Hopefuls Spent $222,000 in Ventura Council Race, Among City’s Costliest

At least $222,000 was funneled into last year’s Ventura City Council race, one of the costliest elections in Ventura history.

Overall, pro-business candidates spent the larger amounts of money in the race. Unlike recent elections in which political action groups helped pump a lot of cash into the contest, most of the funds in last year’s council race came from fund-raising events candidates held on their own.

Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures, the top vote-getter in November’s council race, took in and spent the most money, according to financial disclosure forms filed Monday.

Measures, 56, is a former banker who currently manages her family’s trust fund. She spent $35,884 on her campaign, which included a loan of $6,000 from her trust fund and her husband’s trust. Her campaign funds came from a variety of sources, including local businesses and developers.

Councilman Steve Bennett, a Nordhoff High School teacher who pledged not to accept donations of more than $100, spent $21,487 for his second-place finish. Bennett received support from unions and environmental groups and gave a personal loan of about $3,700 to his campaign.

Councilman Jim Monahan reported spending $19,825 for his fifth reelection bid. Monahan, a welding contractor who has consistently supported development, received many contributions from local unions, developers and car dealers.

Councilman Gary Tuttle, who came in fourth, spent $12,168 on his campaign. Tuttle, who comes from an environmentalist and grass-roots background, received contributions from some unions and Patagonia, the apparel firm that helped catapult him into city politics in 1989.

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By Monday, 12 of the 14 candidates who ran for council seats had submitted financial disclosure forms as required by state law. Many contributors were not identified because they gave less than $100.

Ken Schmitz, a certified public accountant, and Dick Massa, who owns a medical-supply company, have not filed their disclosure forms. They finished sixth and 10th, respectively.

Other council candidates reported their expenditures as follows:

Clark Owens, a real estate broker, reported $21,865. Virginia Weber, an educational grants administrator, reported $17,206. Nancy Cloutier, who owns the Ventura County & Coast Reporter, reported $15,567. Todd Collart, a county planner, reported $10,506. Charles Kistner, a business owner, reported $7,114. Neil Demers-Grey, a secretary, reported $1,155. Carroll Dean Williams and Brian Lee Rencher reported receiving and spending less than $1,000.

Political action groups also reported spending at least $51,771 in the campaign to promote or attack candidates. Although no candidate actively engaged in negative campaigning, last year’s council race was marked by mudslinging from some political action groups.

Venturans for Responsible Government, a group composed for ranchers, developers and other business interests, reported spending $12,598 in a campaign that harshly criticized Bennett, Tuttle and Collart, who lost his reelection bid.

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Patagonia, which helped engineer the 1989 victories of Tuttle, Collart and Cathy Bean, spent about $8,782 in advertisements promoting Tuttle, Bennett and Cloutier.

Thrift store magnate Ray Ellison, who ran a negative campaign against Tuttle, Bennett and Collart, reported spending nearly $15,000, according to a report filed last month.

The Ventura Chamber of Commerce, which helped elect three pro-business candidates in 1991, spent $11,338 in support of Measures, Monahan, Schmitz and Owens.

City Clerk Barbara Kam said the remaining forms may arrive by mail and will be acceptable if they are postmarked by the deadline. After a 10-day grace period, any candidate who fails to disclose records of campaign finances is subject to a fine of $10 per day, Kam said.