Later Deadline Boosts Ballots for November

Thousand Oaks voters will have to choose from among 17 candidates for City Council this November--the largest field in Ventura County in the fall election--and a last-minute rush of candidates in Oxnard and Port Hueneme on Wednesday has produced two other crowded races.

Taking advantage of Wednesday’s extended deadline, seven new candidates filed papers to run for three open seats on the Thousand Oaks City Council. In Oxnard three candidates filed for City Council, bringing to 11 the number of candidates seeking two available seats.

The number of candidates for three Port Hueneme City Council seats doubled from seven to 14 by Wednesday. Filing by Wednesday’s deadline were candidates Al Ingersoll, Valorie Morrison, David W. Goodman, Billy Kimberling, Madeleine A. White, Terry Bruno and Reno Carter.

The three races were among several in Ventura County in which last Friday’s deadline was extended to Wednesday because incumbents decided not to run.

One of those races was for the Simi Valley City Council, for which only one new candidate, Dean Kunicki, filed papers Wednesday, increasing the number of candidates to seven.

In the Thousand Oaks race, Mayor Alex Fiore decided not to seek reelection after 30 years of service. Incumbents Elois Zeanah and Judy Lazar are running to keep their seats.

The seven candidates who filed after Friday’s deadline are former councilman Lee Laxdal, Lance Winslow, Ekbal Quidwai, Michael Friedman, David Hare, Irving Wasserman and Seth Menin.

Community leaders speculated Wednesday that there is widespread interest in the election because control of the council--especially regarding growth issues--is up for grabs.

Councilwomen Zeanah and Jaime Zukowski have repeatedly opposed new development, but have found themselves outnumbered by Fiore, Lazar and Frank Schillo in several major decisions.

“With Alex Fiore stepping down, the pivotal shift of power to (Zeanah and Zukowski) becomes a real possibility,” said Steve Rubenstein, executive director of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce. “I think a lot of people are interested in gaining that controlling position.”

In Oxnard, Leticia Alvarez, Dale Maulhardt and Lawrence Paul Stein have entered the City Council race since Friday, raising the number of candidates to 11 for two open seats.

Stein, who is running for his third time, said he considered entering the race when incumbent Michael Plisky decided to run for the Oxnard Harbor District instead of the council, but waited to see who the competition would be.

“I waited to see what the field was, and I thought I had a good chance this time,” Stein said. “The first time I ran I spent $14 and received 2,000 votes. People think I can help the small businessmen of Oxnard.”

Mayor Manuel Lopez will run unopposed for his second straight term after his only challenger failed to submit the required 20 signatures from registered voters with his application last Friday.

Lopez said the large number of candidates in the City Council race figures to improve the reelection chances of incumbent Tom Holden.

“The more people there is, the more advantage incumbents have because of name recognition,” Lopez said.

Key issues in the Oxnard race figure to be growth and redevelopment.

Extensions for several school board races yielded only a handful of new names. But for the tiny Santa Clara School District, two late entries were more than enough.

Only one person--Deann Hobson--had registered to run for the district’s three available seats by the Friday deadline, and the district threatened to fall under the control of county schools officials.

But Wednesday, incumbent Shirley Diamond decided to run again, and Lynne Peterson, a college psychology professor, also stepped into the race, giving the one-school district three candidates.

In Santa Paula, businessman John D. Wisda and Leslie H. Maland decided to run for one of three City Council seats, raising the number of candidates to eight.

Meanwhile, two Camarillo races that were unaffected by the deadline extension have attracted a number of candidates.

In the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District, a total of six candidates filed for three seats. Those candidates are incumbents Carol Schau and Nancy C. Bush, and challengers Susannah Fitzgerald, Charlotte A. Farrens, Kadi Kiisk and Kevin Kildee. The district board is responsible for providing facilities and recreation services in Camarillo.

And nine candidates filed for three seats on the board of directors of the Camarillo Health Care District, which provides services to residents of Camarillo and Somis.

Times staff writer Christina Lima and correspondents J.E. Mitchell and Matthew Mosk contributed to this story.