OXNARD : City Bars Transfers of Ousted Officials

Elected city clerks and city treasurers in Oxnard will no longer be able to transfer into other city jobs if they are ousted at the polls, the City Council ruled Tuesday.

The council had asked its staff to research the issue earlier this year, after the former city clerk was hired by the financially strapped Police Department following her losing bid for reelection.

Mabi Plisky, wife of Councilman Michael Plisky, lost the race for city clerk last fall, but was later hired as a crime-prevention coordinator for the Oxnard Police Department.

She was fired after critics complained that she got the job because she is married to a council member. Now she answers telephones at the councilman’s accounting firm.

Michael Plisky said Tuesday he would support allowing defeated officials to be hired elsewhere within the city, with some modifications.

“I think there should be a mechanism that would allow them (to transfer) if they are qualified,” said Plisky, who abstained when it came time to vote.

But City Atty. Gary Gillig and Personnel Director Dene Jones cautioned the council about such a move.

“The status of the city clerk and city treasurer as elected officials sets each apart from the usual appointed department head,” they wrote.

Mayor Manuel Lopez joined the unanimous vote to ban the practice.

“There was a big uproar in November, and based on that I don’t see how anyone could support it,” Lopez said.