OXNARD : City Clerk’s Transfer Prompts Policy Vote

The Oxnard City Council is scheduled to choose Tuesday whether to allow the elected city clerk and treasurer to transfer to another city post after losing an election.

One proposed ordinance would allow the council to appoint the elected officials to another city position, but only after holding a hearing to consider public opinion.

A second draft ordinance would prohibit the council from appointing either the city clerk or treasurer to any other city job.

The politically sensitive issue was raised last fall when former City Clerk Mabi Covarrubias Plisky lost a reelection bid and was then hired as a crime-prevention coordinator by the Oxnard Police Department.

Critics--including Daniel Martinez, who defeated Plisky in the election--complained that Plisky was given preferential treatment because she is married to Councilman Michael Plisky.

In a report last December, City Manager Vern Hazen called Plisky’s hiring proper, but said the ensuing controversy had hurt her effectiveness.

Hazen said Plisky was entitled to ask for a job transfer after losing the election because she was considered a city employee and the equivalent of a department head. While her elected duties paid only $300 a month, the bulk of her $54,845 base salary came from council-approved staff duties in connection with her election position.

A grand jury investigation of the hiring concluded that Plisky had been hired properly, but by that time the council had voted to dismiss her.

The council will also review the duties of the two elected officials to determine which duties are required by law and which duties were performed at the request of the council.