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.

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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.”

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“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