Months of legal wrangling with local newspaper prompt councilmember to release emails and texts tied to investigation of former City Manager Ty Lewis
PASO ROBLES — After a months-long battle, Paso Robles City Councilmember Chris Bausch handed over thousands of emails and text messages to the City after ongoing requests and litigation with the San Luis Obispo Tribune (The Tribune).
At the beginning of March, The Tribune filed a petition for Bausch and the City of Paso Robles to comply with a “writ of Mandate and Declaratory Relief under the California Public Records Act” with the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse. Paso Robles Press filed a public records request with the City of Paso Robles for the legal records related to the litigation with The Tribune on April 29 and received those records on June 9.
City Attorney Elizabeth Hull told Paso Robles Press, “The City provided all non-exempt public records responsive to the Tribune’s requests that were in the City’s possession. On May 16, Councilmember Bausch provided the City with approximately 5,400 records consisting of emails and attachments.”
Requests for records and back-and-forth arguments between the city, Bausch, and The Tribune began with the county newspaper’s coverage of former City Manager Ty Lewis’s leave of absence due to stress he claimed was caused by Bausch.
Bausch, who represents District 2, was first appointed to the seat in August 2022 following the resignation of City Councilmember Maria Garcia. He left his position as a member of the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees to apply for the position on the City Council. While he was appointed to finish Garcia’s term, which ended in December of that year, Bausch ran in that November’s election for a full four-year term. Running unopposed, he won the District 2 spot, and his term ends in 2026.
Prior to serving as city manager, Lewis served as the City of Paso Robles’s chief of police. In 2021, Lewis was selected to serve as the new city manager. He served as the chief of the Paso Robles Police Department since 2018 and was hired by the city on March 31, 2002, as a police officer, sergeant, and later a commander.
Back in 2024, Lewis filed a $2.75 million complaint against the city, alleging a hostile work environment, naming Bausch as the primary city employee involved. Before filing, Lewis took a leave due to health reasons caused by stress.
You can read our full coverage of the complaint at pasoroblespress.com/news/paso-robles-rejects-city-manager-ty-lewiss-2-million-injury-claim/
The city rejected his claim on Oct. 8, 2024. Returning as city manager in November, Lewis alleged Bausch violated municipal codes, defamed him, and inflicted emotional distress. The complaint included harassment claims based on perceived sexual orientation and religion, a hostile work environment, and bullying. It also accused other residents of conspiring to ruin his reputation. On Tuesday, Feb. 4, the city released the settlement agreement between Lewis and the city, which outlined that more than $350,000 would be paid to Lewis.
According to the petition filed by The Tribune, they made a series of public record requests in 2024 and early 2025 that they say were not fulfilled in compliance with the California Public Records Act (CPRA).
Their petition reads: “The City and Bausch have pointed the finger at each other, but one thing is clear: neither the City as a whole nor Bausch individually and as a City Councilmember, have adequately searched for nor produced the many records requested by The Tribune on matters including but not limited to efforts to remove and the eventual departure of Paso Robles City Manager Ty Lewis.”
Within the petition, it says that on Sept. 26, 2024, The Tribune submitted a public records request with the City seeking access to and copies of: all records provided or to be provided to Cal Coast News and Paso Robles Daily News in response to public records requests made within the past 30 days; all public records requests submitted by individuals associated with those outlets, including Karen Velie; and all responsive records shared with those news organizations within that same time frame.
The Tribune says that in response, the city provided them with requests submitted by Velie, the city’s responses to her, and the records produced with the city’s responses. However, The Tribune says the city redacted specific information “claiming exemptions for personally identifying information, including home addresses, personal email addresses, personal phone numbers, and dates of birth, pursuant to Government Code § 7922.000. The City has said it considers this request closed.”
This was the first of many public record requests that The Tribune says were unmet according to CPRA standards. The Tribune sent a formal demand on Dec. 19, 2024, with follow-up letters challenging the city’s continued withholding of records. On Jan. 9, the city acknowledged that Bausch possessed potentially responsive records but had previously declined to produce them, later agreeing to begin doing so. The city also refused to provide a privilege log and maintained its exemption claims.
The Tribune had also submitted several other PRA requests in late 2024 and early 2025, including for communications between late Mayor Steve Martin and Bausch, a complaint from a Paso Robles resident regarding Bausch’s conduct, and extensive records related to investigations of allegations made by Lewis against Bausch.
The city often claimed no responsive records existed or invoked various exemptions. In response to The Tribune’s broad December 2024 requests, the city identified over 300 potentially responsive files but delayed release, citing a need for further review. In January 2025, The Tribune also sought messages from Bausch’s personal and government accounts with various individuals; the city again responded with a delay and stated it could not obtain records from Bausch’s personal devices despite “diligent efforts.”
The petition says: “Eventually, after many months of delay, the City claimed that it had attempted to obtain records from Councilman Bausch’s ‘private’ phone, that Bausch had failed to turn the responsive records over, and that Bausch had said that he would not turn them over without a court order. Bausch, for his part, claimed that he had received conflicting advice from the City as to what sort of search he was supposed to do, and he blamed the problem on the City Attorney. To make matters worse and more egregious, Bausch first “leaked” a tape of a well-known meeting at a pastry shop, Angela’s Pastries in Paso Robles, which he attended and recorded with City Manager Lewis and Mayor Hamon, to a media outlet, Cal Coast News. Councilman Bausch and the City then claimed not to have the very same tape that Bausch had leaked to a friendly (to him) media outlet (Cal Coast News).”
Concluding their petition, The Tribune requested that the court grant writ relief and judgment compelling the city and Bausch to conduct a thorough search for all withheld or redacted records, including those on personal devices and accounts, and to produce them in full.
The petition sought a subpoena for Bausch’s phone provider (and potentially others) to recover deleted records, in-camera review of withheld materials, and declarations that the records were public under the CPRA and the California Constitution. It also sought a finding that respondents had violated the CPRA by improperly withholding records and requested a court order prohibiting officials from exclusively using private accounts for public business. Additionally, The Tribune asked for the production of all segregable portions of responsive documents, a privilege log for any withheld records, attorneys’ fees and costs, and any other relief the Court deemed appropriate.
Hull told Paso Robles Press, “The City has identified the duplicate emails and attachments and is in the process of reviewing the remaining approximately 1000 records. In addition, he [Bausch] produced numerous text messages. The City is still processing the text messages and we do not have a final count at this time. Consistent with the Court’s direction on May 22, the City will begin producing non-exempt or privileged records on June 6, 2025, and will complete production by June 16, 2025.”
She continued, “The City takes its responsibilities under the California Public Records Act seriously and will continue to provide all responsive documents in a timely manner.”
Bausch did not respond to Paso Robles Press’s request for comment.
Paso Robles Press is following this story and will provide updates as they become available.
