Public Safety Funding Key Issue in Supervisor Races

Ventura County voters Tuesday will cast ballots in three county supervisor races dominated by law enforcement issues, and -- in a costly and divisive Republican primary -- they will pick the candidate likely to fill the 37th District Assembly seat.

Also on the ballot is a $145-million Simi Valley school bond to improve 28 campuses and a temporary property tax in Oak Park to keep school class sizes small. Santa Paula property owners are also being asked to support their local library with a new parcel tax.

In an otherwise quiet presidential primary season, races for supervisor have provided most of the heat, although the contest to replace termed-out Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark) has also been marked by caustic comments and allegations of misconduct.

Two races for the five-member Board of Supervisors pit challengers backed by the county Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. against incumbents Kathy Long of Camarillo and John Flynn of Oxnard. Both voted with the majority in denying a hefty pension boost for deputies and capping budget increases for public safety departments. In an unusual series of public letters, Sheriff Bob Brooks has opposed Long’s reelection, but has taken no position in Flynn’s race.

The third supervisor up for reelection is Steve Bennett of Ventura, who also voted to hold the line against law enforcement increases, but faces only nominal opposition. The deputies’ union passed on endorsing a candidate in that race, as did Brooks.

Two of the supervisorial primaries are sure to be decided Tuesday because only two candidates are on the ballot in each race. But in Flynn’s 5th District race, four candidates, including Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez and Oxnard Councilman John Zaragoza, increase chances that no candidate will receive a majority. That would send the top two vote-getters to a November runoff.

The primary election comes as Brooks and Dist. Atty. Greg Totten are suing the supervisors over budget restrictions that they say are illegal and put residents at risk, but which supervisors insist are necessary to keep from decimating other county departments.

“This election could mark a watershed,” said Herb Gooch, a political science professor at Cal Lutheran University. “What’s different here is that not only the deputies’ union but also the sheriff and the district attorney have thrown their weight into getting more law enforcement dollars. This is a new kind of politics, going over the heads of the Board of Supervisors to the public.”

Familiar Opponents

Camarillo Councilman Mike Morgan, 56, was recruited by the sheriff himself to challenge Long, 53, and is backed by the deputies’ union, which expects to spend up to $37,500 on his behalf by election day.

Morgan has already lost twice to Long, but that was before he was endorsed by the sheriff and the deputies’ union, which supported Long in 2000. Even then, Long won only 52% of the vote to 48% for Morgan, a gap of little more than 1,000 votes.

Long, a longtime government aide before being elected supervisor in 1996, emphasizes her leadership in opposing the Newhall Ranch project, trying to save the financially crippled Santa Paula Memorial Hospital and restoring wetlands at Ormond Beach.

But for Morgan, a retired federal probation officer and a popular councilman for more than two decades, the race turns on public safety. He criticizes the Board of Supervisors for tightening the sheriff’s budget so much that Brooks closed a women’s jail in Ojai, reduced hours at the east county lockup, disbanded a highly effective anti-gang unit and began to release inmates early.

Long, who at public debates has sometimes challenged Morgan’s grasp of budget numbers, said the challenger’s campaign was more about politics than public safety, since Ventura County routinely rates as the safest urban area in the West.

In her own public letter, Long said last week: “This election is about power and political payback. The sheriff and the union want to punish me for those votes, and to send a message to other supervisors not to disagree with their demands.... This election will decide who sets budget policy in Ventura County.”

But Brooks insisted in an interview that the Long-Morgan election had nothing to do with power, except that the supervisors abused theirs. Rather than change a public safety funding ordinance as it did three years ago, he said, the board should have submitted amendments to the ordinance to voters. That is because the original measure had already qualified for the ballot when the supervisors first approved it in 1995.

“If we don’t get more services at the county level we will not be able to do even an adequate job of protecting the public,” the sheriff said. “This is about the future of public safety in the county, not the past.”

The original ordinance guaranteed that all revenue from a half-cent sales tax would go to the sheriff, the district attorney, the public defender and the probation department. In addition, supervisors agreed to dip into the general fund to pay for inflation-based increases in those departments.

In 2001, Long sided with the board majority in voting to limit such increases. With salary and benefit increases, the hikes had been running from 7% to 10% per year; the new formula is linked to the consumer price index, capping growth at about 3.75% per year.

8th Term for Flynn?

Flynn, 71, was among the majority too.

And now, in seeking his eighth term, the veteran supervisor is opposed by Zaragoza, 62, whom the deputies’ union is backing with up to $37,500.

Under Zaragoza and Lopez, Oxnard police and firefighters won hefty pension increases -- something that county deputies asked for in their last contract but did not receive.

Zaragoza has said he would not consider voting for the pension increase while the county was facing budget problems. Lopez, 76, said he opposed hiking pension benefits for deputies.

Apart from issues of public safety, a 5th District sub-theme is that Flynn represents an area that is now two-thirds Latino and had broken his pledge to step aside and back a Latino successor.

In speeches, Flynn emphasizes his 28 years in county government and says his experience in public finance is invaluable in a time of crisis. County government faces a potential $34-million budget shortfall and the possibility of widespread cuts in jobs and services.

Lopez reminds audiences that he, too, is experienced, having served as an Oxnard councilman or mayor since 1978. Lopez points to recent economic gains in his city as proof that he is ready to take on the supervisor’s post.

Zaragoza also cites Oxnard’s financial turnaround as one of the primary accomplishments of his 12 years on the City Council. While other local governments cut services, Oxnard has $26 million in reserves, “the best budget ever,” he said.

Arlene Fraser, 57, rounds out the field. Director of the Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce, she is making her fourth try at defeating Flynn.

In the third supervisor’s race, Bennett, 53, is running against a virtual unknown, substitute teacher and avid surfer Jeff Ketelsen. A write-in candidate, stonemason George Galgas, is also in the race.

A longtime leader of the countywide slow-growth movement, Bennett has championed a variety of issues during his first term on the board. He is so popular, in fact, that opponents could not find a candidate they thought could give him a run.

That left the race to Ketelsen, who has raised less than $1,000 for his campaign, while the incumbent has amassed more than $130,000.

GOP Showdown

Elsewhere, in one of California’s most competitive and costly Assembly races, three Republicans are waging aggressive campaigns to win the 37th District primary and almost certainly the November general election, since no Democrat is on the ballot.

The top Republican candidates are junior high school history teacher and party activist Audra Strickland, 29, the wife of the outgoing officeholder; millionaire investor Mike Robinson, 28, who is a former aide to state Sen. Tom McClintock; and county prosecutor Jeff Gorell, 33, who is backed by several Republican leaders close to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Also on the GOP ballot is attorney Eric McClendon, 40, who moved to California from Louisiana in 1998.

Democrat Ferial Masry, 55, a Los Angeles teacher, hopes to receive about 1,200 votes as a write-in candidate to gain a spot on the November ballot.

Together, the candidates had raised more than $1.3 million by last week: Robinson led with about $637,000, but nearly all of it was his own money. Strickland had raised more than $500,000, including contributions from many of her husband’s supporters. Gorell had received about $200,000.

Gorell, who describes himself as a “Schwarzenegger candidate,” has staked out the moderate ground, while Strickland and Robinson have argued over their conservative credentials.

Strickland has characterized Robinson as a latecomer who has lied about her positions. Robinson has called Strickland a political clone of her husband, whom Robinson insists is far less conservative than he is reputed to be.

Last week alone, Robinson hammered Audra Strickland for “supporting driver’s licenses and taxpayer-funded college tuition for illegal aliens.” In turn, she filed a complaint with state election officials, contending that Robinson had laundered $17,000 through a conservative Republican organization to promote his campaign, a charge he denied.

Robinson supported his assertion about Strickland’s positions on immigration issues by citing two of her husband’s votes.

“Audra has said she shares her husband’s politics and values,” Robinson said. “She was getting paid $118,000 to consult Tony on these matters.”

Robinson said he was not responsible for a complaint filed with state election officials last month that alleged that the Stricklands had illegally transferred money from Tony Strickland’s campaign account to the couple’s personal finances and then to Audra Strickland’s campaign.

“It was based on our research,” Robinson said. “But it was filed by an interested third party.”

Audra Strickland said she did legitimate consulting work for her husband and no money was shifted improperly.

She opposes driver’s licenses and tuition assistance for illegal immigrants, she said.

“I don’t agree with my husband on everything all the time,” she said. “And I don’t think voters will accept the slander of a Johnny-come-lately.”

On the other hand, voters received last week a mailer attacking Robinson: “Mike Robinson made his Million$ the old fashion way ... He inherited it!”

Audra Strickland said she had nothing to do with the mailer.

Gorell, meanwhile, has gone his own way, citing a diverse resume and collecting endorsements from public officials and law enforcement groups.

Alone among the top Republican candidates, he supports Propositions 57 and 58, two ballot measures backed by Schwarzenegger to balance the state budget and cap future spending.

“There’s a significant feud going on between my opponents; and the sheer volume of their negative campaign has helped,” Gorell said. “But it hasn’t affected my strategy in any way.”