2 Thousand Oaks Councilwomen Are Still at Odds : Dispute: Judy Lazar and Elois Zeanah show no signs of reconciling. Controversy stems from a comment about ‘accidents.’

They both said they did not want to belabor the issue. They both said they only wanted closure of an unpleasant incident.

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But by the end of Tuesday night’s meeting, Thousand Oaks Councilwomen Judy Lazar and Elois Zeanah showed no signs of reconciling their differences over a sticky situation involving one politically active resident, three easily misconstrued words and several sheriff’s deputies.

Lazar continued to scold Zeanah for calling the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department over a questionable comment made by a resident at a public hearing earlier this month. Zeanah’s action, she feared, might suppress the voices of Thousand Oaks’ politically active residents.

“I don’t think we want as a council to see the public intimidated because there is a fear of repercussion,” she said. “That is a high leverage tool and, frankly, I hope we don’t use it.”

Zeanah snapped back, asking Lazar to stop using words such as paranoid to describe her. Zeanah insisted that she never asked for a formal investigation.

“I did not file a complaint,” she said. “I merely expressed my private concerns on what was a borderline statement, as I took it.”

The debate was sparked when resident Susan Falwell warned council members during a Jan. 3 meeting that they should establish a clear-cut policy for filling council vacancies because “accidents do occur.”

Falwell was also at Tuesday’s meeting, but did not speak. Instead, her lawyer, John Kohlbrand, addressed the council, demanding a public hearing to determine whether Zeanah acted improperly in calling deputies. At last week’s meeting, Kohlbrand had also asked for an explanation, prompting Lazar to raise the discussion again Tuesday.

East County Sheriff’s Department Cmdr. Kathy Kemp has said that Zeanah was within her rights in expressing her personal fears to deputies and that Falwell was never under formal investigation. Kemp produced a written report on the Falwell incident saying a threat assessment had concluded that Falwell meant no harm by her statement.

Even Lazar did not dispute Zeanah’s right to call deputies. Instead, she said she understood why Falwell felt offended by the inquiry.

“Just as it is our right to say we feel intimidated, it is the public’s right to come back and say they feel intimidated when they are under investigation,” Lazar said.

“How many times do I have to correct Mrs. Lazar?” Zeanah shot back. “There was no investigation.”

The back and forth between the two women escalated quickly into personal barbs. “I would prefer not to get this to a personal level,” Lazar said, flicking on her microphone for a third time during the exchange.

“But, in reality, when you look back, there is no one other than Mrs. Zeanah who has chosen to attack more people in the community. I think you reap what you sow. I’m tired of hearing someone wrap themselves in a cloak of humility,” she added.

Several residents took turns at the podium to address the issue. Mary Sampson, who brought a Bible with her, lashed out at Lazar over an incident that occurred several years ago while Lazar was mayor. Sampson said she was jailed for two days for refusing to leave the podium.

“You did a worse thing than Elois Zeanah,” Sampson told Lazar.

Lazar said she remembered Sampson being arrested, but that the decision to do so was made by deputies, not the City Council.

Civic activist Otto Stoll was one of the few people left at the meeting when Lazar and Zeanah concluded their arguing about 11:30 p.m..

“This is a complete waste of time,” Stoll said. “It makes us all look foolish.”