the County Central Committee, and I will repeat that call as often as is necessary until we are successful.
Richard Ellenberg is chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? We welcome your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here.