OXNARD : 2 Pull Out of Race for City Council

Two candidates for the Oxnard City Council have withdrawn from the November race to support council candidate Eleanor Branthoover, the chairwoman of an Oxnard neighborhood group who announced her candidacy Tuesday.

In a statement released Tuesday, Paul K. Dolan and Scott Bollinger said they will withdraw and support Branthoover, who has announced her intentions to seek one of two council seats.

The four-year council terms of Manuel Lopez and Ann Johs expire in November, as does the two-year mayoral term of Nao Takasugi. Johs has filed papers to seek reelection. Lopez and Takasugi have not announced their plans.

Branthoover, who considers herself an advocate for controlled growth, has served three years on the steering committee of the Inter-Neighborhood Council, which oversees more than 30 neighborhood councils throughout the city.

A third-generation Oxnard resident, Branthoover has accused the council of violating the state open meetings law several times.

She said in an interview that if elected she would work for more public access to the council’s decision-making process.

Dolan and Bollinger said Tuesday that they will withdraw from the race because they believe that Branthoover has a better chance of unseating an incumbent if fewer candidates divide the vote.