Newest Councilman Attends Seminar

The newest member of the Oxnard City Council has traveled to Sacramento for an intensive session to learn about governing and improving communications between elected officials and residents.

John Zaragoza, a real estate broker who defeated incumbent Andres Herrera in November, said he decided to attend the seminar sponsored by the League of California Cities this week to learn more about the Brown Act and how to increase participation among constituents.

“I’ve always considered myself a people person,” said Zaragoza, a lifelong Oxnard resident and former head of Oxnard’s Solid Waste Division. “I’m excited because I’ll learn more about the governing procedure and be able to interact with other newly elected officials in the state.”

The seminar is offered to all newly elected council members and mayors statewide. Zaragoza is not the only Oxnard councilman to attend the seminar. Councilman Dean Maulhardt, elected in 1994, said the conference was worth his time.

“It was kind of a briefing on what’s out there and what you got yourself into,” said Maulhardt. “It was a good way to meet people. I look at it like college, I don’t know what class helped me the most but I knew that I needed to go to college.”