Buford Seen as Ventura’s Next Mayor : Politics: He is viewed by colleagues as a thoughtful decision maker but has disappointed some former business backers.

City Councilman Tom Buford, a 45-year-old labor lawyer, will almost certainly be chosen Ventura’s 46th mayor by his colleagues Monday despite serving only two years on the council.

And if Buford is supported by a majority of the seven-member council, as some council members expect, the council will have as its titular head a thoughtful decision maker who has a keen ability to analyze issues, colleagues say.

Council members describe the soft-spoken attorney as a consensus builder whose dry wit can defuse a difficult situation.

“He’s a pretty corny guy,” Councilman Gary Tuttle said. “He’s fun to work with, reasonable and innovative.”

However, Buford’s ascension would rankle some disillusioned supporters who backed the former Ventura Chamber of Commerce president on a pro-business slate in 1991 but now see him as a disappointment.

Those current chamber leaders cite three examples where Buford supported business less aggressively than they hoped. Buford has also angered some Ventura Keys homeowners, who say he did not fulfill election promises to fairly resolve who gets the bill for dredging the Keys.

“We hired a man who was supposed to be honest,” said David Harris, a Keys resident. “He forgot who supported him.”

Although there is always keen competition for the mayoral post, the job does not carry a great deal of power beyond that of a council member. Former mayors say committee appointments represent the mayor’s most important unique role.

Buford said that if he becomes mayor his priorities would be downtown redevelopment, economic development, housing policy and youth services.

However, Buford anticipates no major changes in city government if he prevails Monday evening. “We’re not set up so that any one person can come in and call the shots,” he said.

Buford ran for office to be a leader, not a representative for special interests, including business, he said.

“When I ran, I told people I intended to be as independent as possible and exercise my best judgment,” Buford said. “I felt that my views were consistent with those that supported me.”

His approval of some measures that the business community opposed, such as the business license tax, have earned the respect of city staff and some council colleagues.

“He didn’t turn out to be as party-line as they thought,” said Everett Millais, the city’s community development director. “He’s more open-minded.”

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If selected mayor, Buford would succeed Gregory L. Carson, another first-term councilman who was elected on the same pro-business slate two years ago.

Carson and Tuttle have said they will support Buford for mayor. They said Councilman-elect Steve Bennett--who will be sworn in Monday--is also expected to vote for Buford. Bennett would not say whom he supports.

Councilwoman-elect Rosa Lee Measures and Councilman Jack Tingstrom are still actively running for mayor. Councilman Jim Monahan said he wants the job but doubts that he can get the necessary votes.

President Guy Wysinger of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce, who supports Buford, acknowledged last week that the councilman has made some business leaders uneasy over the last two years.

Buford favors building a pipeline 45 miles east to the State Water Project, an idea strongly supported by local businesses. But he no longer is fighting an alternative seawater desalination plant because voters supported it 55% to 45% last year in an advisory ballot measure.

Buford also bucked the chamber by voting for the business license tax last year and disappointed developers by withholding housing construction allocations this year.

“There has been some questions at where he’s landed on things,” Wysinger said. “In my mind he has not been as vocal on some issues as I would like.”

The chamber helped him get elected, Buford said, and he has not neglected business interests. But he cannot allow those interests to override his better judgment, he said.

“The morning after the election, your responsibility is to the whole city,” Buford said. “I’m looking at the long-term future of the city.”

Buford has also upset some Ventura Keys homeowners, who have been battling the city for years about dredging payments. Keys residents say he courted their votes, telling them he wanted to lower their assessments.

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But this year Buford voted to levy annual assessments of about $1,733 per household and force Keys homeowners to pay for most of the dredging.

“We were shocked and disappointed,” Keys resident Bud Whitehead said. “I thought we would have a fair shake out of it this time around.”

Keys residents, who are paying 75% of dredging costs compared to the city’s 25% share, argue that the city should shoulder most of the expenses.

Buford said he was fair to Keys residents and that lawsuits they filed against the city hampered the council’s ability to negotiate.

Carson, who helped craft a pending settlement proposal, thinks Buford will do a good job if he becomes mayor.

“He does his homework,” Carson said.

In addition to maintaining a law office, Buford does arbitration work for the Ventura County superior and municipal courts and occasionally volunteers as a judge in small claims court.

Friends and supporters characterize Buford as considerate and committed to his community. Many point to his leadership as chamber president in the effort to rebuild the Ventura Pier.

Dale Corral, who owns a fast-food Mexican restaurant, said he was impressed with Buford because the councilman stayed in touch after the 1991 election.

“Before he was a councilman, he used to come in here. When he was campaigning, he asked us if he could use the window for a promotion,” Corral recalled. “After he was elected, he kept coming in. Other people who have run for office have used my window, and you don’t see them at all after the election.”

But even his supporters acknowledge that Buford has a tendency to give overly long answers to questions--a fault the councilman concedes.

Larry Matheney, an attorney who helped Buford in his first, unsuccessful council bid in 1987, said his friend improved his speaking style for the 1991 race.

“I had to work with Tom to get him to come down to short answers,” Matheney said. “He would be extremely thorough in his answers, and no one would really hear what he was saying because they would be bored.”

Buford said he learned his lesson. “You can’t talk for 15 minutes,” he said.

His style is far from flashy, he admits.

“I study and I think a lot, and I know that’s not very exciting,” Buford said. “It’s clear to me that I need to give a better indication to people of what I’m doing.”

Buford was born in the San Gabriel Valley, and his family moved to Ventura when he was 3 years old. He attended elementary and high school in the city.

He graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in history in 1971 and received his law degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco in 1975.

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He moved his family to Ventura in 1984, moved to Michigan for a short time in 1990 for his wife’s job, then came back to Ventura. This time the family is staying.

“He told me the next move is on my own,” said Lezley Buford, a planner with the city of Santa Barbara.

His teen-aged children--Christopher, Elizabeth and Rebecca--say he has a strong sense of civic duty. The young trio are often drafted to help in his endeavors.

“Sometimes he’ll wake us all up at 8 in the morning to clean up the beach,” 18-year-old Elizabeth Buford said.

Buford emphasizes that he ran for office to make a difference and it is inevitable that he won’t please everyone.

“There will be very few people in the community who support you absolutely--my wife does and my mother does.”