There’s No Letting Up for This 6-Term Supervisor

There is a reason Supervisor John Flynn hasn’t lost an election in 20 years.

On a day when both his challengers in the March primary are busy with other business, a day threatening rain and quickly losing light, the 67-year-old incumbent is knocking on doors in a blue-collar neighborhood where the houses are guarded by iron bars and snarling watchdogs.

Stopping at every home where votes are up for grabs, he urges residents to call him or visit his south Oxnard office if they are having problems with county government.

He tells Catholics he has the support of a church bishop and shifts into Spanish--a language he learned so he could better communicate with constituents--whenever he finds non-English speakers at home.

He has been at it seven days a week since July, a pace he hopes will deliver him to 15,000 doorsteps by the March 7 primary.

“They may have some way of beating me, but they can’t outwork me,” Flynn said of his challengers for the Oxnard-area seat. “I’m faster than they are and I’ve got a better read on the voters.”

His challengers don’t see it that way.

Oxnard School District trustee Francisco Dominguez is making his first run for county office, spurred by what he perceives as a lack of board leadership.

And Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Arlene Fraser is challenging Flynn for the third time, emboldened by her 1996 showing, where she pulled 23% of the vote.

Both challengers believe the six-term supervisor is vulnerable this time around, having been dogged in recent months by a series of image-tarnishing scandals that have plagued county government.

Flynn was the swing vote in 1998 on the decision to merge the county’s mental health and welfare agencies. That move indirectly uncovered a Medicare billing fiasco that resulted in millions of dollars in fines and penalties and is largely to blame for a midyear budget deficit.

More recently, Flynn’s leadership was called into question after the resignation of chief administrator David Baker. Baker bolted after only four days on the job, leaving behind a laundry list of complaints on the way county leaders manage their money and conduct other business.

Dominguez, 38, jumped into the race on the last day to file. He has been steadily building a war chest and a base of supporters, wooing voters by going door-to-door and hosting a series of meet-the-candidate socials.

Dominguez says he is up to the challenge.

“It’s time for new leadership and I believe there’s a sentiment that exists within the electorate that now is a good time for change,” said Dominguez, executive director of El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, a Latino advocacy group.

Fraser, a 53-year-old Silver Strand resident, also believes change is needed in the 5th District.

She initially ran against Flynn in 1992 because she believed the incumbent should not get into office unopposed.

But Fraser said she has been watching from the sidelines since then, studying how county government operates and bristling at decisions that have pushed the county into debt.

This time, Fraser said, her commitment to winning is the strongest it has ever been.

“I think [Flynn] has lost his effectiveness,” Fraser said. “I believe it’s time for a change.”

One way or another, change is coming to the 5th District.

Win or lose, Flynn says this will be his last race, setting up a change in leadership four years from now at the latest in a district redrawn nearly a decade ago to give Latinos a stronger political voice.

All the candidates, however, downplay the Latino issue, choosing instead to focus on who would best be able to represent the community as a whole.

Hank Lacayo, chairman of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee, said he believes Flynn will again be tough to beat.

Not only has he out-raised his challengers by more than 3 to 1, he possesses key endorsements in the 5th District contest and a track record that usually translates into solid support at the ballot box.

Still, in a competitive field and with strong voter discontent, Lacayo said anything can happen.

All either candidate would have to do is prevent Flynn from getting more than 50% of the vote in the March primary to force a runoff election in November.

“It’s possible, but not very likely,” Lacayo said. “The bottom line is John Flynn has been a pretty good supervisor. No one runs harder or has a better grasp on the issues.”

There is a reason John Flynn runs so hard.

The former junior high school history teacher remembers the dark days after his last defeat in 1976 to Thomas Laubacher Sr., whom he had beaten four years earlier to capture the seat the first time.

Flynn lost by 400 votes. The sting of defeat was hard to shake.

“It’s a matter of rejection,” he said. “At the time, all of my children were young and I wanted to set an example for them. I wanted to show them that you don’t give up.”

Flynn regained the seat in 1980, defeating Port Hueneme Mayor Dorill Wright by 1,650 votes. He hasn’t had a close race since, a string of victories he attributes to the way he looks out for his district.

He moved his office in 1997 from the County Government Center in Ventura to a south Oxnard bank building to make it easier for people to reach him.

“He has a deep following among the non-Latino community, the Latino community, the Filipino community,” said state Senate candidate Daniel Gonzalez, a Simi Valley lawyer and president of the Ventura County Mexican-American Bar Assn.

He touts his vast political experience, highlighting his role in shielding local military bases from closure, leading the fight to stop seawater intrusion into drinking water basins and building a community gymnasium in El Rio.

For the next four years, Flynn said he wants to restore fiscal health to the county budget, work to preserve farmland, resolve pollution problems at area beaches, develop a plan to revitalize Channel Islands Harbor and lure high-tech industries to boost economic development and job opportunities.

Some of Flynn’s detractors are concerned about Flynn’s role in the problems that have plagued county government and question his ability to get along with other board members.

“It seems to be a situation where John pretty much makes up his mind and listens to nobody,” said Silver Strand resident Jean Rountree, who has tangled with Flynn over several issues concerning her community. “I think he’s become arrogant and unresponsive.”

With exactly three weeks to go until election day, Francisco Dominguez was making up for lost time.

Because Dominguez waited until the eleventh hour to challenge Flynn, he hasn’t had as much time to raise money or get his message out.

That is why he was recently at Hollywood Beach, where two dozen residents gathered to hear his pitch.

“We need to begin to restructure the county government system, and I say let’s start right at the top with a new supervisor,” Dominguez said.

Arlene Fraser couldn’t agree more and hopes voters see her as the best alternative.

She says she has solid experience in county government, having worked for the county recorder’s office and the county Public Works Agency from 1979 to 1984 and served on the grand jury in 1993.

Fraser said that since her 1992 run for the board, she has sharpened her focus, having grown discontent with the way county government operates and eager to make things better.

Fraser said she would bring a well-rounded perspective to county government that would benefit all aspects of the community.

“I feel that I have the character to stand up and be heard, to make a difference,” she said.