COUNTYWIDE : County OKs Panel to Expedite Campus

Ventura County supervisors, after balking at a $250,000 contribution a week earlier, have decided to support a California State University campus by setting up a committee to expedite its construction.

The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to form a committee with representatives from the county, all 10 area cities and the university “to bring together the leadership and cooperation necessary to make the university a reality.”

The committee would attempt to avoid jurisdictional disputes as the state builds its 320-acre university in an unincorporated county area near Camarillo and Oxnard. Board Chairwoman Maggie Erickson Kildee said disputes over issues such as road and flood control improvements could occur.

The new committee also would apply to federal and state programs for money to build the campus.

Erickson Kildee said she wanted the board to restate its support for the new university. A week earlier, Supervisor John K. Flynn criticized the board for rejecting his request for a $250,000 college fund. Other supervisors said the budget was too tight and called a monetary commitment premature.

About $6 million in state money is available to buy the farmland where the campus will be located, but no money has been committed to build the new school.

University officials said they were not discouraged by last week’s action because they had not yet asked for local funding. Instead, they were looking for reassurance that the county would cooperate with school officials, said David E. Leveille, director of institutional relations for the Cal State system.