By David Courtland and Carlos Garcia
Three incumbents and four challengers are running for Oxnard City Council in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election. The nonpartisan election will decide who represents Districts 1, 2 and 5 on the council for the next four years beginning in December.
District 1 Councilmember Bert Perello is running for reelection against two opponents, consultant Eduardo Huerta, who ran for city council against Perello in 2022, and Deputy District Attorney John Barrick.
District 2 Councilmember Gabe Teran is running for reelection against businesswoman Lizanne Nañez. Nañez was one of 13 people who applied to the council in 2021 to take former councilmember Carmen Ramirez’ place after she was elected to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. The spot went to Teran, who later won a special election.
District 5 Councilmember Gabriela Basua is running for reelection against registered nurse Noemi Corpuz, who chairs the Cypress Neighborhood Council.
Several candidates spoke to VIDA Newspaper about their campaign and goals, other were not available.
Councilmember Bert Perello has been the longest serving member on the council, beginning in 2013 when he won a special election to fill former councilmember Tim Flynn’s spot after Flynn was elected mayor. Reelected in 2014, 2018 and 2022, he also survived a recall election.
Perello, a retired postal worker, said he was most proud of working with the council to achieve financial stability for Oxnard.
“There’s a lot of things the entire council has accomplished,” Perello told VIDA Newspaper.
“We were able to go from $9 million in debt to solvency.” Perello attributed the turnaround to a number of things, including Amazon’s facility on Sakioka Drive that employs 1,500 people; the Measure O sales tax, grants that the city applied for and tens of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds.
“Bert Perello didn’t do it, but the council did it,” who if reelected will be serving his last term due to Oxnard’s newly adopted term limits. “I’m lucky I was along for the ride.”
Perello said he wants to continue to keep the city going in a financially stable direction. To that end he hopes Oxnard voters pass Measure E. He emphasized Measure E is not a new sales tax but simply makes Measure O permanent – currently that sales tax has a March 31, 2029 sunset.
“I hope all three incumbents are reelected,” Perello said, “because all three have done incredible work to keep the city in the direction it’s going.”
By contrast John Barrick, one of Perello’s two opponents and a Ventura County prosecutor for 22 years, says he wants to bring more fiscal responsibility to the city council.
“I’m not confident the city spends its money wisely,” Barrick told VIDA Newspaper, adding that he wants the city council to be accountable for its decisions and to be publicly transparent.
“I’m really dedicated to doing what’s best for the citizens of Oxnard, I want to put the needs of the public first,” Barrick said. “To be on the city council you have to be there to serve the public – they seem to think we serve them.”
Councilmember Gabriela Basua says her proudest achievement is championing the strongest tenant protections the Central Coast, noting that Santa Barbara later adopted similar rules.
“So I think I set an important precedent in order to protect our renters,” said Basua, who is Port Hueneme’s Housing and Facilities Maintenance Director.
Other achievements Basua cited were keeping Fire Station 2 open, getting the Lemonwood neighborhood’s streets resurfaced and lighting for the Cypress neighborhood.
Basua said one goal she hopes to achieve before leaving office due to term limits is to break ground on an aquatic center. Plans for an aquatic center were held up by a lawsuit the city eventually won, but the current cost of bonds to fund construction have been another obstacle. Basua said the city is now talking to the YMCA about a partnership to get the aquatic center built.
Councilmember Gabe Teran said he was proud of helping the city achieve financial stability.
“I’m glad that I’ve been part of the particular council that steered the city toward continued (fiscal) improvement,” Teran told VIDA Newspaper. “We did not spend money wildly, this has been a very responsible city, and I’m proud of that.”
“Communication and engagement are important to me, and I hear a lot from people that they’re very happy with my openness,” Teran said.
Another thing Teran said he was glad of having done is recently getting a city e-bike ordinance with an educational component passed.
“It’s important for both minors and adults to follow traffic laws,” said Teran. “This is different than riding a regular bike, these are very fast machines.”
Other achievements Teran cited are limiting the number of tobacco stores in Oxnard – “We have more than 100, but that’s it, we put a cap on it,” – and with Councilmember Michaela Perez, launching a summer program for 10th through 12th grade students to learn about city departments.
Teran said he looks forward to the groundbreaking of Campus Park on the Fifth Street site where Oxnard High School once stood.
“That goes back to when I was a parks and recreation commissioner, if I get reelected, I look forward to following through on that,” Teran said to VIDA Newspaper.