Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

"Philosophical differences," as usual

Oceanside city manager "steps down" following closed-session meeting

Following a February 18 closed-door session of the Oceanside City Council, city manager Steve Jepsen “stepped down.”

Steve Jepsen

“He’s gone. He’s completely gone, out,” said an employee arriving for work the next day.

Jepsen was city manager until 2006, when he left for another job in Northern California. When city manager Peter Weiss retired 18 months ago, the then-majority of councilpersons (Jack Feller, Jerry Kern, and Gary Felien) hired Jepsen back.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Jepsen seemed to be a well-liked, effective manager who helped to bring the city out of the government funding and budget recession.

Sources inside the city say Jepsen’s departure was the result of a feud between Jepsen and mayor Jim Wood, who, until last November’s election, was on the losing end of the council’s 3-2 split votes. (Chuck Lowery, shifting the 3-2 votes from the conservative majority, replaced Felien.)

Wood admitted in the past that he had philosophical differences with Jepsen. Both councilmen Kern and Feller had made allegations previously that Jepsen refused to hire a friend of the mayor’s as the city’s public information officer. Mayor Wood denies the claim, but reportedly Feller made it again in the closed-door session.

After this story was filed initially, councilman Jerry Kern responded to a request for comment thusly: "Steve Jepsen was fired by the majority of the city council members because he had the temerity to stand up to Jim Wood about an integrity issue. Jim Wood wanted to hire a friend of his that worked on his failed supervisor campaign, actually create a position and then hire her. Steve Jespen said no you can't do that. From then on Jim Wood was just looking for a way to get him out."

Since the power shift in the last election, the new majority has tried to overturn several previous council policies.

It is reported that Jepsen’s settlement for an unplanned early departure will be around $300,000 plus health insurance for one year.

The council appointed deputy manager Michelle Lawrence as the interim manager. City staffers critical of the council’s decision point out that the city must now conduct a costly nationwide search for Jepsen’s replacement. Lawrence is ineligible for the permanent position, as her husband is a battalion fire chief for the city.

(revised 2/19, 8:40 p.m.)

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Temperature inversions bring smoggy weather, "ankle biters" still biting

Near-new moon will lead to a dark Halloween
Next Article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1

Following a February 18 closed-door session of the Oceanside City Council, city manager Steve Jepsen “stepped down.”

Steve Jepsen

“He’s gone. He’s completely gone, out,” said an employee arriving for work the next day.

Jepsen was city manager until 2006, when he left for another job in Northern California. When city manager Peter Weiss retired 18 months ago, the then-majority of councilpersons (Jack Feller, Jerry Kern, and Gary Felien) hired Jepsen back.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Jepsen seemed to be a well-liked, effective manager who helped to bring the city out of the government funding and budget recession.

Sources inside the city say Jepsen’s departure was the result of a feud between Jepsen and mayor Jim Wood, who, until last November’s election, was on the losing end of the council’s 3-2 split votes. (Chuck Lowery, shifting the 3-2 votes from the conservative majority, replaced Felien.)

Wood admitted in the past that he had philosophical differences with Jepsen. Both councilmen Kern and Feller had made allegations previously that Jepsen refused to hire a friend of the mayor’s as the city’s public information officer. Mayor Wood denies the claim, but reportedly Feller made it again in the closed-door session.

After this story was filed initially, councilman Jerry Kern responded to a request for comment thusly: "Steve Jepsen was fired by the majority of the city council members because he had the temerity to stand up to Jim Wood about an integrity issue. Jim Wood wanted to hire a friend of his that worked on his failed supervisor campaign, actually create a position and then hire her. Steve Jespen said no you can't do that. From then on Jim Wood was just looking for a way to get him out."

Since the power shift in the last election, the new majority has tried to overturn several previous council policies.

It is reported that Jepsen’s settlement for an unplanned early departure will be around $300,000 plus health insurance for one year.

The council appointed deputy manager Michelle Lawrence as the interim manager. City staffers critical of the council’s decision point out that the city must now conduct a costly nationwide search for Jepsen’s replacement. Lawrence is ineligible for the permanent position, as her husband is a battalion fire chief for the city.

(revised 2/19, 8:40 p.m.)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Two poems by Marvin Bell

“To Dorothy” and “The Self and the Mulberry”
Next Article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader