Madison Common Council censures alder accused of domestic violence, harassment

Madison’s Common Council voted Tuesday night to formally rebuke Alder Charles Myadze, who faces numerous allegations of domestic violence and sexual harassment.

That resolution to censure Myadze for “conduct unbecoming of an alder” passed 13-2.

The censure resolution is symbolic and will not remove the District 18 alder from his position on the Common Council representing a portion of Madison’s north side.

But, in a 12-4 vote on Tuesday, the council accepted Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s recommendation to replace Myadze on five legislative committees.

That vote follows the mayor’s directive to remove Myadze from his committee assignments, effective this week. As a result, while Myadze will be still able to vote on measures during full Common Council meetings, he’ll lose much of his power to shape legislation before it ends up on the Council floor.

Myadze has indicated he won’t resign before his second two-year Common Council term ends in April 2025. But he’s also said he won’t run for re-election next year.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Myadze asked Rhodes-Conway to reconsider her decision to strip him of his committee assignments. And he indicated that, even if he doesn’t have voting power on committees, he plans to continue going to those meetings as an attendee.

“You can’t stop me from going to committees because I will be able to go there to raise my constituents’ concerns,” Myadze said. “Do not hold back my ability to serve my constituents, especially while I’m still in the office.”

The recently-approved censure resolution doesn’t explicitly call for Myadze’s resignation, but it does urge him to “consider the impact of his continued presence on the Common Council to ongoing City priorities and processes.”

Myadze previously denied that he ever “engaged in domestic abuse against any woman.” And, during Tuesday’s meeting, he said the censure sets a “dangerous” precedent.

“Being publicly accused of things I did not do has been humiliating, demoralizing,” he said.

In a recent statement responding to the censure resolution, Myadze refuted the resolution’s assertion that his actions have reflected poorly on the Council. But he did offer a qualified apology.

“I will acknowledge that I am not a perfect man and offer my sincere and public apology for any unease or discomfort that I may have unintentionally caused to any of the women who have reported that I acted inappropriately towards them,” the statement said in part. “That was never my intent. I am resolute moving forward in my determination to avoid any interactions with my colleagues and others which could be construed as sexual or inappropriate in nature.”

Censure follows escalating calls for Myadze’s resignation

Myadze has been facing escalating calls for his resignation since last spring, when two of his former partners accused him publicly of domestic violence. That prompted more than two dozen elected officials in Madison to sign a letter, urging Myadze to step down.

After three separate women reported to the city in April that Myadze had harassed them with behavior including sexually inappropriate comments, Madison released a report last month from an investigation into those allegations.

One of those three women later identified herself publicly as Madison Alder Juliana Bennett. Initially, the report concluded that some of Myadze’s actions toward Bennett had violated the city’s harassment policy.

However, after Myadze’s lawyer submitted additional materials and raised due-process concerns, Emil Ovbiagele, the outside attorney hired by the city, reversed his conclusion.

In the report’s final version, Ovbiagele wrote that, while Myadze’s conduct was “troubling,” none of his behavior toward the three women was “severe” or “persistent” enough to have violated the city’s anti-harassment policy or state and federal laws.

Specifically, Ovbiagele cited Bennett’s text messages to Myadze after the alleged harassment occurred. That “cordial” and “professional” communication from Bennett indicated that Myadze’s behavior did not create a hostile environment that adversely affected Bennett’s work performance, Ovbiagele’s supplemental report concluded.

After the results of the harassment investigation became public, another one of Myadze’s former partners, Gloria Reyes, came forward publicly in a Madison 365 article, alleging that Myadze was physically violent toward her during the course of an on-again-off-again relationship that lasted from 2018 to 2021.

Reyes is a former Madison police detective who ran unsuccessfully against Rhodes-Conway for mayor in 2023. She previously served as a deputy Madison mayor and as president of Madison’s school board.

Resolution refers to ‘deeply concerning’ pattern of behavior

The Common Council’s resolution acknowledges that the supplemental investigation found that Myadze’s actions in the workplace did not meet the “legal threshold” for violating city policy but says his actions were “deeply concerning and inconsistent with the standards expected of public officials.”

Specifically, the resolution cites an April 2022 incident, in which Bennett asserts that Myadze confronted her in a locked car.

Bennett told investigators that Myadze made sexually explicit comments to her while the pair were attending an out-of-state conference in March 2022. After Bennett told some colleagues that Myadze had been making her feel uncomfortable, she told investigators that Myadze confronted her in April 2022, while the pair were waiting in his car to discuss city business, the report says.

According to Bennett, Myadze locked the car’s doors before telling her, “If I ever hear you say anything like that about me again, you and me are done.” That made her feel “frozen” and “fearful of repercussions if she spoke out,” the report says.

The censure resolution also notes that “while witnesses and the multiple complainants were deemed as credible,” the outside report found Myadze to be a “less credible witness” because of “selective memory and inconsistencies in his statements.”

Myadze’s ex-girlfriend Michelle McKoy was among those who spoke during public comment Tuesday.

In a video shared to Facebook in March, McKoy alleged Myadze abused her over a nearly eight-year period that ended 12 years ago. During Tuesday’s meeting, McKoy referred to the day she posted the video as “the day that I no longer was afraid of him.”

“Charles, I am 4-foot 9,” McKoy said during the meeting. “You are 10 times the size of me. For you to throw me on my couch and choke me, I’m amazed that I’m even here. It has showed that you are a coward, over and over, and you can sit and look at me, but I know I stand in my truth.”

Myadze was arrested on domestic violence-related charges in 2002 involving his then-wife. He pleaded guilty to a false imprisonment charge as part of a deferred prosecution agreement which ultimately allowed the charges against him to be dismissed and erased from public court records. Myadze has said he entered the deferred the prosecution agreement to resolve the matter which occurred during “a contentious divorce and custody battle.”

Gregory Jones, president of the Dane County NAACP, was one of several people who spoke against censuring Myadze. Jones also said he opposed removing Myadze from committees, saying that would deprive north side residents of representation.

“This action is contradictory to democracy,” Jones said. “It limits input from District 18 residents. If I were resident of District 18, I would want to know who my individual council member is, that I voted for, that I may have known for years.”

Myadze, who is Black, has referred to the allegations as “a social media lynching” and “a political hit job.”

Myadze and Alder Isadore Knox voted against censuring Myadze and against replacing him on committees. Alder Nasra Wehelie voted against the committee re-assignments, but abstained from the censure vote.

Alder Barbara Harrington-McKinney said Myadze has served his constituents well. She voted against replacing Myadze on committees. She also spoke out against censuring Myadze, but left the meeting before the council voted on that issue.

“We are not his therapist, nor should we be his jurors,” she said. “There is always two sides to every story. … Justice should look at both sides.”

Alder Amani Latimer Burris recused herself from voting on Myadze’s censure, and she abstained from voting on the committee re-assignments.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Latimer Burris said she was concerned about the process that led to Myadze’s censure and ouster from committees.

“It’s not because I don’t believe my friend Gloria Reyes,” Latimer Burris said. “I want full due process.”

Latimer Burris suggested the council should hold a public hearing on the allegations against Myadze, a process that could lead to him being removed for cause.

Alder MGR Govindarajan, who introduced the censure resolution, pushed back against the assertion that Myadze hadn’t been afforded due process. He noted that the council waited to introduce the censure resolution until after the harassment investigation was complete.

“Elected representatives should be held to a higher standard,” Govindarajan said. “It is not racist to demand accountability.”

Bennett was excused from a portion of Tuesday’s council session after she went to assist her father who suffered a medical emergency during the meeting. Her father spoke during emotional public comment, calling for Myadze to face accountability.