A rift between P.G. council members and former city manager proves costly.

By itself, the decision by the Pacific Grove City Council to part ways with former city manager Ben Harvey cost the city $437,999 plus six months of health benefits to avoid a possible legal battle. But taken within a broader context, the total costs are well over $534,000 since January 2022, according to information acquired by the Weekly through a California Public Records Act request. Those expenses include an investigation into harassment of Harvey by Councilmember Luke Coletti, which cost nearly $50,000.

Harvey had his detractors in P.G. over his seven years at the city – at first mostly residents who took issue with his decisions and missteps by staff, starting in 2017 with the failed Project Bella hotel project at the American Tin Cannery. Mayor Bill Peake began questioning Harvey more in public meetings, but did not appear to have enough votes on council to fire him. After Coletti won a seat on council in November 2020, relations became icier, with Coletti openly showing disdain for Harvey and acting as the lone vote against his contract renewal in 2021.

In January 2022, Harvey filed a harassment complaint against Coletti, which prompted an investigation by Ellis Investigations at a cost of $49,267. City attorney Brian Pierik advised the council to hire an outside law firm to provide guidance on the investigation’s results, which cost nearly $15,000. (An Ellis investigator substantiated three of Harvey’s claims of harassment.)

One result of the investigation was a recommendation that an outside firm conduct Harvey’s next performance review, which took place in spring 2023, for $32,162.

According to a source with knowledge of that review, it was positive, but by July relations between Harvey and a majority of the council deteriorated. On July 26 they agreed to accept his resignation with a 6-0 vote, with Councilmember Chaps Poduri absent. Then on Aug. 30, the council voted to hire a search firm to seek both an interim and permanent city manager, at a cost not to exceed $42,000.

There are likely additional costs related to Coletti conferring with Pierik over legal questions. Per the contract approved by the council in June 2022, Pierik’s firm, Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP, receives $280 an hour for legal services and $305 an hour for special legal services. Pierik declined to provide a log of calls between himself and Coletti, claiming attorney-client privilege.