UPDATED: Pacific Grove councilmember seeks restraining order against town newspaper editor.

A months-long feud simmering between a former Pacific Grove councilmember, Dan Miller, and a current councilmember, Jenny McAdams, has come to a boil with McAdams seeking a request for a civil harassment restraining order against Miller.

In a document filed on Feb. 15 in Monterey County Superior Court, McAdams claims that Miller, now the managing editor of a weekly newspaper called the Pacific Grove Press, has been sending what she described as harassing emails and making calls to her employer, the office of Monterey County Supervisor Wendy Root Askew where she works as an executive assistant, as well as to city officials.

"Mr. Miller then takes his ongoing harassment to the next level and writes about it in his paper," McAdams states. She claims his actions have "taken an emotional toll" on her and that she remains "in a state of fear." She also claims he's disrupting her work.

Miller denies he's done anything wrong. He says he's a journalist who's doing his job covering an elected official. Miller writes a 2,000-word weekly column called "View from the Rocky Shores," where he routinely reports on and criticizes city officials with a noticeable focus on McAdams. Since starting the column in September, he's reported on and taken her to task for numerous items, including more recently missing parts of Council meetings or leaving early.

"So I wrote about these things, no more, no less," Miller says, adding that filing a restraining order serves to create a stifling effect on journalists.

McAdams contends his actions go beyond his role as journalist and have crossed a line. “I’m using the tools that I have available to feel safe,” she says. “I deserve to feel safe, everyone deserves to feel safe. God forbid that something were to happen because I am uncomfortable with the behavior that’s been displayed, I’ve done what I can do about it.”

In January McAdams posted to her councilmember account on Facebook about the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, and was critical of the insurrectionists. Miller tried to post a comment but was blocked from the account.

Believing that blocking people from the social media pages of elected officials is illegal, Miller complained to Pacific Grove City Attorney David Laredo the same day. Laredo did not reply, as documented in an email exchange between Laredo and McAdams she included in her restraining order request.

(There are federal court rulings prohibiting the blocking of people and deleting of comments from official accounts. McAdams says she is following Facebook guidelines which give elected officials and political candidates some leeway in blocking people.)

Two hours earlier, Miller sent an email to McAdams’ direct supervisor at the county saying, "This looks like it was posted during business hours. Is this what you allow your workers to do when working? I believe this should be forwarded to County Counsel for investigation. It's things like this that divide our country."

The sparring between the two escalated from there, with McAdams posting about Miller on her personal Facebook page on Jan. 23 without naming him, suggesting he has "rage and mental health issues" and staying she worries about the safety of herself and her family.

"In my 66 years on Earth I have never ever been accused of anything like this before," Miller says. "I've never had a physical altercation with anybody."

That was followed by more emails from Miller to the City Council and between Miller and McAdams. Miller complained she was violating the Council's code of conduct.

In the Feb. 4-10 edition of the Press, a front-page story entitled "Mayor Pro Tempore Posts Disparaging Comments" contended that McAdams was violating the code. Inside, the paper's publisher Gary Baley calls for McAdams to be impeached. (Councilmembers can only be recalled.) Miller devotes most of his 2,000-word column complaining about her behavior.

On Feb. 10 McAdams emailed Miller's wife informing her she was about to file a restraining order. "As the restraining order is public record I wanted to make sure you were not taken off guard when the restraining order is filed and served," McAdams said.

Miller swiftly contacted the Council again. "I have previously implored you to do something, anything, to get Council Member Jenny McAdams under control. It has now gone way beyond the pale."

In her filing, McAdams requests that Miller be ordered to stay at least 500 yards away from her, her home, her workplace and her vehicle.

UPDATE: McAdams request was denied the same day, Feb. 15, by Judge Timothy P. Roberts. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 17.

There was a problem with the first court document McAdams filed on Tuesday. It had the wrong name of the person she was seeking protection from, listing him as Daniel Paul Murphy. She amended the document and says she expects Miller will be served within a week.