Ben Harvey selected as new city manager of Ojai, California

The former city manager of Pacific Grove was officially chosen by the Ojai City Council to be the top job at city hall. The Ojai City Council unanimously accepted Ben Harvey's employment agreement on Tuesday, making him the new city manager.

Harvey, who starts on Monday, said he is excited to work hard to earn the respect of the people, staff, and council members. At the meeting, he said, "It will be a process." "I will probably listen and learn a lot." I'm not going to know everything, so I'm going to need help from those of you in the group.

Ben HarveyPhoto bymontereycountyweekly

Harvey said on Thursday that he was going to work with the council to update the panel's goals, most likely at a special meeting that is coming up soon. Harvey said that temporary City Manager Carl Alameda will be back as assistant city manager, which is the job he had before. He said, "I'm excited to work with him, and we'll make a great team."

Alameda wrote in an email that Harvey's "fresh perspective" will be good for Ojai. Council members said on Tuesday that they thought Harvey was the best person for the job. Staff member Suza Francina said, "We think he's a great fit for Ojai and that he's ready for the big challenges we have for him."

The mayor, Betsy Stix, said she was excited to work with him, and the whole council agreed. "We lucked out, and also it's been great to work with my colleagues because we've been in such complete agreement on this and that's a good sign," Stix stated. Harvey would get a base pay of $250,000 a year, according to the employment agreement that was made public Friday night.

Harvey had a job at Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula from January 2016 to July 2023. In other news, the council split on whether to ask for a state grant to move the homeless camp of about 30 people that is currently set up in the 8-acre City Hall Community Garden area to the parking lot at 111 W. Santa Ana St.

In the summer of 2023, the camp started to take shape. Alameda said that the council members set aside $200,000 to deal with related problems. He said that the people who were living in the garden area would be moving to tents on platforms in the Kent Hall parking lot.

Volunteers will build 8-by-10-foot wilderness tents on platforms at the new site, which will be run by the city's supervisor for homeless services. The people who live there will also be able to use storage rooms. He said that the plan would be carried out in stages, with people who are sick getting it done first. People think of the tents as temporary housing. He said that people who are living in tents will be moved into tiny homes in the future.

The Source: vcstar