Down for the Count

Clang! End of Round 1 in the fight to recall Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Elois Zeanah.

Both factions have retreated to their corners while Ventura County elections officials check the 13,978 signatures on the recall petitions to see if the required 10,169 of them do indeed belong to registered Thousand Oaks voters. If so, an election would be called to decide whether Zeanah should be ousted from the council and, if so, who should replace her.

Counterattack campaigns to recall Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilman Andy Fox seem to be hanging on the ropes until the signature verification decision comes in.

The Zeanah recall effort began last December and has already cost more than has ever been spent to elect anyone in Thousand Oaks. Her foes contend she should be recalled because she opposes all growth, refuses to work with the rest of the council and often accuses city officials of corruption and deceit without any factual basis.

Her supporters counter that Zeanah was targeted merely because she opposes excessive growth and is not afraid to challenge other city officials when she disagrees with them.

Round 1 brought plenty of action and, from both sides, a fair amount of ear-biting--all of it (knock wood) figurative.

There were confrontations between rival signature gatherers outside supermarkets all over town. Stealth delivery of anti-Zeanah fliers via Domino’s pizzas. An alleged scuffle after one out-of-town petition passer tried to collect a recall signature from Zeanah herself.

County elections chief Bruce Bradley expects to know by July 18 whether enough signatures pass muster to ring the bell for Round 2.

If so, that round will no doubt be a court challenge over whether any of the signatures were gathered by out-of-towners without a Thousand Oaks resident on hand as a witness, as required by law.

By the time that round ends, it’s quite likely that only a matter of months will remain before her term runs out and voters get to decide whether she stays or goes.

Which is how all of these recall efforts should have been handled all along. Recall is an important tool in democratic government, but one that should be saved for extreme cases.

The time to express political disapproval is in a regular election--not in some expensive exercise that might produce no change anyway.