(CNN) -- He's the center of a national scandal, facing widespread calls for his resignation, polls show voters want him out, and the city has changed the locks to his office to preserve evidence. But somehow, San Diego Mayor Bob Filner still might show up to work Tuesday.
This on the heels of intensive two-week behavioral therapy, which was apparently aimed at ending his alleged backward ways of treating women in the workplace. Sixteen have come forward, saying that he acted inappropriately -- ranging from one woman saying he gave her "tush a pat" to another saying he "put me in what I guess now is the famous headlock" and tried "to kiss me on the lips and I'd have to squirm to get away."
It gets even more graphic.
Filner has not responded to multiple CNN requests for comment.
But last month, he acknowledged having "failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me," and said he was "embarrassed" by his actions.
"It's a good thing that behavior that would have been tolerated in the past is being called out in this generation for what it is: inappropriate and wrong," he said.
But, in his view, not wrong enough to give up his job as representative of San Diego's 1.3 million people.
Filner insisted he will be vindicated by "a full presentation of the facts," and remained resolute that he won't step down.
But he just might be considering resignation anyway.
A closed-door mediation session with Filner, his representatives, city officials, a retired judge and a few others on Monday ended with no apparent resolution, but San Diego City Councilman Kevin Faulconer said the discussions are ongoing.
Also attending the session were City Attorney Jan Goldsmith and City Council President Todd Gloria.
A source with direct knowledge of the meeting declined to say what exactly was under discussion.
However, CNN affiliate KGTV, citing anonymous sources, reported that the mediation was "designed to include a review of a potential resignation."
Though the city chief of staff changed the locks on Filner's office during his time away, it was to preserve evidence rather than to keep him out, the city attorney's office has said.
The office has said it could seek as a "last resort" a restraining order -- saying Filner creates a hostile environment for women -- to prevent him from returning to work, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The city attorney's office did not return calls seeking comment.
New petition wants Filner out of office Peggy Shannon, a 67-year-old great-grandmother who works at the Senior Citizens Service Desk in San Diego City Hall, allegedly faced "continuous inappropriate sexual advances by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner while trying to do her job," according to the office of her attorney, Gloria Allred. Click through the gallery of other women who have come forward in the case: Eldonna Fernandez says that Filner left her a flirtatious e-mail after they met at a "Healing and Hiring Fair" held by the National Women's Veterans Association of America in 2012. "Hi, it's your newly favorite congressman, Bob Filner. You know, the one who fell in love with you at your last speech," Filner said in the voicemail. Filner, 70, has been dogged for weeks by sexual harassment allegations. He has refused to resign. Army veteran Gerri Tindley says Filner got too close to her at a National Women's Veterans Association of America event where she gave a speech about being raped, which she said happened during her eight years of service. Tindley said she felt uncomfortable as Filner moved closer and closer. So close, she said, that she nearly fell off the couch trying to move away from him. Michelle Tyler, center, has accused Filner of unwanted sexual advances. During a news conference, Tyler said that during a visit to his office in June, Filner rubbed her arm and asked for dinner dates in exchange for his helping Katherine Ragazzino, right, a brain-injured Iraq war veteran. Renee Estill-Sombright told CNN affiliate KGTV that the mayor called her "beautiful" at a church breakfast in June, said he couldn't take his eyes off her, asked whether she was married and then said he'd like to take her out some time. Emily Gilbert accused Filner of sexual harassment on Friday, August 2. She told CNN she was hired to sing at a fundraising event in December and the mayor grabbed her, slid his hand down the small of her back and gave her "tush a pat." He then asked her: "Oh, Marilyn, can I get your card?" she recalled. Filner's former spokeswoman, Irene McCormack Jackson, has also accused him of sexual harassment and filed a suit against him. She said Filner subjected her and other women to "crude and disgusting" comments and inappropriate touching. She resigned as Filner's communications director in June after, she said, she decided the mayor would not change his behavior. Nonprofit founder Morgan Rose said she met Filner in 2009 when she was lobbying for her organization, which works with military and other families hurt by domestic violence. She says he looked her up and down, stared into her eyes and said, "Your eyes have bewitched me." He then moved to her side of the booth, sat beside her, pinned her to the wall, and put his arm around her, Rose alleged. Political consultant Laura Fink has accused the mayor of patting her "posterior" at a fundraising event in 2005. At the time, Fink was working as the deputy manager of Filner's congressional campaign. She said she thinks Filner should resign. Sharon Bernie-Cloward, president of the San Diego Port Tenants Association, claims that when Filner was running for mayor in 2012, he approached her at a political event. "He touched me, actually groped me on my backside inappropriately," she told KPBS. "I was left there startled and fearful. In fact, I actually had someone walk me to my car that night." Patti Roscoe, a prominent businesswoman in San Diego's tourism and hospitality industry, told KPBS that on numerous occasions, Filner "put me in what I guess now is the famous headlock." She told the station: "I felt fearful, even as well as I knew him, because it was an invasion into my space. And he would come in and try to kiss me on the lips, and I'd have to squirm to get away." Veronica "Ronne" Froman, a retired Navy rear admiral and San Diego's former chief operating officer, told KPBS that she and Filner, then a congressman, met a few years ago at his office after everyone had left. "He stopped me and he got very close to me. And he ran his finger up my cheek like this, and he whispered to me, 'Do you have a man in your life?' " she said. Joyce Gattas, a dean at San Diego State University, told KPBS that she had several "interactions" with Filner "where he's held me too tight, a kiss on the cheek which is inappropriate, hands on the knee that last too long." Lisa Curtin, the director of government and military education at San Diego City College, told KPBS that Filner grabbed her hand, fingered her wedding ring and asked if it was real. She also said he tried to kiss her; she moved her head and felt his tongue on her cheek. San Diego mayor's accusers
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Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers Flirty voice mail from San Diego mayor? Great grandma on Filner: He kissed me Rallies for and against
Over the weekend, protesters stood outside City Hall, calling on the mayor to step down.
"There is no excuse for abuse, and there is no excuse for you to stay in power," Attorney Gloria Allred, who also attended the mediation session, said to the crowd.
She attended Sunday's rally along with some of the women accusing Filner, including one of her clients, 67-year-old Peggy Shannon.
On Monday, Filner supporters held a "We Will Not Be Silent" rally, also outside City Hall.
Did Mayor target victims of military sexual assault?
Outrage overwhelming
Roughly 81% of city residents want Filner to resign, according to a poll conducted by KGTV. Another CNN affiliate, KFMB, reported local radio hosts hired skywriters to spell out "Surrender Bob" over areas of the city last week.
Armed with clipboards and pens, volunteers hit the streets of San Diego over the weekend to begin collecting signatures for a recall effort. They need more than 101,000 signatures by September 26.
"We're going to be everywhere. We're going to be at sporting events. We're going to be at street fairs, arts shows -- you name it, we will be out there," Dave McCulloch, an organizer, told KFMB on Sunday.
Anti-Filner protesters speak
Filner, 70, was elected mayor in 2012 after 20 years in Congress.
His accusers range from a singer at a campaign fundraiser to his former communications director, who called him unfit for office. Shannon was the latest person to accuse Filner.
"Every day that I went to work, I had butterflies in my stomach because I did not know what was going to happen the next time the mayor came by my desk," she told reporters last week.
"I have three sons, four grandsons and two great grandsons. As our mayor, you should be -- but are not -- a role model for any of them," Shannon said.
Filner has rebuffed calls to resign from all nine city council members and from fellow Democrats, including California's two U.S. senators.
His supporters, who include some labor unions and Latinos, claim Filner is being denied due process, and the recall effort is orchestrated by those who oppose his political agenda.
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This article is taken from CNN.com
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