ELECTIONS / 2ND SUPERVISORIAL SEAT : Landfill Just 1 Issue That Divides Loh and Schillo

To Ventura County supervisorial candidate Frank Schillo, building a landfill at Weldon Canyon near Ojai is essential to keeping a lid on trash rates.

However, to his opponent, Trudi Loh, a landfill in Weldon Canyon would lead to caravans of garbage trucks bulging with Los Angeles trash rolling across Ventura County.

Indeed, the two candidates have sharply different views on just about every major issue in the race, clashing over proposals ranging from training county firefighters as paramedics to extending a controversial development agreement with the Ahmanson Land Co.

Schillo and Loh are competing in the November election for the 2nd Supervisorial District seat being vacated by Maria VanderKolk, who represents most of the Conejo Valley and Port Hueneme.

Many of their differences stem from their opposing philosophies on development.

Loh, a Thousand Oaks Democrat who is running on a pro-environment platform, believes the county and its cities should strictly adhere to their development and zoning guidelines.

“My concern is that we don’t overdevelop,” said Loh, 38. “What I am favoring is adherence to our General Plan and the preservation of the quality of life in Ventura County, which is why we chose to live here. And that means protecting our greenbelts and agricultural land.”

Schillo, a Thousand Oaks councilman who has come under attack for his support of some city projects over the years, said government needs to be more flexible when it comes to development and individual property rights.

“If you have such a rigid position in government, you’re going to have a hard time,” the 60-year-old Republican said. “There are very few black-and-white situations. You might be against something that is going to benefit the whole community.”

The two candidates have repeatedly sparred over the contentious issue of building a dump in Weldon Canyon, situated between Ventura and Ojai.

Loh opposes development of a new landfill because, she said, there is nothing to stop the operator from turning it into a regional facility, which could eventually import trash from sites such as Los Angeles.

“By siting a landfill at Weldon Canyon we’re letting ourselves in for a world of trouble,” said Loh, adding that she prefers to explore other ways to dispose of county trash, possibly even shipping it elsewhere by rail.

Schillo strongly supports a new west county landfill, saying the cost of shipping trash out of the county would be too expensive.

“If we do that, it’s going to double our trash rates,” he said.

Because of the high cost, Schillo said what is more likely to happen is that the Simi Valley Landfill will end up having to take trash from cities in the western part of the county. This, he said, would also result in hundreds of trash trucks running up and down freeways that cut through Thousand Oaks.

“I challenge anybody to say this is environmentally sensitive,” he said.

Another point of debate between Schillo and Loh is over who is best qualified to serve as a county supervisor.

Schillo, who owns a financial consulting business, has been a city councilman for 10 years, something he has played up in campaign ads and political mailers.

“This is not the time for a learn-as-you-go county supervisor,” Schillo declared in one newspaper ad in June. “This is the time for experience and leadership.”

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In contrast, Loh, an attorney who gave up her practice five years ago to raise her children, has no government experience. But she trumpets this as an asset, not a liability.

“I don’t think being a career politician is necessarily something that people hold very highly,” she said, adding that she would bring 13 years’ experience as a business lawyer to the job.

Her legal skills aside, Loh’s mailers tend to emphasize her outsider status.

“Trudi Loh: The Only One for Today’s Ventura County,” reads a recent flyer, which lists her endorsements from such environmental groups as the Sierra Club and Save Open Space.

The latter group played a key role in helping VanderKolk, who had no prior political experience, unseat Supervisor Madge Schaefer in 1990. But Save Open Space dropped its support for VanderKolk when she voted in favor of the giant Ahmanson Ranch housing project planned for eastern Ventura County.

The group is now backing Loh in large part because she opposes a proposal to give the Ahmanson Land Co. an extension on its development agreement with the county. In return for the right to develop a golf-course community in the Simi Hills, Ahmanson agreed to turn over thousands of acres of privately owned mountain land to park agencies.

But the deal has been stalled by lawsuits filed against the developer, which initially had until 1995 to complete the land transactions. Ahmanson is now asking that the deadline for acquiring two ranch properties owned by Bob Hope be extended by three years.

Loh said she opposes the extension because she believes the developer will eventually try to back out of its deal with the county.

“I think it increases the likelihood that we’re never going to get what we bargained for,” she said.

Schillo, however, said the developer is not to blame for the lawsuits holding up the project.

“I would be willing to give them a 10-year extension if necessary,” he said.

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On a few issues, the two candidates find common ground.

They both support a proposed commercial airport at the Point Mugu Navy base. The Navy has offered to share its runway with the county in exchange for sharing operating costs.

Both candidates agree that a commercial airport would help attract new businesses, while providing the county’s agricultural industry another way to ship its products out of state or overseas. Because most flights would land and take off over the ocean, there would be little noise impact on the nearby city of Camarillo, they said.

Still, Loh said she is concerned that a commercial airport could spark development in some agricultural areas surrounding the Navy base.

“I would want to see the environmental impact report” before making any final decision on the airport, she said.

In the public debates, the candidates have sparred over the need to train firefighters as paramedics. The county is now served by three private ambulance companies.

Loh, who has received donations from the county firefighters’ union, said a firefighter paramedic program could help improve emergency response times in some areas. She said she believed such a program could be phased in and would eventually pay for itself.

“I would not be in favor of putting public paramedics anywhere where the private sector is doing a good job,” she said. “But certainly there are some areas, especially in the east county, where response times could be improved.”

Schillo, who has received campaign contributions from Pruner Health Services, which serves eastern Ventura County, said he is not convinced county paramedic service is needed.

“It would take two years to get everybody trained,” he said. “Where is the money going to come from to train all the firefighters?”

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Recently, both candidates have been taking extra steps to demonstrate their desire to make a difference in other areas.

As a county supervisor, Loh pledged to use her annual car allowance--about $5,000--if necessary to extend the operating hours of the county’s Prueter Library in Port Hueneme. The library’s hours have been reduced from 61 hours a week to 24 hours in the past two years because of budget cuts.

“As a business attorney and a taxpayer, I understand that government has to cut waste, bureaucracy and political perks in order to provide these services,” Loh said in announcing her plan. “As the supervisor for the 2nd District, I will be committed to doing just that.”

Schillo has also been busy trying to drum up support outside the Thousand Oaks city limits, his home political turf.

One proposal he is working on would allow Oak Park and Lake Sherwood residents to join with Thousand Oaks in contracting with Los Angeles County for animal control services in nearby Agoura. Those residents now have to travel to Camarillo to claim lost animals or other pet services.

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And last week, Schillo proposed opening a tattoo-removal clinic in Port Hueneme that would remove gang insignia or other tattoos on teen-agers free of charge. Removing tattoos, he said, could help severe gang ties and help break down barriers that prevent many young people from getting jobs.

“I don’t think it will reduce crime, but it will help get the criminal out of the crime scene,” he said. “If it works in Port Hueneme, then we could have other locations around the entire county.”

Schillo said he is also working on lining up services for residents of the 2nd Supervisorial District, such as a traffic light in Oak Park.

“I’m getting things done now, even before I’m elected,” Schillo said. “Now do you want somebody that will do that, or somebody that’s just going to talk?”

But Loh dismissed Schillo’s actions as nothing more than political grandstanding, saying all of the projects he is working on have yet to be completed or proven successful.

“What he’s trying to do,” she said, “is create the appearance that he’s getting things done.”

2nd Supervisorial District

Attorney Trudi Loh and Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo are competing for the supervisorial seat being vacated by Marie VanderKolk, who is retiring after one term. The seat represents the 2nd Supervisorial District, which covers nearly of the Conejo Valley and stretches to Port Hueneme.

Trudi Loh

Age: 38

Occupation: homemaker, retired attorney

Residence: Thousand Oaks

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Cal State Fullerton, juris doctorate from the USC School of Law

Background: Worked as a business lawyer for 13 years, past chairwoman of the local chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus, member of the Thousand Oaks Library Restoration Committee and the Thousand Oaks Crime Prevention Task Force, volunteer instructor at Thousand Oaks High School.

Issues: Loh wants the county to adhere to its development guidelines and prohibit development in greenbelts; opposes the development of a new county landfill at Weldon Canyon, preferring instead to explore other options for waste disposal; wants to gradually implement a county firefighter paramedic program.

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Frank Schillo

Age: 60

Occupation: Thousand Oaks city councilman, president of Schillo Financial Corp.

Residence: Thousand Oaks

Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, master’s degree in business administration from the University of Dayton, Ohio.

Background: Elected to the Thousand Oaks City Council in 1984, chairman and founder of the Ventura County Council of Governments, chairman of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, member of the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency and the executive committee exploring a proposal for a commercial airport at Point Mugu.

Issues: Schillo wants to bring more and better county services to the 2nd Supervisorial District; favors a proposal to build a new west county landfill; supports development of a commercial airport at the Point Mugu naval base.