Zeanah Plans to Shake Things Up When She Takes Mayor’s Post : Thousand Oaks: Self- proclaimed populist councilwoman hopes to abolish the subcommittee system as well as the rotating mayoralty.

When she picks up the mayor’s gavel for the first time next week, Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Elois Zeanah plans to start shaking up city government.

And some of her longtime foes are already queasy.

After three years as a councilwoman on the losing end of countless votes, Zeanah will finally gain some clout when she rotates into a nine-month stint as mayor on Sept. 14.

Much of the role is ceremonial: endless rounds of speech-making, document-signing and ribbon-cutting. But the mayor does exercise a certain amount of authority, and Zeanah plans to make the most of it.

Above all, the maverick politician wants to overturn the decades-old system of conducting most council work in two-member subcommittees. As part of her crusade for “openness in government,” Zeanah said she will insist that the council tackle the bulk of its business in public hearings with plenty of citizen input.

She even wants to change the system that will elevate her to mayor next week. Although she’s eager to take her turn as the city’s top official, Zeanah plans to challenge the system of rotating a different council member to the mayor’s post each year.

Expanding on the populist theme that has buttressed her political career, Zeanah wants to drum up support for direct mayoral elections.

First, though, she plans to concentrate on subcommittee reform--an issue that pits her squarely against the political Establishment. Already, her proposals have drawn scathing criticism from some of her fellow council members, souring any honeymoon period she might have hoped for as mayor.

Veteran Councilman Frank Schillo last week sharply criticized her ideas as an underhanded scheme to cripple the efficiency of city government.

And Councilman Alex Fiore, one of the city’s founders, attacked her reforms as mere grandstanding--calling them flimsy attempts to position herself as the people’s champion.

Describing Zeanah’s “open government” platform as a red herring, Fiore accused her of trying to win easy points with voters by using political buzzwords, akin to professing love for apple pie and motherhood.

“It’s the same old story. She’s picking up motherhood words to make people think that something untoward is happening in these committees,” he said.

For the past 30 years, the mayor of Thousand Oaks has held the power to appoint council members to three dozen subcommittees, commissions and boards. Past mayors have also killed some subcommittees, with the informal approval of colleagues on the council.

Under city law, the mayor cannot unilaterally dissolve subcommittees that earlier councils have created, Assistant City Atty. Bob Rogers said.

But previous mayors have abolished inactive subcommittees without a formal vote, after canvassing council members through written memos, Schillo said.

This tradition of mayoral authority apparently encouraged Zeanah to announce far-reaching proposals to restructure Thousand Oaks’ government.

Denouncing the subcommittee system as secretive because it can lead to back-room deals, Zeanah plans to insist that discussions of potential development, planning standards and city finances be conducted at publicized council meetings.

To that end, she hinted she might use her prerogative as mayor to shut down or weaken three of the most powerful committees--housing issues, finance, and planning issues. All are dominated by Zeanah’s consistent opponents on the council: Schillo, Fiore and Mayor Judy Lazar.

The same three-member majority could undermine Zeanah by hacking away at the mayor’s authority. And in recent interviews, they all but promised to do so.

“How can it be that the mayor comes in and says, ‘I want to abolish this committee,’?” Fiore asked. “The mayor has no more power than any one council member--or a majority of three.”

Schillo added bluntly: “I’m not sure she can get away with it.”

But Zeanah responded to their warnings with defiance: “Everybody has a turn at mayor, an opportunity to make their mark on the administration of the city,” she said. “Every mayor has a responsibility to look over the committees and see which may no longer be needed.”

The dispute over the extent of mayoral power reflects the bitter divisions that have plagued the Thousand Oaks City Council. Although Lazar declared harmony a central goal of her tenure, ugly squabbles have erupted at several public meetings this year.

And Zeanah’s anti-committee crusade sparked immediate, furious reactions--an indication that her stint as mayor may increase tension on the council.

Peeved that Zeanah first discussed her reform proposals in an interview with The Times, Lazar said she resents the tactic of speaking with reporters before bringing an issue before the council.

“I think it’s rather insulting of her,” Lazar said. “It’s a very bad way to start off.”

Zeanah’s worry that council subcommittees may shroud policy-making from public scrutiny echoes a concern that Ventura County Supervisor John K. Flynn has voiced in recent weeks. After Flynn’s comments, a majority of the supervisors defended the committee system, including the tradition of meeting at one supervisor’s home on Saturdays.

And in Thousand Oaks, a majority of council members seem poised to fight for the longstanding tradition of subcommittees.

But Zeanah remains determined.

“Council committees should not be involved in making preliminary decisions on policy issues,” she said. “The affordable housing and planning issues committees meet with developers and their representatives on vital questions and the public is not invited. I have a strong concern about that.”

The finance and housing subcommittees do not fall under the open-government requirements of the state’s Brown Act because they are made up only of two council members, with no citizens at large. As such, they are considered subcommittees of the council, and members do not need to post agendas or set aside time for public comment.

The planning issues committee, which includes two planning commissioners and two council members, does follow the Brown Act requirements, attorney Rogers said.

In a vigorous defense of the closed-door committees, Schillo and Fiore argued that the full council could not possibly take the time to conduct the nitty-gritty details of governing. Committee members routinely present the results of their meetings to the council in public session, and ask for a formal vote on their recommendations.

“The finance committee just met with our rubbish haulers on rate issues for 2 1/2 hours, and after that we met with our city’s external auditors for an hour,” Fiore said. “You tell me how that could be handled without a committee. You can’t call a council meeting every time something like that comes up--it’s impossible.”

Without committees, Schillo said, council members would lack a format in which to analyze issues and do independent research. “If you eliminate committees, you allow the staff to take over the government,” he said.

That outcome would be ironic, given Zeanah’s unceasing campaign for the voters to hold elected officials responsible for policy decisions.

Her dream of a directly elected, full-time mayor stems from her conviction that the rotating leadership diffuses responsibility.

“It’s vital that your policy leadership come from someone who’s directly elected and accountable to the public,” Zeanah said. “Our city has outgrown the current structure.”

The majority of cities in Ventura County still rely on rotating mayors. But Simi Valley, Moorpark and Oxnard have switched to direct elections. In those cities, the mayors continue to serve part-time with nominal pay, as in Thousand Oaks.

Yet candidates must run specifically for mayor, rather than enter a free-for-all council race. That process eliminates the political jockeying that sometimes accompanies the rotation of mayors in Thousand Oaks, Zeanah said.

Theoretically, the mayoral position rotates among council members by seniority. But it doesn’t always work that way.

“The mayorship now has become a case of crime and punishment,” said Madge Schaefer, a former Thousand Oaks councilwoman who said political opponents conspired to deny her a deserved rotation into the mayor’s seat.

“It’s become a reward system,” she said. Three council members have the power “to punish you if you don’t vote the way the majority wants you to.” She said she was pushed aside because of her outspoken advocacy of growth control.

Controversy surfaced again last year, when Fiore requested a chance to cap off his 30-year political career by serving as mayor for his final year in office. His colleagues wanted to give him that honor, especially since it would allow him to officiate at the opening of his pet project, the Civic Arts Plaza, in the fall of 1994.

But to grant Fiore a full one-year stint, the council would have had to skip Zeanah’s turn--a prospect that infuriated her and riled her supporters.

Finally, council members compromised: Lazar and Zeanah agreed to shorten their terms to nine months each, so Fiore could take the helm for the final six months of his eighth term in office.

To change the mayoral election rules, the City Council would have to agree to put the issue to voters in a referendum. If a majority supported the switch, the city could move to direct mayoral elections.