VENTURA COUNTY NEWS : Measures Enters Race for County Supervisor : Election: With support from conservatives, former Ventura city councilwoman challenges opponent Steve Bennett on issues of growth.

Vowing to bring “balanced and intelligent growth” to Ventura County, Rosa Lee Measures kicked off a campaign for county supervisor Thursday by unveiling a powerful slate of conservative supporters and positioning herself as the best alternative to environmentalist Steve Bennett.

Her announcement sets the stage for a battle between the county’s conservative establishment and a more liberal coalition of union and environmental interests who supported the successful SOAR growth-control initiatives last year.

Measures, 62, a former banker and patron of several community cultural groups, emphasized her business and philanthropic experience in announcing her intention to replace retiring District 1 Supervisor Susan Lacey.

Facing an audience of 40 well-wishers, including Sheriff Bob Brooks, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury and three other elected county officials who are endorsing her, the former Ventura councilwoman made clear that she intends to mount a formidable challenge to Bennett, who has the early lead in raising money and endorsements.

“I am confident that my 25 years of banking experience, my years on the City Council . . . and the work I’ve done on many government committees relating to economic vitality will provide a wealth of resources for this [position],” Measures said during brief remarks at the County Government Center in Ventura.

Measures later told reporters that she can catch up to Bennett--who announced his run in April--even though she has just begun to raise the $100,000 to $150,000 that political analysts believe will be necessary to win.

“He can be beat,” Measures said. “It’s going to be a tough, exciting and challenging campaign.”

Bennett said he has raised $40,000 so far and has lined up support from the Ventura police and firefighters unions, the county sheriff’s deputies association, all five members of the Ventura school board, and Service Employees International Union Local 998, which represents 4,500 county employees.

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The election is set for the March 7 primary, with the two top vote-getters facing a November runoff if none of the candidates wins a simple majority. District 1 includes the city of Ventura, portions of the Ojai Valley and coastal areas of Oxnard.

Measures’ entry into the race means that she will run against Bennett and Jim Monahan, whom she also faced in a crowded field of 14 candidates in the 1993 Ventura City Council election. In that race, Measures was the top vote-getter with 13,077 votes, followed by Bennett with 11,208 and Monahan in third with 9,427.

On Thursday, however, she never referred to Monahan--also a Republican--in her public comments, choosing instead to issue an immediate challenge to Bennett on the question of growth. Bennett was a chief architect of the voter-approved SOAR initiatives, popular laws that Measures suggested may have gone too far.

Without mentioning Bennett by name, Measures said that backers of the strict growth-control laws have “no vision at all.”

“Regardless of how they carefully word their positions, they believe in everything staying just as it is,” she said. “In their heart of hearts, they probably would prefer turning back the clock.”

A better alternative, Measures said, is to “create balanced and intelligent growth . . . to increase opportunities for work and play while protecting our environment.”

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Bennett said it is a distortion to say that SOAR allows no growth whatsoever. The laws, passed by wide margins in six cities and countywide, allows development within a city’s boundaries, but requires a public vote before projects can be built outside of cities, he said.

“Sixty-thousand homes can be built in Ventura County right now without any vote at all,” Bennett said. “The difference is, do we allow the citizens the right to vote when we break into greenbelt areas? I think we should, but Measures is not willing to trust citizen involvement.”

Political strategist John Davies said Measures is taking a chance by challenging Bennett over the popular SOAR laws. But, Davies said, it also carves a strong niche for Measures to distinguish herself.

“It’s a good strategy to focus on for the primary, but probably not a good general election strategy. That is when she is going to have to focus on more bread-and-butter issues like the economy,” said Davies, who runs Davies Communications in Santa Barbara.

Measures faces another hurdle in trying to distinguish herself from Monahan. Both are viewed as pro-business candidates who may split the conservative vote, making it easier for Bennett to gather liberal and environmental votes for an outright majority on the March ballot, Davies said.

While Monahan and Measures are both Republicans and Bennett a Democrat, supervisorial races are nonpartisan.

Measures said she can distinguish herself from Monahan through a long record of service on the boards of numerous government and nonprofit organizations. She is a former chairwoman of the Boys & Girls Club of Ventura and recently helped found the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura.

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But Monahan said he, too, has long been involved in the community, serving on the county’s Transportation Commission and the Local Agency Formation Commission. Monahan, 64, has raised about $15,000 so far and expects to spend as much as $150,000.

“It’s going to be more challenging with Measures in it,” he said. “We’re all going to have to work harder.”

Retiring Supervisor Lacey has said she will not endorse a successor in the 1st District. That makes endorsements from powerful leaders such as Bradbury and Brooks all the more critical, Davies said.

Bradbury said he is supporting Measures because she is a longtime friend and a strong ally of law enforcement. Brooks also cited Measures’ support of public safety, but said that was not his only consideration in backing her.

“She’s running for the right reasons. She had to be persuaded to run,” Brooks said. “Personal ambition is not her goal. She has worked long and hard in this community and she wants to make it better.”

Measures and her husband, Albert Harris, have been residents of Ventura for 33 years. The couple manage family investments, including farm and real estate holdings. They have five children.