Hero in 1993 Shooting Is Fired From County Job

Oxnard School District trustee Ray Gonzales, once hailed a community hero after rescuing the mayor’s wife during a workplace shooting, has been fired from his job supervising a county welfare-to-work facility, officials said Tuesday.

Gonzales, 42, was terminated less than a month after being placed on paid leave while the county investigated several complaints about his management style.

At his Oxnard home Tuesday, a day after receiving a hand-delivered termination notice, Gonzales vowed to fight the matter in court.

“I intend to pursue all available legal remedies,” Gonzales said, explaining his options include filing a lawsuit against the county and appealing the termination to the county Civil Service Commission.

“Yes, he’s going to fight this,” added Gonzales’ Ventura attorney, Diana Hancock. “He deserves a fair shake.”

Poor job performance is the reason Gonzales was fired from the $58,619-a-year position he held for about 14 months, said Barbara Journet, the county’s human resources director. Sources close to the investigation said longtime county welfare employees were behind the ousting of Gonzales, who had no experience in county government or with the state’s welfare-to-work program known as CalWORKS when hired.

Gonzales, owner of a small local insurance and financial planning business, was considered a critic of the county’s previous welfare system before CalWORKS was launched in January 1998. From the outset, Gonzales was branded as a threat and outsider, according to sources.

The personnel investigation came shortly after Gonzales was charged with a misdemeanor count of spousal battery following a February incident in which his wife’s arm was cut by broken glass. In another incident, police were called to the couple’s home after the two fought.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to the battery charge, and a jury trial is set for Sept. 13. Later, however, his wife, Nicole, recanted her claim that her husband had pushed her into a window, causing a wound serious enough to send her to the hospital.

The couple are still living together and raising their three children, ages 9, 4 and 3.

Randy Feltman, who runs the county’s CalWORKS program, said his department will not change its practice of hiring people to run the job centers regardless of their background with the welfare system.

“We will continue to recruit from the community,” Feltman said Tuesday. “There’s no requirement that they worked in county government.”

Kathy Smith, who directs another of the county’s seven one-stop job and career centers, defended Gonzales. Smith, who also runs the center in west Oxnard, stepped in as interim director of La Colonia’s facility while the county finds a replacement for Gonzales.

“I’m sad to see him go,” Smith said. “He was trying to bring a business sense to the operation, as opposed to a process that is totally viewed as county government.”

Smith, the only center director with a background in government welfare programs, said she welcomed newcomers such as Gonzales.

“Each brings a different expertise to the job,” Smith said. “I learned a lot from Ray as a business person. He genuinely was putting forth a sincere effort.”

Irma Lopez, a close friend of Gonzales, said she continues to support the community leader.

“I feel for him right now,” she said. “I’m not going to abandon him now when times are tough.”

In 1993, Gonzales brought Lopez to safety after a gunman opened fire in the Oxnard unemployment office where she worked. Lopez, the wife of Oxnard Mayor Manual Lopez, was shot in the hip and collapsed at the office doorway. Gonzales, who was driving past the scene, stopped his truck and pulled Lopez inside the vehicle amid gunfire. He then drove her to a local hospital.

The two have been friends since, Lopez said, and Gonzales and his wife often visit the Lopez home. Lopez said she had been surprised by the spousal abuse accusation, because “I’ve never seen him treat her with anything but kindness.”

Meanwhile, Oxnard Elementary School District board Chairman Francisco Dominguez said he would not move to oust Gonzales as a result of his termination.

“His employment really has nothing to do with his status as a trustee,” Dominguez said. “He can legally continue to be a trustee.”

But Dominguez said voters are the ones to decide the fate of Gonzales.

“Ultimately, the people who have the last say is the public,” Dominguez said. “Does the public want him to step down? It’s up to them.”