Oxnard in the green
Good economic news joins traffic debate at forum
By Bill Lascher 10/18/2007
With its neighbors bracing for the long term impact from layoffs at Amgen and Countrywide to its East and stagnant development to its West, the city of Oxnard continues to see positive economic growth.
Members of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce and their guests heard that news Oct. 11 at the 4th Annual Oxnard Economic Outlook. Bill Watkins, the executive director of the University of California, Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project was guardedly optimistic about the city's future.
“Wear shades, but bring an umbrella,” Watkins said to begin his speech.
Oxnard's economy has grown faster than Ventura County’s, the forecast reported. By the end of 2007, the city’s gross product is expected to be $9.9 billion, which represents a 4 percent increase from 2006. Jobs also grew by 1.4 percent, and the amount the average Oxnard worker earns jumped by 4 percent, the forecast shows.
It was a rare coincidence that Amgen and Countrywide's troubles happened at the same time, Watkins said, but he added the county hasn't been hit as hard as it might be because of the companies’ locations in the Conejo Valley.
“Ventura's economy is going to be affected less than if it was elsewhere, but it will be affected,” Watkins said. Home sales will decrease somewhat, he said, but not as significantly in Oxnard. But the sting from the layoffs to the entire county may be the decrease in tax revenue lost by decreased spending in the region from Amgen and Countrywide employees.
“This is the worst news of the whole day,” he quipped. “It all gets better than this.”
Before Watkins spoke, presentations were made about the Oxnard Traffic Initiative. That initiative, which may go before voters next year, would stipulate that before any development is approved in the city, all intersections within a five-mile radius of the project must have an acceptable flow of traffic, or else the project will have to be put before voters.
Tim Flynn, an Oxnard City Councilman and a supporter of the initiative, spoke first, albeit to a somewhat hostile crowd. The Oxnard Chamber of Commerce opposes the traffic initiative and regularly lobbies against it.
Flynn said his organization only wants to enforce a rule already enshrined in Oxnard's general plan. When that plan was adopted, he said, five intersections in Oxnard failed to meet average traffic flow required in the plan. In 2005, 25 intersections were so swamped they were below average.
“Overcrowding has not only lowered the quality of life for citizens, but it has caused traffic problems,” Flynn said. “What the Oxnard Traffic Initiative seeks to do is nothing other than to follow the general plan. It's about getting our house in order, and after we get our house in order, proceed. We think and we believe that this will make Oxnard a more favorable business environment.”
Tom Cady, a former assistant police chief who is part of a group opposed to the initiative, countered Flynn’s presentation. Cady said that current development plans are bogged down enough without a traffic initiative.
Cady also said that the initiative could significantly impact Oxnard's revenue. If all the pending projects in the city went online, he said, the city would have around $130 million in new revenue, money that could help pay to solve traffic problems the initiative's backers are trying to solve.
“This initiative doesn't do anything to help fix our traffic problems,” Cady said. “It can be a detriment to our economy and doesn't put one cent into helping fix our traffic problem. I think we've heard enough from people who want to give us simple solutions to complex problems.”
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