Governor appoints Oxnard council member to Ramirez’s seat on Board of Supervisors
To replace Carmen Ramirez on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Vianey Lopez, a member of the Oxnard City Council and a staffer for Democratic State Sen. Monique Limón.
Newsom’s office announced the appointment on the afternoon of Sept. 23. Lopez is likely to be sworn in for the board’s next scheduled meeting, on Oct. 4. The Oxnard City Council can choose to fill her vacant seat with either an appointment or a special election.
Lopez is a registered Democrat and will represent a heavily Democratic district that covers most of Oxnard and Port Hueneme, though county supervisor is officially a nonpartisan office.
Ramirez, 73, was crossing a street in downtown Oxnard on Aug. 12 when she was hit by a pickup truck and killed. She was halfway through her first term and was the chair of the Board of Supervisors.
Lopez, 35, will serve the remainder of Ramirez’s term, which ends at the end of 2024.
A longtime resident of South Oxnard, Lopez was elected to the Oxnard City Council in 2018 and re-elected in 2020. Her first term was only two years because the Oxnard City Council switched to district elections and added two seats that year and wanted to stagger the terms of the new council members.
Lopez is a district director for Limón, whose State Senate district includes both Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and also held that position when Limón was in the State Assembly. From 2012 to 2018 she was an elected member of the Hueneme Elementary School District Board of Trustees. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loyola Marymount University and a master’s in public policy from Pepperdine University.
“I am honored and humbled to have been appointed by Governor Newsom to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to carry out the term of my friend and mentor, Carmen Ramirez,” Lopez said in a statement released by the county of Ventura. “Carmen was unwavering in her passion for public service and the belief in working together for the greater good. I am committed to this purpose and working towards building a better and brighter future for Ventura County and its residents. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the outpouring of support I have received from people throughout our community.”
