Oceanside City Treasurer Bledsoe Resigns

City Treasurer Marvin Bledsoe on Wednesday resigned for health reasons from the post he has held since last April. He recommended that the City Council appoint city Finance Director Carl Husby as treasurer and seek voter approval to allow the council to fill office of treasurer rather than having it as an elective post.

Bledsoe, 69, who had been retired for 20 years from the real estate loan and investment business before running for treasurer, said he did not realize how the change of pace would affect his health. His resignation becomes effective in May.

Bledsoe said he suffers from high blood pressure and that his doctor strongly advised him to resign several weeks ago.

Bledsoe will remain in office until a replacement is found, he said, “so long as they are not dragging their feet. I’ve put an awful lot of work in here, and I don’t want to see it go down the drain.”

In a letter sent to Walter Gilbert, chairman of the City Council finance committee, Bledsoe said that the treasurer’s job “has been a strain upon me and taxing to my health.”

The treasurer’s position in the past has basically been a ceremonial one, Bledsoe said. The person holding the post usually had accounting experience but no investment experience. Since he took office, Bledsoe said, the city’s investment portfolio has grown from $38 million to about $50 million today. He also recommended that the city create an investment director’s position so someone would be responsible for investing the city’s available funds.

Bledsoe said the treasurer’s position requires a “full-time young person with plenty of get up and go” to meet taxpayers’ needs. Oceanside gets “bad mouth from an image point of view,” he said, “but we’re in good financial condition. For a small city, it’s a big business that should be run in a businesslike manner.”

Husby said Wednesday that it was too early to have a reaction to Bledsoe’s resignation. But, he said, “as long as I’m working here, I do accept any responsibility that the city manager will give to me.”

Gilbert said Bledsoe’s resignation was disappointing because he “brought to light the value of aggressively investing temporarily idle funds.”