CAMARILLO : City May Join County on Lobbying Visit

With numerous base closures under way across the nation, Ventura County officials are forming a coalition of local leaders to lobby Washington to bring more military jobs to the county.

The Camarillo City Council tonight will consider allowing the mayor and city manager to accompany county Supervisor John K. Flynn to Washington next month to push for the expansion of the military bases at Point Mugu and Port Hueneme.

But Mayor Mike Morgan said he is not convinced that Camarillo would benefit from spending the money.

“Supposedly it’s to bring jobs to the base, but it’s kind of vague right now,” he said. “That’s why we’ve got to talk about it” as a council.

Camarillo officials earlier chipped in nearly $24,000 to the effort to keep Point Mugu and Port Hueneme off the federal base-closing list, according to Finance Director Anita Bingham.

It is unclear how much the proposed trip would cost, she said.

When the base-closing commission reversed an earlier recommendation to close Point Mugu, local officials rejoiced, citing the tens of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars the military contributes to the local economy.

But Morgan said he needs to be shown the direct result of traveling to the nation’s capital.

“If [the trip to Washington] is something that’s going to benefit our areas and we can see the goals defined well, then we can do it,” he said. “But we don’t take to boondoggles.”

Flynn and other Ventura County leaders made several trips to Washington before federal officials decided to keep Point Mugu off the base-closing list.