County Faces Opposition in Coalition Bid : Politics: Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties are seen as needed allies if a powerful regional government is created.

Armed with agricultural maps and slow-growth ordinances, local officials are asking Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to drop their negative notions about Ventura County and form a tri-county coalition before a regional government bill comes up for a vote.

The bill, submitted two weeks ago by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, lumps Ventura County in with Los Angeles, Orange and several other urban counties to the south. But Ventura County officials say a tri-county coalition would give them an escape route from the legislation and allow the county to participate in a regional government where it would have more political clout.

Nevertheless, Ventura County has a long way to go if it is to win over its two northern neighbors.

Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo officials have stated that they don’t want anything to do with Ventura County because they see it as an urban giant with strong ties to the Los Angeles area.

“Ventura County is seen as just one step closer to Los Angeles,” said Tom Rogers, a Santa Barbara County supervisor. “And that’s just where people here don’t want to be.”

A meeting has been set for Jan. 6 in Santa Barbara for the three counties to discuss the issue. The group has met once before in anticipation of legislative action that would tie the county to the Los Angeles area.

“All Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo have seen of Ventura County is what’s along the 101 freeway,” said Charlotte Craven, a Camarillo councilwoman who helped start the effort to join the two northern counties.

“We want to show them our greenbelts and our growth control laws,” she said. With more than 325,000 acres of agricultural land, the county is much more rural than officials to the north might think.

Fillmore Councilman Roger Campbell added: “Ventura County could serve as an excellent buffer to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. If we get swallowed up in a regional government with Los Angeles, the growth will keep coming. . . . It will be right at their doorstep.”

According to Brown’s bill--which is expected to come up for a hearing by spring--regional governments would be established throughout the state to handle land-use planning and infrastructure development. They would be given taxing power and authority to decide where such things as roads and dumps would be placed. The regions also would be given the task of identifying housing needs and areas for future development.

Under the bill, the regions would include the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Diego area, the Los Angeles area, the Central Valley, the north central coast and the south central coast.

The Los Angeles region envisioned by the Brown bill would encompass the six counties now in the Southern California Assn. of Governments. SCAG, as now composed, serves primarily as an advisory body with little power. Ventura County is a member of SCAG, along with Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial counties.

The proposed South Central Coast region would only embrace Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Brown had proposed a similar version of the bill at the end of the session last year, but he withdrew it because he could not gather enough support.

“My aim with this legislation is for the nation’s most populous state to finally come to grips with the problems of overcrowded roads, air pollution and unaffordable housing,” Brown said when he filed his new bill.

The powerful San Francisco assemblyman’s staff members say the legislation is being received more positively than before. Ventura County officials say they are proceeding as if the bill will be approved, although some legislative representatives have expressed doubts that Brown will be successful because the bill seeks to make such a big change in local government. Municipal and county jurisdictions would be required to adhere to decisions made by the regional boards.

A Brown spokesman says the proposed regions are not “chiseled in stone” and realignments would be considered if counties can demonstrate that they support boundary changes.

“There is flexibility,” said Michael Reese, Brown’s communications director.

One provision in the bill would make each area responsible for making sure each community has its “fair share” of housing and industry. Ventura County officials say that is a key reason to abandon the Los Angeles region.

“We’re afraid they won’t recognize our growth-control laws,” Craven, the Camarillo councilwoman, said. “We’re afraid their growth control practices are going to get crammed down our throats.”

Craven said she is also concerned because the bill calls for a 13-member governing board in each region. And since there are an estimated 15 million people within SCAG boundaries, Ventura County--with a population of about 600,000--would only get one representative, Craven said.

Ironically, officials in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties have used the same argument as a reason not to hook up with Ventura County. If the three counties joined, Ventura County would account for 62% of the population.

“Should we become aligned with Ventura County, they might overwhelm us,” said Jerry Lorden, the executive director of the Santa Barbara County Assn. of Governments. “I can’t really see what we would gain by joining up with them.”

But Craven said she and others would be willing to give Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties equal representation on the tri-county board.

“We would be starting all over and I certainly would be willing to go at it evenly,” Craven said.

Lorden, however, questioned whether equal representation would solve the differences.

“It is tough for us to see what Ventura County’s direct linkage is with Santa Barbara,” Lorden said. “There is a common perception that Ventura County is more amenable toward accommodating growth.”

“Furthermore, a substantial portion of Ventura County is linked to the south,” Lorden continued. “Yet they say they need to be aligned with Santa Barbara. That’s hard for us to swallow.”

Ron DeCarli, the executive director of the San Luis Obispo Area Coordinating Council, agreed.

“Ventura County still remains part of the Los Angeles region,” DeCarli said. “Besides, we’re too far removed from it.”

And Evelyn Delany, the chairwoman of the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors, added: “I have nothing against Ventura County, except we have enough problems of our own. To add Ventura County to it would make it very difficult.”

Complicating the matter, several officials in the eastern portion of Ventura County say they prefer to be included in a region with the Los Angeles area, a vivid example of Ventura County’s own longstanding regional differences.

“We just can’t turn our back on Los Angeles and pretend like they don’t exist,” Simi Valley Mayor Gregory Stratton said.

County Supervisor-elect Vicky Howard agreed.

“I think everyone recognizes that we have very close ties with the Los Angeles area,” she said.

Besides, Howard said, the southern urban areas could learn from Ventura County.

“The Los Angeles area has let things run away,” said Howard, a former Simi Valley councilwoman. “It is important for us to have input into that area and take a leadership role and encourage them to solve their problems.”

Howard said she questions whether enough support could be gathered in the eastern portion of the county--which accounts for a little less than half the county’s population--to form a tri-county regional government.

Ventura Mayor Richard Francis said he can see both sides of the argument, but he feels that overall the county has more in common with Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. He cited air quality and traffic problems as examples.

“We need to actively pursue Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to make sure a regional government with them remains an option,” Francis said. “Right now they have little understanding of who we are or what we are.”