Signatures of Civic Center Foes Certified : Jungleland: Group obtains more names than needed to place issue on ballot. But council majority opposes such a move.

The Ventura County Registrar of Voters has certified signatures submitted by a Thousand Oaks citizens group that opposes the $63-million Jungleland development, an official said Thursday.

The group, calling itself Committee for Government by the People and for the People, gathered enough signatures to place a measure on the ballot, Assistant Registrar Ruth Schepler said.

At least three of the five City Council members, however, have said they oppose submitting the measure to a vote, and Mayor Frank Schillo has said the council is not legally obligated to do so.

Also, City Atty. Mark G. Sellers says the plea for an election should have been filed two years ago, and work has progressed too far to stop the project.

The City Council is scheduled to discuss the issue Tuesday.

“The ball is in their court,” Dick Booker, a spokesman for Committee for Government, said. Of the 7,902 signatures collected by the group, 5,769 were certified, about 216 more than needed, he said.

The proposed measure would bar the city from using money generated by the sale of city property to develop the former wild animal park. Residents called for a referendum on the plan to build a city hall and arts auditorium because the plan also includes a private hotel, offices, restaurants and movie theaters. The private portion would cost $65 million.

Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said she supports putting the development before voters and plans to ask the council to approve placing a Jungleland measure on the ballot in November instead of 1992, the date of the next municipal election.

Groundbreaking for the civic center is scheduled for August and “the question would be moot if we wait until 1992,” Zeanah said.

Councilwoman Judy Lazar said she needs more information before she decides on the issue. Schillo and Councilmen Bob Lewis and Alex Fiore have strongly opposed any ballot measure on Jungleland.

Booker said the Committee for Government will sue the city to force an election if one isn’t scheduled.

The project has been controversial almost since its inception seven years ago. There have been at least three ballot measures on the Jungleland development since 1984.

The last attempt to place a measure on the ballot was in 1988, when a citizens group collected 7,600 signatures on petitions asking voters to approve the Jungleland development.

The City Council, however, voted 4 to 1 against holding a referendum, saying it was not legally obligated to hold an election on the issue.

Former Councilman Lawrence Horner was the lone dissenting vote against council members Schillo, Fiore, Lewis and former Councilman Tony Lamb.

City Manager Grant Brimhall said it would not make sense to schedule another vote since plans for the development are already moving forward.

Architectural plans have been approved, but exterior and interior details are scheduled for City Council review in early March.

By 1992, “we’ll be halfway through construction,” Brimhall said. “I can’t imagine anybody voting to abandon a project at that point.”