The month of April has been an emotional rollercoaster for community members in the town of Windsor. Almost two weeks ago the Mayor, Dominic Foppoli, was accused by five women of sexual assault or rape dating back over 15 years. Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli has been on the Windsor Town Council since 2014. The 38-year-old politician and winery owner has most recently denied all allegations of sexual abuse made against him. The San Francisco Chronicle broke the original story of sexual abuse on April 8 after intensely investigating the claims of four women. Two additional women stepped forward in the coming weeks.
Foppoli claims that one of the SF Chronicle reporters, Alexandria Bordas, orchestrated a targeting political attack on him because of his affiliation with conservatve politics. Foppoli spoke to the Press Democrat about the allegations and said, “I am far from a person without faults, but I am not a rapist nor have I ever pressured any female to engage in sexual conduct with me.” Foppoli went on to explain that the accusations are targeted political acts by a group of people.
Sonoma State University President Judy Sakaki said, “The allegations brought against Mr. Dominic Foppoli are deeply disturbing. The accounts presented by the women who have accused him of sexual assault should be believed. My heart goes out to the women who have come forward to share their story and I applaud their courage.”
She went on to say, “as President of a major California university, and a woman, a wife, a mother, and a member of this community, I feel we cannot accept this kind of behavior from our leaders and from anyone in our community. We must do better.”
Soon after the several allegations were made against Mayor Foppoli, multiple members of Sonoma County’s political establishments have called for the recognition of Foppoli. Sonoma county has nine towns total, and all eight towns other than Windsor have demanded Foppoli to step down.
Five county supervisors, multiple North Coast state legislators and two U.S. congressmen that represent Sonoma County have also demanded that Foppoli to step down. Foppoli’s brother also recently came out with a statement urging the Mayor to step down from his position. According to NorthBayBusinessJournal, “Joe Foppoli, Chief Operating Officer of the family’s Healdsburg winery, told reporters Sunday morning that he has taken steps to remove his brother as both CEO and co-owner of Christopher Creek Winery and is urging him to resign as mayor.”.
While Dominic Foppoli still sits in the mayor’s seat, steps are being taken to remove him as mayor and as CEO of Christopher Creek Winery by his brother.
During a Town Council meeting that took place on April 14, Foppoli said the Town Council meeting will move on ‘business as usual’ because he hasn’t been criminally charged with a crime, he also said he should have due process before opening up comment to the public. One woman at the meeting, who identified herself over Zoom as Carson Davis, said, “I have experienced and seen some of this behavior firsthand and I have to say that I am so sorry. I have had my butt grabbed by him and I have seen some of the things that people are referring to. And we just should have taken this more seriously. I’m just so sorry to these women that it didn’t come out sooner.” Sonoma County residents who attended the meeting further expressed how they no longer trust the city of Windsor and its Town Council, multiple residents said they no longer feel safe with Foppoli as mayor. Members of the public stressed that the city council knew of his behavior towards women and took no additional steps in combating the problem. Attendees at the meeting did not hold back with their disapproval of the situation calling Foppoli “delusional”, “a sociopath” and “a gross joke”.
Fellow town council member Debora Fudge also urged the Mayor to step down saying, “If you love Windsor as much as you say you do you need to resign tonight.”
The Mayor has not formally resigned but did say after the explosive meeting that he would “…step back from [his] active roll.”
Mayor Foppoli came out with his statement of denial after a fifth woman pleaded sexual assault against him. The alleged sexual assault cases go back all the way to 2002, ranging all the way to as recent as 2019. The first sexual assault allegation comes from a member of Foppoli’s Assembly Campaign from 2003. Foppolis second sexual assault case happened in 2006 with a member of his dance class. His third allegation occurred in Reno in 2012 at a Civic Club meeting. And the fourth sexual assault allegation happened in 2019 to an intern at his winery, who said Foppoli forcibly touched her.
