Meet the candidates

Editor’s note: Our election coverage of the Ventura City Council candidates continues this week with incumbent Jim Monahan and challengers Phil Mechanick and Maureen O’Hara. The candidates were asked a total of 11 questions.

Jim Monahan

BIO: I am a Korean War veteran, a native Venturan and a graduate of Ventura High School and Ventura College, and a father of four all raised in Ventura. I am the former president of American Welding, a company founded by my father in 1928. My candidacy is based upon 50 years of community involvement and 32 years of experience in local government. I have worked hard to assure Venturans that your quality of life is protected while providing for employment opportunities.

What has been your greatest achievement on the council?
One of my greatest achievements while serving on the council was planning and building the Veteran’s Home in Saticoy; it has taken 20 years of planning and building to accomplish this. Also, saving the cross, restoration of City Hall, redevelopment of the Ventura County Museum of History and Art to a state-of-the-art building for downtown and working to revitalize downtown. All great and important achievements.

What is your solution to keeping our budget balanced without sacrificing services, programs and jobs in the future?
To continue to watch our city investments to make sure we have the income to sustain the operations of the city and to be ready to make the necessary adjustments to the budget so we stay within our budget.

What is your plan to acquire or build more affordable housing units in Ventura?
I feel the current plan, which requires all development to set aside the required number of units for affordable housing and disperse evenly throughout the city, is sufficient. Also, to speed up the revitalization program, which is available to homeowners who have older homes which the city has programs to assist them in revitalization. I will do my best to make sure there is enough affordable housing to meet our state required housing element.

What are your thoughts on protecting agricultural land while continuing with urban development?
In my 32 years on the council we have never, ever built on the greenbelt, which is the agricultural land surrounding the city. We do have inner city agricultural land that has been set aside for development for 35 years, and it will be gradually developed as our general plan provides.

What is your proposal for raising test scores and bettering education locally?
We have nothing to do with that — it’s up to the school board.

What do you feel about Ventura’s planning process, and how will you work with developers and city planners to expedite these processes to keep projects on track?
I have proposed and am working with the Chamber of Commerce starting a new program called the Ombudsman Program, which will be a program to help developers process their plans more efficiently.

How important is the success/failure of the council’s “green” agenda to the well-being of the city?
I think there are a lot of “green” projects coming to the council which will benefit the citizens of Ventura. I am a supporter of the “green” building code.

Aside from the ongoing economic crisis, what is the single greatest problem the city faces?
Stimulating the economy to the extent we need to provide more jobs. We need to get people back to work.

Questions regarding initiatives:

What is your position on the sales tax initiative, and why?
Measure A, the sales tax initiative, will provide the city with approximately $8 million per year, we think. Last year, the city was able to cut $11 million out of this year’s budget and $4 million the year before that. We can’t continue to cut that much and provide the services that citizens expect us to provide. As you know, the State of California took another 2.7 million from the city. The sales tax initiative is a four-year plan to bring the sales tax rate in line with Santa Barbara and Oxnard. It will expire in four years, and the State of California cannot touch that money. I support Measure A and I hope you do, too.

What is your position on Measure B (view protection initiative), and why?
I supported the view ordinance long before the city decided to draft one of their own. I think there are some areas for taller buildings, but not along Thompson Boulevard because it will bring too much traffic and the density could be much too high. The kind of projects that are being proposed will not have enough parking.

What is your stance on Measure C (forbidding the addition of new “superstores”), and why?
I am not opposed to large businesses throughout the city, but I do feel it isn’t fair to group them all into one category. I do not want to regulate the whole city by an ordinance designed for one boulevard. I don’t think Victoria Boulevard is the appropriate area for large business.

Phil Mechanick

BIO: I have lived in Ventura for nearly 40 years. My parents moved here in 1970 from Teaneck, N.J. My mother, Doris, was a teacher; and my father, Jerry, worked in Port Hueneme. Both are now living in Palm Springs. I have two sisters: Lisa, living in Israel; and Carol, a probation officer in Palm Desert. I attended Pierpont and Sheridan Way elementary schools, Cabrillo Junior High, Ventura High School, and graduated from Ventura College with A.A. degrees in both business and history. Married 18 years to mywife, Rhonda, I am stepfather to Jason Hall, 26 years old, with his first grandchild on the way.
 
As the owner of Ventura County’s first mobile detail service, Custom Car Care, I began building a loyal clientele that included many of Ventura’s top businesses. Ultimately switching from cleaning cars to selling them, I began working a 17-year stint at Barber Ford (1986-2003), rising to the position of sales manager. Between the years 2003 and 2006, I served as the used car sales manager for Thousand Oaks Infinity. From 2006 to 2009, I worked as fleet manager for Barber Ford. Today, I am happily working as the new car sales manager for Paradise Chevrolet. My affection for people, and my special ability to connect with them, has aided my 23-year success in the car sales industry. Many of my clients have been with me for nearly two decades.

Being an avid surfer, wakeboader, skateboarder and hack golfer (I can break 100 most of the time) has made me aware of the unique relationship with the city, protecting its precious natural resources while at the same time growing local business. I feel that caring for the local beaches and parks is as important as promoting the city’s neighborhood and business development.

I am a member of the Ventura Trade Club, have coached for VYBA and Elks Little League, and served as vice president of the Pierpont Community Council.

What is your primary reason for running for City Council?
My first priority is working to make our city, its neighborhoods, its Downtown, its beaches, its schools, streets and parks safe and clean. As well as let its residents know that they can bring their concerns and problems to me at City Hall and have them dealt with. Someone needs to stand up for Ventura’s small businesses and working families; I will be an advocate for the people because I am one of them. I will work hard to make sure that all of Ventura’s neighborhoods are clean, safe, informed and involved. Local government works when we all work together.

What is your solution to keeping our budget balanced without sacrificing services, programs and jobs in the future?
It would be easy for me to sit here on the outside and throw around clichés we’ve all heard wannabe politicians say about fixing deficits. But that’s not who I am. I will not use knee-jerk, hot-button rhetoric over careful examination and study. I will make you a promise to never promise you something I can’t 100 precent deliver on. As well, I will not, for the sake of getting quick votes, promise to cut anything that may end up jeopardizing the health and safety of Ventura’s citizens, or cause irreparable harm to our community. Most people are aware that we are in the midst of a severe national recession; this, along with rising unemployment, a high foreclosure rate and the credit crisis, have hit Ventura County just as hard as they have hit families and businesses all across our nation. I promise to trim the less essential programs and services, as well as eliminate any redundant positions. We need to consolidate our smaller departments. We must look into renegotiating city contracts and, in some cases, discontinue them. We need to move forward with a series of responsible public-private partnerships which, in turn, could generate hundreds of thousands in new revenue over the next several years. If needed, we must be willing to sit down and negotiate with city employees and their union representatives to help us get through these tough times. How much money could we save if every employee agreed to take off just one unpaid hour per week, or defer automatic pay raises until we get out of the current mess?

What is your plan to acquire or build more affordable housing units in Ventura?
For some, the beauty of Ventura is a double-edged sword. With its desirable location and many ocean views and mountain vistas, property values continue to rise, putting affordable housing out of reach for the city’s thousands of hard-working, minimum- and low-income wage earners. This lack of affordable housing has led to a glut of overcrowded, substandard accommodations. Besides the obvious humanitarian issues, these conditions create health and safety concerns that affect us all. Local health-care givers, police and firemen, all note the strain those living in such conditions put on an already over burdened city infrastructure. We need to take advantage of today’s low interest rates and start building affordable housing. Through state funding, state and federal grants, private sector investment, we must do something to stem the tide of the unsafe, unhealthy, sub-standard living conditions for those in need; if not through new home construction, then perhaps by state/federal leasing or foreclosed homes. Some have noted the lack of Ventura’s willingness to work with its neighboring cities to help find common solutions. This is something I would definitely look into ending, if given the opportunity to serve.

What are your thoughts on protecting agricultural land while continuing with urban development?
The combination of a skyrocketing growth in population and reduction in available land is creating a make/break situation for protecting our agricultural legacy. Existing real estate properties in Ventura are soaring in value, real estate developers want more land, and there is only so much to go around. In addition to feeding and clothing us, farm and ranch lands maintain scenic, cultural and historic landscapes while linking us to our agricultural heritage. One doesn’t have to venture far in our city to be reminded of this heritage; the bronze gateways to our old Ventura City Hall, where the City Council meets, are decorated with bouquets of lima beans, reminding us that our county was once the lima bean capital of the world.

Protecting the resources while growing our city in a responsible manner will yield long-range environmental benefits, including wildlife habitats, clean air and water, flood control and ground-water recharge. Responsibly managing Ventura’s open spaces will continue to provide beautiful views and opportunities for hunting and fishing, horseback riding, skiing, dirt-biking and other recreational activities. As a 40-year resident, balancing responsible urban growth while protecting our agricultural resources is one of my main commitments to the city’s voters.

What is your proposal for raising test scores and bettering education locally?
I will definitely push hard for more after-school programs. Recent research shows that disadvantaged students who regularly attend top-notch after-school programs end up, after two years, academically far ahead of peers who spend more out-of-school time in unsupervised activities. In a recent article in Education Week entitled “High-Quality After-School Programs Tied to Test-Score Gains,” researchers present an eight state study showing that quality after-school programs are having a positive effect scholastically and behaviorally on children who have regularly participated over the last two years. They found that the students who were more engaged in supervised after-school activities on a regular basis did better academically, socially and behaviorally.

As well as these after-school programs, I want to aggressively find funds to re-establish summer recreational centers like the ones I enjoyed when I attended Pierpont and Sheridan Way elementary schools. Some of these after-school programs presented in the study are funded under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, launched by President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s. Whereas I promise to seek out federal and state funds/grants to help create these after-school programs, I feel that such programs should also come from money collected from the private sector. I will aggressively appeal to local businesses and national sponsorship to share the cost of these programs. As well, I will ask parents to step up and volunteer and contribute any way they can. We can make a difference. This is a promise I look forward to keeping.

What do you feel about Ventura’s planning process, and how will you work with developers and city planners to expedite these processes to keep projects on track?
Updating the current process is the first step I would take. Re-evaluating guidelines and regulations, as well as limiting existing voting timelines, would be a positive start. I feel it imperative to streamline the planning process, as well as limiting the time of the plan approval process. The lag time between each approval process can lead to months and months of down time, which in turn can kill a project; we need to identify potential fatal flaws and deal with them. One local government is ready to do the work; others say we need time to get started. Some want to wait until regional, state and federal policies are finalized; others want development to stop until they revise their plans and codes. All of these must be taken into account. Clear intergovernmental objectives are needed to establish and evaluate the success of a station area planning and development program. Much of planning, after all, isn’t really anything more than communicating, problem solving and communicating some more. Every municipality has a different way of doing things; Ventura is no different. Internships would be an invaluable way to give job candidates invaluable on-the-job training that would prepare them to be job-ready the day they are hired. If given the chance to serve, I look forward to working with my Council members to reworking the entire process.

How important is the success/failure of the council’s “green” agenda to the well-being of the city?
I support the job Ventura City Manager Rick Cole and Public Works Director Ron Calkins have been doing, and look forward to working with them to further Ventura’s commitment to its “green” agenda. They’ve reduced pesticide and herbicide use in our parks to well below an ounce an acre per month, and report that they are close to eliminating it altogether. As well, they report that their commitment to water conservation has been so successful that, in absolute terms, Ventura now uses less water than it did 30 years ago at two-thirds our current population. I support reducing the use of gasoline consumption with local fire and police departments’ vehicles should be foremost in our “green” efforts. We need to hold ourselves accountable, which is critical to reaching any goal — if we are trying to get others to follow. We must look to the examples and standards set by one of our most prominent local businesses, Patagonia, and strive to match them in keeping Ventura a leader in the “green” movement.

Aside from the ongoing economic crisis, what is the single greatest problem the city faces?
I believe that aggressive panhandling and vagrancy has had a profoundly detrimental effect on Ventura’s downtown economic vitality, safety and quality of life, and vow to make this my No. 1 priority when I’m elected. As for the criminals and vicious law breakers who permeate the Downtown and Promenade areas, the answer is swift and easy: throw them in jail! But for the mentally ill and the drug addicts, for those who are truly in need — getting them the help they require will help to get them off our streets and, maybe more importantly, keep them off. That said, criminalizing an activity does not eliminate the problem; it only shifts much of the costs associated with it to the city’s criminal justice system.

Research shows that in many cities, 25 percent of the city jail population is homeless. That’s too much money to throw at a nonsolution.
Strict enforcement simply deals with the symptom rather than directly addressing the real problem; raising taxes is not the answer. We must look to fully fund our local human services agencies. Every dollar invested in our human services providers is money sensibly spent. Research shows that it is cheaper to house people than to have them living on the streets. The average burden, per homeless person, runs between $30,000 and $40,000 for frontline emergency services such as police/fire response, emergency room visits, jail time, etc. The majority of panhandlers and vagrants come from the river bottom. We need to establish a line of defense with increased police presence, along with mobile soup kitchens, converting condemned buildings into shelters and/or low income housing, retraining, along with monitoring them for illness, mental and physical; all would decrease the number of people on the streets and keep them off.

Questions regarding local initiatives:

What is your position on the sales tax initiative, and why?
I am against raising any new taxes. Period. I feel we must look toward creative, “out-of-the-box” ways to raise funds; cutting needless government spending, securing federal grants, large corporate sponsorship, neighborhood investment, are all ways to generate finances.

What is your position on Measure B (view protection initiative), and why?
No. Whereas I am adamant about responsible city expansion, and want to vigorously protect our city’s sightline, I believe this is the wrong measure for now. I feel that each proposed building project should be looked at on a case-by-case situation, and not be bundled into an all-inclusive piece of legislation that we later regret. Nearsighted overreaction can sometimes be as damaging as no reaction at all.

What is your stance on Measure C (forbidding the addition of new “superstores”), and why?
Yes. But, I say “yes” with certain apprehension. Again, like Measure B, I feel like it’s by a case-by-case issue with location, traffic, local businesses and zoning issues all being contingent of where and what we’re talking about. I feel that the less Ventura needs to drive to the big-box stores in Oxnard, the better it is for all of us. But I am deeply concerned about the effect it will have on local traffic, smaller businesses and parking. I don’t really like the idea of Walmart taking away parking and business from Trader Joe’s. I have spoken to many people who live in the area that are concerned that it may drive out their local, smaller businesses, while adding to an almost unmanageable ovvercrowded traffic problem.

Maureen O’Hara

BIO: The third of five children, I was born in Long Beach, Calif., when my father was stationed there by the U.S. Navy. We moved to Oxnard in 1961 when by dad was transferred to Port Hueneme. My mother was a nurse at St. John’s Hospital until her retirement. I graduated from Huemene High School in 1976.   

My mom and dad were both very hardworking and religious, and they taught me that if I was honest, caring and responsible for myself and others, I would be happy and successful. I have tried to follow their example, and have worked since the age of 15. I have many friends and business associates, and never try to burn my bridges behind me.  People trust me to give them an honest opinion. I say what I mean and I mean what I say.  

I married Sean P. O’Hara in 1978 and we are still in love. We had two sons, Padraic and Ryan. Padraic died in an accident when he was 17, and Ryan is attending UCSB — soon to graduate. Ryan is married to Carolyn, and they blessed me with a beautiful granddaughter, Fiona Scarlett, who is now 2 1/2 years old.  

I worked my way through Ventura College and then UCSB where I graduated in 1987 magna cum laude, with a degree in Law and Society.  I attended law school at night while caring for my family and working full time. I started law school at Ventura College of Law in 1987, but when my husband was transferred to Sacramento in 1989, we moved and I graduated from Lincoln Law School in 1991.   

I was admitted to the California State Bar in 1991 and have been practicing law since that date. I have worked in various areas of law, been a partner at a large firm in Los Angeles, as well as a managing partner where I was responsible not only for my own practice, but the management of a multi-million dollar budget and 25 employees. For many years I have specialized in employment law. I deal daily with the effects of this economic downturn as good people lose their jobs and business fold. 

I am independent and not beholden to any special interests. I believe the role of government is to provide for public safety, to protect private property and to protect the freedom to contract. Our expanding government, on all levels, has and is resulting in loss of our fundamental freedoms and bankrupting us. At all times, but especially in times of economic distress, it violates common sense and experience for the city to raise our taxes, impede growth of new business and place restraints on commerce.    

What is your solution to keeping our budget balanced without sacrificing services, programs and jobs in the future?
Tough decisions need to be made regarding what is an essential, and what is not an essential, service. We need fire and police protection, we need our streets maintained, and we should promote our city and its businesses or we will lose tax revenues if we cannot protect our tourist and housing industry. The budget needs to be examined line by line in order to eliminate unnecessary and inefficient programs, and the city needs to work on generating more money through increased business and profits.    

What is your plan to acquire or build more affordable housing units in Ventura?
I do not know if Ventura needs more affordable housing units. With the economy the way it is right now, and our U.S. taxpayer dollars dedicated to assisting first-time home buyers with home loans, I cannot say I would support our local government’s involvement in acquiring additional “affordable housing units” at this time.

What are your thoughts on protecting agricultural land while continuing with urban development?
Agricultural land should be preserved through planned growth. Ventura County has fantastic soil, and we grow the best lemons, oranges, avocados and strawberries in the country. I want to preserve this. There are open spaces that are not agricultural, and they should be used for development, not our agricultural land. Once you tear up a ranch and build a housing tract, you will never have a ranch again.

What is your proposal for raising test scores and bettering education locally?
Eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and allow the states to develop their own curriculum. Of course, this is beyond my control, but I believe the best way to raise test scores and better education locally is to get back to the basics. I believe teachers should receive merit pay when their students excel, and that parents should have more involvement in their own children’s education.

What do you feel about Ventura’s planning process, and how will you work with developers and city planners to expedite these processes to keep projects on track?
The planning processes are too complicated and burdensome, which results in increased costs to builders and developers. Proposition B on the ballot is an example of what the city should not do if it wants to prosper. This proposition is entitled “save our views,” but what it does is create a complicated system of approval panels, committees and other requirements regarding who will decide if and when a property owner can build. No one will be able to get anything done, and development will come to a complete standstill.

How important is the success/failure of the council’s “green” agenda to the well-being of the city?
It is important. We all want to eliminate waste and recycle, but I do not think it ranks up there with the most important issues facing the city, the state or the country. We need to be active in protecting the environment, but not overreact to the point where costs are increased dramatically and businesses cannot operate profitably.

Aside from the ongoing economic crisis, what is the single greatest problem the city faces?
Downtown is becoming a major issue. There is an increase in aggressive panhandlers and homeless, which is driving away business. Ventura thrives because of its agriculture and because of its tourist industry. The tourist industry requires a desirable place to visit, and frankly, the city is losing its luster despite the best efforts of the businesses and restaurants downtown. We need to clean it up, enforce the laws, use zoning to limit thrift stores and tattoo parlors, not that I have anything against these businesses, they just need to be spread out and not all concentrated in one area.  

Questions regarding local initiatives:

What is your position on the sales tax initiative, and why?
No on Measure A — no new taxes. The city needs to live within its budget and tighten its belt. Tough choices need to be made regarding what is, and what is not, essential to the city. Also, there is nothing in the proposition that earmarks the money to any specific projects or departments, and once it is collected, it can be used for any purpose.

What is your position on Measure B (view protection initiative), and why?
No on Measure B — I believe this measure will face constitutional challenges. Not only is it very complicated and vaguely worded, it attempts to instill property rights in people who do not own property. Why should a committee of citizens be allowed to tell a property owner that they cannot build on their own property? The planning commission and building and safety department already have that job as far as legal requirements. Enough is enough.

What is your stance on Measure C (forbidding the addition of new “superstores”), and why?
No on Measure C — Ventura can use the tax revenue and the jobs this would create. The arguments in favor of the proposition do not hold water. We already have large “big box” stores in the city, and how can one argue that a huge, vacant property (K-Mart) is more attractive than a thriving business? Again, it would bring much needed revenue into the city coffers and create hundreds of jobs.