For the second time this week, a sitting Oxnard City Council member formally launched a campaign for mayor.
On Thursday, Carmen Ramirez held a news conference outside the downtown library. A similar scene played out Monday, when Irene Pinkard's supporters gathered at downtown's Plaza Park to announce her run.
The sitting mayor, Tom Holden, has not yet said whether he'll run again. The seat is up for grabs every two years and will be decided in November's general election.
Both women have said the April 18 report on a nearly two-year corruption probe by Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten's office helped spur decisions to run.
The report "told us about many things that need correcting in our city," Ramirez, an attorney, told a gathering of more than 60.
Ramirez's speech covered a range of topics, including the lack of healthy food options in some neighborhoods, educational levels and planning issues, but also wove in several references to Oxnard's need to establish trust.
The city can take the lead by showing that "businesses will be treated fairly, without favoritism," she said.
The comment could be seen to reflect items in the district attorney's report noting the close relationship between businessman Bernard Huberman and Holden, former Councilman Andres Herrera and suspended City Manager Ed Sotelo. Holden and Herrera have flown multiple times on Huberman's private jet to Cabo San Lucas and stayed at his home there, and Sotelo has vacationed at least twice at his home there. Some of these trips occurred during times when the city was considering multimillion dollar deals with Huberman's companies, the DA's report stated.
Investigators found no criminal wrongdoing. Sotelo had paid for his trips through purchases at charity auctions, they found. Holden had exchanged optometry services to Huberman and his family valued at about $4,000, an amount that would have been equal value for commercial flights but was far less than the estimated $1,610- to $2,400-per-hour costs for similar chartered flights, the report stated. The report also said Holden "repeatedly made false statements" during an initial interview, "denying time and again he had ever flown in Huberman's private jet" or stayed at his Cabo San Lucas home. Holden later admitted to the travel, the report states.
Investigators couldn't find sufficient evidence to say whether Herrera's travels were gifts or had been paid for. Totten's office has forwarded some information related to its overall probe to state regulators, who are investigating possible violations of gift-reporting requirements and potential conflicts of interest, which could result in administrative fines.
Ramirez told the crowd that "most of all, we need to start ... honesty in government."
"I ask questions," she said of her council efforts. "Where is the money going? ... We seem to have a culture where those questions don't always get asked."
Supervisor John Zaragoza, a former Oxnard council member, has now endorsed both Ramirez and Pinkard, saying in a letter that residents "could not go wrong with either of these woman as mayor." He had originally endorsed Pinkard, but did not know Ramirez would be running, a staffer said.
Former Oxnard Mayor Manny Lopez was on hand for Ramirez's event Thursday and said he was endorsing her.
Ramirez, who is in the middle of a four-year term, could keep her council post if her mayoral bid fails. Pinkard, whose term ends this year, will lose her spot on the dais if she is not elected mayor.
Editor's note: This story was changed from original version to correct information about City Manager Ed Sotelo's trips to Cabo San Lucas.
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