ELECTIONS / MEASURE A : Campaigns Missing but Vote Might Set Course for Oak Park

Henrietta and Leonard Katz had their pick of houses when they moved to Oak Park 27 years ago.

They were only the third family to settle in what was then a development of 120 residences set against a backdrop of farmland and rolling hills.

They liked it then and they like it now. Of course, it is a little different now: A community of nearly 15,000 has grown up around their five-bedroom house. Where there once were 120 residences, there are now 4,650.

Moreover, Oak Park now has a nationally acclaimed school system, its own shopping center, no more room to build--and questions on how it will be governed in the future.

On Tuesday, residents will vote on advisory ballot Measure A, which gives them a choice of annexing to Thousand Oaks, becoming a separate city or remaining an unincorporated community.

Although the decision could have widespread impact on the community’s services--including its much-disputed library, police and public transit systems--there are no active campaigns to support any of the three options.

The reason, Henrietta Katz said, is the general sense of satisfaction she and her family share with other residents.

“I don’t know if they’re laid back here or disinterested,” Katz said. “But I think most of them are just satisfied with things as they are, as I am. I’ve never been sorry we moved out here.”

Residents’ answers to what they like about living in Oak Park are nearly uniform: practically no crime, excellent schools, plentiful parks, neighbors who are friendly but don’t invade much-desired privacy.

Oak Park is in an odd position. Although it is part of Ventura County and governed by the Board of Supervisors, the community shares an area code with the San Fernando Valley and a ZIP code with Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County. Some residents say they have had battled with insurance agents who refuse to believe that they don’t live in Los Angeles County.

Consequently, residents have developed a sense of identity that has little to do with either county and a just-leave-us-alone attitude. Whatever happens in Tuesday’s vote, they say, the way of life in Oak Park will not--and should not--change.

Even the city’s staunchest supporter of incorporation, Ron Stark, has not so much as planted a sign in one of the community’s trim green medians.

“No one really wanted this election,” said Stark, a longtime member of the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council. “It was forced upon us.”

Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, who represents Oak Park, proposed the ballot measure. Stark and other members of the advisory panel have complained that spending $10,000 to put the measure on the ballot was wasteful.

Stark said the only action he has taken to campaign for incorporation was to co-author, with resident David Ross, the argument on the ballot in favor of forming a new city.

Ross said he feels strongly about the issue, but has not campaigned because the measure is only an advisory to the Board of Supervisors.

“If this were actually the vote to incorporate, I would have been campaigning quite vigorously,” Ross said. “I just didn’t see a need for it. The only campaigning has come out of VanderKolk’s office.”

VanderKolk said she proposed the ballot measure because she thought that Oak Park residents were paying high taxes--$16 million in the 1993-94 fiscal year--and getting little in return.

“The bottom line for me is that I have no vested interest in this,” VanderKolk said. “I just don’t think the people of Oak Park are being treated fairly. I was in the perfect position to give them a voice in what their future holds.”

VanderKolk said she is baffled by the community’s resistance to the idea of annexing to Thousand Oaks.

“I don’t understand it,” she said. “They seem to think they will lose their community identity and that everything will go downhill from there.

“The sad thing is that most people are not in favor of annexation,” VanderKolk said. “It really boggles my mind why, because it seems very clear to me and to our consultants that Oak Park cannot incorporate without major additions to taxes. And to stay the way they are makes no sense because they’re not receiving the services that they need and deserve.”

Kent Behringer, a member of the Municipal Advisory Council, said only 180 residents attended two community forums in May to discuss the issue.

“That indicates to me that people have either already made up their mind and didn’t want to bother, or that they don’t care and aren’t going to vote,” he said.

Resident Gary Baum said he thought that Oak Park needed to improve services, but said he didn’t agree with pro-annexation arguments.

“They’re just trying to scare you into believing things are going to be better if we become part of Thousand Oaks,” he said. “I’m going to vote to incorporate.”

Whereas status quo has become almost a dirty word in some political circles, in Oak Park, it is practically a mantra for many residents.

“I like the status quo,” said Leonard Katz, while his wife Henrietta nodded in agreement over the shelf of bestsellers at Oak Park’s tiny library. “I don’t want any annexation. I don’t think it’ll improve us.”

Newcomer Gudi Amerikaner agreed. She moved to Oak Park three months ago and said the attraction of clean air, friendly people and a low crime rate would keep her there.

“They seem to be doing very nicely around here,” she said. “I think we should leave it alone. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”