Green Party Endorses 4 for Ventura Council

A segment of the environmentalist Green Party of Ventura County has endorsed four candidates for the Ventura City Council.

The Greens of Ventura said in a written statement that Gary Tuttle, Todd Collart, Steve Bennett and Nancy Cloutier “are mature, cool-headed, independent thinkers who have proven in their professional lives that they will be beholden to no one.”

Tuttle and Collart, both incumbents, are running for a second term on the council.

The Greens of Ventura was organized to get involved in the Ventura city elections, spokesman Tom Stafford said. There are 1,455 Green Party members in the city of Ventura, he said.

Tuttle is described in the endorsement as “both a friend of the environment and of the small-business interests of the city, putting neither first.”

Collart is called “a calm, steady voice” and someone who “has shown an ability to critically and unemotionally consider problems before the council.”

Bennett, who is trying to win a seat on the council for the first time, “has been a voice for the environment for many years,” according to the Greens of Ventura statement.

Nancy Cloutier, who is also trying to win a council seat, was endorsed by the Greens of Ventura as someone who “will bring a clear, intelligent voice to the council, one that is not wedded to a particular side of the issues that appear to be dividing the city.”