Dizzying changes seen in Ventura County politics, government in 2022
A dizzying series of events came during 2022 in government and politics in Ventura County, shaking up the status quo.
The changes came at the highest levels of the Ventura County government as the executive officer quit after an investigation supported a sexual harassment claim against him, the chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors was killed in a traffic accident and the first African American was hired to lead the county government.
Voters also spoke, stopping upgraded environmental scrutiny of the oil industry and potentially shifting the balance of power on the county board. The sitting sheriff was defeated, a culture war propelled Thousand Oaks Pastor Rob McCoy to a national stage and a half-million-dollar theft occurred during the Ventura County Fair. Long-awaited projects benefiting homeless people and wildlife also got underway.
Here's a rundown of the top stories:
Longtime CEO Mike Powers forced out amid harassment allegations
Mike Powers, who held the top job in the county government for 11 years, resigned under pressure in March after an investigation supported a female employee's allegations of sexual harassment.
The employee, who is a high-ranking Latina manager, took a leave of absence in September 2021 and remains off the job. She has sued the county and Powers, while he has filed claims that could pave the way for a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county.
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors hired county health care manager Sevet Johnson to succeed Powers. The Moorpark woman is the first African American to hold the top county job since Ventura County was formed 150 years ago in a split from Santa Barbara County.
Supervisor Carmen Ramirez dies in accident
Carmen Ramirez, Ventura County's first Latina member of the Board of Supervisors and a longtime environmental activist, died in August when she was accidentally struck by a pickup truck while walking in downtown Oxnard.
Ramirez, a resident of Oxnard and an attorney, was killed at age 73 when she was less than halfway through her first term on the board overseeing the Ventura County government. She was the first Latina to be elected to the powerful board and its first Latina chairperson but had previously served on the Oxnard City Council for 10 years.
Local residents knew Ramirez for her efforts to prevent industrialization of the coast, slow climate change, support disadvantaged communities and advocate for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Her death left a vacancy in the Oxnard-based District 5 seat on the board, which was filled a month later with the appointment of Vianey Lopez by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Lopez resigned her seat on the Oxnard City Council to take the position. The appointment lasts until January 2025 unless Lopez wins the seat in the November 2024 election.
Voters reject two oil measures
In June, voters defeated Measures A and B, blocking efforts to upgrade the county’s environmental review of oil drilling under decades-old permits.
The oil industry bankrolled the campaign to defeat the measures, spending $8.3 million. Campaigning with "Stop the Energy Shutdown” signs, oil interests claimed the measures would end all production in the county along with many jobs.
The measures would have upheld a narrow 2020 decision of the county Board of Supervisors to create a single, consistent permitting process for new oil and gas development. The rules would have primarily affected operations under county permits that dated back to the 1940s, including those with no expiration dates, no limits on the number of wells and little, if any, environmental review.
The environmental group in support of the measures spent close to $1.2 million and urged passage to protect water supplies and community health. The measures lost with around 47% voting in favor and 53% opposed.
Santa Paula police chief resigns amid harassment claims
The resignation of former Santa Paula Police Chief Travis Walker amid allegations of sexual misconduct in 2022 dominated Santa Paula news.
Walker started the job on Feb. 1, 2021 with a contract through Jan. 31, 2024. He announced in September that he would retire on Oct. 2. However, when City Manager Dan Singer asked him to stay on until an interim chief was named, Walker agreed to remain longer.
Earlier this year, two female employees filed separate complaints alleging sexual misconduct by Walker during his tenure in Santa Paula. The city says it is investigating accusations of sexual harassment and sexual battery.
Don Aguilar, who served as assistant police chief for Thousand Oaks under the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, started as interim chief in November.
Former legislator Jeff Gorell elected supervisor
Former Republican legislator Jeff Gorell was elected to succeed environmental stalwart Linda Parks as county supervisor in November, potentially shifting the Board of Supervisors to the right.
Gorell, 52, of Camarillo, edged Democrat Claudia Bill-de la Peña by three percentage points. The Navy reserve officer has promised to protect the environment but also is pushing for more progress on housing, jobs and public safety.
He was elected to a four-year term that starts in January. His election and that of Janice Parvin to the Simi Valley seat mean Republicans will make up a majority of the five-member Board of Supervisors for the first time in decades.
Gorell represents District 2, which encompasses the Conejo Valley, part of Camarillo, Somis, Oak Park and the Santa Rosa Valley.
Newbury Park pastor Rob McCoy goes national
Near the beginning of the pandemic, Newbury Park pastor Rob McCoy opened his church, Godspeak Calvary Chapel, in defiance of state and county orders. An appeals court described those orders as constitutional violations but denied the church's request for relief, ending a two-year legal battle.
McCoy leveraged that battle and his conservative connections to edge into national politics as chairman of Turning Point Faith, the evangelical offshoot of activist Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA, and a member of the Council for National Policy, a conservative strategy network.
He has long taught his Godspeak Calvary Chapel congregation to pursue political office and influence in a brand of Christianity-driven politics that some scholars describe as Christian Nationalism. In adding his voice to Kirk's conservative media empire and pushing the young activist to engage with churches, McCoy is taking that message not only to local school boards and city councils but also to the nation.
Fryhoff unseats incumbent Sheriff Ayub
In the race for Ventura County Sheriff's race, Cmdr. Jim Fryhoff defeated incumbent Bill Ayub by 14 percentage points in the June primary, making him the first sheriff to serve a single term since 1998.
Union politics were a major focus of the election, and the sheriff’s association spent $200,000 to defeat Ayub, citing dissatisfaction with his leadership.
Ayub said he ran afoul of the union board when he made changes to the test to promote to captain. The sheriff said the changes were intended to generate a larger and more diverse applicant pool, as well as combat pension spiking, a practice where sergeants would promote to the rank of captain for one year and then retire with a 17% pension increase. The union disputed Ayub's reasoning and said the changes were to allow favoritism.
Fryhoff will take office Jan. 2 at noon. Sheriffs are typically elected to four-year terms but Fryhoff will serve six years due to Assembly Bill 759, which was signed into law by Newsom in September. It temporarily extends the terms of district attorneys, sheriffs and tax assessors to six years in order to align elections for those offices with presidential elections.
“I’m excited to have two additional years,” Fryhoff said.
Thousand Oaks approves first homeless shelter
The Thousand Oaks City Council selected a trio of nonprofits in December to build and operate a village of tiny homes that will become the city’s first year-round emergency shelter and homeless services hub.
The project will consist of 30 small, prefabricated modular homes with on-site services where law enforcement and social services agencies can send people in need of shelter. The city-owned, 1-acre site in an industrial area of Newbury Park could be developed within 12-18 months and the council has the option to expand to 50 units at a later date.
The project is expected to cost $3.9 million to design and build and $800,000 to operate annually. An estimated 250 residents in Thousand Oaks are living without shelter. The navigation center is Thousand Oaks' second project in recent months aimed at providing shelter for the unhoused. A stated-funded Project Homekey conversion that will turn a Quality Inn & Suites into 77 units of permanent supportive housing broke ground in September.
$518,000 stolen at county fair
The break-in happened early the morning of Aug. 10 in the middle of the first Ventura County Fair in three years. California Highway Patrol and fair officials offered little details except to say an undisclosed amount of cash had been stolen from the fairground’s administrative building.
More than a month later, new fairgrounds CEO Stacy Rianda revealed at a board meeting $518,000 had been stolen in the theft and is not covered by insurance. The money came from gate receipts as well as parking fees and carnival sales. It had been held overnight and was scheduled to be picked up by an armored car before the gates opened.
The crime spawned worries about the fairground’s security system and complaints from at least one board member about not being told immediately about the theft. California Highway Patrol Lt. Sergio Perez said Tuesday the investigation is ongoing and being led by a team that reports to the highway patrol's division headquarters in San Luis Obispo.
“I don’t have anything more than what you have,” he said.
The theft wasn’t the only news involving the seaside fairgrounds in Ventura. Legislation banning the long-held gun shows at the site takes effect Jan. 1. And a private development team continues to try to win support to build a baseball stadium in its proposed facelift of the state-owned site. Fairgrounds directors voted in October not to move forward on the project.
Work starts on Highway 101 wildlife bridge
Construction started this year on a first-of-its-kind wildlife crossing over Highway 101 in Agoura Hills.
Billed as the world’s largest urban wildlife crossing, the bridge will span the 10-lane freeway near Liberty Canyon, one of the few spots left in the area with natural habitat on both sides of the 101. The National Wildlife Federation raised more than $87 million for construction through a mix of public funds, private grants and donations.
The crossing is just one of many experts say are needed locally and statewide to reconnect wildlife corridors necessary for species to survive. Named the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, the bridge is expected to be around 210 feet long, 174 feet wide and landscaped with native plants.
This week
Sunday: Photos of 2022
Monday: Top headlines of 2022
Tuesday: Breaking news of 2022
Wednesday: Biggest business stories of 2022
Thursday: General news of 2022
Today: Government, political news of 2022
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Dizzying changes seen in political arena
