SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz City Council has agreed to a $250,000 out-of-court settlement with a former City Manager’s Office employee who claims she was fired in September after coming forward as a whistleblower.
While the city assumes no admission of wrongdoing, liability or unlawful conduct under terms of the settlement, it rescinded its termination of her employment, O’Hara wrote in an email to the Sentinel. However, O’Hara said she has voluntarily resigned from her position and will not be returning after nearly 16 years of working for the city in several positions.
“I have decided to move in a different career direction and focus on important non-profit work in under-served communities,” O’Hara wrote.
In response to further inquiry, O’Hara said she went on to work with a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit after leaving the city last year. Her new work has involved building a West Coast team for the organization and focusing technical support and capacity on failing water systems in California, she said.
“Small, underrepresented, tribal and disadvantaged water systems in California and across the country are the focus of significant new investment with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Justice 40 Initiative,” O’Hara wrote.
The City of Santa Cruz, via spokesperson Elizabeth Smith, confirmed on Wednesday its approval of the settlement deal. The council voted during a closed session Tuesday to accept the negotiated settlement. The agreement’s passage, a...
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