Ojai sets sights on city manager candidate who had $438K separation from Pacific Grove

Ben Harvey, former city manager for Pacific Grove, has been named a finalist for the same position in Ojai.

His contract will likely be considered by the City Council next week.

Ojai officials are working on contract terms for Harvey, and the council is expected to take a vote in open session on Jan. 23, said Carl Alameda, interim city manager, in an email Tuesday.

Council members interviewed candidates via Zoom in a special meeting on Jan. 9 before narrowing it down to Harvey.

On Saturday, the council held a special closed session to interview Harvey in person, Alameda said.

Harvey declined to discuss the position unless selected for the job.

One resident spoke during public comment Saturday, addressing Harvey, who was in attendance.

"Everybody in town wants the city manager to do well — to do better than well, to do not just good enough," said Larry Steingold. "There's a lot of people in town who can be a resource for you, assuming you're the candidate."

City Attorney Matthew Summers said information on the employment agreement should be available to the public on Thursday.

Mayor Betsy Stix said it was a great step forward.

"We're all very excited and excited for the community and that's all we can say," she said after the council came out of closed session Saturday.

Harvey led Pacific Grove, on the northern tip of the Monterey Peninsula, from April 2016 to July 2023. Pacific Grove, with about 14,740 residents, is nearly double the size of Ojai, with roughly 7,493, according to state population estimates from 2023.

Harvey faced criticism as Pacific Grove city manager

In 2018, a Monterey County grand jury issued a report concerning Harvey and the city of Pacific Grove after an investigation into a proposed luxury hotel, Project Bella, planned for a site next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row. The report noted Harvey and the city came under "sharp public criticism" for the project, which fizzled out in September 2016 about a year after it was announced.

Among allegations in the report — which the city mostly refuted in its response — was that the city lost more than $100,000 in costs that should have been reimbursed by the developer. The city pegged unreimbursed costs at no more than $40,000, which it said was reasonable for a project that size.

Grand jurors also scrutinized Harvey for joining a group membership in a private air travel club, Surf Air, with his friend Jared Ficker, a subcontractor of the developer. Another member of their group was the developer's CEO. The group received a discounted plan for $1,425 a month, jurors wrote.

The grand jury said Harvey's decision to join "showed a remarkable lack of sensitivity to ethical standards" expected of public employees. While sharing flights with the two wasn't illegal, the panel wrote, "the appearance of a conflict of interest was inescapable." Harvey flew to Los Angeles most weekends to spend time at his home in Southern California, the report said.

The city's response said Harvey received a monthly allowance for travel and housing that he could use at his own discretion. It also disputed the report's claim commercial flights would have been cheaper.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission ultimately investigated whether the discounted membership with Surf Air constituted an undisclosed gift to a public official. In May 2019, commissioners found the membership didn't constitute a gift, saying the discount was the same for all group members and wasn't based on Harvey's status as a public official.

In addition, since the city manager's $3,000 monthly travel allowance reimbursed the cost, the discounted membership provided no personal benefit to Harvey, the FPPC letter said.

Harvey said Tuesday Ficker was not his friend but a professional acquaintance he knew while working for the city of Avalon. The candidate said he paid for the air club membership like anyone else.

"I did not receive any sort of special discount or arrangement," Harvey said in a phone interview.

Harvey noted city officials disagreed with much of the report. "I think what’s important here is the City Council felt strongly that the civil grand jury’s report had a lot of misstatements and errors and allegations that were unfounded," he said.

Pacific Grove, Harvey agree to separation agreement

In late July, in a closed session meeting, the Pacific Grove City Council approved a separation agreement with Harvey that provided two years salary and six months of health benefits totaling about $438,000. The agreement also released all claims between Harvey and the city. A local news outlet, the Monterey County Weekly, claimed the "costly" separation resulted from a rift between the city manager and council members.

Harvey said he is "extremely proud" of his tenure at Pacific Grove and everything he accomplished during nearly eight years there.

Prior to Pacific Grove, Harvey was city manager for Avalon and a region manager for Southern California Edison.

He graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a master’s degree in public administration in 1998 and earned a bachelor’s degree from UC Davis in political science and French in 1992, according to his LinkedIn page.

Ojai has seen recent turnover in the city manager post.

Last year, three men held the job in some capacity. James Vega left to lead the city of Port Hueneme. Interim City Manager Mark Scott abruptly resigned in November via email, citing discord. Scott's resignation came as heated debates during council meetings became the norm amid lawsuits and an attempted recall effort of a council member.

After Scott left, Alameda became interim city manager on Nov. 28. His contract remains in effect until June 30, or until the city hires a permanent city manager.

Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ben Harvey named a finalist for Ojai city manager position