School Board Hopeful Requests a Debate

Concerned that his competitor may be hiding conservative religious views from the voters, Ventura County Board of Education candidate Paul Chatman Wednesday challenged Ronald Matthews to a debate.

Chatman said Matthews, a 49-year-old Oxnard businessman, has been inaccessible to the voters throughout the campaign season. He sent a letter to Matthews asking him to decide on a time and date for a candidates’ forum by Oct. 15.

“There is a grave concern that he’s running a stealth camp,” said Chatman, a 51-year-old member of the Ocean View school board. “But I refuse to let him run a stealth campaign. We need to know where he stands on public issues . . . and we need to know it before we vote, not after we’ve bought the bad package.”

Matthews, who has not yet decided whether to participate in the forum, dismissed that allegation.

“I’m not stealth, and it’s not a bad package,” he said.

Matthews said he has conveyed his conservative message in talks with business groups and in mailings.

Worried that a forum could be unfair, Matthews said he wants to read Chatman’s letter before deciding. “I don’t want it to be just a spitting match,” he said.

The two are vying for an open seat on the five-member panel vacated by moderate John McGarry, who decided not to seek reelection.

The county school board is now dominated by conservative members--Angela Miller, Wendy Larner and Marty Bates. The majority in recent years has clashed with county Supt. of Schools Charles Weis over issues ranging from AIDS education for teachers to the acceptance of federal grants for job training.

The seat held by conservative Ojai homemaker Larner is being contested by Janet Lindgren, 68, a former Oxnard Union High School District trustee.

With a $39-million annual budget, the county school board oversees the education of about 5,000 students who attend schools for troubled youths and special education and vocational programs. Although the superintendent’s office performs a variety of administrative functions for the county’s 21 school districts, individual districts set their own policies and make the decisions that affect students in their schools.