New Port Hueneme Council Inherits Money Worries

For the first time in decades, Port Hueneme has new faces making official policy. But decisions in this small city still come down to one thing: money, or rather, the lack of it.

For years, Port Hueneme’s City Council was filled with a series of older men who had climbed through the ranks of civic organizations to achieve political power in a city dominated by the Navy and the port. They were determined to clean up a community known more for its prostitution and gaming than for its beaches.

A year ago, on the heels of rancorous public accusations that the council was perpetuating an “old boy network” that had lost sight of the public’s wishes, three of these “founding fathers” retired.

That opened the door for a revolution, of sorts.

Three new members joined upstart Councilwoman Toni Young and 19-year-veteran Orvene Carpenter to create a new council.

As a group, they have learned to interact without the apparent rancor that frequently strained relations between Young and the remainder of the earlier council and without the public silence that characterized most of their predecessors.

There is a willingness among this council to disagree publicly. While all insist that conflicts are professional and issue-oriented rather than personal, the occasional dig and pointed jab reveal some discontent and lingering bad feelings--especially between Young and Carpenter.

The council’s meetings are longer, with more statements made to the public. A generation younger than its predecessor, this council frequently questions the city staff about its reports and recommendations.

The council members come from different backgrounds--Anthony Volante is a retired military officer; Jonathan Sharkey, an environmentalist; Robert Turner, a dentist; Young, a real estate agent, and Carpenter, a postmaster. As such they bring different perspectives to issues.

That leads to some strange alliances and some votes split 3 to 2, rather than the 5-0 tradition of preceding councils.

But in Port Hueneme, decisions still hinge on money.

In 1993, the city went through a crisis when it lost $900,000 in state funds, gutting the recreation department and almost forcing the fiercely independent municipality to contract out for police services.

While they haven’t taken any new hits, council members live in constant fear of the next cut in funding or added expense. Port Hueneme’s budget watchers live in a state of crisis management.

“Right now we’re facing some drastic financial problems,” Carpenter said. “People keep demanding more and more services and we have no money.”

Lack of money may explain why a new council seems to be following old paths.

The biggest projects on the council’s agendas are building a regional water plant and an attempt to find some way to reopen the dormant Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center without city subsidies--both holdovers from their predecessors.

“There’s some change in the philosophy, if you will, of the council,” said Dorill B. Wright, who served as mayor for 20 of his 24 years on the council. “But the results have not been, with a few exceptions, significantly different from those that would have come out of the old council. . . . They find that it is not as easy to do as it is to say in a campaign speech.”

Jim Daniels, another former councilman, pointed out that candidates’ views have changed since taking office.

“I think they’ve found out what we were doing was in the right direction and for the benefit of the citizens of Port Hueneme,” he said. “They have found that the city is running outstanding . . . that they can’t find much wrong.”

What’s different, new council members say, is that they spend time in the community, talking to residents and keeping an open mind until it’s time to vote. It’s not the issues that have changed, but how they are dealt with.

For decades, Carpenter, Wright and company made decisions that worked to improve the city, turning it into a place that attracted residents who enjoyed a quiet, well-kempt community with beachfront property. They took it upon themselves to decide what was best for the community as a whole.

“I like to imagine those people as young reformers,” said Sharkey, who was elected to the council in 1994. “It’s unfortunate that we ended up with so much acrimony because you are often remembered for the last thing you did. . . .”

In the end, they were branded as unresponsive and unwilling to listen to opponents. The criticism reached its zenith during the protracted debate over whether to build an RV resort near the beach.

For about five years, the RV debate divided the city, with council members saying it would raise needed revenue and beach-side residents saying it would make property values plunge and mar their community.

The new council killed the resort in a 3-2 vote and went about trying to create an image of a reactive, responsive government. Not only do council members listen to public comment, frequently they go out and seek it.

“The previous council was coming from a different milieu, a different cultural mind-set and ran afoul of some very emotional issues,” Sharkey said.

Despite the differences, the current council follows its predecessors in that its chief concern is money. Each member worries about the lack of sales tax and brainstorms alternative ways to generate revenue. They just don’t always agree on solutions.

Young, who led the crew as mayor during the council’s first year together, is a fiscal conservative but she frequently ends up voting with Sharkey, a dedicated environmentalist. Sharkey said the pairing works because local politics are more about practicalities than ideologies.

Volante, a retired Air Force colonel, is an admirer of his predecessors and frequently votes the same way as Carpenter, his acknowledged “mentor.”

Volante said he remembers what the city was like 25 years ago, before successive councils worked to develop Port Hueneme into a livable environment.

That sometimes leaves Turner, chosen just a couple weeks ago to take the gavel from Young, as a pivotal swing vote on key issues.

“I’m not obligated to any faction,” he said. “I’m my own person.” Turner served on numerous community boards and organizations before turning his attention to city government.

While the council members insist that their responsiveness is a good thing, some wonder if they are too responsive to the beachfront crowd rather than the public good.

“They’re more independent, rather than for the entire city,” Carpenter said. “The people I served with in the past never had any trouble putting the city first. . . . Regardless of who is elected, though, there’s not a tremendous change.”