OAK PARK : County Backs Bill to Redo ZIP Boundaries

In an effort to aid Oak Park residents in their decades-long quest for a new ZIP code, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to support federal legislation that would redraw the nation’s ZIP code boundaries.

Oak Park officials, who are amassing a long list of supporters for the bill, say having the county on their side is a big step forward. But an aide for Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills)--the Oak Park congressman accused by residents of spurning their calls for help--says their efforts are in vain.

“That legislation is not going anywhere and that is the reality,” said Kaye Edwards Davis, a Beilenson aide.

For years, Oak Park residents have shared a ZIP code with Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County, resulting in higher sales tax for mail-order purchases and confusion among 911 dispatchers.

Last month, they learned that Rep. Howard (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) in May had introduced legislation on behalf of a small group of Northridge residents who have the same problem.

Saying that Beilenson should have done the same long ago, Oak Park residents have thrown their support behind the McKeon bill, enlisting the support of county and state politicians, including state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills) and Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard).

“We really need to get everybody on board,” Supervisor Frank Schillo said. “[That] seems at the moment to be our only hope, to keep bulldogging it.”

But Beilenson believes the key to solving Oak Park’s ZIP code problem lies in working with postal authorities--a process he initiated in 1993--and not legislation, Davis said. The House postal subcommittee has said it is firmly against micro-managing the post office’s affairs, she said.

“There is not going to be any legislation considered,” she said. “We want to do what will benefit Oak Park, not what just sounds nice.”