AG council yields to officer probe demands

September 20, 2014
Tim Brown

Tim Brown

By DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE

Prodded for weeks by growing sentiment to deal publicly with a prickly situation involving City Manager Steve Adams, the Arroyo Grande City Council will now seek an independent investigation of Adams’ “uncomfortable” behavior with a subordinate in a July 3 incident.

“If that’s what it’s gonna take to make this right,” said Mayor Tony Ferrara in the aftermath of a rare Saturday “special meeting” of the council, meeting behind closed doors, to consider Adams’ future.

Ferrara’s comments came after a parade of residents alternately criticized and praised the council’s actions to date.

Adams and Teresa McClish, the city’s community development director, were discovered in Adams’ darkened City Hall office near midnight by police officers, who had been asked by McClish’s husband to help locate her.

Responding officers later reported that they walked into an “uncomfortable situation” after finding Adams and McClish with their clothing in disarray.

Immediately after the incident was first reported by CalCoastNews, Ferrara deflected efforts by council members Tim Brown and Jim Guthrie, both of whom said they wanted to delve more deeply into the issue than had the city’s assistant counsel, Michael McMahon.

McMahon, at the behest of Ferrara, had already conducted a swift telephone interview of the officers who had responded to the scene. None of the officers reported having found Adams and McClish in an obvious sexual situation, although several said the situation they encountered was “uncomfortable,” McMahon said.

This prompted Ferrara to announce at a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting that the matter had been “fully investigated” and that “nothing illegal” had occurred. Ferrara and Adams also hinted that officers may have colored their formal reports to benefit current labor negotiations.

That angered officers, who this week issued a vote of “no confidence” in both Adams and Ferrara.

According to city policy, managers cannot engage in intimate relationships with their subordination. In the past 15 years, the city has paid out more that $1.5million in sexual harassment claims.

In July, both McMahon and Ferrara had read officer statements from July 3 that noted McClish was partially undressed in Adams unlit office when they discovered the pair.

The council announced it now will seek an outside investigator to take another look at the matter. Ferrara said Saturday he “anticipated this two weeks ago” and expressed confidence that an independent investigation will simply show that “our officers were telling the truth” and that nothing untoward happened that night.

“I believe the police when they reported no obvious sexual behavior by Adams and McClish,” Ferrara said.

Brown and Guthrie comprise a “subcommittee” that will conduct a search for an investigator.

 


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1. The agenda said the council was meeting in executive session to conduct a personnel review. In truth, they were secretly talking about hiring a firm to perform a service for the city. Shouldn’t such a discussion take place in open session?


2. It is not uncommon for government to hire contractors who will give them the result they seek. How independent can someone being paid by the city truly be?


3. The city attorney will have a role in selecting this contractor. How motivated will he be to select someone truly independent who could show the city attorney’s “investigation” to be a sham?


4. The mayor stated publicly that the results of the new “independent” investigation will be the same as the one conducted by the city attorney. How does he know that already?


5. The council is willing to spend up to $25,000 when they could have just turned the matter over to the Grand Jury at no expense to the city. Why are they so dead set against a Grand Jury investigation?


6. The indication is the new investigation will cover only what occurred the night of July 3rd. Shouldn’t subsequent actions and activities be included in order to determine the full scope of this matter? Which is most significant, what happened July 3rd or what happened afterward?


All great points Mike, which is why we MUST demand the investigation include our City Council, as well as City Attorney.

No doubt the POA will see thru this smoke screen, and continue with their request to the Grand Jury.

We all know this isn’t just about Adams & McClish.


MIKE BYRD FOR MAYOR, a NO BRAINER! Please Mike Run. I WILL HELP with Money and Time. We need someone who is by the people for the people.


Mike, could this mean that they VIOLATED THE BROWN ACT?


—–News Flash Tony—-

We believe the police too! It’s Adams and you we don’t believe!


This whole episode is an eye opener.


Big Tony is really making it clear to all of us what “speaking with a forked tongue” means.

Keep digging the hole deeper Big Tony so when you fall in it we will never have to hear from you again.


Ferrara does not yet seem to realize that he needs to resign. That, or he’s an excellent liar.


well rehearsed years of lying on the stand for the state of california….burying any citizen who didnt respect him as an officer….


BOTH!


Ferrara is counting on enough of AG’s residents to either: not be well enough informed to care,

or sufficiently convinced that he’s an upstanding, trustworthy leader,

in order to keep his Mayor gig.


Anyone else is just distracting background noise, and therefore, not to be taken seriously.

Obviously CCN & KVEC fall into the third group.


He will look you dead in the eye and lie, he is almost pathological in his lying


And why are Adams and McClish not placed on Admin leave?

C’mon folks… Someone should know HR practices?


The DA’s office should be the one taking care of this for Brown and Guthrie.


How will the Council appoint an independent investigator to investigate themselves.


Our council is relying on the advise of our esteemed City Attorney, Tim Carmel.

Mr Carmel needs an HR 101 course, if his best advise to AG powers-that-be is to let Adams & McClish continue to work together after an alleged incident of impropriety.


BIG BOZO NO-NO!


My suspicion is that AG will now be dealing with a new law firm,

one which is representing Mrs McClish, in her suit against us.


Carmel is an azzhat getting rich on the cities in this area, charging AG in fees what San Luis Obispo pays its own in house Attorney. Maybe we should hire an attorney and outsource his spare time. Doesnt take a genius to think of that.


What happened after the incident is by far more important than the activities of July 3rd. Obviously a cover up of a fireable offense. By not placing these two on administrative leave, they are creating a hostile work environment. They are open to being sued by anyone working with these two.


I don’t have much faith in this “independent” investigation, not as long as those choosing an investigator are part of the same group that okayed the absurd and conflict-of-interest-laden, $1200, sham of a first “independent” investigation.


How many scam “investigations” do we have to suffer through before the City Council actully allows an honest-to-goodness, truly independent investigation?


Is the City Council trying to burn time until the elections are over?


the council throws away $70K a year for Tony’s political allies Verdun Marketing who are good friends and the personal Pilot of Nick Thompkins, this money for the investigations is just a drop in the bucket and may save us more money going forward…..if we can clean up the council….


http://calcoastnews.com/2014/09/arroyo-grande-councilmember-ignores-conflict-interest/


I don’t care if it costs only one cent for the investigation!


I don’t want the city council to do another sham of an investigation! It will just give them the right to claim, when the jerk-off results return, to say, “See? We have now conducted two investigations and they STILL aren’t happy!”


Another sham investigation is worse than the city council just telling us “go f*** yourselves.”


As long as the city council is controlling the investigator selection process, the are controlling the outcome of the investigation, and if that is the case we might as well give up now.


With Ferrara’ s iron-fist control of the city council, do you really think he will allow Brown and Guthrie to select an investigator that he, Ferrara, cannot control?


I mean, COME ON! Who are you trying to kid?


We MUST insist that the scope of the investigation include not only the incident of July 3, but most importantly, what has transpired since.

We can all acknowledge that poor judgement was exercised by Adams, and McClish,

but what’s taken place afterwards is what we really need to be concerned with, for those things are not merely poor judgement, they were intentionally meant to deceive, and mislead.

We must not allow this type of leadership to continue.


the most concerning issue is the post event leadership, proving what I have been seeing for years…..just how inept our council is. this council is a vagabond collection of fools who should havent control over a $200 budget let alone a $25M budget.


pretty common in government…..”we investigated ourselves and found no wrong doing”


So what?


Just because it is “pretty common in government” doesn’t mean we have to roll over and accept it.


What the investigation represents is that Ferrara and those opposed to a thorough investigation must continue to speak to the issue. The Mayor, from yesterday’s statements, wants to make the issue about the police. He eventually needs to speak to the real issue, which is that it’s dangerous for Staff and council to engage in political behavior together: The Mayor covered for the City Manager and saved his job, but what will he expect in return?


Tony is a real crooked arrow……


We’ll be rolled over, if Tony has his way.


Here is another page just started on Facebook, “Arroyo Grande City Council Corrupt”. Like the page if you agree!


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arroyo-Grande-City-Council-Corrupt/1487422124844816


wow, almost 300 hundred likes for recalling Kristen Fellows Barneich! Like the page below if you agree this appointed incompetent clown should go!


https://www.facebook.com/recallkristenfellowsbarneich


It was very sweet of her dad to stand up and back the council yesterday.


lol and she didnt say a dam thing…..LMFAO>>>>>>>completely in over her head.


chuck backing his daughter is being a good dad, misguided, but hey his heart is with his daughter.


I will give Chuck or any dad a thumbs up for backing their child, I might not like her on council but good for Chuck for standing behind her. That is what a dad is suppose to do.


Tony Ferrara trying to head off the grand jury inquisition…..as he tries desperately to hold onto the prestige afforded him by being accepted into yet another club, the california city mayors club.


Come this November 4, I will cast my vote of NO confidence for the Charter City.


oh god no, not while Tony is at the helm. He has proven that he is a dictator, not for the people. he would abuse the hell out of that power. accident waiting to happen.


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