Voters Face Abundance of Local Races, Measures

Many local races and propositions are on the ballot in eastern Ventura County and the Santa Clarita Valley on Tuesday.

Perhaps the most expensive race in Ventura County pits 2nd District Supervisor Edwin A. Jones, seeking his fourth term on the Board of Supervisors, against Madge Schaefer, a Thousand Oaks city councilwoman.

Jones has reported spending a record $138,000 this year, whereas Schaefer has raised $52,000.

Jones, a popular incumbent who easily won reelection in 1978 and 1982, suffered a jarring political setback in 1985 when he was arrested and later charged with lewd conduct and indecent exposure in a highly publicized incident at a Studio City motel. Jones eventually pleaded no contest to charges of public drunkenness and disturbing the peace and was given probation.

About 120,000 constituents live in the 2nd District, which includes most of Thousand Oaks, south Camarillo, south Oxnard and the southern beach areas of the county.

A write-in candidate, Charles Morsa, a Thousand Oaks real estate agent, is also running for the seat.

Here is a rundown of other local races and ballot issues:

Simi Valley: Voters will elect a new mayor and two members to the City Council on Tuesday, but those races have been overshadowed by two sets of competing growth measures that have bitterly divided the city.

It is uncertain whether voters in Simi will usher in the sweeping, more restrictive, growth-and-development controls of Measures D and E--proposed by a slow-growth citizens group--or opt for the milder controls contained in Measures A and B, which were proposed by city lawmakers. Also on the ballot are two advisory-only measures calling for development of a cultural-arts center. Both are uncontested.

The outcome of the mayor’s race is also uncertain. Of the two front-runners, Greg Stratton, the city’s mayor pro tem and a councilman for seven years, had appeared to have the early advantage. But main challenger Tom Ely, president of the board of the Ventura County Community College District, has outspent and, by many accounts, out-campaigned Stratton.

The race for the two open City Council seats features incumbents Vicky Howard and Ann Rock in a field of seven, including two slow-growth challengers running as a slate. Although the council races may be close, Howard and Rock are expected to be returned to office.

Moorpark: In Moorpark, Ventura County’s fastest-growing city, two incumbents and five challengers are competing for two four-year terms on the City Council, and four are running for an open two-year City Council spot.

Generally, voters here will cast ballots based on whether they agree with the city’s fast-paced residential-growth policies in force now. Two ballot measures call for annual limits on new construction, and a third measure asks for voter approval of an agreement between the city and a developer for a 2,500-unit housing project.

Thousand Oaks: Two long-term incumbents are expected to retain their seats, and 10 challengers are scrambling for the seat left vacant by Councilwoman Schaefer’s bid for county supervisor. In light of the city’s strong financial position and low crime rate, it has been difficult for candidates to find issues on which to challenge the incumbents, Mayor Alex T. Fiore and Councilman Lawrence E. Horner.

Camarillo: The absence of controversial issues in the Camarillo City Council race also will probably favor the two incumbents seeking reelection there. Six challengers are running for a third seat left open by the retirement of City Councilman Francis (Tad) Bowen.

Santa Clarita Valley: Six ballot propositions affecting five school districts in the fast-growing Santa Clarita Valley could go either way. The measures ask voter approval of taxes on developers averaging about $6,000 for each new residential unit to pay for new schools. All require a two-thirds majority for passage.

Developers vigorously oppose the measures, maintaining that the responsibility for the schools rests with the state. But school administrators said that their districts may never receive state funds and that they had no choice but to turn to developers for funds as “a safety net.” An estimated 30,000 new residential units planned by developers are expected to bring 12,000 new elementary school students and 7,000 high school students into the area by the year 2000.

Each district set maximum tax rates according to its needs.

In Proposition N, the William S. Hart Union High, which educates students throughout the area, set a rate of $3,439 per residential unit in the Newhall, Saugus and Sulphur Springs elementary-school-district attendance areas.

In Proposition M, the Hart district asked for a $2,418 tax rate in the Castaic area. The lower rate was set in Castaic because its schools educate kindergartners through eighth-graders, whereas the other three districts send their seventh- and eighth-graders to the Hart district.

Maximum tax rates in the other districts are contained in Proposition G, $3,783 in Castaic; Proposition Z, $2,542 in Newhall; Proposition FF, $2,861 in Saugus, and Proposition HH, $2,000 in Sulphur Springs (the Canyon Country area).

Castaic Lake Water Agency: In the Castaic Lake Water Agency, incumbents seeking reelection for four open board seats face challengers, mainly because of concerns over the prediction for unprecedented population growth in the already booming Santa Clarita Valley. Most candidates said they want to provide adequate supplies of good-quality water into the future.

Incumbent Charles J. Brogan, an environmental engineer seeking a fourth term as director at large, appears most vulnerable. He faces three opponents--Alvin Aaron Seldner, a certified financial planner; Andrew E. Martin, an insurance agent, and Bill J. Thompson, a lawyer. As at-large candidates, they are the only ones who had to campaign among all 52,657 registered voters in the area.

In Division 1, which includes Canyon Country and part of Saugus, incumbent Mary R. Spring, board president, is being challenged by Kenneth Dean, a business executive. In Division 2, the Newhall-Valencia area, incumbent Ernest L. Spencer faces opponents J. Michael McGrath, superintendent of the Newhall School District, and Robert J. DiPrimio, a water-quality engineer.

H. Gill Callowhill, the incumbent in Division 3, is opposed by Jeffrey Karl Burros and John Charles Auguste Simas. The division includes Castaic, Saugus and part of Valencia.