Point Mugu Backers to Testify at Hearing

A nine-member delegation of Point Mugu supporters jets to San Francisco today with a stack of testimony designed to knock the naval base off the list of military installations being scrutinized for closure.

The delegation, which has been busy doing its homework in Ventura County and in Washington, plans to show base-closing commissioners that Point Mugu is a cost-efficient base needed by the Navy for conducting weapon tests.

The group opted against organizing busloads of supporters to show widespread support for Point Mugu at the Thursday public hearing before the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

Members of the BRAC ’95 Task Force, a local grass-roots lobbying group, will be joined by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and Adm. Dana B. McKinney, the commanding officer of Point Mugu and its sister base in the Mojave Desert.

Other speakers in the group are Ventura County Supervisor John K. Flynn, task force co-chairman Cal Carrera, defense industry executive Bob Conroy and Ted Raines, former technical director of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division.

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) will not be able to attend the hearing, said Melissa Kuckro, the congressman’s legislative director. “He has a personal family commitment back here in Washington,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors donated an additional $6,000 to the task force, and the Simi Valley City Council contributed $2,500.

The Camarillo City Council tonight is set to consider a request for $4,000 more to help the task force’s lobbying campaign to save Point Mugu and its 9,000 jobs.