Candidates Urge Change in Prop. 172 Distribution

Two candidates vying for the supervisorial seat being vacated next year by Susan Lacey called for changes Thursday in the way Proposition 172 money is distributed to provide public safety.

Ventura County is the only county in California to adopt an ordinance to ensure that all of the money generated by the statewide public safety tax--$30 million to $40 million a year locally--is funneled exclusively to the sheriff, district attorney, public defender and corrections services.

But former Ventura Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures and current Ventura Councilman Jim Monahan--both running for the 1st District seat that includes portions of the Ojai Valley, Ventura and coastal areas of Oxnard--said they’d be willing to consider expanding the number of programs that could use those public safety dollars.

“I think we need to revisit how those dollars can best be utilized within the realm of public safety,” said Measures, a 25-year banker who now manages her family’s investments.

“Perhaps we need to place some of that toward a greater role in funding prevention programs,” she said. “We have increasing needs that need to be looked at and prioritized. We need to look at how we prevent problems rather than just trying to fix them after the fact.”

Monahan said he, too, would be willing to broaden the definition of public safety under Proposition 172 to include such agencies as animal control. He would also like to see firefighters receive a greater share of those funds.

“I know the intention of the voting public is to strengthen public safety and I think these things are in line with that,” said Monahan, a longtime businessman who has served on the council since 1977. “It’s something I would certainly like to take a look at.”

A third candidate for Lacey’s seat, high school teacher and former Ventura Councilman Steve Bennett, was more careful about his Proposition 172 assessment.

He said he supports how the money is now spent. But he said he wants to know more about provisions in the county ordinance that require those four public safety agencies to receive funding at least equal to their budgeted amounts in fiscal year 1994-95, while providing them with annual increases to meet inflation.

If provisions of the ordinance are “causing those departments to use an increasingly larger percentage of the budget, and crowding out other programs, then in my mind that would need to be looked at,” said Bennett, co-sponsor of Ventura County’s SOAR growth-control initiatives.

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“Until you are there and you have the hard data, I don’t think you can know the answer to that question,” he said. “But that is something I’d be willing to ask.”

The issue of how best to spend money generated by the half-cent sales tax came to the forefront this week with the sudden departure of chief administrator David L. Baker.

In a blistering six-page letter of resignation, Baker blasted the county’s use of the voter-approved tax dollars, saying that funding guarantees for public safety come at the expense of non-safety programs and employees.

Two years after the 1993 passage of the statewide sales tax initiative, the Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to direct the revenues to just four agencies, and use the general fund to help cover inflationary costs for equipment and supplies in those departments as well as all salary and benefit increases.

The board’s vote avoided a special election on the issue, prompted by a highly successful law enforcement-led petition drive.

Supervisors Frank Schillo, Judy Mikels and John K. Flynn voted for the ordinance, while Lacey and then-Supervisor Maggie Kildee voted no.

The 1st District seat, by itself, would not provide the swing vote needed to amend the ordinance.

But there is at least some sentiment on the part of candidates who are challenging Flynn and Supervisor Kathy Long in the March primary that the issue could be revisited if there is enough political push and public support to do so.

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“I would not take away that money completely, but I think we need to look at it again,” said Arlene Fraser, who is running against Flynn for the third time. “Accountability is very important, but it doesn’t seem like that has been a priority of the board.”

Added 25-year Camarillo resident and businessman Jim Shinn, who this week filed to run against Long: “I’m running to put some fiscal responsibility back into government. It all goes back to the board; that is their job. They should be there asking questions, not just looking out for their little pet interests.”