Hidden Creek Key Issue in Council Races

MOORPARK —  The largest single development in the history of Moorpark, the 3,221-home Hidden Creek Ranch project, looms large in the race for the mayor’s office and two seats on the City Council in the November election.

The project, which was approved by the council in July and, if built, would increase the city’s population by a third, has become a central campaign issue among the nine candidates.

Hidden Creek is “clearly the [issue] that generates the most attention,” said Herbert Gooch, head of the graduate school of public administration at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

The controversial project also has spurred a citizens campaign to block the city from expanding beyond its present boundaries without voter approval. The Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) group has placed the growth-control measure on the ballot for a Jan. 12 special election. The people behind SOAR have also placed a referendum on the same ballot that would overturn the council’s approval of Hidden Creek.

The two leading mayoral candidates, Councilman Bernardo Perez and current Mayor Patrick Hunter, have opposite views on Hidden Creek.

Hunter is the only council member who voted against the project in July. “I believe it is simply not in the best interest of our community for a list of reasons,” he said.

He said the project would create a financial burden for residents, add to traffic problems, increase urban sprawl and is inconsistent with the city’s General Plan.

Perez, who is challenging Hunter rather than try to retain his council seat, is a staunch supporter of Hidden Creek. “I think it’s good for many reasons,” he said. “This is the culmination of many years of many decisions on the part of many people, so the process exists and has worked.”

He says the project would bring in $51 million in developer fees for needed city improvements. It also would provide some money for a bypass road to alleviate truck traffic on New Los Angeles Avenue, the city’s main street.

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Critics say the bypass won’t work and the money being offered by the developer would not come close to the cost of the project.

Although Hidden Creek is dominating the race, it is not the only issue facing voters.

The city continues to grapple with how best to revive the old downtown area that centers on quaint High Street.

The next council must also deal with an anticipated $800,000 budget deficit. The city lost $600,000 annually after voters turned down new taxes to maintain the city’s 13 parks. The council is studying whether to pursue a second parks measure to make up for the revenue loss.

There is also the question of what to do about truck traffic on New Los Angeles Avenue. Moorpark residents complain about the noise and dust that accompanies the big rigs and worry about truck-related accidents.

Of the nine candidates, Hunter and Perez have raised the most money from contributions. Recent filings show that Hunter, a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, has received $7,056. Perez, who retired from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power earlier this year, has collected $6,596.

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The third mayoral candidate is Tim Kalmekarian, who is campaigning on a peace and love platform and has considered running for president in 2000. Kalmekarian has not raised any money.

Six candidates are battling for the council seat that Perez is giving up, and to unseat Councilman John Wozniak, a Moorpark school warehouse worker who has served since November 1990. Wozniak, who has raised $1,555, was the swing vote on the Hidden Creek project. He originally opposed it because he did not believe the developer could address concerns over grading and traffic. Perez persuaded Wozniak to reconsider. After talking with the developer and gaining some concessions, Wozniak changed his vote.

“Do we want growth at a controlled rate or no growth?” he asked. “It has always been my feeling that [residents] wanted managed and controlled growth, and you have that with Hidden Creek.”

Clint Harper, a SOAR backer, decided to run for office on the day Wozniak changed his vote.

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“I see Hidden Creek as being so detrimental to the community and this part of Ventura County that it was the final straw when John changed his vote,” Harper said.

Harper and another challenger and SOAR backer, Roseann Mikos, have campaigned together. Mikos has gathered $1,084, of which $500 came in the form of a loan. Harper has raised $607.

Moorpark has been one of the fiercest battlegrounds for SOAR. “This is the only City Council that took a hostile position” on the measure, said countywide SOAR leader Steve Bennett.

But Bennett said he doubts residents will cast votes solely on the basis of their views toward Hidden Creek. “People vote for the people,” he said. “No person clearly represents one issue.”

Bennett notes that voters in Ventura, where he was once a council member, passed the county’s first SOAR measure but at the same time voted in three anti-SOAR candidates.

A candidate supporting Hidden Creek is Eloise Brown, who is trying to regain a seat on the council. She says the project would bring needed housing to Moorpark.

Brown has raised $1,167, of which $762 was a loan. Brown is well known in town, where she attends just about every council meeting. She helped start a grass-roots movement that led to the defeat of the city’s parks measure.

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The failure of that measure prompted the city to consider locking up the parks because of a shortage of funds. So far the city has reduced maintenance at all city parks but has only closed Monte Vista Park.

Ernesto Acosta, a city Planning Commission member appointed by Hunter, has raised no money but plans a door-to-door campaign. Though he once voted against Hidden Creek, he has changed his stance and recently said the city needs the project in order to gain control over the development in the 4,300 acres outside the city where Hidden Creek would be built.

Acosta also plans to focus on the revitalization of the downtown area.

Rather than building his campaign around Hidden Creek, which he opposes, Keith Millhouse has made truck traffic the centerpiece of his candidacy. He has joined with Tony Strickland, who is running for the state Assembly, to make getting trucks out of Moorpark a priority.

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Millhouse wants to staff a truck weigh station on California 118 just outside Moorpark on a 24-hour basis, rather than the current intermittent operating hours. Strickland has vowed to lobby the state Legislature for money.

“Hidden Creek and SOAR, while they are very juicy topics, and some of the one-issue candidates would like everyone to focus on them, as a practical matter those are out of the City Council member’s hands because the people will vote on SOAR and the referendum,” Millhouse said.

“The trucks are an everyday impact, and they have to be dealt with,’ he said.

Millhouse said the council must also deal with the budget deficit and streamline its bureaucracy. He has raised $8,294, but $7,000 of that was a loan.