Parks Prepares to End Term as Mayor

When Mayor Linda Parks gives her State of the City address Tuesday, she plans to thank the public for its participation in government before passing the mayoral reins to Councilman Dennis Gillette, the mayor pro tem.

At a luncheon scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the Thousand Oaks Inn, Parks plans to speak on her accomplishments over the last year and the role the public played in local politics.

“It has been the year of the people, and they were involved in a lot of issues and paid a lot of attention,” said Joy Meade, Parks’ 1996 election campaign manager.

But, said Meade, the people had a mayor that paid attention to their concerns.

“I don’t think we’d have the success we had with Hill Canyon without her leadership,” Meade said, referring to a planned golf course and facility recently quashed by city officials.

“She helped keep the issue alive.”

Parks, who has often voted on the losing side of issues, still maintained a pleasant demeanor and treated people with courtesy, Meade said.

“I hope that the new mayor will be as polite to us as she was,” Meade said.

The new mayor will likely be Gillette, according to the council members, all of whom have said they will cast their votes for him on Tuesday at 7 p.m.--when the council holds its reorganization meeting at City Hall.

“I’m anticipating with a great deal of personal satisfaction the year ahead, serving the city as mayor,” said Gillette.

“I think we have a number of excellent community opportunities that we can work on this year, and I’ll be very pleased to serve the city in the capacity of mayor while we work through them.”