Crying Fowl

Touting this city’s semirural feel is one thing, but Councilwoman Linda Parks clucking like a chicken on the dais? That’s clearly a no-no, at least in the eyes of Councilman Andy Fox.

Parks uttered the schoolyard chicken taunt Tuesday night after council members voted 3 to 1 to table her request for a recall disclosure ordinance until next month.

The ordinance would require recall groups to reveal all contributions of $250 or more within 24 hours. Councilwoman Elois Zeanah was absent.

“Bawk, bawk, bawk,” Parks squawked, quietly enough that the council’s microphone didn’t pick up her taunt. But her colleagues on the dais certainly heard it.

“Mrs. Parks is making chicken sounds!” Councilman Andy Fox said in apparent disbelief. “That is not professional.”

Parks countered by questioning Fox’s council manners, saying she had heard Fox use profanity on the dais after losing votes--a charge Fox denies.

“I’ve heard you swear off-mike,” Parks said, “so you have no room to talk.”

Parks said Wednesday her sound effects were meant for the council only. She refused to elaborate on them.

“Honestly, they were not meant for the public,” Parks said. “There is a lot of off-mike discussion the public doesn’t hear.

“I will neither confirm nor deny the type of clucking,” she added. “You’re not going to get me to do that.”

But Councilman Mike Markey said Parks’ chicken noises were clearly audible from where he was sitting on the other end of the dais.

“She said ‘bawk, bawk, bawk’ ” Markey confirmed. “It was so immature. It was ‘bawk, bawk, bawk,’ [as in] ‘chicken.’ That’s the sort of thing we have to deal with.”

Markey said he moved to table Parks’ motion Tuesday because Zeanah was not present, and he wanted her on the record saying she would abide by it. He said he had no problem with the disclosure ordinance.

Zeanah, who sent out a mailer last week to all registered voters defending herself against the charges of recall group Yes! Remove Elois Zeanah, failed to file legally required paperwork with the city before doing so, according to City Clerk Nancy Dillon.

“I think it’s arbitrary and capricious to make one group that is complying with the law do more when another isn’t even complying at all,” Markey said.

Parks saw Markey’s move as a thinly veiled attempt to cover up the source of recall contributions.

“What are you trying to hide?” Parks said.

“Please don’t put words in my mouth,” Markey shot back. “I have nothing to hide.”

In addition to Zeanah, Mayor Judy Lazar and Fox are facing recall. Under existing state election laws, recall groups are required to reveal their finances four times a year at least, and more frequently if a recall election nears. The next reporting period is at the end of this month.

Parks and Zeanah have argued that the reason a group is trying to oust Zeanah now instead of waiting until next year’s elections is money. Recently approved Proposition 208 placed a $250 limit on individual campaign contributions in local races, but recalls are exempt from the law.

“People who have given large amounts to council members are now finding other ways to contribute,” Parks said.

Given that there are no constraints on recall contributions, Parks argued the best thing Thousand Oaks can do is require greater disclosure, similar to the kind required in the last days of council races, when candidates must immediately reveal all contributions of $1,000 or more.

Parks also wanted to incorporate the suggestion of a resident who said the recall contributions should be placed on Thousand Oaks’ official Internet site. The issue will return during the council’s May 6 meeting.