Camarillo Balks at Paying for Ballpark : Stadium: City leaders say they cannot afford an even three-way split of the $15.6 million for a minor league field in Ventura.

Although Camarillo has grudgingly joined neighboring cities in an ambitious plan to put a minor league ballpark in Ventura, city leaders say they do not intend to pay one-third of the $15.6 million needed for the project, and may not contribute any money at all.

Hoping to keep Camarillo involved in the plan, members of the tri-city committee that originated the stadium idea have suggested splitting costs on a per-capita basis--a plan that would benefit the much smaller Camarillo.

Under the proposal, Ventura and Oxnard would have to pay the bulk of the costs for the 5,500-seat ballpark, or the project would die altogether.

The three cities expect to vote in the next six weeks on whether to form a joint-powers authority that would own and operate the stadium and share its expenses.

Members of the baseball committee, made up of council members and staff from the three cities, had previously agreed to split the costs of the ballpark evenly. Each city would have spent about $600,000 a year for 20 years under that proposal.

“We’ll see if we can come to any agreement on a (joint-powers authority) now,” said Camarillo Mayor Ken Gose, a committee member. “There are certainly many ways to change the formula of how much each city pays, and that is probably the direction we are going to have to take.”

Ventura Councilman Jack Tingstrom said the committee will probably present the cities with a proposal for a per-capita funding plan under which Camarillo would pay only about $330,000 a year.

“While everybody is still in the game, we are trying to work on an agreement that would be fair to everybody,” Tingstrom said. “If we can do this jointly, that is the most important thing.”

But Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said he would never support funding the ballpark on a per-capita basis.

“They can forget about that as far as I’m concerned,” Lopez said. “That always surfaces when it comes time to fund things . . . I don’t think anyone (in Oxnard) would vote for that.”

After a four-hour debate Wednesday night, the Camarillo City Council voted 3 to 2 to support the location of the proposed Class A baseball stadium in a field near the Ventura Auto Center.

But three of the five council members made it clear that they would not spend public funds on a ballpark.

“I’m going to vote for this,” said councilman Mike Morgan, who changed his mind and cast the deciding vote on Wednesday. “But I’m telling you now: If this means spending public money, I’ll vote against it.”

Gose and Tingstrom said the cities would not have to put up $15.6 million if a joint-powers authority is approved, because the committee is planning an aggressive fund-raising campaign that hopes to net a substantial portion of the needed millions.

Tingstrom said the fund-raising effort will target ordinary residents, as well as the county’s major corporations and wealthy citizens.

“We’ve raised $4.5 million in property over the last two months, and we weren’t doing too much,” Tingstrom said. “We’re trying to make this thing happen without too much public money.”

The three cities have been cooperating since the spring when Joe Gagliardi, president of the California League, promised to bring a Class A team to the county if someone built a stadium. The cities have spent $85,000 to study the idea.

Times correspondent J.E. Mitchell contributed to this story.