OXNARD : Harbor District Sues Over Boundary Plan

The Oxnard Harbor District has sued to block a plan by Oxnard and Port Hueneme to reduce the district by eliminating much of the part lying outside those cities.

The district and two of its commission members sued in Ventura County Superior Court, accusing the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission of cutting off voting rights for 75% of the district.

A hearing is set for July 10 before Judge Joe D. Hadden.

The suit, filed late Tuesday by the district and commissioners Stanley Daily of Thousand Oaks and Edward Millan of Camarillo, claims that LAFCO acted outside its jurisdiction by approving the plan on March 30.

The plan would detach an area from the district containing about 80,000 voters and covering 140,511 acres in the cities of Camarillo and Thousand Oaks and unincorporated areas of Ventura County, according to the suit.

The proposal to shrink the countywide district to encompass only Oxnard and Port Hueneme would give the cities more control over what happens in the harbor district and more leverage in dealing with traffic, pollution and other problems it causes.

The proposal also is meant to limit membership on the district commission to residents of those cities, Port Hueneme City Clerk Karen Jackson said.

The commission is composed of Daily, Millan, Oxnard representatives Ray Fletcher and Steve Stocks and Camarillo representative Robert Jennings.

The suit claims LAFCO unlawfully deprived voters in the district of their right to vote for or seek election as harbor commissioners.

Daily and Millan, whose terms expire on Jan. 7, 1991, must file nomination papers for reelection by Aug. 10, 1990, and would be deprived of their rights to run and vote in the election, the suit claims.

The suit asks that the court order LAFCO and the cities not to proceed.

A consultant found in November that Oxnard and Port Hueneme bear 85% of the harbor’s cost and receive about 85% of its benefits, Jackson said.