THOUSAND OAKS : Beilenson to Open New Field Office

They don’t yet have business cards or stationery, but Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson’s field representatives will open a Thousand Oaks office on Monday in an effort to reach out to new constituents.

Running in a newly drawn 24th District, Beilenson, a Democrat who has represented Los Angeles County for 15 years, easily defeated Republican challenger Tom McClintock in the November election. But he earned only 39% of the vote in Thousand Oaks, where residents overwhelmingly supported McClintock.

Nonetheless, field representatives Diane Brown and Glenda Barnard said they expect Thousand Oaks residents to make good use of their new congressman’s local headquarters.

They have received more than 100 letters since Election Day, from haranguing position papers to simple pleas for help. And they predict that even conservative Thousand Oaks residents will back the Democratic congressman on some of his key proposals, especially those designed to preserve the environment.

“This is a very activist community that will get very involved,” Brown said Friday as she waited for her phone to be turned on. “We’ve gotten a lot of case work already.”

A 13-year veteran of Beilenson’s staff, Brown signed on as a receptionist in the congressman’s Westside office in Los Angeles after graduating with a master’s degree in political science from Cal State Northridge. She now lives with her husband and 3-year-old son in the San Fernando Valley, but plans to move soon to Thousand Oaks.

While Brown, 39, has spent her whole career with Beilenson, her fellow Thousand Oaks field representative joined the staff just a month ago, after helping out with the congressman’s campaign.

Barnard took the full-time job in part, she said, to fulfill a New Year’s resolution “to spend the second half of my life working for the betterment of people.” The 45-year-old mother of two has lived in Thousand Oaks for eight years and spent the last several years working as the League of Woman Voters’ local director.

In his first year as Thousand Oaks’ representative, Beilenson plans to hold monthly public forums with his Ventura County constituents.

The office address is 200 N. Westlake Blvd., Suite 211, Thousand Oaks 91362. The phone number is (805) 496-4333. Beilenson also recently opened an office in Woodland Hills.