Sedona Police chief's sexual discrimination claim against former mayor deemed 'not substantiated' by probe

SEDONA, Ariz. - An investigation of harassment complaints filed by the Sedona Police chief and the a now-former mayor of the community has been completed, and the full report is now released.

The backstory:

Both Chief Stephanie Foley and former Mayor Scott Jablow, filed the complaints against each other during the summer of 2025.

According to the investigation report, which was conducted by an outside firm, Foley stated in her allegations that she "endured constant and continuous scrutiny, micromanagement, and undermining of [her] position of authority by Mayor Scott Jablow."

"This harassment includes ongoing interfering with day-to-day operations within the police department and attempts to intervene with police department policy," the complaint reads. "It is my opinion that this is gender-based discrimination by [Jablow], since I am a female Police Chief."

Per the report, Foley's complaint itemized "40 alleged incidents of harassment by [Jablow] between August 3, 2023 through July 16, 2025," with Foley alleging that the harassment started shortly after she was promoted to the police chief post in September 2022.

"[Foley] did not start documenting the incidents until she realized the Mayor’s actions were systemic and targeted in nature," a footnote in the report reads.

The report also contained Jablow's complaints.

"[Jablow] alleges ‘[t]here is a pattern of conduct by Chief Foley that appears designed to obstruct my lawful oversight and discourage my pursuit of transparency via public records requests,'" read a summary of Jablow’s allegations in the report.

Jablow, according to a statement by the City of Sedona, resigned from his post on Sept. 30, 2025.

The report was released over a year after three police department employees, including a deputy chief, accused Foley of creating a hostile work environment. An investigation found those allegations to be unsubstantiated, according to the city of Sedona, and in August 2024, we reported that the deputy chief, identified as Ryan Kwitkin, was fired following a separate probe into his conduct.

What did the investigation find?

Investigators state they interviewed Foley, Jablow, and the following people:

• Deputy City Manager Andy Dickey
• A current Sedona Police commander
• Former Police Chief Charles Husted
• A current Sedona Police Department Support Services Manager
• An HR manager for the city
• A soon-to-retire Sedona Police sergeant
• Former City Manager Karen Osburn
• Current City Manager Anette Spickard

The report broke down their findings for each of the allegations made by Foley and Jablow.

Foley's complaints

Dig deeper:

According to investigators, one allegation made by Foley were deemed as substantiated: the one where Foley alleged excessive interference by Jablow in Sedona Police's "day-to-day operational and personnel decisions."

The report states that two other complaints made by Foley were determined to be partially substantiated:

• Allegation that Jablow bypassed Foley to undermine her authority
• Allegation that Jablow colluded with current and former disgruntled police department employees to "dig up negative information about the Chief in hopes this will lead to her removal."

Per investigators, Foley's allegation that Jablow's engaged in gender-based harassment against her was deemed to be not substantiated.

Jablow's complaints

Dig deeper:

The report states that the following complaints by Jablow have been determined to be not substantiated:

• Allegation that Foley made negative remarks concerning Jablow on two occasions
• Allegation that Foley was behind a records request made by a Sedona area news outlet for Jablow's personal cell phone record
• Allegation that Jablow was "routinely excluded" from Sedona Police event
• Allegation of retaliation by Foley with regard to her filing of a hostile work complaint against Jablow.

One complaint by Jablow was deemed as "not applicable," as the allegation was directed at another person, and not Foley.

Jablow issues statement

Jablow has issued a statement on the matter, which reads:

During my participation in the investigation, I provided the investigator with the names of multiple individuals who could have substantiated my serious allegations against Chief Foley regarding her ongoing and inappropriate mistreatment of me and other current employees. However, based on the information available, there is no indication that these individuals were ever contacted or interviewed.

It appears that many of the interviews conducted were focused primarily on defending the Chief, rather than seeking the truth or addressing the legitimate concerns raised by employees. For example, during an interview with the current Commander, he reportedly expressed fear of retaliation and potential job loss should he speak out against the Chief. Despite this, the Commander openly corroborated allegations previously made by the former Deputy Chief—allegations which have been the subject of a pending lawsuit against the City by the former Deputy Chief.

Notably, these statements, along with corroborating accounts from other sworn officers, were omitted from the recently released summary report released by the City. The Commander also indicated his belief that the timing of the Chief’s complaint against me was highly suspect, coinciding with the public disclosure of an inappropriate relationship between the Chief and an employee within the City Manager’s Office.

It is deeply concerning that the City continues to deny the existence of serious internal issues within the police department, despite substantial and credible information to the contrary.

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