APCD employees tell board of hostile work environment, urge third‑party review

Several current and former employees of the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) told the Air Pollution Control Board during the meeting's public comment period that workplace conditions have deteriorated and urged the board to order an independent review.

Neil Hamill, a Ventura resident and a supervising inspector with the Air Pollution Control District, said multiple coworkers had been investigated and, during those investigations, placed on administrative leave, stripped of building access and work email, and left unable to obtain records to defend themselves. "With Ms. Mendoza's continued access to the district network, she has the ability to remove or tamper with files and information. This should be highly disturbing to you all," Hamill said. He concluded, "Please help us. We need action."

"Since last time I spoke in July, there has been little to no improvement," said Christopher (identified in the record by first name only). He said Executive Officer Ali Ghasemi has displayed hostility toward employees, sometimes ridiculing staff and raising his voice during meetings.

Hayden McPherson, a staff member who said this was her third consecutive meeting raising concerns, said the workplace has grown more hostile and that managers accused in complaints were being included on internal teams intended to address the problems. "We, the employees of the air district, need you to act," McPherson said.

Nicole Collazo, an air quality specialist and SEIU steward at the district, told the board she has received repeated complaints from both union and nonunion staff across divisions who are worried about their jobs and fearful of retaliation. "We are ready for a change, and we're ready to feel like a team again," Collazo said.

Amy Sager, executive board member of SEIU Local 721, told the board the union has collected reports of confidential information appearing in staff mailboxes and of telework schedules being obtained through public records requests. Sager said a manager named in more than 20 complaints to county human resources in the last two years remained active in internal performance teams and that the union had submitted an open letter asking the board to intervene.

Crystal (recorded on Zoom) provided sworn public documents to the clerk and cited the APCD exempt staff administrative leave policy dated Aug. 23, 2010 and payroll data from Transparent California. She said three managers — identified in her submission as Ali Ghasemi, Nancy Mendoza and Leonila Matharang — received a combined $97,177 in "other pay" in February 2024 and asked the board to commission an independent third‑party review of pay distributions, administrative‑leave usage and related personnel practices. "I urge the board to engage a third party to review these matters," she said.

Board counsel then announced the meeting would move into closed session on the final agenda item. The record does not show a formal board directive during public comment to start a third‑party investigation; the public comments and submitted documents were followed by the board's planned closed session.

The public commenters repeatedly said they feared retaliation for speaking and asked the board to provide regular public updates on any review or corrective actions.

Ending

No formal personnel action was recorded in the public session. The board proceeded to closed session at the end of the meeting; the transcript does not record the closed‑session discussion or any final action arising from it.