THOUSAND OAKS : Group Charges Pair Stalled Recall Vote

A citizens group that wants to oust Thousand Oaks Mayor Frank Schillo and Councilman Alex Fiore accused the pair on Friday of engineering delays that could prevent a recall vote.

The city clerk’s office has withheld approval of the recall petition since June 18, said Ken Bauer, chairman of the group leading the campaign.

Schillo’s term is up in November, 1992, and under state law, a recall vote cannot be held if a politician’s term is scheduled to end within six months of the election. Fiore’s term ends in November, 1994.

The two councilmen were targeted for recall because of their strong support for the planned $63-million Jungleland project, a development that includes a city hall and performing arts complex at the corner of Conejo School Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

City officials blamed the delay on the group itself. They rejected sample copies of the group’s petitions because of minor grammatical and printing errors that the group refused to correct, Schillo said.

“This group seems to want to blame everyone else for their mistakes,” Schillo said. “I have no concern about deadlines. I think if people are going to sign it, they’re going to sign it. It has nothing to do with my actions right now.” A sample copy of the petition to recall Schillo and his rebuttal was finally approved on Thursday.

However, Bauer pointed out that some of the same errors, such as inconsistent type size, were also on Fiore’s petition, yet that petition was never corrected.

The group now has until Feb. 4 to collect signatures from about 15% of the city’s registered voters, or about 8,377 people. Bauer said 400 volunteers have signed up to gather signatures at major shopping centers, supermarkets and in their own neighborhoods beginning today.