Takasugi Calls Vote ‘Painful Decision’ : Finance: He supports compromise. Action disappoints some local officials.

As mayor of Oxnard, Nao Takasugi repeatedly came hat in hand to the Capitol to press for his city’s interests.

Now, as a state assemblyman representing a district from Oxnard to Thousand Oaks, he reached the painful decision that what is best for California hurts cities and counties the most--Gov. Pete Wilson’s plan to slash local aid.

Despite lobbying from Ventura County officials who flew to Sacramento--much as he did not long ago--the freshman Republican voted for the governor’s compromise budget package that shortchanges local governments.

“I was on the other side of the fence. And now here I am, wielding the scissors,” Takasugi said, reflecting on his transition from city leader to state lawmaker. He characterized the vote as “a very painful decision” and his “toughest by far” in six months in the Legislature.

Under Wilson’s plan, as adopted by the Assembly, state leaders would divert $2.6 billion in property tax funds from cities and counties to the schools.

But in negotiations with legislators, the governor softened the blow by extending a half-cent sales tax for six months and shifting the $700 million to local government. Furthermore, local government could get another $1.4 billion a year if voters approve a further extension of the half-cent sales tax that is scheduled to end this year.

Before the vote early Monday morning, Takasugi made it clear he would support the governor’s budget plan and said Wilson’s compromises in favor of local aid made it easier to accept.

“We see the governor has moved off his very, very rigid standard,” Takasugi said of Wilson’s agreement to support the sales tax extension until counties can vote on it. “I’m happy he made that move.”

Takasugi said he thought Wilson’s original proposal would have represented “a Draconian hit on local agencies.”

“That’s what they sent me up here for, to make those hard decisions. I’m going to act on my conscience.”

But Takasugi’s position has disappointed some local officials.

Thousand Oaks City Councilman Frank Schillo said he was dismayed that Takasugi came out in support of the governor’s plan. He said he fears the first-term legislator, who himself has admitted surprise at the level of partisanship practiced in Sacramento, has fallen into the trap of supporting the governor merely because they are members of the same party.

“Voting based on politics does not represent good government. I think that is a severe handicap in Sacramento,” Schillo said. “If he’s voting Republican just because the governor is Republican, it’s just not right. It’s not right for the cities.”

Said Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez: “I can guess that when you’re new in Sacramento, and you first go up there, you can really flounder. People need a support system, and the support system in Sacramento is the party.

“The party can club him into submission,” he said of Takasugi, “and I think that’s probably what happened here.”

Takasugi, a former grocer who operated a mom-and-pop store, served the city of Oxnard for 16 years as councilman and mayor. Last year, he won the Assembly race and became the first Asian-American elected to the Legislature in 12 years, thanks in part to Wilson’s support.

The governor’s proposal to shift property tax money from local jurisdictions to schools has emerged as an emotional focal point of the ongoing state budget negotiations. For weeks now, Sacramento has been the scene of intense lobbying by mayors, county supervisors and public safety officials who traveled to the state Capitol to lobby their lawmakers for a better financial deal.

Last week, Ventura County supervisors Susan K. Lacey and Maria VanderKolk, as well as County Executive Richard Wittenberg, met with Takasugi and Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria) and lunched with state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley.)

VanderKolk confirmed Takasugi’s impression that, while county officials do not like the property tax shift, they will live with it. VanderKolk and other county officials were most worried about saving the budget for the county Fire Department, the state’s eighth largest.

The lobbying seems to have paid off, given that the budget package passed by the Assembly exempted fire departments from the shift of $2.6 billion from local government to schools.

O’Connell also voted in favor of the budget plan. Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills), whose district extends to Simi Valley and Fillmore, voted no.