Ojai to Sue if Vote on Landfill Makes Ballot

If a measure asking voters to approve a landfill at Weldon Canyon makes the November ballot, Ojai intends to file a lawsuit challenging the proposal, council members have decided.

But time is running out for Taconic Resources, the company seeking voter approval for the dump, to collect the 18,753 signatures of Ventura County voters needed to place the measure on the ballot.

“It is going to be difficult, but it is not an insurmountable task,” said Bruce Bradley, assistant registrar of voters for Ventura County. “It can be done; it just depends on how many people you have (collecting signatures) and how much money you want to spend to saturate the county.”

Richard Chase, Taconic general partner, said the company plans to spend nearly $1 million in its pursuit of a ballot initiative, and will employ 50 or 60 Ventura County residents to obtain signatures.

With 5 1/2 weeks to go before the June 6 deadline, Taconic would have to collect 506 valid signatures each day if it starts Saturday. Chase said the company hopes to begin collecting signatures this weekend.

“I think it’s going to be tight, but it’s still do-able,” Chase said. “We’re going to try our best.”

If Taconic obtains the signatures by June 6, the Board of Supervisors must place the measure on the November ballot, Bradley said.

But Ojai wants the supervisors to decline placing the initiative on the ballot and will file a lawsuit if they don’t, the City Council decided in closed session Tuesday night.

“If they decide to place it on the ballot, we will take them to court,” City Atty. Monte Widders said in an interview after the council meeting.

Ojai residents have opposed a landfill at Weldon Canyon, which is at the mouth of the Ojai Valley, saying it would create health risks and diminish air quality. Waste Management Inc. withdrew its application to develop a landfill at the site last summer after it became apparent that the Board of Supervisors would deny it.

Taconic is negotiating with Waste Management to take over its lease for the 551-acre site.

Bradley said Taconic, which is based in San Diego County, still needs to publish its petition in Ventura County and have the petitions approved by the county registrar before the firm can begin collecting signatures.

Chase said those steps should be completed this week.

“Every day or week is critical, of course, but if we don’t make the November ballot, it would not be the end of the world,” Chase said.

Taconic is allowed 180 days from the day the petitions are approved to obtain signatures from 10%--or 18,753--of the county’s voters. But if the company wants the measure on the November ballot, it must gather those signatures in 40 days, Bradley said Wednesday.

If Taconic cannot meet the June 6 deadline for the November election, it can continue to collect signatures for the next countywide election, which is in March, 1996.

Bradley said the proposal could be pushed back even later to June, 1996, if it is not allowed on the ballot for the March presidential primary.

Taconic could try to obtain signatures from 20% of the county voters over a six-month period, in which case the Board of Supervisors would have to call a special election, Bradley said.

But the company would rather present the initiative in a general election, Chase said, adding that the company believes that the number of voters opposed to the landfill is small and might have more impact in a special election.

Bradley said the 40-day deadline to qualify for the November election may be an advantage for Taconic.

“My personal experience has been the petition that hits hard and quickly galvanizes people who are thinking about it,” he said. “I think you’re better off concentrating your efforts in a shorter amount of time.”

Widders, the Ojai city attorney, acknowledged that county attorneys would have to determine that the initiative process was unconstitutional for the board not to place the measure on the ballot, but said he believed that there were “great flaws with the initiative” that could warrant a lawsuit.

He declined to say what he believes those flaws are.

Assistant County Counsel Andrew Gustafson said it is the supervisors’ legal duty to place the initiative on the ballot if it qualifies, but said they could unlawfully refuse to do it.

“Case law says if the initiative is properly certified, you must put it on the ballot,” he said. The board would put itself at risk of being sued by Taconic if it refused to place the measure on the ballot, Gustafson said.

Gustafson added that pre-election legal challenges, such as Ojai’s, were difficult to win. County Counsel James McBride agreed.

“It’s fairly difficult to challenge successfully a pre-election ballot measure, but it can be done and it has been done,” he said.

In Ojai, city leaders are determined to fight the initiative.

“I’d be very surprised if we didn’t take some action,” Councilman James Loebl said. “We’re not going to let this go by the boards.”