EAST COUNTY BALLOT A BUSY ONE; ELECTION OFFICIALS EXPECT 62 PERCENT TURNOUT.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Daily News Staff Writer

Voters will head to the polls Tuesday across east Ventura County to elect a congressman, choose mayors and school board members, and weigh in on the county's future development through a series of landmark agricultural and open-space preservation measures.

Even with the range of local issues and the major statewide races, county officials expect a 62 percent Election Day turnout from the county's 394,821 registered voters, about as many as typically cast ballots during off-presidential years.

``Roughly two-thirds of the people (registered) vote in every major election,'' said Bruce Bradley, assistant county registrar of voters. ``No one knows why. If we knew, we'd change it and more people would come out to vote.''

Simi Valley voters will head to the polls for four municipal races, to choose their first new mayor in 16 years, elect two members of the City Council and two members of the park board, and to vote for two members on the school board, where the balance between conservatives and moderates could shift.

Simi Valley voters will also vote on a local version of the initiative backed by the group Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources, part of a countywide movement to create city urban growth boundaries that require voter approval before open space or agricultural land can be rezoned for development.

Local SOAR initiatives are on ballots in four other cities - Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Oxnard and Santa Paula - and there is one on all county ballots. Voters in Moorpark and Santa Paula also face rival measures that establish urban growth boundaries including more land than the SOAR measures in those cities.

Also, a companion SOAR measure on all county ballots features recommendations by the Agriculture Policy Working Group, appointed by the county Board of Supervisors last year, which seeks a two-year prohibition on any changes to the 10 city boundaries, a law adopting six existing and five proposed greenbelts, and a public education program. The supervisors added a provision not supported by the coalition that would establish an open-space conservation district to acquire land.

In local contests, Moorpark voters will be asked to pick a mayor and select two City Council members in races where development issues, primarily the 3,221-home Hidden Creek project, have been at the core of local debate. Voters will also choose two candidates for the board that oversees the 11-campus school district.

The most contentious race in the east county has been the rough-and-tumble contest for the Thousand Oaks City Council, where 13 candidates are vying for three seats on the contentious panel.

Voters in Thousand Oaks will also be asked to decide on an $88 million school bond, the school district's third attempt in a year to win support for renovating campuses, and three candidates on the school board. Also on the ballot in Thousand Oaks is the Conejo Recreation and Parks District, where seven candidates are running for three seats.

In the Oak Park community, voters will face just one local issue Tuesday - who to vote for in the school board race. Six candidates are running for three seats.

Another hotly contested race has been the battle for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, where three incumbents and three challengers are vying for control of a board opponents say needs new faces but supporters say is being threatened by developer control. The district provides water to communities including Calabasas, Westlake Village and Hidden Hills.

Voters will also cast ballots Tuesday for higher offices, including a U.S. Congress seat and two state Assembly posts.

In the 23rd Congressional District, which includes most of Ventura County, voters will be asked to choose between the Republican incumbent and Democratic challenger.

Three candidates are running for the state's 37th Assembly District, which includes portions of Thousand Oaks and Moorpark. In the 38th Assembly District, the incumbent is running unopposed for the Simi Valley-area seat.

Also before voters are races for four countywide offices - assessor, Superior Court judge, county Board of Education and the community college district.

In the race for a new county assessor to fill the seat being left by the retiring officeholder, both candidates pledge to bring a satellite office to the east county area.

For Superior Court No. 1, voters are choosing between two candidates in what is seen as a typical showdown between putting a prosecutor or a public defender on the bench.

The race for the Ventura County Board of Education is a showdown of ideologies among the four candidates running for two seats. One seat includes portions of Oak Park, Westlake and Conejo Valley; the other covers Simi Valley and Moorpark.

One seat is up on the Ventura County Community College District board, where a 17-month contract dispute with the faculty has figured heavily in the debate. Two candidates, one an incumbent, are vying for the position.

Bradley said that even with high-profile contests on Tuesday's ballot, from the statewide governor's race to the SOAR initiatives, more voters than usual are not expected. He said that while absentee balloting has risen in this election, the overall voter turnout remains about the same.

``The absentee ballot hasn't brought out more people,'' he said. ``The same people who vote are now voting by absentee ballot.''

Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For information about polling locations, call the county clerk's elections division during regular office hours.