Activist Shakes Up Race for Obscure Conservation Panel

In the murky world of high-finance, land development politics, the Topanga-Las Virgenes Conservation District is an obscure player with little political power.

The district was created in 1961 to advise landowners in the western San Fernando Valley and eastern Ventura County on soil and water conservation.

But the campaign for three seats on the board of directors this year has been marked by unusual rancor surrounding the candidacy of an environmental activist who is trying to shake up the little-known district.

Glenn Bailey, 35, who served on the board of directors of the controversial, now-defunct Northwestern Los Angeles Resource Conservation District, charges that the agency has not done all it could to preserve open space. He says he wants the volunteer job so that he can push the board to stand up to developers in ecologically sensitive areas.

His opponents decry his confrontational language and accuse him of being a political opportunist and perpetual candidate who doesn’t even live in the district. Bailey ran against Supervisor Mike Antonovich in 1988 and unsuccessfully challenged Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Tarzana) in June.

These charges and Bailey’s past involvement with the northwestern district, which the state Legislature abolished in 1985 amid allegations that directors used district money for personal expenditures, have brought unusual attention to this contest.

Incumbent candidate David Gottlieb, a Topanga film producer, said Bailey would bring a “sleaze factor” to the Topanga-Las Virgenes district because of his past. But Bailey said the allegations against him were whipped up by the local media and by self-aggrandizing politicians “trying to promote themselves as the taxpayers’ heroes.”

A district attorney’s investigation absolved the directors of any criminal misconduct.

For his part, Bailey charged that the Topanga district has not been active enough in conservation matters. He said the district should lobby parks acquisition agencies such as the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to buy environmentally sensitive land under threat of development.

“We could be out there fighting to bring money to the projects within the district,” he said. “The directors have been supportive of open space preservation, but they really haven’t done much.”

But Dennis Washburn, the president of the board, dismissed Bailey’s criticisms. Washburn said the district is doing its best with limited powers to protect the natural habitat of the mountains within its territory, which includes Agoura, Calabasas, Encino, Tarzana, Westlake Village, Woodland Hills and parts of Thousand Oaks.

“We are not here to stop development,” said director Nancy Helsley, a Calabasas educator who is running for reelection. “Nobody can stop a man from doing what he wants to do with his property, but we can work with him to see that he uses it wisely.”

Jerry Douglas, a Woodland Hills computer consultant running for reelection, said that since the district is just an advisory agency, good relations with the county and other government agencies are critical.

Bailey “does not have very good relationships with the Board of Supervisors, particularly with Antonovich,” Douglas said.

Bailey’s past electoral efforts have led some to question whether he is sincere about his desire to serve on the board or whether he is a “perpetual candidate” eager for any elected office.

But Bailey, who served as the north Los Angeles County coordinator for the drive to place the state parkland bond initiative on the June, 1989, ballot, said he is committed to the “resource conservation district movement” and will put in whatever time is necessary to do the job.

He defended his other candidacies as an effort to give dissatisfied voters a choice in the elections.

Bailey’s residence also has been raised as an issue. By law, members of the board of directors must live in or own property in the district, or be agents of landowners in the district.

Bailey, who lives in a portion of Encino not included in the district, said he owns a small tract of land in Topanga Canyon and pays property taxes on it. But Washburn said county assessor’s records show the tract Bailey claims to own is registered to someone else.