Oceanside

Oceanside officials are investigating an incident in which City Councilman Ben Ramsey is suspected of trying to intimidate a code enforcement officer while she issued a citation Saturday to an acquaintance of the councilman.

During a verbal confrontation with the code enforcement officer, Ramsey reportedly waived his council identification card and pointed out that he was the woman’s boss, according to a city official familiar with the investigation.

The incident flared when the code enforcement officer attempted to issue a ticket to Chuck Martin, owner of a downtown auto dealership, for an infraction of the Municipal Code because he had parked a car on the sidewalk.

Martin called Ramsey, who until shortly after his election to the council in November was employed by an auto auction firm in Oceanside, for assistance. Ramsey and the code enforcement officer became embroiled in a verbal exchange, in which the councilman told the woman he was her boss and that she should do what he said.

The code enforcement officer responded by calling in backup assistance from the Oceanside Police Department. An officer soon arrived and broke up the confrontation.

Janet Martin, a city spokeswoman and not a relative of Chuck Martin, said City Manager Suzanne Foucault was investigating the incident and expected to have some resolution “in a couple weeks.” She declined to elaborate further on the matter.

Ramsey and Chuck Martin could not be reached for comment.