Candidates Focus on Luring Business, Managing City Resources

With only two days to go before the March 4 election, attracting new business investment and effectively managing city resources have emerged as the two key issues in a wide-open race among six candidates for two seats on the San Fernando City Council.

While the candidates have been unanimous in calling for a city government that is friendly to both potential investors and residents, their divergent ideas about how to accomplish those objectives have provided voters with distinct choices.

The fate of a controversial liquor ordinance, an issue closely tied to the question of business development, has split the candidates and spurred an emotional debate.

In the city treasurer’s race, incumbent Elvira Orozco is running against businessman Gerald Olmsted, her first challenger in 26 years on the job.

Cal State Northridge Chicano studies professor Jose Hernandez, who served as mayor from 1993 to 1994, is the lone candidate in the council race who has previously run for elected office.

“Local governments are being asked to do more with less. We have to be creative about raising city revenues,” Hernandez said, echoing a theme repeated by all the candidates.

Hernandez, 66, said that his education--he holds a doctorate in political science from UC Riverside--and years of experience as a community volunteer make him the best candidate.

“My wife and I are very grateful to San Fernando for providing a good environment for raising our daughters,” he said. “The centerpiece of my campaign is helping other families, making sure they have the same opportunities.”

Juana Mojica, project director for the San Fernando Valley Partnership, a substance-abuse prevention organization, said that she would emphasize programs that give senior citizens and young people a larger role in city affairs.

Mojica, 45, has been the most outspoken supporter of a restrictive liquor ordinance passed by the council in 1993 that established zoning rules limiting the number of liquor outlets in the city.

While many hail the ordinance for helping to reduce crime, some candidates and residents say it has impeded the establishment of “family style” restaurants with the potential to generate much-needed tax revenues for the city.

Mojica has adamantly defended the zoning law, insisting that it is supported by a majority of residents.

“Enough is enough,” she said. “This is a city of 2.2 square miles and we have 55 liquor licenses already. We don’t need any more.”

Another candidate who supports the liquor ordinance is Robert Villafana.

A social worker and former chairman of the San Fernando Park and Recreation Commission, Villafana, 52, identifies education as a key theme in his campaign.

“The latest census showed that we have a low education level in San Fernando,” Villafana said. “I would like to establish an education committee and get more after-school programs going, like a junior Neighborhood Watch.”

Silverio Robledo, 33, a member of the city Planning Commission and the youngest of the six candidates, said his campaign revolves around three issues: ensuring public safety, making City Hall more business-friendly, and getting young people involved in city government.

“San Fernando is a city where one out of every two people is 24 years old or younger,” Robledo said. “We need to give our youth a seat at the table, a sense of ownership in their city. If we do that, they will take pride in their city and make it a better place to live for all of us.”

Retired businessman Donald Mauran, 65, has focused on public safety and business development in his campaign. To attract more investment and higher-paying jobs to San Fernando, Mauran has suggested creating an Internet site for the city and said that cleaning up neighborhoods blighted by abandoned buildings would be one of his priorities.

“The first thing I would do is install a 24-hour hotline for complaints and ideas,” Mauran said. “It’s never been done. We need to concentrate on marketing our city, and that starts at home.”

Virginia Mendoza, 58, a registered nurse, said she joined the race because “someone was needed who has the same vision that San Fernando has.”

For Mendoza, that means working to overcome petty squabbling in city government and getting residents to work together on common goals.

“I think the same attributes that make me a good nurse will make me a good council member,” she said.

In the treasurer’s race, longtime incumbent Orozco is being challenged by Olmsted. Orozco said her proven track record of safely managing the city’s money makes her the best candidate.

“Nobody’s ever run against the incumbent, and I’d like to see the voters have a choice,” said Olmsted, who promised to aggressively lobby the City Council to replace outdated computer equipment in the treasurer’s office if he is elected.