3 Candidates in Running if Zeanah Is Recalled

Three people declared their candidacy for the City Council on Thursday, hoping to take Councilwoman Elois Zeanah’s seat should she be recalled in the Nov. 4 election.

Three others took out nominating papers when the election was announced, but none of them returned the documents by Thursday’s 5 p.m. filing deadline. The low turnout--for what has traditionally been a highly coveted position--was a surprise to most people, but not to Zeanah.

“I’m not surprised at all,” she said. “There is a reason we are not getting a lot of candidates, and that is that this is wrong. I have committed no crimes. The recall is a political power grab by my opponents.”

Even perennial candidate Nick E. Quidwai decided not to run in the Nov. 4 special election, saying the entire campaign “is about a recall that never should have happened.”

Nurtured by more than $145,000 from Domino’s Pizza businesswoman Jill Lederer, the Yes! Remove Elois Zeanah committee collected enough signatures to get the recall on the ballot. Voters will decide whether to oust Zeanah, and who should take her place if she is removed.

“Any candidate who runs in this election shows a lack of character or good judgment to add fuel to the fire which is consuming Thousand Oaks coming from thin-crust pizzas made by a nonresident!” Quidwai said in a news release, referring to Lederer, who resides in Moorpark.

“If the officeholder had taken bribes or lined her pocket, I can see waiting in the wings to fill the seat,” Quidwai added. “There is not even a hint of that here!”

The candidates vying to take Zeanah’s seat--if she is recalled--are engineer David Seagal, who ran unsuccessfully in last year’s election; Roni C. Fenzke, a homemaker and student, and Dennis C. Gillette, a member of the Conejo Recreation and Park District’s elected board.

Gillette, a former assistant sheriff for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and now an administrative vice president at Cal Lutheran University, is a close friend of Lederer. He said Thursday he was planning on running in next year’s election anyway, and wanted to give voters an experienced community leader to choose from.

*

Gillette said he intends to stay neutral on the recall effort. If Zeanah is ousted, someone will have to take her place and that person should be him, Gillette said. And that person will have an edge in the 1998 elections because he or she will be running as an incumbent, he added.

“Incumbency is a very significant element in local elections,” Gillette said. “The last time I ran for park district, I received more votes than anyone, and I’m not naive, I know incumbency played a big part.”

Councilwoman Linda Parks, Zeanah’s closest political ally, slammed Gillette for entering the field.

“His actions speak louder than his words,” Parks said. “If he was really interested in healing the wounds in this community, he would denounce the recall, not get involved in it.”

Zeanah argued that Gillette was a pawn of Lederer and Councilman Andy Fox. Zeanah accuses Fox of being behind her recall--an accusation that Fox and Lederer have repeatedly denied.

“Dennis Gillette is a close advisor to Andy Fox and a close friend of Jill Lederer, and this recall is a power grab by Andy Fox and his developer friends,” Zeanah said. “I’m surprised Dennis Gillette would allow himself to be used in this way.”

*

Gillette downplayed his ties to Fox and Lederer, saying he has also developed a good working relationship with Zeanah.

“I also know Elois Zeanah, and people that strongly support her,” Gillette said. “I have very carefully over the years tried to maintain my independence in this community . . . I have my own record to stand on.”

Peter Turpel, spokesman for Yes! Remove Elois Zeanah, ridiculed Zeanah’s claims that no one is interested in running because they are against the recall. He argued Gillette’s entry into the race probably scared others away.

“Yes! Remove Elois Zeanah from office is not supporting anyone for the seat,” Turpel said. “On a personal note, however, I think the reason few people are running is the presence of Dennis Gillette. I feel he has the experience and skill to be the ideal replacement for Elois Zeanah, and I’m sure he’ll win.”

Marshall Dixon, a retired auto dealership manager who has strongly supported the current council majority of Mayor Judy Lazar, Councilmen Mike Markey and Fox, said Thursday he will not run, even though he earlier declared his candidacy and demanded that Zeanah resign.

*

Dan Del Campo, who ran a joint anti-establishment council campaign with Parks last year, said Thursday he also will not run. Del Campo, who finished third behind Parks and Markey in last year’s race for two seats, said there was some discussion about running a candidate in the event Zeanah is ousted, but that her supporters hated to even consider it.

“The bottom line is, I don’t think the recall is ethical,” Del Campo said. “I don’t want any part of it, and any candidate who has the community’s best interest at heart should too.”

Until about five years ago, recall elections of City Council members in California did not include replacement candidates. If voters agreed with the recall, they would then vote on whether there should be an election to replace the council member or whether the remainder of the council should appoint a new member.

That process, however, was considered too cumbersome and time-consuming, since voters usually wanted to choose the replacement themselves. So the law was changed to allow the votes to be consolidated, according to Bruce Bradley, Ventura County’s elections chief.