ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR : Race Between Neighbors Sours Old Friendship

What started out as a friendly rivalry between Simi Valley City Council members Bill Davis and Vicky Howard, both candidates for county supervisor in the 4th District, has turned into a bitter battle of words between unlikely enemies.

“It’s a damn war,” Davis said recently when asked to assess the campaign.

It was not supposed to be this way.

Howard and Davis are old friends who have lived next door to each other for more than 10 years. Davis said before the June primary election, which resulted in a runoff between the two candidates, that he met with Howard and both pledged to run clean campaigns that focused on the issues rather than personalities.

Since then the two have accused each other of reneging on the promise and of running unethical campaigns. And as the Nov. 6 election draws nearer, the finger-pointing and verbal attacks from both camps have grown more intense.

When a newspaper recently revealed that a group of Southern California developers, one with a project pending before the Simi Valley City Council, had donated $3,600 toward a campaign mailer that included a quote and a photograph of Howard, Davis was quick to question Howard’s ethics.

Davis issued a statement saying that Howard, who has since disavowed the mailer, should have done so when the four-page brochure was mailed out in May.

“Ethics and public trust are the question,” Davis said in his statement. “If Vicky Howard knew nothing about the mailer, she should have said so four months ago when the mailer was received by voters and not waited until the question was raised in the press. I can only assume that nothing was said because the mailer was favorable to her candidacy.”

Howard denied giving permission to use her name and picture in the mailer, which was paid for and distributed by a group called Maximum Voter Participation, a Los Angeles-based independent expenditure committee.

Dale Poe Development Co., one of the developers that contributed money to the group as well as to Howard’s campaign, is planning to build a housing development in Simi Valley.

Although the project has already been approved, the developer is scheduled to go before the council Monday to lobby, along with six other contractors, for favored status to receive its building permits. A limited number of permits are issued every three months under the city’s slow-growth ordinance.

Howard said that she never spoke to anyone with Maximum Voter Participation and that the mailer was sent out without her knowledge. She said she never bothered to check into the matter before because she was preoccupied with her campaign.

“What was I supposed to do, find out how it happened?” Howard asked. “I was very, very busy.”

Davis said that even if Howard did not know about the mailer, someone in her campaign must have been aware of it.

“I certainly have my doubts that the piece was put together without someone on her campaign staff knowing about it,” Davis said. “How did they get the pictures?”

Howard fired back. She said that Davis, a Democrat, allowed a slate mailer targeted at Republicans to go out during the primary election that listed Davis’ name alongside Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley). The mailer, which resembles a post-card, read: “Republicans! Vote June 5.” It did not mention that Davis or gubernatorial candidate Don Bullock, also listed on the mailer, are registered Democrats.

“If he’s complaining, how come he didn’t disavow the mailings?” Howard said. “He knows he’s not a Republican. He knew they were going out to Republican voters and he let it go.”

Davis said he never saw the official mailer and did not know it was specifically aimed at Republican voters. The mailer was paid for and distributed by the Simi Valley Freedom Foundation, a community group whose primary concern is protecting citizens’ right to bear arms.

Moreover, Davis said that Howard paid to have her name on a similar slate mailer targeted at Democrats that also went out during the primary.

Dan Schmidt, a Howard campaign official, said Howard “paid for a nonpartisan slate mailer that covered both parties. We also paid for a Republican slate mailer.”

Schmidt said Simi Valley developer Tom Mackel, a Davis supporter and campaign contributor, had contributed money to the Freedom Foundation to help pay for the mailer with Davis’ name on it and as a result may have violated campaign laws.

“I intend to file a complaint with the district attorney’s office and the Fair Political Practices Commission if we determine there were any legal violations,” Schmidt said. “If Bill Davis is going to make charges, then he better make damn certain that he’s not guilty of the same charges. I can assure you we are not going to stand by and let him make false accusations without responding to them.”

Sandra Michioku, an official with the FPPC, said that independent expenditure committees--such as Maximum Voter Participation and the Freedom Foundation--have no expense limit and can solicit donations from any source so long as that source is not working for a single candidate’s campaign. Both Maximum Voter Participation and the Freedom Foundation are nonpartisan groups.

Davis said that even if Mackel contributed money to the Freedom Foundation, he may have done so with the intent of supporting one or more of the 11 other candidates on the mailer.

“I’m only one of 12 candidates on there,” said Davis, whose campaign headquarters is in a Mackel-owned building. “He could have been contributing to Elton Gallegly or Cathie Wright.”

It was Howard who recommended Davis for a position on the Planning Commission in 1985. A year later she helped him get appointed to the City Council.

The two have proved to be strong leaders who are equally popular with their constituents and county officials.

Davis, 62, has been endorsed by the Ventura County Firefighters Assn. and the Ventura County Public Employees Assn. Howard, 55, is backed by Ventura County Sheriff John Gillespie, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury and the Deputy Sheriffs Assn.

Moreover, the candidates’ political agendas are essentially the same. Both advocate more affordable housing, controlled growth as well as improved emergency services, traffic reduction measures and better air quality in the 4th District, which includes Simi Valley and Moorpark.

The two candidates said early on that they would not let the race hamper their friendship and now express surprise at the ugly tone the campaign has taken.

“I’m really disappointed,” Howard said. “I shook hands with him and vowed to run a clean campaign. Now he’s going out and making all these charges.”

Howard said she would like to see the campaign focus back on the issues instead of the candidates.

“I think it’s up to Mr. Davis,” Howard said. “He’s the one who has slipped into the mud. I’m trying very hard to keep it at a higher plane instead of what it’s sinking into.”

But Davis said he has twice made offers to the Howard camp to meet and resolve their differences, and has been turned down.

“I would be glad to deal with nothing but the issues,” Davis said. “I’m not out to destroy people. But I’m not going to sit back and take this kind of beating without hitting back.

“It’s like a boxer in the ring. When he gets hit, he hits back. And eventually somebody’s going to get knocked down.”

While they remain neighbors, the campaign appears to have put a strain on the candidates’ friendship.

Asked why she doesn’t simply invite Davis over to her house as she did before the campaign started to talk about their differences, Howard said she simply is not up to it.

“I think at this point I need to settle down a bit,” Howard said. “I’m very irate.”

Davis said he did not know if it was possible for the two to repair the damage to their relationship.

“I don’t know if it’ll ever happen,” Davis said. “I don’t think it will ever be back the way it was.”