City Clerk Faces Sex Misconduct Charges : Workplace: The mayor’s office is scheduled to examine allegations against Elias Martinez today in a confidential hearing.

Mayor Tom Bradley’s office is set to hold a confidential hearing today to consider charges that Los Angeles City Clerk Elias Martinez sexually harassed a woman who worked for him, The Times has learned.

At the hearing, Martinez, 54, will have an opportunity to answer formal charges of misconduct prepared by city investigators.

Martinez did not return phone calls made to his office by The Times.

Meanwhile, City Council President John Ferraro has confirmed that a clerical worker wrote a letter to him a year ago accusing Martinez of sexual harassment. Ferraro said he forwarded the information to Bradley.

Sources familiar with the complaint said the 31-year-old woman who wrote to Ferraro alleged that Martinez improperly approached her on more than one occasion. The woman refused to comment on the matter Thursday, saying: “I’m too scared.”

At least one well-placed source said the investigation of Martinez--while focused on the one woman’s complaint--has “involved a lot of other women.”

The investigation is a sign of how serious the city has become about sexual harassment allegations. Martinez was appointed by Bradley in 1982 to fill the $116,322-a-year clerk’s job, one of the city’s most politically sensitive Civil Service posts.

In 1988, Bradley issued the first executive directive on sexual harassment, declaring it unacceptable in the workplace and saying it would be promptly punished.

The City Council adopted revised procedures on sexual harassment last month, even as Councilman Nate Holden was being accused of sexually harassing two of his former female deputies. The council also approved hiring a full-time, senior Personnel Department analyst to coordinate the handling of such complaints.

Martinez’s accuser now works in another city department.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani is expected to preside over today’s closed-door hearing in the Martinez case.

After evaluating the evidence, Fabiani will advise the mayor on Martinez’s culpability. Technically, the hearing is to be held by Bradley, but the mayor is vacationing outside the country.

If Bradley determines that Martinez is guilty, he could order that the clerk be fired. Such a decision could be appealed to the Civil Service Commission.

As a matter of practice, hearings like the one set for today are held only if a Civil Service employee’s supervisor has “fairly firm evidence of misconduct,” said Phil Henning, assistant general manager for the city’s Personnel Department.

Henning and the mayor’s office refused to comment on the charges against Martinez.

Today’s hearing is governed by state laws that outline procedures for disciplining Civil Service employees.

Martinez began working for the city as a City Hall parking garage attendant 30 years ago.

As city clerk, he heads a department that conducts elections, helps run the council’s public meetings, is the custodian of legislative records, keeps the office budgets for the council and collects the city’s business tax.

Martinez has been careful to avoid controversy. In fact, one top city official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the “most memorable thing about Martinez has been his absence--his chief executive officer appears to run the office.”

Perhaps the biggest controversy of Martinez’s administration occurred in March, 1991, when Bradley said that he inadvertently signed an ordinance that he had intended to veto. Martinez refused to allow Bradley to rescind his signature.

The ordinance had the effect of placing a controversial measure on the ballot that was subsequently approved. Known as Proposition 5, the ballot measure diluted the power of the mayor and gave the City Council greatly increased authority over decisions by powerful commissions that were once largely answerable only to the mayor.