New Oxnard Councilman Reaps Sobering Realities : Government: Election euphoria has passed for Dean L. Maulhardt, now adjusting to life in the scrutinizing limelight of politics.

Friends and relatives worried that Dean L. Maulhardt, a soft-spoken businessman and descendant of two prominent farming families, was making an embarrassing mistake earlier this year when he decided to run for the Oxnard City Council.

The shy Maulhardt, who had worked on the family farm for 20 years growing lemons, strawberries and avocados, was simply not political timber, they said.

“Their animosity came across like ‘Dean, what are you getting yourself into?’ ” said Michael Clarke, a longtime friend. “The Maulhardt family has always been involved in politics, but kind of behind the scenes. This was a big jump into the limelight.”

Yet Maulhardt, also known by family members and business associates for his steadfastness, went forward with his plan to bring a member of Oxnard’s founding families back to power, prodded by another friend, outgoing Councilman Michael A. Plisky.

His announcement was quickly followed by strong support from his well-connected relatives, other local farmers such as the McGrath family and, in turn, the city’s business establishment.

Maulhardt emerged second in a field of 11 candidates seeking two council seats, beating out John C. Zaragoza, who was widely favored to win along with incumbent Tom Holden, who was the top vote-getter.

Now that the election euphoria has passed, however, the conservative Maulhardt is sobering up to the realities of public office.

His opinions on touchy issues such as city-subsidized housing and redevelopment are being closely scrutinized.

And his once-private finances--such as the $176,000 he owes in back taxes and assessment payments as a partner in a botched land deal--are now part of Oxnard’s public discourse.

“I’ll admit I’m naive when it comes to politics, but I see that as a plus,” Maulhardt said. “Working with city managers and city leaders is a business relationship. That probably is a naive statement, but I plan to approach government like a business and get acquainted with politics as I go along.”

A fourth-generation Oxnard farmer, the 44-year-old Maulhardt is a descendant of the pioneering Borchard and Maulhardt families, which settled in the Oxnard Plain about 140 years ago. He is also related to the Friedrichs, another early farming family.

One of five children, Maulhardt grew up in the wholesome environment of his father’s ranch in an era when Oxnard still felt like a small town and the Maulhardts were well known to the city’s residents, he said.

Maulhardt attended what is now Loyola Marymount University to study business and prepare for a career in law. But he missed the farm, and he drove home from college almost every week to help his father tend to the difficult strawberry crops.

“When I graduated from college, I was kind of tired,” Maulhardt said. “I said I was going to go to law school, but I wanted to farm one year to rest. I never went back.”

Maulhardt and his four brothers and sisters formed a partnership and bought out their father’s operation shortly afterward, with Maulhardt farming his father’s land along with some rented acreage. He farmed for about 20 years, including his college days.

Maulhardt met his wife, Toni, while in college in 1970, and they married two years later. They have two daughters, Stacy, 20, and Jaime, 18.

With his sister, Donna, and her husband, Gary Stiles, Maulhardt bought the family farming operation in the early 1980s and formed the Maulhardt Stiles Co., which grew, packed and shipped produce. Maulhardt bought out Stiles a few years later, but eventually disbanded the company.

He was tired of struggling as a small farmer and was seeking a new career, he said.

After working several years as a computer consultant, last year Maulhardt and two partners started an agricultural packaging business, Quality Packaging & Supplies Inc., which he now manages.

During his career as a rancher, Maulhardt considered becoming an Oxnard councilman, a position held by his cousin, Edwin Carty, in the 1950s. But he decided that he did not have the time.

It was not until Plisky and Maulhardt’s cousin, developer Stephen Maulhardt, urged him to run for the council this year that he seriously considered public office. Maulhardt’s relatives, friends and business partners--even his wife--were all stunned when he decided to run.

“Dean’s just not a very outgoing person,” Toni Maulhardt said. “I didn’t feel he would be comfortable speaking in public.”

Maulhardt’s pro-business platform was similar to Holden’s successful formula, emphasizing the need for more police officers and Neighborhood Watch programs, and pledging to cut Oxnard’s government and run the city like a business.

Although he lacked the speaking skills of some other candidates, Maulhardt had one advantage over them all--name recognition, which he admits probably helped his cause.

Now that he is Oxnard’s newly elected councilman, Maulhardt has received advice from Plisky on sticking to his guns, refusing to sell his ideas short and avoiding the pitfalls of elected office.

Although he declined to comment on Plisky’s admittedly uncompromising approach to the City Council, Maulhardt said he will try to work together with his peers.

“We think in one mind, but we have to make decisions as a group,” Maulhardt said. “Coming from a large family with substantial business dealings, you haven’t seen any negotiating until you have seen us.”

Yet one family business venture has put Maulhardt and his siblings in debt to Oxnard and the county for about $176,000 in back tax payments and assessments, officials said.

In 1990, Maulhardt, his brother Richard Jr. and their other three siblings sold 33 acres of farmland in northeast Oxnard to the Latigo Investment Group, a developer.

The land, in Oxnard’s $45-million northeast industrial assessment district, was paved over by the city, which also put in streets and storm drains for the 40 lots the developer divided.

But Latigo was unable to sell any of the lots. The developer could not make its regular payments to the Maulhardts for the land, or to the city and the county for the improvements and property taxes, Maulhardt said. Consequently, the Maulhardts were forced to take the property back in 1993 through foreclosure.

Stuck with a vacant parcel they were unable to sell or farm, the Maulhardts were forced to make back payments on the land of $130,000 for one year by borrowing money against the family farm, Maulhardt said.

They have yet to make last year’s or this spring’s payments, and will not be able to make the Dec. 10 payments, said Richard Maulhardt Jr., who was in charge of the investment until the foreclosure, when Dean L. Maulhardt assumed leadership.

Maulhardt, who owns one-fifth of the property, said he and his siblings intend to find a way to pay, and they will continue to try to sell the land. He declined further comment.

Meanwhile, Oxnard will move forward with foreclosure proceedings against Maulhardt and other delinquent property owners in the assessment district, said Jim Fabian, city financial analyst.

Despite the unwanted attention to his business dealings and private life, Maulhardt said he is beginning to enjoy his new status, attending community events and meeting with city officials to learn what his job is like.

At the same time, Oxnard community leaders and advocates for the city’s poor say they are trying to learn what Maulhardt is all about.

Eileen McCarthy of California Rural Legal Assistance said she hopes that Maulhardt’s experience as a grower made him sympathetic to the plight of farm workers and their need for low-cost housing.

“I’m hopeful that as someone who has worked in the agricultural community, he understands the needs of farm workers,” McCarthy said.

Maulhardt said he understands the life of a farm worker, but he downplayed their role in the affordable housing issue, saying most Oxnard residents in need of low-cost housing do not work the fields. He added that farm work is not as bad as some have said.

“Some farm working pays very well, especially considering the educational level of the workers,” said Maulhardt, who supports building city-subsidized condominiums to relieve the affordable housing shortage.

Meanwhile, Maulhardt said his friends, relatives and fellow farmers are enjoying the fruits of his success.

“I don’t know if we have come full circle, but we are back in power,” Maulhardt said. “Hopefully, there will be more generations of Maulhardts in politics in Oxnard.”