Paso Robles has not released leaked recording of meeting at bakery. Did it violate the law?
An audio recording published by Cal Coast News that details a meeting between Paso Robles Councilman Chris Bausch, Mayor John Hamon and city manager Ty Lewis at a local bakery appears to have been withheld up to now in what could qualify as a violation of California’s Public Records Act.
The recording was published as part of an article that claims it refutes accusations that Cal Coast News reporter Karen Velie conspired with Bausch to spread stories and rumors about Lewis with the ultimate goal to oust him from his position.
The problem? The city has repeatedly said it does not have any recording of the public meeting involving the three city officials — despite Lewis and Hamon telling The Tribune that Bausch recorded the conversation on his cell phone.
Whether the published recording was the same one made by Bausch — and how it was leaked to Cal Coast News — is unclear.
But under California law, that recording should be classified as a public record, David Loy, an attorney for the First Amendment Coalition, told The Tribune on Thursday.
If Bausch did indeed record the meeting and failed to turn it over to the city, both could be held legally liable.
Neither Bausch nor Velie responded to multiple calls, texts and emails requesting interviews for this story. The Tribune also emailed both specific questions, but as of Friday morning had received no response.
The Tribune first requested a copy of the recording in October, but the city responded it could not locate the responsive records.
On Wednesday, The Tribune notified Mary Sponhaltz, deputy city clerk for Paso Robles, of the published recording and asked if the city knew how it was obtained.
“I was not aware of this article or recording,” Sponhaltz responded. “I can confirm Karen Velie has not made a Public Records Act request for the recording, and she did not obtain it through a PRA response from the city. I have not released it nor have I been given access to it or had confirmation it existed.”
The recording is the latest detail to emerge in what has been a tumultuous four months at Paso Robles City Hall.
In August, Lewis filed a $2.275 million complaint against the city and went out on medical leave, claiming harassment from Bausch that he said had created a hostile work environment. The city’s insurer has rejected the claim while outside investigators looked into the accusations. No report or findings have been made public yet. Lewis returned to work in November.
As part of its Reality Check series, The Tribune investigated the source of the recording, how cities are supposed to handle public records that are created and stored on personal devices and whether the Public Records Act has in fact been violated in this case.
What happened at Paso Robles bakery meeting?
The recording stems from a March 8 meeting between Lewis, Bausch and Hamon at Angela’s Pastries in Paso Robles. Lewis said he called the meeting to try to improve relations between Bausch, other city leaders and staff.
Lewis told The Tribune he thought the meeting lasted about 30 to 45 minutes, and Hamon recalled it was around 30 minutes. According to an email The Tribune was copied on and also obtained in a Public Records Act request, Velie, who was apparently sitting at a nearby table at the very same time, also said she listened to the meeting for about a half hour.
It’s unclear whether Velie knew about the meeting prior to going to the bakery, though she has said she just happened to be there.
Despite the meeting lasting at least a half hour, the published version of the recording runs only 12 minutes. It was unclear whether the recording was shortened before it was obtained by Cal Coast News or after.
Both Lewis and Hamon said Bausch recorded the meeting on his phone. Lewis believed Bausch used his personal phone for the recording while Hamon wasn’t sure if it was a personal or work phone.
The partial recording published by Cal Coast News appeared to have been recorded near all three men, who can be easily heard at similar volume levels.
Both Lewis and Hamon told The Tribune that the meeting was called to discuss what they characterized as Bausch’s disrespectful behavior toward city staff. Cal Coast News said the city manager and mayor reprimanded Bausch for calling city employees “staff.”
Lewis told The Tribune he asked Bausch to meet following an email he was copied on in which Bausch made a critical comment about city staff.
The Tribune obtained the emails via a Public Records Act request.
In a response to a member of the public asking about city employee parking enforcement, Bausch wrote, “It has been suggested that perhaps the real pushback from staff regarding timed parking is the demise of anticipated revenue.”
“I would very much like to discuss this message and other recent comments about staff with you and the mayor,” Lewis responded to Bausch in an email.
According to Lewis, Bausch’s use of the word “staff” was only problematic when he attributed critical comments to all staff, appearing to paint the whole city in a negative light.
“What I’m worried about is the comments when you say ‘staff’ or ‘people say’ and when we repeat those things, it reinforces a negative that oftentimes there’s no proof given,” Lewis can be heard telling Bausch on the recording of the meeting.
Lewis told The Tribune that his goal in calling the meeting with Bausch and Hamon was to cultivate positive relationships.
“It was meant to be a positive conversation, which I think the excerpt even reflects, to try and improve relationships within the council, with city staff, including myself, with Mr. Bausch,” Lewis told The Tribune on Wednesday.
Lewis said the audio does not include the beginning of the meeting, when the three were discussing the recording and stating that Bausch was the person recording. The recording ends when closed session information was about to be discussed, he said.
Hamon confirmed Lewis’ account of the meeting, adding that it focused on Bausch’s alleged “demeaning” treatment of colleagues and city staff.
Did Paso Robles city councilmember violate the Public Records Act?
Cal Coast News portrayed the audio as clearing Velie of any role in the so-called conspiracy to target Lewis.
Nevertheless, rumors about the recording have swirled for months, so why is it coming out now, even after multiple requests for the city to produce the audio?
The city confirmed to The Tribune that it received two Public Records Act requests specifically asking for a recording of the meeting from Bausch’s phone: one from The Tribune on Oct. 21 and the other from Clive Pinder, a columnist for the Paso Robles Daily News, on Dec. 8.
On Oct. 28, Sponhaltz told The Tribune the city had not located the recording or other responsive records to The Tribune’s request, which included meeting minutes and notes, but would continue to look.
Sponhaltz sent a follow-up response to the request on Nov. 19, stating: “No recording has been found.”
Sponhaltz told The Tribune in an email Thursday that when the city receives a request for public records stored on a city official’s or employee’s personal device, the request is forwarded to the city official or employee with a request to submit the items to the city clerk, deputy city clerk or custodian of records for review and release within 10 days.
“Less technologically savvy” employees or officials can also bring their devices to the clerk directly, she said.
“We rely on the individual to disclose if they have or may have responsive records,” she added.
In 2017, the California Supreme Court held that even if a public official, employee or staff member does public business on a personal account, it still constitutes a public record.
“How that is implemented is a challenge sometimes,” Loy told The Tribune. “The California Supreme Court did not mandate any particular process by which those kinds of record requests are supposed to be fulfilled.”
Loy said the process for cities releasing public records from personal devices is essentially an honor system on the part of the employee or official who has the record.
If Bausch did not turn over a recording to the city in response to a Public Records Act request, it makes the city potentially liable for a Public Records Act violation, Loy said, which can lead to a lawsuit.
“As a public official, he’s obligated to comply with the law, and if there’s a record request made for that recording, then yes, he is obligated to turn it over to city staff to disclose it in response to request,” Loy said. “Is he simultaneously prohibited from sharing with others? I don’t think so.”
It is unclear at this time where Velie obtained the recording and whether Bausch provided it to her privately while failing to fulfill the earlier Public Records Act requests.
Velie has denied in her previous reporting and in an email The Tribune obtained in a Public Records Act request that she recorded the meeting, but said she rather just happened to be in the same cafe and overheard the conversation.
The Tribune reached out to the Paso Robles City Attorney’s Office on Thursday and demanded the recording be released in full.
City manager reacts to recording
Lewis said while he hadn’t heard the audio prior to its publication Wednesday, he knew that the meeting was recorded.
“To my knowledge, Chris Bausch is the only one that recorded the conversation,” Lewis said.
After the original publication of Cal Coast News’ story about the Angela’s Pastries meeting, records show that Lewis asked Velie to produce a recording of the meeting.
“Again, where’s the recording? If you’re committed to shining a light and exposing the truth, you shouldn’t shy away from producing it … My message was pure, authentic and well intentioned,” Lewis wrote to Velie on March 22. “I have no doubt the recording will reflect the true nature of that meeting.”
In a response email, Velie denied that she had heard a recording of the meeting and told Lewis that she wrote her story off the notes she took while listening nearby.
Velie told Lewis she was able to hear the conversation “clearly” for about a half hour until several other people, including Gary Lehrer and John Roush, walked into the bakery. Both Lehrer and Roush have been critics of Lewis, and Lehrer was one of the people named in the alleged conspiracy with Bausch and Velie.
Hamon told The Tribune he saw Velie sitting near Roush and Lehrer at least three tables away and does not believe she was close enough to hear the conversation clearly. Lewis also said he believed the conversation could not have been overheard easily, adding that he believed the trio was seated 10 to 25 feet away.
Lewis told The Tribune he was “super excited” that the recording has now been released, even though he wished it had been published in in its entirety.
“Since part of it was found, I’m hopeful that the rest of it will be found,” Lewis said.
He added: “I think it backs up everything that I’ve been saying that I was there to try and be a peacemaker. To bring Mr. Bausch information that he might not have been aware of, about how it was causing some controversy, and trying to figure out a way to help him achieve his goals in a positive manner.”
The Tribune also reached out to Lehrer and Roush, for interviews. Lehrer declined to comment and Roush said he was not aware of a recording.
This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 11:05 AM.
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