Chambers back local Assembly candidate

BACKED BY BUSINESS—Camarillo Chamber President Tom Kelley, left, Chamber member Michael Lavenant, California Chamber of Commerce Vice President Robert Lapsley, Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell, Camarillo Chamber member Gary Cushing and Oxnard Chamber President Nancy Lindholm gather at Silver Star Chevrolet in Thousand Oaks after the chambers announced that they will endorse Gorell for the 37th Assembly District seat in 2010. Gorell, a Republican, lives in Camarillo. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers On a frosty morning last week Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell stood outside Silver Star Chevrolet in Thousand Oaks and accepted an endorsement from the California Chamber of Commerce.

Representatives from the Camarillo and the Oxnard Chambers also gave their endorsements to the financially conservative, pro-business candidate on Dec. 9.

Although the Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce doesn’t endorse candidates, its president, Jill Lederer, was also in attendance.

“I’m curious to hear what he has to say. He’s a longtime advocate for small business,” she said.

Gorell, a Camarillo resident, said he plans to work “tirelessly to spark local job growth” if elected to serve in the 37th Assembly District, replacing Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), who is termed out. The district includes Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo and a large portion of Simi Valley.

“I’m honored to have the support of CalChamber and the local Chambers gathered here today,” said the Republican candidate.

“Jeff Gorell is an outstanding candidate to represent AD 37, which is why the CalChamber and a variety of local Chambers have come together so early in this race to support him,” said Robert Lapsley, CalChamber vice president of public affairs.

He said the state Chamber does not typically endorse candidates but the state needs Gorell.

“He knows that the keys to California’s economic recovery are creating jobs and reducing government spending,” Lapsley said. “Jeff has amassed a broad spectrum of public and private sector experience that will serve working families and his district well.”      Gorell, a small business owner, has a background in business advocacy. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce and chairs its education committee.

The candidate worked as an aide to former Gov. Pete Wilson from 1993 to 1996 and as a statewide business advocate with the California Manufacturers and Technology Association from 1996 to 1999. He was Ventura County’s deputy district attorney from 1999 to 2006, working as a trial prosecutor in the major narcotics and violent felony units. 

Gorell is a founding partner and legal counsel for Paladin Principle LLC, a public affairs firm, and an adjunct professor of public policy at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. 

He is also a veteran who serves in the United States Navy Reserve and was deployed to Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. He was recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander and continues to serve as a naval intelligence officer.

Gorell has been endorsed by Strickland, state Sen. Tony Strickland, Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, Wilson and more than 40 other state and local elected leaders.