The race for VC supervisor heats up

John Flynn and John Zaragoza share an understanding that key issues relevant to the greater Oxnard area, in the county’s Fifth District, must be solved immediately:

Sewage and infrastructure problems needing improvement in some of the district’s unincorporated regions; a sorely-needed overhaul of the local harbor; public assistance for the elderly, disabled and gang affiliated; and cessation of Oxnard’s bloated traffic dilemma, just to name a few.

But where the two men, both candidates for the coveted Fifth District seat on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, differ essentially boils down to a debate over staid longevity versus new blood.

Zaragoza says the district needs a new face and believes longtime incumbent Flynn has become ineffectual after 32 out of the last 36 years as a supervisor.

Flynn, on the other hand, defends his place as a trusted favorite of the people for more than three decades, and argues that even his challenger’s years firmly planted as an Oxnard City Council member have done little to abate problems plaguing the city.

“Oxnard residents have had the same supervisor for over 30 years,” says Zaragoza. “We need a fresh look at the Fifth District. We need an infusion of energy. I think we’re suffering in the Fifth District as a result of (Flynn’s) ineffectiveness.”

To the credit of his extensive municipal résumé, Zaragoza’s wish to reboot the Fifth District coincides with a desire to exit his position as a municipal representative for nearly as long.

On the policy making side, Zaragoza’s 30-plus-year career with the city has included three terms on the city council, four years as mayor pro tem. A former chairman of the airport authorities for Oxnard and Point Mugu, he currently leads the city’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), and was a longtime department head of Oxnard’s refuse division. In the private sector, the councilman is a real estate broker.

This combination of business acumen and civic duty, according to Zaragoza, is not only needed, but something Flynn lacks.

“We need someone who understands business, who understands policy, someone who has run a department,” he said.

These qualities are necessary for tackling costly projects in a low-income neighborhood that require fundraising and money management, he noted — for example, offering residents of El Rio alternatives to an outdated, contaminated water aquifer.

“Some of the folks tell me they are potentially looking at $20,000 to $30,000 just to hook up to the City of Oxnard sewer system,” he said. “Most of those residents are on a fixed income.”

Even more expensive work is needed at the Channel Islands Harbor.

“We’re looking at about $300 million of investment at the harbor,” Zaragoza said. He emphasizes his collaborative approach, contrary, he says, to Flynn’s reputation for alienation.

“We need to work with the residents there, listen to their concerns, to upgrade the harbor,” says Zaragoza. “Supervisor Flynn has been warring with the board that I believe has curbed the effectiveness of his authority there.”

But if Flynn has been adversarial in the least, it’s gotten his voice heard for the benefit of revamping the blighted harbor. According to the supervisor, he’s fought against its privatization and called for new leadership there.

“It’s going to be hard to finance any project. It takes a person who commands respect,” Flynn said, adding, “I don’t think John’s (Zaragoza) ever led an issue,” referring to his opponent’s tenure on the city council.

Flynn has remained vocal this campaign season in his belief that Zaragoza as supervisor would give rise to a conflict of interest because the councilman’s real estate business dealings would put him directly into contact with zoning and development issues.

Zaragoza has maintained that, if elected, he would place his business on indefinite hold.

Flynn also attacks Zaragoza’s involvement in the city’s “poor planning,” symptomatic of Oxnard’s growing traffic congestion.

“The city’s poor management has created this traffic,” Flynn said.

And while he takes no official stance on Measure V, the controversial traffic initiative spearheaded by his son, Oxnard City Council member Tim Flynn, John Flynn questioned Zaragoza’s ability to improve traffic flow at the county level when solutions haven’t been reached at the city level.

He also remains in a similarly critical vein on Oxnard’s Measure O, a proposed sales tax increase Flynn suspects will serve only to hurt the lower and middle classes, and benefit the city’s coffers.

At a Monday afternoon panel hosted by Oxnard College, both candidates remained on the same page regarding the need for helping the Oxnard homeless, the push for higher education, a stronger enforcement of gang crime, and working one-on-one with people to achieve those goals.

Flynn, a perennial figure in Oxnard who has prided himself on personally walking the Fifth District door-to-door, credits his experience for forging such enduring relationships, especially with the city’s Hispanic and veteran communities. But a new face for the district would break those bonds, he says.

“It depends on how you look at experience,” Flynn said. “I have a lot of that. It would be a shame to throw that away.

“I think longevity is something we believe in,” he continued. “We believe in experience, leadership and knowledge. If I felt I was worn out, I would not run. Period.”