Acting City Clerk Named to Replace Martinez : Government: Woman who had been the department’s sex harassment counselor takes post temporarily. She had reviewed some of the complaints that led to the official’s firing.

Mayor Tom Bradley on Monday named a veteran employee who had been the sexual harassment counselor in the city clerk’s office to temporarily replace former City Clerk Elias (Lee) Martinez, who was fired last week amid sexual harassment allegations.

Nancy Russell, who joined the city as an administrative assistant in 1970, had risen to chief management analyst, the No. 3 position in the clerk’s office. In her additional role as the office’s sexual harassment counselor, she had taken some of the complaints lodged against Martinez.

Martinez, 54, cleaned out his desk Friday after receiving formal notice of the City Council’s termination order, and at the end of the workday he stopped receiving his $116,000-a-year salary, officials said.

Monday morning, Martinez filed an appeal of his termination with the city’s Civil Service Commission, the first step in what stands to be a drawn-out proceeding on Martinez’s future. He has denied acting improperly and vowed to fight the charges. Should Martinez prevail, he could win back his job and would be entitled to back pay. However, the City Council could overturn the commission’s ruling. The allegations first arose in 1991 when a clerk typist accused Martinez of fondling her on three occasions. Other women later accused him of ogling them and asking suggestive questions. After a lengthy investigation of the matter, Bradley recommended last December that the council fire Martinez.

Martinez’s fate has since become a hot political issue. Some council members dismissed the matter as a dispute between Martinez and Bradley. The embattled city clerk’s biggest defenders have been fellow Latinos, who say his 32-year city career--in which he rose from garage attendant to become one of the city’s highest-ranking Latinos--should not be overlooked.

In her new position, Russell said she hopes to put the controversies in the department behind her.

“It’s an honor to be appointed by the mayor, but it’s at a difficult period of time,” she said. “The recent events have made things difficult for many employees. I’m sure in the next few weeks we’ll move beyond the recent events.”

One of the former employees who lodged the harassment allegations against Martinez said in an interview Monday that she has mixed feelings about the turmoil. “I’m just glad it’s over,” she said, “but I’m not happy about what happened.”

Russell was named acting city clerk for four months, pending a search for a permanent replacement. Her tenure could be extended another four months, well into the tenure of Bradley’s successor as mayor, if the replacement process is delayed.

One of the measures on today’s ballot would also affect the selection of Martinez’s replacement. Charter Amendment 3 would strip top bureaucrats of Civil Service protection, meaning that the field of applicants for Martinez’s job would be widened because of a loosening of selection procedures.

The next mayor will also have the authority to appoint the members of the Civil Service Commission, which will hear Martinez’s appeal.

Passed over for the acting city clerk position was executive officer Michael Carey, Martinez’s deputy. One of the primary complainants against Martinez initially made her allegations to Carey, but he attempted to distance himself from the woman and said he did not want to take sides in the dispute, according to a report on the city’s investigation.

“The only consideration the mayor had in making this choice was determining who would ensure that the city clerk’s office was operating smoothly in this time of uncertainty,” Bradley spokeswoman Val Bunting said.