Herrera to Launch Reelection Campaign

By ERIC WAHLGREN

May 31, 1996 12 AM PT

City Councilman Andres Herrera plans to kick off his campaign for reelection this evening at a gathering in Heritage Square.

Herrera, a former aide to County Supervisor John Flynn and now a human-resources consultant, said he wants to stay in the post for another four years to help make Oxnard a safer, more business-friendly city.

“We need to continue to focus on public safety,” said Herrera, a 50-year-old Oxnard native. “We need to make sure we keep stressing the revitalization of downtown. We need to continue expanding our economic horizons.”

Herrera, who holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from UCLA, where he played on the football team, said his nearly four years of experience on the council has enabled him to fully understand the city’s needs.

“I am also very responsive because I am truly a member of the community,” said Herrera, who is married and has four grown children.

A member of the board of the Greater Oxnard Economic Development Corp., Herrera is popular in the business community for his efforts to attract and keep businesses in Oxnard.

“He has proven himself to be a friend of the business community in Oxnard,” said Kevin Bernzott, president of the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce. “He is on the right side of the issues relating to upgrading the image of the city.”

But Herrera’s general advocacy work for the city took some flak from county officials in April after he made public comments saying that county government did not care enough about Oxnard’s problems. Herrera on one occasion asked city staff members to study the possibility of letting Oxnard form its own county.

So far only one nonincumbent, former refuse superintendent John C. Zaragoza, has announced plans to run for one of three City Council seats that will be open in November. City Councilman Bedford Pinkard has not made a formal announcement, but he has said that he intends to run again.

Mayor Manuel Lopez launched his reelection campaign in February.

Herrera’s kick-off party is planned for 5:30 p.m. at the McGrath House in Heritage Square, 740 S. B St.