Signatures easily collected.
The council on Aug. 20 voted unanimously to repeal the raise it gave itself in May and to return Sept. 3 to discuss placing a measure on either the 2026 June primary or November general election ballots. The council ‘s decision follows a successful effort by Transparent Pacific Grove — which opposed the council pay increase without voter approval — to collect enough signatures to allow residents to decide on the matter
Certified nurse assistant Paul Nkoy Lumbi Jr., 60, was arrested for multiple felony crimes against patients of Forest Hill Manor, including lewd act on a dependent adult, forcible rape and rape of a person incapable of giving consent. California Attorney General Rob Bonta did not say when Lumbi stopped working at Forest Hill Manor, but he was most recently employed by Cypress Ridge Care Center on Skyline Drive in Monterey The facility’s administrator told the Pine Cone Lumbi Jr. no longer works there.
Did he get a job description?
In a surprise announcement at Wednesday night’s Pacific Grove City Council meeting, city attorney Brian Pierik said he would step down after only three years in the role.
Pierik, 75, began working for P.G. in July 2022, after the council voted to retain the Los Angeles-based law firm he works for, Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP. Another attorney with the same firm attorney, Gregory Rubens, was hired as the assistant city attorney.
From 2022 to 2023 before the care home was sold to “new owners”.
A civil complaint filed Aug. 19 by prosecutors contends that Sandeep and Anuradha Saini, who previously owned Del Monte Assisted Living on David Avenue, also allowed non-caregiver staff without background checks to perform duties that allowed them to interact with residents and did not have adequate training to meet residents’ medical and care needs.
The council directed staff to bring back an ordinance on Sep. 3 to formally repeal Ordinance No. 25-007, which raised council stipends from $420 to $966 per month and the mayor’s from $700 to $1,610. The May ordinance was automatically suspended after a referendum petition qualified in July.
Following the repeal, staff will later return with an agenda report outlining potential dates for a public vote on council pay. The measure could appear on the ballot in June or November 2026, or during a standalone special election.
And Councilman Paul Walkingstick turns it into a kooky DEI subject,
Councilman Paul Walkingstick noted that Pacific Grove recently voted to move to a by-district election system, and the city already struggles with gathering a diverse group of candidates to run, either from different classes or different neighborhoods
Another day, another Weakly hit piece on Luke Coletti for having held ex–City Manager Ben Harvey accountable. Here’s what Squid (Pam Marino) won’t mention: multiple Ojai employees—many of them women—have filed complaints against Harvey for workplace harassment and discrimination.
The record is damning:
Three complaints already filed
A fourth complaint pending
All involve harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other unlawful conduct
Instead of attacking oversight, maybe ask why Ben Harvey keeps generating complaints from Ojai city staff.
See for yourself:
Complaint #1
Complaint #2
Complaint #3
Drunk, stupid or envious?
Carmel police arrested Samuel P. Shaffer, 30, of Pacific Grove on Tuesday morning for vandalizing two McLarens.
“Everyone is asking ‘why,’ and I don’t know the reason why this happened, but I can tell you that his contact with the police department has been pretty minimal,”
The McLarens each have a different owner who was in Carmel for Car Week. The vehicles were parked near each other by the Pine Inn.
Just sick. Is this another unreported complaint against the once proud facility?
Pacific Grove nursing assistant arrested for alleged sexual assault against elderly patients; Attorney General
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced Thursday that Paul Nkoy Lumbi, Jr. of Monterey County was arrested on felony charges of alleged sexual assault of three elderly patients at Forest Hill Manor in Pacific Grove.They said that Lumbi Jr. was working as a certified nursing assistant at the time of the alleged assaults.
Nurse Assistant Arrested For Sexual Assaults At Forest Hill Manor
No details, but all three 4-way intersections around PG Middle School are 4 way stops. Motorized scooters and bicycles can often be seen riding on sidewalks.
A middle school student in Pacific Grove was injured in a collision with a car while riding a motorized scooter to school on the first day of classes, prompting concerns about traffic safety.
The seventh grader collided with a Mercedes, leaving a dent on the car and a gash on the windshield, according to another witness, Susannah Ashton.
“He was in the fetal position on his left side, and he just kept screaming and saying, it hurt. It hurt, it hurt,” Falknor said.
Ashton also expressed concerns about children riding motorized scooters, saying, “It’s just ridiculous. Kids don’t need to be on what’s essentially a motorcycle without any kind of license or regulation. And we just we need we need protections for the kids for that. But we also need better crosswalks and stop signs.”
Thankyou Seal Posse
Nine-year-old Corale Olsen was out in the water at Asilomar State Beach during surf camp with her brother and sister when they noticed a sea lion.
Moments later, the animal lunged at her.
“It was right next to me, and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, something really bad is going to happen.’ Then it just bit me,” said Corale. “It was pain, and then I was screaming.”