MURRIETA - Eight months after she accepted a severance package of at least $350,000, former City Manager Lori Moss is suing the city - for $350.

Moss was released from her contract by the City Council in late January, yet officials continued to use her electronic signature on checks until as recently as four months ago, when her attorney asked them to stop in a June 6 letter.

"I would have been liable for things that were paid that I didn't have any authorization on or approved of," Moss said in an interview Wednesday at her Canyon Lake office. She now is city manager of Canyon Lake, a city of about 12,000 east of Lake Elsinore.

Moss acknowledged she never approached staffers, including her former administrative assistant, on her own about the matter. Instead, she hired the attorney who negotiated her settlement agreement with the city earlier this year to send the city a cease-and-desist letter. The hourly rate for the attorney, whose name Moss declined to reveal, is $350.

Murrieta administrators - under the direction of City Attorney Leslie Devaney - rejected Moss' request, prompting the former manager to pursue the $350 in small claims court. Moss filed the claim Sept. 18.

"I'm not asking for damages or anything," said Moss, who insisted the request was unrelated to her being released from her contract by the City Council.

Under her settlement agreement, Moss received a $175,000 severance, plus a half-year's salary and benefits, amounting to more than $350,000. Moss said she is not resentful toward the council members nor is she bitter about her departure from City Hall after 2 1/2 years as city manager.

"It had nothing to do with my employment," she said. "(Officials) were using my signature illegally."

The letter, Devaney said Wednesday, "didn't state a valid claim. (Moss) is claiming that she is entitled to attorney's fees for using an attorney to communicate with the city."

Moss' letter was addressed to her interim replacement, Ron Bradley, who said he was unaware that Murrieta checks were still being stamped with Moss' electronic signature.

"I know (that) as soon as I found out, we stopped the process," Bradley said.

Since Bradley received Moss' letter in June, he said, city checks have been signed by Deputy City Manager Jim Holston and Administrative Services Director Teri Ferro - but not him. As an interim administrator, Bradley is not authorized to sign checks, he said.

Mayor Doug McAllister and Councilman Rick Gibbs both expressed surprise Wednesday by Moss' suit, but they declined to comment further, citing pending litigation. Bradley also was surprised.

"Lori was still receiving a paycheck from the city at this time, so I'm a little confused why it's even a problem," Bradley said. Moss continued to receive checks from the city through June 30.

In small claims court, the two sides represent themselves without their attorneys present. Still, Bradley expects the court costs for the city to surpass the $350 Moss is seeking.

But it appears unlikely the city will cave to her request. Officials worry it could set a dangerous example.

"As a precedent, this would be an extremely questionable practice," Bradley said.

The first trial date is scheduled for Dec. 10.

- Contact staff writer Brian Eckhouse at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or beckhouse@californian.com.