A Recap of Endorsements

Hotly contested presidential primaries and several controversial ballot measures give California voters plenty of reason to trek to the polls on Tuesday.

In addition, Ventura County residents will select three members for the county’s main policy-setting body, the Board of Supervisors. And in the first application of the countywide SOAR growth-control measure, voters all across Ventura County will say yes or no to an Ojai Valley retirement home’s expansion proposal.

Los Angeles Times endorsements in statewide ballot initiatives are summarized in the Opinion section of today’s paper. Here is a recap of The Times’ endorsements in Ventura County races:

DISTRICT 1

We believe Steve Bennett is just the sort of new leader for a new century that Ventura County needs if it is to evolve along different lines than the rest of Southern California. As co-founder of the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) anti-sprawl movement, Bennett argues that it is not necessary to wait until all the greenbelts have been paved before we start to insist on more creative, more sustainable solutions.

Bennett, 49, lives in Ventura and is an assistant principal and economics teacher at Nordhoff High School in Ojai. He has a strong populist streak and environmental credentials. As a Ventura city councilman he pushed campaign finance reform and in this race has accepted no contribution larger than $500.

The other two candidates have plenty of government know-how and business-world experience but neither has shown the vision and leadership displayed by Bennett.

DISTRICT 3

Michael D. Morgan, 52, has experience in precisely what the county needs right now: He was on the Camarillo City Council in the late 1980s when the city found itself on the verge of bankruptcy. He helped to bring in a top-flight city manager who not only paid off all the city’s debts but, over time, helped make Camarillo perhaps the county’s most fiscally secure city.

Incumbent Kathy Long has worked hard on numerous important issues. Although she opposed SOAR, she led the Agriculture Policy Working Group in drawing up alternative strategies. She has strongly opposed the Newhall Ranch development and Santa Paula’s ill-advised plan to expand into Adams Canyon. Yet she provided a key vote for the board’s biggest mistake of the past two years, a politically motivated shift of the county’s mental health agency from the medical bureaucracy to the social services bureaucracy. She continues to blame others and downplay her own culpability for the merger debacle.

Primarily for this reason, we endorse challenger Morgan for the 3rd District seat.

DISTRICT 5

Like Long, incumbent John K. Flynn voted for the ill-fated mental health merger. But unlike her, he soon recognized the mistake, reversed his vote and has worked hard to undo the damage and straighten out the political / organizational problems that begat it.

A 24-year veteran of the board, Flynn, 67, has a mastery of local issues and many contacts at state and federal levels. He has made himself an expert in the complicated issue of water supply, worked hard to keep Ventura County’s two Navy bases open and played a key role in the county’s welfare-to-work efforts.

Challenger Francisco Dominguez has contributed much as an Oxnard Elementary School District trustee and director of the social service and advocacy agency El Concilio del Condado de Ventura. We believe he has a promising future in local politics. But this time, we endorse Flynn.

We believe Steve Bennett, Michael D. Morgan and John K. Flynn are the most likely to lead Ventura County toward sensible growth, greater fiscal stability and more efficient government.

MEASURE F

Now that SOAR gives voters the power to approve or reject specific development proposals, what sort of projects should get the green light?

We believe Measure F is a good example.

Near Ojai, the Brothers of St. John of God religious order seeks to expand its St. Joseph’s Health and Retirement Center, citing growing demand for housing for the elderly and a need to modernize its facilities. The plan would convert the existing 28-bed building to 12 independent living apartments and add a second building with room for 60 skilled nursing beds.

A complete design has been drawn up and modified to address neighbors’ concerns about traffic, noise and light pollution. The plan would require the removal of nearly 500 orange trees but the developers have arranged to compensate for that loss by planting 1,000 new ones elsewhere in the Ojai Valley.

We believe this proposal addresses an undeniable need in a well-planned and responsible way. The Times endorses a yes vote on Measure F and encourages future development proponents to emulate the careful, sensitive way it was put together.