Ventura Politics May Be About to Shift Direction

Although issues of growth and development have long dominated Ventura city politics and polarized campaign rhetoric, this fall’s election may mark a quiet transition to a new, more centrist era.

The pace of growth still colors this campaign--where 10 candidates will fight it out Nov. 4 for four council seats.

But downtown redevelopment is on track, with a high-rise parking structure and 10-screen theater set to open over the next nine months. And with thousands of acres of farmland now effectively off-limits to development because of a 1995 greenbelt initiative, the city is approaching build-out.

With the bulk of those issues out of the way, candidates are staking out their positions on how to jump-start the city economically, and spinning out competing visions for what they want this seaside town to become in the next decade.

Only one incumbent--five-term Councilman Jim Monahan--is seeking reelection to the seven-member panel. Council members Rosa Lee Measures, Gary Tuttle and Steve Bennett have all decided not to run again.

Some residents worry the sudden exodus of experienced politicians could leave the city with a void in strong leadership.

“Some turnover is important, but this much turnover is unhealthy,” said Bill Fulton, an author and urban planner familiar with politics in California.

“The fact that there are three open seats and a relatively weak field suggests that we have not done a good job of developing community leaders in Ventura.”

Vying to replace the incumbents are businessmen Brian Brennan and Doug Halter, Ventura County planner Carl Morehouse, motorcycle magazine editor Mike Osborn, attorney Donna De Paola, researcher Brian Lee Rencher, California Highway Patrol Officer Paul Thompson, restaurateur Sandy E. Smith and engineer Carroll Dean Williams.

Councilman Jim Friedman said this year’s mix of candidates may yield an unusually cohesive council.

“I would say without question we will have a much more moderate council . . . than we have had for a long time,” Friedman said. “When we don’t have people working as a team things take three, four, five times as long. I think things will begin to happen faster than the ordinary slow-as-sludge government.”

This fall’s election will be the first under the city’s new campaign contribution limit law, passed by 81% of the voters in 1995.

Candidates say the law makes it harder to raise money, but forces them to seek more broad-based support.

With the election only four weeks away, endorsements--some from independent political action committees with thousands of dollars available to spend on campaign literature--are filtering in.

So far Brennan, Smith and Monahan have locked up most of the major endorsements.

The Chamber of Commerce endorsed only three candidates this year: Monahan, Brennan and Smith. The cities’ two environmental groups--the Voters’ Coalition and the local chapter of the Sierra Club--backed Brennan, Smith and Morehouse.

The police and fire unions threw their support behind Monahan, Brennan, Smith and the only female candidate in the race--De Paola.

The Services Employee International Union, which represents city workers, is backing Morehouse, Monahan, Smith and De Paola.

And the private Ventura City Mobile Home Owners Coordinating Council endorsed Smith, Brennan, Monahan and De Paola. With about 2,900 residents living in mobile home parks in Ventura, it is considered one of the city’s largest bloc votes.

Although the signs are popping up on lawns, and political mail is beginning to jam mailboxes, it has been a quiet campaign so far.

There has been no fiery rhetoric or mudslinging. It has been so quiet, in fact, that some candidates say when they knock on doors, many residents don’t know there is an election next month.

“I am surprised and disheartened to see how many people don’t know what the election date is, or what the issues are,” Morehouse said.

Part of the problem is there are few clear-cut issues this season.

In large part, the incoming council will carry out plans put in place by previous councils.

And some of the most important challenges facing the city--such as economic revitalization--are complex and hard for voters to sink their teeth into.

For instance, Ventura’s revenue growth rate in 1996 was just 2.5%.

To sustain quality of city services and infrastructure will require annual revenue growth of 5% to 7%, city staff members said.

But just how the city should increase revenues is an open question. And it’s a question current council members would like to hear more about.

“I would hope we would hear from candidates what ideas they have for giving our local economy a shot in the arm,” Friedman said. “I’m hearing a lot about economic vitality. But what specific plan do you have to increase retail, to increase tourism, to bring in higher-paying, higher-tech, low-polluting jobs to the city?”

Most candidates see the redevelopment of downtown as key to the city’s economic revitalization. But they differ in their visions of what the downtown should become.

Some envision a strip of national chain stores, others a mix of big-time retailers and existing thrift stores.

“Our downtown is the jewel of the county,” said Halter, who believes the city should continue to pour resources into restoring the historic core.

Halter said he would do that by bringing a better mix of businesses, and creating more residential housing downtown.

Morehouse believes the new movie theater complex will bring restaurants, housing and businesses that will produce a thriving city center, and set in motion a natural cycle of growth.

“As for those displaced, it’s an unfortunate matter of economics which occurs in any successful city,” he said. “We should . . . assist the displaced to whatever degree possible.”

Rencher worries about the changes.

“It appears that the city is attempting to run small, downtown ‘mom and pop’ businesses right out of business,” he said.

In recent years, the city has relied partly on development to boost revenues. But with the city’s blueprint for development limiting population to 105,000 by 2000, and 115,000 by 2010, the question has evolved from should the city grow, to how should the city grow.

Smith says Ventura’s growth, which is below the state average, is acceptable. But instead of concentrating on numbers, he said, the city should focus on where development occurs.

Until now, most housing development has occurred in Ventura’s east end.

“Locating new housing in the downtown, or on the west side, where there is already infrastructure in place, is a more sound economic and environmental decision.”

De Paola would focus on redeveloping areas of the city such as Seaward, Midtown and the Avenue.

“We need to do something with the areas from the fairgrounds, to Pierpont, down to the harbor,” she said. “We need more businesses that connect the downtown and the beach areas.” Many of the candidates--including Morehouse, Thompson, Osborn and Rencher--believe population growth is inexorable, and the best thing the city can do is prepare for it.

“The challenge will be to manage that growth in such a way as to maintain Ventura’s character,” Thompson said.

Beyond immediate questions of growth and development, this year’s candidates also have a long-term vision of what they think Ventura needs most.

Monahan, De Paola, Brennan, Thompson and Rencher say building an eastside park is a top priority.

Monahan added a second priority: “We need to get moving on a community project to build a multipurpose facility that could be used for arts and cultural events.”

Osborn wants to resolve the port district’s financial problems.

“I would like to transform the Ventura harbor into a tourist mecca and a haven for business,” he said.

De Paola and Brennan say finishing off the Ventura River Trail is important.

Brennan said the city should concentrate on maintaining its natural assets, and those that complement them, such as the bike path, pier and promenade.

“People look at Ventura and ask, ‘What is the E-coupon ride we can bring to the city?’ ” Brennan said.

But eight-time council candidate Williams scoffs at the wish lists of other candidates.

“Bike trail, pool, park,” Williams said. “Those things are easy. What Ventura needs most is four honest council members.”

One thing voters decided they needed in the last election was closer scrutiny of campaign finances.

So far, candidates have raised less than their counterparts two years ago, records show.

In 1995, Friedman led the pack in fund-raising after the first filing period with $14,690. This year the top fund-raiser after the first filing period, which ended Sept. 21, was Monahan, who reported raising $8,432.

De Paola, who lost her bid for a City Council seat in 1995 by 425 votes, said raising money is much more difficult this year. She reported $6,790 in contributions. She did, however, loan herself all but $1,000 of that money.

“It takes you four or five times as many contributions to make the same amount of money as last time,” she said. “We can’t depend on the large checks to carry us. We’ve had to do a lot more fund-raising, one on one.”

The new campaign finance law may be one reason candidates have less cash for their campaign war chests.

The new law limits campaign donations to $125 per donor, unless the candidate agrees to a voluntary spending cap of $21,000. In that case, a candidate may accept up to $225 from an individual donor.

Only Monahan, De Paola and Smith did not agree to the voluntary spending cap.

Also, all donors contributing $25 or more must disclose their name, address, occupation and employer. Previously, candidates could accept undisclosed donations of up to $99.

Brennan strongly supports the reform. But he too said it is difficult to gather the $18,000 he estimates he needs to win the election.

“It’s hard,” Brennan said. “On the one hand, the community wanted reform. On the other, they have to spend money to make sure the reform works, so the candidates don’t have to turn to special interests for support.”

Thompson, who reported raising $6,670 by the end of the first filing period, said the new law has forced him to seek a broad base of support, which he said is good. But he also sees the potential for abuse.

“If one person were willing to spend a very large amount of their own money, they would have an advantage over other people who could not raise money,” he said.

Mayor Jack Tingstrom said one unintended effect of the campaign finance law may be that more power could shift into the hands of special interest groups that can afford to fund their own independent political action committees.

Although PACs cannot contribute more than $125, or $225 directly to any candidate, they can spend thousands of dollars advertising for them.

The Chamber of Commerce spent between $10,000 and $14,000 promoting their candidates in the last election, according to PAC Chairman Ken Schmitz. And Quinn Fenwick, the treasurer of the powerful police and fire union PAC, said it will have up to $10,000 available to spend on advertising in this election.

“No one ever said anything about controlling the unions,” Tingstrom observed. “How much of a role will that play in candidates’ campaigns, since they will not have that much money coming in?”

As the candidates take to the streets and airwaves and work to refine their campaign messages, Councilman Steve Bennett said voters should focus on the integrity of the candidates more than the issues.

“The city needs leadership,” he said. “Not people who sit up there and say, ‘What do the people want?’ And stick their fingers in the air.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ventura City Council

Ten candidates, including one incumbent, are running for four council seats Nov. 4. Development and downtown revitalization top the list of concerns, with many candidates supporting the renewal of a greenbelt agreement with Oxnard and the preservation of public safety programs. Many candidates also stress the need to build a park and aquatic center in the city’s east end.

Brian Brennan

Age: 45

Occupation: Businessman

Education: Four years of college, no degree

Background: Brennan moved to Ventura in 1989 and has been active on business and environmental issues. He served on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors from 1993-97 and has been acting chairman of the Ventura chapter of the Surfrider Foundation for the past two years. Brennan was also chairman of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau from 1994-96 and the vice president of Pier Into the Future from 1995-97. Brennan supported Save Our Agricultural Resources--a 1995 ballot measure to protect farmland--and continues to work on fund-raising for the countywide initiative.

Issues: A supporter of downtown redevelopment efforts, Brennan says his top priority is to continue the downtown revitalization and protect the funky character and charm of Ventura. He wants to get paramedics back on fire engines, finish the bike trail, protect the coastal zone and bring more high-tech jobs to Ventura.

****

Mike Osborn

Age: 48

Occupation: Motorcycle magazine editor

Education: High school graduate, two years of community college in Colorado

Background: Born in Central California, Osborn moved to Ventura in 1991. He is an editor for Paisano Publications, the largest motorcycle magazine publisher in the world. Osborn is active in politics at the state and federal levels, most recently working on a law to extend the award-winning California Motorcycle Training Program. He also worked to return control of California’s highway speed limits from the federal government to the state Legislature.

Issues: Osborn says he wants to transform the Ventura Harbor area into a tourist destination and a haven for business. He says he also would like to bring clean industry--such as high-tech companies--to Ventura.

****

Donna De Paola

Age: 47

Occupation: Lawyer

Education: Bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Cal State Sacramento; juris doctorate from Ventura College of Law

Background: A former county recreation supervisor in Las Vegas, De Paola coordinated the Ventura County Bar Assn.’s legal clinic for seven years before earning her law degree in 1991. She opened her own law office in 1993. She was a volunteer attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance’s legal clinic and a member of Soroptimist International of Ventura. She also has served on the Downtown Ventura Assn.’s board of directors since 1995, and sat on the Air Quality Advisory Board from 1995-97. She ran for City Council in 1993 and lost by 425 votes.

Issues: De Paola hopes to focus on redevelopment, public safety and education. She wants to keep Ventura small and rural while generating new jobs. If elected, she vows to finish the bike path, restore the pier, maintain the promenade, promote neighborhood councils and build a pool in the city’s east end.

****

Brian Lee Rencher

Age: 37

Occupation: Business consultant

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cal State Northridge

Background: Rencher has run unsuccessfully for a City Council seat in 1991, 1993 and 1995, receiving his highest vote total the last time with 1,041. He regularly attends council meetings, alternately praising and criticizing the council on a variety of issues.

Issues: If elected, Rencher said he promises to bring fiscal responsibility and efficiency back to city government. He proposes to improve business through policies such as minimized regulations and lowered fees and taxes. He also wants to build more parks, an east-end senior center, a public swimming pool and a city-owned library.

****

Doug Halter

Age: 37

Occupation: Businessman

Education: Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from UC Santa Barbara

Background: A native of San Jose, Halter moved to Ventura in 1987. Halter has his own landscaping business and runs a consulting firm. He is an AIDS educator and spent seven years marketing computers to local governments for Unysis Corp. He has his own Web site at: www.doughalter.com

Issues: Halter believes downtown redevelopment is the key to Ventura’s future. A supporter of SOAR, he wants to rebuild old sections of town, filling in already-developed areas rather than expanding farther east. He wants to increase revenues through tourism and promote public safety.

****

Sandy E. Smith

Age: 47

Occupation: Restaurant owner

Education: A graduate of Ventura High, he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Sonoma State University and received a teaching credential from UC Santa Barbara.

Background: Born and raised in Ventura, Smith has spent the past five years on the Ventura Planning Commission and has spent two years as its chairman. He has served as president of the Downtown Ventura Assn. and serves as a member of the School Facilities Committee, the Cultural Plan Committee and the Downtown Specific Plan Committee. He is part owner of three downtown restaurants: the Busy Bee, Santa Clara House and the Rosarito Beach Cafe.

Issues: Smith says the city needs to develop a broad-based economic strategy that will provide funding for quality-of-life issues such as public safety, clean streets and trimmed trees. He is also an advocate of managed growth.

****

Jim Monahan

Age: 62

Occupation: Small-business owner

Education: Graduated from Ventura High School in 1953 and attended Ventura College

Background: Monahan was born in Ventura and grew up on the Avenue. He took over his father’s welding business in 1957, and still runs it. Monahan has served five terms on the City Council, and was mayor in 1988-89. He made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors in 1995. Monahan is chairman of South Coast Area Transit’s governing board and a member of the Local Agency Formation Commission. He is also a member of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce.

Issues: Monahan says his top issue is maintaining strong police and fire protection to curb gang activity and eliminate graffiti. If reelected, Monahan wants to build an east end park, stimulate economic growth and spruce up the city’s cracking streets and overgrown trees.

****

Paul W. Thompson

Age: 42

Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology from Occidental College

Background: Thompson has flown helicopters for the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Highway Patrol over most of Southern California. He is a youth soccer league volunteer and a board member of Ventura County Christian High School.

Issues: As a CHP officer, Thompson says he believes in setting aside adequate resources for Ventura’s police and fire departments, and hopes to bring back Ventura’s Fire Department paramedics. He would work to repair the streets and trim the trees. He also wants to build an east end park with a pool.

****

Carl Morehouse

Age: 46

Occupation: County land use planner

Education: Earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Purdue University in 1973 and a master’s in public administration from Indiana University in 1980

Background: Born in Louisville, Ky., Morehouse moved to Ventura in 1987. He is a land use planner for the county and works with state and county regulations influencing local development. He participated in the development of the Downtown Specific Plan, the Cultural Plan and Citywide Design Guidelines. He spoke out against Centerplex--the proposed minor league baseball stadium--last fall.

Issues: As a county bureaucrat, Morehouse says, he has the insider perspective that will allow him to get things done. His top three priorities are rebuilding the downtown, saving the greenbelts and tying school facilities and the city’s growth plans together more effectively.

****

Carroll Dean Williams

Age: 55

Occupation: Manufacturing engineer

Education: Ventura High School graduate; earned a certificate in machine shop from Ventura College in 1961; manufacturing engineering student at UCLA for about three years; earned a community college teaching credential at UCLA.

Background: An outspoken council critic, Williams claims to have attended every weekly council meeting since 1977. He has unsuccessfully run for City Council seven times, most recently in 1995.

Issues: Williams believes the current City Council is ineffective and accuses members of having thrown away millions in tax dollars. He says he trusts voters to decide major issues, such as whether to limit greenbelt development.