Thousand Oaks Council Broke Law, D.A. Rules

The Thousand Oaks City Council violated the state’s open-meeting law two weeks ago when it voted without public notice to provide free office space for Supervisor-elect Maria VanderKolk, the Ventura County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

But council members--acting on the advice of City Atty. Mark G. Sellers--apparently did not realize that they were breaking the law when they took the action June 26 without putting the item on the agenda beforehand, Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said.

As a result, county prosecutors will not file criminal charges against Thousand Oaks officials, Hardy said.

Nevertheless, Hardy warned officials in a letter sent to Sellers on Tuesday to be more careful in the future. Under the Ralph M. Brown Act, a city council cannot take action on a measure unless the item has been posted on an agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting.

Thousand Oaks council members had tried to get around the Brown Act requirement by declaring an emergency, which would have allowed them to vote on the measure without public notice. But Hardy said VanderKolk’s request for office space at the old city library on Wilbur Road could hardly be construed as a calamity that needed immediate attention.

“Our primary concern now is to assure that no future violations of the Brown Act be committed by your City Council,” Hardy wrote. “Please understand that repeated violations of the Brown Act may result in our concluding that such actions, rather than innocent mistakes, are really deliberate abuses of the act.”

Sellers, who has served as city attorney for six years, said the district attorney’s decision is unfair.

“They took a hard, fixed position” without seeking the city’s side of the story, Sellers said. “They didn’t want to talk to me. They just went on their own merry way. It’s a silly investigation, it’s a silly issue, and it’s an unfortunate situation.”

Sellers defended the council’s action, saying that VanderKolk had asked the city officials the day before the meeting for the office space, which she said she needed immediately. He said that according to his interpretation of the open meeting law, the council was allowed to act on the request because it was made after the agendas were prepared.

Although the council was scheduled to vote again on the issue late at its meeting Tuesday night in an attempt to clear the record, VanderKolk said Tuesday afternoon that she is no longer interested in using the office.

“The last thing I need right now is public controversy,” said VanderKolk, who defeated Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer in the June election by 98 votes. “I don’t want to start on a bad note.”

VanderKolk had requested use of the office because she said she had nowhere to work until she takes over Schaefer’s position in January. At that time, the county will provide VanderKolk with funds to rent office space in the 2nd Supervisorial District, which is centered in Thousand Oaks.

Since the city had unused space, officials thought it would be a nice gesture to allow VanderKolk to use an office rent-free.

“People look at this thing as a gratuitous thing when it’s a gesture of goodwill,” VanderKolk said.

She said she will conduct business out of her home until she takes office in January.

A complaint by Gregory P. Cole, a Thousand Oaks dentist and a Ventura County Community College District trustee, prompted the district attorney’s office to investigate the matter.

Cole, a supporter of Schaefer, said he was so irritated that the council did not place the item on the agenda or allow public comment on the issue that he requested the investigation. Hardy agreed to look into the matter, as he does on all alleged violations of the open-meeting law.