Deadline for Filing Draws Last-Minute Candidates

The filing deadline for November’s election brought a handful of last-minute candidates out on Wednesday to qualify for the already-thick ballot of local races.

The crowded city council races in Thousand Oaks and Camarillo each picked up a candidate late in the day, as elections officials across Ventura County scrambled to file papers, check signatures and collect fees for the nine city councils and dozens of school boards and special districts with seats up for grabs this fall.

Ojai and Camarillo have no incumbents seeking office, while three other cities will see all the council members up for reelection bidding for another term. Some school board races have not mustered enough candidates to merit an election in November. At the same time the Simi Valley Unified School District board has nine contenders seeking just two seats.

Despite the interest in local races, county Assistant Registrar of Voters Bruce Bradley said he has seen little campaigning or registration activity among candidates in the seven federal and state races.

“It’s been very unusual,” Bradley said. “There’s just not a lot shaping up here in Ventura County.”

Bradley said the strong positions of some incumbents have apparently dulled the enthusiasm for many congressional and statewide races.

“There’s even a lack of voter registration drives,” he said. “Usually by July and August we’re pretty busy with affidavits.”

Besides helping to choose a president and congressional leaders, Ventura County voters will consider more than a dozen statewide measures and more than 40 local races.

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Bradley predicted an 80% turnout among Ventura County’s 395,000 registered voters, based on past presidential ballots.

Nominations in some cities--including mayor and council races in Simi Valley, Oxnard and Santa Paula--closed last Friday because all of the incumbents are seeking reelection. Several uncontested races, such as the Briggs and Mupu school districts, have been taken off the ballot.

Nonetheless, city clerks around Ventura County said Wednesday that many of the local races are getting crowded.

For example, at least 10 people are vying for two seats open on the Thousand Oaks City Council, a race that promises to prompt fierce campaigning and tens of thousands of dollars in advertising.

One city council that failed to entice either incumbent is the Ojai panel, where James Loebl and Robert McKinney each have decided not to seek reelection. That means six newcomers will vie for those two available seats.

A similar situation is brewing in Camarillo, where incumbent Mayor David M. Smith has elected not to run again and Councilman Mike Morgan is in the thick of a runoff campaign for county supervisor.

Ten people are vying for the two open seats. Smith, for one, is not surprised at the level of interest in town politics.

“When an incumbent chooses not to run, everyone who’s ever had an interest in local politics comes forward, some who are serious and some whose motives are completely baffling,” the mayor said.

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“There won’t be any shortage of serious discussions and things that need to be decided,” said Smith, who said he has opted not to endorse anyone at this point.

The same could be said for trustees of the Ventura County Community College District, where one incumbent is running unopposed and another has decided not to seek another term. Four candidates are vying for outgoing trustee Timothy D. Hirschberg’s seat.

Hirschberg said increasing the transfer rate to four-year universities and broadening the selection of general-education classes should be top priorities for the board.

“The next trustee from my area should be as committed as I have been to focusing the curriculum on basic general-education courses, the meat and potatoes of community college education,” he said.

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Candidates

These are the candidates who have declared for seats on Ventura County school boards, city councils and other races in the Nov. 5 general election. Special districts and some uncontested school board races have been omitted.

Ventura County

Board of Education (two seats)

Trustee Area No. 3

Wendy Larner, incumbent

Janet Lindgren

Trustee Area No. 5

Paul H. Chatman

Ronald M. Matthews

Ventura County Community

College District (two seats)

Trustee Area No. 3

Robert Gonzales

James E. Niles

T. G. “Tom” Stafford

Lois Harrion

Trustee Area No. 5

Allan W. Jacobs, incumbent

Conejo Valley Unified

School District (two seats)

Dolores Didio, incumbent

Dorothy Beaubien, incumbent

Paul F. Finman

Debra J. Lorier

Elroi Reimnitz

Charles Rittenburg

Moorpark Unified

School District (three seats)

Tom Baldwin, incumbent

Gregory J. Barker, incumbent

Clint Harper, incumbent

Theodore Green Sr.

Matt Noah

Mesa Union

School District (two seats)

Carl B. Grether

Paula P. Hoffman

Timothy D. Osslund

Julie Sanchez

Ojai Unified

School District (two seats)

Tim Peddicord, incumbent

Karen A. McBride, incumbent

John G. Hartnett

Simi Valley Unified

School District (three seats)

Debbie Sandland, incumbent

Diane Collins, incumbent

Doug Crosse

Janice Di Fatta

Caesar O. Julian

Nan Mostacciuolo

Steven L. Steefek

Randall Sundeen

Elizabeth Walbridge

Oxnard Union

High School District (two seats)

Fred Judy, incumbent

Steve W. Stocks, incumbent

Annette Burrows

Art Hernandez

Don Miller

Santa Paula Union

High School District (two seats)

Robert M. Salas

Eric Barrigan

Eugene Marzec

Oxnard School District (two seats)

Susan E. Alvarez, incumbent

Everett Batey

Roy Caffrey

Francisco Dominguez

Pleasant Valley

School District (two seats)

Robert Rexford, incumbent

Ricardo Amador, incumbent

Virginia Norris

Rio School District (two seats)

Ernest J. Almanza

Camie Lawson

Anthony Ramos

Eleanor Torres

Camarillo City Council (two seats)

Rick Brush

Sherry Cole

Dennis Fandey

Al E. Fox

Kevin Kildee

Bill Liebmann

Richard Lundberg

Jan McDonald

Mona Schidel

Taylor Woods

Fillmore City Council (three seats)

Roger Campbell, incumbent

Scott Lee, incumbent

Evaristo Barajas

George Gonzalez Jr.

Steve McKinnon

Moorpark mayor

Patrick Hunter

Bernardo Perez

Edward Peters

Michael Wesner

Moorpark City Council (two seats)

Eloise Brown, incumbent

Christopher Evans

W. J. La Perch

Debbie Teasley

John Torres

Ojai City Council (two seats)

Paul B. Blatz

David Bury

Brandon M. Chase

Suza Francina

Ellen Hall

Rhonda L. Short-Moore

Oxnard mayor

Manuel L. Lopez, incumbent

Oscar Karrin

Anthony De La Cerda

Robert E. Taylor

Oxnard City Council (two seats)

Andres Herrera, incumbent

Bedford Pinkard, incumbent

Roy Lockwood

Emmett Whatley

John C. Zaragoza

Oxnard city clerk

Daniel Martinez, incumbent

Jackie Rodgers

Angie Varela

Port Hueneme

City Council (two seats)

Toni Young, incumbent

Valorie Morrison

Douglas Ernst

Murray Rosenbluth

Mary De Paolo

Allen Zeitzmann

Santa Paula

City Council (two seats)

Al Urias, incumbent

Robin Sullivan, incumbent

James Garfield

Gabriella Reeves

Simi Valley

City Council (two seats)

Bill Davis, incumbent

Barbara Williamson, incumbent

Mike McCaffrey

Dennis Serbick

Dave Weiner

Glenn Woodbury

Thousand Oaks

City Council (two seats)

Mike Markey, incumbent

Dan Del Campo

Lance Winslow

Marshall Dixon

Norman Jackson

Tom Lee

Linda Parks

Nick Quidwai

Ramaul Rush

David Seagal