By Gretchen Wenner
Ventura County Star
OXNARD, Calif. — Oxnard’s $60,000 settlement payment to its former fire chief last year did not comply with state law, a review by the Ventura County District Attorney’s office found, though the error appeared unintentional.
The DA’s office looked into the issue after getting a citizen complaint when the settlement was made public by The Star in November, records show.
The payment should have had City Council approval because it exceeded a $50,000 cap, according to a letter sent to the city this week by Special Assistant DA Michael Schwartz.
Instead, Oxnard officials relied on a city ordinance adopted more than 15 years ago that allows the city manager and city attorney to settle certain claims up to $75,000 without City Council approval.
“Our interpretation of the law is that the ordinance is invalid and exceeds the $50,000 cap allowed by state law,” Schwartz said Thursday. “But there’s no evidence here anyone intended to violate the law or have any kind of bad faith.”
The separation agreement authorizing the payment was signed in April 2015, when former Chief James Williams “agreed to resign,” the document reads, and received the lump sum to “release any and all claims he may hold against the city.”
The city issued a statement Thursday afternoon via Twitter and online announcing results of the DA review and saying its risk-management policy “is inconsistent with state law.” The city also posted the DA’s letter.
“Adhering to California law is a top priority for the city of Oxnard,” the joint statement from City Manager Greg Nyhoff and Interim City Attorney Stephen Fischer reads. “We regret that this policy has not been updated since 2000 when it was originally adopted.”
A revised policy will be brought to the City Council, and the $50,000 cap will be followed going forward, the statement says.
The DA letter does not address whether the excess payment requires any remedy. Schwartz said one course of action would be to have the City Council ratify the settlement retroactively. City spokeswoman Delana Gbenekama said the matter will be brought to the council.
The complaint was originally made to the DA’s office in November by Phillip Molina, a former finance director for the city, who sent an email referencing The Star’s story and questioning whether the funds had been disbursed appropriately when there had been no council approval. Complaints are typically anonymous, but because Molina’s email was submitted as an “open letter” to the DA, Schwartz said he considers it public.
The Oxnard Firefighters Association, in a release Thursday, said: “This ‘mistake’ is very difficult to understand as the city has paid millions of dollars in legal fees and (Human Resources) consultant fees, yet they are unable to follow the state law?”
The statement also says the union has asked the Ventura County grand jury to investigate the legality of the city issuing multiple small contracts to the same firms.
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