Former staffer glad she shared her harassment story, but doubts Bernero has changed
Sarah LehrLANSING — Liz Hart, one of five women who have accused Virg Bernero of sexual harassment, says she hopes sharing her story will change Lansing's culture for the better.
Yet she's skeptical of Bernero's assertion that he's a changed man.
Bernero withdrew from the 2021 Lansing mayoral race Sunday before MLive published a story in which three women spoke on the record, detailing experiences of being sexually harassed by Bernero.
His announcement, made in a statement posted to Facebook, shook up the mayoral race, as did an announcement from four-term City Council member Kathie Dunbar that she will run for mayor rather than seek a fifth council term.
Candidates have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to file to run in the Nov. 2 election.
Hart joined the mayor's office under Bernero as a recent college graduate before leading fundraising for his re-election campaign in 2013. In the MLive interview, she described fending off his sexual comments and questions and ignoring his repeated late night phone calls.
Bernero did not respond to requests for comment from the State Journal on Sunday or Monday. He was Lansing's mayor from 2006 until 2018. He didn't seek re-election in 2017, saying he wanted to take time to focus on his family.
"I was running as a better man than the one who left office 4 years ago, but not a perfect man,“ Bernero said in a statement posted to Facebook Sunday. "My wife and family have forgiven me for the mistakes of the past, but politics is less forgiving."
Hart said in a Monday interview with the Lansing State Journal that Bernero's statement left her disappointed but not angry.
‘My first thought was, “Why did you never apologize to me?’" Hart told the State Journal. If he was a changed man, she said, "you wouldn't deny it and you would address it up front."
Hart said she received a notification "a month or so ago" after Bernero viewed her LinkedIn profile.
"I know he remembers me," Hart said. "I have talked to a couple people from Lansing and I know he's mentioned my name in the last month."
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Bernero cast previous allegations as 'political attacks'
Bernero admitted last month to "personal mistakes that I have made in my marriage" while casting previous allegations of sexual harassment as "political attacks" and "character assassination."
MLive's accounts published Monday followed a March 2 report by the Lansing City Pulse in which two women, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, described being sexually harassed by Bernero.
Related: Former Mayor Virg Bernero drops Lansing mayoral bid, Dunbar joins the race
One woman told the City Pulse that Bernero groped her leg during a conversation on Washington Square in downtown Lansing in 2010. The woman's then-intern, also quoted anonymously, said he witnessed Bernero groping his colleague and was shocked by the behavior.
A second woman told the publication she was a news anchor in Lansing in 2004 when Bernero, then a state senator, left her "flirtatious/sexual" phone calls with comments about her legs, which made her uncomfortable.
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After that account published, Bernero denied any recollection of those incidents but apologized for "the pain I may have caused."
He later cast the women's stories as political attacks orchestrated by the Schor campaign.
"I have never accosted or groped anyone on Washington Avenue or anywhere else against their will." Bernero said during a March radio interview on the Michael Patrick Shiels show.
"The character assassination has begun," Bernero said during that interview.
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Former employee describes the two Berneros
Hart told the State Journal "there were two sides of Virg" and she believes that's why Bernero may have held on to power for so long despite his behavior toward women.
"There's the mayor, the politician, the guy you could have a beer with ... and talk politics, talk about Lansing and have a good conversation," she said. "But then he's just a total perv at the same time."
She added, "I think people just saw the other side of him and brushed off the pervertedness because 'well, it's not happening to me."'
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Hart said she dreamed of being an urban planner in Lansing, her hometown, but that Bernero's persistent harassment pushed her to leave the state.
"Even though I might not ever come back to Lansing, I still love Lansing, it will always be home," Hart told the State Journal on Monday. "It's time to move forward and Virg isn't the way forward anymore.
"I’m just glad he’s not running." she said. "I’m glad my story’s out, that the truth about who he is as a person is out."
Incidents described ranged from touching to sexual proposition
Bernero once stroked Hart's foot while she was wearing sandals and later told her he had a foot fetish, she told MLive.
In one instance, Hart told MLive Bernero was ranting and getting physically close to her before he asked her to show him one of her breasts. Hart texted a friend, Emily Heverly, and got Heverly to call her on the phone as a diversion. Heverly had been volunteering with Bernero's re-election campaign and said she felt "powerless" to defend Hart against the repeated harassment.
Heverly told MLive she herself became the subject of Bernero's harassment when Bernero propositioned both the young women for a threesome. "It was very bizarre," Heverly said in the MLive interview. "It was very uncomfortable,”
A third woman, political consultant Emily Dievendorf, also told MLive that Bernero made inappropriate comments to her, giving her unsolicited advice about her appearance when Dievendorf ran for Lansing City Council in 2015.
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Other candidates react, say the women deserve to be heard
Patricia Spitzley, a Lansing City Council member and 2021 mayoral candidate, called the accounts of sexual harassment "terrible" and said the women "need to be respected for coming out."
"Their accounts need to be heard, need to be validated," Spitzley said. "It’s hard to be a female in downtown Lansing in a political setting."
Spitzley declined to comment on Bernero's decision to withdraw from the race other than to say, "everybody has to make a decision about how they want to proceed based on their family."
Incumbent Mayor Andy Schor is running for another four-year term. He said Monday that "while the candidates may have changed, my focus remains the same — we will continue to highlight my record as mayor and vision for Lansing’s next four years.
"As for the allegations made this morning, I will reiterate that it is important to listen to the brave women who have chosen to share their stories," Schor said in statement. "The allegations made are very serious and deserve to be treated as such."
Lansing's election is nonpartisan. An Aug. 3 primary will narrow the number of candidates before the Nov. 2 general election.
Dunbar said Monday she'd been considering running for a mayor for about a month before she announced. At least four other challengers, Arielle Padilla, Jeffery Scott Handley Jr., Larry James Hutchinson Jr., Melissa Huber and Farhan Sheikh-Omar had filed to run or pulled paperwork necessary to file as of 4 p.m. Monday.
Schor said he asked consultant to resign from board
In a separate incident, Schor said he asked political consultant T.J. Bucholz to step down from the board of Downtown Lansing, Inc. after the Detroit Free Press and Eclectablog published accounts from multiple women, including Dievendorf, who said Bucholz sexually harassed them.
"This behavior is completely unacceptable and these allegations need to be treated with the seriousness they deserve," Schor said in a statement on March 25, the day the DLI announced Bucholz's departure. "It’s important that we listen to all of the courageous women who are telling their stories.”
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Schor, however, admits he appointed Bucholz to the board in 2019 despite being aware of an "inappropriate message" sent by Bucholz to a staffer. Lansing City Council approved Bucholz's appointment on March 11, 2019, meeting minutes show.
Former Vanguard employee Chelsea Coffey told the Detroit Free Press that Bucholz sexually harassed her via text messages in 2016 and 2017.
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He sent one of the sexually suggestive messages in 2017, while Coffey was on contract through Vanguard to assist with Schor's mayoral campaign, she said. Coffey told Schor about the inappropriate message and later left Vanguard. After being elected, Schor hired her as a special assistant to the mayor.
"I knew that there was an inappropriate communication between him and Chelsea but I did not know the extent of any of the other things," Schor said in a phone conversation last month.
He added in a follow-up statement, "I was told about an inappropriate message that was sent to a woman and I supported the woman who came to me in the way she requested. I had no knowledge of this pattern of toxic behavior, nor the extent to which it escalated with others."
Contact reporter Sarah Lehr at slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr.