I am the general manager of a small, independent custom concrete company based here in Oxnard. On our last large job -- a redevelopment project in South Oxnard -- we employed a crew of 20. We are bonded and insured and used local labor and vendors. Most of our employees live within the city's limits and have young families and property, as this is a well-known, third-generation family business proudly born out of Oxnard.
Because Councilman Tim Flynn's proposed anti-growth Measure V made the November ballot, two large local jobs we were scheduled to bid in September and October have now been put on hold until after the election. Our crew has been parceled out to jobs -- and, in some cases, other companies -- in Ojai, the city of Ventura, Beverly Hills and even San Diego.
These young men don't have time to play politics with Flynn and his theory of "direct democracy." They had jobs to do and mouths to feed, and now their personal budgets have been strained because of the long commutes and time away from home. It's almost a company joke as to how their drives may now impact local area traffic -- as they head out of town.
So when Flynn calls it a "bald-faced lie" that redevelopment -- or development -- would stop, it is clear to at least 20 young enterprising Oxnard men and their families that Flynn has absolutely no idea what he is talking about, or he himself is promoting an outright lie for his own political cause.
Come Nov. 4, I urge voters in the city of Oxnard to send a clear and resounding signal to Flynn and the proponents of Measure V. Please vote no on Measure V and Flynn.
-- Julie Conrad, Oxnard
(The writer is general manager of Bautista Concrete Inc. of Oxnard. -- Editor)