Strickland Encouraged by Own Poll

Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark) would have a strong advantage over Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Linda Parks going into a race for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, a Strickland-commissioned poll has found.

Of 250 voters surveyed, 43% said they favored Strickland, 26% said Parks and 28% were undecided, according to the poll by Public Opinion Strategies based in Alexandria, Va.

Strickland, a 31-year-old conservative who heads the Assembly’s Minority Caucus, has not decided whether to run for the county post or seek reelection. He would face term limits in the Assembly in 2004.

He began considering a run for the county post last month, after Supervisor Frank Schillo, a fellow conservative, announced he would not seek reelection next year. The poll was commissioned a week later.

The poll found that limiting growth--the position for which Parks is best known--is a higher priority for voters than improving public safety and limiting taxes and government spending, combined.

“Stopping growth and improving the environment” was the top priority for 29% of those polled; limiting taxes and improving public safety, priorities for which Strickland is better known, drew 20% and 7%, respectively. The respondents’ top priority was public education, an issue on which county supervisors have little say.

Pollsters reported that Parks received a favorable rating from 36% of voters and an unfavorable rating from 21%.

As for Strickland, 46% of voters had a favorable impression and 10% an unfavorable impression. Another 28% said they had heard his name but had no impression of him.

“People know I’m a well-rounded person,” Strickland said. “People don’t want single-issue candidates. The poll reflects that.”

Parks said Thursday that she expected she would have an early disadvantage against Strickland, in part because she has made enemies in the course of taking stances against urban sprawl and in part because he has a fund-raising machine that includes developers and builders who will actively oppose her campaign.

“I’d love to please all the people all the time, but it’s not reality,” she said.

She also said Strickland has focused on few policy issues of importance to the county.

Parks further questioned the breadth of the poll, which surveyed 250 voters last month in the Thousand Oaks supervisorial District 2. Of voters polled, 49% were Republicans and 31% were Democrats, about the same partisan split as the district. Of those polled, 52% were women.

Strategist Gene Ulm, who conducted the Strickland poll, acknowledged that it involves too small a sample to serve as much more than a rough indicator of residents’ sentiments. At the same time, he said, it reveals enough to make him confident about Strickland’s chances should he enter the race.