Supervisor Jones Appears Headed for Runoff

Veteran Supervisor Edwin A. Jones appeared headed for a runoff in Ventura County’s 2nd District, while 4th District Supervisor James Dougherty was rolling to an easy reelection victory, in early returns Tuesday night.

With Jones running well below the 50% mark needed to win outright, Thousand Oaks Councilman Madge Schaefer and senior citizens advocate Tony Lamb were battling for the second spot on the November runoff ballot.

“I think I’m competing very well with Ed,” an optimistic Schaefer said at one point on election night when she had pulled slightly ahead of Lamb to take second position among the five candidates. “I always expected a runoff with Ed.”

But Lamb was equally optimistic. “I am surprised,” he remarked of his good showing. “The seniors alone could not give me that number of votes.”

Jones was not available for comment.

Meanwhile, initial returns showed voters narrowly rejecting a cultural center for Thousand Oaks.

4th District Fairly Quiet

The 4th District race was fairly quiet, pitting Dougherty against the politically inexperienced Mark Meininger, an engineer, but the large field of candidates and the legal troubles of incumbent Jones made the 2nd District contest a lot livelier.

In 1982, Jones, of Thousand Oaks, was returned to office unopposed, reflecting a strong name recognition and a reputation for responding quickly to constituent complaints.

But Jones’ political dominance in the 2nd District was weakened last year when he was charged with lewd conduct and indecent exposure in connection with an incident at a Studio City motel. Although vigorously denying criminal wrongdoing, Jones acknowledged having an extramarital affair at the motel.

The episode aroused heavy media attention in Ventura County. Jones eventually pleaded no contest to lesser charges of disturbing the peace and public drunkenness after the prosecution’s eyewitness refused to testify. He was sentenced to two years’ probation, ordered to undergo alcohol-abuse counseling and fined $1,000.

Faces Strong Challenge

This year, Jones, 55, a low-key, part-time college instructor, faced what most observers regarded as the strongest field of challengers since his first election to the Board of Supervisors in 1974.

Raising more campaign funds than his challengers, he nonetheless ran a traditional press-the-flesh campaign, walking precincts and stressing Ventura County’s low crime rate and success in coping with Proposition 13.

His principal opponents, Schaefer, 44, a sometimes acerbic speaker, and Nathaniel (Bud) Glickman, 64, an aggressive promoter of his business credentials, avoided comment on Jones’ legal problems.

The race revealed relatively few differences among candidates on issues. Jones’ opponents assailed him for “lacking leadership,” contending, more specifically, that the 2nd District had lost county projects to other supervisorial districts.

They branded as unethical Jones’ campaign tactics, including the listing of three endorsements of political activists who later disavowed supporting Jones. The Ventura County district attorney’s office investigated Jones twice for possible violations of state election law--once for posing with a uniformed county employee in promotional photos, the other time for omitting the name and address of his campaign committee from a mass mailer.

Declines to Prosecute

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury declined to prosecute either case. Jones, attributing the incidents to honest mistakes, angrily contended that opponents were unfairly exploiting them.

Two other contenders made their first run for public office, Tony Lamb, 82, a senior-citizens advocate, and John H. Byrd, 41, a developer.

Both stayed out of the cross fire of charges and countercharges but struggled to convince voters that they were not one-issue candidates. Lamb, a popular and affable fixture on the county scene, was expected to draw some of the senior-citizen backing Jones enjoyed in previous races.

In the more sedate 4th District contest, Dougherty, of Simi Valley, collected a war chest of $95,000 during 1986 but spent little of it against the relatively unknown Meininger.

With the re-election blessings of city officials in Simi Valley and Moorpark, Dougherty, 51, first elected on a pro-Proposition 13 platform in 1978, stressed his fiscal conservatism.

Meininger’s campaign stemmed from a county bureaucratic mix-up that temporarily blocked construction of his Black Canyon home. Meininger, 38, said Dougherty’s office was slow to assist, and he argued that Dougherty had grown unresponsive.

Performing Arts Issue

Supervisorial campaigns in affluent eastern Ventura County were overshadowed at times by the debate over building a performing arts center in Thousand Oaks.

Measure C called for building theaters of 1,800 and 299 seats, a 15,000-square-foot art gallery and an outdoor amphitheater.