Firm Readies Campaign for Weldon Dump

A San Diego investment firm that wants to build a garbage dump in Weldon Canyon plans to spend approximately $400,000 to rally support for its landfill initiative before the March 26 election, officials said Thursday.

“We haven’t really started the campaign yet,” said Richard Chase, general partner of Taconic Resources. “Nothing much is going to happen until about March 1.”

Taconic has already spent $102,800 to qualify Measure T for the ballot, according to campaign statements filed with the county this week. Most of that money went to pay for consultants, surveys and signature gathering for an initiative petition.

The additional $400,000 that Taconic plans to spend will go toward a new voter survey as well as campaign mailers and possibly radio and television ads, Chase said.

Taconic wants to build a dump to replace Bailard Landfill in Oxnard after it closes this summer. Because a majority of the Board of Supervisors has voiced opposition to the project, the investment group has decided to bypass the board and go directly to the voters.

In contrast to Taconic’s financial firepower, opponents of Measure T have raised a meager $5,000 so far for their campaign effort. The money came from a single donation by Malinda Chouinard, co-owner of Patagonia, the Ventura outdoor clothing manufacturer.

Ventura County Citizens Against Measure T, which is based in Camarillo, counts about two dozen supporters among its fledgling group, said campaign manager Milton Kramer.

“That’s about 20 more than Chase has got,” Kramer said, referring to the fact that Taconic’s investors are all from outside the county.

Still, Kramer said he is concerned about the amount of money that Taconic is willing to spend on its campaign.

“That is a worry,” he said. “We’re never going to compete with them. The only thing we can hope is that we can get the word out.”

Kramer said members of his group oppose a Weldon Canyon landfill because they believe the site will become a regional dump that will have to import trash from outside the county to survive economically.

Chase said that this is not Taconic’s intention.

This is the second time that Taconic has campaigned for the Weldon Canyon dump.

The firm spent more than $350,000 to put a similar landfill measure on the ballot in November 1994.

However, a judge later declared the initiative invalid, saying it was a flagrant attempt by Taconic to grab power away from public officials for private gain.

But Taconic officials said the language in the new initiative has been tightened to withstand a legal challenge.