Auto Club Election

Re “Carl Olson: A Crusader With a Legislative Agenda Sets His Sights on Auto Club Board,” Ventura County Perspective, Feb. 18.

On Feb. 6, I visited the Thousand Oaks office of the Automobile Club of Southern California. Due to the hotly contested board election, in which I am a candidate, the office was in chaos. Every counter was cluttered with proxy ballots with only the incumbents’ pictures on them, and every member who came in was being given a lengthy campaign speech. Service was being disrupted and lines reached almost to the door.

On Feb. 20, I returned to that office to pick up a map. I was pleased to see the operation running smoothly once again.

It took a court order to force the Auto Club and its employees to stop distributing one-sided proxies and campaigning for the incumbents, but the benefits to the members were well worth the effort.

New ballots listing all of the candidates will be distributed in the next issue of Westways magazine, as they should have been in the first place. This will ensure an equitable election at a fraction of the cost of the previous one-sided campaign.

The excellent services provided by the club’s many hard-working employees should never suffer due to the desire of a handful of people desperate to retain their seats on the board at any cost.

ROBIN C. WESTMILLER

Thousand Oaks