Story highlights Mediation talks involving embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner end for the day

"Mediation is a long process," the city attorney says

The Democratic National Committee will vote to urge Filner to resign

At least 16 women have accused Filner of inappropriate behavior

The city of San Diego has changed the locks to the mayor's office, but will that be enough to keep out Bob Filner?

The embattled mayor has steadfastly resisted efforts to force him out of office in recent weeks, amid multiple allegations that paint him as a serial perpetrator of sexual harassment. There was even speculation that, after weeks in counseling, he may soon return to work -- even if all nine city council members, California's two U.S. senators and most of San Diego's citizens don't want him to.

Yet for his public posturing, what's happening behind the scenes could change all that.

For the past two days, Filner's camp has been engaged in mediation talks that, in theory, could end in his resignation.

Tuesday's session ended around 5:15 p.m. (8:15 p.m. ET), when those talks' participants filtered out of a downtown high-rise building where they'd been working.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith didn't provide details about what had been discussed, though he did suggest those discussions are not over.

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Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – Businesswoman Dianne York told CNN that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner put his hands on her buttocks during this photo op after a meeting three months ago. York said there were witnesses. She said both her advisers and Filner's were in the room at the time. Click through the gallery of other women who have come forward in the case. Hide Caption 1 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – Caryl Iseman , a San Diego real estate agent, attended an anti-Filner rally in August. She told CNN iReporter Chris Morrow that at a fundraiser 25 years ago, after photos had been taken, Filner "decided he could reach around and grab my breast." Iseman indicated it was the first time she had spoken publicly about the alleged incident. "The sheriff's department knows about it. I have not yet come forward yet with it ... but if it's needed to establish the timeline of how long this guy has been doing this, I will." Hide Caption 2 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – Peggy Shannon, a 67-year-old great-grandmother who works at the Senior Citizens Service Desk in San Diego City Hall, faced "continuous inappropriate sexual advances by Filner while trying to do her job," according to the office of her attorney, Gloria Allred. Hide Caption 3 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – Kathryn Vaughn, a San Diego attorney, told CNN affiliate KFMB that after her husband walked away at a public event 10 years ago, Filner "made an inappropriate movement on my body." Hide Caption 4 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – Eldonna Fernandez says 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. Hide Caption 5 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 6 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 7 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 8 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 9 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 10 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 11 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 12 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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." Hide Caption 13 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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." Hide Caption 14 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 15 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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." Hide Caption 16 of 17 Photos: Photos: San Diego mayor's accusers San Diego mayor's accusers – 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. Hide Caption 17 of 17

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"Mediation can be a long process," Goldsmith said, citing the mediator's request that they not speak at length. "We are in that process. It is ongoing."

If there is a settlement of the lawsuit brought by the mayor's former communications chief Irene McCormack Jackson that includes Filner agreeing to resign, the city council would have to approve it in closed session, a city hall source said Tuesday.

The public would be given at least 24 hours notice from the city attorney's office about such a city council session, even if it's closed, according to the city hall source.

That would be the normal process for such things

But nothing about the Filner scandal has been normal.

16 women accuse Filner of harassment

The mediation talks come on the heels of Filner's intensive two-week behavioral therapy, which was apparently aimed at ending his alleged backward ways of treating women in the workplace. The mayor began the voluntary program July 29, but his attorney, James Payne, said he was able to complete it August 10, and he was expected to continue with outpatient treatment.

Sixteen women have come forward, saying that Filner acted inappropriately -- with allegations such as one woman's claim he gave her "tush a pat" to another who said 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."

Filner has not responded to multiple CNN requests for comment.

But last month -- after Jackson filed her lawsuit -- he publicly acknowledged having "failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me," and admitted that 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 he said publicly what he did is 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 has remained resolute that he won't step down.

But he may be on his way out anyway.

While a source with direct knowledge of the closed-door talks declined to say what exactly was under discussion, 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 also 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.

Then there is the effort to gather signatures for a recall election, giving voters the options to kick Filner out of office if he won't go voluntarily.

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.

Outrage overwhelming

The accusations against Filner trace to his 20 years in Congress and his time, since his election in 2012, as mayor.

They have spurred many -- including from fellow Democrats, such as California's two U.S. senators -- to urge the now 70-year-old to resign. The Democratic National Committee will vote on a resolution this week calling on Filner to do that as well, according to a draft copy obtained by CNN.

But that's not to say he doesn't have his supporters.

They include some members of some labor unions and Latinos, who claim Filner is being denied due process and that the recall effort is orchestrated by those who oppose his political agenda.

On Monday, some of them held a "We Will Not Be Silent" rally, also outside City Hall.

Still, the pro-Filner faction is clearly in the minority.

Those sentiments were voiced, loud and clear, in protests outside City Hall.

"There is no excuse for abuse, and there is no excuse for you to stay in power," attorney Gloria Allred, who has attended the mediation sessions, told the crowd.

His accusers include a singer at a campaign fundraiser and Jackson, who has called him unfit for office. Shannon, a 67-year-old represented by Allred, 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.