ELECTIONS/ OXNARD CITY COUNCIL : 11 Candidates Set Sights on Race for 2 Seats

If the November election goes his way, candidate John C. Zaragoza will give the Oxnard City Council its first Latino majority in the city’s 91-year history.

If businessman Dean Maulhardt is successful, a member of an Oxnard pioneer family will return to power.

Eleven candidates are vying for the two open City Council seats on the Nov. 8 ballot, including the co-founder of a defunct homeless shelter, a self-appointed government watchdog who has run and lost in every election since 1972, a retired engineer who wants to start an Amish-like farming commune in Oxnard, and an accountant who wants to build public housing towers along the Ventura Freeway.

Optometrist Tom Holden, who won a seat on the council in a special election 18 months ago, is the only incumbent seeking reelection. Longtime Councilman Michael A. Plisky has decided to retire from the council so he can run for a seat on the Oxnard Harbor District, which runs the deep-water Port of Hueneme.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said he believes Holden has a tremendous advantage as an incumbent amid a wide field of challengers who are not well-known to voters.

“There is really only one seat up for grabs,” said Lopez, running unopposed for his second consecutive term as mayor. “Contrary to what many people think about incumbents these days, I still think they have a great advantage, especially in large races like this.”

No matter who lands in the coveted seats, the council is unlikely to veer from its ambitious pro-growth path, former Oxnard Mayor Jane Tolmach said. But the council’s views on such firebrand issues as redevelopment and affordable housing could change dramatically, she said.

“I think most of the people in the city are opposed to redevelopment, yet the council is for it,” Tolmach said. “The person who is elected may have a key vote.”

At times, only two of the five council members have been able to vote on a redevelopment issue because of various conflicts of interest, Oxnard City Atty. Gary Gillig said.

A myriad possible redevelopment areas, bisecting the city from north to south, are under consideration. New council members could tilt the vote on redevelopment.

“One person changes the dynamics of the council completely,” Lopez said. “How it changes depends on the person.”

Council candidate Dean Maulhardt, a fourth-generation Oxnard resident, is the descendant of two prominent farming families, the Maulhardts and the Borchards. He worked 20 years for the family farm, growing lemons, strawberries and avocados before starting a packaging business in 1993.

“The city itself, its history and its politics, has always interested me,” said Maulhardt, whose cousin, Edwin Carty, was mayor of Oxnard in the 1950s. “I would like to keep the tradition open.”

A well-connected pro-business candidate, Maulhardt is banking on many voters recognizing his family name. “I’ve got some business recognition in town,” he said, “but I’m far from a shoo-in.”

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Maulhardt said he will campaign hard to win a seat on the council. His major campaign themes include his support of more community-based policing and Neighborhood Watch programs. He also wants to trim the size of city government and run Oxnard more like a business.

“Some accountability is required for the city, like a business,” Maulhardt said. “The city is there to provide services for the people, not to do unto itself.”

As a councilman, Maulhardt also would try to attract more manufacturing industries to the city and help local farmers.

Council candidate John Zaragoza, a former Oxnard solid waste superintendent, said he worked 20 years for the city without missing a day, and would continue his industrious ways as an elected official.

“I believe the current council is coming up with a quick-fix approach to our problems, which could have long-term detrimental effects,” Zaragoza said.

He said he wants to join the council so he can steer the city back to public service. “Some people say the city ought to be run like a business,” he said, “but the city is here to provide services, not to make a profit.”

Zaragoza believes in creating more low-cost housing, bringing in more high-tech business to the city, enlarging Neighborhood Watch programs, and starting more jobs and recreation programs for youth. He has already raised more than $11,000 for his campaign.

Zaragoza downplayed the significance that his election could create the first Latino majority on the City Council.

“I’m not thinking about a Latino majority,” Zaragoza said. “I’m an American, I was born here, and I’m interested in representing all of the people of Oxnard.”

Candidate Leticia Alvarez, a 32-year-old undergraduate at USC and Aztec dance performer, said she wants to be the first council member to represent all Oxnard residents, regardless of wealth or ethnic origin.

“Yeah, there are two Latinos, an African American and two Anglos, but no one represents the average person,” Alvarez said. “Diversity is real important to me. I can represent all of the people in Oxnard fairly and objectively.”

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Alvarez wants to encourage businesses to locate downtown instead of near the Ventura Freeway. She also favors building more police substations and creating more youth programs.

“Kids need somewhere to go, somewhere to hang out,” Alvarez said. “Otherwise they’re bound to get into trouble.”

The leader of a Latino advocacy group said any Oxnard candidate with a Latino surname has a ready base of support from the city’s Latino voters.

“The Latino community has gone so long without any representation that it’s likely to support the Latino candidates,” said Marcos Vargas, executive director of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura.

“But people are becoming more sophisticated voters,” Vargas said. “They’re not just going to vote for the brown face, they’re going to vote for the person who is going to do the most for them.”

Councilman Holden said he is seeking his first full term because he has much left to accomplish after 18 months in office.

“There has been a shift in the way the city does business,” Holden said. “We are now committed to maintaining current services despite decreasing revenue. We need to continue moving forward with new ideas.”

Holden believes in restructuring city departments to save money, increasing police and fire services, funding more youth programs, and creating more jobs by making Oxnard’s business fees more competitive.

He also stressed the importance of renovating downtown Oxnard to bolster the city’s image.

“I really believe that a city is only as good as our downtown,” Holden said. “We can have stunning projects in our periphery, but people will still think of Oxnard as downtown.”

Holden supports cosmetic improvements of downtown, better lighting, turning A Street into a more prominent thoroughfare, and building more parking in front of the area’s stores.

Council candidate Fred A. Judy is best known as co-founder of the Zoe Christian Center, a homeless shelter that closed down last year after falling more than $300,000 in debt. He said he wants to bring a sense of humanity to the council.

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Judy has accused Oxnard leaders of conspiring to shut down his shelter and said he has no love for the council, or politicians of any stripe.

“I had a battle with the city of Oxnard for many, many years, and the people I was trying to help were put out on the streets,” Judy said. “Since the center collapsed, I’ve had a hard time making ends meet. . . . The people want to help those who have problems. It’s the politicians that don’t care.”

Judy, who is now a trustee with the Oxnard Union High School District, wants to help small businesses, create jobs for youth, and refurbish downtown Oxnard with a Spanish motif.

Roy Lockwood, a retired federal fire chief, has run unsuccessfully in every Oxnard City Council election since 1972.

Lockwood said he has already placed $11,000 of his money in his campaign coffers for this year’s race, and expects to spend more before November. He spent more than $15,000 on his special election race last year.

“I ran upon popular demand of the people,” Lockwood said. “But just who, I’m holding confidential. I have been offered large contributions, but I consider it legal bribery. I’ve turned them all down.”

Lockwood is the founder of the Oxnard Madder Than Hell Watchdog Committee, frequently attending meetings as a self-appointed council critic. He wants to make the city attorney an elected position, and increase the number of council members to seven. Lockwood also supports preserving farmlands and wetlands, creating more affordable housing, and increasing police and fire personnel.

Oscar Karrin said he wants to bring a little common sense to City Hall. A New Yorker who moved to Oxnard 13 years ago, Karrin said he hates the City Council, labeling it as incompetent. He is running as a folksy outsider, taking shots at the incumbents.

“Men who take care of glasses do not know how to run a business,” he said, referring to Holden and Lopez, both optometrists. “They have absolutely no control of what they’re doing. They let the city staff do whatever they want, and they just go along with it.”

Karrin, 78, a former meat market owner and caterer on Long Island, said if elected he would seek the resignation of Gillig and City Manager Tom Frutchey.

Karrin wants to make Oxnard solvent, hire more police and firefighters, build affordable housing for low-income residents, reorganize city departments, and make it simpler for developers to move projects through the city bureaucracy.

Deborah De Moss, a part-time receptionist and child-care provider, is running for a council seat again because, she says, the southern end of Oxnard has been neglected for years and politicians have forgotten about the city’s humble beginnings.

“Instead of building extravagant new projects, we should get businesses to come into the buildings that are already here,” De Moss said. “None of them live in the central or south areas of the city, that’s why I believe they have ignored these areas.”

De Moss wants to freeze the salaries of the city manager, city attorney and all city department heads. She also believes in hiring more police officers and housing the homeless in vacant buildings.

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Candidate Fred Schwartz, a retired aerospace engineer, has several ideas to resolve the city’s problems: He wants to start a benevolent youth gang, complete with matching jackets and caps, and a farming commune for homeless people.

“The thing would be to recreate a sort of Amish community for the homeless,” Schwartz said. “A place where people help each other.” A former actor with a local theatre troupe, Schwartz believes in halting nearly all development, and wants to generate city revenue by promoting tourism.

Second-time candidate William Winter said he was surprised at how many votes he received when he ran for a council seat in 1992. He won less than 3% of the vote without spending anything on his campaign. So, he said, he has decided to give it another try.

A 38-year-old columnist for a San Diego-based newsletter on Filipino American issues, Winter said he considers his youthful age an important asset.

“They need young people on the council,” Winter said. “Not a bunch of retired people.”

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Winter believes in bringing business into Oxnard by forging relationships with movie companies and other large industries. He also wants to lure a theme park to the city.

Candidate Lawrence Paul Stein said he saw an opportunity to win a council seat when Plisky announced his retirement from city politics.

An accountant who installs business computer systems, Stein said the council has ignored small business in favor of large industry.

“There is not enough concern from the City Council about the longstanding small businesses in this community,” Stein said. “They find themselves strangled by the permit process when they try to expand.”

Stein supports the construction of high-rise buildings along the Ventura Freeway for low-income public housing.

“Some people say they would turn into high-rise slums, but it all depends on how they are kept up. I think they would work.”

Oxnard City Council

Eleven candidates are running for two seats in the Nov. 8 election. Councilman Tom Holden is the only incumbent seeking reelection. The other available seat is being abandoned by Councilman Michael A. Plisky, who is instead running for a seat on the Oxnard Harbor District. Manuel Lopez is running unopposed for his second term as mayor.

Leticia Alvarez

Age: 34

Occupation: student at USC

Education: graduate, Channel Islands High; associate’s degree in liberal arts from Oxnard College

Background: Volunteer for El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, member of LUCHA.

Issues: Alvarez wants to build more police substations and create more youth programs. She also believes in attracting business to downtown Oxnard, and rent-controlled housing for senior citizens.

Deborah De Moss

Age: 40

Occupation: part-time receptionist and child-care provider

Education: graduate of Loara High School in Anaheim; two semesters of nursing education at Fullerton and Cypress community colleges

Background: Former nurse’s aide and volunteer food distribution worker. PTA member, Fred Williams School.

Issues: De Moss believes the city should be more active in preventing the closure of Ventura County’s military bases and in keeping companies in Oxnard. She wants to house the homeless in vacant buildings, hire more police officers and freeze the salaries of the city manager, city attorney and all department heads.

Thomas E. Holden

Age: 39

Occupation: Oxnard city councilman, optometrist

Education: doctorate in optometry, Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton

Background: President of the Tri-County Optometric Society. Serves on the executive board of directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Oxnard. Received 1993 Young Man of the Year Award from the Oxnard Peace Officers Assn.

Issues: Holden wants to improve public safety in the city by hiring more police and firefighters and starting youth-at-risk programs. He also believes in restructuring city departments to cut the cost of government and in revitalizing downtown.

Fred A. Judy

Age: 54

Occupation: Oxnard Union High School District trustee, youth counselor

Education: associate’s degree in community services, Del Mar College in Texas; bachelor’s degree in human resources, Pepperdine University; doctorate in psychology, Valley Christian College

Background: Former director of Zoe Christian Center. Navy veteran.

Issues: Judy wants to attract more small businesses to Oxnard, delegate authority to community groups, and create more youth programs. He also wants to give downtown an architectural face lift with a Spanish motif.

Oscar Karrin

Age: 78

Occupation: retired caterer

Education: one year of Brooklyn college, three years at Interboro Institute in New York City

Background: A 41-year member of Boy Scouts of America. Board of directors of Gray Law, a senior citizens assistance group, and Food Share, a program that provides food for needy people.

Issues: Karrin wants to hire more police and firefighters, build more affordable housing, reorganize city departments and make it simpler for developers to move projects through the city bureaucracy.

Roy Lockwood

Age: 73

Occupation: retired federal fire chief

Education: bachelor’s degree in law from La Salle Extension University in Chicago; degree in American law and procedure from La Salle Extension University

Background: Founder of Oxnard Madder Than Hell Watchdog Committee, frequently attends meetings as a self-appointed council critic. Member of the International Organization of Fire Chiefs, the California Fire Chiefs Assn. and the National Assn. of Fire Investigators.

Issues: Lockwood believes in preserving farmland and wetlands, creating more parks and recreational facilities for youths, increasing the size of the council to seven members and restoring full-time library hours. He wants to make the city attorney an elected position and improve city funding for Neighborhood Watch patrols.

Dean Maulhardt

Age: 44

Occupation: businessman

Education: graduate of Santa Clara High School; bachelor’s degree in business, Loyola University

Background: Member of Ventura County Farm Bureau, Oxnard Chamber of Commerce. Active in the Catholic Santa Clara Parish.

Issues: Maulhardt wants to attract more manufacturing businesses to the city, help local farmers and increase community policing and Neighborhood Watch programs. He believes in cutting city departments and running Oxnard like a business.

Fred Schwartz

Age: 70

Occupation: retired aerospace engineer

Education: bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UCLA; master’s degree in business from UCLA

Background: A former actor with a local theater troupe. Member of the over-50 ballroom dancing club.

Issues: Schwartz wants to start a benevolent gang for Oxnard youths to join and create an Amish-style farming commune for the homeless. He believes in halting almost all development and in promoting tourism.

Lawrence Paul Stein

Age: 41

Occupation: self-employed accountant who installs business computer systems

Education: bachelor’s degree in business administration, University of Ohio; bachelor’s degree in accounting, Cal State Los Angeles

Background: Member of the church council at Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church, Toastmasters. Financial secretary for the Ventura County lodge of the Sons of Italy.

Issues: Stein believes in handing out only modest employee raises to help balance the budget and favors long-range planning for water recycling, waste management and farmland preservation. He supports the construction of high-rise buildings along the Ventura Freeway for low-income housing.

William Winter

Age: 38

Occupation: columnist for San Diego-based paper on Filipino American issues

Education: associate’s degree in graphic arts, University of Maine; bachelor’s degree in communications, San Francisco State University

Background: Member of the American Legion, the Ventura County writers club, Toastmasters.

Issues: Winter believes in generating more business in Oxnard by forging relationships with movie companies and other large industries. He wants to protect the greenbelts, have more long-term planning for commercial development, promote the summer youth program and attract a theme park to the city.

John C. Zaragoza

Age: 53

Occupation: small-business owner; retired Oxnard refuse superintendent

Education: associate degree in business administration, Ventura College; bachelor’s degree in business management, La Verne University

Background: President-elect of Oxnard Kiwanis Club. Member of Oxnard Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Ventura County, Oxnard Harbor Assn. of Realtors, Oxnard Toastmasters. Board member, Boy Scouts of America.

Issues: Zaragoza wants to attract high-tech industries to the city, improve Neighborhood Watch programs, and create more jobs and recreation programs for youth. He also supports the construction of affordable homes for low-income residents.