Meet the Candidates : Port Hueneme City Council

Six candidates are vying for two City Council seats Nov. 5. The main issues are the city’s persistent budget problems and a long-standing debate over whether to retain the city Police Department or to contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services. Incumbent Toni Young is running for a second council term. Orvene Carpenter has announced his retirement after almost 30 years.

Mary DePaolo

Age: 37

Occupation: Civic activist

Education: Bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from UC Santa Barbara

Background: A 10-year Port Hueneme resident, DePaolo is co-chairwoman for the March 1997 Hueneme Elementary School District bond election and is helping plan for construction projects at district campuses. She spent eight years in the Marine Corps.

Issues: DePaolo has campaigned on unifying sometimes-fractious Port Hueneme politics. She opposes all new taxes. She supports the tax that the City Council passed in 1994 to help pay for police, which is on the November ballot because a state appeals court has thrown its legality into doubt.

Douglas Ernst

Age: 31

Occupation: Insurance agency owner and financial consultant

Education: Bachelor’s degree in family studies from the University of Kentucky

Background: A 2 1/2-year resident of Port Hueneme, he is active in the nonprofit Pacific Corinthian Youth Foundation, which introduces children to sailing. Ernst moved to Port Hueneme after six years in Oxnard.

Issues: Ernst is concerned about finding a solution to the city’s constant budgetary problems, while maintaining a city police force. He is critical of the municipal government’s responsiveness to residents and believes the relationship between the city and its citizens must improve.

Valorie Morrison

Age: 55

Occupation: Snack bar owner at municipal pier

Education: Attended Pierce College

Background: The two-time unsuccessful council candidate is one of Port Hueneme’s best-known community boosters. She is chairwoman of the Parks and Recreation Commission and was chairwoman of the committee that in 1994 lost a campaign for a parcel tax to fund the Police Department.

Issues: The 13-year city resident opposes any new taxes, but favors retaining the existing utility tax to support police. The lone repeat candidate from the 14-person council race in 1994, Morrison refuses to accept campaign contributions.

Murray J. Rosenbluth

Age: 65

Occupation: Retired engineering project manager with Procter & Gamble

Education: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Drexel University

Background: He lived in Ventura County in the 1970s as engineering project manager for an Oxnard paper products plant, and returned in 1988 to retire. Rosenbluth is active in supporting the Port Hueneme Water Quality Improvement Project.

Issues: Rosenbluth wants to increase city revenue by expanding international trade through the free trade zone and developing the beach and pier as tourist attractions. Supports retaining city police.

Toni Young

Age: 45

Occupation: Real estate agent

Education: Attended several junior colleges

Background: Young supports the city’s water improvement project and is a director of the Port Hueneme Water Agency. Elected to the council in 1992, she has clashed repeatedly with longtime City Manager Dick Velthoen. Young is on the Commission on Human Concerns and South Coast Area Transit boards. She is married with three children.

Issues: Young supports keeping the city Police Department and the utility tax. She advocates passage of Measure A, which would make Port Hueneme a charter city, giving it more autonomy under state law.

Allen Zeitzmann

Age: 38

Occupation: School maintenance worker

Education: Attended Ventura and Oxnard colleges

Background: A 34-year Port Hueneme resident, Zeitzmann is active in the California School Employees Assn. He is chairman of a festival to raise funds for a new building for Mary Star of the Sea Church.

Issues: Zeitzmann supports passage of the utility tax measure to fund city police. He believes the city needs a formal sand replenishment agreement with the federal government to guarantee the future of the municipal beach. He wants to make sure a water treatment plant is completed to improve the water in the city.