Oxnard Council Charged With Racism in Ouster of City Manager

Charges of racial discrimination were launched this week against the three City Council members who forced the resignation of Oxnard’s Latino city manager.

A group of residents calling itself Community Concern appeared at a council meeting Tuesday to demand that the council make public its rationale for firing David Mora or face a recall attempt.

Community Concern is made up of a number of organizations, including the NAACP and the Assn. of Mexican American Educators.

“I think this gentleman is being discriminated against and used as a tool for blame of what’s wrong in this community,” said John Hatcher, president of the Ventura County branch of the NAACP. He said NAACP members will discuss Mora’s ouster Friday at a meeting.

The council gave no public reply to the allegations. Later, however, some members vigorously denied them.

“It’s the most ridiculous statement I’ve ever heard,” Councilwoman Ann Johs said. “I don’t think any one of us has a racist bone in them.”

Mora, who has been blamed for Oxnard’s financial crisis, was asked to resign last week by the City Council after a 3-2 vote. Council members Dorothy Maron, Geraldine Furr and Ann Johs voted against him.

Johs said she did not think it was proper to make public some of the concerns she and others discussed about Mora in a series of closed sessions last week.

Maron said she also had been advised that detailing reasons for her decision might cause legal problems.

“I know that it definitely is not racism,” she said. “I don’t think anyone logically can conclude that.”

Some residents said council members exploited the financial crisis, making Mora a scapegoat to bolster their own political ambitions. Others said they felt he may be a victim of prejudice.

They said they believed no action should have been taken until results of a management audit were released. The first phase of the audit is to be completed by late March.

“The recent forced resignation of Mr. Mora angered many of your constituents,” said Carmen Cortez, a member of Community Concern. “To direct his action and then force his resignation is to use him as a scapegoat.”

Mora said he had no comment about the show of public support. He sat through testimony on his behalf, averting his gaze from the speakers and the council.

Mayor Nao Takasugi, a staunch Mora supporter, said he perceived some “hidden agendas.”

However, he said, “I don’t know if I could say racism played a part in the decision.”

The council already is discussing whether to begin the search for a new city manager or wait until a management audit is completed sometime next summer or fall.

Meanwhile, they must decide what questions they want answered in the management audit and must choose a firm to conduct it.

Maron has called for an in-depth look at development deals made in the past to see if too many concessions were made to developers in order to lure them to the city.

She also advocates cutting back on economic development for the present, but a number of developers and business leaders, as well as the mayor, have pushed for continuing the effort.

“We’re going to see the full bloom of many projects in the coming years,” Takasugi said. “We need to be patient.”