Developer is spending big on campaign in Moorpark
By Anne Bakalis abakalis@VenturaCountyStar.com
January 27, 2006

Campaign spending by the developers of a controversial large housing project northeast of Moorpark is expected to reach $425,000, with much of it earmarked for a public relations and lobbying firm based in Chicago.

"It's a typical David and Goliath situation," said Councilwoman Roseann Mikos, who is opposed to the project. "We fully expected this to happen. We've got a strong group of volunteers, but we don't have any paid staff."

On Feb. 28, Moorpark residents will decide the fate of the North Park Village and Nature Preserve, a 1,680-home community that includes a 52-acre public-access lake and $75 million in school improvements throughout the district. In all, the project is estimated to cost about $1 billion.

So far, the pro-North Park committee reported spending just under $423,000 through Jan. 14, the end of the second of four reporting periods for the election. North Park representatives said they've earmarked almost $379,000 to the consultants, Porter Novelli International. Clients of the firm range from Hewlett-Packard to McDonald's to the American Cancer Society, according to its Web site.

Mikos and Mayor Patrick Hunter are vocal leaders in the campaign against North Park. So far, opponents have spent about $11,000 of the close to $20,000 that was contributed, mainly in increments of $100. They've spent it on mailings, postage and signs.

The Yes on North Park committee was given a single $100,000 donation from the developer, North Park Communities LLC, based in Newport Beach.

"We're the proponents of the plan," said Kim Kilkenny, vice president of North Park LLC. "From the beginning, we wanted to fund the campaign. We didn't ask anyone else."

North Park LLC also recently hired two Moorpark residents to help with the campaigning. Flo Carvalho, who used to be on the staff of the Moorpark Chamber of Commerce, and Lynn Shakelford, former Los Angeles Lakers announcer, will staff the North Park office on Walnut Avenue until the election.

North Park representatives have sent direct mailings and have asked supporters to host neighborhood meetings. Hope Roberts of Moorpark is a supporter who hosted one such meeting. She was paid $3,000 last year for services as a campaign consultant, according to the campaign statement report.

"She started off as a volunteer, and ended up doing more work. She's delivering signs and things like that, to help get out the word," Kilkenny said.

The project will go to the voters because of Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources, an initiative that created a strict urban-growth boundary that can't be moved without voter approval.

North Park officials have learned from the sound defeat of an earlier project on the same property. The Messenger/Hidden Creek project was a 3,200-home development that was approved by the Moorpark City Council but had 70 percent of Moorpark residents vote against in 1999.

"This is one of the most important elections there's ever been," Mikos said. "We have to defend the S.O.A.R. growth boundaries."

Deadlines have been set for Moorpark residents to register to vote and submit absentee ballots. Residents have until Feb. 13 to register to vote in the Feb. 28 special election for the North Park Village and Nature Preserve, Measure A6. Absentee ballots for those who prefer to mail in the ballot can be requested from Monday through Feb. 21 and must be returned by Feb. 28.

As of Thursday, there were 16,480 registered voters in Moorpark.