Council Balks at Buying New Cars for 2 Officials

After some testy exchanges, the Thousand Oaks City Council put off replacing two top officials’ city cars when it became clear that a majority objected to the $50,000 price tag.

City Atty. Mark Sellers had requested a replacement for his six-year-old Mercury Marquis, which has a cracked windshield, a broken dashboard, is missing several knobs on the instrument panel and has more than 105,000 miles on the odometer.

In a report to the council, Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilman Alex Fiore recommended that Sellers be allocated $25,000 to buy a new car or $500 a month to lease one. The other official with a city vehicle, City Manager Grant Brimhall, would be given an identical price ceiling to buy a new vehicle when his needs replacement in several years.

But Councilman Frank Schillo, usually Fiore’s ally on the dais, immediately criticized the cost, noting that the council had just approved a tax for mosquito control and an increased fee on new development for fire protection.

“I’m not going to get into what you can get for that money, but it’s too much to spend,” Schillo said.

Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski agreed, saying, “The timing’s extremely difficult.”

Their objections sparked an angry response from Fiore, who demanded that the council consider “what you want the executive management of this city to drive around in, in terms of comfort, safety and everything else. The city attorney is driving around in a car that’s about to break down.”

As the clock ticked well past midnight Tuesday, Lazar suggested that the council postpone the issue and develop a lower-cost auto replacement policy. Her colleagues agreed.