Takasugi Gets the Chance to Go Out on a Roll

Veteran politician Nao Takasugi’s first public appearance since being stricken with a heart attack is also likely to be one of the last in his long career as a public official.

The 76-year-old Republican Assemblyman will ride down A Street on Saturday as grand marshal of Oxnard’s Fiestas Patrias Parade.

“This will be sort of special,” Takasugi said Thursday from the Oxnard home he returned to only a week ago. “My farewell wave.”

Looking tanned and fit--albeit moving a little slower than usual--Takasugi was in good spirits as he reflected on his health and 22-year career as an elected official. He served a decade as Oxnard mayor from 1982 to 1992 before being elected to the state Legislature.

Takasugi officially ends his third term Nov. 30 and can’t seek reelection to the 37th District stretching from Thousand Oaks to Oxnard because of term limits.

Still, these days politics is a distant concern as Takasugi continues to recuperate from the June 22 heart attack that felled him a block from his Sacramento apartment as he took his daily two-mile walk.

The health problem came as a shock to Takasugi, his family and friends, since he was known for his exceptional fitness. In addition to his regular brisk walks, Takasugi is an accomplished tennis player--he made the doubles semifinals of The Ojai while in high school--and still played once or twice a week before his heart surgery.

Takasugi underwent a quintuple bypass operation July 20 in a Sacramento hospital and has spent much of the summer recovering at the home of one of his five children outside the state capital.

He is the second local politician to see his career come to an abrupt end in recent months. Assemblyman Brooks Firestone, (R-Los Olivos) missed the final day of action in his legislative career Aug. 31 after a flare-up of stomach ulcers prompted his doctor to order him to bed.

But unlike the 62-year-old Firestone, who blamed the unrelenting pace and erratic hours of a public official for his health problems, Takasugi believes he led a healthy life.

“This was the last thing I had expected,” he said of his health problems. “I can’t point to anything in my political career. . . . But, of course, it is stressful and there may be some connection to my heart condition.”

Indeed, Takasugi said he was ready to be carried into the legislative chambers on a stretcher the day the state budget was scheduled for adoption by the Assembly if his vote proved crucial.

That was not necessary. And with the Legislature having completed its session last month, Takasugi is taking the time to stop and smell the flowers.

He is doing so literally, after returning home to find an overgrown garden that required three days of weeding to return to its customarily meticulous condition. And he is counting the days until he is allowed to play tennis once more--only 56 more to go, he said.

It is his garden, including the treasured koi fish that inhabit a backyard pond--a favorite 29-year-old koi named Goldie swam its last lap the same morning that Takasugi suffered his heart attack--and his own health that preoccupy Takasugi these days, rather than politics.

He does not miss embarking on another reelection campaign. His health precludes him from worrying about anybody else’s campaign either: He turned down the opportunity to spearhead Dan Lungren’s Republican gubernatorial election effort locally.

And he is largely unfamiliar with such local political issues as the drive to limit growth on farmland around Oxnard and other cities this fall.

He is not ruling out a return to part-time politics; the governor’s office has already contacted him about the possibility of serving on a statewide commission in the future. But he is not contemplating seeking elective office again, Takasugi said Thursday.

In the waning days of his political career, Takasugi said he is generally satisfied with his accomplishments as one of the Assembly’s more moderate Republicans, rating his political career a 7 or 8 on a scale of 10.

“I really enjoyed my public life in which I was able to contribute to the community where I have lived all my life and that has been good to me and my family,” he said. “I’ve done what I thought needed to be done.”

He was determined, for instance, to see Oxnard students improve their academic performance and ensure they were ready for higher education and the increasing demands of the workplace.

So Takasugi sponsored a bill to extend the school year in the Oxnard School District from 180 days to 195 on an experimental basis. Results of the move should be available soon, he said.

He is also proud of his tenure as chairman of the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. Under his leadership, the committee passed several tax relief bills, which Takasugi believes have helped produce a more favorable business climate and staunched the flow of companies moving out of state.

With the political responsibilities of his office now behind him, all that remains are the ceremonial obligations before he leaves for a weeklong Hawaiian vacation.

Takasugi is a last-minute replacement as grand marshal of the parade that marks Mexico’s Independence Day. The original grand marshal, David Cruz of KNBC, suffered a heart attack that he is still recovering from.

“I’m just sitting riding in a car,” said Takasugi, who speaks fluent Spanish. “I’m very grateful I’m still here. . . . Flowers look more beautiful every day.”

Festival organizers are thankful Takasugi is still around to help them out as well.

“Takasugi embodies the best that Oxnard has to offer as a citizen-public servant, crossing ethnic, cultural and political lines,” said Angela Carroll, parade chairwoman. “He is well-acquainted with the rich tapestry of Oxnard’s heritage represented by its ties with Mexico.”

And that may be the most appropriate political epitaph of all for a local politician who is still very much alive.