Council Schedules November Vote on Zeanah Recall

Despite a last-minute plea by Councilwoman Linda Parks to postpone the issue until more is known about the petition-checking process, the City Council on Wednesday formally accepted 10,382 signatures to oust Councilwoman Elois Zeanah and called a recall election for Nov. 4.

It was just past midnight when Parks, Zeanah’s chief political ally, sharply questioned City Clerk Nancy Dillon, asking whether she could definitely say that all the circulators of the Zeanah recall petitions were registered Thousand Oaks voters.

She asked the council to delay its decision for a week to allow for more scrutiny of the signatures, arguing that many of them were gathered illegally by out-of-towners.

A visibly frustrated Dillon countered that, as Parks was aware, Ventura County elections officials verified the petitions, not the city clerk’s office, and she therefore could not answer such specific questions.

But she expressed confidence that the county acted properly in concluding last week that the group Yes! Remove Elois Zeanah gathered more than the 10,169 signatures needed to force a recall election.

“She was clearly trying to stall, and it upset me because I’m only doing my job,” Dillon said in an interview Wednesday. “We had a third party verify the results--the county--and they have people doing this all the time. I am very confident they know what they are doing, and it would not put the council in a good light to not approve the results.”

Mayor Judy Lazar, Councilman Andy Fox and Councilman Mike Markey shot down Parks’ motion, saying they were satisfied with the county’s results and had no valid reason to delay what is a mere formality on their part.

“You’re attacking the city clerk,” Markey told Parks, interrupting her as she spoke.

“I am not attacking the city clerk,” Parks responded. “I am asking a question.”

The council then voted 3 to 1, with Parks dissenting, to approve the results and call the election. Zeanah, who was vacationing in Europe, did not attend the meeting after notifying City Manager Grant Brimhall that her return flight had been delayed.

The council’s acceptance of the petition drive’s result sets the stage for what is expected to be a bitter recall fight, with numerous candidates, including members of the city’s two political camps, vying for Zeanah’s seat.

In the election, voters will decide whether to recall Zeanah, and if so, who should take her place. The candidate filing period began Wednesday and ends Aug. 21. So far, perennial candidate Nick E. Quidwai is the only person to formally enter the race.

To further clarify Parks’ questions about the residency of petition circulators, Dillon said county elections officials plan to send her a letter outlining their procedures.

But the topic is moot, according to county elections officials, who point to several recent court rulings--including one in Ventura.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” said Gene Browning, a program administrator in the county elections division. “It’s not an argument that holds water, based on the recent court decisions.”

Last year, county elections officials invalidated a petition drive to scuttle the expansion of the Buenaventura Mall because too many of the signature gatherers were not registered Ventura voters.

The referendum’s backers sued Ventura, and Superior Court Judge William L. Peck ruled that the signatures should be upheld on grounds that the rights of voters should not be impeded by a petitioner’s lack of qualification.

Due to that and other similar decisions, Browning said county elections officials no longer disqualify signatures if the petitioner is not a registered city voter. He said he did not know whether any of the petitions had been circulated by nonvoters or out-of-towners.

Parks said in an interview Wednesday that such a system is simply unacceptable. She said state election laws require petitioners to be residents for a reason, and recent court decisions regarding the issue should be reviewed.

“It sounds to me like the county is shirking its responsibility, and the city has no intention of following through,” Parks said. “That disappoints me, and it should disappoint the voters.”