VanderKolk Nominates 2 to Posts on Park Panel

In a move to expand the number of environmentalists in political positions in Ventura County, Supervisor Maria VanderKolk has nominated a Thousand Oaks city councilwoman and a former park ranger to two Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy posts.

VanderKolk said Friday she has nominated Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, 48, her former campaign manager, to serve on the nine-member conservancy board. She also has nominated Bradley Childs, 35, director of the Wilderness Institute in Agoura Hills, to the conservancy’s 16-member citizens advisory committee.

Supervisors are scheduled to vote on VanderKolk’s nominations Tuesday. If approved, Zeanah would replace outgoing board member Michael Berger, a Moorpark High School vice principal, and Childs would replace David Green, a former Westlake resident who has moved to Santa Barbara. The conservancy’s next scheduled meeting is Jan. 21.

VanderKolk said she hopes her appointees will be able to influence the conservancy to preserve parkland in eastern Ventura County.

The conservancy manages more than 15,000 acres in the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains and has been entrenched in negotiations surrounding the development of entertainer Bob Hope’s 2,308-acre Jordan Ranch, a project that VanderKolk opposes.

Zeanah and Childs are the latest appointees by VanderKolk with strong ties to the environmental movement.

In November, VanderKolk named two aides to her staff, Russ Baggerly, formerly a board member of the Environmental Coalition, and Lenora O. Kirby, formerly a member of Save Open Space.

VanderKolk said Zeanah was nominated to the conservancy board because of the broad knowledge of conservancy issues she has gained as an environmentalist and now as a city councilwoman.

Zeanah was elected to the Thousand Oaks council in November after she stressed environmental issues in her campaign. She was endorsed by VanderKolk for the council post.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Frank Schillo said he views Zeanah’s appointment as a positive step in the city’s efforts to protect the mountains, which lie outside the city’s southern boundaries.

Schillo last week asked the Board of Supervisors to appoint a Thousand Oaks City Council member to the conservancy. Zeanah is the second Thousand Oaks council member to be named to the conservancy in its history, he said.

Childs, also of Thousand Oaks, has organized conservation and education programs in the Santa Monica Mountains.

VanderKolk cited Childs’ experience with the private Wilderness Institute as key to her decision to nominate him to the conservancy citizens committee.

A former park ranger in the Santa Monica Mountains, Childs founded the institute seven years ago and has directed the nonprofit organization since.

Childs also worked with the Save the Mountain Park Coalition, a group that lobbied for the acquisition of land in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area.