Community Leaders Do Time for Charity

Hey, what are all those Thousand Oaks big shots doing behind bars?

It’s not what you might think.

Several dozen community and business leaders took part in a “Jailathon” on Tuesday, a two-day fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society at Los Robles Bank in Westlake. The event ends this afternoon.

The Jailathon has “parole officers,” actually community figures, physically handcuff about 10 of their friends and bring them down to a makeshift jail. Sheriff’s Cmdr. Kathy Kemp, the real-life top cop in Thousand Oaks, and Steve Rubenstein from the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce are the jail’s wardens.

“They give us handcuffs, and they issue arrest warrants for the different people,” said Betty Horner of Westlake, one of the parole officers. “We go to their house or business, cuff ‘em and bring them in.”

The convicts are dressed in jail jumpsuits, photographed, taken to a faux court and “sentenced” to raise a certain amount for the charity before they can get out of the slammer. The minimum is $500.

That’s the way the fund-raiser is supposed to work. These days, with the proliferation of voice mail and e-mail, it’s harder for the convicts to get a hold of friends right away to raise the cash. So they are often “let out on bail” and allowed to raise the money later.

“We don’t have a set goal of how much we are hoping to raise,” said publicist Yvonne Voisin, one of the event’s organizers. “It is tough to be a fund-raiser these days, with the challenges businesses are facing. Whatever we can get, we’ll be happy with.”

Mayor Andy Fox was among the charity jailbirds rounded up Tuesday by local taxpayers’ advocate Otto Stoll. Fox said he was proud to take part in the event--even if it meant a little time behind bars.

“Certainly, the American Cancer Society is a great organization,” Fox said at home after raising his $500 bail. “Cancer is indiscriminate. It affects the rich and poor, young and old. And anything I can do to help is great.”