2 Candidates Make Growth the Key Issue

Question: Your critics say you’re hard to get along with and that you’ve built a political career pandering to Thousand Oaks’ NIMBYs. Response?

Answer: I’m certainly not part of the good old boys’ network. I have opposed projects such as a $12.5-million taxpayer giveaway for a seven-story parking structure and movie theater right next to City Hall. I opposed the development of the Hill Canyon wetlands for a high-priced golf course. So I’ve been on the front of many battles. But I have also brought something forward that I think is unique in the history of our area, and that is bringing together the cities of Westlake Village, Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks to meet regularly on trying to get a hospital for the Conejo Valley. I also have been endorsed by a majority of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in my previous campaigns and I work well with all of them.

Q: What can be done about the Ahmanson Ranch housing project at this point without the county facing costly litigation?

A: At the same time you have the opportunity to vote for Linda Parks, you can also vote for a $1-billion park bond. And I would like to see funds put toward the purchase of Ahmanson Ranch for a state park. The best way to avoid litigation would be for [Ahmanson Ranch developer] Washington Mutual to do the right thing, and that is instead of selling to commercial builders, sell it for parkland.

Q: Should the county continue to fight the Newhall Ranch project in court?

A: The county has legitimate concerns about the Newhall Ranch project, and until it’s resolved in court, I certainly wouldn’t back out of it. We have an opportunity to make the project better, if not possibly stop it.

Q: What do you offer voters other than your slow-growth politics?

A: I’m best known for my advocacy for slow growth and open space. But I’ve been on the City Council for over five years now, and I have put together several laws--the city’s first-ever campaign reform law, laws that protect neighborhoods and citizens’ rights. Thousand Oaks has an excellent record of having a balanced budget and is one of the safest cities in the nation. I’ve worked to support a 20% increase in our police since I’ve been on the City Council. I worked to improve citizens’ access to City Hall because they were not having their voices heard. I’ve been fighting taxpayer waste and excessive expenditures. For example, our city administrators were using city credit cards to dine at expensive restaurants and I cracked down on those expenditures.

Q: Aren’t you too liberal to be a Republican? Why did you change your party?

A: I changed my party for two reasons. One is I feel very attuned to the Republican fiscal conservatives. The other reason is that . . . I would like to see the party more open to people of different philosophies. [Former Thousand Oaks Councilwoman] Elois Zeanah, [Mayor] Ed Masry, myself, we are all Republicans who are environmentalists. It’s not an oxymoron. I changed parties about six years ago.

Q: As a supervisor, what do you offer your affluent constituents in Thousand Oaks, since county government deals mostly with poor people and criminals?

A: One of the things that separates Thousand Oaks from the rest of the county is the incredible amount of volunteerism and people willing to give of their time and money. I like the idea of giving more of that at the county level. I went to the RAIN shelter [for homeless families] and saw those people living in very poor conditions. Through that experience, I was able to bring some of that volunteerism and giving to that shelter. There are a lot of resources the county and city can provide together to provide incentives for such things as affordable housing.

Q: Has county government gone overboard on its funding for public safety departments such as the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office?

A: What we have in our county is the cream of the crop. Look at our Sheriff’s Department, our firefighters. It’s important to see that we retain these individuals. We need to assure that we have competitive wages with other areas. That’s key. I also know that they put their lives on the line and deserve greater compensation. I support binding arbitration because they are unable to strike. However, I believe that how [Proposition 172] money is allocated can be shifted within the four public safety departments that receive it. The people have voted for that revenue to go to public safety, so that’s where it goes.

Q: Are sheriff’s deputies asking too much in contract negotiations by demanding essentially their full salary as retirement compensation?

A: We need a program in place with the type of retirement benefits that are competitive with other areas. I would like to see it given to those already hired, but we should phase it in. The county is already facing a [$20-million] shortfall, so the timing unfortunately isn’t there. But we do have good employees and people putting their lives on the line. I’m for paying them the best that we possibly can. I don’t believe the funds are available to do full retroactive benefits. But we can say that’s our goal and that’s where we are headed.

Q: Are you worried that lower-income families are being priced out of Ventura County?

A: I am concerned, absolutely. The city of Thousand Oaks has the best record in the county in terms of innovation and providing affordable housing units. We have actually committed to adding another 1,700, even though we are close to residential build-out. That’s about 10% of the houses that are coming. SOAR [growth-control laws] don’t prevent the build-out of cities’ general plans. A lot of this is the economy. Houses are expensive in our county. The only way to go about limiting that is to not continue building these half-million-dollar houses. Those are the predominant type of houses being built. Ahmanson Ranch is almost all luxury homes. This is not what we need. There has to be the ability to have smaller houses, and allow for developers to produce a product that is certainly still going to sell, but doesn’t end up turning into what we have, which is mansionization going on.

Q: What is the biggest problem voters should have with your opponent?

A: Can you trust somebody who is being funded by developers? Can you really trust him when he says that he’s for slow growth and protecting open space and ridgelines. I find there is a real conflict of interest there. Can you trust someone who claims to be fiscally astute but who is eighth in the nation for campaign debt? He owes $830,000 from his last [congressional] campaign.

He has done two things in public life. One is his failed run in 1998 for Congress, where he racked up almost a million dollars in debt, and his biggest contributors were developers. His other thing in public life is running for supervisor and he is starting off by taking almost half of his money from developers. He has no track record and no community service, other than running for office. I question his ability to represent residents in the manner in which he claims. You often have politicians that will say anything to get elected.

The difference between the two of us is that while he is saying he’s going to do it [preserve open space], I’m doing it.

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LINDA PARKS

Age: 44

Occupation: Thousand Oaks City Councilwoman

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; master’s in urban planning from University of Washington.

Background: Parks worked as a transportation planner in the 1980s and then took a break to raise her children. She began her public life as a slow-growth activist, opposing construction of the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch development at the county’s eastern edge. She served on the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission and is in the middle of a second four-year term on the City Council. She was mayor in 1998-99. She serves on other boards, including Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency, Ventura County Air Pollution Control Board, Local Agency Formation Commission and the Conejo Valley Hospital Task Force. Her volunteer activities include founding the Ventura County Discovery Center, a children’s science center, and service with SOAR Inc., an open-space advocacy group. Parks lives in Thousand Oaks with her husband and four children, ages 11 to 17.

Campaign: Parks has run a low-key campaign that relies heavily on a grass-roots network of like-minded supporters. Voluntarily limiting donations to $500 per individual, she has raised just under $74,000. Parks is endorsed by a variety of environmental groups, activists opposed to the Ahmanson Ranch project, several county public officials and SEIU, the county’s largest labor union.

Quote: “Can you trust somebody who is being funded by developers? Can you really trust him when he says that he’s for slow growth and protecting open space and ridgelines?”