Hospital, Malls Wage Battle of the Big Bucks

Community Memorial Hospital has poured more than $745,000 in cash and nonmonetary contributions into its campaign to halt construction of a new county clinic, viewed as a threat to its business, according to reports filed Thursday.

Another Ventura institution, Buenaventura Mall, has pumped more than $102,000 into fending off a challenge from a rival shopping center trying to block the mall’s expansion plans. The Esplanade in Oxnard has spent more than $57,000 on its campaign, finance statements show.

And in the race for an open seat on the County Board of Supervisors, Fillmore Mayor Roger Campbell still holds a fund-raising lead, although one of his three rivals, Kathy Long, outpaced him in the past six weeks.

By far, the most money is going into the countywide referendum over Ventura County Medical Center’s plans to build an outpatient clinic.

“It’s a shame any of this money had to be spent,” said Laura Dahlgren, spokeswoman for the Community Memorial-sponsored group Taxpayers for Quality Health Care. “If the county had agreed to do a joint study with us two years ago to evaluate health-care needs, none of this money would have been spent.”

In comparison, a group favoring the clinic project has raised $38,500, nearly all of it from physicians, to rally support for Measure X, which will appear on the March 26 ballot.

Former County Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer, spokeswoman for the group called SMART, chided Community Memorial for spending more on its political campaign than on charity care. The nonprofit hospital, which receives about $2.5 million annually in tax breaks, provided $209,000 in charity care in the 1994-95 fiscal year, according to state records.

“They’ve spent about four times what they spend on charity care,” Schaefer said of Community Memorial’s campaign. “Am I surprised? No. The sky’s the limit when you’ve got tax-free Yankee dollars.”

In supervisorial races, Campbell reported raising a total of $63,000 in his bid for the seat now held by retiring board member Maggie Kildee, according to campaign statements filed with the county registrar’s office.

Campbell reported raising $11,700 since the beginning of the year and had $20,300 cash on hand for the March 26 primary. He is seeking to represent the county’s 3rd District, which includes Fillmore, Camarillo, Ojai, Santa Paula and portions of Thousand Oaks.

“I feel real gratified,” he said. “I’ve gotten money from a wide variety of people--housewives, doctors, people in the construction industry. I think that says something about my candidacy.”

Campbell continues to receive strong support from doctors and administrators of Community Memorial Hospital, largely because he opposes the clinic planned for the county hospital.

To date, Campbell has received $2,050 from physicians and officials of the private hospital, including a total of $600 in contributions from hospital Director Michael Bakst.

Campbell said he was pleased to receive the support. “They’re like any other group of people who have an interest in an issue,” he said. “They hear what I’m saying, and they agree with me.”

Behind him in overall fund-raising is Long, who has raised a total of $26,800 to date. Long, a senior assistant to Kildee, has brought in $11,800 since the beginning of the year, slightly more than Campbell, with $14,200 left in the bank.

Long reported receiving $1,800 contributions from the county employees union and the Tri Counties Central PAC. She also received a $750 contribution from the Service Employees Joint Council and a $600 contribution from the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Candidate Al Escoto, another Kildee assistant, collected a total of $13,263, including $4,600 since Jan. 1.

But Escoto said he was not worried. He said he has four fund-raisers planned over the next few weeks that will more than double his financial war chest.

“The underdog is going to show,” he said.

Camarillo Councilman Mike Morgan, the fourth candidate in the race, reported raising a total of $15,000 so far, including a $5,000 personal loan to his campaign.

In the 2nd District, which includes Ventura and most of the Ojai Valley, Supervisor Susan K. Lacey has raised about $40,000, compared to Ventura Councilman Jim Monahan, who reported collecting about $31,000.

But Lacey has a hefty reserve of $31,400 to boost her campaign, while Monahan has a mere $1,400.

Ventura activist Carroll Dean Williams, the third candidate in the race, did not file a finance report.

Supervisor John K. Flynn, who is seeking reelection in the 5th District, continues to overwhelm his three opponents in campaign contributions, having collected more than $25,000 so far. Flynn reported having $13,100 cash on hand.

Trailing far behind was opponent Arlene Fraser, with more than $7,500 in total contributions and $1,090 left in the bank.

Two other challengers, Enrique Petris and Angel Diaz, did not file campaign statements.

Meanwhile, in Ventura, rival mall owners continued to pour money into campaigns targeting Measure S, a March 26 ballot initiative aimed at derailing the planned expansion of Buenaventura Mall.

MCA Buenaventura Associates has funneled $102,270 into the fight against Measure S, according to finance reports filed Thursday.

In contrast, The Esplanade has contributed $57,500 to the group supporting the measure.

The San Francisco-based company that owns the Oxnard mall stands to lose two department stores if the $50-million Buenaventura Mall expansion goes through.

To halt the project, the firm is sponsoring a local pro-Measure S committee. Citizens Against the Sales Tax Giveaway has raised $72,942 so far, including $37,500 from The Esplanade last year and another $20,000 this year.

In addition, the group has received $11,967 in nonmonetary contributions in the form of literature, legal and consulting services from a trio of San Francisco-based firms affiliated with The Esplanade.

The committee’s sizable war chest received $90 in cash contributions from four Ventura residents as well.

Meanwhile, finance records show that MCA Buenaventura Associates is bankrolling almost the entire campaign opposing Measure S, except for a $400 in-kind contribution from the Doubletree Hotel.

The money has primarily been spent on campaign mailers and political consulting fees, records show.

“The owners are [providing] most of the financial support,” said Ken Schmitz, treasurer of the anti-Measure S group, Venturans United for Economic Security. “We’re doing the legwork.”

Buenaventura Mall’s expansion hinges on a tax-sharing deal targeted by the ballot measure and a referendum drive aimed at overturning the City Council’s approval of the project.

Although Measure S would ban future tax-sharing deals, it would not prohibit a $32.3-million rebate already promised Buenaventura Mall developers. To halt that deal, the committee hopes to qualify a referendum.

“It is important that this apply to the mall,” said Eric Lambert, campaign manager for the Measure S supporters. “We see it as such an egregious deal.”

Under the agreement approved by the City Council last month, the mall’s developers will pay $12.6 million in public improvements to be paid back by the city over 20 years. With interest, the payback would total $32.3 million.