PANEL LOOKS AT FUNDS FOR CANDIDATES; T.O. GROUP TO DRAFT PROPOSALS FOR REFORM.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

With only five weeks to draft the first ordinance governing campaign finance in Thousand Oaks elections, the city's 17-member ad hoc committee began reviewing election law and recent court decisions Monday.

In a small conference room in a corner of the Civic Arts Plaza, the recently appointed group tried to get a sense of what kinds of ordinances have held up in court in the past and which have failed.

But much of the session was devoted to getting acquainted - and getting past the divisive recall campaign that burned a line through the middle of the city's political landscape in November.

``We have to leave our politics at the door - whether we were for the recall or against it. These are very emotional issues, I know,'' said Jim Bruno, who co-chairs the the Citizens' Blue Ribbon Campaign Finance Reform Committee with Dorothy Engel, a member of the Ventura County League of Women Voters.

Bringing together residents from all camps in the city's political spectrum and from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds, the round table confronted some of the differences among members that could become increasingly divisive in the weeks to come.

But Bruno said he remained optimistic that all members, regardless of their political ideology, could come to terms with a guideline to govern all candidates in the city.

``As long as we can agree on certain universal values, I think the values will tend to drive the outcome of our discussions. Sure, there are some gray areas that are subjective, but what we have to establish is a standard toward which we want to legislate,'' Bruno said in a follow-up interview Tuesday.

The group has until the end of May to submit its recommendations to the City Council for a public hearing and for final approval in time for the new ordinance to apply in the November 1998 election.

This year, residents will vote on three election seats currently occupied by council members Andy Fox, Judy Lazar and Elois Zeanah. In January, the council voted unanimously to put a voluntary $25,000 cap on campaign finance for the upcoming election.

The City Council began discussing campaign finance reform after November's recall campaign to remove Zeanah - a campaign with a combined price tag of more than $627,000, with more than $360,000 spent pushing her removal from the council.

In January, the council voted to form a citizens committee to draft a full campaign finance ordinance to be brought back to the council with the option of sending the draft to the polls for a popular vote. Last month, the council voted to spend up to $15,000 to hire an outside attorney specializing in campaign finance to consult with the committee.

On Monday, Los Angeles-based attorney Craig Steele offered an overview of the election laws at the federal, state and local levels, and of the court cases that have upheld or ruled out laws governing campaign finance. Steele also addressed the role Proposition 208 - the 1996 ballot initiative passed by voters capping contributions at $250 in state and local races - could have on Thousand Oaks campaigns.

``The most basic thing about Prop. 208 that will make your task difficult is that a whole series of interest groups have filed suit to have it declared unconstitutional,'' said Steele. ``No one knows where the court is going to go with it.''

Among the things a local ordinance could not do according to prior court rulings, Steele said, is place limits on the amount an individual spends on a campaign and limit expenditures made on behalf of a campaign by individuals or groups not affiliated directly with the candidate or the candidate's committee.

Campaign finance laws also cannot try to level the playing field by requiring that everyone spend the same amount, he said.

``The thing is you can't just adopt something that's working in another city. In my experience, the elections in every community are very different,'' said Steele. ``What we really need at this point is input from you about what the nature of the problem has been in Thousand Oaks.''

The group is scheduled to hold its second meeting Monday. The meeting is open to the public and will begin at 4 p.m. in the Oak Room at the Civic Arts Plaza.