WEST HOLLYWOOD—John Duran, a West Hollywood City Councilman has admitted to having sexual relations with Ian Owens, a man he personally hired for a paid government job.
Duran claims that he had just one sexual encounter with the West Hollywood City Council deputy. Duran has publicly said that upon his appointment of Owens, the two ceased intimate contact.
The news comes in the wake of a controversy concerning an eavesdropping case involving Owens and another council deputy. Owens has since been placed on paid administrative while law enforcement looks into whether or not he conducted illicit surveillance of the other deputy’s phone calls.
Duran, who works as a criminal defense attorney, asserted that Owens was hired because of his education and experience, not because of any ongoing sexual partnership between the two.
In a text message to the Los Angeles Times, Duran said: “People are trying to make him sound like he was unqualified and got the job based on a one-time incident. It’s just not true and not fair to him.”
The controversy, that has since been dubbed “deputygate,” has forced city officials to re-think the appointment and subsequent responsibilities of the deputies. West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico and other council members voted in favor of postponing the consideration of changes to the current deputy system.
Duran himself requested the postponement while he is abroad attending a American Israel Public Affairs committee conference in Washington D.C..
