Local Elections : COUNTY SUPERVISORS : Schillo, Mikels May Set New Course for Issues Facing Board

The election of Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo and Simi Valley Councilwoman Judy Mikels to the Board of Supervisors could set a new course for the county on issues ranging from trash disposal to funding for law enforcement, officials said Wednesday.

Schillo and Mikels are also expected to add strong support for a plan to develop a commercial airport at Point Mugu Naval Air Base and could put off a longstanding proposal to train county firefighters as paramedics.

“I think we’re going to have a more action-oriented board,” predicted Supervisor John K. Flynn, who agrees with Schillo and Mikels on a number of the issues. “I think this is truly going to be a problem-solving board.”

But outgoing Supervisor Maria VanderKolk said she is not convinced that a proposal to build a landfill at Weldon Canyon near Ojai and another plan to ensure that all sales tax dollars from Proposition 172 are spent on law enforcement will be carried out by the new board members.

“You make promises sometimes that you can’t keep,” VanderKolk said.

She pointed out that while Schillo and Mikels have strongly supported the Weldon Canyon landfill, Flynn--once the dump’s biggest proponent--has backed off his position.

Schillo and Mikels said Wednesday that they continue to support plans for a new county dump. But Schillo said he is willing to listen to any alternative plans west county residents come up with to dispose of their trash.

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“If people in the west county want to pay more to haul their trash away, that’s up to them,” he said.

The two newly elected supervisors said they also remain committed to directing all Proposition 172 money to the county’s criminal-justice system and law enforcement agencies, unlike the current board, which shifted some revenues to the county’s general fund. Flynn also pledged his support to put all the money into public safety programs.

“I think we made a promise to the public to do what they wanted done,” Mikels said. “We’ll just have to find a way.”

In other issues, both Mikels and Schillo said they are not convinced that the county should train firefighters as paramedics.

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Firefighters have proposed starting a paramedic program to improve emergency response times around the county. But Mikels and Schillo said they have not seen any studies or reports that show that ambulance response times are inadequate.

The two also said they remain committed in their support for a proposed commercial airport at Point Mugu. The Navy has offered to share its runway with the county to help reduce its operating costs.

Mikels and Schillo said they believe a commercial airport would help boost the local economy by luring new businesses to the area.

Mikels, however, acknowledged that the only way the plan will work is if the county is able to attract enough commercial airliners to support the airport. “That’s the big question,” she said.

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Both of the newly elected supervisors said they were elated with their showing at the polls.

Semiofficial election tallies showed Mikels leading her opponent, Moorpark Councilman Scott Montgomery, by nearly 7,000 votes.

Mikels will succeed Supervisor Vicky Howard, who is stepping down after one term. Howard’s 4th District covers Simi Valley, Moorpark and the Santa Rosa Valley.

In the race for the 2nd Supervisorial District, Schillo led Thousand Oaks attorney Trudi Loh by 1,500 votes in semiofficial returns. Although several thousand votes were still uncounted Wednesday, election officials said they did not expect any change in the outcome.

Schillo will replace VanderKolk, who also is leaving office after one term. Her 2nd District covers most of the Conejo Valley and Port Hueneme.

Schillo and Loh together spent more than $200,000 on their campaigns, making their race one of the most expensive in county history. Both ran aggressive campaigns that took on an increasingly nasty tone in the final weeks of the campaign.

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Indeed, Loh said Wednesday that she was contemplating filing a lawsuit against Schillo over a newspaper ad that ran on Election Day questioning her work background.

Loh said she believed the ad and a similar mailer sent to voters in Port Hueneme hurt her campaign because there was no time to issue a response.

“I think it shows that if you make untrue statements about people, it can have an impact,” she said.

Schillo refused to comment on the issue.

In other county races, Thomas O. Mahon sailed to victory over challenger Richard Morrisset to retain his post as county auditor-controller.

“It feels good,” said Mahon, who was appointed auditor-controller last year by the Board of Supervisors. “It’s sort of like, ‘OK, now this is mine.’ I can stop listening to those people who kept saying, ‘You were appointed.’ ”

All three newly elected officials will be sworn into office on Jan. 3.

Correspondent Scott Hadly contributed to this report.