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- Pamela Greer, former Ojai finance director, filed a 22-page claim July 15.
- She said the real reason for her March 3 firing was her exposure of internal improprieties.
- The city manager said the city had no comment on pending litigation.
A former Ojai finance director, who was fired earlier this year, filed a claim against the city, alleging certain department heads violated local, state and federal statutes and regulations.
Pamela Greer filed a 22-page claim against the city July 15, seeking a minimum of $1 million in damages plus interest and attorney fees.
According to the claim, Greer was fired on March 3 for not completing an audit. She alleges that the real reason was she reported that department heads had conducted illegal activities, including hiring a part-time employee for full-time work, using trolley grant funds for another department and paying “hush money” to a former parks and recreation manager.
Who is named in the claim?
The claim names City Manager Ben Harvey, former Assistant City Manager Carl Alameda and other top city leaders as conducting these activities, which took place between February 2024 and February 2025.
The filing of a claim is required before a public agency can be sued for some types of damage.
“The things alleged herein have caused significant general and special damages, have caused damages to (Greer’s) person, reputation, and health, have caused permanent and continuing damage to her career, career path, and future employment,” according to the claim from Greer’s attorney Jon Drucker.
The claim was emailed to Ojai’s city clerk and hand delivered to the clerk’s office.
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What is the city’s response?
The city of Ojai has no comment on any pending litigation, Harvey said in a text message on Wednesday.
According to the claim, Harvey hired a part-time operations supervisor of transportation as a full-time employee, but didn’t provide the required health insurance or other benefits. It also alleges that the employee helped the city secure more than $1 million in government grants for its trolley service, but Harvey directed the funds to buy a new truck for the public works department.
The claim states that a new accounting manager was instructed to authorize overtime and double-time pay for public works staff, even though the employees weren’t eligible for such pay. Greer alerted payroll staff to change it to regular pay but according to the claim, Greer was told to change it back to overtime pay, according to the document.
Greer also asserts certain new public works employees were allowed to accumulate and use sick leave and vacation time before they were eligible for such benefits, according to the claim.
Harvey is alleged to have asked Greer, who became Ojai’s finance director in 2019, to prepare a severance package for a former parks and recreation manager who resigned after taking responsibility over the handling of cuts to the city’s gymnastics program.
According to the complaint, the parks and recreation manager was not employed long enough to qualify for such a package but Harvey designed a workaround to allow the manager to receive three months of administrative pay with leave and a retroactive increase to his salary, according to the complaint. The arrangement, which also included payment for a portion of the manager’s remaining sick days, violated the city’s municipal code, Greer claims.
According to the claim, Harvey improperly used public resources for the manager’s post-employment benefits to “exculpate himself in the scandal” over the city’s gymnastics program. The payments were tantamount to “hush money” in violation of state law, according to the claim.
The city manager is also accused of asking Greer for financial advice on his taxes. She also said she worked excessive hours without pay and was sometimes working between 12 to 20 hour days.
Drucker said in a July 16 email that he had not received a response from the city to the claim.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
