ELECTIONS / FILLMORE COUNCIL : Candidates Agree Quake May Have Silver Lining

Even before the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake crumbled $250-million worth of downtown, Fillmore had more than its share of economic woes.

A sprawling industrial park outside town sits largely unleased, sinking retail sales have thinned the general fund and efforts to lure new business to town have not yet panned out.

But the early morning 6.7-magnitude shaker may ultimately help the city of 12,000 position itself for the next century, candidates and current members of the Fillmore City Council say.

“It’s like a face-lift,” said Councilman Roger Campbell, who is not up for reelection this year. “It’s kind of like the rebirth of town, and the people who get in on the ground floor are going to do the best.”

Only one candidate is challenging incumbents Linda Brewster and Don Gunderson for the two open council seats, a sign many community leaders say shows support for the job the Fillmore City Council has done in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Evaristo Barajas, 39, who runs a tax consulting and realty business in Fillmore, said he can bring a pro-business perspective to the five-member council that has just one self-employed member.

“My main concern has been that we need a little different perspective on what goes on in Fillmore,” the first-time candidate said. “I have a base of about 1,000 clients a year, so I’m in touch with the private sector.”

Aside from the issue of attracting jobs and industry to Fillmore, the council election so far has been pretty much a sleeper, voters and merchants said.

Brewster, Gunderson and Barajas all filed forms stating they would spend less than $1,000 on their campaigns. Each is campaigning strictly by word-of-mouth, coffee klatches and door-knocking.

“Right now there are no controversial issues being discussed or talked about,” said Hank Carrillo, executive director of the Fillmore Chamber of Commerce.

“The biggest concern for everyone, including all three candidates, is the recovery of Fillmore from the earthquake and bringing in new business,” he said.

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Former council candidate John Pressey, a 20-year Fillmore resident, said the apparent lack of interest in the 1994 local election translates to a good approval rating for the incumbents.

“It’s sort of a ho-hum kind of attitude is the way I’m reading it,” the retired airline mechanic said. “I think (voters) are satisfied and they think the city’s in capable hands.”

All three candidates list jobs and industry as the biggest issue facing the small town.

Incumbents Brewster and Gunderson cite gains that have been made in economic development over the four years they have served and, they say, their swift and effective response to the quake.

“Even before the earthquake the economy everywhere in California was poor,” said Brewster, a 45-year-old homemaker. “The North Fillmore Industrial Park is practically empty. Everything’s there but the businesses, so when the economy picks up, we’ll be ready for it.”

A retired Navy lieutenant who now works as an engineer, Gunderson also cites local business as his top priority. Sales tax revenues in the last quarter of 1993 were down nearly 10% from the same quarter in 1992, a trend Gunderson said the city cannot afford to ignore.

He said the city needs to continue its work with merchants to help them recover from the earthquake, including making grant funds and low-cost loans available.

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Gunderson, 59, said he plans to work just half time at his engineering firm to increase the time he has for city business. “Business and the general economy really are the No. 1 concerns among everybody here,” he said.

John (Chappy) Morris Sr., a longtime resident who owns a local car dealership and has extensive farming interests in Fillmore, said the city is facing severe challenges in bouncing back from the earthquake.

But he said each of the three candidates appears up to the task.

“All three of them are good,” he said. “But they have to aggressively go after a better sales tax base, and encourage business.”

Specifically, Morris said the city needs to focus on two areas: creating a tourist destination of shops and restaurants out of a 13-acre railroad site the city has purchased, and balancing the city’s housing stock.

“Fillmore’s main income in the past has been based on oil and citrus,” Morris said. “But with the depleting oil activity, the Medfly . . . things don’t look so rosy.”

John McKinnon, who chairs the Fillmore Film Commission and is active in other city projects, agreed with Pressey.

“There’s no one, big issue to chew on,” said McKinnon, who said the candidates’ similar positions make it difficult to distinguish between them.

“In a way, we’re lucky that there’s three good, qualified people that are running,” he said. “The problems we’ve had are being addressed.”