Supervisor Schillo Will Seek Reelection

Ending speculation that he will run for the 37th District Assembly seat now held by Nao Takasugi, Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo announced Monday that he will seek reelection to a second four-year term on the Board of Supervisors.

“I have been asked by many people in the county to consider running for the . . . state Assembly seat,” Schillo said in a statement. “While I am honored that they want me to serve them in Sacramento, after much deliberation I have decided that at this time I will be much more useful to the citizens of the county if I were to devote my time and energy to county matters.”

Schillo’s seat on the Board of Supervisors is up for grabs in 1998.

Among other issues, Schillo said, he will continue to focus on reducing the size of county government and balancing the budget, solving the county’s library funding crisis, guiding the newly formed Economic Development Collaboration-Ventura County and working toward “meaningful reform to welfare for Ventura County.”

Schillo already faces a challenger. Oak Park resident Vince Curtis, founder of a group opposing the massive Ahmanson Ranch housing project, announced his candidacy in March.

Though Schillo defends his record on the environment and disputes claims that he is pro-development, Curtis believes otherwise.

“I think you’re going to see this as a left brain, right brain hemisphere kind of a race,” he said Monday.

Among Curtis’ backers is Save Open Space, an environmental group that helped elect Supervisor Maria VanderKolk in 1990.