Parks’ Choice for Planning Commission Voted Down

THOUSAND OAKS —  Rebuffing a colleague on a key political appointment, the City Council early Wednesday shot down Councilwoman Linda Parks’ nomination of Dan Del Campo to the city’s Planning Commission.

Arguing that he was too biased against developers to serve on such a panel, council members took the rare step of turning down the nomination of Del Campo, the first runner-up in November’s City Council election.

The 2-3 vote, which came about 1:15 a.m. after Mayor Judy Lazar and Councilman Mike Markey expressed doubts about Del Campo’s objectivity, was immediately characterized as “low politics” by a frustrated Parks. Parks and her slow-growth ally, Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, cast the two votes for Del Campo.

Lazar said Del Campo’s campaign rhetoric suggested that he would not give applicants before the Planning Commission a fair hearing.

“I attended quite a few [candidates’] forums, I have heard his remarks, and I think Mr. Del Campo may make an excellent council member,” Lazar said. “But he would not be a good planning commissioner. You can’t have your mind made up.”

Parks said the council’s snubbing of Del Campo was a clear example of her political opponents using their majority status on the City Council to silence voices critical of the city’s growth policies.

“I think his efforts to show how developers have funded council campaigns ruffled some feathers,” Parks said. “His being a central voice of the slow-growth movement in this city seems to scare some people.”

She argued that as the leading vote-getter in the last elections, she should be allowed to appoint whomever she sees fit. Council members have traditionally had their Planning Commission nominations approved by their City Council peers without dispute.

“I just feel that 22,000 people voted for me, and this is a slap in their face,” Parks said. “A man who is almost sitting in this City Council seat with us tonight, who ran on the same platform that I did . . . is being denied his right to serve the people.”

Parks said she had not determined who her next nominee would be.

Del Campo said Wednesday that the decision had not surprised him, and insisted he was not disappointed. He said he is not against all growth, as critics have charged, and that he would have been a fair commissioner.

“They certainly referenced campaign rhetoric I used during the campaign, and they did it incorrectly,” Del Campo said of the council majority. “I never said I was anti-growth. I would have made extraordinary efforts to be open-minded and more even-handed with residents and applicants than most of the people on that commission.”

He believes he was rejected solely because his political foes want to keep him out of a position of prominence. Numerous planning commissioners have gone on to the City Council, including Lazar, Councilman Andy Fox and Parks.

“I don’t think there’s any question about that being the reason,” he said. “I think they know that being a planning commissioner would have increased my status in the community.

“The issue is not personal feelings, it’s an issue of representing the community,” he added. “The council majority is jaded by their own power . . . . All three are nothing but pawns for developers.”

Reflecting the divided nature of the City Council, residents spoke strongly both for and against Del Campo, who ran a joint slow-growth platform with Parks in last year’s election. He finished third in the race for two seats behind Parks and Markey.

Barbara Stein of Newbury Park, a former recording secretary for the Planning Commission, said that in her view, planning commissioners were traditionally honorable, honest and ethical people.

“It is my opinion that none of these words would describe Mr. Del Campo,” she said.

Joy Meade, a strong supporter of Zeanah and Parks, said the choice of Del Campo was simple considering that thousands of residents voted for him in the City Council election.

“Appoint Dan Del Campo,” she said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Markey disagreed, saying Del Campo’s remarks during the campaign showed that he had strong views against any further growth in Thousand Oaks, and that such opinions were enough to keep him from the commission.

“I’d like to look at another candidate,” he told Parks.

Zeanah angrily defended Del Campo, saying his views represent those of many citizens. She and Parks argued that Ronald Polanski, Fox’s Planning Commission appointment, and John Powers, Markey’s appointee, were biased in favor of development, yet no one had made an issue of that.

“I feel like three council members have just hijacked this city,” Zeanah said.