MONESSEN, Pa. — The mayor of Monessen is talking to Channel 11 about two sexual harassment lawsuits filed against him.
He thinks the timing is peculiar.
"We're less than three weeks before an election, isn't it unusual that this thing crops up right before an election?" asked Lou Mavrakis.
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Mavrakis is well-known in his community. He lost in the primary and will be out of a job in November, but is hoping to keep his job winning as a write-in candidate.
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Chanell 11 talked to the Monessen meter maid, who is suing the mayor for sexual harassment.
Melissa Luketich didsn't want to show her face because she said other city employees have harassed her since she took a stand against the mayor.
According to the federal lawsuit, she asked Mavrakis for more hours in her meter maid position,
stating that she is a single mother making $7.25 per hour.
Mavrakis said, "If you want more hours, come down to the city building, and get under my desk." Luketich claims he went on to say, "I don't need any blue pills, even though I am 80 years old."
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"I'm going to be 80 years old in January," Mavrakis told Channel 11 on Wednesday. "I'm not looking for a woman, if a woman offers anything to me I'm going to take an indefinite rain check."
He's now facing two lawsuits and insists the conversation with Luketich didn't happen and claims this is all just politics.
"Isn't this unusual this crops up right before an election, when I am having a successful write-in campaign?" Mavrakis asked.
"Have there been allegations against you in the past?" Channel 11's Cara Sapida asked.
"Yes there is! There is a lady policeman here in Monessen," Mavrakis said.
That lawsuit was filed in Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas.
Rebekah Shrader claims the mayor repeatedly called her "baby girl" and tried to kiss her on the lips.
Shrader also claims after she wrote a letter to council, she was told she wasn't allowed in the municipal building when the mayor is working.
Both women say now that they've come forward, they're experiencing retaliation.
Luketich's lawsuit was just filed in federal court on Monday.
Shrader's allegations are from 2014 and still going through the court system.