Placerville police chief leaves job in ‘mutually agreed’ separation with city manager
City officials announced Wednesday that Placerville Police Chief James Ortega will be leaving his job after he and the city manager “mutually agreed to a separation.”
The decision to remove Ortega from his job came after a closed-session meeting of the Placerville City Council on Tuesday, officials said in a news release. They also said Ortega and City Manager Cleve Morris agreed to part ways.
Ortega was the Placerville police chief for three years after retiring as a captain with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in 2017.
City officials said Ortega has been a well-respected leader who brought stability to the Police Department while facing decisions to freeze police jobs during last year’s city budget. They also said his priorities were always the public’s safety and the department’s employees.
“It has been an honor to serve as the Placerville police chief,” Ortega said in a news release from the city. “I have always placed the wellness and safety of our troops as a priority. I have done a lot within the department with limited resources. I know the entire department will continue to strive to serve the community well.”
On Wednesday evening, city officials said an interim police chief had not been selected.
Shortly after a link to the news release was posted on the Placerville Police Department’s Facebook page, the link was deleted from the Facebook post and replaced by a new link to much different news release from the city manager announcing his departure.
The second news release from the city indicated that Ortega’s departure was effective Wednesday, and the release listed the police chief’s accomplishments, but did not include a statement from Ortega.
“These are difficult times for all of us due to the current pandemic crisis,” according to the news release signed by Morris. “We will work to ensure continuity in our Police Department as well as all functions of the city throughout this emergency.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2020 at 6:59 PM.
