10 Candidates, 2 Seats and 0 Incumbents

For more than a generation, this bustling bedroom community has enjoyed the best Ventura County has to offer--good schools, delicious weather, affordable housing and small-town charm an hour’s commute from the city.

But prosperity has taken its toll on Camarillo--crowding the good schools, clogging the freeway ramps and filling stretches of farmland with housing tracts.

New retail centers along the freeway help fill the tax coffers but exacerbate the decay of the city’s commercial core. Proposals for such urban amenities as a regional airport and a state university just outside town bring with them urban problems as well.

This fall’s election, with 10 candidates vying for two open seats on the City Council, will center on how to maintain that prosperity without destroying the city’s quality of life.

With two incumbents choosing not to seek reelection, the crowded slate of would-be council members includes a sitting school board trustee, the stepson of a longtime county supervisor, a former Chamber of Commerce president and an activist who fought a sales tax rebate for a local outdoor mall.

But they also include some campaign newcomers making their first foray into local politics, including a college student majoring in political science.

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“Most of the candidates agree on issues like growth and the airport,” said council candidate William Q. Liebmann, an attorney and a city planning commissioner for the past five years.

“So my two primary points are that I’ve got the experience with city government, and I’ve got the experience with development issues,” he said.

Several of the candidates already hold elected or appointed positions within the community.

In addition to Liebmann, the ballot includes Pleasant Valley School District trustee Jan McDonald, Camarillo Chamber of Commerce leader Sherry Cole and Kevin Kildee, the stepson of outgoing county Supervisor Maggie Kildee who also serves on the local park district board.

Other candidates are Rick Brush, Dennis Fandey, Al E. Fox, Mona Schidel, Richard Lundberg and Taylor Woods.

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The contest appears wide open because both Mayor David M. Smith and Councilman Mike Morgan have opted not to seek another term on the council.

Smith is retiring from public service, while Morgan is locked in a runoff campaign with Kathy Long for Maggie Kildee’s 3rd District seat on the county Board of Supervisors.

Candidates will likely spend tens of thousands of dollars over the next two months, although a handful say they will not conduct extensive campaigns.

For Schidel, whose name will appear at the top of the ballot, the most important issue facing local government is maintaining police and fire services.

“We citizens don’t appreciate our police, sheriffs, Fire Department, the people that protect us,” said Schidel, who works as a volunteer teacher at a private school in Santa Monica.

“If elected, I am going to try my best to see that our police, fire and sheriff’s people remain happy,” she said. “No budget cutting, no layoffs.”

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Schidel also said managing development and maintaining programs for Camarillo’s senior community are top priorities.

Candidate Kildee, as well, said police and fire services were among his chief concerns.

“We’ve got a strong commitment in that area and I fully intend to carry on that tradition,” said Kildee, who was born in Oxnard but is a lifetime resident of Camarillo.

“A city is only as good as the public feels about the safety of themselves and their family,” he said. “Public safety will be my No. 1 priority.”

Jan McDonald, a trustee on the Pleasant Valley School District board for six years, said maintaining the quality of life that Camarillo residents enjoy is her top challenge.

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To do that, she said, the council must balance growth with available services. She opposes pursuing a commercial airport at Point Mugu Navy base and would limit expansions at nearby Camarillo Airport, where the number of landings has increased every year.

“The damage from being in the flight path outweighs any economic benefit to the area,” she said. “We need better transportation, but I don’t think moving an airport into Ventura County would be a benefit.”

The council race also features a 19-year-old political science major at Santa Monica College.

Taylor Woods said he has spent the past 18 years in Camarillo, and he is not altogether pleased with the way his town has grown.

“The issues to me are the new growth, especially in west Camarillo, the library and how that’s going to be funded in the future, and education,” said Woods, who conceded that his campaign is something of a school project.

“I’m not too happy with the way Camarillo has grown,” he said. “It’s highly retail, and it does draw consumers from other communities. But it seems to be growing in a manner that has very little shape or form.”

Candidate Richard Lundberg agreed that growth and development are obvious campaign issues.

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So much so, in fact, that two years ago he based his council campaign around his fight against a sales tax rebate proposed for the developers of the Camarillo Factory Stores outlet mall. He finished fourth in a race for three council seats, just behind the three incumbents.

Lundberg said he wants to change Camarillo’s policy of allowing home builders to stockpile housing allocations, which are now limited to 400 a year under the city’s growth laws.

“One bankrupt developer had several hundred units banked, and those are worth money,” said Lundberg, a retired aerospace manager. “It’s guaranteed money in the bank as soon as the real estate market turns around.”

Allowing as many as 400 new homes each year may be excessive, Lundberg said.

And the city should consider raising fees charged to developers to make up for the increase in services that accompany new homes, he added.

“Charges to the developers are nowhere near what the impact on city services are,” he said. “I realize that would have an impact on whether or not people could find housing affordable, but the people who live here are being impacted by the growth.”

Candidate Rick Brush agrees about the need for controlling growth but believes the 400 housing units allowed each year are few enough to ensure that the city does not become overdeveloped.

“I’d like to maintain the slow-growth initiative of 400 units a year,” the retired Navy commander said. “A lot of people are concerned about developers gobbling up the greenbelt.”

Brush praised a council decision made earlier this year to reject the Ponderosa Corridor Specific Plan, which would have allowed development on hundreds of acres of freeway frontage farmland.

He also said he opposes plans to expand operations at Camarillo Airport. “The airport as it is right now is fine,” Brush said. “I don’t think it should be turned into a jetport.”

Real estate broker Al E. Fox said that if he is elected he will work to make sure that Camarillo stays much the same as it is now.

He said he is worried for the employees of Camarillo State Hospital, which has been targeted for closure by Gov. Pete Wilson. He said he also opposes expanding Camarillo Airport or using the Point Mugu runway for commercial flights.

“I don’t want the pollution or the noise that commercial aircrafts would bring to Camarillo,” Fox said. “It would encourage business development, but I don’t think that would be a fair trade-off.

“People would move out of Camarillo when it got too loud.”

In addition to those issues, Fox said he is concerned about maintaining services at the local hospital, which threatened to close several years ago.

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“Very slow growth may affect the business of Pleasant Valley Hospital, and that’s going to be run as a business,” he said. “Therefore we need to provide them with enough patients for them to continue services to us.”

Dennis Fandey, a retired Navy officer, said he wants to sit on the City Council to put an end to overdevelopment.

Fandey complained that the current council has approved too many shopping centers, increasing the vacancy rate among available retail space.

“We have this buildup of commercial areas, yet we have all these empty storefronts,” Fandey said. “And I don’t see any real effort to get them filled. At Carmen and Daily drives, for example, it’s all empty.”

Continuing development approved by the council has driven away some longtime Camarillo residents, Fandey said.

“I have a lot of friends here who are leaving because of the growth,” he said. “I don’t want to be in another Los Angeles or San Fernando Valley.”

Considering development applications “is a balancing act,” Fandey said. “You’ve got to weigh all the issues.”

Candidate Sherry Cole says drawing new businesses to Camarillo could help provide that balance.

“I’m very interested in business retention and worthwhile business development,” she said. “Businesses provide the revenues that provide the services for the community; so business is vitally important.”

Cole said her experience in the business community and managing the administration office of the Pleasant Valley School District have helped her prepare for the responsibility of a council seat.

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Fostering the quality of life that she has embraced would be her top priority if elected, she said.

“Camarillo has a certain attraction to me as a community where you could raise a family, live and work,” said Cole, a past president of the local Chamber of Commerce.

“It has that quality of life that I had not been exposed to as a military child who moved around a lot,” she said. “We need to preserve and protect those qualities that drew me here.”

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Camarillo City Council

Ten candidates are running for two open City Council seats Nov. 5. Development and preservation of farmland top the list of concerns, with candidates touting their experience in

public service in a year when two incumbents chose not to seek reelection. Mayor David M. Smith is retiring from public service and Councilman Mike Morgan is vying for county supervisor.

Rick Brush

Age: 55

Occupation: Retired Navy commander

Education: U.S. Naval Academy, bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering

Background: Brush became active in Camarillo matters when he was an engineer at Point Mugu Navy base and helped with a study concerning turning over water resources to the city. He has served on the board of directors of his homeowners association and organized charitable events. He is single.

Issues: Brush supports controlled growth and applauds the City Council’s decision earlier this year rejecting development on hundreds of acres of land fronting the Ventura Freeway. He opposes expanding Camarillo Airport.

William Liebmann

Age: 45

Occupation: Attorney

Education: Bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of Wisconsin, law degree from USC

Background: A resident of Camarillo for 17 years, Liebmann has served since 1981 on the city’s Planning Commission. He is also active with the Pleasant Valley Historic Society and the Camarillo Residential Development Evaluation Board. He is married with three children.

Issues: Liebmann stresses his experience in city government and growth issues in his bid for elective office. Development and its side effects--overcrowded schools, clogged traffic and inadequate parks--are his chief concerns.

Sherry Cole

Age: 49

Occupation: Pleasant Valley School District office manager

Education: Master’s in public administration from Cal State Northridge’s Ventura campus, bachelor’s in pre-law from Fort Lewis College

Background: Cole, a member of the board of directors and past president of the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce, came to the city three years ago. She has worked with the Camarillo Health Care District and the steering committee for school bond elections. She is married and has one child.

Issues: Cole believes that drawing businesses to Camarillo can help balance the costs of new services for residential development. She wants to preserve the greenbelt and the city’s neighborly quality of life.

Richard Lundberg

Age: 67

Occupation: Retired aerospace manager

Education: Bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Michigan State, several years of postgraduate work

Background: Lundberg has worked to support the city’s library and to oppose plans to spend tax dollars on a baseball stadium. A Camarillo resident for 18 years, he is best known for a lawsuit he filed against the city aimed at blocking a tax plan for Camarillo’s outlet mall. He is married and has four children.

Issues: Lundberg describes the current council as “anti-homeowner” and “anti-business.” He calls for a time limit on using housing allocations and a reduction in city fees that residents pay. He also would like to ensure adequate library services.

Dennis Fandey

Age: 44

Occupation: Retired Navy lieutenant commander

Education: Associate’s degree in architecture from El Camino College in Torrance, bachelor’s in fine arts in architecture from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque.

Background: A retired pilot and Navy officer, Fandey taught at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and has lectured to Ventura County civic groups on a variety of topics. He is married with two children.

Issues: Fandey is concerned that too many malls are being developed in Camarillo while existing buildings stand vacant. He believes the city needs to improve its traffic planning and participate in efforts to support Point Mugu.

Jan McDonald

Age: 45

Occupation: Certified public accountant

Education: Attended Ventura College

Background: A lifelong resident of Ventura County, McDonald moved to Camarillo 20 years ago and has been active in school and community affairs. She has served six years on the Pleasant Valley School Board and has been active with the Boy Scouts and PTA. She is a widow with two teenage sons.

Issues: McDonald, stressing the city’s quality of life, opposes plans for a commercial airport at Point Mugu. She supports maintaining the agricultural greenbelt and urging the city’s boards and districts to work together.

Al E. Fox

Age: 58

Occupation: Business owner, Realtor

Education: Attended college classes during his Navy career

Background: A Camarillo resident for two decades, Fox is active with the Camarillo Assn. of Realtors, serving as chairman of the professional standards committee. He spent 21 years in the Navy, including a stint in the Vietnam War. He lives in Leisure Village with his wife. His grown daughter also lives in Camarillo.

Issues: Fox opposes turning the Point Mugu airstrip into a commercial venture or bringing sex offenders to Camarillo State Hospital. He supports a proposal for a university campus at the hospital and wants to maintain the greenbelt.

Mona Schidel

Age: 45

Occupation: Volunteer teacher in Santa Monica

Education: Attended Santa Monica College

Background: A three-year resident of Camarillo, Schidel is active in the Senior Nutrition Action Council and works in a thrift store benefiting Meals-on-Wheels programs for the elderly. Married with one child, she lives in the Mission Oaks neighborhood.

Issues: Schidel emphasizes the need to maintain police and fire services. She promises no budget cuts or layoffs in those areas. She also says programs for senior citizens are a top priority for Camarillo.

Kevin Kildee

Age: 39

Occupation: Partner in a clothing store

Education: Associate’s degree in business from Moorpark College, bachelor’s in political science from Cal State Northridge

Background: Kildee grew up in Camarillo and owns the Bob Kildee Shop for Men with his father. His stepmother is Maggie Kildee, a longtime county supervisor. He was elected to the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District board and appointed to a City Council committee on the city’s General Plan.

Issues: Kildee stresses the need to support public safety, to redevelop the city’s commercial core and to balance growth with open space. He supports the current limits on growth.

Taylor Woods

Age: 19

Occupation: College student

Education: Attending Santa Monica College

Background: A 1995 graduate of Rio Mesa High School, Woods is studying political science. He admits that his run for office is something of a school project. Woods is single.

Issues: Woods is concerned about retail growth turning Camarillo into the “central mall” in Ventura County. He advocates leaving the land along the Ventura Freeway as farmland. He advocates finding money for Camarillo’s library branch without raising taxes.