Changes Proposed for Oxnard Council

Three Oxnard activists are seeking an initiative that would increase the number of City Council members from five to nine and mandate that they be elected by district instead of at large.

Martin Jones, Tony Grey and Bernardino Valencerina recently filed papers with the city clerk to launch a petition drive for the proposed ballot measure. As required, the city attorney filed a summary of the initiative May 20, starting the clock on the 180 days organizers have to complete their campaign.

They must collect signatures from at least 10% of the city’s 57,600 registered voters to put the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot. If they collect 15%, the issue could be decided in a special election.

In a statement filed with the city clerk’s office, Jones, Grey and Valencerina write that “elections at large ... are unfair and may violate the constitutional rights of both minority voters and all office seekers.”

By increasing the council to nine members, each would represent about 18,800 residents. The current ratio is one council member to 34,000 residents.

If successful, the ballot measure would also change the way the city’s mayor is chosen. Rather than being elected by voters, the mayor would be selected by the council from among its members on a rotation basis.

Although organizers are pushing to place the issue before voters in November, the county’s election chief believes that will not happen because of time constraints.

After the signatures are collected -- 5,760 for 10% of the voters or 8,640 for 15% -- it would take about a month for them to be validated, said Gene Browning, the county’s assistant registrar of voters.

The deadline to submit initiatives for the November ballot is July 2, he said. The next regular election after that is in March 2006.

In addition, the proposal calls for voters to elect the four additional council members at the same time they decide if they want to increase the size of the council.

But Browning doesn’t think that is possible. “I don’t know how you file papers [to run] for an office that doesn’t [yet] exist,” he said.

City Atty. Gary Gillig agrees.

“If it does qualify, it is my opinion that the only matter on the ballot is a vote on the issue, yes or no,” Gillig said.

The council could also vote before July 2 to put the issue on the ballot, he said.

Councilman John Zaragoza, who is up for reelection in November, said that probably won’t happen.

Zaragoza said he opposed the idea of district elections.

“A councilman just favors that district, as opposed to looking at the entire welfare of the city,” Zaragoza said. “But if the people want more representatives, seven council members voted at large might work.”

Jones, who recently filed a lawsuit against the City Council for allegedly violating the state’s open meeting law, said he wasn’t sure if the group will meet the deadline, but he had received calls from residents who want to help gather signatures.

For Jones, the issue boils down to accountability.

Council members representing fewer people, who might be their neighbors, will be more conscious of the constituents’ demands, he said. “That person knows very clearly who elected them,” he said.