Camarillo to Hire Executive Recruiter

Camarillo officials, who have spent 10 months trying to find a finance director to replace one who resigned after bad investments cost the city $25 million, will hire an executive recruitment firm to aid in the search.

The City Council unanimously voted Wednesday to pay $20,000 to the Los Angeles firm of Norm Roberts and Associates to find a finance director, whose annual salary will range from $55,000 to $67,000, depending on experience.

City officials have been seeking a replacement for Larry Weaver since February. Weaver resigned after a subordinate, city Treasurer Donald Tarnow, was fired for making investments that resulted in the losses.

City Manager Thomas W. Oglesby subsequently resigned after an auditing firm said he and Weaver should have known about the investments.

Councilwoman Charlotte Craven said that more than 200 candidates applied for the job.

Three candidates were offered the job earlier this fall, she said, but they turned it down because they had already found work.

C. Robert Green, a financial consultant, has been interim finance director since February. Green, 68, said he has not applied for the job.

Camarillo’s financial troubles surfaced in November, 1987, when $16,000 in city checks bounced. A subsequent audit of city investments showed that Tarnow had traded heavily in government securities that he would agree to buy at a certain price 30 days before the bonds were issued and the payment was due.

When the bond market rose, with eager buyers bidding up the price of government securities, Tarnow could sell the bonds at a profit when the payment was due without having to spend city cash.

When the bond market fell in 1987, however, Tarnow was caught holding more than $270 million in bonds that he was forced to sell at a loss. He used cash remaining in the city’s savings accounts to pay money the city owed securities dealers. All told, he lost about $22 million in the bond market between December, 1986, and July, 1987, and about $3 million he invested in failing businesses.