Madison Alder Myadze denies harassment and abuse allegations, but won’t run again

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    MADISON WI (365 Media Foundation, Inc) — Madison Alder Charles Myadze called allegations of sexual harassment and domestic violence “a social media lynching” and “a political hit job,” but said in an interview Sunday that he will not seek re-election to a third term.

Myadze has been removed from all of his committee assignments and faces a censure resolution Tuesday that is almost certain to pass, as 13 alders have signed on as sponsors – more than the 11 votes necessary to adopt the resolution.

The resolution cites allegations by three women — a fellow alder, a city employee and a member of the public — that Myadze sexually harassed them.

The resolution does not mention three other women who alleged that Myadze physically abused them over the course of many years, including while he was in office.

Sexual harassment allegations

An independent investigation initially found that the allegations of sexual harassment were credible, but Myadze’s conduct did not constitute sexual harassment, nor did it create a hostile work environment for two of the women.

The initial report, completed in August, indicated that Myadze did create a hostile environment for Alder Juliana Bennett. However, a supplemental report reversed that decision, citing text messages between Bennett and Myadze that seemed to indicate a cordial working relationship. Myadze told Madison365 that he supplied those text messages to his attorney during the initial investigation, but his attorney did not turn them over to investigators until after the initial report was complete. He said he didn’t know why his attorney withheld them initially.

None of the complainants are named in the investigative report, but Bennett later confirmed that she was the alder who made a complaint.

Juliana Bennett. Photo supplied. Bennett told Madison365 she filed a complaint in April 2024 alleging that Myadze made several inappropriate and sexually charged comments toward her during a conference in Washington, DC, in March 2022. She said that after she confided in colleagues about those comments, he locked her in his car on April 7, 2022, and forcefully confronted her, threatening retaliation if she continued telling people about the comments he’d allegedly made. She told investigators she felt “frozen” in the moment.

In an interview Sunday, Myadze said he didn’t make any sexual remarks to Bennett nor did he confront Bennett in his car, and maintained that their interactions following those alleged incidents show that Bennett was not intimidated by him.

Myadze filed almost two years’ worth of text messages, beginning after the alleged car incident, as a response to the resolution. They show Bennett asking Charles for support on various proposals, inviting him for dinner with her father, referring to him as “darling,” and wishing him a Merry Christmas.

Bennett has said she did try to maintain a cordial relationship precisely because she was intimidated by Myadze.

Myadze said he did have a conversation with her at a conference in 2023.

“I said, ‘You know what? I’ve been hearing rumors that you’ve been telling people that you think that I like you in some way,’” he said. “I said, ‘Look, you’re like a sister or daughter to me, and how can I work with you if you keep on?’ And that’s when she sent me the text message, saying, ‘Charles, I’m sorry, period, let’s move forward.’”

A text message dated October 25, 2023, from Bennett to Myadze reads, “I mean it when I say that I am sorry for harm I caused you. I hope we can move forward together!” but does not indicate what the apology is for.

Myadze said the other harassment allegations, brought by a city employee and a member of the public, are also false.

What’s the motivation?

He said he believes the entire investigation is an effort by more progressive Common Council members to have him removed from the Common Council or to lose a re-election bid.

“I believe that (Bennett is being) used as a pawn to flip my seat. That’s what I truly believe,” he said. “Every alder that signed onto that (censure resolution) basically wants my seat flipped.”

He cited his vote, along with Alds. Nasra Wehelie, Barbara Harrington-McKinney, Isadore Knox, and Bill Tishler, against a pay raise for alders in January 2024 as one reason he believes other alders want to hurt him politically. The measure, which would have increased pay for Alders from about $13,000 per year to about $24,000, required 15 votes to pass; with Alder Amani Latimer Burris abstaining, the five no votes were enough to defeat it.

Those who voted no and abstained on that vote are the only alders who did not sponsor the censure resolution.

Asked why he believes the rest of the council isn’t creating allegations against the other alders who voted no, Myadze said he’s “an easy target” because he does a lot of community engagement and is newer to the council than other members.

Myadze also said other members of council are upset that he declined to campaign in favor of the referendum, which passed in November, that would increase property taxes to fill a $22 million gap in the city’s operating budget.

Domestic abuse allegations

Myadze also addressed allegations of domestic violence made by former wife Jamie Johnson and former girlfriends Michelle McKoy and Gloria Reyes.

Jamie Johnson and Michell McKoy. Photo supplied. He acknowledged that an argument over taking his infant son to see his family on Thanksgiving in 2002 led to an argument with Johnson, to whom he was married at the time, that became heated and led to his filing for divorce. He later pled guilty to false imprisonment and other charges and completed a deferred prosecution program, which led to the charges being expunged.

He said he had a “toxic” relationship with McKoy that he chose to end in 2013.

McKoy told Madison365 that she ended the relationship after he had been abusive for years and the abuse escalated to him throwing her down on a couch and choking her during an argument.

McKoy was the first to publicly make any allegations about Myadze, posting a video to Facebook in March. Myadze said he believes her motivations were personal, not political, as she is “a bitter person that wants revenge because … I left her,” he said.

He said allegations by Reyes – a former deputy mayor, school board president and mayoral candidate – were “somewhat not true,” and any time she sustained injuries, he was acting in self-defense.

He referred further questions regarding Reyes to his attorneys, but did not provide contact information when asked.

“They won”

Myadze said he believes all the allegations are a coordinated attack on him.

“Every time an African American man stands up in a leadership role, one thing that we’ve always seen … they try to bring him down (based on his) past, meaning that they have no redemption,” he said.

“There has to be some accountability on my part,” he said. “My accountability is that I’m like this joyful guy (who) goes everywhere. I love to talk to people. I’ve knocked on thousands of doors. But you know what, if you say something to somebody, ‘Oh, Charles, you look good in a suit and tie and blah, blah, blah,’ and I make that comment back to you, you could take that as (a sexual comment).”

Myadze said he’s open to a restorative justice approach, including a “sit-down” with Bennett and the other accusers. He said he will not resign, despite calls for him to do so, but that he will not seek re-election.

“I’m tired of defending myself. At this point, I don’t see myself running again,” he said. “This is a political hit job, and people wanted me to be unseated, so they won.”

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Robert Chappell
rchappell@madison365.org
6083347829