The City of Oceanside chose a new treasurer to serve on the the City Council Wednesday after a dead man was elected to office during November election.
Dr. Rafe Trickey Jr. was selected to serve as the treasurer over candidate Nadine Scott, who lost the election by a six percent margin to her opponent, Gary Ernst.
Ernst had died on Sept. 23, 2016 but there was not enough time to remove his name from the November ballot.
He earned more than 17,000 votes.
Scott spoke with NBC 7 after the election, saying she believed the voters had not been informed of Ernst's death because some city leaders wanted to appoint a different candidate.
NBC 7 reached out to Scott on Wednesday following the announcement.
“My appointment in the race was not legally on the ballot,” Scott told us.
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She added that she did not expect to be selected as the new treasurer but is planning on running for council in the future.
Trickey sent NBC 7 the following statement:
“I am delighted, honored, and humbled. I love our beautiful city and I was extremely pleased that we had 11 very good and talented Oceanside citizens who applied to be considered and were willing and ready to serve. I look forward to serving as Oceanside City Treasurer and I will do everything in my power to represent the city as its treasurer and serve my fellow citizens with skill and integrity. I feel very fortunate and blessed to have been appointed with all five members of City Council voting to approve my appointment.”
