Oxnard Tally Leads to Historic Shift of Power

In an historic shift of power in Ventura County’s largest city, Oxnard has elected its first Latino mayor and black and Latino councilmen, who collectively vow to strengthen police protection and lure more jobs especially to the city’s poor neighborhoods.

Veteran Councilman Manuel Lopez narrowly edged out Councilman Michael Plisky and three other rivals in a tight mayoral contest that was decided early Wednesday morning with strong support from the city’s predominantly Latino and black precincts.

And in the City Council race, Bedford Pinkard became the city’s first black councilman, and Andres Herrera became only the fourth Latino elected to the council in Oxnard’s 90-year history.

The pair defeated incumbents Dorothy Maron and Geraldine Furr and seven other challengers.

“The change in the makeup of the council is much greater than I anticipated, and probably much better than anyone anticipated,” Lopez said. “Now it’s time to lead Oxnard into a future that respects and recognizes all segments of this community.”

The winners partly attributed their victories to the emerging political strength of Latinos and blacks, who make up nearly 60% of the city’s 146,000 population and who turned out to vote like never before in key precincts.

But they said they believe that they also appealed to a range of middle-class and more affluent voters on issues such as fighting crime, creating jobs and shoring up a multimillion-dollar deficit that creeps up every year at budget time.

“I think voters felt that the existing City Council has not been responsive to the entire community,” said Pinkard, a retired recreation supervisor for the city.

“We’ve had five people going in five different directions for too many years,” added Herrera, the owner of a small business. “The voters have acted and they have made their voice heard, and now we need to make sure we follow what they want us to do.”

Now the work begins.

Herrera said he will push to establish minimum levels of service for police and fire protection, and other municipal services. He said he will push to earmark money generated by economic development projects to pay for those services.

Pinkard said he will immediately start dealing with the lack of park and recreation programs for youngsters and seniors, especially in poorer areas.

And Lopez, 65, said his job will be to bring consensus to the new council.

He has headed the Planning Commission and the Redevelopment Agency during 16 years of public service. He had tried once before for the city’s top elected post but failed.

And for much of Tuesday night, it appeared as if he would fail again. He trailed Plisky badly after the initial returns and made only modest gains most of the night.

“Don’t worry,” Lopez said at the time. “I always start slow.”

Over the telephone at a modest home in a poor pocket of Oxnard, Karl Lawson asked precinct captains what they needed in the way of foot soldiers for a door-to-door nonpartisan assault to get out the vote. He waited a few seconds and then repeated the response: “They just need more.”

“OK,” Lawson said. “Hang tight. Help is on the way.”

Lawson marshaled the forces Tuesday for a first-ever push in Ventura County to drive to the polls those who don’t usually go. Volunteers pounded on the doors of registered voters who failed to show up to vote. They provided rides to those without transportation.

The Get Out the Vote campaign--a grass-roots, nonpartisan effort targeting minority, mostly Latino precincts traditionally plagued by low voter turnout--was the follow-up to an extensive countywide drive that registered thousands of new voters.

Such voter registration efforts are decades old in some areas and have won election for minority candidates throughout the country.

In Oxnard on Tuesday, Lawson prodded students and other volunteers to phone registered voters and walk the streets in five key precincts.

“This is something we’ve lacked for many years,” said Danny Carrillo, a Cal State Northridge student. “It all starts at the top, and if you don’t have anyone looking out for your own kind, you will be left out.”

In a neighborhood in south central Oxnard, Carrillo hustled past schoolchildren and lazy dogs as he looked for registered voters who were home.

“I’ve been around 80 years and I don’t trust any of them,” said a bearded old man with a cowboy hat.

“But you still have to vote,” Carrillo replied. “It’s the most important thing you can do. It can really make a difference.”

By midnight, Herrera already had sewn up his council seat and was partying with family and friends. Then the news came that Lopez was catching Plisky.

And the votes from La Colonia, a poor Latino barrio on the city’s east side, had not been counted.

The precinct--where 26% of the voters turned out two years ago--was one of those targeted by the voter registration effort. On Tuesday, 763 voters, 52% of those registered, showed up at the polls.

By 1 a.m., Lopez held a narrow lead. He finished 263 votes ahead in the final unofficial returns.

About 1,300 absentee ballots are still to be counted, however. But both Plisky and Lopez said Wednesday that they doubt that the remaining vote could change the outcome, and Plisky said he doesn’t plan to seek a recount.

“It’s over as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “Now we just start moving forward. I look forward to a good council.”

The council loses a 10-year veteran with the election victory of Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi to the state Assembly. And in the Year of the Woman, the City Council lost two female members on Tuesday who had a total of 16 years of experience.

Political consultant John Davies, who worked on Takasugi’s mayoral campaigns, said the election signals a changing of the guard on a council that over the years has been made up of older, mostly white representatives.

“I think the Hispanic community has embraced the political system for the first time,” he said. “I just think the under-represented voted on Tuesday.”

Now the new mayor and the new council members said they believe that they have a mandate to change the way that Oxnard has done business in the past. No more seeking just to recruit new business to the city, they said.

They said the council must develop programs to try to retain employers already in Oxnard.

No more efforts to close park restrooms, senior citizen centers or pools in poor areas of town--the council must provide fair and equal recreational services to all of its constituents, said the three new members, who were born and raised in La Colonia.

“I think this council will look at the city with a different perspective now,” Lopez said. “All of us want what is best for the city. But when it comes time to making decisions, we all interpret the facts based on life experiences. And let’s face it, the less affluent people have not been represented on this council.”