Jason Redmond / Star staff Supervisor Steve Bennett and administrative assistant Cindy Cantle, left, meet with First 5 Ventura County Executive Director Claudia Harrison.

It's hard to top the 76 percent of the vote that Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett won when he was re-elected four years ago, but on June 3, Bennett might do just that.

He will be the only person on the ballot in the race to represent the 1st District for the next four years. His opponent in 2004, Jeff Ketelsen, is officially registered as a write-in candidate.

It's the first time in more than 20 years that an incumbent supervisor hasn't faced at least one ballot opponent. Bennett, however, isn't taking even a moment to savor it.

"I'm never comfortable with talking about that kind of thing," he said when asked if the lack of opposition is a reflection of his political strength. "The important thing for me is to not take anything for granted. I need to work really hard for the next four years."

Bennett already has a reputation as one of the hardest workers in local government, from his attention to policy detail to his fundraising prowess.

His re-election committee has $156,613 in the bank, far more than any other supervisor, and that's in a year in which he's hardly had to campaign.

On the policy side, he's written or co-written several of the county's major ordinances, including its campaign finance regulations. He's always taken up ambitious legislation: In the mid-1990s, when he was on the Ventura City Council, he co-wrote the county's first SOAR ordinance. It became the model for open space and farmland preservation policies now in place throughout the county.

Bennett, 57, was an economics teacher at Nordhoff High School in Ojai before he was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2000. He lives in the foothills above midtown Ventura and represents a district that includes Ventura and surrounding unincorporated areas; La Conchita and the other beach communities north of Ventura; Ojai and the rest of the Ojai Valley; and some of Oxnard's beach areas.

This year, he stands virtually unchallenged, but not everyone considers him invincible. Mike Osborn, the chairman of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee, said the party was considering supporting a challenge to Bennett, a registered Democrat, but decided to concentrate on the presidential election this year.

"He's never really had a tough election," Osborn said. "I think the district is pretty evenly matched, and a well-run campaign would certainly put it in play."

Local elected offices are officially nonpartisan, but the Republican Central Committee often endorses local candidates and campaigns. Given Bennett's campaign bankroll, Republican Party support would probably be the only way to compete financially, Osborn said. Political parties are exempt from the donation limits that apply to candidates under the county's campaign finance ordinance.

Two shades of green

Bennett came into office with two major priorities: environmentalism and smart growth, and fiscal conservatism. Since then, he said, he's added a third: directly helping his constituents, particularly the poor or otherwise disadvantaged ones.

Since he joined the board, the supervisors have almost completely reversed their outlook when it comes to overseeing the county budget. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, fiscal crises were routine. The budget was balanced through accounting tricks, and reserves actually dropped to zero.

Today, the $1.6 billion budget is balanced every year, with enough left over to build a $70 million reserve. The supervisors have imposed strict discipline; new programs are added only if they have a clear revenue source, and if that source dries up, the program is cut.

The board also took on the sheriff and district attorney to change the funding formula for law enforcement, and it resisted pleas by sheriff's deputies and other county employees for pension benefits that would have been too expensive.

"It's not just a coincidence that we started making those moves after I was elected," Bennett said. "I didn't do it by myself, but I think I played a contributing role and a leadership role."

The biggest hurdles the county government will face in the coming years will again be financial, he said. The state's deficit, at $20 billion and growing, means Sacramento will be cutting funding for health and welfare programs that the county administers.

"For the foreseeable future, local governments are going to be in permanent fiscal crisis," Bennett said. "To attack that, you've got to put more energy into studying the issues and studying the budget, and you've got to be willing to challenge all of the old thinking."

Challenger faces uphill battle

Ketelsen, a substitute teacher who lives in the Mira Monte area of the Ojai Valley, has run many times for local offices, but this time around voters will have to write in his name.

He said he couldn't afford the filing fee of $1,192 and wouldn't be able to gather the 4,761 signatures needed in lieu of the fee. Instead, he collected 20 signatures to register as a write-in candidate.

Ketelsen, 47, said he's running on "local concerns and local issues," including saving Ojai schools from closure, building a skate park in Ojai, and preserving local businesses and notable architecture in Ventura and Ojai. He also said he's a big supporter of law enforcement.

Last month, The Star received some Ketelsen campaign material in the mail. One page had a handwritten note that used an anti-Latino slur to refer to the League of United Latin American Citizens and also called the group "a bunch of terrorists from Santa Paula (Mexico)."

When asked about the note, Ketelsen said, "That might not have been me; that might have been an overly excited follower." He later said he did not write it. The handwriting, however, appears to be identical to another note in the same package that Ketelsen did not deny writing or sending.