Executive Plans to Run for Supervisor

A Thousand Oaks millionaire and onetime congressional candidate confirmed Thursday he is planning to run for the open seat on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

Randy Hoffman, 47, who lost to Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Woodland Hills) in 1998, said he would formally announce his decision on the nonpartisan county race in the next week.

“I’m talking with supporters from my congressional campaign in the local area to decide whether or not there is sufficient support,” said Hoffman, a businessman and father of four. “I care very deeply about the community I live in.”

Hoffman’s entry into the race would ensure that Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Linda Parks--already a contender to fill retiring Supervisor Frank Schillo’s seat--faces a well-funded challenger with campaign experience in the March 5 primary election.

Hoffman and Parks, both registered Republicans, may find little overlap in their bases of support.

Parks, a leader on local slow-growth policies, is a favorite of environmental activists. She is opposed by some local business leaders and developers who characterize her as a tunnel-vision politician who fails to balance demands for open space with the need for sound economic policy.

Those critics are beginning to line up behind Hoffman.

“Randy is absolutely the right person for the job,” said Rick Lemmo, a Thousand Oaks business leader who briefly considered a bid for the supervisor’s job. “He is an extraordinarily successful business person, and right now, the challenge facing the county is fiscal responsibility.”

Hoffman said he opposes urban sprawl and adds there are equally important issues, such as county management and finances--areas he says his corporate background enables him to tackle.

He is founder of the e-commerce firm Outdoor Marketplace and formerly chief executive officer of Magellan Systems, recently acquired by Santa Clara-based Thales Navigation to become the world’s third-largest manufacturer of global positioning satellites.

Parks said she is well-studied in other county issues, and said some detractors want her out of the way because they want to pave over the Conejo Valley.

“There is a contingent in our area that is very pro-growth and very concerned about having a strong slow-growth person on the Board of Supervisors,” she said. “I can’t help but think that developer lobbyists are quite concerned about my run.”

One of the driving forces behind Parks’ supervisorial campaign is her desire to quash the high-end Ahmanson Ranch housing project slated for construction on Ventura County’s eastern edge.

The Board of Supervisors approved the project nearly a decade ago but legal battles have stalled it. As new environmental reviews go before supervisors in the coming year, Parks believes she could affect the project’s fate.

Schillo said it is ridiculous for Parks to make the Ahmanson Ranch project an issue in the upcoming race. “She’s not going to get to vote on it,” he said, noting a vote on a supplemental environmental report very likely will come this spring.

But Thousand Oaks resident Paul Nicholson, an outspoken opponent of the Ahmanson Ranch project, said Parks’ stance on the housing development is crucial.

“Linda is going to represent the voters, not the people with out-of-county money who come in and want to control things,” said Nicholson, who walked precincts for Parks during her most recent city reelection campaign.

Hoffman acknowledged the Ahmanson project will very likely be a dominant issue in the race, but said he was not ready to discuss his position on the project.

A spokesman for the Ahmanson Ranch developers declined to comment on Parks or Hoffman, or on whether the company will get involved in the supervisorial race.

Hoffman contributed nearly $900,000 of his own money toward his bid against Sherman three years ago. Hoffman lost by a 20% margin despite support from GOP heavyweights, including former Vice President Dan Quayle.

Hoffman said he won’t spend his own money this time.