Countywide : Forming of Regional Agency Discussed

Representatives from 12 cities in Ventura and Los Angeles counties met for the first time Thursday to discuss forming an agency to discuss regional issues.

A nine-member committee has met since April to come up with a broad set of recommendations for the new agency, said Chairman Frank Schillo, a Thousand Oaks city councilman.

The committee recommended that the Los Angeles County cities of Agoura Hills and Westlake Village be included because of their proximity to Ventura County, but their representatives would vote only on mutually binding issues. Other cities, such as Malibu, Santa Clarita and Calabasas, might also want to join, the committee said.

It also recommended that the agency hire a full-time staff by January, 1993, and raise money to support the agency by charging each city membership dues.

The agency, with a board of directors made up of elected officials, would discuss issues that affect the region, such as transportation and development.

Committee members will take the recommendations back to their city councils for consideration.

Schillo said the steering committee will move forward with the proposal only if the county and all the cities agree.

The county and cities have been without a regional agency since the Ventura County Assn. of Governments dissolved in 1989. Although an Assn. of Ventura County Cities formed the same year, it does not include representatives from county government.

Attempts to link Ventura with Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties failed after officials from those counties rejected attempts to form an association of the three counties.

Schillo said that if the cities approve the committee’s proposal, the new Ventura County Regional Council of Governments could be formed by July 1.