ELECTIONS / THOUSAND OAKS COUNCIL : Loh, Markey Lead Fund Raising With $23,000 Each in Donations

Candidates Trudi Loh and Mike Markey continue to dominate fund raising in the Thousand Oaks City Council race, having collected $23,000 each in cash contributions since the campaign began in March, according to finance reports filed Thursday.

And as the monetary gap among candidates widened--collectively, the other four contestants have raised less than $9,000--Ekbal (Nick) Quidwai announced he is withdrawing from the race and throwing his support to Loh.

For the reporting period April 23 to May 20, Loh, a business attorney, raised $11,602 in cash contributions.

Loh received $1,000 donations--the maximum contribution allowed from individuals under state law for special elections--from three sources: Paydirt Grading Inc. of Moorpark, Animated Designs of Westlake Village, and Michael Papanicolaou, a physician who works with her husband, cardiologist Irving Loh.

The rest of her donations came mainly in $200 and $300 increments. Actor Larry Hagman gave her $250, as did onetime council candidate Ken Bauer.

Although they have received roughly the same amount of contributions to date, the North Ranch attorney has outspent Markey, pouring $21,000 into brochures and direct-mail pieces.

Markey, a Compton homicide detective, has spent $12,000 since the campaign began, much of it on brochures, labels for absentee ballots and the white, badge-shaped buttons he has been handing out.

During the most recent reporting period, Markey picked up $7,942 in monetary contributions, $4,750 of it from individuals outside Ventura County, including a number of contractors from Encino. His campaign manager John Powers, who works as a general contractor, said many of those donors were Powers’ friends.

Markey, who received $13,000 in donations from dealers at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall in the previous reporting period, said his fund-raising reports demonstrate his close ties with the business community.

Major donations to Markey’s campaign included $500 from Amgen Inc., $750 from the Conejo Valley Board of Realtors’ political-action committee and $500 from Agoura-based Block Disposal Co., which provides trash service in Thousand Oaks.

He also received $100 from Supervisor Frank Schillo, a former Thousand Oaks councilman, and $25 from former Republican congressional candidate Richard Sybert.

As reports were filed late Thursday afternoon, Markey and Loh kept a watchful eye on each other’s financial situations.

“She’s claimed not to be partisan, but most of her financial support is from the Democratic party,” Markey said, pointing to a $200 donation Loh received from the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Loh responded that the group is bipartisan, and took a jab at Markey.

“It’s kind of interesting that so much of his money comes from outside of Thousand Oaks,” she said.

Candidates Ramaul Rush, a juvenile dependency court investigator, and real estate broker John Ellis both said they plan to spend less than $1,000 in the campaign, which means they do not have to report individual donations.

During the second reporting period, mobile carwash business owner Lance Winslow only added $770, $500 of which was a loan to himself. Previously, he had raised $3,000 and loaned himself $2,000.

Quidwai, who had also limited himself to spending less than $1,000, announced late Wednesday that he was dropping out of the race, though his name will still appear on the ballot.

“I don’t want to dilute the vote,” Quidwai said. He said he decided to endorse Loh because he feared last-minute negative publicity might be undercutting her support.

Loh appeared in small claims court Monday afternoon to defend herself against an accusation by a former campaign worker that she had backed out of a promise to pay the woman $3,000.

Court Commissioner David Long issued a ruling Thursday in Loh’s favor, saying evidence was “overwhelmingly clear” that Loh never had a contract with the worker, Marge Chamberlain.

In his written statement, however, he did not dismiss the possibility that a campaign consultant Loh had hired might still be liable for Chamberlain’s $250 weekly salary.