Three candidates remain in the running for park board seat
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

Nancy Bush, who died Dec. 2, was a 25-year fixture on the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District board of directors.

The four remaining PVRPD board members listened to presentations Wednesday night by eight candidates who hoped to fill the open park board seat left by Bush.

Applicants Anita Lawrence, Elaine Magner and Mike Mishler remain in the running after a long park district meeting and three rounds of voting by the board. A special meeting will be held Wed., Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. to make the final selection.

"We have a big decision to make in a short period of time," said board chairman Mark Malloy.

The board has until the end of January to make a decision. If it can't decide, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors will make the choice instead.

In a field of diverse candidates, Lawrence hopes more than 30 years of local government experience will give her the edge.

Lawrence helped the city recover from bankruptcy while serving as Camarillo 's director of finance, a position she held for 16 years before retiring in 2006. Lawrence, who said she feels her biggest strength is understanding budget issues, helped write the master plan for the city of Vista in the 1980s.

"I have a passion for local government and I'm excited about what's going on at the park district," said Lawrence, who has lived in Camarillo since 1990. "I think that as we increase the density of our housing, it's going to be more and more critical to people to give them the open space they otherwise would not get."

Magner, a 23-year Camarillo resident, has been involved with PONY baseball since 1992 and was president of the local chapter from 2000-03. Magner has outlined four goals: continued renovation of the parks; additional programs and services for people in their 40s and 50s; an increase of the public's knowledge of the PVRPD as a special district; and review of how neighborhood parks are being used.

Magner works part-time as an investigator for the federal government.

"I want to give back to the community," she said.

Mike Mishler, a liaison between the local American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) chapter and the district, wants the PVRPD to build relationships with other groups for the greater good of the community.

"I think I'm good at bringing people together and finding realistic solutions that would work for the total benefit of everyone involved," said Mishler, a former regional AYSO commissioner who retired in 2006 as a geologist for Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Gary Cushing, Doug Bungert, Warren Harwood, Roy Villa and Norman Nagel were removed from consideration after three runoff votes by a show of hands.

Board members Malloy, Patty Hamm, Bob Kelley and Paul Rockenstein each said it was difficult to cut the candidate pool by more than half.

Kelley, who voted exclusively for Magner and Mishler, wanted someone who showed commitment to the PVRPD. Kelley pointed out that Mishler and Magner remain active in youth sports even though they don't have children participating anymore.

"Neither of them have kids but they're still doing it," Kelley said. "They're investing in the community and doing their part. . . . I'm certain all the candidates can do a good job, but I have to pick somebody that has demonstrated to me the importance of being involved. They have to want to do this and not just want to sit on a board."

Malloy voted in the same pattern as Kelley, voting only for Magner and Mishler.

Magner gained three votes in the first round, automatically becoming a finalist. In the third and final voting runoff, Hamm and Rockenstein cast their votes for Lawrence, while Malloy and Kelley voted for Mishler.

"I'm looking for someone who will bring excellent experience to the board and keep it diverse," Hamm said.

Cushing, who owns a Camarillo Marie Callender's restaurant, finished third in the November 2006 PVRPD elections behind Bush and Kelley.

Villa, who has lived in Camarillo for 24 years, has been a selfemployed real estate appraiser since 1986. He spent eight years on the Camarillo Planning Commission, where he reviewed and approved plans for Village at the Park. The Village includes a 55-acre sports park that should be completed this fall.

Doug Bungert, a former defensive lineman for the football team at the University of Utah, worked for more than 20 years as a landscape architect for the city of Oxnard . He designed or managed more than 120 park and open space projects for the city. Bungert has also owned a landscape architecture business since 1979.

Harwood, who ran unsuccessfully in the last PVRPD board election, is a former vice mayor and councilmember for the city of Long Beach.

Norman Nagel, an orthodontist, also applied.

"We've got a bunch of sharp people with great backgrounds," Malloy said, "and they're all looking for one job. What makes it tough is all four of us have different ideas of what makes a good board member. The tough part is deciding what the most important things are, and I know all four of us have different answers."