ELECTIONS / THOUSAND OAKS CITY COUNCIL : Contenders Take Anti-Bickering Stand

Like politicians across the state, the candidates eyeing Thousand Oaks City Council seats are busy crafting snappy sound bites on the need for more jobs and less crime.

But when campaign season opens in earnest this summer, they vow to focus on another issue they view as equally critical: the need for more decorum in council chambers.

In early comments, a half-dozen candidates are rushing to describe themselves as peacemakers, able to quash the mudslinging and squabbling that has come to characterize the current City Council.

City surveys show that nearly half of Thousand Oaks’ adult residents tune in to televised council meetings from time to time. And some candidates are betting that voters will elect political novices rather than sit through another four years of infighting.

“There could be very much an undercurrent of ‘Throw the bums out,’ ” said Gregory Cole, a dentist and former city planning commissioner who has announced plans to run in November’s election. “The conduct of the council recently has been pitiful, and the community is fed up with the rancor, the personal attacks and the grandstanding.”

The lure of three open seats--including one without an incumbent--has prompted at least seven challengers to declare that they are seriously considering entering the race, even though the election is 10 months away.

Along with Cole, a trustee of the Ventura County Community College District, potential candidates include two planning commissioners, businessman Mervyn Kopp and photographer Forrest Frields. Also mulling runs are Los Angeles firefighter Andy Fox, Compton homicide detective Mike Markey, former City Councilman Lee Laxdal and public relations consultant Otto Stoll.

Incumbents Judy Lazar and Elois Zeanah have announced their intention to seek reelection. Both will probably become targets of sharp criticism, as several candidates said they are entering the race in part because they are tired of watching Lazar, Zeanah and their colleagues use debates as a forum for personal attacks.

“The council is not a boxing ring,” said Markey, who won 26% of the vote in his unsuccessful bid for a council seat four years ago.

Kopp, the general manager of Southwind Financial Services, a local mortgage company, echoed his rival’s concern. “You can’t have any kind of decision making or discussion in an aura of hostility,” he said.

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This anti-bickering platform seems likely to gain prominence in 1994, political analysts said, in part because the candidates will have few other issues to gnaw on.

“This time, I think, it’s going to come down to personalities, and the unifying candidate will be the victor,” said Steve Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Although every would-be council member plans to discuss crime, Thousand Oaks remains one of the nation’s safest mid-size cities. Talk of creating jobs may provide some fodder, but most candidates agree on the basic principle of building stronger ties between government and business.

With the city near its maximum size, many significant land parcels are already in development or have approved blueprints. By November’s election, the council will have drafted an updated General Plan, mapping out goals and development standards for the future.

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Even the Civic Arts Plaza, long a subject of controversy among politicians and voters, may not spark much debate on the campaign trail. Most candidates agree that the city must not subsidize the auditorium’s operation with taxpayer money.

In an effort to distinguish themselves, the candidates are emphasizing their experience in building coalitions, running fractious organizations and reaching out to varied constituencies.

Markey cites his work as a homicide detective to prove that he can listen and keep an open mind. Stoll mentions his two decades in public relations and his role in founding Citizens for a Safe Ventura County. Kopp recounts his efforts to end divisiveness in the allocations department of United Way of Ventura County.

And Cole trots out a tried-and-true cliche: “It’s time,” he says, “for a new generation of leadership.”

Although Lazar and Zeanah have also promised to tone down the rancor, some of their rivals feel the council members have lost credibility.

“The No. 1 most important issue for the council is gaining back the confidence of the community and instilling some sense of unity,” said Fox, the firefighter and former planning commissioner. “Because of the personal attacks and private agendas, attention to big issues has suffered.”

Yet veteran politican Alex Fiore, who will retire this fall after 30 years on the council, said the emphasis on City Hall harmony could obscure a far more important issue.

From the sidelines, Fiore plans to cast the 1994 elections as a referendum on the city’s management team--not the politicians, but the people they hire. A big fan of City Manager Grant Brimhall and his cast of department heads, Fiore said he fears for their job security if the council makeup shifts.

Mainly, Fiore worries that his longtime foe Zeanah may win reelection and sweep one of her allies into office as well, forming a three-member majority with Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski to control city politics.

In that case, he said, “Our key management staff would be in grave danger, even though our city manager is unparalleled in the state.”

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But the mayor insisted that she did not blame Brimhall or the other department heads for the difficulties. If her bloc gained control of the council, Zeanah said, she would anticipate full compliance from staff without any personnel shake-ups.

To some of Zeanah’s supporters, however, the November election would present a perfect opportunity to clean house.

“Grant Brimhall and (City Atty.) Mark Sellers are whistling in the dark,” said Michelle Koetke, a leader of Residents to Preserve Newbury Park. “I don’t see that any of (the top staff) has listened to the people. They seem to be in the hip pocket of big business and development.”

So far, only one candidate that Zeanah backs has emerged--public relations consultant Stoll. The others she dismissed as “retreads.”

“It’s time for people to be elected who do not belong to the good old boys club,” Zeanah said. “I don’t think you’ll see a divided council after November, 1994.”

Longtime political observer and former Councilman Chuck Cohen, however, said he did not foresee a quick end to the divisiveness. Zeanah and Fiore represent two fundamentally different philosophies, he said, and as long as each camp holds some power, the sniping will continue.

“One group is suspicious of anything and everything,” Cohen said. “The other recognizes that business in this community has always been openly and honestly conducted and there’s no reason to be paranoid. The council is split on philosophy. And I don’t know if (harmony) is going to be possible.”