Effort to Keep Bases Is Denied Funds : Port Hueneme: City says it lacks the money to help a group trying to protect local military installations from possible closure.

Port Hueneme, a city that literally surrounds a Navy base, has declined to contribute money to a group of Navy boosters and defense industry executives aimed at protecting local bases from possible closure.

The Port Hueneme City Council turned down a request on Wednesday evening to provide $16,630 to the Ventura County BRAC ’95 Task Force, citing concerns about how the task force will spend its money and manage its campaign to keep either of the county’s two Navy bases from being closed.

After a 30-minute slide presentation by members of the task force, council members and city staff said the city was suffering through tough financial times and that they needed more information on how the group intends to lobby to keep the bases open.

“At this point we just don’t have enough money to write blank checks, and we are short on staff,” City Manager Richard Velthoen said. “We have problems of our own to take care of.”

Council members also objected to the amount the task force was requesting, saying that for their population of 22,000 people it was too much.

“It does not seem fair to me,” Councilman James Daniels said. “We feel we need to look into the issue more and see what other cities are doing.”

The council voted 3 to 0 to decline the request for dollars. Mayor Orvene Carpenter and Councilman Dorill Wright were absent.

Members of the task force said they were shocked and disappointed by the council’s rebuff.

“It was very disappointing and a real letdown,” said Rosanne Carranza, co-leader of the task force’s fund-raising committee. “We understand that their coffers are light, but we hope they recognize the Navy’s tremendous contributions to their city. We were hoping they were going to be leaders among the cities in this county.”

Bob Conroy, BRAC ’95 co-chairman, said the task force came up with the $16,630 figure by using a formula that considered the city’s population, the Navy’s financial importance and the number of residents employed at the bases.

To reach the task force’s goal of $350,000, its organizers hope to collect contributions from a variety of government entities. Conroy said the task force was hoping that Port Hueneme would show by example the importance of city contributions to the campaign.

Conroy said the task force will seek out assistance from the cities of Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo early next week.

The council’s decision comes 16 days after the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to provide $10,000 and free office space to the task force, whose goal is to keep the Seabee base or the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station from being added to the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure list.

County officials also agreed to the help the task force contract with a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm that will monitor the base closing process and analyze data.

County Supervisor Maggie Kildee expressed shock at the Port Hueneme council’s decision to turn the task force away.

“We’re all hurting financially, but I think this is the kind of effort that is worth spending some money now on,” Kildee said. “The impact of the closure of these bases would be devastating, especially to Port Hueneme.”

Although the release of the 1995 closure list is six months away, communities across the country are collecting funds, hiring lobbyists and analyzing data in defense of their military installations.

Lima is a Times staff writer and Mitchell is a Times correspondent.