Gillette Won’t Enter Race for Supervisor

Thousand Oaks Councilman Dennis Gillette will not run for next year’s open seat on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, but will seek a second term on the City Council, he said Monday.

Gillette’s withdrawal leaves conservatives in search of a candidate to fill the shoes of retiring Supervisor Frank Schillo.

No one has formally announced plans to run for Schillo’s seat, but Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Linda Parks, regarded as a liberal, slow-growth candidate, has said she is seriously considering a bid.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Dan Del Campo said Monday he also is thinking about it.

Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark), who would be termed out of office in 2004, said recently he would not rule out running for Schillo’s seat, although he no longer lives in the district. He could not be reached for comment Monday.

At the city level, Parks’ supporters have included environmentalists and homeowners, for whom fending off urban sprawl is a priority. But she is often at odds with a majority of the council and has been characterized as a zealot by many in the city’s business community.

Those critics will make sure someone challenges a bid by Parks, said Herb Gooch, chairman of the political science department at Cal Lutheran University.

Gillette, 61, a retired assistant sheriff, said it was not Parks’ potential candidacy but “personal goals and the needs of my family” that led him to decide not to run for the 2nd District seat.

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Staff writers Jenifer Ragland and Catherine Saillant contributed to this report.