VENTURA : Ex-Oxnard Official Fills Part-Time Post

Mabi Covarrubias Plisky, former Oxnard city clerk who was fired from another city job when critics alleged favoritism in her hiring, will begin working part time next week in the Ventura city clerk’s office.

Plisky will work two days a week as a substitute for Diane Angle, a deputy clerk who has asked for a reduced schedule, said Ventura City Clerk Barbara Kam.

Kam said of Plisky, who lost a reelection bid in Oxnard in 1992: “If you’re looking for someone to do fill-in work, how could you ask for someone better-qualified?”

Kam emphasized that Plisky was not hired for a staff position, but as a $14-an-hour temporary worker. “There is no position currently open and no qualifying list at this time,” she said. “(Angle) wants to see if she can open her own business, and I’m trying to be flexible and supportive.”

If Angle decides to quit her city position, the city of Ventura would then conduct an open recruitment to fill her position, Kam said.

After losing her city clerk reelection bid to Daniel Martinez, Plisky was hired by the Oxnard Police Department as a community representative. But protests by Martinez and others that the department hired Plisky because she is the wife of City Councilman Michael Plisky prompted the city to fire her from that position.

The Oxnard City Council later clarified rules governing the city clerk and treasurer positions, barring the city from hiring office-holders after they leave those positions without the council’s express approval.

Plisky, who was unavailable for comment Friday, will begin work for Ventura on Thursday.