Oxnard Councilman to Challenge Supervisor Flynn

Oxnard City Councilman John Zaragoza announced Tuesday that he is running for the seat now held by longtime Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn, the first challenger to step forward in next year’s 5th District contest.

Zaragoza, 60, a small-business owner who has served as a councilman since 1996, said he has the experience and skill necessary to serve the Oxnard-based district, whose constituency is more than 60% Latino.

“The county faces great challenges ahead,” Zaragoza said in a prepared statement distributed during Tuesday’s council meeting. “There are long-term financial concerns, the challenge of working cooperatively with city, business and community leaders, environmental issues, finding the right balance for job growth ... and maintaining an outstanding quality of life.”

Flynn was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

But the 69-year-old supervisor, reneging on an earlier pledge that this would be his last term, said last June that he “still has fire in the belly” and would very likely seek reelection for an eighth term.

His announcement angered some Oxnard community leaders, many of them Latino, who believe it’s time for a change in the district.

But Flynn has enjoyed strong support from the Latino community in his 26 years of service. In the 2000 election, he beat Oxnard School District trustee Francisco Dominguez in a three-way race, taking 53% of the vote to Dominguez’s 35%. Community activist Arlene Fraser was the third candidate.