OXNARD : Commission Backers Weigh Legal Action

A group seeking to reinstate Oxnard’s Planning Commission is considering legal action after the city decided not to ask the county to recount signatures that had been collected by commission supporters.

Those behind the initiative drive contend that seven signatures Ventura County election officials ruled invalid are actually good. If so, the disputed signatures would have been enough to force a full recount of the more than 6,000 collected.

But it is up to the city to ask for the recount. City officials say they are satisfied with the county’s initial verdict to disqualify the petition.

“There really isn’t a lot of discretion here; the [elections] code is pretty clear,” City Manager Thomas Frutchey said. “It’s unfortunate this issue is getting framed as pitting one side against another.”

But former Oxnard Mayor Jane Tolmach, one of three people who led the drive, said the city is essentially refusing to allow the county to correct a mistake.

“[City officials] don’t want the possibility of it getting on the ballot,” she said. “We’ll pursue whatever legal means are necessary to compel the city to allow the county to count the petition.”

Some city residents have protested the city’s decision to replace the Planning Commission with a hearing officer and a panel of land-use advisers.

Meanwhile, Bruce Bradley, assistant registrar of voters, said he had offered to recount the signatures at no charge to the city, but that he must abide by city officials’ decision.

“This is an area that in my 15 years [on the job] has never come up,” he said.