ELECTIONS / PORT HUENEME CITY COUNCIL : Crowded Field of Candidates Focuses on RV Resort Plan

The ongoing debate over building a recreational vehicle resort on prime Port Hueneme beachfront property has stirred an unusual interest among citizens clamoring to win a seat on the City Council on Nov 3.

An unprecedented seven challengers--many of them political novices--will join longtime incumbent Orvene S. Carpenter in the race for two seats on the City Council. The winners will perhaps get a second shot at determining the fate of the $2.3-million RV resort approved for the south end of Hueneme Beach.

Moreover, the candidates say, the outcome of the election may help determine the future of the city’s coastal development, an issue that has pitted some beach-area homeowners against other city residents for the past two years.

It also offers an opportunity for new council members to influence other issues facing the small seaside city--everything from raising new revenue for needed services to improving the quality of drinking water.

“The voters will say which way they want the city to go,” said candidate Valorie J. Morrison. “Do they like the direction we’re headed now, or do they want a change?”

The answer to that question has become clouded ever since citizens began debating the city’s plan to build a 143-space RV resort on 10 acres at Hueneme Beach.

Officials estimate that fees charged at the park would bring $400,000 a year to city coffers, enabling the city to lift the so-called view tax on property close to the beach.

A coalition of homeowners from the beach area, many of whose views would be marred by construction of the RV park, formed to vocally oppose the project.

But as the project moved forward, many retirees and others who live inland and like the resort’s potential revenue jammed meetings to urge approval of the project. The City Council unanimously gave its stamp of approval in April.

Recently, city officials suggested that plans for the RV park may be revised to satisfy environmental concerns cited by state and federal agencies. If that occurs, any incoming council members will get a chance to vote early next year on whether to approve the modified plan, said Tom Figg, the city’s director of community development.

That prospect is not lost on the candidates, the majority of whom support the project.

Besides Carpenter, candidates Morrison, Alvah E. Ingersoll Jr., Henry M. Knowles, Terry L. Bruno and Gary L. Songer have all said they support construction of the RV park as a way to attract tourists and add revenue to the city.

“If not an RV park, it should be developed into an income-producing operation,” said Ingersoll, a retired Marine Corps major. “And right now, the RV park looks like it would produce the most money.”

The two remaining candidates, real estate agent Toni Young and businessman David Kanter, maintain that the RV project is a bad idea, both from a financial and environmental standpoint. It is too risky to invest $2.3 million in city funds on a project that is not guaranteed to provide a return, Kanter said.

And two powerful agencies, the state Department of Fish and Game and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have recommended against the project because of the potential threat to nearby endangered shorebirds, Kanter said.

“That should be a signal, but the city has ignored it,” he said. “They are hellbent on developing it.”

Instead of developing the beach, Kanter believes that the city can raise revenues by creating other entrepreneurial enterprises, such as offering Saturday film matinees at the Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center and monthly arts and craft fairs.

Young said she would like to see the city build and become landlord of a large apartment complex to raise money.

While the debate over the RV park is the hottest issue this election season, the candidates say they support other positions that delineate them.

Bruno, 43, said he wants to install a hot line at City Hall to answer citizens’ questions 24 hours a day. A hot line could improve communication between City Council members and the people they represent, said Bruno, a civil engineer at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at Point Mugu.

Ingersoll, 62, has his own approach to restore order and safety to the city’s streets. He wants to form roaming citizen patrols that would report suspicious activity to police. Ingersoll also supports improving drinking water quality by building a desalination plant in conjunction with the Port Hueneme Navy base.

Kanter, 36, supports a two-term limit on council members and thinks the city should spend less money on consultants and lawyers. Instead, he suggests using citizen committees to study proposals.

Knowles, 67, a maintenance director at Point Mugu, said his priority as a councilman would be to develop most of the city’s remaining open space. By redeveloping shabby areas of the city, Port Hueneme can add considerable dollars to its property tax base, he said.

Morrison said her primary concern is maintaining existing levels of city services. She would support raising taxes, if necessary, to pay for these services, she said. Morrison co-owns a bait and tackle shop at the base of Hueneme Pier with her husband.

Songer, 49, an accountant, said he wants to reduce traffic generated by the Port of Hueneme and would support other projects along the beach, including a restaurant, to attract tourists and their dollars.

Young said she thinks that the city needs to be more accessible to citizens and would hold regular open office hours to keep in touch with her constituents.

Carpenter, 67, who has been mayor since 1990, said he will continue to work toward long-term goals of the City Council, including finding new sources of revenue to pay for city services and improving the quality of life.