Santa Paula Jail Foe May Run Against Supervisor : Politics: Councilman John Melton is gauging whether he has the support to challenge Maggie Erickson Kildee.

Upset with a county decision to build a jail on farmland near his city, veteran Santa Paula Councilman John Melton is gathering support for a run against Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee this spring.

The five-term councilman informally declared his candidacy last week by requesting a petition that will allow him to avoid a $502 filing fee if he gathers about 2,000 signatures from 3rd District voters.

Melton, 62, said Wednesday that he is contacting people who have encouraged him to challenge Erickson Kildee primarily because of her position on the proposed Todd Road jail.

“I’m seeing if there really is support,” Melton said. “A lot of people will say, ‘Hey, go for it. I’ll support you.’ But does that mean financial support, which is needed, and walking precincts, which I need too?”

If the support is strong, he will run, said Melton, a retired area manager for Southern California Edison who has handily won reelection to the Santa Paula City Council since his first victory in 1974.

Some Santa Paula officials and residents have said for months that they intend to recruit a strong candidate to challenge Erickson Kildee, chairwoman of the County Board of Supervisors.

The anger of Santa Clara Valley residents has focused on Erickson Kildee, jail opponents said, because they think she did not listen to their pleas to preserve a greenbelt of prime agricultural land between Ventura and Santa Paula, where the proposed jail would be built.

“Maggie works very hard, but you have to represent people too,” Melton said. “You have to be able to listen to your constituents and explain why you have a certain position. I think she just told us what was good for us.

“Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Santa Paula, and if that jail goes in, it’s the beginning of the end, believe me,” Melton said.

Santa Paula Councilwoman Margaret Ely, a vocal jail opponent who also has worked closely with Erickson Kildee, said she will support Melton if he runs.

“John has strength of character, and he is close to the grass-roots of the area,” Ely said. “Maggie has worked very hard for Santa Paula, but I think the jail and the greenbelt would be the issue to bring her down, if anything does.”

Ely said, however, that Erickson Kildee will be tough to beat in the 3rd District, which includes Ojai, Fillmore, Santa Paula and the incumbent’s hometown of Camarillo. The supervisor is well-known and has a large campaign treasury, so “it would be a tough race for John,” Ely added.

Erickson Kildee, a 12-year supervisor, has won by landslides since she was first elected with 59% of the vote in 1980. She was unopposed in 1988. And she begins the campaign season with about $45,000 to spend.

The supervisor expressed disappointment Wednesday about Melton’s possible candidacy. She said an angry campaign would only further divide Santa Paula and possibly interfere with city-county cooperation on a variety of issues.

“But I’m sure he’s very much opposed to the Todd Road jail and believes this is the way to express that,” she said.

Erickson Kildee and three other supervisors approved construction of the $54-million, 752-bed first phase of the new county jail in 1990 after reviewing a preliminary environmental study that found few problems with the Santa Paula site.

A second, more detailed study--now under supervisors’ review--was required before construction could begin. The report finds no major flaws with the site.

But critics say construction of the jail violates the county’s agreement to keep the area as farmland and would bring more construction with it. They also say the new study does not properly document the serious risk of earthquakes and floods on the 157-acre property at Todd Road and the Santa Paula Freeway.

After an emotional hearing Jan. 8, Erickson Kildee said she wanted to review the Todd Road project from top to bottom.

And at the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday, she asked staff analysts to prepare a report re-examining Supervisor John K. Flynn’s alternative plan to expand the existing jail at the County Government Center. Two other supervisors, Vicky Howard and Maria VanderKolk, also said they wanted a complete review because they were not on the board when supervisors voted for the Santa Paula jail.

“The key to me is to get the information and to make my decision,” Erickson Kildee said. “People will like it or not. And I think most people in this county recognize my history of good works.”

By moderating her stance and re-examining a jail alternative, Erickson Kildee assuaged some opponents of the Santa Paula site. They said Wednesday that they were not sure that they would support Melton.

“Maggie opened this whole thing up again Tuesday and that was most encouraging and a breath of fresh air,” said rancher Bob Pinkerton, president of a Santa Paula group called Citizens to Save the Greenbelt.

“The board meeting turned my thinking around a whole lot,” Pinkerton said. “Does that mean I’m going to support Maggie? No it doesn’t. Does that mean I’m going to wave a banner for John Melton? No it doesn’t.”

Pinkerton said he probably would not decide whether to vote for Erickson Kildee until she casts her vote on the Todd Road site.

It is just that kind of indecision that worries Melton.

“If it’s just an emotional thing, I don’t want any part of that,” he said. “But if there are people who have strong concerns and want those concerns represented, that is different.”