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A passion for Santa Paula and being at the forefront of several successful ballot measures and a Council campaign, as well as the city’s annual fireworks show, means the logical next step for Jim Tovias is service on the City Council.

By Peggy Kelly

Santa Paula Times

A passion for Santa Paula and being at the forefront of several successful ballot measures and a Council campaign, as well as the city’s annual fireworks show, means the logical next step for Jim Tovias is service on the City Council. Tovias, 55, an insurance securities agent and city native, is making his first bid for elected public office.

“I’m running for Council because I have a passion for the town, have for the last 20 years. It’s nothing that just happened,” and Tovias said although anyone can “love the town, you get involved because you have a passion for the town.”

And that passion spills over into community service: “When I first got here there was no fireworks show and I questioned why not... that’s why me and the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce started it.”

Although Tovias said he “spent a year being beaten down by neighbors and skeptics, I did a feasibility study on this thing, probably 50 pages. The Council made the call, but I did the paperwork because it was the right thing to do.”

Tovias also led the past Santa Paula High School Bond Measure after “I attended a couple of meetings and saw the passion” of those supporting it, but “nothing was happening. I had a better idea and presented it to the people... that’s why we have additions at the high school,” after the measure passed with almost 80 percent of voters supporting same.

“The citizens fell into the role I think was needed” to pass the school measure, and although he was asked to lead the Blanchard Community Library bond measure, “I didn’t really have the time.... I didn’t have the lead role but I was involved.”

Tovias thinks, “Right now, Santa Paula is at a real crossroads. With the current Council I see a lot of things happening in town.”

The new Council got that way through more of Tovias’ efforts: “I first got Bob (Gonzales, whose campaign was managed by Tovias) and Ralph (Fernandez) elected, and they are doing a wonderful job.” Tovias was also at the forefront of ballot measure A7 to move the urban development boundary to include the Adams Preserve.

“Whether people like that or not, it is for the better of Santa Paula. It was just about moving a line” to allow future development of 400-plus custom home sites that he said would bring more property tax to city coffers. “It was an area already designated in the General Plan to be developed,” and Tovias said his efforts to pass the measure were strictly voluntary.

And, like other campaigns he has been involved in, “Again, I got paid zero... and once the money from Adams comes in everyone benefits,” including public safety. “That’s what my efforts were about... again, there were no benefits to me, no connection” to the developers.

The city, he stressed, is in need of more property tax revenue. “I care about the city, but then it comes down to the economy... I’m not against low-income housing or subsidized housing,” but Tovias said he feels generating more property tax must be a priority.

“We’re stretching services, and at some point we need development that’s going to produce revenue.... It’s a business concept: we need revenue to reinvest in the business so everybody benefits.”

The biggest challenge facing the city is the economy, “with a couple of other challenges. We have to look at the city structure itself to be more business friendly,” to generate sales tax and create jobs.

Santa Paula has many positives, including the “downtown, the recent efforts of citizens like Carla Edwards with the Citrus Balloon Festival, the Chamber of Commerce with Moonlight at the Ranch. We have the best weather in the world, a wonderful small town atmosphere, and our airport. There’s so much potential.”

But the nationwide downturn in the economy has also hit home: “My biggest concern is the lack of revenue,” and with Ford of Santa Paula closing up “the city is projecting a $250,000 reduction in sales tax... sales tax makes up 12 percent of the General Fund, and 49 percent is property tax. I would love to bring that up also... it will take us a while to get out” of the slump.

Tovias said when he opened his Santa Paula insurance office in 1985, “we had a really great downtown. In the 1990s everybody started leaving.”

City employees need parity in pay, “especially police and fire... we spend about $100,000 minimum to pay a firefighter; our police are getting paid 40 percent to 50 percent less” than other Ventura County cities. Because of lagging pay, Tovias said police and firefighters often “move on to other jobs... once you have revenue you can take care of those things.”

And Tovias considers revenue the single most important issue facing the city. “When they had surveys in October 2006, revenue was the most common” concern “to everyone; the second was traffic, but concern over the lack of revenue was common to everyone.”

It appears housing development is being pushed back: “Two years ago,” when Adams Preserve Measure A7 passed, “I thought it would be a lot quicker, but now I think it’s going to be another two to four years” before any solid movement. “Limoneira’s East Area 1 will be first,” and Adams Preserve’s custom home sites will have to wait for a turn in the economy.

Tovias said he foresees the build out of both projects will be in phases, “20-year build outs.” He believes that in lieu fees provided by developers should be applied to rehabilitation of existing housing stock, to “give the people here a nicer place to live.”

In order to attract business and industry, the city must first “figure out why they’re not coming. I want to look at Building and Safety, see if we can streamline things to make it more business friendly.”

Tovias believes “Determining the type of industry we want to bring to town and going out and finding those companies” should be proactive.

“This is the time to start laying the groundwork for things that are going to happen two to three years down the road when Limoneira starts to come in. We have to take a proactive approach, determine what we want and want to go in and bring them to Santa Paula.” Attracting new business such as high-tech would also create the need for training, “so people that don’t have a job can have careers.”

During the October 1 Candidates Forum, Tovias said he could see saving money at City Hall through department consolidation. When asked which departments he believes could be combined and what cost saving could be realized, Tovias said that department surveys, “bringing in someone to do an evaluation of all the departments, see if there is duplication” in services, would be the first step.

“Once we had that information, we can move forward” under the guidance of City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz. “City Hall could become more efficient, we could free up salaries that way” to pay those better qualified staffers - “Wally should make more, he’s done a good job” - what they deserve.

Tovias supports PERC/Alinda and the Council majority supporting the Design/Build/Operate/Finance process. “I actually went to visit the site; I wanted to see what was going on,” and Tovias said the “operative word” in DBOF is “finance. If American Water had come in, Santa Paula had to float the bonds. Three months later if Santa Paula was expected to float the bonds, where would we be? The Council transferred the liability to PERC, and from a business standpoint that was the right call.”

The use of local labor issue could have been avoided: “That should have been done in writing before being transferred to PERC. If it’s your word, you should keep your word,” and Tovias said he “understands PERC used a Ventura company” to address the Council on using local labor, so “they should have kept their word. It was wrong... they should have kept their word. We have a 12 percent unemployment rate here.” Tovias, who said his family has a history of union labor, added, “Using PERC was good, not using local labor was bad.”

Tovias does not believe heavy donations from Arizona-based Pinnacle Group associates, which wants to create 425 custom home sites in Adams Canyon, would impact his Council decision-making. “Absolutely not, my vote is not for sale. I will always do what I think is best for the citizens of Santa Paula... at the end of the day I have to live with my decisions and myself.”

Tovias said his supporters know he would be “reasonable, willing to look at all choices before I make a decision. I’m not for sale, I don’t work that way.”

When asked about running on a slate, “Actually, we didn’t know” Jennifer Matos “was going to run against us, but we were going to run a campaign anyway. Fred’s qualified, he’s a friend,” and the two have much in common.

“We were talking about a slate before” the race was launched and, said Tovias, “it had nothing to do with Jennifer,” who filed nomination papers just before the deadline. “Economically, it makes more sense, the cost of ads, the cost of billboards, buying in bulk” is less expensive than an individual race.

“There is no question we can disagree. I respect Fred. There’s no question I can disagree with anyone... except my wife,” Martha.

Tovias and Martha have three grown children, and the candidate graduated from Long Beach State University with a degree in business administration. He opened his own insurance agency when “I got tired of corporate, traveling with the company” and decided to do business in Santa Paula.

Overall, “People are trusting me, and when you’re trusted to represent the citizens of Santa Paula your decisions need to be made for the common good,” even when basing decisions on what Tovias said is “private information... that’s part of the council process.” Ultimately, “I’ll be accountable and the position will be used for the common good. I’m running for election, not reelection.”

Tovias admits “It’s hard for me to understand why I’m doing this, but I have a history of doing this, helping the community.”

His main source of news information is the Internet, network and Fox news, and newspapers and magazines.

“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter is the last book read by Tovias. “He made a really good point... if you make money and don’t help those less fortunate,” things become worse overall. “You need to take care of everyone, and that’s my intention.”

Tovias said he does not have a favorite film: “Once I’ve watched it once or twice I don’t want to see it anymore, so how can I name a favorite?”