OXNARD : Council to Review Manager Candidates

The Oxnard City Council on Wednesday will review a list of candidates who have applied for the position of city manager.

Mayor Nao Takasugi said the Los Angeles executive search firm of Norman Roberts and Associates, which has been working for almost two months to find a replacement for City Manager David Mora, will give the council a list of 50 applicants Wednesday.

The council will review the applications and narrow the field to about five candidates, who will be interviewed personally by each council member, Takasugi said.

The new city manager’s salary is negotiable, Takasugi said. Mora now makes $97,700 in base salary, with an additional $7,500 in deferred funds and $3,600 for a car.

Mora, who has been blamed by some council members for the city’s financial problems, will leave Oxnard on July 1. He submitted his resignation in December after Councilwomen Ann Johs, Dorothy Maron and Geraldine (Gerry) Furr voted for his ouster. Takasugi and Councilman Manuel Lopez voted to retain Mora.

Meanwhile, an Oxnard group known as Community Concern has launched a recall effort against Maron and vowed to campaign against Johs’ reelection in November for voting to oust Mora.

Community Concern, which includes such organizations as the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the Assn. of Mexican-American Educators, claims that the council majority has not adequately explained the reason for firing the city manager, who is Latino.

Community Concern spokesman Ray Tafoya said the group has until July 13 to collect the signatures of 9,300 Oxnard voters to place the recall measure on the November ballot. He said the group has already collected about 4,000 signatures.