County’s Population Patterns Shifting : Ventura Supervisors Agree to Redraw Districts

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors tentatively agreed Tuesday to redraw the boundaries of the five supervisorial districts to more evenly distribute representation of the county’s estimated 605,000 residents.

The board, in an unanimous vote, supported a proposal that would consolidate the cities of Oxnard and Camarillo into single supervisorial districts and reduce the size of the rapidly growing 4th District in the eastern end of the county.

The new boundaries will be finalized after a public hearing and a second vote by the board, scheduled for Dec. 9. Officials said they expect little or no opposition to the plan.

Supervisor Maggie Erickson, whose 3rd District would gain the southern portion of Camarillo that is now in the 2nd District, said no Camarillo City Council member had expressed to her either support or opposition to the plan, which was unveiled last week.

Port Hueneme Affected

Port Hueneme, which contains the state’s only deep-water harbor between Los Angeles and San Francisco, would shift from Supervisor John Flynn’s 5th District to the 2nd District, which will be represented beginning next year by former Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Madge Schaefer.

In exchange, Flynn would get portions of north Oxnard as well as farmland on unincorporated areas of the Oxnard Plain, which county planners say will eventually be at least partially developed.

Schaefer, who defeated incumbent Ed Jones in November, did not testify at the board hearing but said after the vote that she approves of the new boundaries and will favor increased development of Port Hueneme harbor.

“Sure, there are some concerns about growth in the port. But, basically, the port is a boon to all concerned,” she said.

Although Schaefer will not take office until January, she said, “My opinion was sought and given” while county planners were developing new boundaries.

Jones said he favors the new plan because the new 2nd District would include most of Thousand Oaks. Approval of the proposal was delayed for two hours after officials learned that the Thousand Oaks civic center was part of a small portion of the city not included in the district. The boundary line was moved about 1,000 feet to include City Hall in the new plan.

Consideration of new district boundaries began in September after officials noted that rapid growth in the county’s eastern end had swelled the population in James Dougherty’s 4th District, which includes the fast-growing cities of Simi Valley and Moorpark.

Population in the 4th District is estimated at 137,159. The 1st District--the county’s smallest district that includes the city of Ventura--has 110,599 residents, according to county estimates.

The county last revised boundaries in 1981 as part of a state requirement to adjust the lines according to population every 10 years. The same state law allows counties to redraw boundaries more often if there are significant changes in the population.

Other major changes in the plan:

1st District would gain the unincorporated areas of the Ojai Valley and lose a portion of north Oxnard.

2nd District would gain Port Hueneme and the Sunset Hills section of Thousand Oaks, and lose Camarillo south of the Ventura Freeway as well as unincorporated areas of the Oxnard Plain.

3rd District would gain a portion of Newbury Park north of the Ventura Freeway, south Camarillo, and the Lynn Ranch and Wildwood Mesa areas of Thousand Oaks.

4th District would lose portions along the district’s southern boundary to the 2nd and 3rd districts.