Jean Harris

Jean Mahoney Harris (May 22, 1922 – November 25, 2008) was an American schoolteacher and environmentalist. She was a member of the Oxnard School Board for nine years, as well as the Vice President of the Oxnard Advisory Group to the City Council. Harris is best known for being the champion of Ormond Beach Wetlands and for fighting to get the City of Oxnard to require the developers to expand on the initial state purchase to create Oxnard Beach Park.

Life and career

Harris was born Jean Mahoney in Mesquite, Texas. Harris and her family moved to California after her father, who was a sports columnist for a newspaper in Texas, was hired as a public relations manager for the Del Mar racetrack, in Del Mar, California. Harris met her husband Ed Harris, an engineer, while in high school and they married when Harris was 18 years old. After marrying, Jean and Ed had three children; Timm, Ellen, and Brian.

Harris' mentor Roma Armbrust was also her partner in her conservation efforts. In 1983, they formed the Ormond Beach Observers, which unified the voice of a number of diverse organizations interested in protecting these wetlands. They were able to help Oxnard Beach become a State beach, and to conserve the Ormond Beach Wetlands. Harris was quoted in the Vista newspaper in 1980 for wanting to keep Ventura County, especially its coastlines, from becoming another "smoggy, crowded San Fernando Valley". and she continued to champion for this landscape for more than 30 years. Her work began by organizing hundreds of tours of this rare landscape; Jean stated that she "knew if we took people for a walk on Ormond Beach, and they saw the birds flying, it would sell them on the importance of saving and restoring the wetlands." Together Jean and Roma monitored development to the surrounding areas ensuring the safety of the wetlands. These wetlands now connect to the Mugu Lagoon wetlands making this area southern California's largest coastal wetlands.

In a 2009 interview Dr. Thomas Holden, Mayor of Oxnard said, "Jean's first accomplishment was the Oxnard Beach Park. It started out as a state park – it was a large park of Harbor Boulevard, adjacent to a residential/hotel site. Jean championed the developer to dedicate additional land to what the State had already purchased (62 acres total) to create the park, as it stands today. She was very, very instrumental in this securing the park for the City of Oxnard."

Mandalay Beach Associates, the developer of the residential/hotel site to the south, dedicated an additional , giving the park its present size of . Following the adoption of an operating agreement between City and State in December 1983, city staff began planning the design and development of Oxnard State Beach Park early in 1984. By September 1984, the Oxnard State Beach Park General Plan had been developed and approved by the State Parks Commission. In June 1987, the City Council awarded a contract for $1,521,814 to Nye Construction for the Phase I park development –street and parking lot paving, lighting, bicycle and pedestrian walks, beach access trails, grading and utilities—completed in June 1988. In December 1988, Valley Crest was awarded an $854,515 contract for Phase IIA (landscaping, irrigation, picnic units, volleyball area) and in March 1989, Hanson Construction received a $213,277 contract for Phase IIB (two restrooms, one picnic shelter, a gatehouse and kiosk).

The diverse sources of funding for this project included a Federal Land and Water Conservation Grant for this project included a Federal Land and Water Conservation Grant for $381,961, State Bond Acts Funds of $600,000 State Coastal Management Funds of $238,000, City Quimby and Park Development Fund of $1,681,000 and a $100,000 and a $100,000 donation from the Bard Family. The total cost of Oxnard State Beach's development as of September 1989 is approximately $3,000,000. A third phase, consisting of a third restroom building, lifeguard towers, two additional picnic shelters, exercise course, play areas and picnic units, was planned but was not developed. The Dedication Ceremony for the beach park was held on Saturday, September 23, 1989. Her work began by organizing hundreds of tours of this rare landscape; Jean stated that she "knew if we took people for a walk on Ormond Beach, and they saw the birds flying, it would sell them on the importance of saving and restoring the wetlands." Ormond Beach wetlands are now approximately 1,100 acres with 250 acres still in need of restoration.