Agoura Hills to Vote on Council, Use of Bed Tax

Agoura Hills voters will decide Tuesday whether to adopt a city councilman’s proposal to allocate 75% of prospective hotel tax revenue for building a library, community center, athletic fields, tennis courts and other public facilities.

The proposal, Proposition A, has been vehemently opposed by every member of the Agoura Hills City Council except Ernest Dynda, who introduced it in June.

Dynda, who became president of the California Taxpayers Assn. lobbying group after Howard Jarvis died, is not seeking reelection, but has said he plans to run for the state Board of Equalization next year.

Proposition A would force the city to spend 75 cents of every dollar it receives from its 8% hotel bed tax over the next seven years to build public facilities. The money would otherwise go to the city’s general fund.

The city is not now collecting hotel taxes because it has no hotels. But a 150-room Ramada Inn is under construction and is expected to open by the end of the year. A 148-room Sheraton Hotel and a 90-unit Residence Inn have been approved for development, but it is not known when they will be built, city officials said.

Mayor Fran Pavley and Mayor Pro Tem Jack W. Koenig co-authored the ballot arguments opposing Proposition A. The opponents on the City Council advocate borrowing money to build the facilities.

Koenig said the city hopes to break ground by July, 1988, for a $5-million library in Chumash Park. Planning will begin next summer for a $2-million community center with city offices and facilities for senior citizens and teen-agers, Koenig said. The City Council on Oct. 21 allocated $56,000 to build three baseball fields and one soccer field.

Agoura Hills voters also will choose from among six candidates, including incumbent Vicky Leary, for two council seats.

Leary, 58, a former mayor who has been on the council since Agoura Hills was incorporated five years ago, helped enact strict hillside and oak-tree protection ordinances and has sought to preserve Lady Face Mountain, a landmark, from development.

If reelected, Leary said, her priorities will be to improve traffic circulation, preserve the environment and pass strict billboard-control legislation.

Traffic a Priority

Candidate Angelo Cici, 50, director of technical services at Litton Guidance & Control Systems in Woodland Hills and past president of the Morrison Ranch Estates Homeowners Assn., says traffic problems should be the city’s first priority.

Cici said he advocates “progress by planning,� “increased communication� between the City Council and citizens and “positive development . . . based on needs of the citizens.� Asked to elaborate, he said he could not provide specifics without polling residents.

Dr. James Iwanoff, 34, a chiropractor, bills himself as the only candidate “living and working in Agoura Hills.� Iwanoff--who supported the large, unpopular Katell business development in a land-use dispute several years ago--said he favors “responsible development.�

Iwanoff said the city’s most pressing problems are traffic congestion and the need for safe transportation, storage and disposal of toxic wastes. He also pledged to seek removal of billboards from the Ventura Freeway corridor.

Candidate Louise C. Rishoff, 45, an attorney who has served two years on the city’s Planning Commission, also said solving traffic problems should be the city’s first priority. She supports efforts to beautify the city’s Ventura Freeway corridor. A co-author of the city’s new zoning ordinance, Rishoff advocates strict regulations preserving oak, open spaces and significant ecological areas.

Youngest Candidate

Stephen S. Sargent, at 25 the youngest candidate, has lived in Agoura Hills for 17 years, the longest of any candidate. “I don’t believe the people have been heard,� said the market research student when asked why he is seeking office. Sargent advocates “strict, controlled growth� and said he would demand that corporations desiring to locate in the city build needed community facilities.

Barry S. Steinhardt, 30, a securities salesman, accuses the current city leadership of “unforgiveable failings,� saying officials have not dealt with the city’s “traffic nightmare� and should have closed the Calabasas landfill.

Steinhardt advertises his fight against a proposal to build a large warehouse at a busy city intersection and said he is “working with California state legislators� to solve traffic problems. Steinhardt says the existing City Council and Planning Commission do not have enough political ability to work effectively with Sacramento legislators.

Candidates Rishoff, Leary and Sargent oppose Proposition A. Steinhardt, Cici and Iwanoff support it.

Koenig has endorsed Rishoff and Leary. Pavley and Councilwoman Darlene McBane have quietly worked on behalf of Rishoff’s and Leary’s campaigns.

The most controversial issue has been Dynda’s proposition. At a recent candidates’ forum, Dynda said the proposition would raise money “with no waste, no graft and no increased taxes.�

Dynda predicts that, beginning in 1988, when the Ramada Inn opens, the bed tax will bring in $600,000 a year, amassing $4.2 million by 1995. Relying on that income, he said, construction could begin next year on the community projects.

Opponents of the measure, however, say it is impossible to predict how much money the bed tax will bring in. In the meantime, they say, restrictions on use of the bed tax revenues will encumber the general fund and could harm the city’s bond rating.

It would also freeze the hotel bed tax rate at 8% unless changes were approved by a two-thirds vote of the electorate--a boon to hotel owners, Koenig said.

The City Council has already acted on its own to raise money for the facilities. On June 9, the council voted 4 to 1, with Dynda opposed, to raise $7.9 million through the sale of certificates of participation. But, if the voters pass Proposition A, the hotel tax will assume the financial burden for which the certificates are intended.

Certificates of participation are public bond issues, secured by a city’s general fund, which allow cities to finance major capital projects at tax-exempt rates, much the way private parties finance a home with a mortgage, said City Manager David Carmany. Principal and interest are paid over 25 years.

The city estimates that it will cost $5.9 million to build a library and community center. But, Carmany said, an extra $2 million is needed for a reserve fund equal to one year’s debt service payment and to make payments during the expected two-year construction period.

Including interest on the certificates, taxpayers would pay an estimated $18 million for the facilities over 25 years.

Dennis Damiano, a lawyer opposed to Proposition A, said it would only delay construction of the facilities because it would not provide enough money to build them. In the meantime, it would hinder the city’s ability to borrow money for the projects, he said.

The amount of money the hotel bed tax would generate is “totally guesswork,� Damiano contended.