Group to Pursue Public Safety Funds

Law enforcement leaders and their supporters have agreed to pursue a ballot initiative as the best way to force Ventura County to spend more money on public safety.

But they have a problem: They are too late to add a measure to November’s ballot and do not want to wait a year for another countywide election.

So the Citizens for a Safe Ventura County say they plan to collect enough signatures to put the measure on a future ballot, then use the petitions to pressure the Board of Supervisors into accepting the proposal before it reaches voters.

“As soon as we have an initiative drafted, which should be 45 to 60 days, we’ll be out there collecting signatures,” group chairman Otto Stoll said.

Stoll, Sheriff Larry Carpenter, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury and officers of firefighter and deputy sheriff’s unions have met in support of the strategy.

The measure would restrict use of special Proposition 172 sales taxes that voters approved last year. Ventura County supervisors pledged all the revenue to enhance public safety, but then shifted about $1.2 million to the coroner’s office and legal services for children.