Paso Robles councilman, Cal Coast News reporter fabricated lies to oust city manager, couple says

On Aug. 7, Paso Robles’ embattled city manager Ty Lewis was sitting on his couch at home just before dinner time, when his phone buzzed.

It was a text from a friend saying she had just received an urgent message from a local business owner asking for help reaching Lewis.

“I need to speak to Ty Lewis,” the message read. “It’s just some information I want him to get. Give me a call.”

Lewis said that text led to a meeting in which two local business owners shared a shocking collection of allegations detailing an apparent plot — led by Paso Robles Councilman Chris Bausch and Cal Coast News reporter Karen Velie, Lewis says — to concoct audacious lies about him in an attempt to trash his reputation and force him from his job as the city’s top administrator.

The meeting prompted Lewis to submit a letter — in support of his $2.275 million complaint against the city — to his and the city’s attorneys, alerting them to the situation, laying out the allegations and also naming two City Council candidates, a North County Republican Party leader and a local resident with a longtime grudge against Lewis as all having a role in the campaign.

The Tribune obtained a copy of the letter, which the city previously disclosed under the Public Records Act.

Lewis, who is out on medical leave, accused the city of turning a blind eye to Bausch’s animosity toward him, to the extent it created a hostile work environment.

The alleged harassment tracks back over a year and a half, Lewis said, citing a laundry list of complaints.

According to Lewis’ government claim, Bausch accused him of attending “sex parties,” having an affair with Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce president Gina Fitzpatrick and refusing to bow his head for prayer during meetings, to which Bausch allegedly made derogatory comments about Lewis’ upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness. Lewis said Bausch would also regularly glare at him and direct “terse comments” toward him during meetings.

While Bausch never told Lewis he wanted him ousted, he did allegedly threaten Lewis with poor publicity — articles written by Velie — if he didn’t comply with certain demands, Lewis told The Tribune.

Lewis confirmed the letter was from him and told The Tribune he believes Bausch and Velie are leading a coordinated character assassination against him, a point corroborated by the two business owners.

“Velie and Bausch are lying to get to get me out of office,” Lewis said the couple told him.

The city is currently investigating Lewis’ complaint, but he is worried those findings may never be released publicly. The swirling controversy led Mayor John Hamon to weigh in with a letter to the Paso Robles Daily News, condemning the “nefarious” means unnamed people were using to oust Lewis from office, citing a “conspiracy.”

Lewis also said he notified San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow, but that he had not heard if Dow’s office was looking into the case.

The District Attorney’s Office could not confirm or deny whether it was investigating the allegations.

Lewis has worked with the city of Paso Robles since April 2002, when he started at the Police Department as an entry level officer. He rose through the ranks and was promoted to police chief in 2018, before transitioning to his role at City Hall in 2021.

When asked how these circumstances have impacted his life, Lewis paused and sighed heavily.

“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make ... bringing something forward that I know is going to impact the community for years to come,” he said. “But from my perspective, it’s all about doing what’s right for the community.”

Lewis said the alleged coordinated character assassination against him, steered by Bausch and Velie, has taken a toll on him and his family.

“I hope that all of this is brought to light, because trying to take somebody’s career, trying to ruin somebody’s reputation and affecting somebody’s health, isn’t what anybody signs up for when they try and dedicate their life to public service.”

Letter alleges councilman, candidates and local reporter shared rumors to oust Lewis

According to the letter obtained by The Tribune, the business owners — a husband and wife whose names are redacted in the document — described an alleged conspiracy taking place in Paso Robles to oust Lewis from his position as city manager.

The simmering campaign, which they described as dating back to early 2023, escalated about two months ago when they learned that one of the participants was going to try to conduct a citizen’s arrest of Lewis at the Aug. 20 City Council meeting.

The citizens told Lewis that Glenn O’Hagan, a Paso Robles citizen who has harbored a grudge against Lewis over a child welfare case dating back to 2017, was plotting to call for his “immediate arrest” at the meeting, according to the letter.

O’Hagan allegedly presented documents to the business owners that outlined alleged illegal conduct by Lewis during an investigation of former police officer Chris McGuire, who left his job in 2018 while under investigation for alleged sexual assault. Lewis was police chief at the time.

The couple also told Lewis that Velie admitted to working with Bausch to create rumors that Lewis had attended “sex parties.” Velie reportedly told them she knew the rumors were untrue, according to Lewis’ letter, but was spreading them anyway.

“Velie told them that they really don’t have any ‘dirt’ on me, but it is their goal to get me to leave my job as CM (city manager),” Lewis wrote to the city.

Immediately after Lewis’ Aug. 7 conversation with the couple, he called city attorney Elizabeth Hull and Police Chief Damian Nord, according to the letter.

Lewis claimed he had not discussed any complaints about Bausch or others with the two business owners prior to the Aug. 7 discussion.

“Again, I would appreciate anyone’s help,” Lewis wrote in the letter. “This goes beyond political rhetoric. This is lying to destroy my reputation, career and ability to provide for my family.”

Then, the next day on Aug. 8, Lewis received a follow-up call from the concerned citizens, according to the letter. Lewis asked the couple if they would provide a statement to his attorney, which they agreed to do, he wrote.

The couple then expanded upon their previous statements, alleging that Bausch worked with Velie on O’Hagan’s campaign for City Council, the letter says. O’Hagan ultimately did not qualify for the ballot.

They also said that Bausch worked with District 1 Republican Party chairman Gary Lehrer and council candidate Linda George on George’s campaign, and with candidate Michael Rivera on his campaign — all as an alleged ploy to flip the City Council with the goal of removing Lewis from office.

“He said all those people meet regularly to strategize on next steps,” Lewis wrote in the letter, referring to his conversation with one of the concerned citizens. “He indicated all of this was organized by Bausch and Velie to oust me and take over the council.”

“He said he was shocked and upset with the lies they manufacture and tell people about me,” Lewis continued, later in the letter.

Lewis and business owners confirm contents of letter

After obtaining the letter last week, The Tribune conducted multiple interviews with Lewis and others over the last four days.

Lewis confirmed he wrote the letter and sent it to the two attorneys. He then offered to connect reporters from The Tribune with the citizens, whose names were redacted in the letter.

On Friday, The Tribune met with Lewis and the couple in Paso Robles — the two business owners agreed to speak with The Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

The two said Velie began frequenting their business about a year and a half ago, and in their first conversation, she told them she was going to “bring down Lewis.” Velie would often be accompanied by O’Hagan, whom the citizens described as being Velie’s employee or informant.

She was the first of those named in the alleged conspiracy to visit their business, they said, but soon Bausch and O’Hagan began dropping by, too. It was good for business, the citizens said, so they didn’t mind it at first.

The citizens said Velie and O’Hagan all shared rumors or perceived bad experiences with Lewis in order to sway their feelings toward the city manager, whom they had no problems with. Velie also provided them free advertisements on the Cal Coast News website and her KPRL radio show, the citizens said. They said they thought the advertising was just Velie being charitable, but now in hindsight, they aren’t so sure.

“So they (Velie and O’Hagan) were just being really nice to me and every time I would have any conversations with them, (Lewis’) name would be brought up in a negative light, like they’re trying to figure out a way to get him brought down,” the husband said.

He added that Bausch never talked badly about Lewis to him and his wife.

The fight over paid parking in downtown Paso Robles appeared to them to have been the catalyst that prompted the group to more regularly patronize the couple’s business and speak out to them against the City Council and Lewis, the two said. The husband said Velie and Lehrer used the business as a signature collection spot against paid parking in downtown Paso Robles.

They said the group, namely Velie, repeatedly urged them to go to City Council meetings to speak against paid parking, but the parking controversy alone wasn’t enough of an issue for them to make a statement against it.

On multiple occasions, the citizens added, Velie went even further by asking them to help her “make up stories” about Paso Robles.

“She was like, ‘I want you to help me make up bad things about the city,’” the husband recalled, after appearing on her radio show in June to discuss homelessness in Paso Robles.

He also said Velie and O’Hagan told him there was “evidence” of Lewis attending sex parties, but he told The Tribune that he didn’t believe the rumor.

The influence campaign had lasted about six months, when shortly after November 2023, they said an excited Rivera rushed into their business one day and declared “I got him!” before quickly walking out.

They said they later saw in the news that Rivera alleged he had had an altercation with Lewis at a city meeting.

On Nov. 6, Rivera accused Lewis of assaulting him during a Homelessness Strategic Plan working group meeting.

Rivera denied to The Tribune having ever said anything to the effect of “I got him” in reference to his altercation with Lewis.

Lewis told The Tribune he placed a hand on Rivera’s shoulder when he went to speak with him. Records show no charges were ever filed in relation to that incident.

On another occasion, the husband said, Velie called him and said Lewis wanted to meet with her to speak about the homeless.

Velie reportedly said about Lewis, “He’s definitely scared of me. I got him exactly where I want him,” and alleged she had a sex tape of Lewis.

But, they said, Velie also acknowledged the story was false.

“She said, ‘Don’t tell nobody, but I don’t have anything. But I’m gonna make his life miserable,” the wife said. That’s when the couple began to question their relationship with Velie and the other people she was involved with.

When asked about that interaction, Lewis said he has never emailed Velie about wanting to meet to speak about the homeless.

“I‘ve never reached out to Karen Velie to try and sit down with her to have a discussion,” Lewis said. “Never in a million years would I want to talk to that lady.”

Around this same time, Lewis said, Bausch confronted him in a one-on-one meeting, saying he’d heard a rumor that Lewis attended sex parties. According to Lewis, Bausch also implied that he’d seen photos of Lewis at one such party.

When Lewis asked where the rumor came from, Bausch reportedly responded, “I can’t tell you, but it sure wouldn’t look good for you. I think if this made it into the papers, it probably wouldn’t help your career.”

Whenever the two business owners defended Lewis or said they never had a bad experience with him, Velie and the others in the group would respond with, “You just don’t understand how corrupt that man is,” they said.

Man plans citizen’s arrest of city manager at City Council meeting

The issue came to a head in early August, the couple said, when they attended the Aug. 6 City Council meeting to get a topic on the council agenda.

When they arrived, the couple said, Bausch immediately asked them what they were doing there.

When they told him, he said they should wait until after the election, they told The Tribune. At the time they didn’t know why Bausch would ask them to wait, and so they chose not to. Their topic was put on the agenda to be discussed at the next meeting.

Looking back, the wife said, it’s possible Bausch wanted them to hold off until after the election because he would then potentially have more allies on his side that he could influence on council decisions.

They said after the council voted to put their topic on the agenda, they left the chambers and promptly ran into O’Hagan in the hallway. O’Hagan hugged the husband, and then told them to follow him to his vehicle “to watch Ty Lewis get arrested.”

The citizens described O’Hagan’s behavior that evening as “erratic.”

When they got to O’Hagan’s vehicle, the citizens said, he yelled that Lewis should be arrested by Police Chief Damian Nord, then gave them a collection of papers, which appeared to be written by ChatGPT, that contained so-called “charges” Lewis should be arrested on.

The Tribune reviewed the eight-page document, and it appears to be a compiled list of alleged charges — specifically noting “ChatGPT” — that ends with a call for Lewis’ arrest.

If Nord didn’t arrest Lewis, the couple said, O’Hagan said he would call for the chief to be arrested. If nothing happened, O’Hagan reportedly said he would conduct a citizen’s arrest on both Nord and Lewis.

At that point the couple said they walked away and didn’t know what O’Hagan did after they left. But when they glanced at the documents, they said they saw O’Hagan was accusing Lewis of kidnapping and sex trafficking. At that moment, they folded the papers up and thought to themselves, “We gotta get this to Ty.”

“The reason why I really turned it in was because I was like, this is dangerous. ... You want to be aware of this type of stuff, especially at a City Council meeting,” the husband said. “I would have turned the paper in to anybody up there to let them know that there is something dangerous (that) could possibly happen here.”

The couple couldn’t connect with Lewis that evening, so they contacted a mutual friend to reach out.

When Lewis sat down with them and heard everything that had been going on for the past year and a half, he said he was shocked.

“My jaw hit the floor,” Lewis told The Tribune, adding that he finally felt validated in what he had been experiencing while working with Bausch over the past year.

“I called the city attorney. I called the police chief. And the city attorney’s like, ‘Well, what can we do about it? ... You’re going to have the police chief there. It’s not a legal arrest. He (O’Hagan) is going to take on liability,’” Lewis said. “I’m like, ‘You guys are missing the point. I think the point here is that this is a dangerous situation, and it’s going to embarrass the city.’”

“In my head is just, I’m like, ‘Someone’s got to listen to this. But nobody is listening to this.’ And that’s when my blood pressure went through the roof,” he said.

Shaken by the increasing hostility toward him, Lewis then decided to go on medical leave shortly after that meeting on the advice of his doctor. He said he knew he had to trust the investigation process, but also needed the public to know what had been happening behind closed doors.

Lewis said he filed the $2.2 million claim with the city to bring attention to what he’s been experiencing. He said he came up with the number because it’s equivalent to six years of his salary — the amount of time he currently has left in his career before retirement.

Individuals accused in letter respond to Lewis’ claims

The Tribune contacted Bausch, George, Rivera, Lehrer, O’Hagan and Velie, asking for their perspective on Lewis’ allegations.

Bausch responded, “No comment,” via email, and directed reporters to his attorney, Bob Gundert. Gundert said he was retained by a third-party administrator for the city to represent Bausch.

Gundert told The Tribune in an email that it is standard policy to not comment when litigation has been threatened or commenced.

On Monday, however, Bausch copied reporters from The Tribune on an email sent to Hamon and interim city manager Chris Huot, in which Bausch appeared to reprimand the mayor for his statement published in the Paso Robles Daily News.

“I must take issue with some of your comments in the letter you recently posted in the press,” Bausch wrote. The councilman said he believes public officials should refrain from commenting on Lewis’ allegations publicly.

“I agree wholeheartedly with that statement, which is why I am puzzled by your subsequent comments in the same letter parroting Mr. Ty Lewis’ ‘conspiracy’ claim,” Bausch continued. “While not stated overtly, your remarks appear to be directed toward me, which would be unfortunate and untrue.”

Bauch said he’ll refrain from commenting on Lewis’ allegations, except through a formal legal process.

“I am hopeful that this process will not take too long,” Bausch wrote. “In the meantime, I trust that you, Mr. Mayor, along with our colleagues on the City Council and our fellow citizens throughout Paso Robles, will forgo passing judgment or rendering a ‘verdict’ until all of the facts and evidence have come to light. In due course, all facts will come to light.”

Bausch also sent the letter to the Paso Robles Daily News, which published it in its entirety.

George told The Tribune she met the majority of the people named in the letter through the Paso Robles citizen parking referendum and her campaign for City Council, which Bausch encouraged her to pursue. Pasocitizens.org, where the referendum was organized, was founded by Lehrer. George said she started collecting signatures for the referendum toward the end of its tenure.

She said she became closer with O’Hagan and Lehrer through the Paso Robles Citizen Academy, a seven-week program that introduces residents to how city government operates.

George said she does not like Lewis’ leadership and believes he should not be city manager, but she has not taken part in any secret meeting or efforts to oust him. She has been one of his longtime critics.

“I made it clear that if I win, my first order of business is to get rid of Ty. So from their perspective, does it sound like it’s a conspiracy? It could. I could see their end,” she said. “However, I keep saying this, I don’t collude, I don’t collide, I don’t cahoot, I don’t caboodle, and I certainly don’t cuddle.”

She said she first had a negative experience with Lewis when her son was arrested by Paso Robles police officers who used what she believed was unnecessary force.

Lewis denies this claim.

George said she has never heard Bausch or Velie say they were going to fabricate stories or talk negatively about Lewis. She said she and the others named in the letter “commiserated but not colluded,” meaning they would share grievances about Lewis together, but they wouldn’t conspire with one another.

“Do we all agree that Ty is a bad actor and needs to go? Absolutely. We all agree. We are all like-minded on that fact because we’ve all been victims or witnesses of his behavior,” she said.

Rivera told The Tribune in an email that he declined to comment on what he called the “unfounded conspiracy theories” alleged by Lewis, but he did wish him “good health and a happy retirement, if that is what he chooses, and I thank him for his service.”

“If Mr. Lewis has evidence of a conspiracy against him, let him provide it in a court of law rather than in the printed and online press,” Rivera said. “This is a direct assault on my reputation, and I categorically deny any wrong-doing. I am asking for Mr. Lewis to cease and desist with these unfounded charges.”

Rivera told The Tribune on the phone that he never heard Velie or Bausch say they would fabricate stories about Lewis or the city.

Lehrer told The Tribune in a phone call that his actions have all been “open and transparent,” and said that there is no concerted effort to oust Lewis, but rather, it’s just a group of “like-minded people” who share a common goal. After the phone call, Lehrer added in an emailed statement that he felt he and Lewis had a good relationship.

“If he thinks he has a legitimate case, then of course he should take it to a court of law,” Lehrer said in the email.

The Tribune reached O’Hagan by phone. He responded, “No comment,” before denying that there was a conspiracy and calling Lewis “a total dirtbag.”

Velie did not respond to multiple requests for a phone interview to answer specific questions about whether she was spreading lies about Lewis.

Instead, she sent an emailed statement that focused on a March meeting at Angela’s Pastries that Lewis had called with Mayor John Hamon and Bausch to discuss Bausch’s behavior.

This meeting resulted in a Cal Coast News article that alleged Hamon and Lewis reprimanded Bausch for calling city employees city “staff.”

Velie maintained she happened to be in the coffee shop nearby when the meeting occurred. She said Lewis’ accusations that Bausch recorded the meeting on his phone and shared it with her, and that Velie and Lehrer walked into the cafe and stared at them as they listened to the meeting, were inaccurate and irrelevant.

“Lewis was a public official discussing city business in a public place a few feet from a reporter,” Velie said. “His claim that I am telling others I am making up rumors to harm him or that O’Hagan is a Cal Coast News employee is ridiculous.”

She said that members of the public have a right to criticize public officials and seek changes in leadership.

This story was originally published October 22, 2024 at 12:09 PM.

Chloe Jones

The Tribune

Chloe Jones is a former journalist for The Tribune

Sadie Dittenber

The Tribune

805-781-7814

Sadie Dittenber writes about education for The Tribune and is a California Local News Fellow through the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. Dittenber graduated from The College of Idaho with a degree in international political economy.