City Endorsements

Here are our endorsements in the nine City Council races in Ventura County on the Nov. 7 ballot, plus growth-control initiatives in Fillmore and Santa Paula.

THOUSAND OAKS

Fear of growth has always been the hottest campaign issue here. Now, with the city within a few thousand homes of its intended maximum, the more significant issues are how to redevelop older areas, improve the already superb quality of life, and make the transition from dependence on developer fees to sustainable fiscal stability.

We believe that Jim Bruno and Mike Markey are best equipped for these challenges.

Until Ed Masry entered this seven-way race for two seats with his deep pockets and flair for celebrity, Councilwoman Linda Parks was not planning to seek reelection. She changed her mind when Masry’s candidacy offered the possibility of what she calls a slow-growth council, counting on Dan Del Campo’s support.

Del Campo has shown himself willing to work with the other council members to find creative ways to increase the city’s endowment of open space while providing the homes needed by the growing population. It’s that sort of diplomacy and ability to balance conflicting needs that we haven’t seen enough of from Parks.

Bruno, a financial planner and Thousand Oaks Planning Commission member who has served in many civic capacities for 25 years, did an admirable job of chairing the committee that drafted the city’s tough campaign finance rules.

Markey is a retired police officer now completing his first term on the council. Although we have chided him for trying in different ways to limit the often-passionate and sometimes downright abusive speechifying at council meetings, we appreciate his efforts to improve the city’s recreational facilities.

OXNARD

As Ventura County’s largest and most diverse city deals with such issues as an unpopular airport, a resurrecting shopping mall and numerous development plans, it needs a blend of seasoned wisdom and fresh outlook and enthusiasm.

It has the former in Mayor Manuel Lopez, running unopposed, and in two-term Councilman John Zaragoza. To provide the enthusiasm, we endorse social worker Saul Medina for the seat held for eight years by Bedford Pinkard.

Pinkard and his wife Irene contribute to their community in many admirable ways. Yet we believe it is time to thank Bedford Pinkard for his good work in this particular arena and give someone else a chance.

We like Medina’s innovative thinking, such as inviting Cal State Channel Islands students to use Oxnard’s excellent library (for a fee) and tailoring a bus connection to make that appealing. We favor his plan to urge the new downtown theater to show films from various cultures. And we share his resolve to end the pollution at Kiddie Beach.

SIMI VALLEY

How can to provide homes--especially apartments and other affordable housing--for a growing population and attract new retailers so more of Simi Valley residents’ buying power will benefit their own city’s tax income?

Big questions with no easy answers--and none of this year’s challengers appears to have better ideas than the ones already being diligently pursued by incumbents. Therefore, we endorse Mayor Bill Davis and council members Steve Sojka and Barbra Williamson for another term.

Williamson’s polling revealed that for the first time in recent memory, Simi residents are more concerned about the cost and scarcity of housing than they are even about public safety.

We encourage the council to keep trying innovative programs such as helping to underwrite loans for first-time home buyers.

FILLMORE

Buffered by a new greenbelt and Heritage Valley tourism campaign, but still challenged by truck traffic, a housing shortage and a need for local employers, this city will choose three members for its five-person City Council.

Mayor Evaristo Barajas is the only incumbent seeking reelection. We believe he has done a good job and deserves another term to work for prosperity without sacrificing the rural quality of life.

To work with him, we endorse longtime resident Cecelia Corl Uber and relative newcomer M. Cecilia Cuevas. Together, they represent the blend of tradition and forward thinking that Fillmore needs to flourish.

Uber owns a downtown antique shop and has been active in the Chamber of Commerce and tourism bureau. She is a former Planning Commission member and has chaired the annual chili cook-off for 10 years.

Cuevas moved to town less than two years ago but has admirable ideas and enthusiasm. A crisis counselor and victim’s advocate by profession, she holds a degree from USC in business administration with an emphasis on property management and construction development. We are impressed that she interviewed students at Fillmore High School to get their views on what direction their city should take.

All three candidates oppose Measure J, the overly restrictive Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiative but support--with varying degrees of enthusiasm--the city-sponsored Measure K. Because we believe that land-use decisions are best made by the representatives elected to make them, we endorse a no vote on each measure.

SANTA PAULA

It’s a time for bridge-building and fresh ideas as this city struggles to pump up its economy and resolve ethnic divisiveness that sparked a federal civil rights lawsuit.

Al Guilin and John Procter are most likely to provide that leadership.

Both favor negotiating with the Department of Justice to resolve the suit over whether the way the city holds elections makes it unfairly difficult for Latinos to win council seats. They agree, as do the other two candidates, that district elections are not the answer. But their desire to work with the Feds to find an answer contrasts sharply with the hard-line stand of incumbent Jim Garfield, who is willing to spend the city’s scarce resources to fight the matter in court.

We also disagree with Garfield that expanding the city into remote and rugged Adams Canyon makes fiscal sense. That was the issue that brought Procter into the race, and we support his intention to find ways to improve the city’s housing, shopping and employment options without this expensive exercise in sprawl.

Procter, a Santa Paula native and Stanford graduate, says he sees a difference between prosperity and expansion.

Guilin, an agricultural consultant and Ventura College instructor who worked for 30 years in management at Limoneira Co., emphasizes his ability to work with all kinds of people. He believes that closer areas such as Fagan Canyon make more sensible sites for development than Adams.

Santa Paula voters will also decide on Measure I, a SOAR initiative that would require a public vote to expand the city into farmland or open space. We believe that the best way to control growth is to elect representatives who will heed the will of the people they represent, and so we endorse a no vote on Measure I.

MOORPARK

Helping Moorpark grow without losing its small-town charm is the challenge at hand. We believe that Mayor Patrick Hunter has earned another term to pursue programs to that end, but we suggest two new colleagues to help him.

Roseann Mikos has been active in local environmental and education causes for many years. She led the local SOAR growth-control drive and the campaign against the massive Hidden Creek Ranch development. As a member of the Ventura County Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee and the alternative TV2020, she champions mass transit and other sustainable solutions to such dilemmas as the truck traffic that has stymied city leaders.

Keith Millhouse takes a more conventional view of easing traffic, such as adding even more lanes to California 23 than the state has already planned. He has pushed hard for more recreational programs and facilities for Moorpark’s young people.

Although they bring very different perspectives to the task, we believe that both are thoughtful, energetic, civic-minded candidates with the potential to shed new light on old problems.

CAMARILLO

All four candidates for two seats advocate slow growth and oppose commercial passenger service at Camarillo Airport. All favor building a new library and recruiting more high-tech companies.

We endorse incumbent Kevin Kildee for a second term and Planning Commissioner Don Waunch to fill the vacant seat. Each has a clear vision of how he would keep Camarillo on its successful road.

Kildee cites renovation of Ventura Boulevard and improvements to the Carmen Drive interchange among his accomplishments and vows to keep upgrading the city’s infrastructure.

Waunch puts affordable housing high on his priority list, advocating an education campaign to inform the public about the issue. He envisions students from Cal State Channel Islands helping to bring new vitality to the renovated downtown area.

OJAI

With the controversial Los Arboles condominium project and a greenbelt agreement about to come before the City Council, defenders of Ojai’s small-town character are even more vigilant than usual.

It’s the wrong place and time for candidate Bruce Roland, who opposes open-space preservation efforts, doesn’t have much use for tourism and wants to ease traffic flow into the isolated town. We endorse Incumbent Sue Horgan and first-time candidate Rae Hanstad, both of whom promise to take a close look at Los Arboles to make sure a mixed-use project with costly condos is really the best use for a prime parcel right next to beloved Libbey Park.

PORT HUENEME

When faced with a controversy like the uproar over a low wall being built along the beach, Mayor Murray Rosenbluth’s strategy is communication--with an emphasis on listening. We can’t say as much for the other incumbent, Toni Young. On this and other issues, she has seemed impatient with the concerns of her constituents.

We endorse Rosenbluth and Helen McPherson. A retired Navy contract administrator, McPherson heads her homeowners association and is active in her church. Her fresh outlook and passion for open exchange of ideas will serve the city well.