Times Endorsements

Ventura County voters on June 2 will choose a new Superior Court judge and county assessor. They will also decide whether to replace two members of the Board of Supervisors, the county superintendent of schools and the auditor-controller.

In addition, they will join voters throughout the state in voting on eight ballot initiatives ranging from school spending to bilingual education. Times endorsements on those initiatives appear in today’s Opinion section. As a matter of policy, The Times does not endorse in party primaries.

Here are The Times’ endorsements in Ventura County races:

SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE

Ventura County is fortunate to have more than one strong candidate for the seat being vacated by Judge Robert C. Bradley. Remarkably, all three contenders are Democrats. Just as remarkably, they represent vastly different backgrounds and perspectives.

Cathleen Drury, a specialist in divorce and child-custody cases, says the court needs a family-law judge.

Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Kevin McGee has impeccable integrity and an impressive record as a prosecutor, administrator and, previously, in civil law. With a long string of endorsements, he is clearly the choice of the law-and-order establishment.

Deputy Public Defender Gary Windom has had a long and varied career in civil and criminal law. He has handled high-profile cases for the public defender’s office for years and is a professor at Ventura College of Law.

Our courts are one cornerstone of an effective criminal justice system that has made Ventura County one of the safest in the nation. We appreciate the fine work they do, yet too often the courthouse seems like a private club. In such a close contest, we believe that is a factor worth considering. About three-fourths of our current Superior Court judges are former prosecutors. We think the court could use some variety, and that is the only factor weighing against Kevin McGee in our view.

The Times endorses Gary Windom for the broad background and independent perspective he would bring to the bench.

SUPERVISOR, 2nd DISTRICT

Frank Schillo, a former Thousand Oaks city councilman, was elected four years ago and has done a good job for this district, which includes Thousand Oaks, Port Hueneme and South Oxnard. A financial advisor by profession, he brings a sharp pencil to the board and has challenged numerous county bureaucracies to streamline and pinch pennies.

Among his successes are reorganization of the county library system, creation of an Economic Development Collaborative and leadership of the county’s ongoing effort to keep our two Navy bases in service. He has offered a string of innovative if sometimes unconventional ideas, such as providing cars to some welfare recipients who have no other way to reach the jobs they’re being forced to take. Schillo has limited campaign contributions this time to $100, a commendable step.

Challenging him is Vince J. Curtis of Oak Park. A real estate appraiser, he is a passionate foe of the Ahmanson Ranch development and a supporter of the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources campaign. (Schillo also has endorsed SOAR.) Curtis has no government experience and only passing familiarity with issues other than open-space preservation.

The Times endorses Frank Schillo for another term. We encourage him to keep pinching those pennies and tossing out those blue-sky-but-worth-a-try ideas.

SUPERVISOR, 4th DISTRICT

Judy Mikels, a veteran Simi Valley councilwoman, also joined the board in 1994 and is currently its chair. The district includes Simi Valley, Moorpark, Somis and the Santa Rosa and Tierra Rejada valleys.

Mikels is involved in a wide range of county issues and just completed a term as president of the Southern California Assn. of Governments, evidence of her strong grasp of regional issues. Her no-nonsense manner can seem brusque, yet in many cases her blunt candor is exactly what county bureaucrats have needed. She is the board’s most outspoken opponent of SOAR.

Challenging her is Jonathan Palo, a paint company sales representative, also of Simi Valley. A strong supporter of SOAR, he was encouraged to run by growth-control advocates. He opposes the widening of Highway 118 and would like to see the county create an information infrastructure to support high-tech businesses. Palo offers no government or leadership experience, minimal knowledge of other issues and few fresh ideas.

The Times endorses Judy Mikels for another term of cracking the whip over county government.

COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT

Despite numerous run-ins with a sharply polarized school board, incumbent Charles Weis has done a good job. Test scores have risen on his watch; dropout rates have declined.

Even the run-ins have settled down in the past two years, which he credits to clarifying the responsibilities of the board and the superintendent. Weis supports bilingual education and says his top priority is to raise standards and help more students meet them.

Opposing him is Wayne Edmonds, personnel director for the Oxnard High School District. He would like to make the school system more efficient and more responsible to its students, their parents and the community. His major criticism of Weis is the previous strife with the school board; Edmonds vows to work more cooperatively. Although he insists that he is not a standard-bearer for the board’s conservatives, he places himself to the right of Weis. He supports the Unz initiative and says he is open to a voucher system.

The Times endorses Charles Weis for another term, with praise to him and the board for ending the head-butting and with encouragement to continue improving the schools.

COUNTY AUDITOR-CONTROLLER

As much as most taxpayers dislike paying taxes, what really hurts is the notion that those dollars aren’t being used as efficiently as possible. Making sure the public gets maximum bang for its bucks is the most important function of the auditor-controller, and challenger Steve Maulhardt vows to do a more aggressive job of that.

Incumbent Tom Mahon, 75, has worked in the department since 1970 and was appointed to the top job in 1993. His financial pessimism has helped Ventura County keep its high credit rating on Wall Street, but audits of some county departments have been far between. His own department is hardly a model of modern efficiency--lacking e-mail capability, a presence on the county’s Web site and even direct deposit of paychecks for county employees. His political ties have landed him in some potential conflicts of interest recently.

Maulhardt, 50, is a certified public accountant formerly with Deloitte & Touche, former treasurer with USA Petroleum Co. and an active participant in his family’s real estate ventures. He talks a much more aggressive line about auditing various county departments and updating the technology and procedures.

The Times thanks Tom Mahon for his years of service but believes it is time for some energetic new leadership in this office. We endorse Steve Maulhardt and encourage him to vigorously look out for the taxpayers’ interests.

COUNTY ASSESSOR

With Glenn Gray retiring, seven candidates want the job. The in-house candidate is tax specialist James Dodd, who joined the department 19 years ago and has never worked anywhere else. He concedes that the assessor’s office needs to make some quantum leaps to catch up in computer access to maps or data (or even information about how to appeal your assessment). A member of the department’s automation committee, he is more involved with technology than Gray was but asks, “What is automation going to do for the taxpayer?”

The candidate with the most encouraging mix of public- and private-sector experience plus fresh vision is Dan Goodwin. He got his start appraising property in the Ventura County Assessor’s office as an 18-year-old Ventura College student, then went on to found his own appraisal firm in Oxnard 15 years ago.

The technological tools discussed in theory by other candidates are already familiar to private-sector appraisers, and Goodwin vows to put those tools to work for county taxpayers. In addition, he proposes a variety of outreach programs, such as estate-tax seminars for seniors and workshops for people who are considering challenging their assessments to quickly separate those who have a legitimate beef from those who don’t.

For his enthusiasm, his varied experience and his entrepreneurial vision for making this low-profile department more helpful and efficient, The Times endorses Dan Goodwin for county assessor.