Earlier this year, the governing board of one of California’s most powerful regulatory agencies unleashed troubling accusations against its top employee.
But an investigation by the Bay City News Foundation and ProPublica has found that Stebbins was right about the missing money.
The news organizations’ investigation also found flaws in the State Personnel Board report that Batjer used to terminate Stebbins.
Early on, Batjer scrutinized Stebbins’ personnel decisions, according to previously unreported text messages obtained by the news organizations.
Shortly after she was sworn in as president in August, Batjer texted a former colleague in Newsom’s cabinet.
The commissioners appear to have violated state transparency laws when they later exchanged text messages among themselves about whether to fire Stebbins.
Stebbins was hired as the agency’s executive director in February 2018 to bring fresh scrutiny to its finances and operations. »