Commissioner Parks to Run for Council

Planning Commissioner Linda Parks filed candidacy papers for City Council on Thursday, joining a rapidly growing pool of candidates vying for two open positions.

Parks, a vocal advocate for open space and slow growth, was appointed to the commission by retiring Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski, who is moving to Colorado. “I have hope that we can change the City Council majority,” Parks said. “We need to stop the overdevelopment of Thousand Oaks. We are seeing excessive commercial development, and we are seeing too many car trips.”

Parks also said she would seek to protect the character of residential neighborhoods. Parks joins candidates Ekbal “Nick” Quidwai, Ramaul Rush, Marshall Dixon and incumbent Councilman Mike Markey, who have already filed election papers with the city clerk’s office. Others, including engineer David Seagal, have announced plans to run for City Council but have not officially entered the race.

Parks’ anti-growth stance has put her at odds with developers. Most recently, an attorney for Courtly Homes, one of two developers of the massive Dos Vientos project in Newbury Park, wrote to the city attorney to express concern about Parks’ “defamatory” comments against his client.

Parks is also the sponsor of an initiative to protect open space in the city that was enacted into law earlier this year.

Parks has been a Thousand Oaks resident for eight years. She lives with her husband, Al Parks, and their four children.