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Camarillo’s SOAR Plan to Go on Ballot

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Saying they were following the wishes of their constituents, the City Council has voted unanimously to place a local growth-control initiative on the November ballot.

But the council split 3 to 2 Wednesday night when it came to adding an amendment that would void the initiative in the event that a similar countywide Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources measure fails.

Despite her support for the so-called “poison pill” clause, Mayor Charlotte Craven said she believes voters will support the local and countywide measures.

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“I think they’re both going to pass,” she said.

If the local initiative is approved, it would limit the city’s ability to expand beyond its designated borders for the next 20 years without a vote of residents. Similar SOAR measures will also appear on the fall ballot in Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Santa Paula.

SOAR organizers are also hoping to pass a countywide initiative banning rezoning of farmland or open space in unincorporated areas without voter approval. Ventura voters passed a measure similar to that countywide initiative in 1995.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the Camarillo City Council also voted to file a lawsuit against the county registrar’s office over its July 31 ballot application deadline. The city attorney has complained that there is not enough time to prepare Camarillo’s measure.

“They told us, if you don’t like it, get a judge to do it,” said City Atty. Bob Flandrick, noting that the city plans to file suit on Monday. He said the action could cost the city as much $5,000.

Bruce Bradley, county elections chief, said that the deadline is necessary to ensure that sample ballots are printed in a timely manner. But he said that he is willing to work with Camarillo officials.

“I think there’s still some kind of room for negotiation,” Bradley said. “But it’s hard to negotiate when you’ve got lawsuits threatened.”

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If the city is unable to place its measure on the county ballot in November, then it would be forced to hold a special election. A special election would cost the city about $52,000, as opposed to $5,000 piggy-backing on the county ballot, officials said.

Meanwhile, SOAR organizers are still attempting to round up enough voter signatures to force a special election on another growth-control initiative in Moorpark.

Attorneys for the Ventura County Libertarian Party recently won a court battle to kick a local SOAR initiative off Moorpark’s November ballot.

They argued successfully that some of the signatures gathered for an earlier petition were invalid. The reason was that the petitions asked voters to list their residential address “as registered,” which in effect prevented the county registrar from making sure people still lived where they were registered to vote.

As of last week, SOAR organizers said they had gathered 2,200 of the 2,400 signatures needed to force a special election.

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