Schillo and Parks

Regarding the article on retiring county Supervisor Frank Schillo in the Aug. 13 edition, I must respectfully disagree with some of the points made. The main theme of the article seemed to be that Mr. Schillo represents the conservative view of government and that his opponents, as personified by Thousand Oaks City Councilwoman Linda Parks, represent the liberal contingent.

This is a gross oversimplification and is quite inaccurate. Local elections are supposedly nonpartisan. There is no “conservative” or “liberal” position on trying to keep the Conejo Valley and Ventura County from being overdeveloped and in attempting to preserve the quality of life that many residents moved here to enjoy.

In addition to Park’s efforts to preserve open space, she is a strong proponent of fiscal conservatism and the efficient use of governmental resources. These are conservative values as I understand them.

Consistently supporting projects that require large, long-term taxpayer obligations as Mr. Schillo has often done is not what I consider conservative.

But this is not the time or place to criticize Schillo. He is retiring, and I think we should all thank him for doing what he sincerely believed was best for the city and county.

Much of what he accomplished was positive and, though he was too pro-development for my tastes, he was quite successful in his endeavors. Supporters of Linda Parks, and Elois Zeanah before her, cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called “liberal.”

I have spent a lot of time with the slow-growth crowd in Thousand Oaks and I find that their political views cover the spectrum from unreconstructed, New Deal Democrats to card-carrying NRA members and Bush voters. So let’s not be so hasty with labels. If we must use them, based on Mrs. Parks’ positions on fiscal matters alone, I would call her a true conservative.

John Relle

Thousand Oaks