Front Page  »  

Pressure prompted Solomon claim cancellation?

April 21, 2012

By DANIEL BLACKBURN

James App

Former Paso Robles Police Chief Lisa Solomon has withdrawn her claim for workers’ compensation, a claim which city officials had promised they would not contest, City Manager James App confirmed in a terse email Saturday.

The claim could have cost city taxpayers as much as $3 million if Solomon were to live to age 80, according to actuarial estimates.

Solomon resigned earlier this month after a five year stint as the city’s top cop after allegations of sexual misbehavior and unlawful ticket quota practices were reported by CalCoastNews.

The sudden withdrawal of the claim came in the wake of questions directed at App and Mayor Duane Picanco by a man who identified himself in an email as James Bailey. (CalCoastNews has been unable to contact Bailey but has received copies of the email exchange.) App could not be reached immediately for comment.

The writer asked App: “(I) have yet to find the financial impact Paso Robles will incur from the uncontested workers’ comp that was part of Ms. Solomon’s deal to ‘resign’ her position as police chief… what about the uncontested workers’ comp disability claim for mental and physical stress related to this sordid affair?  Is there a dollar value or a time limit imposed on this claim? Or is it an open check, from which Ms Solomon can receive benefits forever?

“I have found out that Paso Robles Worker’s Compensation plan is a self-insured plan, meaning the employer (city taxpayers) assumes the financial risk for providing benefits to its employees.  In general terms, this implies the city pays the cost of each claim ‘out of pocket’ as they are incurred instead of paying a fixed premium to an insurance carrier or to a state sponsored workers’ comp fund.  This would further imply that payments would come directly from the city’s general fund.

“Given that this claim was uncontested, does this also mean anything and everything about it is a secret, and the residents of Paso Robles will never know just how much this will cost them?  If truly, there are no dollar or time limitations on this claim, then couldn’t she draw on this for years?”

Bailey then asked, “Don’t the citizens of this city deserve this knowledge?”

App, in a return email to Bailey Saturday morning — 12 hours after Bailey’s questions — wrote: “The claim has been withdrawn.”

When Solomon left her post, she and other city officials blamed news reports of her alleged transgressions for causing her undue stress, and as part of her so-called “retirement” at age 43, the city council agreed that her claim for workers’ comp would not be contested. Additionally, she was given $250,000 in walking money, and a confidentiality agreement so far has prevented either her or the city from revealing the contents of a city investigation into her alleged behavior.


Loading...
Subjects:         
Related:


74 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Actually I suspect someone made it clear to Solomon that she would be investigated and likely convicted unless she backed-off from her bogus claim. That’s the sort of action that would make her back away so quickly from the $$$.


0

Backing off from a workers comp claim does not hold anyone harmless from investigation.


0

In practical terms it might well stop any investigation before it begins.


0

It pays to have friends in high places! : )


0

It’s time to clean the dirty laundry. This is like the mafia, buying protection. I fully support the people of Paso Robles with their efforts to clean the city up. Maybe their actions will leak over into other cities like Atascadero where all of their misdoings are starting to unfold.


0

I would say she fits into one of these categories:


There are many different ways to violate California’s workers’ compensation insurance fraud laws. The following are brief descriptions of some of the most common.


Applicant fraud (that is, fraud by the alleged injured employee)


Applicant fraud can take a variety of forms. These types of cases involve applicants (that is, employees who are claiming to be injured) who


fake an injury (or lie about the extent of their injury),


claim that a non-work injury is work-related,5


fail to disclose a prior injury,6


deny filing previous claims,


collect benefits for the same injury from more than one employer, and/or


illegally work while receiving workers’ comp benefits.


So…….should Mr. App do the right thing and persuade the DA to file charges for workers’ comp fraud? I would say she might have filed a false claim.


0

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we woke up tomorrow (or very soon) and read about the DA filing

charges against Ms. Solomon for W/C fraud? Probably won’t happen, unless us citizens can get

the state involved in this. It is for certain sure that Jimmy and the CC do not possess the male appendages needed to do that on their own.


0

Crusader,


You are absolutely right, App must go, no package. End of story, done deal.


HOWEVER…. Fred Strong has App qued up to get a RAISE in June. Fred believes Jim App is under paid relative to other City managers, just ask him to show you his study, he’s done one. He further believes Jim is a good City manager deserving of a raise.


Fred, please email your study to CCN so we can all see how you justify that!


Karen, if Fred doesnt email you with the study, just ask him in a direct email to him. He can NOT deny it, he may not answer you, but he’s done the little study and its out there floating around.


If he doesn’t answer you, I’ll see if I can find a copy for you, but let’s let him have first shot at it. Come on Fred show us your study.


0

If Fred Strong manages to get a pay raise for Jim App, then the city will be on the hook for a larger payout when App does finally resign. The App House of Cards is falling, and App will resign as more and more is revealed of his incompetent work and slick deals. Right now, the city council has circled the wagons around App, but there are large cracks in the circle–councilmen who are uncomfortable with the continued support of App.


Fred is willing to sacrifice the Paso taxpayers money to curry favor with the boss (App). This is not how city government is supposed to work.


0

It’s simple incompetence by Fred and the rest of the CC. John should know better, he deals with real money.


0

Yes, by all means, please get a copy of this study from Fred. I am about ready to open a fund at a local bank to help raise money for poor Jimmy, who would have thought he was underpaid.


On second thought, maybe it would help everybody if Jimmy went out looking for a city managers’ job in another city that would pay him what only he and Fred thinks he is worth?


0

App sent the e-mail on a Saturday. He doesn’t seem like the type that would be coming in on weekends unless it was to put out a fire…


0

Even the laziest of city managers learns that taking care of issues you’d rather no one know about, if it is something that has to be done at the office, the best approach is to go to the office at a time when no one else is likely to be working.


0

Or he just logged on from home for a minute.


0

Maybe he had to go into the office to get the broom he uses so often to ‘sweep things’ under the carpet. Although you would think for a man of his stature, he would have one at home as well. Or maybe he had to call Ms. Solomon and didn’t want anybody else to hear him.


0

On another CCN/Solomon thread dated 03/27/2012 at 2:29 pm “brettmx” said:


“I’m surprised there hasn’t been a lawsuit filed to enjoin the City’s payout. This looks to be a case of Gift of Public Funds.”


It’s one of the most important postings I have read with regard to this horrid situation. Can such a lawsuit(s) be filed and is that something CPRN can investigate, coordinate and collect resources to file?


Ref: http://calcoastnews.com/2012/03/paso-robles-residents-challenge-chiefs-rich-deal/


0

Crusader, we at CPRN2012.org have been taking investigative action on this matter all along. Timing is everything. Look for important information on how you can help coming in the next few days.


0

Self-insured or not, every claim costs money once filed…how much did this one cost the taxpayer, Mr. App? How was the claim “withdrawn”? When was the claim withdrawn? What were the reasons cited for its withdrawl?


Filing a false claim has serious consequences.


0

Excellent questions, danika!


You’re either “injured” or not, right? So how can Lisa legally file a worker’s comp claim then *poof* just change her mind?


Crusader’s right. I think James Bailey IS an attorney who knows the law and knows that Lisa filed a phony claim.


Just a thought, but could JB James Bailey actually be JB John Borst??? LOL! No wonder App panicked. The plot thickens…


0

ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME!!!???? I can’t believe the BALLS on our Paso officials to let this all slide by, while screwing the people of Paso, today, tomorrow and it looks like a long time in the future.


So we weren’t just on the hook for 250k this could have cost us another 3 mil?? Again are you kidding me!!!!!???


I am frothing at the mouth, steam coming out my ears and I want to chock the living shit out of Jim App!!!!


ENOUGH OF THIS B.S. I’m sure others have got the email from CPRN about next Sat. meeting from 2-4. I highly urge all who can to attend. It is time to clean house and this mess of all the council and App up. They all have to go and go NOW!!!! Should we wait or call for a recall now??


Last to my Bailey were you the same Bailey from, It’s a wonderful life? You sure sound like it. You are here at just the right time to save the people of the small town of Bedford Falls from the evil asshole know as JIM APP!!!


0

BTDT, please realize there is cost to opening a claim. One doesn’t say “I was injured at work” and then “please withdraw my claim” and it cost nothing…


CPRN2012.org welcomes you and all those who have grown tired of these shennanigans. We will be addressing this matter and many others at our meeting.


0

Thanks danika. I do realize there are incurred costs, lawyers, city workers asked to provide paper work etc. that all adds to this. My point was about the three million and not realizing that it is not an insured type of claim and that all the payout is bourne by the city tax payers. Trust me I get it. That is why I am so pissed off!!!


0

I’ll bet dollars to dimes that “James Bailey” is either a lawyer or someone with the juice to shine a state or federal spotlight on this huge mess.


App, Picanco, et. al. freaked and quietly let Lovely Lisa Meter Maid know that more details about her sordid life were going to become public unless she backed off on her workers’ compensation claim. What a mess.


This App loser must go — and without a golden parachute! Paso needs a new mayor and city council!


Thanks Mr. Bailey…


0

There is indeed a spotlight to shine directly on each and every member of the PR city council, City Manager, and those who have taken advantage of their positions within the city in any way. This will happen regardless of the status of this claim.


0

I wonder if Mr. Bailey happened to have a copy of Debra Estrin’s report — the one paid for my Paso Robles Taxpayers? It’s bound to surface sooner or later…


0

Maybe this Mr. Bailey is a ‘mole’ inside Jimmy and his gang’s inner circle. Wouldn’t that be sweet.

Something like Deep Throat of Watergate fame. All I can say to him is “keep on trucking”. A twisted plot concocted by a devious group will eventually be exposed.


0
1 2 3