Moorpark Names Harsh Critic to Pest-Control Panel

MOORPARK — Sending the first clear signal on their plans for the Moorpark Mosquito Abatement District, Moorpark City Council members have appointed one of the district’s harshest critics to sit on the district board.

And the council may soon vote on a resolution calling for an end to the agency.

Early Thursday, the council picked former City Councilwoman Eloise Brown to replace Dave Austin, who announced his resignation from the district board last month.

Brown, who has been circulating a petition to dissolve the agency, said her goal on the board will be to shut down the district as soon as possible.

“I just think it’s time it goes,” she said Thursday.

Noting that the district trustees are all appointed officials not directly answerable to voters, she added: “My concern is that tax funds be administered by people elected to administer them. . . . This is not a hereditary fiefdom.”

Her attitude suited the mood of council members, who moments before electing Brown directed city staff to draft an ordinance that would ask the Local Agency Formation Commission to dissolve the district.

Although the council has not taken an official position on the district’s fate, members said Thursday that they were ready to eliminate the agency, take over most of the $1.4 million in its coffers and bring the district’s two full-time employees onto the city payroll to continue providing pest-control services to Moorpark.

Councilman Chris Evans said the city should simply move forward with the changes it wants and exercise its authority over the district’s appointed officials.

“I think it’s time for the city to step in and say, ‘Guess what, this is our sandbox, and these are the rules,’ ” he said.

The district has come under increasing scrutiny from city officials and Ventura County Supervisor Judy Mikels in recent months for amassing a large cash reserve and, critics say, outliving its usefulness. The district was created in 1960 to control fly and mosquito problems in what was then an unincorporated farming town.

Jim Hartley, chairman of the district’s board, already has a working relationship with Brown as her insurance agent. He said Thursday that he hoped she would take the time to learn about the district’s functions.

“It would be good for Eloise to take an opportunity to familiarize herself with the district,” he said.

Brown says she will try, in her first meeting on the board, to convince her fellow trustees that they should vote their organization out of existence--the easiest way to break up the district.

Hartley said he didn’t know if Brown could persuade him. However, Hartley added that he remains open to discussion.

“I still feel there’s good reason for it to be a separate entity,” he said. “I also agree with some of the questions being asked by some of the other agencies.”

If the board does not agree with Brown’s proposal, her petition could still force a voter referendum on the district’s future.

Meanwhile, the proposed city resolution would ask simply that the local agency commission dissolve the district. Mikels aide Keith Jajko said that such a move would not require a referendum, but would require the city to complete an environmental document detailing the effects of the proposed change.

Mikels’ office is still looking for another person willing to serve on the five-person district board. One position has remained vacant for months, and although Mikels’ staff has talked with several people about the job, they have not chosen a candidate to nominate to the Board of Supervisors.

“The fact that it’s so controversial hasn’t helped,” Jajko said.