Although he briefly decided not to challenge County Supervisor Judy Mikels to represent the 4th District on the board of supervisors, Jim Dantona, a 20-year resident of Simi Valley, recently announced his candidacy. The election isn’t scheduled until June, but Dantona is already revving up his campaign to unseat the veteran incumbent.

He indicated in a July article of The Acorn that he wasn’t going to run because he was concerned about campaign finance regulations, which made it hard to challenge incumbents because the law caps campaign contributions at $159,000 per candidate.

But Dantona said residents in the district urged him to take part in the campaign because they feel shortchanged with their current representative.

“The East County communities need an effective leader committed to fighting for increased funding for public safety, environmental protection, affordable housing, community healthcare and better emergency first response services,” he said.

Dantona claims Mikels has ignored the needs of public safety people. “Instead of helping them, the board of supervisors spent taxpayers’ money to fight the very people who are protecting our quality of life,” said Dantona, referring to a recently settled lawsuit between the county, the sheriff and the district attorney.

This is Dantona’s first attempt at public office in the region. He unsuccessfully ran for city council and a seat in the assembly when he lived in the San Fernando Valley.

Dantona is the founder of Baseballers Against Drugs, an organization founded in 1989 to serve youth by using sports to promote an anti-drug, anti-gang, pro-education message. He’s also the president of Governmental Impact, a legislative consulting firm in Simi Valley.

The contender pledged to advocate smart growth control measures to minimize traffic congestion, improve traffic safety and preserve agriculture and open space within Ventura County.

Smart growth can coexist with affordable housing, Dantona said. If cities and county officials put pressure on developers to build the right type of housing, he said, the county will be able to house seniors and young people.

Reducing waste and inefficiency in county government is also essential, Dantona said. Departments should be audited by an independent management and performance audit firm to help control spending and prioritize budgets while still effectively delivering county services, he added.

Mikels responded that Dantona is tackling old issues for lack of alternatives, but said she stands on her record and she’s ready for her performance review: the election. As supervisor, she tries to fix every problem but some are complicated and more difficult to resolve, she said.

Law enforcement is very important, and 51 percent of the general fund goes to public safety, Mikels said.

Although the sheriff and the district attorney initiated a lawsuit because they felt the board had shortchanged them, the settlement demonstrates that the disagreement was resolved, she said. The lawsuit cost $1.6 million because the court ordered the county to pay for the legal expenses of both parties.

As for fiscal waste, Mikels said the current board has spent much time controlling and improving finances. “We have a better credit rating now than before,” she said, adding that Dantona is throwing things at the wall to see if they stick.

Dantona also pointed out that truck traffic is a problem for Moorpark and the city should be compensated for damages done to local streets by the heavy vehicles. But Mikels said the county has worked on this issue to no avail. It’s a state highway managed with federal funds and both the 23 and the 118 are designated truck routes, she said.

Moorpark Mayor Patrick Hunter went to Sacramento to try to get the trucks off the street but was unsuccessful, Mikels said.

Hunter, who endorses Dantona, said he supports the challenger because “he is intimately familiar with the issues in the county and district. But more importantly, the current supervisor has failed in her responsibility to provide fundamental service to those in the 4th District,” said Hunter.

The closure of the East County Jail cost Moorpark nearly $75,000 in lost productivity due to deputy sheriffs having to drive to Ventura to book suspects as opposed to making a short drive to Thousand Oaks, said Hunter, a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Hunter had plans to run for the supervisor post but opted not to for personal and professional reasons.

Hunter also said the county is providing inadequate street maintenance. “Roads are in disrepair and the county’s response to the flooding and the storms last winter was inadequate, leaving Moorpark in jeopardy and causing us to rely on the city of Simi Valley for resources,” he said.

Another Dantona campaign issue is the Rocketdyne site. An initial investigation revealed the former rocket engine testing site was safe, but nearby residents didn’t agree, he said. Mikels should have called for an in-depth analysis using federal dollars, which were available for that purpose, he said. “Instead, she led the battle to not have a second study done on the site.”

Mikels didn’t agree. “I don’t have any authority. It’s a federal and state decision. The Department of Energy, as well as the Department of Toxics, are the ones who didn’t recommend another study,” she said.