Countywide : County Honors ‘6th Supervisor’ by Naming Bridge After Him

Since 1958, Carroll Lorbeer has regularly attended meetings of the Oxnard City Council and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, gaining a reputation among city and county officials as something of a worldly adviser.

On Tuesday, the supervisors passed a resolution marking his 85th birthday, which falls on Christmas Day.

They also told him that they were naming the new bridge over the Santa Clara River at Victoria Street in his honor.

“He advocated building this bridge for 35 years,” Supervisor John Flynn said.

The supervisors praised the advice and suggestions that Lorbeer has made to them over the years, complimenting him on his graciousness.

They sometimes call the Oxnard resident “the sixth supervisor.”

Lorbeer, a former celery farmer and retired real estate agent, said he was quite surprised by the honor.

He reminisced about how he began farming in 1931 in Santa Monica and moved to Ventura County in the 1950s.

The gadfly’s agenda over the years has ranged from changing street names to pushing airport development. Since 1958, Lorbeer, whose middle names are Winston Churchill, said he has “devoted Tuesdays to government.”