Water, Oil Problems Take Toll in Ventura : Survey: The Chamber of Commerce indicates that some firms are considering leaving because of the drought.

Ventura’s water shortage is so serious that many businesses are considering leaving the city, a survey by the Greater Ventura Chamber of Commerce said Friday.

The organization released the results of a questionnaire mailed to its 1,700 members and returned by 227. The respondents viewed the water situation with alarm and criticized the city’s response to the problem.

The Ventura City Council is controlled by advocates of slow growth, and in response to the water shortage it has placed a moratorium on new taps.

Chuck Bennett, chairman of the chamber’s water committee, said in a statement that the survey showed that “few businesses locally can plan to compete here in the long term” because of the water situation. “As we stare at Southern California’s unfolding long-term drought scenario, businesses have to weigh the locally politicized mentality compared to everywhere else our business competition is.”

The survey said the vast majority of the respondents believe the council is performing poorly.

Slow-growth advocates on the City Council responded that the survey was manipulated for political purposes.

“Sometimes I really wonder whether the chamber wants Ventura to fail,” Councilman Gary Tuttle said. Unlike many business people who favor the importing of state water, Tuttle favors building a desalination plant as the long-term solution to the city’s water problems. “When people work toward failure and preach failure, failure is more likely to happen,” he said.

In the survey, 31 people said they were seriously considering or knew businesses that were seriously considering relocating “because of unreliable ongoing water supply.”

Respondents indicating such sentiments included Leach Mounce, one of the most prestigious architectural firms in the city, and Ventura Spaghetti Co. Indicating similar sentiments were “six farmers, four builders, three plumbers and three electrical contractors.”

Nearly all the respondents--98%--thought the water situation in the city was “serious” or worse, and half believed it was “extremely serious.”

Respondents were unhappy with the council’s handling of the water situation and its overall performance. Two-thirds said the council’s handling of the water crisis was “unsatisfactory” or worse, and one-fourth said the council was handling it “very badly.”

The survey also asked business owners to rate individual council members on a 1-to-10 scale, 10 being the highest.

Councilman James Monahan, an ally of business interests and often a lone dissenter, ranked highest with 6.9.

Mayor Richard Francis and Councilman John McWherter, who have sided with Monahan in calling for immediate state water importation, finished second and third, respectively, with 4.3 and 4.1.

Deputy Mayor Donald Villeneuve and Councilman Todd Collart, who are leaning toward state water importation but believe such a decision should be tied to strict growth control, finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with 3.9 and 3.5. Council members Tuttle and Cathy Bean, who are the most closely aligned with slow-growth and environmental agendas in the city, finished at the bottom with 2.2 and 1.9 ratings, respectively.

Council members said it is the chamber that is trying to manipulate the water crisis for political gain. The council and the organization have been sniping at each other over the issue for months.

“This is an attempt by the chamber to bypass the democratic process by putting pressure on us to import state water before we study ways of controlling growth that the water would otherwise bring,” Villeneuve said.

McWherter said he was surprised by his low rating but believed the businesses were bluffing in saying they might leave.

“I’ve always rated awfully high on chamber surveys,” he said. “It just goes to show you what the overall image of the council can do to you. But I’m a member of this council and proud of it.”

Tuttle, who owns a sporting goods store in downtown Ventura but is not a chamber member, said he was not surprised by his low rating. He did not seek the chamber’s endorsement, he said, and has been faithful to his slow-growth constituency.

As for the prospect of businesses leaving town, he said, “If they think they can find greener pastures elsewhere, then so be it. But I know Ventura is still the best place in the county to do business and live in.”

Monahan, on the other hand, was predictably happy with the survey’s results.

“It shows the council is not dealing with the water situation as it should,” he said. “I agree that there is a water emergency, but we’re not out of water. A voluntary water conservation plan would work, but the moratorium was imposed to control growth in this city.”