THOUSAND OAKS : Group Files Petition Over Recall Results

A citizens group that tried to remove two Thousand Oaks city councilmen from office filed a petition Monday challenging the city’s contention that the group did not gather enough valid signatures to force a recall election.

The 1000 Oaks Recall Committee filed the petition after city officials refused to let committee leaders examine the signatures on petitions to recall Councilmen Alex Fiore and Frank Schillo, said Richard D. Booker, a member of the group and a recall proponent.

Booker said he had examined a little more than half of the 10,000 signatures contained on each man’s petition when city officials barred further access to the documents. Booker said he found 120 instances where signatures were disqualified in error by county officials before he was denied further access.

“It became clear to us that there had been some grievous errors in the petition’s examination by the city and county,” Booker said.

Booker said the committee’s findings are significant because recall proponents fell just 162 signatures short of forcing a recall election against Fiore. Schillo’s petition needed just 150 more signatures, he said.

The signatures were counted by county elections workers because the city contracts for the county’s services, Booker said. “It appears the county was prejudiced in their examination of the signatures,” he said.

City and county officials were not available for comment late Monday.

County election officials announced in March that the six-month drive to oust the two councilmen had failed. The citizens group sought Fiore’s and Schillo’s recall because of their support of a planned $63.8-million civic arts center.

The petition asks a Superior Court judge to allow the committee to examine the remaining signatures and to award the committee $7,580 for the cost of bringing the action to court.