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Officials ‘knew’ of sexual allegations against chief

February 1, 2012

Chief Lisa Solomon

By DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE

Allegations of sexual misconduct by Paso Robles’ chief of police didn’t surprise everyone, according to a former councilman who said today that the city’s top management and council members have known of the assertions for years.

Lisa Solomon has been accused by current and former officers and non-sworn police department personnel of improper sexual touching and other related activities, setting unlawful ticket quotas, and subsequent retaliation against those who protested.

Solomon, 43, has declined to comment on the allegations, as have all other city officials. She is Paso Robles’ first female chief of police, appointed to her job in 2007 after rising through the ranks.

Gary Nemeth, who retired from the San Luis Obispo Police Department following a 30-year law enforcement career ended by injury, said others in the community have tried to raise alarms about Solomon and her public behavior, to no avail.

“I know they (top city officials) knew about all this, and they decided to let (Paso Robles City Manager Jim) App take care of it. Big mistake,” said  Nemeth. “They ignored the signals. Their whole life should be for the health, welfare and safety of the community, and I think they’ve let us down.”

Although current council members “are very aware” of the chief’s alleged behavior, said Nemeth, “it’s an App deal… no one will speak against him. App controls the city.”

Nemeth was a council member from 2000 to 2008, then ran and lost in the past two mayoral elections, so he said he’s probably considered a “malcontent” by some.

“But I care about this community, and when the police can’t perform their job safely, that should be a big red flag for people,” he said.

The department’s officer roster dropped to 1991 levels during the past few years. And new Solomon policies pose an immediate danger to the community and to the officers on the street, according to those interviewed by CalCoastNews.

Nemeth said that particular subject was raised during interviews of mayoral and council candidates by the Paso Robles Police Officers Association (PRPOA) in 2010.

“I’m certain the subject of city and department management policies, practices, and issues were raised in detail” with all candidates as with him, Nemeth said.

The PRPOA released on Tuesday a statement calling for a “safe working environment.”

The letter — which Nemeth called “an amazing step for a police association” — called on city officials to make changes. It read in part:  “We write this letter to publicly inform City Manager Jim App and the Paso Robles City Council that they are mandated by law to provide a safe working environment for their employees. The association membership expects to be treated with respect and dignity by our administration as is expected from us.”

Nemeth said the statement “is kind of unprecedented for Paso Robles. It a huge milestone for them to do this, because their jobs are on the line. The community needs to understand this.”


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………another dirty cop………ho hum…..


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I’ve heard many times over many years that public officials are scared of police chiefs because of the confidential information they (police chiefs) have.


This implies that public officials are afraid to take on police chiefs and therefore, never do anything to reign in inappropriate behavior.


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Even US Presidents wouldn’t mess around with J. Edgar Hoover…


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Very true.


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You would have thought the city council would have an emergency meeting. They are all waiting for it to blow over.


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It will only “blow over” if the taxpayers allow it to.


Next Tuesday night at the Paso City Hall. 6:00 pm protest gathering before the council meeting. Be there and bring some friends.


Wear RED!


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Clearly, Chief Lisa has created a “hostile work environment” & Jim App is “allowing” this egregious behaviour to continue. In the interest of the entire Community, the Chief, App & the City Attorney should ALL be FIRED AT ONCE. They do not deserve pensions, benefits or a “severence package”…Get them all out NOW…


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It’s NOT going to “blow over”, it will only fester & get worse…Get rid of the bums!


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The question is: who do you replace the “bums” with? If people are afraid of what will happen if they challenge a police chief, change will never occur.


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Although current council members “are very aware” of the chief’s alleged behavior, said Nemeth, “it’s an App deal… no one will speak against him. App controls the city.”


If Solomon and App were so problematic, and everyone knew it, where was Nemeth on the issue when he ran for mayor in 2010? One or two candidates ran on a platform of showing App the door and finding a new city manager. To the best of my memory, Nemeth wasn’t one of those candidates. Whatever the truth regarding the allegations, this looks like Nemeth trying to play the hero after the fact. Was Nemeth afraid to “speak against App” when he ran for mayor in 2010? Where did he suddenly find the courage to come forward now? It sounds like Nemeth is already campaigning as the “outisder” candidate for mayor. On an amusing note, I was trying to find some background on Nemeth’s positions running for mayor and found that someone else (I hope) has taken over his former candidacy website: /


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Attacking the messenger… Right…


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Attacking the messegner who is claiming to know the messsage but never delivered it. Read my post again. I didn’t say the allegations were true or untrue. I just think it’s self-serving of Nemeth to step in and imply things would somehow be different if he were in charge. He had his chance to seek the ouster of App and/or Solomon and apparently passed.


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I worked with Gary Nemeth on his campaign for Mayor in the last race and he most certainly did express dissatisfaction with Mr. App. On many occasions he stated that App needed to go. Nemeth isn’t your “politics as usual” kind of guy. He is very honest and sincere in his desire to make Paso Robles a better place for it’s citizens.


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and by the way he was the candidate that the PRPOA chose to support.


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I’m embarrassed to admit that I voted for someone else. Gary, I’ve heard you speak & I think you’re an honest, hard-working guy who wants to better your community. If you run again, I’d vote for you in a heartbeat.


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I’m from Missouri. Show me. I don’t remember that, and I have a pretty good memory. I haven’t been able to find it in print, and I’m pretty good at searching.


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Nemeth was the only one who mentioned getting a new city manager.


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There are porn links in the link you provided Old Ned, comment deleted equating animals and people.


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Adult sites often grab expired domain names in order to get the incoming traffic and search rankings that a previous owner had built up. Nothing new or interesting. +1 for deleting the link as adult links can harm the ranking of CalCoastNews in search engine results.


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Wait a minute! You deleted my post for “equating animals and people” because I suggested that Nemeth was “queen of the pigs” in the most recent mayoral election? You’re really going to stick with that answer? You, the last bastion of free speech in the “most corrupt county in California”? That’s really sad.


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I only provided a link to what was Gary Nemeth’s campaign site and never looked at any links provided on it.


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Gosh, I’m so unpopular here. I need more work on hanging out with the in-mob, er, crowd. Y’all are a bit scary for folks who seem to consider themselves free-thinkers.


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OldNed, it says the post with porn links was deleted. You should always check out links before posting them. Why would you expect us to look at a link that you didn’t bother to look at? Besides, porn links hurt this site and should be deleted.


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“I know they (top city officials) knew about all this, and they decided to let (Paso Robles City Manager Jim) App take care of it. Big mistake,” said Nemeth. “They ignored the signals. Their whole life should be for the health, welfare and safety of the community, and I think they’ve let us down.”


Is Solomon considered an employee? Can the City Council do anything?


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Hey, all you PR peeps going to the meeting tonight, my thoughts will be with you. If I didn’t have another meeting at the same time, I would be there supporting you.


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The next Paso City Council meeting is next Tuesday night at 7:30 pm in the Paso library multipurpose room.


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There you have it folks. It’s just as many have suspected, APP is running the show and the city council is taking all of it’s direction from App. What the relationship is between Solomon and App one can only guess and I won’t elucidate on what that speculation probably is.


I sincerely hope that the citizens make a serious effort to attend the next council meeting to support your LE and yourselves. People often make the mistake of believing everyone else will show up and speak out so their own attendance isn’t necessary. THAT IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE ANYONE WHO CARES CAN MAKE. Remember that everybody else is thinking the same thing and that is why nothing happens. YOU MUST represent yourself, each and everyone of you MUST REPRESENT YOURSELF. Everyone is very important. Keep this is mind and you will create change, there is absolute power in numbers where the voters are concerned because it is YOU who truly holds the ultimate power. Unite and you will experience the individual power you actually hold as a collective body. Unity can be an overwhelming rewarding experience. Try it.


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Cindy, well said!


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I couldn’t agree more and can’t think of anything to add that would expand on this issue.


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Actually there is something that I think should be added. It isn’t uncommon for people to feel uncomfortable about taking a podium and speaking in a public setting. I want to point out that there are several remedies that are often utilized by (the many) people who find themselves anxious about public speaking.


1) A person can simply (this is common) take the podium, announce their name and state that they agree with the name or a couple of names of individuals who have already spoke.


2) They can team up with someone who is prepared to make a longer speech and allow the person to speak on behalf of them and others who want to join in. This often allows someone who has more to say than their allotted time limit to complete their statement as they are allowed to utilize the time allotted those who are collectively supporting the speaker.


In either case, you will still be counted as having made the same statement. Also it is considered polite to simply say that you agree with what someone else said as it takes less time and spares the counsel and audience from listening to redundant statements and no one ever knows if a person is uncomfortable to speak or just being reasonable/polite, likewise the same goes with allotting your time to another speaker while you stand by them. Good Luck, Hope to see you all there.


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How is it that App has so much power & CONTROL? Clearly, he’s not looking after the best interest of the Community…Who does HE take HIS directions from??


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The City Council giveth and the City Council can taketh away.


I think PR has some major, deep problems. Their city attorney and the assistant city attorney are big problems.


I think it will be very hard to get real change as long as those two attorneys are providing legal counsel to the city. Perhaps if the city council can be really overhauled you could get a majority to get new legal counsel.


PR is running into so much trouble now that they are in many ways like the City of Bell, which could have turned things around at one point, a few years ago, but once the city attorney and the mayor and his toadies got a lock on the city, there was really no turning back. Too many people were involved: some willing, some roped in because they just wanted to keep their job.


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WHAT: Gathering prior to next Paso Robles City Council meeting to protest “LisaGate”. We will also attend the city council meeting.


WHY: To protest the horridly unacceptable behavior of Police Chief Lisa Solomon, City Manager James L. App and others that puts our community in danger.


WHERE: 1000 Spring Street Paso Robles, CA (Paso Robles Government Center)


WHEN: Tuesday, February 7th beginning at 6:00 pm. City council meeting begins at 7:30 pm


SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Please wear articles of RED clothing (hats, shirts, coats, etc.) as forms of unity and protest. Bring your own protest signs if you like.


REFERENCE: http://www.prcity.com/government/calendar.asp


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I sure hope “SLORider” is there on Tuesday night. While he doesn’t live in Paso I think he’s pretty good at marshaling the facts in a live setting in front of a lot of people…


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Nice use of the word ‘marshalling’! A rarely used form. The question to be answered: Was there significant scienter on the part of the city manager and current council?


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After a cursory compositional/syntactical/vocabulary analysis, I’ve entered the belief system that “Crusader” and “SLORider” are one and the same person..


If indeed so, It’s cute, but a little weird, that you invited and congratulated yourself!


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No skin off my back. Believe what you want. What will you do if both of us show up next week though? Are you the type that can be enlightened or will you hold fast?


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Of course “both of you” will show up, in fact, all three:. Me, myself and I…!!!!!


Clever answer though, neither deny, nor confirm, but come up with a specious argument. I think I have my confirmation now, thanks.


Enlightenment? From somebody on teh internuts that talks to himself?


O, and on subject, fire ’em all and start over.


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This would be an ideal opportunity for a ‘grand jury’ to investigate. That is, if the grand jury in question could actually mandate changes. Unfortunately, that’s not the case in SLO County.


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