ELECTIONS / FILINGS : Wide Field of Candidates to Vie for City Councils

A last-minute flurry of campaign filings on Friday created a wide field of candidates, ranging from an avowed punk rock singer to an aerospace engineer, who will compete Nov. 3 in Ventura County’s nine city council races.

Friday was the deadline for submitting papers to run for the key policy-making posts in all of the county’s cities, except Ventura. The deadline, however, was extended until Wednesday afternoon in Oxnard’s mayoral contest and two council races in Simi Valley and Port Hueneme, where incumbents have chosen not to run.

The filing deadline set the stage for several volatile campaigns focusing on issues such as mobile home rent control in Santa Paula, a proposed recreational vehicle park in Port Hueneme and the sluggish business climate in Simi Valley.

In Oxnard, voters must pick a successor to Mayor Nao Takasugi, who has held that job for 10 years.

In Thousand Oaks, a council member will face a challenge from a man who led a failed campaign to oust the incumbent through a recall petition.

Friday was also the deadline for candidates seeking election to local school board and special district boards that oversee parks, harbors and water agencies. But city council races traditionally attract the most attention, and many potential candidates were still playing it cagey as the filing deadline approached.

In Simi Valley, for instance, Ken Ashton, a longtime Simi Valley Unified School District board member, had attracted wide attention when he took out papers to run for mayor.

But early Friday afternoon Ashton still refused to disclose whether he planned to formally file his candidacy papers with the clerk. He finally did so about 40 minutes before the deadline.

Among the council candidates who had taken out papers countywide, only about a third had returned them by Thursday night, said Bruce Bradley, the county’s assistant registrar of voters. In contrast, 60% of the school board candidates holding papers had filed them by Thursday, along with 75% of the special district candidates.

“There seem to be a lot more politics going on in the cities, with a lot more people waiting until the last minute to see if the incumbents file,” Bradley said. “There’s a lot more gamesmanship in city politics.”

A record number of races will be decided in Ventura County on Nov. 3 because many cities and special districts have moved their balloting day to coincide with the November general election to save money and take advantage of the historically larger voter turnout.

Bradley said he expects the county to have a record 350,000 registered voters go to the polls on election day. Because of the high interest in the presidential race, he predicted a turnout of 70% to 80%.

Incumbents in some Ventura County cities will face little or no opposition. But in other cities, the candidates will face strong challengers who have begun calling on voters to oust current office-holders and change city direction.

Thousand Oaks

In Thousand Oaks, incumbents Frank Schillo and Robert E. Lewis will try to retain their seats while fending off challenges from seven other candidates.

Schillo has been attacked and lauded for his steadfast support of the city’s $63.8-million Jungleland civic center. Lewis, a former planning commissioner, takes credit as the author of the city’s growth-management initiative, passed by voters in 1980.

Their opponents include Ellyn H. Wilkins, an insurance saleswoman who served on the Conejo Valley Unified School District board from 1983 to 1989, and Ken Bauer, an Arco executive who has been an outspoken critic of the civic center project and who led an unsuccessful drive to recall Schillo and Councilman Alex Fiore.

Other Thousand Oaks council candidates include real estate agent Bob Hughes, who is making a second try for a council seat; Hagop Jay Sagherian, a 21-year-old college student who is the youngest candidate to run for the council, and Jaime Zukowski, a former part-time teacher in the Conejo Valley school district.

Two other Thousand Oaks candidates filed Friday afternoon: Paul Herzog, who called himself a community projects organizer, and Dave (Grave) Naegeli, a self-described punk rock singer.

Oxnard

In Oxnard, the filing period for the mayor’s race was extended until Wednesday because Takasugi is stepping down to run for the 37th District Assembly seat. By Friday, only two candidates, Oscar Karrin and Anthony De La Cerda, had filed papers to run for mayor. Councilmen Manuel M. Lopez and Michael A. Plisky have also taken out papers for the race, along with John Quigley, but all three had not returned their candidacy papers by Friday.

The filing period closed Friday for two Oxnard City Council seats because both incumbent council members, Dorothy S. Maron and Geraldine Furr, filed for reelection.

The incumbents will face seven challengers: Roy Lockwood, Andres Herrera, Bedford Pinkard, Fred J. Schwartz, Lawrence Stein, William C. Winter and Deborah L. DeMoss.

Simi Valley

A crowded field of 15 candidates took shape Friday in Simi Valley, where the mayor’s post and two City Council seats are at stake. The field competing for mayor was solidified with Friday’s deadline, but council filings were extended to Wednesday because incumbent Michael W. Piper chose not to run.

Greg Stratton, a council member since 1979 and mayor since 1986, will face three challengers: conservative political consultant Steve Frank, attorney Robert L. Plunkett and Ashton, who is stepping down from his school board post.

Stratton’s opponents have said they will attack him for approving the city’s purchase of a historic church for use as an arts center and for not doing more to alleviate a slowdown in the city’s economy. Stratton said he will stand by his record.

Incumbent Councilman Bill Davis will also seek reelection. Also running for the council will be Dick Satterlee, H. Larry Fick, Michal Thomas Moore, Barbara Williamson, Cheryl Carillo, Steve Silveri, Tim Hodge, Dennis Serbick, Ernest Federer and Larry Dennert.

One other resident, Christopher McGrath, has taken out papers to run for council but had not returned them by Friday.

Port Hueneme

In Port Hueneme, six people filed papers by Friday afternoon for two seats up for election. Because longtime Councilman Dean Green has announced he is retiring, the filing deadline was extended to Wednesday.

The other incumbent, Mayor Orvene Carpenter, will seek a seventh term.

Carpenter has said one of the reasons he will run again is to continue supporting the city’s controversial plan to build a beachfront recreational vehicle park. The debate over this project, which city officials say will generate $400,000 for city coffers, has drawn an unprecedented number of challengers to the election, city officials said.

So far, other candidates who have filed are: Toni Young, a real estate agent; Al Ingersoll, a retired military man; Henry Knowles, a facilities maintenance supervisor at the naval base; Valorie Morrison, who operates a fishing gear concession with her husband at Hueneme Pier, and Terry L. Bruno, an entrepreneur/engineer.

Moorpark

In Moorpark, four of the five City Council members are up for reelection, a record for the city.

Mayor Paul W. Lawrason, seeking a second two-year term, will face two opponents: Helen Taylor, a nurse who has helped lead a parents’ group seeking to reduce busing in the Moorpark school district, and Pete Peters, a rancher who directs the Handicapped Equestrian Learning Program.

The other council members running for reelection are Scott Montgomery, Bernardo M. Perez and Roy E. Talley Jr. Two people have filed papers to challenge them: former Mayor Eloise Brown, who lost her two previous bids to return to the council, and political newcomer Patrick Hunter.

Fillmore

In Fillmore, all three incumbent council members filed for reelection: teacher Scott Lee and businessmen Michael McMahan and Roger Campbell. The only challenger will be Charles (Tom) Robertson, a longtime resident who is assistant fire chief at the Point Mugu Naval Weapons Station.

Ojai

In Ojai, two incumbents and one challenger have filed for two open seats on the City Council.

The incumbents are Robert McKinney, a former Casitas Water District manager who was appointed in 1989, and James Loebl, an attorney who has been on the council since 1968. The challenger is Robert Laszlo, an Ojai businessman and a member of the Redevelopment Council.

The campaign will probably focus on maintaining Ojai’s slow-growth policies, city officials said.

Camarillo

Five Camarillo residents, including two incumbents, have filed papers to run for two seats on the City Council.

Incumbents Michael D. Morgan and David M. Smith are both running for reelection. Morgan has served 12 years on the council, and Smith is now completing his first four-year term. They will face a challenge from three political newcomers--attorney Bill Brown, retired engineer Richard Sussex and retired aerospace engineer Manuel Eneriz.

Santa Paula

In Santa Paula, three challengers have filed papers to oppose two incumbent council members.

Mayor Alfonso C. Urias, who has served on the council since 1974 except for one two-year break, filed papers for reelection. Urias said he expects the council’s plan to revitalize downtown Santa Paula to be a key issue in the race.

Les H. Maland, who has served on the council since 1968, has filed papers to seek a seventh term in office.

Facing off against the incumbents will be attorney Robin Sullivan, who is president of the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce; Flo Zakrajshek, a businesswoman who serves on the Santa Paula Housing Authority, and Mark Florio, a retired defense consultant who writes a weekly column for a Santa Paula newspaper.

In addition to the council races, Santa Paula voters will consider a ballot measure that would enact more stringent mobile home rent-control rules.

Also contributing to this story were Times staff writers Fred Alvarez, John Battelle and Psyche Pascual, and correspondents Janet Bergamo, Maia Davis, Patrick McCartney, Caitlin Rother and Kay Saillant.