A Challenge to Challengers

Thousand Oaks won’t hold its next City Council elections until November but don’t think that means all is quiet in this rambunctiously political town.

Councilman Mike Markey has asked the city attorney to review whether Thousand Oaks’ newly revised campaign finance law can be further revised to limit the fund-raising of candidates who choose to pool their resources and run as slates. Councilman Andy Fox and Mayor Dennis Gillette endorsed the request, so the attorney will spend time looking into it.

We think there must be more important ways for him to spend his time.

This request is the latest of a string of attempts by Councilman Markey to tilt the odds against those who would run against incumbents. First he tried to turn off the TV cameras during the public comment portion of weekly council meetings. Then he tried to bar candidates from using that opportunity to give political speeches.

Both times the forces of free speech rightly prevailed. Whatever public exposure a challenger might reap during this brief segment of the weekly meetings, it is far less than is enjoyed by the incumbents.

Now, clearly responding to the “Clean Sweep” slate that ran with meager success in 1998, Markey is trying to limit the funding of such efforts in November. We believe the city’s Blue Ribbon Campaign Finance Reform Committee came up with a good and legally sound set of rules to govern future campaigns.

For a politician and ex-cop, Councilman Markey has awfully thin skin. The best way for any incumbent to get reelected is to set good policy and effectively represent all constituents.