Board Races, SOAR Issue, School Bond to Be Decided

In the first test of the city’s slow-growth land-use ordinance, Ventura voters will decide Tuesday whether to approve a church’s plans to construct an auditorium, classrooms and playing fields on 25 acres of agricultural land.

In addition to Measure C, Ventura voters will choose three City Council members from a field of 12 candidates. And they will decide whether to return both incumbents to the local school board.

In Santa Paula, voters will consider Measure B, a $2.5-million school bond that would be used to build a replacement campus for Olivelands School, built in 1914.

The off-year elections are expected to draw a 25% to 30% voter turnout, according to county election officials. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

In the Ventura elections, the First Assembly of God’s bid to expand its facilities has drawn fire because opponents say Measure C provides no guarantee the 25-acre parcel at Montgomery Avenue and Bristol Road will not become a housing tract.

Responding to those concerns, church leaders recently drew up a covenant prohibiting housing construction on the property without voters’ approval.

Attorney Richard Francis, coauthor of the SOAR growth-control initiative, said the covenant demonstrates the church’s intent not to build homes.

But Francis said he opposes Measure C because the church does not clearly specify details on the proposed development--specifically, who would use the planned sports facilities and what type of structure is being planned. The church promised the community could use the facilities when signatures were collected to get Measure C on Tuesday’s ballot.

First Assembly of God Pastor Tony Cervero said “our biggest opponent is cynicism” and that church leaders hope the covenant will dispel any concerns community members may have.

“Instead of building this huge [church] structure that makes you go ‘Wow’ . . . if someone uses our property every day to walk or jog, we have built a bridge to them,” he said.

The church is required to put its proposal for a new facility on the ballot under the Save Our Agricultural Resources initiative approved by voters in 1995.

SOAR requires that voters approve any commercial or residential development on agricultural land. Ventura was the first city in the county to approve such an ordinance. A similar countywide measure was approved in 1998.

Regardless the outcome of Tuesday’s election, Francis said the election will prove that putting land-use issues in the hands of voters works.

“Our main purpose . . . is to ensure that the developer explained what it was doing, rather than the public having to monitor City Council meetings and closed-door lunch meetings to find out what was being developed,” he said.

A majority of the 12 candidates in Tuesday’s City Council election support Measure C. Vying for three seats on the council are activist Brian Lee Rencher, retired engineer Roger Jewett, restaurateur Charlie Gartman, incumbent Ray Di Guilio, Ventura Mayor Jim Friedman, business owners Lynn Doyle Cogdill, Doug Halter and Diane Underhill, pediatrician Bob Ryan, businessman Ed Ryan, county land-use planner Carl Morehouse and California Highway Patrol Officer Paul Thompson.

Jewett, Ed Ryan, Thompson, Cogdill, Bob Ryan and Di Guilio support the measure. Halter was concerned about the ambiguity of the measure’s language, but after the church issued its covenant on the parcel, he announced his support.

Friedman said he supports Measure C in concept, but said the initiative’s language concerns him.

Other candidates, including Gartman, Morehouse, Rencher and Underhill, didn’t give their views on the measure.

“Let the voters decide on . . . Measure C,” Morehouse said. “That’s what SOAR is all about.”

Meanwhile, in the Ventura school board races, incumbents Debbie Golden and Jim Wells are facing a challenge from John Gennaro, a retired teacher, for one of the seats.

In Santa Paula, voters will decide whether to tax themselves to build a new elementary school. A two-thirds vote is required for passage of Measure B, which would trigger the issuance of a $2.5-million construction bond.

In the Ojai Valley, voters will also cast ballots to fill two seats on the Meiners Oaks Water District board.