Lagomarsino Sheds a Tear at Farewell : Supervisors: Board members say thank you to the longtime congressman. He changed regions because of redistricting.

Political tributes are nothing special for a veteran congressman.

So Robert J. Lagomarsino expected Tuesday to politely acknowledge the thanks of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors for his years of service, then mark the commitment off his calendar.

But as one official after another assured him that they were not eager to see him go, tears began to well in his eyes and his voice began to break.

“Red eyes usually are those from airplane trips, but maybe not this morning,” he said.

The 65-year-old Lagomarsino, the offspring of an 1890s Ventura pioneer, said later that he could not help but put the supervisors’ long, affectionate goodby into a context that made him pause.

“My name will not appear on any ballot in Ventura County for the first time in 34 years,” he said. “And yes, it was really quite emotional. You have so many things to do that you so often look at these occasions as something to cross off a calendar, but it turned out to be far more than that.”

Lagomarsino, who was first a mayor of Ojai, served 12 years in the state Senate and has been a Ventura County congressman since 1974.

After redistricting last year, he was urged by the White House to run in the Santa Barbara County portion of his district so he and fellow Republican Rep. Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley would not run against each other.

“I have very, very mixed emotions about this whole thing,” Lagomarsino, flanked by Norma, his wife of 31 years, told the county supervisors after receiving a resolution noting his major accomplishments.

He is running in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties--facing a surprising primary challenge from wealthy Republican Michael Huffington--because it is “best for my party,” he said.

The supervisors told him that he will be sorely missed.

Supervisor John K. Flynn, using a nickname by which the veteran congressman is known, said: “Lago, that name is used with a lot of love and respect for you . . . one of the foremost representatives ever in Ventura County.”

Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee, who had known Lagomarsino since before she was elected in 1980, said the congressman always produced for Ventura County.

“You are the one person who has always been available to me in Washington,” she said.

And Supervisor Maria VanderKolk said, “I hope the people up north recognize how fortunate they are to be getting you.”

Flynn and Erickson Kildee are Democrats, but they said Lagomarsino listened to them without regard to party.

Lagomarsino leaves the county, they said, with a legacy that includes a national park designation for the Channel Islands and the federally funded Freeman Diversion Dam, which replenishes Santa Clara Valley water basins.

And he has shepherded through Congress funding bills for the Ventura County food bank and local drug abuse programs and flood control projects.

Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi, Santa Paula Councilman Les Mayland and Port Hueneme Councilman Ken Hess also showed up to see Lagomarsino off. A large crowd in the supervisors’ chambers gave him a standing ovation.

But Lagomarsino, while now a resident of Shell Beach near San Luis Obispo, said he will always keep a house in Ventura County and help on votes in Congress when he can.

“I’ll still do it,” he said. “It just won’t be full time.”