Oxnard Chief Drops City Manager Bid

Police Chief Harold Hurtt withdrew Thursday from consideration for Oxnard’s vacant city manager position, a move that indicates the city’s next top administrator will come from out of town.

Hurtt discussed the job with City Council members earlier this year after the firing of City Manager Tom Frutchey. In seeking the post, the 51-year-old police chief pitched his qualifications as an administrator with close ties to community groups.

Although council members voted to also look outside Oxnard for a replacement, Hurtt remained interested in the job. But with the Sept. 11 deadline to apply nearing, Hurtt pulled out of the race to focus on police issues, he said.

“We have a lot of things we need to accomplish in the Police Department,” said Hurtt, chief for five years. “We still have a long ways to go in making the city safer. I wanted to finish this job before I started another one.”

Hurtt said he would now focus on an ambitious plan to move police headquarters to the vacant old Oxnard High School building at 5th and K streets. The chief said his department--which has grown by more than 30 officers, to about 180, during his tenure--needed more space. Details of the plan will be given this month, Hurtt said.

The police chief withdrew from the race for city manager a week after Interim City Manager Prisilla Hernandez said she would return to her post as assistant city manager after council members chose a replacement. Hernandez, who was considered a strong candidate for the top job, said she needed to spend more time with her children.

Community Services Director Matt Winegar also expressed interest in the job, but decided not to apply.

Councilman Tom Holden said he was disappointed by Hurtt’s decision.

Holden said that bitterness over Frutchey’s firing in February still lingers among council members, and that Hurtt, Hernandez and Winegar may have decided not to apply because of that. “Prisilla was a very attractive candidate,” Holden said. “With Chief Hurtt, I think we had another qualified candidate.

“The aftermath of what took place with our last city manager is going to have an effect on our ability to attract qualified candidates,” Holden said. “I think there’s reluctance to step forward and take on the position, given what’s happened in the past.”

Frutchey was fired on a 3-2 vote seven months ago after he alienated a council majority with what critics described as an autocratic management style. Supporters said he was only trying to update city government and make it more efficient.

A Northern California executive search firm will accept applications for city manager through next week, with council members expected to interview candidates next month.

Hurtt said the next city manager faces a tough job in Oxnard, because the city is one of the poorest in the county.

“I’m very much concerned about the future of the city,” he said. “I love living in Oxnard. It’s time we took our true place in the county. But the contribution I can make right now is helping make Oxnard a safe place.”