Another longtime city of Thousand Oaks employee leaves position

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers NEW HOSPICE LEADER—Maria Prescott is leaving the city of Thousand Oaks after 31 years to become director of Hospice of the Conejo. Several administrators on the city staff departed this year. Another longtime employee of the city of Thousand Oaks is leaving her position.

Community Services Manager Maria Prescott, who oversees city services for seniors and youth, will become the new executive director of Hospice of the Conejo, which provides care and support to the terminally ill and their families.

Prescott has worked for the city for 31 years and will leave her position today, Dec. 8. She is the fourth veteran staff member

g to leave since May. The others, former city manager Phil Gatch, City Clerk Nancy Dillon and Acting Assistant City Manager Don Nelson, retired or are retiring this month. All spent between 28 and 38 years with the city.

“Maria is a very kind person who has provided outstanding service to the city,” said Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Peña.

For Prescott, heading up Hospice of the Conejo is a logical step. She’s been active with the organization for 15 years and served on its board of directors.

Prescott’s interest in hospice was born out of personal tragedy. Her older brother, Isaac Edward Heath, was killed at the age of 28, three weeks after his National Guard unit arrived in Vietnam. Those around Prescott didn’t acknowledge her brother’s death.

“No one said anything to me. I was part grieving, part angry. I know now that no one knew what to say,” Prescott said. “But it brought out a lot of feelings about death and what you have to deal with.”

Helping people cope with death is Prescott’s mission through hospice.

“People want to fight to the end,” Prescott said. “When we take in someone, we care for them fully or wholly. Everyone is treated equally. It isn’t something you pay for.”

Prescott’s experiences as a child also motivated her to do community service. Her family moved often, living in Michigan, Florida, Mexico and Cuba. Her father was an engineer and often traveled to Latin America. Prescott and her family were living in Cuba when the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power took place. She recalls a terrifying time when rebels roamed the streets and people disappeared. She and her siblings left in the middle of the night and were brought to live with their grandparents in Texas for six months before their parents were able to leave Cuba and join them.

“Going through something like that really makes an impact on you when you’re young,” Prescott said. “Service and helping others has been part of what’s come out of that experience.”

Prescott joined Thousand Oaks in 1974 as a typist in the city clerk’s office. She held various positions over the years including associate planner, project coordinator, permit process manager and deputy city manager. After former city manager Phil Gatch left in April, Prescott moved into her current position.

Not only did Prescott find employment with Thousand Oaks, she also found her husband there. Community Development Director John Prescott joined the city a couple of years before Maria did. The couple worked in the same department and wed in 1980.

“We wrote our boss to ask if it was okay,” Maria said. “We’ve always been professional.”

Not working in the same place as her husband really won’t change anything, she said, because the couple doesn’t drive to work together or meet for lunch. Maria says she works long hours and brings her lunch.

“I think it goes back to the time when we had childcare issues,” Maria said.

Regarding her new position, Prescott says she wasn’t looking for a job. The current hospice director was retiring and Prescott began recruiting a successor.

“Someone said to me, if it’s so great why don’t you do it,” said Prescott, who hopes to help hospice increase its funding.

Prescott says she’s sad to leave her fellow Thousand Oaks employees, who’ve become like family. She’s most proud of several customer-service-related accomplishments including serving as permit process manager, overseeing a team of 17 in improving service at the public counter.

She’s also proud of her role as the first and only official city ombudsman during the early ’90s. Prescott worked with city staff to ease the permit process for small business owners who wanted to renovate their properties. For her efforts, the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce named Prescott its Woman of the Year in 1997.

Prescott has been involved in other local community groups, including National Charity League, Ventura County Association for Retarded Citizens, Conejo Valley Days and the local Boys & Girls Club. In 2004, she was named Dona Triunfo by the Conejo Valley Historical Society.

“Working for the city, you have opportunities to do more community service work than you normally would elsewhere,” Prescott said. “I feel so fortunate to have worked here for so many years.” A reception is being held for Prescott tonight from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks.