Candidate for
Supervisor; County of Ventura; Supervisorial District 1

Steve Bennett has served our community as an educator for 20 years and for 10 years as a County Supervisor. He graduated in 1972 from Brown University with an Honors degree in economics. Before being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2000, Steve was a teacher and high school administrator for 20 years at Nordhoff High school in Ojai and served on the Ventura City Council from 1993 to 1997. Steve's policies brought fiscal discipline to the County's budget, and as a result he has helped balance the County budget ten years in a row, grew the county's budget reserve fund and improved Ventura County's credit rating. He is a proven, independent problem solver who has fought rising pension costs.

Steve feels strongly about decreasing the role of money in politics. He authored one of the state of California's toughest campaign finance reform laws for the City of Ventura as well as the County of Ventura. As a result of the fiscal discipline Steve brought to county government, tens of millions of dollars are being saved to support strong public safety efforts and important children's programs such as foster care and after-school programs.

Bennett is deeply committed to preserving quality of life in Ventura and is a leader on the Board regarding environmental policies. He led the effort to pass the SOAR initiative, which protects our county's open spaces from urban sprawl. In addition, he introduced measures to replace county fleet vehicles with hybrids, reduce the number of county SUVs, eliminate Styrofoam at county facilities, make county buildings more energy efficient, and pursue mandatory energy reduction requirements for large new homes.

Steve is married to Leslie Ogden, a former French and Spanish teacher at Nordoff High School. They are helping to raise four children in their home. Steve's record speaks for itself. He brings trusted, compassionate and intelligent leadership to the Board of Supervisors.