Tempe councilman Granville ousted over sex assault, misconduct claims

PHOENIX — The Tempe City Council voted Friday to remove Councilman Kolby Granville over allegations of sexual assault and providing alcohol to minors.

The council voted unanimously to oust Granville from his position in a special meeting more than a year after the city first investigated the claims.

Another special meeting is scheduled for Monday to discuss Granville’s removal and the process of finding his replacement.

Granville abstained from Friday’s vote.

Under city ordinance, the council has the option of appointing a replacement for Granville within 30 days or calling for a special election within 90 days.

Granville, who was first elected to the council in 2012, was accused of giving alcohol to two former female students at Tempe Preparatory Academy, where he worked as a teacher. One also accused him of sexual assaulting her after she graduated from the charter school.

Granville was fired from his teaching job in December 2017, one month before the allegations were made public. The school only said the dismissal didn’t involve current students.

The Phoenix Police Department closed the case against Granville in January 2018 because no victims wanted to press charges, according to documents.

Attorney Sarah Barnes, who was hired by the city to investigate Granville for council code of conduct violations, said he told her never gave alcohol to minors.

But Barnes also said Granville “never unequivocally denied” other allegations she questioned him about.

“It’s more probably true than not that” that Granville violated four items of the city council’s code of conduct, Barnes said.

The city released the documents related to Barnes’ investigation, including the police report, which has graphic details.

He had previously been reprimanded for two code of conduct violations over interactions with city staff and a resident.

Granville, who is a licensed attorney, is also under investigation by the State Bar of Arizona and the Arizona Department of Education, Barnes said.

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