September
16, 2014
The
Tribune
By
Cynthia Lambert
Two San Luis
Obispo County residents have submitted a complaint to the San Luis Obispo
County Grand Jury asking it to investigate a
July 3 incident involving
two Arroyo Grande employees “and the subsequent coverup by city officials and
staff.”
Otis Page, a
longtime Arroyo Grande resident, and Julie Tacker of Los Osos submitted a
complaint Monday against the Arroyo Grande City Council for its “unwillingness to conduct an
independent investigation into all aspects of the incident and subsequent
attempts to cover it up.”
About 11:30
p.m. on July 3, Arroyo Grande police officers found City Manager Steve Adams
and Community Development Director Teresa McClish inside Adams’ office after
McClish’s husband had called police, worried because she hadn’t returned home.
In separate
statements written after the incident, officers later described
them as looking disheveled.
Adams appeared unkempt, with his shirt partially untucked and his hair
uncombed, and appeared agitated when speaking to the officers.
A few of the
officers who saw McClish described her as holding a shirt or article of
clothing. Both also appeared sleepy.
However,
none of the officers' statements reported seeing Adams or McClish in an
intimate situation, nor did they report that McClish was unclothed behind
whatever article of clothing she was holding.
Adams and
McClish told the deputy city attorney that they had a few drinks at two
restaurants in the Village and were talking in Adams' office to ensure they
were safe to drive home.
The deputy
attorney, Michael McMahon, interviewed the five officers who responded, as well
as Adams and McClish, and determined that no city personnel regulations,
contracts or laws had been violated.
At its Aug.
26 meeting, the Arroyo Grande council decided
to schedule a special meeting
to consider hiring an independent investigator to look into the matter.
Some
residents left with the impression that the council would hold at least part of
the discussion in open session.
But the
earliest the council could meet was Sept. 9; the discussion took place in
closed session, and council members decided
not to pursue another investigation.
Disclosure
of the council’s action was not required under the Government Code, but City
Attorney Tim Carmel said council members asked him to include it in his report
in open session.
The
council’s actions have infuriated some residents, who have criticized the
city’s handling of the incident as inadequate.
According to
Tacker and Page’s complaint, by not holding an open-session discussion, Mayor
Tony Ferrara and the council misled the citizens of Arroyo Grande.
The
complaint reads: “The history and background of this event, as stated here, is
merely ‘the tip of the iceberg’ on a story that requires honest examination and
scrutiny stripped of all the ‘cover’ that has masked and hidden this from the
citizens.”
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