Officials Confident Over Future of Local Bases

Local politicians are optimistic that Ventura County’s military bases are not at risk, despite the Clinton administration’s announcement Tuesday that the president wants to close more bases to pay for weapons modernization and a military readiness program.

“I’m confident that with the resources we have and with what the bases have to offer that we should be on very solid ground,” Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) said. “But that doesn’t mean we can sit back and rest on our laurels. We will continue to be vigilant.”

Gallegly, along with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and county Supervisors John Flynn and Frank Schillo, has lobbied aggressively to protect the Point Mugu Naval Air Station and the Port Hueneme Naval Construction Battalion Center.

Those efforts helped Point Mugu keep its doors open in 1995, when it was on a list of bases to be “realigned” and effectively shut.

And in recent months, Navy officials have taken additional steps to shield both bases from military downsizing efforts. In July, the Navy began transferring a squadron of 16 E-2C Hawkeye radar planes to Point Mugu from San Diego’s Miramar Naval Air Station.

The transfer, which will be completed this spring, will bring nearly 1,000 military personnel and 1,500 family members to the base.

The E-2C planes, which can detect missiles 300 miles away, were initially scheduled to move to the Lemoore Naval Air Station in the Central Valley. But the Navy decided on Point Mugu after a campaign by local political and community leaders.

President Clinton is proposing base closures in 2001 and 2003, with a goal of cutting the base costs by about 10%, but individual bases have not been specified.

Cora Fields, a Point Mugu spokeswoman, said she believes the base is not in danger, but she said officials will continue to monitor the process.

“We were successful in 1995 because of our unique capability and location,” Fields said. “And we feel we’ve positioned ourselves well for the future with the recent relocation of the E2s.”

In October, Point Mugu and Port Hueneme also agreed to cut costs and increase efficiency by merging their public works, police, fire and recreation departments. Consequently, about 30 civilian workers accepted early retirement and voluntary separation programs.

The Pacific Fleet, an administrative arm of the Navy, now heads operations at Point Mugu and Port Hueneme. Point Mugu, which has a working population of about 11,000 and a budget of about $1.6 billion, is the third-largest employer in Ventura County and serves primarily as a missile test site.

Port Hueneme, one of only two Navy construction battalion centers in the nation, employs nearly 9,000 people and contributes about $590 million to the local economy.

Flynn said he believes both bases will be spared because of their unique roles.

“It would be a surprise to me if either one was on the list,” he said. “But we’ll do whatever is necessary to keep them open.”

Flynn and Schillo are members of Regional Defense Partnership 21, created more than three years ago to save Ventura’s military bases into the new century.

Schillo said the group plans to lobby Congress for a military construction project--a power facility for a Navy pier at Port Hueneme. He said the project would allow more commercial operations at the pier, produce more jobs and make that area a more viable port.

“I think it’s important not to be an alarmist,” Schillo said. “But I would never say the bases are risk-free. We do have worries and concerns. So we’re trying to find ways to bring new business to the bases.”

Schillo said he plans to visit Washington next month to meet with members of the congressional armed forces and military construction subcommittees about Ventura County’s bases. He will also take his lobbying efforts to Sacramento, where he plans to ask Gov. Gray Davis to continue funding a state Department of Commerce office designed to help preserve California’s bases.

Gallegly, who lobbied heavily for Point Mugu in 1995, said part of his job is to market Ventura County’s bases to the rest of the country.

Sherman, whose district includes portions of eastern Ventura County, agreed. He said the way to keep the bases off a closure list is by attracting more projects and jobs to the county, lobbying hard and convincing legislators that the work being done is important and efficient.

“It would be foolhardy to say that there is no risk,” Sherman said. “But when all is said and done, I think we will prevail.”

* INTEREST IN CONGRESS

Base-closing advocates see a good year shaping up. A5