ELECTIONS / CAMARILLO CITY COUNCIL : Cropland Preservation Issue, Property Rights Dominate 4-Way Race

Manuel (Manny) Eneriz, a candidate for Camarillo City Council, says the Latino community in the city is suffering for lack of representation in local government.

“I feel that the Hispanic community, the Spanish-speaking community, has been ignored,” said Eneriz, 70, a political newcomer who only recently attended his first City Council meeting.

Eneriz, a retired engineer who tutors Latino children to read and speak English, says the city’s Latino population needs someone who speaks Spanish to represent their needs on the council.

Camarillo is about 12% Latino, according to the 1990 U.S. census. Only two Latinos have served on the council since 1964, a city official said.

Council candidate William L. Brown, an attorney, says property owners should be able to develop their land so long as it does not infringe on neighbors’ rights, even if a zone change is necessary.

Brown, a former Ventura County sheriff’s deputy, also believes government in general spends too much money.

“If taxpayers are tired of seeing government increase their spending year after year just because they see other governments doing it, then I think I am the man” for the job, said Brown, 39, who acknowledged he has never attended a council meeting but has watched them on cable television.

Eneriz and Brown are challenging incumbents Michael Morgan and David M. Smith for two seats on the City Council in the Nov. 3 election.

The race comes as the council is on the verge of making a pivotal decision concerning the development of agricultural land within Camarillo’s boundaries, and as officials are grappling with the continual decline in state revenues.

Morgan, a councilman for more than 12 years, considers himself a watchdog over development, particularly of agricultural land. He said the city needs experienced leadership in dealing with budget issues.

“During the coming years. . . this financial situation we’re in is going to need people with some background on how to deal with this emergency,” said Morgan, 45, a federal probation officer.

Smith, a financial planner who is finishing his first four-year term, said he wants to see the city continue to help businesses stay afloat during the recession. While protecting the city’s income and maintaining current services, he said he would like to control growth so that the city can retain its “suburban flavor.”

“I am dependable,” Smith said. “I attend the meetings. I study the material. I’m not a hypocrite.”

For residents, the biggest land-use issue continues to be a controversial proposal by the Sammis Co. to build an 1,100-unit residential community on nearly 250 acres of farmland off Pleasant Valley Road south of the Ventura Freeway.

City officials say the fate of the Sammis proposal--and any future projects proposed for agricultural land that require a zone change--is expected to be decided before the election. The council is scheduled to adopt some or all of the new planning goals recommended this summer by a 42-member citizen committee.

If the recommendations are accepted, the council must then decide how to change the city’s General Plan to accommodate these goals, one of which is to preserve more than 1,600 acres of agricultural land in Camarillo.

But candidates contend that the debate over land use will continue and that they want to have a say in what, if anything, is built on the dwindling amount of agricultural land in the city.

Since Camarillo incorporated in 1964, the city’s population has quadrupled to more than 55,000. Today, crops grow on 13% of the land in the city.

In 1981, the city’s voters approved Measure A, putting the brakes on growth and limiting the number of residential units constructed each year to 400.

In contrast to Brown, Morgan said developers have no inherent right to build on land they own even if it is zoned for agriculture. He credited himself with pushing for Measure A’s passage as well as for greenbelt agreements between Camarillo, the county and Oxnard.

“Four hundred is not a capricious number,” Morgan said. According to current zoning in the city’s General Plan, the city will be “built out” by the year 2000 if 400 houses are built a year, he said.

Eneriz said growth in the city should be slower. He said the city should put the proposal to rezone farmland for Sammis “in the closet for now.” He said he would like to decrease the number of residential units constructed to 300 per year.

“Here in Camarillo, we’re developing too fast,” Eneriz said.

Brown said he supports approving the Sammis proposal or any other plan that does not adversely affect neighbors--as long as it doesn’t cost the city any money.

By trying to prevent the development of farmland, Brown said, “then you’re being a dictator. You’re telling someone they cannot sell their land.”

Smith said he wants the freedom to judge the need of development projects on a case-by-case basis and is still trying to ascertain how strictly the goal to preserve farmland should be interpreted.

Besides the city’s growth policies, Camarillo’s budget is also a prime campaign topic.

Smith and Brown said they would try to steer the budget ax away from police protection provided by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Although Brown said he has not looked closely at line items in the city budget, he said the overall city budget should not increase every year. Brown is a founding member of the Ventura County chapter of Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group that he said has nearly 50 members countywide.

Smith said his job as a financial planner gives him an edge in dealing with the city’s fiscal matters. He takes credit for helping to bring the city back to financial health after it suffered a $25-million loss from bad investments in 1987. He also said he played a major role in fostering a better relationship between the business community and the city.

Eneriz said the city could do more to help merchants.

“Camarillo is tough on business,” Eneriz said. “They have too many controls.”

Citing an effort to support merchants, the council voted recently to loosen restrictions on signs to allow businesses to hang banners up to 120 days a year. The council also voted to expand opportunities for massage therapists by removing a restriction that required them to operate under the supervision of a doctor or chiropractor.

Morgan supported these two measures. At the same time, however, he said he does not want to see any more businesses established on the grounds of Camarillo Airport.

If reelected, Morgan said, he will work to complete improvements to Constitution Park and bring more cultural events to Camarillo.

Smith said he would want to continue to improve relations between the city and local businesses.

Both Eneriz and Brown said they think a change is needed on the council, but neither has specific criticism of the incumbents or projects they would pursue if elected.

Brown said fresh blood should replace “stale blood” on the council. Eneriz, who says he has plenty of free time, believes he can do a better job than the incumbents, who work and have children.