VanderKolk Picks Environmentalist as Aide : Politics: The supervisor-elect says Russ Baggerly shares ‘the same values that I have.’ But her predecessor criticizes the appointment.

In her first major act as a Ventura County supervisor-elect, Maria VanderKolk on Tuesday appointed the county’s top environmental crusader as her senior aide.

Russ Baggerly, a frequent critic and legal opponent of the county on issues of growth and pollution, will become VanderKolk’s top lieutenant with an office at the Ventura County Government Center.

Baggerly, 46, will earn $40,000 to $45,000 a year plus benefits, VanderKolk said.

At VanderKolk’s request, he resigned from the board of the Environmental Coalition and dissolved the business he formed to act as a paid consultant to Patagonia Inc. in a battle to prevent Cal State University from building a campus at Taylor Ranch.

Baggerly resigned earlier this year from the board of Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, which successfully sued the county in 1988 over the county’s failure to submit a plan that would meet federal clean air standards.

While most observers were optimistic that Baggerly would deal fairly with those he has opposed in the past, outgoing Supervisor Madge Schaefer criticized Baggerly because he has never lived in the district he will be serving.

VanderKolk said Baggerly’s positions are well-researched and based on law, primarily the California Environmental Quality Act, and should ease his transition from environmental volunteer to senior staff member.

“Russ prepares his arguments extensively, and he is very well respected at the county,” VanderKolk said. “I hope this appointment makes it clear that I intend to surround myself with people who share the same values that I have.”

Although Baggerly is already knowledgeable about environmental and land-use issues, VanderKolk said she is convinced of his abilities in other areas as well.

“He is a gentle, kind and thoughtful person who will be very helpful working with the constituency,” she said.

Baggerly, who has no college degree, said he has the skills he needs to serve as administrative assistant, answering constituents’ complaints, dealing with cities, state and federal agencies and the media.

“I know how government works. I know the law and the General Plan. I know the administrative process and can help her get things done,” he said.

VanderKolk will become the youngest member of the county board when she is sworn in Jan. 7 as supervisor of District 2, covering much of the Oxnard Plain and the Conejo Valley. She defeated Schaefer in June in one of the county’s most stunning electoral upsets.

A 25-year-old businesswoman who is a newcomer to the county and its politics, VanderKolk captured 50.2% of the vote to win the seat that most believed would be returned to the incumbent.

She will maintain her primary supervisorial office for the east county district in Thousand Oaks, with two administrative assistants and a secretary working there.

VanderKolk also announced Tuesday the appointment of Lenora Kirby, a 15-year county resident who is earning a degree in geography from Cal State Northridge. Kirby worked with VanderKolk for Save Open Space, an environmental group formed in opposition to the proposed development on the Ahmanson Ranch in the eastern county.

A third aide with experience in financial and health issues and a secretary will be appointed later, VanderKolk said.

The appointment of Baggerly brought mostly positive reaction Tuesday from agriculture, building and government interests, all of which Baggerly has battled on controversial issues.

Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, has criticized Baggerly in the past for his opposition to a landfill at Weldon Canyon--land that is not in agriculture production--in favor of other land in production now.

However, he said, “I think Russ is a capable individual and he will be directed by the policies that Maria sets.”

Paul Tryon, executive officer at the 2,500-member Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, acknowledged that Baggerly has been an adversary to building interests.

“But we will hope for the opportunity to have our issues evaluated fairly without bias by that office,” Tryon said.

Baggerly said he wants that opportunity.

“We will have to develop a relationship with the building industry,” he said. “You get things done by building bridges, not by burning them.”

Richard Baldwin, manager of the county’s Air Pollution Control District, said Baggerly has helped the district formulate rules to control industry. But when Baggerly and the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai sued the county and the air pollution district over its 1988 Air Quality Management Plan, Baggerly hurt the clean air cause more than he helped it, Baldwin said.

“That actually slowed us down,” he said of the district’s work to adopt regulations to reduce air polluting emissions from industry.

Baggerly, a 17-year resident of the west county, has been active in environmental causes since a 1985 battle to stop a housing project in his home community of Meiners Oaks. His wife, Pat, has been equally as active and will not give up that role, Baggerly said.

“She doesn’t give up her citizenship just because I’m working for a county supervisor,” he said. “The First Amendment still applies.”

Schaefer, who has also been a Baggerly critic, questioned his ability to serve a constituency that lives at the opposite end of the county.

“I think it is regrettable that she is choosing someone with no knowledge of the district,” Schaefer said.

But VanderKolk and Baggerly defended his familiarity with the area.

“Russ has been a key player in the Jordan and Ahmanson ranch projects,” VanderKolk said, referring to controversial development proposals for the east county that will soon go before the Board of Supervisors for a vote. “He has certainly concentrated more in the Ojai area, but he has branched out in the last couple of years.”

County Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg said Tuesday that VanderKolk had made a wise choice.

“I think the environment and lifestyle that people want in Ventura County is a major issue,” he said.