OXNARD : Council Rescinds Reorganization Plan

Citing concerns over costs and hiring practices, the Oxnard City Council has rescinded a reorganization plan for the Parks and Recreation Department that it had approved two weeks ago.

The restructuring called for the creation of three management positions, including an assistant parks and recreation director, and the deletion of three other positions.

Before unanimous vote on Tuesday, Council members said they were concerned that the city manager and the Parks and Recreation director had already picked a candidate for the assistant director position instead of opening the process to all city employees.

Parks and Recreation Director Gary Davis said that to avoid budget overruns, the assistant director position had to be filled within the department and that only one person in his department qualified.

Council members also said they were concerned about the cost of the restructuring. The salaries of the proposed new positions would eventually cost a total of $12,000 to $18,000 a year more than the three positions that had been deleted, city officials said.