Paso Robles City manager files $2 million claim against city

October 6, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

Paso Robles City Manager Ty Lewis is asking the city to pay him $2,275,000 for loss of employment. He alleges he cannot work because of “extreme hypertension” brought on by harassment and a hostile working environment. His claim is the first step toward filing a lawsuit against the city.

Lewis went on a paid medical leave of absence on Aug. 12. He said in his claim that he nearly fainted during a city council meeting on May 7 because of a drop in his blood pressure caused by stress. He cannot work because of the hypertension, he said in his claim.

Lewis accuses Councilman Chris Bausch of bullying, defamation and leaking information from a closed session city council meeting. Bausch declined a request to comment from CalCoastNews on Lewis’ allegations.

In his claim, Lewis accuse Bausch of directing City Council candidate Linda George to create social media accounts and then use them to accuse Lewis of crimes. The social media posts also disparaged Lewis’ fiancé Lisa Lewis and voice regret that Lewis did not die at the May 7 meeting.

George said Lewis’ accusations were “ludicrous.” She said that she has no connection with the Instagram account, 805 Watch Paso Robles which has posted negative and disparaging remarks about both Lewis and his fiancé.

Instead, George said Lewis and his fiancé falsely accused her of using the account and bullied her over statements made on it, according to an email complaint George lodged with the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.

In his claim, Lewis included a lengthy list of instances of Bausch’s bullying, defamation and harassment. Many included references to statements made on local radio shows. However, audio recordings of the shows do not support his allegations.

In one example of alleged harassment, Lewis claims Bausch started a lie that Dixon Resources Unlimited, a consulting company the city hired to assist with the paid parking program, paid him bribes. Lewis claimes that CalCoastNews reporter Karen Velie repeated the accusation on KPRL.

However, neither Bausch nor Velie made those accusations on air, audio recordings of the program show.

Lewis also claims that Bausch asked about allegations that he personally knew a bidder on a city contract, which Lewis said he did not. After that conversation, Bausch started “untrue rumors” about a connection between Lewis and the contractor, Lewis alleged in his claim. Furthermore, Lewis’ claim links KPRL and CalcoastNews to the rumor.

CalCoastNews received information from several community leaders about the possible connection between Lewis and the bidder. CalCoastNews staff asked a community leader about their source for that allegation, who said it was initially started by a friend of Lewis. CalCoastNews did not publish a story on the matter.

Lewis also accuses Bausch of providing information from a closed session of a city council meeting to a CalCoastNews reporter, which allegedly painted Lewis in a bad light. The April 16 closed session city council meeting was held to discuss a petition for a November ballot referendum on the city’s paid parking program.

The next day, some of the people who had gathered signatures on the petition to include the referendum met with Lewis, City Attorney Elizabeth Hull and City Clerk Melissa Boyer. They told the signature gatherers they planned to end paid parking. They also said that the city had rejected the petition to force a referendum because it contained fatal flaws.

Even though the city council agreed to release information from the April 16 closed session meeting the next morning to signature gatherers, Bausch improperly discussed the issue on KPRL, Lewis said in his claim. Generally, however, once the council votes to authorize release of closed session information, it is released for everyone, according to San Luis Obispo-based attorney Stew Jenkins.

A meeting attended by Lewis, Bausch and Mayor John Hamon at Angela’s Pastries was included on Lewis’ list of harassment and bullying. Lewis said the March 8 meeting was held to discuss how Bausch was mistreating him.

A CalCoastNews reporter happened to be in the dining area at an adjacent table. The reporter overheard Lewis saying repeatedly that his “job is to put out a positive image.” Lewis also chastised Bausch for allegedly sending mixed messages to staff during city council meetings.

In his claim, Lewis says Bausch threatened him during the meeting and that the threat led to a CalCoastNews article under the headline, “Paso Robles councilman discusses allegations he disparaged staff.” Lewis said in his claim that the article was false and painted him in a false light.

Even though there are two versions of the meeting put forth, one by Bausch and the other from Lewis, an audio recording of the meeting supports Bausch’s version.

In another odd allegation, Lewis claims Bausch accused him on KPRL of having an affair with Paso Robles and Templeton Chamber of Commerce President Gina Fitzpatrick. Lewis claims Bausch said they appear to be in bed together, which Lewis says means having an affair.

Lewis also makes multiple claims regarding private conversations with Bausch. He alleges that Bausch falsely accused Lewis of attending sex parties, questioned his sexual orientation, his religious beliefs and his politics.

Lawsuits against public entities in California require that litigants first file a claim against the entity. If Paso Robles denies Lewis’ claim, he can file a lawsuit in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court over his claims of improper treatment.