By Olivia Madera
The Race for District 3 Supervisor is on in Ventura County’s primary elections this March 5. Candidates include incumbent Kelly Long, Kim Marra Stephenson, and Heather Schmidt.
District 3 includes the cities of Santa Paula, Fillmore, most of Camarillo, some northern and eastern parts of Oxnard; and the El Rio and Nyeland Acres communities outside of Oxnard.
Incumbent Kelly Long is currently Ventura County’s District 3 Supervisor serving her second term and is resident of Camarillo. In 2012, she was on Pleasant Valley’s School District Board serving as President. She received her bachelors in mechanical engineering from CSU Long Beach. After college she got her first mechanical engineering job in Camarillo.
“I’ve grown up with my family always giving back and being very active in the nonprofit world and community,” Long said to VIDA Newspaper. “And going to school with my kids and seeing what my friends and family had to deal with, whether it’s finding jobs or moving out of state because they couldn’t afford to live here, really concerned me.”
Long said she cares a lot about the education for students with her previous work as President of the School Board and wants budgeting to be transparent for people to know what’s going on. She said her top priorities are focusing the just the core needs of my families including fiscal responsibility, improving communities, and encouraging more public safety.
“What I think I do really well at is talking with our community and finding the service and programs that they need,” Long said.
District 3, Long said, has a lot of neighborhoods that have opportunities to get more services, educate others on where they can receive those services, and build upon the needs of the community.
She said she is excited to do good work, focus on the communities, and listen to them.
“We have some really good work that we’ve been doing but we have more to be done and that’s why I’m running for our community,” Long said to VIDA Newspaper.
Long said she brings seven years being a supervisor and is the longest tenure on the board. She said she understands infrastructure plans, investments, and is a very technical person.
“I have a good understanding of what programs we have and also what our community needs,” Long said. “I think that’s why I’ve been so successful the last two years in winning this election and I believe that our community needs to know that they are in good hands with me.”
She said she focuses on the issues of her community and doesn’t play political games. She said she wants to make sure the county is moving towards a more manufacturing and industrial industry versus service so there are more industry jobs that pay higher.
“Right now, we’re a more service kind of county, and that’s unfortunate because you don’t have the middle or higher paying jobs. Unless we really focus on our economy, we could lose it with people retiring and so forth,” Long said to VIDA Newspaper.
Some of her endorsements include the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Association, Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, Oxnard Police Officers Association, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff, and President of Pleasant Valley School Board Ron Speakman.
Candidate Kim Marra Stephenson is currently a resident of Camarillo and has not previously held a public office. However, she said she is the only candidate who speaks Spanish. She received her bachelors in psychology from UCLA and her doctorate in educational psychology from Stanford University.
Stephenson ran for District 3 in 2020 and when the district was redrawn, she said she wanted to see if someone else from the community could take over instead. She wanted to give more representation for the community but still realized she was still drawn to doing this work.
She said she is a service-oriented hands-on person and is currently a public-school teacher with 30 years in education. She is a nonprofit leader serving as Founding Member and President of The Ventura County Women’s Forum Collaborative, Board Member of the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, Member of Camarillo-Somis Pleasant Valley Lions, Member of American Association of University Women, and Fosters for Paw Works Animal Rescue.
“I do share the immigrant history of this community as well, so my grandmother was a farmworker in the central valley and we kind of migrated down into this area,” Stephenson said to VIDA Newspaper.
With that shared history Stephenson said it has shaped her to become a good teacher, educator, and role model for the community. She said she is someone people can relate to and understands the community.
“There are so many people in our community that need to be heard that are underserved and underheard. I get them, I understand what they’re going through, I live with them, I teach in South Oxnard every day. I know the needs of the families in this community,” Stephenson said.
She said she is aware of the issues facing the community and there aren’t many who have the same experience, leadership, relationships in the community, and awards as her in order to take to make a change. Stephenson said she didn’t get into the race until she had a strong team and started fundraising in Oct. 2023.
“It’s been a whirlwind of a few months where the momentum has just been growing and growing and growing. And I think that’s a good sign that this might be something the community needs,” Stephenson said to VIDA Newspaper.
Stephenson said District 3 is the most vulnerable and diverse district and is full of people who are working and need to be heard. She said the district needs someone to go into the communities, listen to all sides of every issue, come up with a reasonable solution, and come back to the community and explain to them why things are happening the way they are.
Stephenson’s top priorities are Economic and housing opportunities, improved safety, and healthcare, creating healthy communities, and expanded access for county services.
“That access is also access to me listening to people, bringing their voice to the table, and bringing them together to solve problems,” Stephenson said.
She said once you get elected by the district through representation and get on the Board of Supervisors, you are voting on issues for the whole county.
Stephenson said some of her endorsements are from Congresswoman Julia Brownley, Ventura County Supervisor Vianey Lopez, Community group Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the Central Coast Labor Council. All of these groups, Stephenson said, came together to endorse her because they see how active she is the community and what she did as High School Principal for Adolfo Camarillo High School.
“I’m not doing it for the camping though, I mean that’s the important thing, I have been doing this for years. My campaign has had this momentum because I have done that over the decades,” Stephenson said. “My behavior doesn’t change I’m still the same honest, open, transparent person I’ve ever been. I don’t change during campaign season; I don’t change year after year, it’s where I place that energy it’s all the same work.”
Stephenson wants others to vote because she said, “I am one of you.” She said she wants to take care of the community, listen to what they need, and make it easy to give back to them. With her experience, vision, and educational background she said she uses these skills to be a mentor and represent people in the community at a county supervisor level.
Candidate Heather Schmidt is a resident of Oxnard and is a Freelance Public Policy Consultant. She holds a master’s in public administration, Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and in political science, and a certification in organizational cybersecurity and organizational leadership.
Heather has published papers on public policy, ethical governance, and how to address homelessness, climate, public cybersecurity, including regional economic growth.
“My specialty and skills are very tuned into the position, I know how to create public policy to create solutions for these problems we have, I understand the common practices in public administration,” Schmidt said to Vida Newspaper.
Other than this expertise, Schmidt said her family experienced housing insecurity. She said that experience opened her eyes and gave her an obligation to continue to fight for those in the community. Her own background, she said, and her family’s firsthand experience solidified to her that she had to run for District 3 Supervisor.
“I love the people of Ventura County I think we have a community of incredibly hard-working people who come from so many different backgrounds and so many different views. I think it just works well it makes for life you know, living,” Schmidt said.
She said Ventura County has much to offer and we need to be made it so that residents can both live and work in the community. She said the very diverse district shares similar concerns about how the county government is managing certain issues.
“I think that District 3 has the most potential and possibility where we can close that gap a little bit and create more opportunity and create a more level playing field,” Schmidt said to VIDA Newspaper.
Her top issue is to restore good governance to have it run more efficiently and give services to the community in a timelier manner. Other issues include public safety, public health, and bring in good jobs.
“We need to be training for a more secure community and innovating to be able to run more efficiently,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said she is focusing on the primary election and the general consensus is that results could go in various ways. She said because the district was redrawn when the incumbent was elected voter turnout in the district has been lower, and political parties are now heavily involved in the non-partisan race. She said she is non-partisan candidate and political party affiliation is not relevant to the position of District 3 Supervisor.
Schmidt said in a local election it is hard to predict results because there are many things that can sway voters. Instead, Schmidt is focusing on her campaign, voters, and listening to the people. She said through this, she has been able to learn a lot of different things people are struggling and experiencing.
“If you are in the public sector whether you’ve been elected or a random employee that got hired to work at city hall or whatever, you work for everyone,” Schmidt said to VIDA Newspaper. “Whether they voted for you or not, whether they donated to you or not.”
She said in her campaign her donations have been loans she has taken out for the campaign itself. She did this because she said she didn’t want to take donations from others and have that money “change” her.
Schmidt’s reminder is that if you don’t vote, the issues of politics will continue, and things don’t change. She said local elections are where your vote counts the most and it is the quickest and easiest way see change in your community.
Voting in the primary election will continue through March 5 via mailing your mail-in ballot, dropping off your mail- ballot, and voting in person.