Parks Questions Council Meal Tabs

Troubled by what she sees as Thousand Oaks City Council members frivolously dining on the taxpayers’ tab, Councilwoman Linda Parks is asking for a full examination of the city’s expense policy for elected officials.

Parks brought the issue up Tuesday as the council was set to approve a set of demands, or city bills. She said she noticed that two council members--whom she later identified as Andy Fox and Mike Markey--had been charging to the city a sizable number of meals they had eaten in town and at conferences.

Receipts for the meals specify the council members were meeting with various city officials or community leaders. But Parks said she still considers the practice questionable.

“I can understand if it’s going to a conference, but if it’s on a weekly basis . . . ,” Parks told the council. She added that some of the bills were for pricey restaurants, citing Newbury Park’s Le Rendezvous as an example.

“Le Rendezvous’ lunch is $6, so when you tell the public it’s a high-class restaurant, you’d better know what you’re talking about,” Markey said.

Lunch at Le Rendezvous actually runs about $10, according to owner Francois Zanni. He said city officials sometimes frequent his restaurant, but council members rarely do.

“I see [City Manager Grant] Brimhall twice a year, but it’s no big deal,” Zanni said. “I think I’ve seen Judy Lazar and Elois Zeanah maybe once, but they paid themselves, I’m almost sure.”

Parks said she will ask the council next Tuesday to discuss the lunch expenses, as well as the ethics of having city-issued credit cards for elected officials.

“I can’t think of an example where I, Linda Parks, would go to dinner with city staff members and it would be necessary to charge the taxpayers,” Parks said. “There may be instances with foreign delegations and such, but what I see is a pattern of council members regularly charging meals in the city.”