Port Hueneme's new mayor aims to keep city running smoothly

Port Hueneme Mayor Douglas Breeze has two priorities: keeping the city solvent and ensuring city employees are given the tools to perform their jobs.

Breeze was elected in 2008 to the Port Hueneme City Council after retiring from a 30-year career as a public employee, with his last position as public works director for Ojai. He was elected Port Hueneme mayor this month by fellow council members.

"After I retired and I was at home under my wife's feet for a few months, my wife looked at me and said, 'You need to find something to do,' " Breeze said. "I love Port Hueneme so much and it happened to be election time, so I filled out the paperwork and won the election."

Breeze was raised in Garden Grove and joined the Navy when he was 17. He served in Vietnam, among his many duties, according to his online biography. From 1981 to 1992, Breeze served in management positions at the Delta Diablo Sanitation District in Northern California and at Chino Basin Municipal Water District in Southern California.

In 1993, Breeze turned down a position with the San Diego Port District to become public works director for Port Hueneme, one of the county's smallest cities, with a population of 21,700, according to the 2010 census.

"Most people who come to Port Hueneme never leave," he said. "It's a beautiful city by the beach with a hometown atmosphere. The citizens watch out for each other. There is an outstanding police department. I can't thank those people enough for what they do."

While serving as the city's public works director, Breeze helped establish the Port Hueneme Water Agency and managed construction of the water treatment facility and distribution system. He left the city in 2003 to work for Ojai, where he remained until he retired in 2007.

"Being mayor was not my goal. My goal is to make sure the city is fiscally solvent and employees have what they need," Breeze said. "I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, getting the work done. The change for me right now is I can't be hands-on. I can't get things done. I'm overseeing the city from a different position that fits in with retirement."

In his short time as mayor, Breeze already has faced a bit of controversy over the issue of separation of church and state. The City Council in recent meetings has approved displaying "In God We Trust" over council members' photos at City Hall and having the city host a menorah and Christmas tree lighting.

Councilman Ellis Green opposed both actions, saying he has problems with the council getting involved with promoting any religious agenda.

But Breeze says the two issues are not indications that the council is seeking a more religious direction.

"It's not a change in Hueneme. For years and years, we had a National Day of Prayer in City Hall and we opened meetings with a prayer," he said. "It's only in the last few years that the so-called political correctness has come in, calling it 'inspiration' instead of 'prayer.' I think some people are taking separation of church and state too far. The Constitution provides that the government shall not establish a religion. It doesn't say people can't portray their religious beliefs."