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Former City Manager files suit against City of Garibaldi

Will Chappell Headlight Reporter

A lawsuit seeking $1 million was filed against the City of Garibaldi in Tillamook County Circuit Court on February 16, by former City Manager Juliet Hyams.

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The suit alleges that Hyams was subjected to retaliation for whistleblowing and was the target of a public campaign by former Mayor and City Councilor Judy Riggs that led her to resign as city manager in July 2022.

The city had received a letter of intent to sue in

October of last year, as well as a demand letter seeking $300,000 in late November. Hyams began working for the City of Garibaldi in June 2021 and became aware of issues with the city’s financial reporting from the tenure of her predecessor, Geoff Wullschlager. At the time, Garibaldi was out of date on financial audits by two years, with 2019 being the last completed audit. The suit alleges that when Hyams began trying to address the financial issues, she met with stiff resistance and hostility from Riggs. Riggs had been

Juliet Hyams

mayor between 2019 and the beginning of 2021 when the financial issues arose and was a city councilor during Hyams’s tenure.

Riggs began attacking Hyams’s job performance starting in December 2021, falsely accusing her of making unauthorized purchases, exceeding her spending authority and failing to complete financial reports, according to the suit.

The suit says this treatment by Riggs continued through the first half of 2022, as she repeatedly made comments about Hyams’s performance at meetings where it was not on the agenda.

These actions by Riggs are described in the suit as “a coordinated effort with others to undermine the plaintiff’s credibility and authority,” which led to Hyams’s resignation in July 2022.

Hyams claims that the city is liable for the actions of Riggs as she served on the council and other members declined to push back against the false statements made by Riggs.

Current Garibaldi

Mayor Tim Hall declined to comment on the pending litigation, as did interim City Manager Jay Marugg.

Hyams is seeking $500,000 in economic damages to compensate for lost wages and a further $500,000 for “humiliation, emotional distress and the loss of enjoyment of life, and damage to her reputation,” caused by the situation. Hyams is also asking that her attorney fees be covered. Hyams is being represented by attorney Timothy Volpert. Riggs lost a mayoral bid in the November 2022 election before resigning her council seat in January of this year with two years remaining in her term. Please send any comments to headlightreporter@ countrymedia.net.

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