CAMPAIGN FINANCE DIVIDES COUNCIL.Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer THOUSAND OAKS Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. - As the City Council majority launched a study of regulating political slates' campaign funds, Councilwoman Linda Parks For the DC Comics character, see . Linda Park (born July 9, 1978) is a Korean American actress who is best known for her portrayal of communications officer character Hoshi Sato in the television series . called for donation-related controls on all council members. After a testy tes·ty adj. tes·ti·er, tes·ti·est Irritated, impatient, or exasperated; peevish: a testy cab driver; a testy refusal to help. exchange late Tuesday, the council voted 3-2 to have the city attorney look into the possibility of regulating slates so they don't have a financial edge over individual candidates. Parks said she will introduce a separate proposal for council members to refrain from voting on matters affecting special-interest groups from which they accept campaign contributions. City Attorney Mark Sellers aims for a preliminary report to the council March 7 on the majority request, he said Wednesday. ``My gut reaction gut reaction n → reacción f instintiva gut reaction n → réaction instinctive gut reaction gut n → is there aren't going to be a lot of ordinances out there dealing with this issue,'' Sellers said about council candidates who pool finances in slate campaigning. Parks and Councilman Dan Del Campo voted against the study request. Questioning the constitutionality of possible changes, four of the five speakers on the issue attacked the council proposal. Resident John Relle said insurgent INSURGENT. One who is concerned in an insurrection. He differs from a rebel in this, that rebel is always understood in a bad sense, or one who unjustly opposes the constituted authorities; insurgent may be one who justly opposes the tyranny of constituted authorities. candidates don't have the backing of developers, bankers and other perennial perennial, any plant that under natural conditions lives for several to many growing seasons, as contrasted to an annual or a biennial. Botanically, the term perennial campaign donors, and they must band together to get their message across. ``We all know this legislation (proposal) is aimed toward the Clean Sweep clean sweep n to make a clean sweep (SPORT) → arrasar, barrer clean sweep n to make a clean sweep (Sport) → rafler tous les prix Team of 1998,'' said Relle, referring to the slate campaign by Del Campo and two unsuccessful candidates promoting a slowdown For articles with similar titles, see Slow Down (disambiguation). A slowdown is an industrial action in which employees perform their duties but seek to reduce productivity or efficiency in their performance of these duties. on development. Councilman Michael Markey, who proposed regulating slate campaigns, said the city regulations adopted in 1998, capping campaign contributions at $250, are encouraging candidates to run as a slate and pool their money, giving them an advantage, which he considers unfair, over individual candidates. Slate politics give the perception of ``back-room political deal-making,'' he charged. ``I am surprised there is a lot of emotion in this,'' said Markey. ``No one is saying we are getting rid of anything. The spirit of the law was to make it an even playing field.'' Markey and Parks are up for re-election in November. ``We have a candidate who is running who wants to control the election,'' Parks said. ``You can't stop an individual candidate from working with another candidate. It's not legal.'' She said a greater perception of corruption occurs when council members vote on projects of special-interest groups that have donated do·nate v. do·nat·ed, do·nat·ing, do·nates v.tr. To present as a gift to a fund or cause; contribute. v.intr. To make a contribution to a fund or cause. to their campaigns. After the council's vote, Parks called for the city attorney also to look into changing the city campaign finance laws so that council members would have to refrain from voting on their campaign donors' projects. Mayor Dennis Gillette said her proposal was outside the scope of the council action and advised her to bring it back later for a vote. |
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