ELECTIONS / CANDIDACY FILINGS : Plisky, Lopez Join Oxnard Mayoral Race

Two veteran councilmen will square off in the race to become Oxnard’s next mayor in what promises to be one of the most hotly contested of the nine city elections in Ventura County this fall.

In Oxnard’s Nov. 3 mayoral election, five people will compete for the highest elected post in the county’s largest city, including Councilmen Manuel Lopez and Michael Plisky.

On the other end of the county, two more candidates filed papers this week to run for two Simi Valley City Council seats, including one woman whose name is nearly identical to that of a Ventura County supervisor who represents Simi Valley.

Graphic artist Christopher McGrath and real estate agent Vickey Howard added their names to a field of 11 candidates who had filed nomination papers before the initial deadline last Friday.

Howard’s filing prompted Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard of Simi Valley to issue a public statement to clarify that she is not running for City Council.

And in Port Hueneme, two more residents declared their candidacy for that council race, bringing to eight the number of candidates seeking two available seats. Gary Songer, 49, a former Port Hueneme planning commissioner, and David Kanter, 35, a businessman, joined the race by filing papers before Wednesday’s deadline.

Friday was the deadline for submitting papers to run for elected posts in all of the county’s cities except Ventura. However, the deadline was extended to Wednesday in Oxnard’s mayoral contest and the two city council races because incumbents have chosen not to run.

For the first time in a decade, Oxnard will have a new mayor because Mayor Nao Takasugi is stepping down to pursue a state Assembly bid.

In a race that is expected to focus on the city’s pace of development, council members Plisky and Lopez are the most prominent candidates in a five-man race joined by Anthony de la Cerda, Oscar Karrin and John Quigley.

Plisky, an accountant, said the city’s highest priority should be to establish a firm financial base to pay for needed services. He counted among his strengths the ability to hammer out agreements with developers that ultimately will generate tax dollars for the city.

He said Oxnard must maintain high-end development to continue to subsidize affordable housing and other public-service projects.

“Our future is not development, but when we do development it must be done right,” Plisky said. “I think that’s where my strengths are. I’m strong on planning, strong on finance and strong on leadership.”

Lopez said he favors building more affordable housing, and he wants to make sure that Oxnard’s poor and minority communities get their fair share of services.

He stressed that he is not anti-business, and noted that he has been part of a council that has lured large retail outlets to Oxnard.

“I was born and raised in Oxnard,” Lopez said. “I think I have a better pulse on the community.”

Karrin, 76, is a strong advocate of Oxnard’s mobile-home park residents. He has run for city office six times before, twice for mayor, but this time, he said, he thinks he has a good shot.

“I’m so damned annoyed with what’s going on with the City Council, and I think other people are too,” Karrin said. He pledged Wednesday to try to have Lopez and Plisky recalled if he is elected.

John Quigley, 42, moved to Oxnard in 1988. He said the city is cutting bad development deals.

“The fact of the matter is this city is not being run very well,” said Quigley, a sewage-treatment operator.

In Simi Valley, the filing period was extended until Wednesday afternoon because recently appointed Councilman Michael W. Piper decided not to run.

Besides McGrath and Howard, the Simi Valley residents who filed before Friday’s deadline were incumbent Councilman Bill Davis and candidates Dick Satterlee, H. Larry Fick, Michal Thomas Moore, Barbara Williamson, Cheryl Carillo, Steve Silveri, Tim Hodge, Dennis Serbick, Ernest Federer and Larry Dennert.

The nominating period for Simi Valley’s mayoral race closed last Friday because incumbent Gregory Stratton filed for reelection. Running against him will be Steve Frank, Robert L. Plunkett and Kenneth Ashton.

The campaign for two council seats in Port Hueneme is expected to revolve around the differences between those who support the city’s plan to build a recreational-vehicle resort on beachfront property and those who oppose it.

Mayor Orvene Carpenter already had announced that he will seek a seventh term. Other candidates are Al E. Ingersoll Jr., a retired military man; Toni Young, a real estate agent; Valorie J. Morrison, a small business owner; Henry M. Knowles, a maintenance supervisor at Hueneme Elementary School District; and Terry L. Bruno, a self-employed businessman.

Times staff writer Phil Sneiderman and correspondent Kay Saillant contributed to this story.