ELECTIONS: OXNARD : Developers Head List of Contributors to Tax Drive

Supporters of a 5% utility tax increase in Oxnard have collected $31,700 in campaign contributions, mostly from developers, public employee groups and city officials, according to campaign statements released this week.

Out-of-town builders, engineers and design consultants alone gave $13,700 or about 40% of the contributions supporting the tax, according to the statements issued Thursday and Friday. This included money from a number of companies in Los Angeles and Orange counties that are developing or planning housing projects in Oxnard.

Meanwhile, opponents collected $480, according to campaign statements covering the period between Jan. 1 and May 19.

The tax increase, which would be added to telephone, cable, electric, gas and garbage collection fees, is designed to ease Oxnard’s financial crisis by raising $5 million annually.

City officials have warned that if Measure C is not approved June 5, the city will have to make drastic cuts in personnel, possibly including police officers and firefighters, to avoid a $2.8-million deficit next year.

The donations were detailed in a 13-page campaign statement filed by Citizens for Public Safety, a pro-tax group that includes the Oxnard Peace Officers Assn., the Oxnard Firefighters Assn., Friends of the Library and the Oxnard Cultural and Fine Arts Commission.

Records show that the group has spent $10,220 for lawn signs, voter lists, flyers and on professional management consultants.

Opponents of the tax, who say the city’s financial problems are due to mismanagement, question the involvement of developers in the campaign. Their motive, opponents say, is to curry favor with the City Council.

“You don’t have to think that far” to understand their intentions, said Curtis P. Davison, treasurer for Oxnard Residents for Responsible Government and the former president of the Chamber of Commerce.

But the contributors--most of whom have developments in Oxnard--say they have a vested interest in the economic stability of the city.

“We don’t look at it as political,” said Aaron Raznick, president of Raznick Community Builders of Woodland Hills, which donated $2,000 in support of the tax. “We are concerned because the quality of life will be destroyed” if the tax measure fails.

Raznick has developed several residential projects in the city and is building 88 patio homes near Saviers Road and Clara Street.

Public employee groups, such as police and firefighter associations, and city officials, including City Manager David Mora and Police Chief Robert Owens, have donated $5,400 or about 17% of the contributions in support of the measure.

Citizens for Public Safety has warned that if the tax increase is not approved the city may be forced to cut police and fire services and close a library, a youth boxing center and a museum.

The opponents, led by the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce and Oxnard Residents for Responsible Government, submitted a three-page document that listed only one contributor: Stephen Maulhardt, an Oxnard property manager. He donated $480 in copy supplies, envelopes and postage stamps, according to the report.

Although supporters of the measure have far outdistanced opponents in gathering contributions, Maulhardt, vice president of the chamber’s government relations group, said he believes that the tax proponents will have a difficult time persuading voters to approve the tax.

He said given the city’s past financial record, he thinks residents will be leery of giving the city more money. Maulhardt said the city should not have placed any tax increase on the ballot until the results of an audit at the end of this month determines the cause of the city’s fiscal problems.

Oxnard Residents for Responsible Government has no plans for fund-raisers but expects to send out a citywide mailer, a spokesman said.

Terry Dempsey, campaign manager for Citizens for Public Safety, said there is no hidden agenda for developers who support the utility tax. He said developers who own projects in Oxnard simply want to protect the safety and stability of their investments by making sure that police and fire services are not cut.

Dempsey, who has worked as a paralegal in Los Angeles and as an aide to 1988 presidential candidate Alexander Haig, was hired by the group at the recommendation of Fred Krager, vice president of the Dolphin Group. The Dolphin Group is a Westwood public relations firm that represents many Orange County development companies, including Warmington Homes, which donated $2,500 toward the tax measure.

Dayle Henry, Ventura landscape architect and co-owner of Design Consortium, said he contributed $200 to the campaign because he is worried that the city may increase fees to developers if the tax is not approved.

Oxnard Budget and Management Director Bill Mayer said developers’ fees already pay for streets, sewers, storm drains and traffic signals required for new development projects. He said state law forbids cities from charging fees that exceed the cost of new infrastructures.

Frank Scardina, a spokesman for Kaufman & Broad Inc., a Los Angeles-based development firm, said the company’s Woodland Hills office donated $5,000 to the campaign because it is worried that the quality of life in Oxnard would suffer if the tax measure is defeated and police and fire services are cut.

Kaufman & Broad is developing two residential projects in Oxnard: the 65-acre, 212-unit California Cove and a 23-acre, 271-unit California Lighthouse.

“Simply, the city is a spot where revenues are insufficient to meet funding needs,” Scardina said.