Incumbents Fight Wave of Discontent : Cities: Nine races for mayor and councils are characterized by stringent campaigns against officeholders.

Voters in nine of Ventura County’s 10 cities selected mayors and City Council members Tuesday in races highlighted by aggressive attacks on incumbents and vocal debates over local spending.

In the race to succeed longtime Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi, City Councilman Michael Plisky held a slight lead over Councilman Manuel Lopez late Tuesday evening. “I’m excited,” Plisky said. “I’m ready to go to work.”

The returns also showed that two minority candidates, Bedford Pinkard, who is black, and Andres Herrera, a Latino, were running ahead of incumbent Councilwomen Geraldine Furr and Dorothy Maron.

Pinkard, a retired city recreation supervisor, attributed his popularity to anti-incumbent sentiment and to the friends he made in his city job and during his five terms on the Oxnard Union High School Board of Trustees.

“I think it’s a matter of people wanting change,” he said. “They’re dissatisfied with the services the City Council gave to the citizens of Oxnard.”

In Thousand Oaks, the two incumbent councilmen seeking to retain their seats were locked in a tight race with two challengers.

Councilman Frank Schillo was in the lead, followed by unemployed teacher Jaime Zukowski and Ken Bauer, who led an unsuccessful recall campaign against Schillo earlier this year.

Mayor Bob Lewis trailed slightly behind those three in the early returns.

“I’ve been on the council longer. Maybe that had something to do with it,” Schillo said. “I hope it’s more than name recognition.”

Bauer said he believed the attention he received during the recall effort aided his council campaign. “We’re really pleased about where we are,” he said.

In Simi Valley, early returns gave Mayor Greg Stratton a commanding lead over three candidates seeking to unseat him. “Our belief is that this should be fairly representative of our final numbers,” the mayor said.

Stratton said the 1992 campaign had a more negative tone than any of his past races. Referring to his harshest critic, candidate Steve Frank, the mayor said, “I just get very frustrated having to run against someone who doesn’t believe in the truth.”

Frank said he was not discouraged by his poor showing in the early returns. “Regardless (of the outcome), we’re winners,” he said. “We have shown the people the problems in Simi Valley.”

In the separate race for two Simi Valley City Council seats, the early returns showed incumbent Bill Davis and Planning Commissioner Barbara Williamson in the lead.

Voters also cast ballots Tuesday for City Council members in Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Port Hueneme and Santa Paula.

In addition, 56 candidates ran for 25 school board seats in 13 districts throughout Ventura County.

The Oxnard race saw challengers criticize incumbents for Oxnard’s severe money shortage, which has whittled away at city programs over the years and forced a $5-million cut in public services this past summer.

Opponents also hammered at the incumbents for approving projects that returned sales tax dollars to developers as incentives to build in Oxnard.

Lopez and Plisky were among five candidates competing for the mayor’s post.

Lopez, 65, an optometrist, was born in Oxnard and has been a councilman for 14 years. Plisky, 51, a business and tax consultant, has lived in Oxnard for 20 years and has served on the council for nearly six years.

Also running for mayor were Anthony De La Cerda, 22; Oscar Karrin, 76; and John Quigley, 42.

In Thousand Oaks, nine candidates competed for two seats on the council. The field included the two incumbents who were criticized for their support of the Jungleland civic center project.

Mayor Lewis, 48, was strongly supported by the two city-employee unions and by supporters of the civic center project.

Councilman Schillo, 58, battling for his third four-year term, ran a campaign emphasizing the city’s protective stance on open space and its reputation as a safe community.

Bauer, 43, an executive with the Atlantic Richfield Co., relied on support from environmentalists and from absentee voters, whom he targeted in a recent mailing. Bauer was endorsed by Save Open Space, the group that helped Maria VanderKolk win a seat on the county Board of Supervisors.

In Simi Valley, Stratton, 46, a council member since 1979 and the city’s mayor since 1986, battled three challengers, each well-known in the community.

During the campaign, Frank, 45, a public affairs consultant, repeatedly attacked Stratton’s record, alleging that the mayor had made poor decisions on the council and was no longer providing aggressive leadership.

Felices Libatique, 26, said Tuesday that she voted for Frank after being impressed by a campaign letter his supporters had left at her gate. In the letter, Frank said he opposed the construction of a McDonald’s restaurant in northeast Simi Valley.

“What he wrote in it was very appealing,” said Libatique, an insurance claims assistant.

But other voters said Stratton should be returned to office. “I think he’s done a good job,” said Barbara Lewis, a retired teacher.

Also vying for the mayor’s post were Robert L. Plunkett, 40, an attorney who led Ventura County’s campaign for a school voucher initiative; and Kenneth L. Ashton, 61, a retired banker who has served on the Simi Valley Unified School District board for 21 years.

A total of 13 candidates were running for the two Simi Valley City Council seats at stake. Davis, 65, was the only incumbent in the race. Michael W. Piper, who was appointed to the council last December, chose not to run.

Davis, a retired small business owner, has served on the council for six years.