Rob Varela / Star staff Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn, left, notes that Marcelo Onias has granted him permission to put up a sign in Onias' South Oxnard yard.

By Tony Biasotti

tbiasotti@VenturaCountyStar.com

The median Oxnard resident is 28 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which means that person has never had a county supervisor who wasn't named John Flynn.

Flynn has represented the 5th District for 32 of the past 36 years; he lost his first bid for re-election, won the seat back four years later, and has never lost again. If he's re-elected this year, he'll pass Thomas Clark of Ojai, whose tenure ran from 1904 to 1936, as the longest-serving supervisor in the county's 135-year history.

In the June 3 primary election, Flynn faces challengers John Zaragoza, an Oxnard councilman, and Denis O'Leary, a teacher in El Rio and school board member in Oxnard. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two will advance to a runoff in November.

Flynn's eighth term has been a lot like the previous seven; it's rarely been boring. He has feuded with fellow supervisors, allied himself with lawsuits against the county and accused the county harbor director of corruption.

He's also advocated loudly for his constituents, particularly the poorest ones, and he's maintained a passionate base of supporters. To them, Flynn's squabbles with his colleagues are evidence of how hard he fights to serve his district.

"He stands alone, he doesn't have to answer to anybody, and that's what we love about him," said Soledad Trevino, a Nyeland Acres resident and longtime Flynn supporter. "Whenever we've gone to Supervisor Flynn for any kind of assistance, he's always there. He makes sure we're taken care of."

Insult and injury

In some ways, it's been a difficult term for Flynn. In 2005, after he levied his corruption charges against Channel Islands Harbor Director Lyn Krieger, the rest of the Board of Supervisors determined the allegations were groundless and forbade him from meeting with any harbor employees without an escort from the county executive office.

This year, Flynn and his allies were dealt a major loss when the California Coastal Commission approved the county's proposed boating center at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.

There was a personal setback, too. About a year ago, he fell on his backyard patio and landed on his right knee. The kneecap shattered, breaking in five places.

It's been surgically repaired, and Flynn had the last staples removed two months ago. He walks without a limp now, and he's back to his tireless campaign habits, walking every neighborhood in the 5th District and knocking on thousands of doors.

During a recent interview at an Oxnard Starbucks, Flynn responded to a question about his knee by doing his best impression of Captain Quint from "Jaws." He put his right foot on a chair and pulled his pant leg up to expose a jagged scar running about 5 inches down his kneecap.

The knee feels fine, he said.

"If I wasn't in good health, I wouldn't be running," he said.

Flynn admits to being aware of the longevity record he's chasing, but he said that's not his motivation.

"At this point, I look at it one term at a time, every four years," he said. "I look at whether people want me to serve again, and I still have so many people asking me to run."

El Rio is top priority

He said he also has some unfinished business. The county effort to move El Rio off septic tanks and connect it to the Oxnard city sewage system is expected to wrap up within a few years, and Flynn said finishing it at minimal cost to the area's homeowners is one of his top priorities.

The total cost for the project is estimated at $38 million, and so far the county has secured state, federal and local government funding for about $17 million of that.

Property owners in El Rio will have to pay for whatever can't be covered with public funds.

Flynn said he's been talking to the State Water Resources Control Board about offering no-interest loans to pay for the rest of the project. A proposal could go before the state board this summer, he said.

The loans could bring residents' monthly bills down to $50 or $60 from the current figure of more than $100. They would still have to pay to connect their houses to the sewage system, which has cost most homeowners about $20,000 so far.

Flynn's past campaigns have sometimes had the sort of fireworks often on display in his relationships with fellow supervisors, but this year he has gone out of his way to mention his warm feelings for Zaragoza and O'Leary. Both are "good guys" running "clean campaigns," Flynn said as he walked through a neighborhood near Oxnard College on a recent Sunday.

Because a low turnout is expected June 3, Flynn scanned his list of registered voters for those who vote almost every time and concentrated on them. Most of the neighbors weren't home. Flynn guessed they might be at the nearby Cinco de Mayo festival or enjoying a day at the beach.

But he kept at it, striding from house to house, covering close to 2 miles without a rest.

Flynn is almost legendary as a campaigner. He said he once attempted to knock on the door of every registered voter in the district. Lately, he's scaled back his ambitions, but he still tries to visit at least some homes in every neighborhood.

Flynn said he enjoys these brief encounters with voters and constituents; they've helped convince him that people in the 5th District still want him in office.

"I love what I do," he said. "I like campaigning and I love serving the people in office. ... You become addicted to it."