Paso Robles city manager returns to work after alleging conspiracy plot against him
Paso Robles’ city manager — who has been out on medical leave due to stress he says was caused by a councilman leading a conspiracy plot against him — will return to work Wednesday.
Ty Lewis, who was promoted to city manager from police chief in 2021, went on medical leave in early August with heart and blood pressure issues. Lewis told The Tribune his health issues stemmed from harassment he experienced from Councilmember Chris Bausch over the last year.
Specifically, according to a $2.275 million claim Lewis filed with the city citing a hostile workplace, Bausch was alleged to have spread professional and personal rumors about Lewis to Cal Coast News reporter Karen Velie, threatened Lewis on multiple occasions, shared false stories that Lewis participated in sex parties, and harassed Lewis based on the administrator’s religious and political beliefs.
Velie has denied the allegations and any wrongdoing, and Bausch declined to comment on the allegations.
In an email he copied to a Tribune reporter in October, Paso Robles Mayor John Hamon said there is a “very real conspiracy group” trying to oust Lewis involving at least two people, but he did not name who those two people were.
The city denied the claim on Sept. 26, opening the door for Lewis to file a potential lawsuit.
According to the claim, Lewis was experiencing sleep distress, stomach and gastrointestinal issues and severe anxiety leading up to a May 7 City Council meeting where he suffered a fainting spell. Since the episode, Lewis has been diagnosed with extreme hypertension that left him unable to work.
According to Lewis’ primary care provider, the fainting and the medical issues since then are at least in part, if not fully, a result of the stressors in the workplace, the claim said.
“I hope that the city and the organization continues to heal,” Lewis told The Tribune on Tuesday. “I know that the position that I’ve taken, at the very least, is hard for some people to understand or relate to. But I also think that prioritizing one’s personal health is something a lot of people aren’t accustomed to doing these days, and in this particular case, that’s exactly what I did.”
City manager says he’s ready to get back to work despite claim against the city
Lewis said his doctors have cleared him to return to work as his health has improved and said they will help him monitor his conditions.
“My whole focus has been to stabilize my health, which appears to have happened,” he said. “Those who have been holding down the fort, so to speak, at the city have been under a lot of pressure and stress and increased workloads, and I have an obligation to get back to help the city to alleviate some of those challenges that others have experienced in my absence.”
Lewis said his intention of filing the claim was “to make the community aware of the challenges that were going on, which I think have become fully apparent.”
He said he is hopeful he and the city can work together to get through the issues outlined in the claim.
“Obviously, there are those people that have, what I feel is, conspired to take my job from me,” Lewis said. “I don’t think that their viewpoint about me has changed. In fact, I think that they’re doubling down on some of the rhetoric and lies that have been spread about me within the community.
“However, I think that I don’t feel like I have to operate in the shadows with respect to some of the wrongs that have occurred, and the community is well aware of them,” he continued. “I think that the council has the tools to be able to address them a little more effectively than maybe they’ve had in the past.”
Lewis said he is excited to return to work despite the challenges that lie ahead regarding his claim and the issues he said have been going on for the past year.
“A lot of people are going to have mixed emotions, which I think is completely appropriate and normal,” he said. “Right now, I’m just focused on doing my job the best that I can, and I will continue to work with the city to resolve whatever challenges lay ahead.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 7:03 PM.
