INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

Complainant: Barbara Buikema

Employer: City of Carmel-by-the-Sea ("City")

Brief Synopsis

On December 17, 2015, City resident Barbara Buikema emailed Mayor Jason Burnett to
inquire about City employees constructing a berm at or near her neighbor's property on
Acacia Way which she described as "a private lane." Buikema noted that the property
belonged to City Council Member Victoria Beach.
Witnesses Interviewed

The following witnesses were interviewed (in alphabetical order):

Victoria Beach, City Council Member
Barbara Buikema, resident of Acacia Way
Michael Calhoun , Police Chief and Interim City Administrator
Robert Culver, Public Works Superintendent
Jesse Garibay, Street Supervisor
Lori MacPherson, resident of Acacia Way
Robert Mullane, Public Works Director
Factual Summary
Barbara Buikema

Barbara Buikema and her mother Joan Buchanan have lived on Acacia Way for over 20
years. She describes Acacia Way as a private lane which means that the City does not
provide any services to it. 1 Buikema's home suffered substantial flood damage as a
1

The County of Monterey Assessor's Map (Attachment E) for this road includes a notation reading "20 R/W 176"
which seems to reflect that there is a 20 foot wide right of way that travels for 176 feet along Acacia. (Attachment
E) No employee or resident is aware of this map notation, and all have treated Acacia as a private road for several
decades. For purposes of this investigation, Acacia Way is considered a private street.

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result of the 1997 El Nino storms. When she asked the City for assistance, she was
told that because Acacia Way is a private road, she would have to shoulper the costs
alone. She says that the repairs for the 1997 storm water damage required her to
obtain a "six figure loan" which she is currently repaying. She also reports that about 78 years ago she patched the paving in front of her house, and that the entire lane now
needs new paving.
On the morning of Thursday, December 17, 2015, Buikema's mother called Buikema
from their home to report that a city crew was working across the street at the residence
owned by Councilmember Victoria Beach. Ms. Buchanan was concerned because she
knew that Acacia Way is a private road which has never received street or maintenance
services from the City and because the work was being done at the home of a City
councilmember.
Sometime after 11:00 a.m., Buikema drove home from work to see what was happening
on her street. As she neared Acacia Way, she passed a City Public Works truck leaving
the street with three City workers inside. In front of Beach's house she saw a newly
constructed asphalt berm. While she was there, she observed a truck owned by a
private landscaper drive over the berm and damage it.
Buikema attempted to call the City Public Works Department to obtain information about
the work, but was told by Yvette Oblander, the clerk in Public Works, that no one was
available to talk to her. Buikema attempted to call the City Administrator who was also
not available. At 1:53 p.m. on the 17th Buikema emailed the Mayor to inquire about the
City performing work on Acacia Way. (Attachment A) Mayor Burnett referred the
matter by email to the City Attorney and Interim City Administrator informing her that
she would be contacted once there was more information. (Attachment A).
Buikema reports that later that day she received a call from Rob Mullane, Public Works
Director, who was on vacation. She relates that Mullane told her that the mistake
occurred because there are "new employees" who didn't know that Acacia Way was a
private street. Mullane also told her that the berm had been removed. When Buikema
returned home around 6:30p.m. on the 171h she observed that the berm at the Beach
property had been removed and replaced by sand bags.
Lori MacPherson
Lori MacPherson lives in the house on Acacia Way directly to the south of Beach's
house. MacPherson's late husband purchased the home in 1976, and she has lived
there since 1993. She says that Acacia Way has always been treated as a private
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road and that there is a sign reading "private drive" on Flanders at the top of the hill at
the entrance to Acacia.
On the morning of December 17, MacPherson saw a City Public Works crew arrive at
the Beach property and park the City truck in front of her home. She did not know why
they were there or what work would be done. She had not received any notice that
work would be done on her street which she normally receives when an agency or utility
needs to do work that will interfere with the residents' access.
MacPherson called Buikema at her employment to tell her that a City crew was working
on Acacia and appeared to be filling in holes near the Beach property. MacPherson left
her property that morning to run an errand before the crew left.
MacPherson confirmed that by the end of the day (December 17), the berm at the
Beach property had been removed and replaced by sandbags.
Jesse Garibay

Garibay has worked in the Public Works Department for 21 years and was recently
promoted to the position of Street Supervisor.
He says that in anticipation of El Nino storms, the City is maintaining a "berm list" for
berms to be built to prevent storm runoff damage. Garibay's supervisor Rob Culver
creates and maintains the list, and Culver schedules when the berms will be
constructed. Garibay receives his assignments from Culver and supervises two crew
members. When the crew completes an assignment, Garibay verbally notifies Culver.
Garibay reports that in November 2015 he was constructing a berm in front of the
Knapp property at the corner of Flanders and Vizcaino. While there, Victoria Beach
approached him and asked if the City would take care of a runoff problem on her
property. She said that run off onto her property was eroding the dirt and exposing her
driveway which is unpaved. Beach told him that she had previously spoken to Culver
about this problem.
Garibay followed Beach to her property on Acacia Way where she showed him the
problem. He says that across the street from Beach's property, a 3 or 4 foot "bump"
jutting out perpendicularly from a berm is directing water towards Beach's property.
Garibay said that Beach also showed him the small drain at the bottom of Acacia that
was clogged with debris.

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Garibay says that later Culver assigned him to construct the berm on Acacia adjacent to
Beach's house. Though he does not recall the date of the work, he knows that it was a
Thursday after Thanksgiving.
Garibay said his crew constructed a small cold mix asphalt berm of about four to six
inches next to the driveway at the Beach residence, and the three man crew worked
about 2-3 hours ("from 9 to 11 or 11 :30"). With him were Jaime Aquino and Fabien
Villela, a temporary employee.
Garibay says that the crew could not finish the berm that morning because they had to
return to the Yard to attend a meeting with Greenwaste. The crew did not have time to
compact or "roll" the berm. Although Garibay and his crew put away their tools and
vehicles, they intended to return to finish the job after lunch.
Garibay says that when he got to City Hall, he received a call from Culver telling him not
to continue with the work on Acacia. He says that Culver said he needed more
information and needed "to research" the matter. At the conclusion of the Greenwaste
meeting, Culver told Garibay to remove the berm on Acacia. He and his crew, this time
including Michael Fair, returned to Acacia and shoveled out the cold mix which had not
yet set. Garibay says that Ms. Beach came out of her house to ask what was
happening, and Garibay told her that a neighbor had complained. She asked the name
of the neighbor, and he told her he didn't know the neighbor's name or any of the details
of the complaint. Garibay says it took about one hour to remove the cold mix, most of
which could not be reused.
Garibay says that the crew did not change the grade of any property on Acacia. He
says that he used the backhoe only to remove the berm and, in fact, because the
asphalt had not yet set, a backhoe had not been necessary.
Garibay says that the City did not put sand bags on the Beach property. Beach asked
him about sand bags, and he saw her filling sand bags.
Garibay was aware that Acacia Way is "a private cul-de-sac," but he did not ask Culver
why this work was being done by the City. He says that he didn't know any details
about how this work was planned or what was discussed. He says the Department has
been very busy in responding to the winter storms, and that "it never dawned on him"
that this was a problem.
Garibay explained that he did the berm construction and removal work on Acacia at the
direction of Culver who told him that Mullane had authorized the work.
Garibay and
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Culver share an office. Garibay says that Culver showed him an email dated November
19, 2015, in which Mullane authorized the work requested by Beach with notice to Chief
Calhoun. (Attachment C) Garibay says that the work was approved by Mullane and
Calhoun.
Garibay says that Beach's property "happened to be" on the berm list, and they were
waiting for Mullane to authorize when the work would be done. Garibay believes that
this work was approved because it would prevent flooding from City runoff.
Garibay says that Beach also reported that the Acacia storm water drain, located below
Acacia in a canyon or creek, was "overgrown." He says that this drain is also located
on private property.
Garibay says that in his 21 years with the City he has never done work on private
property. He says that .he thought that the City was working on Acacia because the
flood waters were coming from Flanders, a City street.

Robert Culver
Culver has worked in the Public Works Department for 21 years and was promoted to
Public Works Superintendant in October 2015. Culver maintains a "berm list" of city
properties requiring a berm, and he schedules the Public Works crews to perform the
work off that list. This list is separate from the Department's Customer Service
Request List (Attachment D) although requested berms are included on the Customer
Service Request List.
Culver reported that Victoria Beach had sent an email to Rob Mullane requesting
assistance for a disabled neighbor, Nancy Knapp, who was having difficulty accessing
vehicles near her home at the corner of Vizcaino and Flanders because of the condition
of the street paving. (Attachment B) In an email dated November 16 to Mullane,
copied to Culver, Beach asked that staff notify her when they meet at the Knapp
property so that she can point out "a nearby weather runoff issue."
Culver met with Knapp at her property on November 17, 2015, 2 to review the situation,
and later placed this address on the street repair list. Beach was present at the Knapp
property, and she asked Culver to view her property on Acacia which is off Flanders.
Beach showed him erosion near her dirt driveway caused by storm water runoff from

The City's Customer Service Request Log item number 15156 reflects that Rob was meeting with Knapp on
November 17,2015, at 3:30pm.

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Flanders. Culver told Beach that Acacia was a private way, but he would talk to his
supervisor, Rob Mullane, about whether the City could assist with this problem.
Culver says that in the case of a berm requested on a public street or right of way, he
would not have needed to talk to Mullane before placing the address on the berm list.
In his 21 years with the City, he has never seen the City perform work on private
property. In this case he wanted to be polite and show "follow through." Culver could
not explain why he didn't close off the conversation with Beach at that initial meeting by
explaining that the City cannot provide services to private roads nor could he answer
why he felt the need to "follow through" with a request that he thought could not be
approved.
Culver spoke to Mullane about Beach's request. Culver says that Mullane gave him no
answer at that time.
Culver assigned Jesse Garibay and his crew to perform the street work adjacent to the
Knapp property. The City's Customer Service Request Log does not include the date
when this work was completed; however, an email from Beach to Culver indicates that
the street work near the Knapp home was completed on November 18,2015.
(Attachment C)
Culver says that Jesse reported to him that while he was working in front of the Knapp
house, Victoria Beach arrived and asked him to view the water runoff problems on
Acacia. Culver said that Garibay believed that a berm could be constructed near the
Beach driveway to reduce the erosion affecting her property. According to Garibay,
Beach was requesting that the City construct this berm.
Later that day, Culver received an email from Beach noting that she had spoken to
Garibay that day, that she had shown Garibay "three city drainage paths that are being
affected by the debris-filled street water running down Acacia" and that there was "some
significant clogging in at least one of the pipes and some sloping issues near another
outfall area." (Attachment C) She noted that Garibay had "some ideas about how to
place asphalt berms to reduce this debris problem in the winter storms. I just wanted to
alert you to that component of the run-off problem so that you can factor it into
department decisions about the repair list."
Culver mentioned this request again to Mullane, asking how he should respond. Culver
says that Mullane told him to tell her that the City would get to this work when it was
able. Culver recalled that his conversation with Mullane occurred the week before

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Thanksgiving and that Mullane told him to tell Beach the work would be done after
Thanksgiving but without a specific date.
On November 19, 2015, Culver emailed Beach that her property had been added to the
berm list and copied this message to Mullane who responded "Nicely done."
(Attachment C) Earlier that day Culver received an email from Mullane that he had
informed Mike Calhoun about the work. (Attachment C)
Culver added Acacia to the berm list, and on December 17, 2015, directed Garibay and
his crew to do the work adjacent to the Beach property. Culver says that he may have
shown Garibay the email from Mullane authorizing the work, but he really does not
recall. Culver says that it is possible that he showed Garibay the email because he
(Culver) was so surprised that the work was being authorized.
When asked if he felt uncomfortable assigning Garibay to do City work on private
property, Culver answered that at that time he believed that Mullane was approving the
berm on private land because the storm water was running off a city street (Flanders).
Culver also noted that he had been told that the Interim City Administrator Calhoun was
aware that this work would be put on the City's repair list.
Culver noted that the Acacia drain is also on private property, but the City has
historically cleared debris from it because storm waters impact the runoff that goes to
Mission Hills Park. Culver says that the City inspects all drains once a year, whether or
not they are on public or private property, and he believes that the City cleaned the
Acacia drain in Fall 2015.
Culver says that on December 17, 2015, Yvette Oblander called him in his office to
report Buikema's complaint. Culver called Mullane who was on vacation. Mullane told
him to continue the work, and they would deal with the problem on Monday when he
was back in the office. Culver was not comfortable with waiting and urged Mullane that
the City take action that day to which Mullane agreed. Culver then directed Garibay to
remove the berm. Culver says that Victoria Beach called him to ask why the "beautiful
berm" was being removed, and Culver explained that there had been a neighborhood
complaint about public work being done on private property. Beach asked who the
neighbor was, and Culver told her it was a woman named Barbara.
Culver met with Mullane the following week "to sort things out." Mullane told him that
he (Mullane) misunderstood that Acacia Way was a private road and that Mullane
thought the repairs would be done on a public right of way. Mullane also told Culver

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that he needed to "push back" in the future and talk to Mullane if Culver believed
Mullane was going in the wrong direction.
Culver never spoke to Buikema and never saw the berm that the crew constructed. He
recalls seeing a udiverter" on the berm across the street from Beach's property, but he
cannot identify which house is responsible for it.
When asked if he was aware of other private property owners requesting help from the
City for water flowing down from a public street, Culver mentioned the corner of San
Antonia and Ninth where storm waters jumped a City berm (on public right of way) and
caused flooding. There, the City raised the berm and added sandbags.

Robert Mullane
Mullane has been the Public Works Director for 5 months. Since arriving in the
department, Mullane instituted a policy that all citizen requests be tracked on a chart
called the Customer Service Request Log. (Attachment D). The Log shows the date of
the request, location and nature of the request, date closed, person who received the
assignment, whether customer followup was completed, and pertinent notes.
Mullane says that storm preparation was a major priority for the Public Works
Department this year. Announcements in the local newspaper and at City Council
meetings invited residents to send requests for repairs to Mullane.
The Customer Service Request Log items 15156 and 15162 (page 7 of Attachment D)
are relevant to this investigation and both show as "open." Item 15156 refers to the
Knapp residence. Item 15162 refers to a November 19, 2015, request relating to
"drainage path running into Acacia," and the contact is shown as Victoria Beach.
Mullane recalls that Beach sent Culver an email which Culver forwarded to him. He
also recalls that Culver told him that Beach had approached Jesse Garibay about a
drainage issue on her street. Initially in the interview, Mullane denied knowing that
Acacia Way was a private road and denied that Culver had told him this was a private
road. Mullane later modified his statement to say that Culver may have told him that
this was a private road, but he thought that the remedial work would be done on the
public right of way. Mullane says he never understood that the City crew would be
performing work on Acacia or near Beach's home.

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From Mullane's perspective, Culver brought Beach's request to him not because it
involved her private property but because the request was coming from a council
member who may have been pressuring staff to get the work done as a top priority.
Mullane felt his guidance was needed to make sure that a council member did not exert
undue pressure or receive special treatment. Mullane says that this is the reason that
he notified Mike Calhoun about the work being put on the repair list. Mullane believes
that he discussed Beach's request with Calhoun at one of their regular weekly meetings
before sending Calhoun an email which included the correspondence between Beach
and Culver. (Attachment F) Mullane's email reflects his belief that his staff contacted
him because they felt pressure from Beach to expedite the construction of the berm.
Mullane says he was on vacation on December 17, when Yvette Oblander texted him
that a neighbor had complained about work on Acacia. Mullane says he spoke to
Culver who told him that the work had not yet been "rolled" or compacted. Mullane
recalls that he told Culver to remove the berm since the work was not yet complete, and
told Culver that they would talk about the matter on Monday, December 21. Mullane
called Buikema to notify her that the berm should not have been constructed and would
be removed that day. He recalls that he told Buikema that it was news to him that the
work was being done on private property.
Mullane says that Buikema also reported that the City crew had graded Beach's
driveway. Mullane says that Garibay confirmed that the crew did not work on the
driveway.
Mullane has not had any conversation with Victoria Beach about the complaint. Culver
reported to him that Beach had called Culver to find out what was happening with the
"beautiful berm."
Mullane is not aware that the City crews annually inspect and clean out storm drains on
private lands. He said that the City should not be doing that unless there is a
maintenance agreement between the City and the property owner.
Mullane says that he meets with Culver every Monday and on Monday, December 21,
he asked Garibay to sit in on the meeting. Mullane was concerned that neither
employee had challenged his direction to do work on Acacia. In this meeting Mullane
told Garibay and Culver that they need to "push back" if they believe he is directing

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them to do something that is improper. 3 He also decided that in the future when issues
like this are brought to him, he will make a site visit so that he has a clear picture of
what work is being proposed.
Mullane says that this incident was a mistake and he is "embarrassed" by it, but there
was nothing "willful or untoward" involved. Mullane confirms that Calhoun counseled
him about good customer service when a citizen calls with a complaint and Mullane is
out of his office.
Victoria Beach

Beach currently serves on the Carmel City Council. She has lived on Acacia Way for
the past seven years. Beach confirmed that the road is private and has a sign at its
entrance that reads "private drive." She describes herself as being "the newest on the
street."
At the outset, Beach wanted it understood that no City work was done on her property,
noting that the berm was constructed on Acacia Way, the paved road, which she coowns with the other Acacia property owners. She wishes to make clear that she never
asked City crews to work on or at her private property. 4
She recalled an announcement at a City Council meeting asking for property owners to
notify the City, specifically Rob Mullane, about potential flood issues. One of her
neighbors, Nancy Knapp, emailed her about issues near her home on the corner of
Flanders and Vizcaino, and Beach forwarded that email to Rob Mullane.
Beach did not initially recall asking to be notified when the City staff member met with
Ms. Knapp, nor did she recall talking to Rob Culver at the Knapp property on November
17. When shown her email of November 16, Beach's recollection was refreshed. She
says that she showed Culver how the water flows down Acacia from the public street
(Flanders) onto private properties. She told Culver she was not sure if the City could
assist a private road (Acacia), and she asked him to review this situation with his
superiors. Although she thought that the City had no responsibility on a private road, in
this case the problems were caused by rain water coming from Flanders, a public right
of way.

It should be noted that the Investigator asked each employee if he knew what to do if he were ever directed by a
superior to do work that he believed was improper or illegal. None mentioned the option of contacting the City
Attorney.
4
Beach says that she was contacted by a reporter who heard that City crews had done work on her property.

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She recalls having Jesse Garibay also visit her property while he and his crew were
working near the Knapp property. She says that she showed him three elements
involving storm water: the clogged drain, the outfall, and the water that was flowing off
the road onto private property. She says that the storm water was not following the
correct direction to the outfall or if it made it there, the drain was clogged.
She says that Garibay told her there were three tasks needed: clear out the drain of
any debris; clear the trench or overflow; and install a berm to keep water on the street.
Beach says that the berm being discussed would be placed adjacent to her property
near an area covered by mulch to redirect the storm water away from her property.
Beach disputes that this mulch area is her driveway though she concedes that vehicles
could be parked there. She says that her driveway is on the other side of her property.
Beach says that water running down Acacia was hitting the berm across the street from
her property and being redirected towards the mulch area on her property.
She says she told Garibay to let her know if the City could not do the work on Acacia
because she would then know that the Acacia homeowners would have to take care of
the work privately.
Beach says she never spoke to Mullane about this issue except briefly at a City Council
meeting when he told her that the work was "good to go" which she believed meant that
the issue about whether the City could do work on private property had been resolved.
She assumed that Mullane had looked into the private property issue because he
normally would not have been reviewing routine Citywide requests for berms and other
storm water preparations.
Beach was home on the morning of December 17 when Garibay and his crew began to
construct the berm. She confirms that the asphalt berm was constructed on the paved
road next to her property and that this berm would have directed water away from her
property. She says that the crew did not clear out the Acacia drain to the best of her
knowledge.
She says that the City crew left the property that morning and then another truck arrived
later in the day to remove the berm. She asked Garibay what was happening, and he
told her that the City had received a complaint from a neighbor. Beach does not recall if
she asked Garibay for the name of the complainant.
Beach then called Rob Culver to ask what happened. She does not recall using the
words "beautiful berm." She asked him why the staff did not stand behind its position
that the berm was appropriate and that is when she first learned that Mullane had not
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realized that this berm would be constructed on Acacia. She says Culver told her that
the complainant has a history of being "disgruntled" with the City, and based on that
description, Beach recognized who the complaining neighbor was. She says that she
vaguely recalls neighbors on Acacia telling her that they had been water issues in the
past and that the City had not assisted them.
Beach left on vacation early the following morning ( December 18) and was gone for
almost a month. Beach questions the City's response to the complaint. She feels that
removing the berm was a waste of money. She feels that because the decision had
been approved by a supervisor, the City should not have been so quick to reverse itself.
Beach also wonders why a berm could not have been constructed on Flanders to divert
water from Acacia.

Michael Calhoun
Calhoun is the City's Police Chief and since November 2015 is the City's Interim City
Administrator.
Calhoun recalls Mullane announcing at a Council meeting that citizens should contact
him directly as the point of contact for all storm water issues this year.
Calhoun had no information about the construction of the berm on Acacia Way until
December 17, 2015, when he received a phone call from Mullane and an email from
Mayor Burnett forwarding Buikema's complaint. Calhoun did not know that Beach
requested City work near her property, and he had not discussed this work with Beach
or Mullane prior to December 17.
On December 17, Calhoun was in San Francisco. He spoke by phone to Mullane who
explained that the City crew had constructed a berm on Acacia which is a private road.
At that time Mullane told Calhoun that he hadn't realized that he had approved work on
private property.
When first asked if Mullane had given him advance notice about this work, Calhoun had
no memory of any discussion or notice from Mullane. In a second interview, when
Calhoun was shown email sent to him by Mullane on November 19 (Attachment F),
Calhoun noted that Mullane's correspondence did not include any description of the
work that Beach had requested nor any details about the scope of the work that Mullane
had approved.

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Calhoun responded to Mullane on November 19 (Attachment G) with a statement that

he had spoken to council"regarding the workload and communicating the needs of the
city," in a reference to Mullane's message that his staff had felt pressured to expedite
Beach's request.
Calhoun said that he did not know that Mullane had told Culver that he had notified
Calhoun about the approval or that Culver and Garibay both believed that approval for
the work had been authorized by Calhoun as well as Mullane.
Calhoun advised Mullane about the correct method for the department to handle a
citizen complaint in Mullane's absence to avoid a citizen feeling the need to contact the
Mayor or the City Administrator.

FINDINGS
1. Acacia Way is a private road that has never received City Public Works
services or street maintenance in at least twenty years prior to December 17,
2015.
2. On November 17, 2015, Victoria Beach asked Rob Culver to inspect her
property on Acacia to show him erosion damage near her property caused by
storm water runoff from Flanders and to seek City assistance with this matter.
3. On November 18, 2015, Victoria Beach asked Jesse Garibay to inspect her
property on Acacia to identify ways to solve the problem of storm waters from
Flanders eroding her property. At that time Garibay told Beach that a berm
near her property would solve the problem.
4. In an email dated November 18, 2015, Victoria Beach asked Rob Culver to
consider asphalt berms to reduce debris problems in winter storms on Acacia
from storm waters coming from Flanders and to "factor it into department
decisions about the repair list."
5. Victoria Beach was aware that Acacia Way is a private road which does not
normally receive city services. She believed that because the storm runoff on
Acacia originated from Flanders, a city right of way, that it was appropriate to
ask the City for assistance.
6. Rob Culver asked his supervisor Rob Mullane how to respond to Beach's
request because he wanted to provide good customer service, he didn't know
how to respond to the councilmember's request, and the runoff from the
public right of way (Flanders) was causing the erosion at the Beach property.
7. Although Rob Mullane did not do a site visit, he had been told that Acacia
Way was a private road.

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8. Rob Mullane believed that Culver was seeking his direction regarding Beach's
request because of the sensitive nature of a councilmember requesting city
services and because Culver or Garibay, or both, felt pressured to expedite
Beach's request.
9. Rob Mullane was not aware that the berm requested by Beach would be
constructed on private property (Acacia Way) or adjacent to Beach's home.
Rather, Mullane assumed that the work would be performed on city right of
way to remedy the issue of water draining onto Acacia Way and that was the
basis for his approval.
10. On November 19, 2015, Mullane authorized Culver to place Beach's request
for a berm on the customer service list, which Culver did.
11. On November 19, 2015, Culver received an email from Mullane notifying him
that Calhoun was aware of the work request and Mullane's approval. Culver
shared that information with Garibay. Culver and Garibay believed that
Mullane and Calhoun approved the work.
12. On November 19, 2015, Mullane forwarded to Chief Calhoun the November
18, 2015, email from Victoria Beach asking that Culver consider her request
for a berm to solve the water runoff problems on Acacia. Mullane's message
to Calhoun reflects Mullane's understanding that Public Works staff felt
"pressuren from Beach to expedite her request. Mullane also forwarded
Culver's email to Beach informing her that her request would be placed on the
department's work list.
13. Chief Calhoun was never informed that the request from Victoria Beach
involved City crews building a berm on Acacia Way or near her property.
Calhoun believed he was being notified about Beach's request because
Public Works staff felt that Beach wanted this work to receive priority in
scheduling.
14. Culver assigned Jesse Garibay to construct the berm adjacent to the Beach
residence based on Mullane's approval.
15.0n the morning of December 17, 2015, Jesse Garibay and his crew
constructed an asphalt, cold mix berm on Acacia Way adjacent to Victoria
Beach's home. That afternoon this berm was removed by the City crew in
response to the complaint from Barbara Buikema.
16.1t is more likely than not that the authorization for the berm on Acacia Way
adjacent to the Beach residence was the result of lack of information,
incorrect assumptions, and poor communication between Rob Culver and
Rob Mullane.

Dated:

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