ELECTIONS / VENTURA : Farmers Plow $89,800 Into Fight Against Land Issues

Gearing up for a fierce fight in the final days before the Nov. 7 election, Ventura County farmers plan to outspend environmentalists nearly 3-1 in an attempt to defeat two restrictive land-use initiatives on the ballot.

Farmers have poured $89,800 into an aggressive campaign aimed at killing measures I and J, which would prohibit urban expansion onto farmland.

But proponents of the twin initiatives have also upped the ante.

Voters Coalition has raised $26,904 to support the initiatives. And Save Our Agricultural Resources has kicked in an additional $9,652 to aid the measures, according to campaign finance documents. Candidates for Ventura City Council and those involved in other municipal races were required to file campaign disclosure statements by 5 p.m. Thursday.

Three leading council candidates reported raising more than $16,000. But their fund-raising paled in comparison to the huge sums being pumped into the fight over the land-control ballot measures.

Aimed at halting urban expansion, measures I and J would prohibit development on farmland unless approved by Ventura voters.

Farmers say the measures are an attack on their property rights. And they fear that if the initiatives are approved, similar measures would crop up in other areas of the county.

“What we are finding is that farmers in other parts of the county are concerned,” said Ventura farmer Bob Tobias. “We are getting support from many, many areas now.”

Growers from Ventura, Oxnard and Santa Paula were among those who contributed thousands of dollars to fight the measures, with some prominent ranchers spending as much as $4,000 and $5,000.

“We have only a handful of growers in the city so we need the help of farmers from outside the area,” Tobias said. “When you don’t have numbers, the only thing you can fight back with is money.”

Aiding the farmers’ fight is a special interest group backed by the Chamber of Commerce. Venturans for a Quality Community has raised $15,330 and spent nearly $10,000 on mailers opposing the measures, reports showed.

All totaled, opponents and supporters have accumulated more than $141,000 to argue their position on the measures, making this initiative battle one of the costliest in city history.

Ventura Councilman Steve Bennett, an initiative proponent, said he expected the farmers to outspend his group by about 5-1. The nearly $27,000 that initiative supporters have raised far exceeds their expectations, he said.

“We need to spend enough money to neutralize their spending, not match it,” Bennett said. “Our goal is to be out there enough to make sure people have heard our message.”

The cumulative war chest will very likely explode in a flurry of mailers expected to land in Ventura residents’ mailboxes during the next 10 days.

Both sides have spent the bulk of their funds on glossy mailers to woo Ventura voters, although the farmers are taking an equally fruitful approach this weekend.

Hoping to sour residents on the ballot measures, farmers plan to walk door-to-door this weekend handing out lemons and campaign literature to residents.

“We know that if we are going to get the message out to the voters, we have got a very short period to do it,” Tobias said.

In the City Council race, 10 of the 12 candidates vying for three open seats had filed campaign finance reports by Thursday evening, with three pro-growth candidates emerging as the top money-getters.

Between July 1 and Oct. 21, James Friedman raised $22,733--the most of any candidate. Ray Di Guilio followed closely with $22,372. And incumbent Jack Tingstrom raised $16,508.

Stephen L. Hartmann raised $11,231. Donna De-Paola Peterson raised $9,809. Craig Huntington raised $5,594.

Brian Lee Rencher, John S. Jones and Christopher T. Staubach each raised less than $1,000. Carroll Dean Williams reported no contributions.

Charles E. (Buster) Davis and Keith Burns did not file campaign disclosure forms as required by state law and could face fines.

In other contributions reported Thursday, the Save Our Libraries committee reported raising $17,425, most of which came in the form of small $200 and $300 contributions.

Three candidates are vying for two seats on the board of the Ventura Unified School District. Incumbent Diane Harriman raised $1,509, incumbent Jim Wells raised $749 and challenger Jeffery McCann raised $1,491.

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