ELECTIONS : Last Digs in Ventura Races Kick Up Mud : The contest for supervisor’s seat takes on nasty tone, as does Republican primary for Congress. Oak Park votes on cityhood or annexation.

Ventura County voters go to the polls today to choose two new county supervisors in races that have taken an increasingly nasty tone with accusations of misleading voters through last-minute political ads.

In calmer contests, voters in Oak Park voice their opinions on cityhood or possible annexation to Thousand Oaks, and residents of Port Hueneme decide whether to raise their taxes in order to keep their city police department.

Voters across the county will pick candidates for Superior Court judge, county auditor-controller, tax assessor, clerk and recorder and superintendent of schools.

Also on the ballot are six primary races for the state Legislature and Congress, including a bitter five-way race in the Republican primary for the seat held by Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills).

Polls will open at 7 a.m. at 404 locations around the county and close at 8 p.m. Election officials expect only about 38% of the county’s 339,356 registered voters to cast ballots.

The final days of the spring election season have been marked by a flurry of campaign mailers, television commercials and radio and newspaper ads aimed at swaying undecided voters. Some of them stand accused of being political attack ads.

For example, county supervisorial candidate Trudi K. Loh, a political newcomer, fired off one campaign mailer late last week attacking opponents Frank Schillo and Madge Schaefer.

The mailer featured pictures of the Thousand Oaks councilman and former Ventura County supervisor next to newspaper headlines about crime, homelessness and the jobless rate.

“Can yesterday’s politicians keep tomorrow’s Ventura County from becoming L.A.?” the mailer’s headline asks against a photo of the Los Angeles skyline.

Both Schillo, who refers to his opponent as “Trudi Loh-blow,” and Schaefer denounced the mailer, saying it contained inaccurate and misleading information about their public records.

“It’s a campaign of deception,” Schaefer said. “Instead of talking about her credentials, she’s chosen to be negative.”

Loh defended the mailer and its contents, and also accused her opponents of trying to smear her own integrity by faxing anonymous letters and memos to reporters questioning her background and experience as an attorney.

“They’re screaming about my campaign,” she said. “But what about the things they’ve been doing? There’s been a lot of mudslinging going on.”

In a local newspaper ad on Monday, Schillo appeared to take issue with Loh and other first-time candidates for lacking government experience.

“This is not the time for a learn-as-you-go supervisor,” the ad declared. “This is the time for experience and leadership!”

The other two candidates in the 2nd District supervisor race are taxpayer advocate H. Jere Robings and rancher Carter Ward.

Voters in the 4th Supervisorial District have also been inundated with mailers and newspaper ads during the past week--but of a more low-key nature. The candidates are Simi Valley Councilwomen Barbara Williamson and Judy Mikels, Moorpark Councilman Scott Montgomery and parks official James Meredith.

Mailers sent out by Williamson’s campaign emphasize her law enforcement and firefighter endorsements, while Mikels’ and Montgomery’s ads and mailers trumpet their government experience. Mikels’ ads also note her support from Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard and features a picture of her shaking hands with Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton, who has not endorsed any candidate in the race.

Meanwhile, in the Republican primary for the Beilenson’s seat, tempers have flared over how long some candidates have lived in the 24th Congressional District. The district stretches from Thousand Oaks to Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley and Malibu.

Richard Sybert, a former senior aide to Gov. Pete Wilson, has been labeled by his opponents as a “carpetbagger” for moving to the district less than a year ago to run for Congress. A former resident of Pasadena, Sybert lives in Calabasas.

For his part, Sybert has accused opponent Emery Shane, a commercial real estate broker and Agoura resident, of “fibbing” about living in the district 35 years as he has stated.

“Public records show Mr. Shane moved out of the area in the early 1980s, and didn’t return until less than two years ago,” says a Sybert mailer. In a letter recently distributed to Republican voters, former state Sen. Ed Davis, a Sybert supporter, also raised the issue of Shane’s residency.

On Monday, Shane issued a statement reiterating that he has lived in the district for 35 years, and that he plans to sue Sybert and Davis for libel if a retraction is not forthcoming. Shane also demanded a public apology from Sybert for spreading what he said was misleading information.

“I’m asking Sybert for something far more important than the thousands of votes he stole with his deceitful campaign,” Shane said. “I’m asking Sybert to give me back my good name.”

Sybert could not be reached for comment, but his campaign manager James Vaughn said that Sybert had voter registration records showing that Shane lived “nowhere near the district between 1985 and 1992.”

FYI

Polls will open at 7 a.m. at 404 locations around the county and close at 8 p.m. For information on where your polling station is located, call: 654-2781 or 654-2753.