OXNARD : Cable Firm Says Tape of Candidates Stolen

Oxnard City Council candidates, each believing they had outshined the others in a recent candidates’ forum, were upset when they heard the news: Someone stole the videotape of the event.

Jones Intercable, Oxnard’s cable provider, taped last month’s forum and planned to televise it eight times before the Nov. 8 election.

But when workers looked for the tape shortly after the event, it was gone. The company is treating it as a theft.

“Tapes don’t disappear around here,” said Jeff Jones, the cable company’s general manager. “We turned the place upside down. It’s not here.”

After questioning employees and frantically searching their studios, management at Jones Intercable notified police of the caper earlier this week.

“I’m awfully disappointed that something like this could happen right here in Oxnard over a City Council race,” Jones said. “I guess I’m a bit naive.”

Incumbent Tom Holden, who said he performed well in the forum, called for a full investigation.

“They should get to the bottom of this,” Holden said, “because this is ridiculous. . . . We were frustrated that something of this nature could happen, that the voters weren’t going to see it.”

Assistant Oxnard Police Chief Tom Cady said he had not heard any report of a stolen tape, but was curious to learn more about the disappearance.

Candidate Dean Maulhardt said he could not understand why anyone would steal the tape, since the forum had been a rather stale affair.

“I haven’t got it,” Maulhardt said jokingly. “We have been looking for it on television.”

Jones Intercable sent letters Friday to all the candidates who participated in the forum, apologizing and asking them if they would attend another forum Oct. 29 so the cable company could tape it.