Ex-Grand Jury Foreman Leaves Supervisor Race

Former Ventura County grand jury foreman Bob Pegg has abandoned his campaign bid for a county supervisor seat, narrowing the race to five candidates.

Pegg, 64, of Simi Valley, who resigned from his grand jury post March 16 to run for supervisor, said Wednesday that the death of his brother made him decide to pull out of the race.

He said that over the next few weeks he will have to go to Tucson to manage his brother’s estate.

“I don’t think I will be able to devote the time to get in the campaign,” Pegg said. “It’s a full-time job to campaign.”

Pegg said his decision was unrelated to publicity over notifying the county elections registrar of his candidacy on grand jury stationery.

He said he has no plans to endorse any other candidate.

“At this point in time, we’re just going to sit back and see how things go,” he said.

Pegg’s withdrawal narrows the field of candidates to five in the race to represent the 4th District, which includes Simi Valley, Moorpark, Somis and Santa Rosa Valley. Supervisor Jim Dougherty of Simi Valley announced in February that he would not seek a fourth term.

The remaining candidates in the race are Bill Davis and Vicky Howard, both Simi Valley City Council members; Glen Schmidt, a Moorpark planning commissioner; Tom Ely, a Ventura County Community College District trustee; and Harold Fick, a Simi Valley businessman.

Reactions among some of the other candidates about Pegg’s withdrawal from the race were mixed.

“I really don’t think it’s going to affect it much one way or the other,” Davis said. “You still have five more viable candidates in the race.”

Schmidt said he had been looking forward to Pegg’s participation in the race. Schmidt said Pegg worked for him as a field deputy when Schmidt was a county supervisor from 1971 to 1975.

Schmidt said that because of Pegg’s experience on the county grand jury and his past associations with other community organizations, such as the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce, Pegg would have made a significant contribution to the race.

“I think his contribution to the dialogue will be missed in terms of the issues he would have raised and the solutions he would have offered,” Schmidt said.

Ely, whose own campaign has been clouded by allegations of gambling debts incurred at Las Vegas casinos, said Pegg’s withdrawal would not affect his campaign strategy.

Ely, Schmidt and Howard are to debate at 7 tonight in the cafeteria of Mountain Meadows School, 4200 Mountain Meadows Drive, Moorpark.