By Philip Joens Tuesday, July 12th, 2016

The Thousand Oaks City Council chose Assistant City Manager Andrew Powers to be interim city manager July 12.

Former City Manager Scott Mitnick was fired July 7 after using his work email address to solicit donations for his sons’ high school baseball team.

The council voted 5-0 to put Powers in charge while a search is conducted for a new city manager.

Mitnick had been city manager since 2005 but came under fire in May because he used his city email address to secure the donations. In November, the council approved a $20,000 grant the baseball team intended to use for field improvements.

At a May meeting, the council decided to take no disciplinary action. In 2013, Mitnick became the highest-paid city manager in Ventura County with a salary of $241,684 per year. He was currently making $261,309 per year.

The council authorized the city to negotiate a new contract with Powers for his tenure as interim city manager.

At its Aug. 30 meeting, the council will consider whether to hire a national search firm to aid in the search. The council also agreed to delay choosing a new city manager until after the November election and a new council is sworn in.

• Contact Philip Joens at [email protected].