City Council Vows to End Its Bickering

After years of bickering, public criticism and a pair of self-imposed investigations by the Ventura County district attorney, Thousand Oaks City Council members have agreed to a code of conduct designed to make them more civil to one another.

The “council norms,” which passed unanimously Tuesday, are intended to reduce personal attacks -- including by residents -- eliminate public reprimands of city staff and curb smears during election campaigns.

Among them: Play nice. Don’t assume other council members’ motivations. And don’t put words in each other’s mouths.

“What was accomplished was a step in the right direction,” Mayor Claudia Bill-de la Pena said after the goal-setting workshop. “I hope it will improve relations between the council members. Only time will tell.”

Bill-de la Pena said the council needed “a fresh start” after the departure of City Manager Phil Gatch, a 38-year employee who retired in April after allegedly being pressured to resign by one council member during a private meeting.

The full council asked the district attorney to investigate if its members and senior staff had violated the state’s open-meeting laws -- the second such probe of a member’s activity in three years. Neither investigation found wrongdoing.

Council members also agreed to a set of 10 major goals, nearly 50 budget suggestions and more than 290 standards of community service for municipal departments.

The council, with Councilman Ed Masry absent due to an extended hospital stay, also chose to simplify the city’s mission statement to 12 words: “Extraordinary service to the citizens we serve is our purpose and product.”

Councilman Dennis Gillette, who suggested the new wording, said that pledging to work together with professionalism and mutual respect would help restore the public’s perception of the council.

“We need to do something. That chamber we operate in is the people’s house and deserves a certain amount of respect,” he said. The code of conduct “may not do it all, but it’s a good place to start.”

Included in the council norms are directives not to encourage residents to attend council meetings to support a particular issue or to criticize another council member; avoid questioning other members’ motivations or making assumptions about their positions; keep comments from the dais from wandering into areas that are indirectly critical of colleagues; resist speaking for or mentioning other members in media interviews; and promise to focus reelection campaigns on individual achievement and voting records while refraining from personal attacks of opponents.

Councilman Andy Fox, the longest-serving member with 11 years on the council, said the panel had a code of conduct in the mid-1990s but it was discarded because not all members adhered to it. He said he was optimistic that the current council could work together to improve its professionalism.

“If we follow the course that we’ve set collectively as a group, there will be a real and measurable change in how the council deals with the various public policy issues where we have different perspectives and ideas,” Fox said. “And I think it will restore a sense of confidence in the decision-making process of local government.”

Fox, a frequent target of residents who oppose his positions, stressed that while it is the mayor’s role to maintain civility during council meetings, it is up to all five members to demand that the public refrain from mean-spiritedness and address criticisms to the entire council, not single out one member.

“If there was complete, unanimous consensus by the council, I guarantee you it would stop in a month,” he said.

Bill-de la Pena said harsh critiques during council meetings have been common for years and are difficult to control. As a television news producer, she said she was especially concerned about being perceived as trying to restrict the public’s 1st Amendment right of free speech.

Councilwoman Jacqui Irwin said setting limits on politically motivated speech was “going down a slippery slope regarding monitoring what the public can say.”

“But what we’re talking about is months and months of being screamed at for the same issue.”