Cuts Will Hurt, Navy Warns

Ventura County businesses ranging from restaurants to hotels to suppliers of office equipment will feel the effects of further defense spending cuts, officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center at Point Mugu warn.

About 300 of the county’s companies are doing base-related work. About one-third of these maintain roads, pipelines and other parts of the base infrastructure. The rest have contracts to supply everything from data-processing equipment to paint.

The center’s commanding officer, Rear Adm. William E. Newman, told the Greater Ventura Chamber of Commerce that in addition to reducing the amount of business done with local companies, continued budget cutbacks are expected to pare the number of Navy and civilian personnel at Point Mugu.

“So far, fortunately, the reductions have been done by attrition,” he said.

The personnel cutbacks, in turn, are expected to impact the local economy by reducing spending at stores and other businesses, Newman said.

Some departments at Mugu, including weapons division procurement, have already been consolidated with operations at the China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center, Newman said.

In some cases, he said, this could result in business that formerly went to Ventura County firms being awarded instead to firms near China Lake, about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Point Mugu is the Navy’s key base for testing and evaluating weapons. China Lake concentrates on research and development.

“At this point, we can’t predict what the cutbacks will amount to in terms of dollars,” said Alan Alpers, public affairs officer at Mugu. “But in addition to payroll reductions, we expect fewer visits from Defense Department officials. That would have a direct impact on the area’s restaurants, car-rental companies and hotels, among others.”

As an example of how businesses in the county will be hit by the consolidations with China Lake, Alpers said the Navy’s films of the recent Point Mugu Air Show were processed by a Ridgecrest company. In former years, the contract for this work was awarded to a Ventura County firm, he said.