Schillo’s Environmental Record Criticized : Supervisor’s race: Opponents cite his support of the Dos Vientos project and other development. But businessman defends self as ‘a moderate.’

Environmentalists who support county supervisorial candidate Trudi Loh joined Monday to denounce opponent Frank Schillo’s record on development issues and his attempt to campaign as a protector of the environment.

“Frank Schillo has not been a friend of the environment in terms of land-use,” said Cassandra Auerbach, a member of the Conejo Valley chapter of the Sierra Club. “Whatever else he may say, he hasn’t seen a development he didn’t like.”

Others who attended a news conference near rolling hills soon to be converted to the Dos Vientos housing project criticized Schillo for his support of that 2,350-house development. He also drew fire for endorsing a proposed landfill at Weldon Canyon near Ojai.

But Schillo said in an interview that Loh and her supporters have distorted his record on development issues, and that he has fought to manage growth in Thousand Oaks during his 10 years on the City Council.

“Trudi Loh has never spoken out for or against a single development in the city in the last 12 years,” Schillo said. “What kind of environmentalist is she?”

Schillo said that Dos Vientos was initially slated for 3,000 houses, but that the project was scaled back. He also noted that the developer agreed to preserve 1,300 acres of open space.

At the news conference, however, Loh and her supporters said that the Dos Vientos site had been planned for much less construction until the city changed the zoning to allow more houses. They also said that the project would cause major smog and traffic problems, while opening up the area to more growth.

“Save Open Space believes that no Ventura County open space or greenbelts will be safe under Frank Schillo,” said Mary Wiesbrock, president of the Agoura-based environmental group that was instrumental in helping to elect Supervisor Maria VanderKolk in 1990.

VanderKolk decided not to seek another term in the 2nd District, an area covering most of the Conejo Valley and Port Hueneme.

Although pleased to have the endorsement of Save Open Space and other environmental organizations, Loh stressed that she is not anti-development.

“Clearly we need to have a good balance,” said Loh, an attorney. “We need to have good, healthy economic growth. And we need to preserve the things that make Ventura County unique.”

Others who participated in Monday’s news conference were Sue Boecker, a Ventura County planning commissioner; Brad Childs, executive director of the Wilderness Institute; Lu Setnicka, a spokeswoman for Patagonia, and Michael Shapiro, a member of an Ojai-based environmental group opposed to the Weldon Canyon landfill.

Setnicka and Shapiro applauded Loh’s position against the dump. The candidate wants the county to explore other alternatives for disposing of trash, possibly even shipping it elsewhere by rail.

“Trudi is a candidate thinking and acting upon the very issues that directly affect our quality of life in this county,” Setnicka said.

But Schillo said that if the county’s trash is shipped by rail, trash rates in Thousand Oaks will soar.

Loh said she opposes the Weldon Canyon dump out of concern that the operator will import trash from such places as Los Angeles, a move that could lead to a parade of trash trucks rolling through Thousand Oaks. Loh said that a new dump would also make it more difficult to attract businesses because it would add to the county’s already serious smog problem.

Meanwhile, Auerbach criticized a recent Schillo flyer that features a color picture of the candidate standing with a group of Sierra Club hikers in an open field off Hampshire Road at the east end of Thousand Oaks.

The flyer states that Schillo’s “goals are to enact legislation to control development, provide for more open space and reinforce better waste management, making Ventura County one of the best places to live and work in the state.”

Auerbach and others described the flyer as “a fraud,” saying it misrepresented Schillo’s record on development.

Schillo said everything stated in the flyer is accurate, including statements that he was instrumental in preserving thousands of acres of open space.