COUNCIL, SCHOOL RACES CLOSE; ABSENTEE VOTES TO DECIDE FATE OF TRAILING HOPEFULS.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

With only a few hundred votes separating the top candidates in the council and school board elections, the makeup of the area's two most contentious governing bodies will be decided by about 6,800 absentee ballots that won't be counted until Monday.

In the race for three seats on the Thousand Oaks City Council, unofficial returns Wednesday show Dennis Gillette, California Lutheran University administrator, and incumbent Andy Fox in the top two spots. Clean Sweep candidate Dan Del Campo pulled away from his slate and past incumbent Judy Lazar to occupy third place.

In the race for three seats on the Conejo Unified School District board, Pat Phelps, Mary Jo Del Campo and Tim Stephens are leading incumbents Elaine McKearn and Mildred Lynch.

But Ventura County election officials warned that the remaining absentee ballots could swing the results.

``There are definitely more votes out there to be counted,'' said Bruce Bradley, county assistant registrar of voters. ``At this point, you can't say any close race is done.''

Across the county, about 30 percent of those who voted turned in absentee ballots this time - the highest proportion of absentee ballots cast in county history.

With more people voting by absentee ballots, processing the election results takes longer, said Bradley, who added that Tuesday's 54 percent voter turnout was the lowest in Ventura County since World War II.

Absentee ballots returned by last week were counted by early Tuesday night, even before returns rolled in from individual precincts. But absentee ballots submitted to the county elections office or polling places Election Day have yet to be tallied.

The next election update is expected Monday.

In the City Council race, the estimated 6,840 absentee ballots left to be counted could give Lazar, who now trails Del Campo by 334 votes, enough to recapture her seat.

``When the first absentees were counted, Fox, Lazar and Gillette were leading. So these additional absentee ballots could easily improve Lazar's position,'' Bradley said.

On Wednesday, Lazar took a more cautious approach, saying even 400 votes could be tough to swing. She said she will continue her community service either way.

``But I just think it's too early now to tell what will happen,'' she said.

For Del Campo, Wednesday's semiofficial returns represented a comfortable enough lead over Lazar, and he is betting the additional absentees will confirm his winning margin.

The Conejo Unified School District board race could be even tighter. Pat Phelps led the field of 11 candidates with 11,933 votes, and Mary Jo Del Campo - council candidate Dan Del Campo's wife - followed closely with 11,274.

Bradley said those two school board candidates are likely safe, but third-place vote-getter Tim Stephens is trailed by candidate Michael Dunn by only 168 votes, while a mere 254 votes separate incumbent Elaine McKearn from a seat.

In a town where elected officials often clash ideologically, thousands of residents will wait anxiously until Monday to learn who will lead the city into the new millennium and to see whether the newly composed governing bodies will be able to overcome the bickering.

For the school board, the new trustees will have a much easier time governing with a $88 million bond securing strong support from voters Tuesday. The board will work with a citizens oversight committee to discuss how the bond money will be spent.

But front-runner Phelps said the first goal will have to be for the trustees to learn to work together.

The same goes for the City Council.

Council candidate Gillette said there are dozens of important issues facing the city today - everything from issues like Borchard Road that dominated the campaign season, to public safety issues.

But the new council's top priority should be moving away from the strict voting alliances forged by previous councils in recent years that ultimately undermined cooperation, he said.

``I don't think we can interpret any clear message from the voters with the ballots as dispersed as they were,'' he said. ``Except that the voters want a . . . council that is paying attention to the needs of their community.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1) PHELPS

(2) GILLETTE

BOX: LATEST ELECTION RESULTS