Foes of Mall Tax Break Fall Short

VENTURA —  Efforts to stop the proposed Buenaventura Mall expansion were dealt a major blow Tuesday as elections officials rejected close to half of the signatures collected by opponents of a tax-sharing deal with out-of-town developers.

After reviewing a random sample of 500 signatures, County Clerk and Recorder Richard D. Dean on Tuesday invalidated 45% of the signatures collected.

Dean said that 225 of the 500 sample signatures were not properly registered voters in Ventura or there was a difference between the way they signed their names on the petitions and in voter records.

Referendum organizers in November turned in 8,715 signatures challenging the mall tax deal. They needed 5,999 to qualify the measure for a special election, but the county clerk determined only 4,793 were valid. The announcement Tuesday came two weeks after almost two-thirds of Ventura voters rejected Measure S. That proposal, however, would not have affected the mall deal approved earlier this year but would have prevented the city from engaging in future tax-sharing agreements.

The latest referendum would have forced the council to rescind its approval of the Buenaventura Mall tax-sharing plan or to set a special election asking voters to decide the issue.

The county clerk’s office conducted the survey on behalf of the Ventura city clerk’s office.

City officials said the ruling allows the city to proceed with the long-debated mall deal, which calls for developers to invest $50 million renovating the aging Buenaventura Mall and the city to rebate up to $32 million in new sales taxes.

But referendum proponents already were making plans late Tuesday to double-check the county’s findings.

“We’re a little disappointed,” said organizer Eric Lambert.

“But they haven’t really sufficiently explained to us why those [signatures] have been thrown out,” Lambert said. “We need to look at that and get a better understanding of what’s going on.”

Lambert said he planned to meet with elections officials today to review the sample of 500 signatures. He said that many of the voters who signed the referendum were contacted at home--addresses provided to them by county election records.

“We ran a pretty tight ship. We made sure we did things by the book,” Lambert said. “Some of these signatures can be thrown out for the smallest of technicalities.”

If the group challenges the validity of the signatures and does not prevail, it is liable for the costs associated with reviewing the petitions.

Ventura merchant Lary Reid, who also fought on behalf of the anti-mall referendum, said Tuesday that although he still opposes the tax-sharing deal, he would no longer fight it.

“It didn’t make it,” the furniture repair shop owner said. “My efforts are not going anyplace after this finding. If [55%] was all that was valid, there’s nothing I can do.”

City leaders, who have championed the mall expansion for months, were almost giddy at the news announced Tuesday, saying it validates their efforts to revitalize the 30-year-old shopping center.

“Now we’re ready to go ahead,” Mayor Jack Tingstrom said. “Let’s get on with it. Let’s get this thing built.”

Ventura still faces a lawsuit by Oxnard, which stands to lose two major retailers to its northern neighbor if the shopping center is expanded. Both Sears and Robinsons-May have announced that they will vacate The Esplanade mall in Oxnard in favor of a revamped Buenaventura Mall.

A judge last month denied a change-of-venue motion, allowing only that a visiting judge be named to hear the case.

First proposed last year, the expansion of Buenaventura Mall includes developing a second level of shops and adding two more anchor stores.

Some complained that the tax-rebate deal is too advantageous to the developers, MCA Buenaventura Associates of Los Angeles. But city officials counter that without the renovation, the shopping center will cease to lure customers and the city’s sales tax base will continue to erode.

“It’s a good deal,” Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures said. “We are not giving away any tax dollars. We are sharing future potential tax-generated revenue.”

The 45% rejection rate cited by County Clerk Dean represents a far higher percentage than those of other recent referendum efforts in Ventura County.

For example, the signatures of 77% of voters signing a referendum against a new county hospital wing were ruled valid. And almost 78% of signatures supporting Measure S, another mall-related referendum, were deemed valid.

Tingstrom said the delays have been costly to Ventura-area consumers.

“Without all of these slow-downs, they probably would have had a new Penneys store by Christmas,” he said. “People deserve that new store, but they’re probably not going to get it this year.”