Francis Isn’t Standing on Ceremony in 2nd Year as Ventura Mayor

Richard Francis began his second year as mayor of Ventura last month with a State of the City address before the Greater Ventura Chamber of Commerce. It was a tricky undertaking--the city’s slow-growth council that Francis heads and the chamber’s pro-growth leadership had been at odds for some time.

When the master of ceremonies introduced the City Council members one by one, there was dead silence. “Let’s give them a round of applause,” the emcee finally requested. The audience complied reluctantly.

Despite the unenthusiastic welcome, a beaming Francis stepped up to the microphone. In an engaging, well-organized speech, he promised to take care of the city’s water problem, vowed to step up anti-gang efforts and asked for support for the Buenaventura Mall.

He ended on a high note, calling for “a new birth” in the relationship between business interests and City Hall.

The chamber members liked what they saw--their handsome, youthful-looking mayor, impeccably dressed in a dark suit, proudly exalting the virtues of their city and humbly extending an olive branch to the business community.

When Francis stopped talking, the audience exploded in spontaneous applause.

Richard Francis, 42, is getting used to such conquests. In the past 12 months, his council has successfully weathered the initial effects of an acute water crisis and assorted attacks from developers, homeowners and business people.

Through it all, Francis has demonstrated that he loves the political game at least as much as he enjoys being a public servant. At times he is the perfect diplomat, as he was during the chamber of commerce luncheon, but on occasion he becomes boldly confrontational. He is as adept at maneuvering behind the scenes as he is at grandstanding before television cameras during council meetings.

“Sometimes I wonder whether I’m overly manipulative,” Francis said recently, amusing himself with the question. “Am I putting on an act, or am I acting naturally? I have well-honed skills and I’m very cognizant of that. But so is the rest of the council, and the more they learn about them, the less effective I become.”

John McWherter, a veteran councilman who has served under eight different mayors, says Francis is unique. While previous mayors seemed to regard their role as largely ceremonial, “Francis is not afraid to use the power of the gavel, both with the public and with the council,” McWherter said.

And while past mayors let the council members state their positions and then called for the vote, “Francis always tries to persuade the other council members to vote his way,” McWherter said, pointing out that it seldom works because council members don’t want to appear indecisive before the television cameras.

For all his resourcefulness, Francis has picked up his fair share of impassioned critics. One of them referred to the mayor in a letter as “Saddam Francis.” A council gadfly calls the mayor “Frivolous Dick” during council meetings.

And a number of people have complained that the mayor cuts them off or talks down to them.

But while his brand of politics may not be to everyone’s liking, Francis has given the city the kind of tough, pragmatic leadership that Ventura’s inexperienced slow-growth/environmental coalition could only hope for when it swept three rookie council members into office in November, 1989.

The new council members are the first to acknowledge that while Francis may not be as committed as they are to slowing down growth, they can count on his political skills when they need them.

“Whenever I have a half-baked idea, I always float it by Richard first,” first-term Councilman Gary Tuttle said. “I might be philosophically closer to other members in the council, but I respect Richard’s opinions the most.”

Francis endeared himself to the slow-growth camp in May, when he staged a mini-coup and expelled Jim Monahan--the only pro-growth advocate on the council--from the pivotal Water Committee, and appointed himself as the replacement.

The expulsion came without warning. Francis said he did it because Monahan missed meetings. But Monahan, who acknowledged that he missed a few meetings because he was sick, denounced the mayor’s action as a political ploy. The remaining council members sided with Francis.

Monahan is still fuming over the direction the council has taken under Francis’ leadership.

“Richard doesn’t listen to people and has a tendency to want to be the head of everything. He’s paid lip service to the business community, and council meetings become an endless dialogue to boost his own ego,” he said.

Francis sees it differently. “All Jim wants to do is undermine this council by creating problems and then stepping away from them,” he said.

While the council sided solidly with the mayor in his confrontation with Monahan, Francis’ attempts to sway council votes his way on some other issues have failed.

Francis decided that Ernest Mansi, a developer who was planning to build a housing project in east Ventura, did not deserve the City Council’s trust.

Mansi’s KNM Development Co. had received the council’s preliminary approval in November for a 147-unit project. But a week later, armed with a series of lawsuits filed against Mansi and his associates, Francis urged his colleagues to vote against the project.

However, when the city attorney came back with a report saying Mansi’s record was not unusual, the council voted 5 to 1 to approve the development.

Despite the occasional setback, Francis, a lawyer who maintains a private practice in downtown Ventura, takes great pride in his behind-the-scenes dealings.

When asked to name his biggest accomplishment as mayor, he doesn’t hesitate: the deal he struck with haulers E.J. Harrison & Sons Inc. to commercialize the city’s recyclable materials.

“The contract is mine ,” he said. Under the terms of the contract, the city receives a share of the profits from the sale of recyclable materials but does not share in the costs of collecting and processing the materials.

As a result, since the recycling operation began in August, the city has been pocketing about $20,000 a month, while the haulers have been losing about $60,000 a month.

“To be honest, I don’t think Harrison understood the contract,” Francis said. “He didn’t have a clue.”

But the deal turned out to be too lopsided for the city’s own good. City officials are renegotiating the contract to cut down on the trash hauler’s losses, which threaten the survival of the recycling program.

Just how much Francis can accomplish in the long run remains to be seen. When he finishes his first four-year term on the council in November, Francis says, he would like to move on to bigger and better things, but he doesn’t see much of an opening right now.

A registered Democrat active in county politics, Francis says running for county Supervisor Susan K. Lacey’s seat is for the moment out of the question because she’s doing a good job.

Challenging Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R--Thousand Oaks) poses a different problem. “I thought about it, but the way the districts are drawn, I wouldn’t have a chance against a Republican.”

Becoming a Superior Court judge is another option Francis has toyed with, but after Dianne Feinstein lost the governor’s race, he says his chances of being appointed are slim.

Francis is far less enthusiastic about running for reelection in November, although he might end up doing just that.

“I’m so tired,” he said. “Being mayor is exhilarating, like going down a ski slope, but it’s been a hell of a lot of work.” Between his full-time practice and the mayoral job--which pays $700 a month but takes up most of his time, including weekends--Francis ends up working 10- to 12-hour days.

In December, Francis’ wife, Nancy, 42, gave birth to twins, their first children after 19 years of marriage. He said he’d like to spend more time with his family.

But then again, there are a couple of long-range projects Francis would like to see through. One is buying out the agricultural belt in east Ventura and using the land for a city park. Another is securing the viability of the Buenaventura Mall by bringing in a third anchor store to complement J.C. Penney’s and The Broadway.

“I realize this may sound egotistical, but I’m very concerned about whether these projects will be pushed through without me being on the council,” he said. “So depending on who steps up to the plate, I may decide to run again or not.”

If he decides not to, the Los Angeles Lakers may lose one of their biggest fans. Nancy Francis says she seldom sees her husband unless his favorite team is on television.

“I love the Lakers,” Nancy Francis said recently, as the mayor followed the action, beer in hand, his back to his wife and children. “It’s the only time when Richard is home.”