16 Vie for 4 Seats on Newly Formed Oxnard Land-Use Committee : Development: The City Council will fill the board, which replaces the Planning Commission. For some observers, lack of experience is a concern.

Their backgrounds are as varied as their visions of Oxnard’s future: One is a real estate broker, another a retired history professor, a third a geologist.

By the year 2010, they hope Oxnard will be either a “city of no slums,” a “world leader in education, race relations and high-paying jobs” or just a pleasant place to live.

In all, 16 residents--11 of whom have never held civic appointments--have applied to serve on a land-use panel that will set the course for development on the Oxnard plain.

City Council members voted two weeks ago to disband the Planning Commission, despite complaints that they were kowtowing to the interests of developers.

Tonight, the council is expected to fill the new panel by choosing four citizens from the field of 16 applicants. The city manager will appoint a planning expert as the panel’s fifth member.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez, the only council member who opposed abolishing the Planning Commission, said he remains skeptical of the new panel.

The group’s duties are still ill-defined, he said, and the speed at which it is being assembled leaves little time for discussion.

As a result, Lopez said he will vote for applicants with previous Planning Commission experience.

“I think if we appoint people who have never served, then whatever the staff designs, that’s what it’s going to be,” he said. “Knowledge is power, and if people don’t know about a certain problem, you’re at the mercy of somebody else.”

As outlined in recent weeks, the new system will operate on two tiers. The planning expert appointed by the city manager will act as a hearing officer, granting permits in areas clearly governed by existing ordinances.

The four “land-use advisers” will vote with the hearing officer on larger, long-range policies and some specific projects. Both the hearing officer and the full panel will continue to hold public hearings, as in the past.

“It’s more of an efficiency or streamlining type of thing that would benefit all the city’s customers, not just one group,” said Community Development Director Richard Maggio, responding to comments that the new system will favor developers.

Maggio said the new group will meet with City Council members next month to define specific responsibilities and procedures.

Until then, City Manager Tom Frutchey said, the land-use advisers will continue operating under the same guidelines as the Planning Commission. Members of the Planning Commission received $25 per meeting, but compensation for the new group has not yet been discussed.

Among those seeking to be land-use advisers are two past planning commissioners, Dale Dean and Albert G. Duff.

Duff, who was first appointed to the Planning Commission in 1975, said he wants to be part of the new group to “make sure they have some continuity.”

“It’s very difficult for someone to come on brand new and start evaluating projects when they’re not familiar with the projects and the material,” he said.

Three other applicants, Elvue M. Hazlett, Peter S. Lopez and Ray C. Tafoya, have served on other city committees.

Hazlett, a retired nurse and accountant, served on a mobile home rent-review board and on the boards of numerous nonprofit agencies.

Lopez is the owner of an interpreting agency in downtown Oxnard and has served on the city’s Cultural and Fine Arts Commission.

Tafoya served on the city’s Manpower Advisory Council.

Although applicants’ goals vary, many hope the city can find a balance between development and concern for the environment.

Other applicants are:

Linda L. Banner-Bacin, a former Peace Corps volunteer enrolled in Pepperdine University’s business school; Ernest D. Capron Jr., a construction manager; Robert Cote, a mechanical engineer; Imelda Academia Cragin, a geologist; Allen W. Dirrim, a retired history professor; Tila Estrada, self-employed real estate broker; Deshay D. Ford, a social worker; James E. Freeman, a retired architect; Charles Olson, a civil servant and onetime council candidate; Enrique Petris, who listed no current occupation; and Jerry L. Stephens, a Navy logistics manager.