Another Civil Grand Jury Report Critical of Ben Harvey

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Whoever picks Harvey is in for a disaster.
“As with the grant application, the possibility of running out of time does not justify awarding a contract without conducting a fair and competitive selection process,” the grand jury said.
The Ojai City Manager (Ben Harvey) and Ventura County Executive Officer are invited to respond in 60 days.
On April 16, 2025, the Ventura County Civil Grand Jury received a public complaint alleging that the Ojai City Council authorized the city manager to negotiate a contract with DignityMoves for around $10 million for the construction of a 30-unit permanent supportive housing complex for people experiencing homelessness without obtaining competitive bids based on the lowest price as required by law for construction projects of this size
Ventura County’s due diligence finding echoes the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury’s findings in Project Bella. In both instances, the central criticism is that major public decisions proceeded without adequate due diligence, and both reports implicate Ben Harvey’s management of those processes.
A citizen complaint was filed with the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (Jury). City administration came under sharp public criticism for its handling of this project including allegations that the City Manager had accepted gifts and cash from the developer.

New P.G. City Manager Bolts At The Chance To Get Out

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Matthew Mogenson goes back home to Marina. P.G.’s going broke, council members Rau & Garfield nit picked him to death and drove him nuts and then the cannabis fiasco. He did tear down the parklets though.

Marina may have decided on a new city manager, and he will be a familiar face to many. The city announced  Thursday it would consider an employment agreement with  former Assistant City Manager Matthew R. Mogenson at their Tuesday meeting.

While serving as City manager of Pacific Grove, Mogenson oversaw the appointment of a new police chief after uncertainty caused by the injury of the previous chief ( Cathy Madalone).

New P.G. City Manager Bolts At The Chance To Get Out

Measure C Failing Fast

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About a dozen members and friends of the Pacific Grove Progressives were crowded around a couple of tables sharing pizzas and sipping craft beers at Hops and Fog Brewing Co. on the evening of Tuesday, June 2 in downtown P.G., in part to reward themselves after weeks of campaigning in support of Measure C..

And here we have John Mothershead assuming that all Democrats think exactly as he does on Measure C. Apparently, it never occurred to him that many Democrats voted no.”

“My sincere hope was that the Democrats were waiting until the last minute,” says John Mothershead, president of the P.G. Progressives, referring to voters statewide holding off until the last minute to see which Democratic gubernatorial candidate was in the lead. Members theorized that as Democratic ballots are counted, Measure C would have a chance of winning.

Measure C Failing Fast

Well, The Yes On C People ARE Stereotypical Bigots

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Is that what they think about anyone over 50? While the no votes in the AI picture are all angry old people the yes votes are all happy young people. Katy Annigoni on Nextdoor thinks so. This AI is crap, and people using it for illustrations are brainless. .

AI Yes C

But Katy, you said:

katy-weakly

Coast Weakly Letters to the Editor 08-09-2018

Katy’s second crappy AI ad – only the white people have their eyes open. Why? Do multicultures close their eyes to bad ideas and let them become laws?

Eyes wide shut

Also, no children in either ad.

Well, The Yes On C People ARE Stereotypical Bigots

Ben Harvey Same City Manager, Different City

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Sounds familiar, eh? Employee Issues, Lawsuits Plague the City of Ojai

“We’re hopeful, especially after you hired Anthony as the trolley supervisor. It seemed promising. He would often ride the trolley with us and ask for our input. He’s a very kind and helpful man, and we thought things were looking up. But now Anthony has disappeared, and we just want to know what’s going on.”

Another speaker, Joe Puglia, accused Ojai City Manager Ben Harvey of mistreating Palacios, “How you have treated this veteran tells me you are not fit for leadership,” he said.

….

Connecting the stories of the City’s former Transit Operations Supervisor, Financial Director and Recreation Manager, two of whom are suing the City

After Harvey came on board as City Manager, Greer alleges she “realized she was dealing with a different kind of city manager, one who had no respect for rules as they applied to him,” after allegedly pushing back on Harvey’s request for reimbursement of hotel and housing expenses, Greer’s complaint says, she got “on [Harvey’s] bad side.”

Greer also alleges that, “Harvey encouraged disrespect for the Finance Director’s authority and condoned, supported and promoted… illicit and improper City accounting practices.”

…

“In April 2024,” the complaint reads, “[City Manager] Ben Harvey specifically directed [Davis] to identify operational issues within the [Recreation] department.”

Davis alleges he made “his first protected complaint” to Harvey regarding alleged improper use of funds for the City’s gymnastics program in May of 2024. According to the complaint, Davis made subsequent “protected complaints” regarding bad behavior amongst Recreation staff.

Ben Harvey, Same City Manager, Different City