City Delegates to Join Air Pollution Board

City and county officials have acted to give Ventura County cities an equal voice on the powerful board that sets and enforces air pollution regulations.

Five city representatives will be added to the county’s five-person Air Pollution Control District board under an agreement ratified Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors and the Assn. of Ventura County Cities.

“We think this is really a smart thing to do,” Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said. “The cities, which in most cases feel the real impacts of air quality regulations, have not had a say.”

The equal city and county representation is required by a state law approved last year after strong lobbying by California cities.

Supervisor Susan Lacey said the committee that drafted the changes agreed on all key provisions, although several city officials did initially push for a board with members from all 10 local cities.

The reconstituted Ventura County board must be seated by July 1. Stratton said the cities’ association is expected to meet in mid-June to choose its five representatives.

The air pollution board is under court order to clean the county’s air by 2005. It has passed measures that have been costly to businesses, and more are contemplated. Ventura County remains one of the nation’s worst areas for ozone pollution, despite marked improvement in recent years.