County Aid for District at Issue : Challengers Assail Jones at Forum

Sounding a familiar theme in the race for supervisor in Ventura County’s 2nd District, challengers to incumbent Edwin A. Jones charged Thursday night that the district has been shortchanged by county spending decisions during Jones’ tenure.

Their remarks came at the campaign’s final candidate forum, held at Thousand Oaks City Hall and sponsored by the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce.

“In many cases, those writing checks have become donors to the county” who do not receive equivalent services in return, contended Madge Schaefer, a Thousand Oaks councilwoman and one of five candidates.

Jones branded that charge as “spurious,” saying that, in his 12 years on the Board of Supervisors, the 2nd District has received more money for capital projects than any district other than the 1st, which includes the county seat of Ventura.

County funds for medical services for indigents and law enforcement have been channeled toward the county’s eastern end, where problems are more acute, Jones said.

Another challenger, Nathaniel (Bud) Glickman, owner of a Thousand Oaks courier service, chided Jones and contended he failed to attract county funds.

The two remaining candidates, John H. Byrd, a developer, and Tony Lamb, a senior-citizen activist, both of Thousand Oaks, used the forum to stress that they are not one-issue candidates. Byrd said he would work to preserve senior programs from federal budget cuts; Lamb said he would assist young families in obtaining reasonably priced housing.

The hotly contested race will end Tuesday if any candidate takes more than 50% of the vote. Otherwise, the two garnering the largest vote move on to the November general election.

The 2nd District--a diverse area of young, relatively upscale cities--stretches west from Oak Park and Thousand Oaks on the Los Angeles-Ventura county border to include southern Camarillo, southern Oxnard and Port Hueneme.