Council Candidates Wage a Very Agreeable Race in Port Hueneme

Gentility and accord have replaced rancor and divisiveness in the latest race for two seats on the City Council.

Two years ago, with the city split over a proposed oceanfront recreational vehicle park, the campaign in Port Hueneme was a noisy, bitter clash.

This fall, with the RV park proposal dead, the six candidates agree there is little difference between them. They agree there is no defining issue in the campaign.

So with all this widespread agreeing going on, it is perhaps not surprising that candidates are finding it a challenge to provoke much interest in the election among the city’s 9,642 registered voters.

“I haven’t heard anybody hardly say anything at all about the council [race],” said Marlene Dixon, who operates a small eatery across the road from City Hall. “It’s no big deal.”

Indeed, what discussion candidates say they have heard about the Nov. 5 election has revolved around Measures B and C. Passage would would retain the utility tax that provides money to maintain the city’s small police force, rather than contracting with the Sheriff’s Department.

But since all six candidates support passage of the measures--a no-brainer in a community where support for a local police force has traditionally been overwhelming--they are searching for other ways to delineate the race.

“This is an election of people voting for people, not people voting for representation on an issue,” said Mary DePaolo, one of four challengers in the Nov. 5 race.

Only one incumbent, Toni Young is seeking reelection. Young, who was elected four years ago on a promise to kill the RV park plan, succeeded with the help of a batch of new members elected in 1994. The second council seat up for grabs is held by veteran Councilman Orvene Carpenter, who opted not to run again.

The challengers are a diverse group:

* DePaolo is a frequent council speaker who has long made no secret of her intention to run for office. The decade-long Port Hueneme resident recently sold her marketing and computer systems development firm and lists her occupation as community activist.

* Murray Rosenbluth, as befits a retired engineer, is taking the most thorough approach to the campaign, painstakingly identifying frequent voters and the precincts where he needs to concentrate efforts. He has raised money for his candidacy since the start of the year and has so far spent about $4,500, far more than any of his rivals.

* Douglas Ernst, who has only lived in the city 2 1/2 years, is the youngest hopeful at age 31. He touts himself as exactly the kind of business person Port Hueneme needs to attract to improve its negligible economic base: a small businessman who moved his insurance agency from Oxnard and purchased and renovated a home in the city for his growing family.

* Valorie Morrison, an unabashed civic booster who owns the snack shop on the municipal pier, has twice run unsuccessfully for the council. Morrison concedes she hesitated making a third council try after her involvement with a grass-roots campaign to save the city’s Police Department left her facing a fine from the state Fair Political Practices Commission. The commission determined that Morrison and another volunteer did not file the appropriate papers and levied $2,250 in fines earlier this year.

* Allen Zeitzmann, a registered Libertarian, has not campaigned and concedes he has virtually no hope of being elected. Recent neck surgery hasn’t helped his cause, although the school district maintenance worker admits he has never been a particularly political person--aside from a childhood dream of being mayor.

“It’s an overwhelming responsibility,” Zeitzmann said of his candidacy. “I didn’t think it was this big of a commitment.”

Young’s campaign on the other hand conducted a telephone survey that revealed adequate support for the registered Republican to be reelected to a second term. Consequently, Young has not printed campaign leaflets--although she purchased signs with the slogan “Think Young” and is emphasizing her past accomplishments.

Young noted she was instrumental in killing the RV park idea and is working to create more awareness of the city’s water treatment plant that officials are breaking ground for today.

“You can’t imagine how many people don’t know their water rates are going to double despite everything we’ve done” to publicize that, she said.

DePaolo, who has spent about $1,400 on her candidacy so far, is publishing a newsletter called “Bridgemaker” as part of her main campaign platform: to unify the community. If elected, she believes her presence on the council would make the five-member panel more open to listening to residents.

“It’s not a friendly situation, the council is not a people-oriented council,” said the registered Democrat. “It’s time to pass the baton.”

Ernst, a registered Republican who touts his financial expertise as a plus in a bedroom community that is perpetually short of cash, also believes the council should be more responsive.

“In certain circumstances they seem to be a little bit intimidating,” he said of the present council, adding that would change if he is elected. “I would make it as easy as possible to get a hold of me. . . . I’m someone who lives and breathes Port Hueneme.”

Morrison, who has a long record of community involvement, sees increased volunteerism from city residents as the key to minimizing the pain from cuts in municipal services. The registered Republican is also using her candidacy to promote the measures supporting the Police Department.

“I tell them whoever you vote for, you must vote for [Measures] B and C,” she said. “If we are to keep our Police Department, we’re going to have to tighten our belts even more. . . . There’s always going to be challenges with money, but we’ve got to get off our fannies and do some of the work ourselves.”

Rosenbluth is stressing business-friendly municipal policies to help forestall future budget shortfalls that have often afflicted Port Hueneme in the past.

A registered Democrat, he believes a realistic approach to economic development in a city without land available for development such as Port Hueneme is to encourage the growth of “micro enterprises”--those with five or fewer employees. In addition, Rosenbluth believes the city has untapped tourist potential and suggests examining the possibility of revitalizing moribund Market Street--the city’s traditional downtown--to attract visitors.

“The Port of Hueneme is commercialized five days a week and lies idle two days,” he said. “It may be possible to bring in cruise ships.”

All six candidates also support Measure A, which would change the city from a general law to a charter city, a move designed to provide the city a greater degree of freedom from the state.

Moreover, a charter would give the city a greater ability to protect its sources of revenues, officials said. Several years ago, after the state took back money that had traditionally gone to cities, Port Hueneme was forced to slash services and consider disbanding its local police force.

Some critics are concerned that becoming a charter city would allow the council more freedom to raise taxes--a concern in a community where the so-called “view tax” made national headlines in 1991.

But even Young, a staunch opponent of taxes, supports the measure.

“The city has no ability to tax under Measure A and the state Legislature--while it has not officially written anything down--has talked about taking utility taxes away from the cities,” she said. “So if Measure A passes with B and C, they can never take it away from us.”

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The Candidates

Six candidates are vying for two City Council seats Nov. 5. The main issues are the city’s persistent budget problems and a long-standing debate over whether to retain the city Police Department or to contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services. Incumbent Toni Young is running for a second council term. Orvene Carpenter has announced his retirement after almost 30 years.

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Mary DePaolo

Age: 37

Occupation: Civic activist

Education: Bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from UC Santa Barbara

Background: A 10-year Port Hueneme resident, DePaolo is co-chairwoman for the March 1997 Hueneme Elementary School District bond election and is helping plan for construction projects at district campuses. She spent eight years in the Marine Corps. She is former president of a marketing and computer systems development firm. She is married and has two children.

Issues: DePaolo has campaigned on unifying sometimes-fractious Port Hueneme politics. She opposes all new taxes. She supports the tax that the City Council passed in 1994 to help pay for police, which is on the November ballot because a state appeals court has thrown its legality into doubt.

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Douglas Ernst

Age: 31

Occupation: Insurance agency owner and financial consultant

Education: Bachelor’s degree in family studies from the University of Kentucky

Background: A 2 1/2-year resident of Port Hueneme, he is active in the nonprofit Pacific Corinthian Youth Foundation, which introduces children to sailing. Ernst moved to Port Hueneme after six years in Oxnard. He is married with one daughter.

Issues: Ernst is concerned about finding a solution to the city’s constant budgetary problems, while maintaining a city police force. He is critical of the municipal government’s responsiveness to residents and believes the relationship between the city and its citizens must improve.

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Valorie Morrison

Age: 55

Occupation: Snack bar owner at municipal pier

Education: Attended Pierce College

Background: The two-time unsuccessful council candidate is one of Port Hueneme’s best-known community boosters. She is chairwoman of the Parks and Recreation Commission and was chairwoman of the committee that in 1994 lost a campaign for a parcel tax to fund the Police Department. Morrison has organized the city’s local participation in the National Day of Prayer for four years. She is married and has four grown sons.

Issues: The 13-year city resident opposes any new taxes, but favors retaining the existing utility tax to support police. The lone repeat candidate from the 14-person council race in 1994, Morrison refuses to accept campaign contributions.

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Murray J. Rosenbluth

Age: 65

Occupation: Retired engineering project manager with Procter & Gamble

Education: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Drexel University

Background: He lived in Ventura County in the 1970s as engineering project manager for an Oxnard paper products plant, and returned in 1988 to retire. Rosenbluth is active in supporting the Port Hueneme Water Quality Improvement Project, is a member of the Port Hueneme Citizens Charter Advisory Committee and is president of a homeowners group. He is married with two children.

Issues: Rosenbluth wants to increase city revenue by expanding international trade through the free trade zone and developing the beach and pier as tourist attractions. Supports retaining city police.

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Toni Young

Age: 45

Occupation: Real estate agent

Education: Attended several junior colleges

Background: Young supports the city’s water improvement project and is a director of the Port Hueneme Water Agency. Elected to the council in 1992, she has clashed repeatedly with longtime City Manager Dick Velthoen. Young is on the Commission on Human Concerns and South Coast Area Transit boards. She is married with three children.

Issues: Young supports keeping the city Police Department and the utility tax. She advocates passage of Measure A, which would make Port Hueneme a charter city, giving it more autonomy under state law.

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Allen Zeitzmann

Age: 38

Occupation: School maintenance worker

Education: Attended Ventura and Oxnard colleges

Background: A 34-year resident of Port Hueneme, Zeitzmann is active in the California School Employees Assn. He is chairman of a festival to raise funds for a new building for Mary Star of the Sea Church. He graduated from Hueneme High School in 1976 and spent four years in the Navy before being discharged in 1980. He is single.

Issues: Zeitzmann supports passage of the utility tax measure to fund city police. He believes the city needs a formal sand replenishment agreement with the federal government to guarantee the future of the municipal beach. He wants to make sure a water treatment plant is completed to improve the water in the city.