Ventura County Problems Become a Campaign Issue

Talk about bad timing.

Just as Ventura County Supervisor Judy Mikels began to focus on higher office, the new chief administrator resigned, saying he’d found overwhelming problems in county government that the Board of Supervisors lacked the political will to fix.

For Mikels, that huge dose of bad news came as she was girding for a sprint to the March 7 primary election, and already fighting an uphill battle against Assemblyman Tom McClintock to replace state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley).

“Obviously, it gives my opponent some political fodder,” Mikels said. “It has been difficult, since people are saying, ‘Are things really that bad?’ instead of talking about my campaign.”

McClintock, author of legislation proposing secession of the San Fernando Valley and the mastermind of key GOP legislation cutting state car license fees, was pointedly ignoring Mikels a few months ago. He has now seized the opportunity.

“Obviously, it’s a major scandal,” he said last week, referring to the county’s $5-million budget deficit and its Medicare billing fiasco that will cost at least $23 million to resolve.

“I can’t imagine a stronger contrast between my record on financial issues,” said McClintock, the Republican candidate for state controller in 1994, “and the supervisors’ complete absence of budget oversight or spending control.”

Consider that the opening shot in the toughest battle on the local primary ballot: a Republican face-off between McClintock, 43, a conservative anti-tax crusader since he was first elected to the Assembly in 1982; and Mikels, 54, a moderate former homemaker, small-business owner and veteran local politician.

But it won’t be the last.

Mikels blasted McClintock last week as a far-right ideologue who is out of step with the politics of his district and out of touch with its needs.

She called him a “carpetbagger and a hypocrite,” because he lives with his family in a Sacramento suburb--not the one-bedroom Northridge apartment he claims as a legal residence.

“My roots in this district go back to 1965, when I was 9 years old,” McClintock said. “My wife and I graduated from Thousand Oaks High. Both our children were born at Los Robles hospital. I grew up and spent nearly my whole life there.”

McClintock Defends Time in Sacramento

McClintock, who grew up in Thousand Oaks and owns a house in his 38th Assembly District, says that he lives in Sacramento most of the time because state government is based there and that the move stabilized his family life. He is entitled to the per diem, which is collected by the vast majority of all legislators.

Mikels and McClintock represent the conservative-moderate split among Republicans nationwide, and they give voters a clear choice in a district their party hasn’t lost since the early 1970s.

The 19th District--which includes most of Ventura County and parts of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys--is 42.5% Republican and 39.5% Democrat. Nearly two-thirds of its 389,000 registered voters live in Ventura County.

So far, McClintock appears to have the edge.

Drawing from an array of business and conservative donors statewide, including several free-spending Indian tribes, McClintock had $257,000 in cash reserves on Dec. 31, compared to Mikels’ $64,000. His largest contribution is a $100,000 loan from Camarillo religious radio broadcast mogul Edward Atsinger III.

Declarations filed last week show that McClintock extended his fund-raising lead during the last three months of 1999, a period when Mikels had hoped to host four campaign parties but held just two.

“We just ran into problems,” she said. “We didn’t have great response, but we had good response. People had family in town for the holidays and other Christmas parties.”

Mikels’ largest contribution last year--a $50,000 loan--came from Simi Valley insurance broker Reginall Richardson, the husband of the candidate’s aide and campaign treasurer, Jacqueline Richardson.

McClintock also has a head start in name recognition in the sprawling 19th District, which comprises the 37th and 38th Assembly districts. He held the 37th Assembly seat from 1982 to 1992, while living in Thousand Oaks. And he has been a Northridge-based assemblyman in the 38th District since 1996.

Mikels Less Known in L.A. County

Mikels concedes the advantage. She’s hardly known in Los Angeles County. But she says she’s working hard to overcome that problem by attending a variety of public get-togethers. And she said she will make inroads there because of her moderate politics. Democrats, in fact, outnumber Republicans by 5,000 registered voters in the Los Angeles County portion of the 19th District.

“I still believe it’s doable,” Mikels said. “When you think of name recognition in Ventura County, I’m as current and as local as my opponent. So the issue is Los Angeles County. And I’m going to be out there Saturdays and Sundays and evenings as available with a whole bunch of knocking and talking.”

What Mikels is telling voters is that she is the anti-McClintock.

“There’s a very big difference between the two of us,” she said. “I don’t believe my opponent has the hands-on everyday experience in business I have. I am not interested in my own political ideology. I am a moderate and a fiscal conservative, and I’m much more connected to the people. I take care of the basics, potholes and safety.”

Mikels said she has received the endorsements of former Assemblyman Nao Takasugi, Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury and Sheriff Bob Brooks, and all five members of the Simi Valley City Council, as well as the endorsement of Los Angeles Councilman Hal Bernson. Sen. Wright, an old political enemy of McClintock’s, is also backing Mikels, but has not formally endorsed her.

“McClintock wants to grab headlines on these tax issues,” Wright said. “But when you try to get him in some discussion about Ventura County, he doesn’t want to be bothered.”

McClintock noted that the Legislature approved his car tax initiative, resulting in a 35% cut in motorists’ annual license fees in the last two years.

He cites his leadership in the San Fernando Valley’s efforts to secede from Los Angeles. He wrote a 1997 bill that allows Valley voters to set up their own city if they prove it could sustain itself. Then he joined Democratic Assembly leader Robert Hertzberg of Van Nuys in promoting that effort.

He is also a member of the Republican Assembly leadership as policy director for the 32-member Republican Caucus.

McClintock said his candidacy is backed by most Republicans in the Legislature, including all top party leaders in the Senate and the Assembly minority leadership.

“I think Tom is an independent Republican,” said Sen. Jim Brulte, chairman of the Republican Caucus in the upper house. “He’s clearly one of the most knowledgeable members of the Legislature on state tax and budget issues. I would expect Tom to pick up in the Senate right where he leaves off in the Assembly--as a passionate advocate for smaller government and lower taxes.”

McClintock Credited With Key Proposals

Assembly Republican leader Scott Baugh said McClintock is the party guru who drafted two of the three main policies Republicans will push this year--a further reduction in the vehicle license fee and a plan to rebuild state freeways. “If it wasn’t for Tom McClintock, we wouldn’t be talking about these things,” Baugh said.

Mikels, McClintock said, should be the politician on the defensive.

“I’m a taxpayer watchdog. That’s where I’ve built my reputation,” he said. “And this Ventura County scandal provides a very strong contrast to that. Judy Mikels voted for the budgets that put them into this mess.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

GOP Race in 19th State Senate District

Judy Mikels

Age: 54

Residence: Simi Valley

Occupation: Ventura County supervisor, 5th District, since 1995.

Education: Studied nursing for one year at Contra Costa College in Northern California.

Background: Homemaker and wife of Air Force husband, living in 16 locations, 1965-82. Operated her own picture frame business in Simi Valley, 1982-2000. Simi Valley planning commissioner, 1986-90; Simi Valley city councilwoman, 1990-95; former chairwoman of the Southern California Assn. of Governments and California Council of Governments.

Issues: She wants an increase in state education spending per pupil and more local flexibility in how to spend that money and in classroom curriculum. She wants to increase the state water supply, perhaps with more reservoirs or desalination plants. She criticizes Tom McClintock, who lives near Sacramento, for not living in his Assembly district and for collecting an extra $25,000 a year meant to reimburse lawmakers for residing in the capital during the legislative session.

Personal: Married for 35 years to John Mikels, an aerospace employee and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. Mother of two adult sons.

*

Tom McClintock

Age: 43

Residence: Northridge

Occupation: Assemblyman, 38th District, since 1996.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science, UCLA, 1978.

Background: Thousand Oaks News-Chronicle columnist, 1976-80. Aide to state Sen. Ed Davis, 1980-1982; elected to the Assembly at age 26 and represented portions of Ventura County from 1982 to 1992. Worked for taxpayers’ advocacy group and policy think tank in Sacramento, 1992-96. Ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1992 and state controller in 1994. Won current Assembly seat in 1996 and represents Simi Valley, Fillmore and parts of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

Issues: He wants to cut taxes, dramatically reduce the size of government and streamline the bureaucracy. He stresses his background as a taxpayer advocate, his role in the San Fernando Valley secession movement and his success in gaining a 35% reduction in vehicle license fees. He wants to do away with the diamond lane on freeways to reduce congestion. He criticizes Judy Mikels for Ventura County’s budget and mental health billing problems.

Personal: Married for 12 years to Lori McClintock, a church secretary. Two children, ages 7 and 9.