Candidate for
Council Member; City of San Buenaventura

Neal Andrews for City Council

Leadership, Integrity & Common Sense!

Neal Andrews grew up in a rural community in Pennsylvania rich in colonial history and Quaker traditions. He has lived in Ventura for 25 years. Neal received his undergraduate education at Duke University and his graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a National Defense scholar. He completed postgraduate programs at the Michigan State University School of Public Administration and the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Neal is the owner of Horizon Management Services of Ventura, California and is a nationally recognized expert in strategic and management issues in business and in health care services. As a consultant, he specializes in strategic planning, management issues, and organizational improvement for organizations facing special challenges or engaging in new initiatives.

Before establishing Horizon Management Services, Mr. Andrews served for many years in a variety of senior management positions with Blue Cross of California. While with Blue Cross, Neal was directly responsible for managing contracting programs for 500 hospitals and 30,000 physicians. Under his direction, Blue Cross saved more than $200,000,000.00 annually for its members. He has also been a hospital administrator, a senior state health care official, a university professor and a successful investor and business entrepreneur.

Among his many professional honors, Mr. Andrews has been recognized by twice being elected to the International Board of Directors of The Planning Forum, the leading international professional organization in the discipline of strategic planning and management at the time. In addition, Neal served on the National Leadership Council for Behavioral Healthcare, as a Scholar-Diplomat under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department and as a Fellow of the National Security Education Seminar. He has served on many boards and advisory panels including the San Buenaventura Foundation for the Arts, the Turning Point Foundation and for two terms as Chair of the Ventura County Mental Health Board. In 2000 he managed the successful campaign to defeat Measure O, keeping public funds from being diverted to the use of private special interests.

Mr. Andrews is also an established author and a popular speaker before regional and national conference audiences. He has spoken on "Current Issues in Strategic Planning & Management" for the Conference Board, the leading national business forecasting organization. He has also been asked to address such prestigious organizations as the California Medical Association, the Medical Group Management Association, the Post White House Conference on Aging, and the National Managed Health Care Congress. His most recent programs were for the UCLA Healthcare Collaborative and for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. He is the author of the book, "Foreign Policy and the New American Military."

Mr. Andrews is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and has received the Distinguished Service Award from Kiwanis.

Since his election to the Ventura City Council, Neal has been the leading spokesman for the introduction of performance management tools and techniques into city management and for the primacy of economic policy and economic development in city planning. In addition, he has championed two broad areas of public policy ... the needs of the socially disadvantaged and the arts. He successfully sponsored the inclusion of the proposal for a city cultural arts center and the development of a transitional living center for homeless families in the City's top policy priorities, and he has remained one of the strongest and most consistent advocates for these programs throughout his tenure on the Council. In addition, he has been the principal voice of fiscal prudence, individual rights, limited government, and responsible and accountable governance.