Landfill Proponents Meet Signature Goal

Supporters of a ballot initiative that would allow a landfill to be built in Weldon Canyon said they have gathered more than enough signatures to help qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Taconic Resources, the San Diego County firm seeking the ballot initiative, has until Monday to obtain 18,753 valid signatures from Ventura County voters to place the measure on the November ballot. As of Wednesday, the firm had collected 21,000 signatures.

Volunteers and paid signature-gatherers plan to collect another 4,000 to 9,000 signatures before the deadline to make sure that Taconic has enough valid signatures of registered voters to meet the minimum requirement.

“I think we’re setting the record for the most signatures collected in the shortest amount of time,” said Richard Chase, general manager of the firm.

Moorpark City Councilman Scott Montgomery, a supporter of the measure, said the swift success of the signature drive was not unexpected. “I think it’s an indication of how widely supported this is,” he said.

Most of the signatures have been from voters in the eastern part of Ventura County and Oxnard, said Montgomery and Eloise Brown, former mayor of Moorpark and an initiative supporter.

Brown said residents in Oxnard and Simi Valley hope that a landfill in Weldon Canyon, which is about 2 1/2 miles north of Ventura and five miles south of Ojai, will take trash that is now disposed of in their cities.

“There is a very definite concern that when Bailard (Landfill in Oxnard) closes in 1997, if there isn’t something else planned, we’re going to have a real problem,” Brown said.

But opponents in Ojai and Ventura fear that a Weldon Canyon landfill, which would be built on 551 acres within the 6,474-acre site, would worsen air quality and could pose health risks from valley fever.

Last month, the Ojai City Council authorized the city attorney to prepare a pre-election challenge to the measure if supporters obtain enough valid signatures.

Ojai Councilwoman Nina Shelley said Wednesday that if Taconic succeeds in placing the measure on the November ballot, “then we put our attorneys to work.”

“I think that the odds are very good that we can prevail,” Shelley said. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”