Supporters of Campaign Cost Reform to Try Again

Frustrated with what she sees as clear evidence that big money is affecting politics in this town, Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski is resurrecting a divisive issue again: campaign finance reform.

The City Council majority has repeatedly said it does not support limits on how much money candidates can accept and spend while running for municipal office. A similar reform proposal by Councilwoman Elois Zeanah--her second--was tabled last year and never resurfaced.

Nevertheless, Zukowski will ask the council Tuesday to consider the topic a third time. She and Zeanah believe that large contributions from business interests have raised the costs of running a successful City Council campaign so drastically that many qualified candidates cannot compete anymore.

“Who could be against this and why?” Zukowski said. “It can only benefit representation, whether there is an appearance or a true relationship between the way the council votes and the contributions that were made.

“Right now, you either have to fund your own campaign or accept money from parties where your objectivity might be questioned, and that is a shame. Any citizen should have a chance to represent the community.”

But Mayor Andy Fox said campaign contribution limits may do more harm than good in Thousand Oaks. Fox argued that because cities cannot regulate the amount candidates spend on their own campaigns, contribution limits would result in a system where the rich would outspend the poor and dominate the City Council.

He contends that Zeanah and Zukowski--both of whom heavily funded their own election campaigns--are looking to take advantage of that potential disparity.

“I have no problem with campaign reform, but it has to be true reform,” said Fox, who raised more than $36,000 during his 1994 election campaign. “What I’m hearing is something that would only allow the rich to compete for public office.

“It’s pretty convenient for Mrs. Zukowski, who doesn’t work or support a family, to say, ‘Let’s limit campaign contributions,’ when she can fund a campaign herself. How could a schoolteacher or a nurse, or a firefighter like myself, ever get elected?”

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Councilman Mike Markey also said Zeanah and Zukowski are keeping quiet on the possibility that campaign contribution limits could lead to elitism on the City Council.

“You would be making it a game where only rich people can win elections,” said Markey, a Compton detective who received more than $13,000 in campaign contributions from dealers at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall. “Mrs. Zeanah put in $14,000 of her own money. How can you compete against that without doing some fund-raising?”

Zeanah, meanwhile, attacked the critics of campaign spending limits, saying they had their own political interests in mind.

“It’s a well-recognized fact that money talks,” said Zeanah, whose husband loaned her $14,500 during her 1994 reelection campaign. “Money is a corrupting influence in politics, and if we are ever to get back to a reasonable discourse in this city, we need spending caps.

“The people who didn’t feel this was necessary are the same people who accepted thousands of dollars from special interests and developers with projects pending before the city,” she added. “It doesn’t surprise me that those people don’t like this idea.”

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Zukowski will ask the council Tuesday to direct City Atty. Mark Sellers to come up with a list of ways that Thousand Oaks could limit campaign contributions and spending limits.

Specifically, Zukowski would like Thousand Oaks to pass an ordinance similar to the one approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in 1991. That ordinance limits contributions by individuals to $250 and political action committees to $600 during general elections.

Running for Thousand Oaks City Council is apparently becoming an increasingly expensive proposition. Candidates in the 1994 election collectively spent more than $213,000, an all-time high. Much of that money came from developers, business interests and wealthy individuals such as reclusive millionaire Charles E. Probst.

Fox believes Zeanah and Zukowski are simply posturing in anticipation of the November elections. He said if they really wanted to improve the electoral process in Thousand Oaks, they could cut down on the negative campaigning he believes they have brought to the city.

“Mrs. Zukowski ran one of the all-time negative campaigns in the history of Thousand Oaks, and you can quote me on that,” Fox said. “We need the kind of campaign reform in Thousand Oaks where people behave like human beings.”