TUMULT MARKS MAYOR'S 1ST YEAR; PARKS' BELIEFS PIT HER AGAINST COUNCIL.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

It's been a bumpy ride in the mayor's seat for Linda Parks, who is nearing the end of her year as ceremonial leader of Ventura County's most fractious City Council.

She has remained staunch in her championing of environmental causes, although her stance often places her on the losing end of votes. And throughout it all, she maintains that her political views bring a necessary diversity to the council.

``There is no doubt about it, from the moment I have been elected, I have been the minority voice on the City Council,'' said Parks, who took office on the council in 1996. ``But I have been incredibly effective. Those issues they want to sweep under the carpet they have not been able to sweep under the carpet.''

Since she was tapped for the mayor's job in November - the council continued the traditional job rotation despite their differing political views - Parks has used the influence of the figurehead title to push a slow-growth agenda.

Her supporters say Parks has kept her campaign promises as she fights what they view as a stacked City Council guided by special interest groups.

``She is effective because she is holding up the interest of 22,000 people who voted for her,'' said Joy Meade, who managed Parks' election campaign. ``Aren't those people supposed to have a choice just because the other side is bought off?''

But her detractors claim Parks is a crafty politician who bullies her way on the council dais to further her own goals.

``I don't think she is a very good mayor,'' said Joe Gibson, a member of the Conejo Recreation and Park District board. ``I've got a real problem with her process, not with her position. She tries to manipulate the council.

``For example, the council has taken votes on several issues, and she brings them back for new votes knowing it's not going to pass,'' said Gibson, who served on the Planning Commission with Parks in 1995. ``It's manipulation, and it only allows her to emphasize her position to her constituents, and it doesn't change the outcome.''

Listened to concerns

Parks remains steadfastly opposed to a number of controversial issues: the proposed Hill Canyon golf course, the planned Lang Ranch Dam and the construction of the Borchard Road extension with a 12 percent grade.

Alice Cohen, who lives off Borchard Road, said Parks was the only elected official who listened to residents' concerns that the extension will be too steep for safety. After the council approved design plans for the 12 percent grade, Parks persuaded her peers to support a new traffic study on the road.

``She has an open mind and listens,'' said Cohen, who voted for Parks in 1996. ``I don't know her personally. I just know she is easy to reach, she is sincere and she returns calls.''

The mayor's tendency to bring issues up ``over and over and over again'' annoys Mary Harris, who regularly attends the weekly Tuesday night council meetings.

``I don't think she represents the whole city,'' Harris said. ``As a matter of fact, she is doing things on her own.''

In March, the council voted 3-2 to forego a workshop to study alternatives for the 1,200-foot-long Lang Ranch Dam on Westlake Boulevard, citing the numerous reports already completed on the project.

Parks, who was in the minority, worked behind the scenes - lobbying various state and federal agencies in an effort to relocate the dam. She also publicly disputed the facts in an April city letter sent to residents regarding the project.

``I am sure Linda feels in her heart she is doing the right thing, but I don't agree with her philosophically,'' said Marshall Dixon, who ran unsuccessfully for council last November.

Dixon said Parks represents a slow-growth constituency - not the majority of the city's 115,000 residents.

``Obviously her main thrust is environmental - actually, I think, to the detriment of other issues,'' he said.

``She essentially shuts out what she does not want to hear. I know her supporters say she has been an effective leader. But she has not been a leader but a burr under the saddle.''

Still, Parks was the top vote-getter among 10 candidates in the 1996 election, garnering 22,066 votes - some 27 percent.

Manipulation disputed

Meade, Parks' former campaign manager, disputes the claims that the mayor exploits her position on the City Council.

``I don't believe it's manipulation - that is determination,'' she said. ``I think that she is trying, in every way you can, to make sure an issue that is important to the people is as fully heard as needs to be,'' she said.

``The very fact she is on the losing end, she has to try harder to get around their predetermined, orchestrated denial of what she wants to do,'' she said.

But the council itself concedes that the dissension among its ranks makes it hard to carry out the city's business. The council twice this year has hired a mediator to help members learn to better work together. Another workshop is scheduled this fall.

But some of the mayor's colleagues say she is the cause of most problems on the council.

``She is out in left field and been on lots of 4-1 votes,'' said City Councilman Michael Markey, who initially declined to be interviewed about Parks.

A case in point, he said, was the $254 million two-year budget passed in June, with Parks as the sole dissenter.

``The single most important thing is approving the budget for the city,'' Markey said. ``There were three things I didn't like in the budget, but it's balanced and it takes care of the issues we need to address. You don't vote no because of one thing you don't like.

``My view of a good mayor is a mayor trying to do a good job, trying to be fair and work with the rest of the council and is flexible,'' he said. ``Someone who is inflexible or you go talk to someone and they don't give you the time of day is inflexible. I talk to everyone on the council - except for one.''

Parks expected as much from Markey, whom she considers a competitor in the November 2000 council elections if they both run for another term.

She said she could not vote for a budget that included $16.2 million for the proposed Hill Canyon golf course and $100,000 for improvements to the council dais.

``I had no choice,'' she said. ``It was `my way or the highway,' and I could not go along with it.''

Created Residents Roundtable

Parks, a 42-year-old mother of four, sees herself more as a voice for common folks shut out of City Hall than an astute politician.

``I think residents need a stronger voice in the community,'' said Parks. ``That is where I see my role.''

One of her first acts as mayor was to create a Residents Roundtable - modeled after the existing Business Roundtable - where residents can talk freely with city officials without having to adhere to the three-minute limit on public comments imposed during council meetings.

``Representing residents' rights may be considered as special interest, but it's my job,'' said Parks, who approaches her position like a full-time job, showing up at scores of public meetings and events, and dashing off a constant stream of faxes and e-mails throughout the day.

`` `Special interest' as I define it is having money to make off the decision of the council. These people don't have money to make. They are just trying to protect their quality of life.

``If the government is making decisions that impact negatively on residents, I will work to correct those,'' she said. ``And while I may not have votes go my way, certainly - in some incidents when they refused to go along with what I think is the will of the people - I've gone out to do initiatives and made law.''

Parks said she has been effective in a number of issues that don't involve the environment, such as pushing forward the redevelopment of Thousand Oaks Boulevard after the project languished for more than a decade, moving the development along on the Civic Arts Plaza's east parcel and expediting a vote on a new trash contract.

But Parks, a hiker and equestrian who regularly takes to the local hills, is unabashed in her rigid stand on certain issues.

``I am an environmentalist, and I plead guilty to that,'' said Parks, who has a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Washington and last worked as a part-time planner in 1991 for the city of Ventura.

``When it comes to chopping down a bunch of oak trees, even if it brings money to the city, I can't go along with that. You don't build a golf course in wetlands. You don't put a dam in an oak grove,'' she said. ``Those are not compromising issues.''

Key to success of mayor

Lawrence E. Horner, manager of the Conejo Valley office for Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, was on the Thousand Oaks City Council for 16 years and served as mayor four times.

``In her view, from what I see with the constituency she feels she represents, she's doing the things they elected her to do when she was elected to the council.

``The key to the success of a mayor is to make sure that you project the image that you represent the greater sector of the community as a whole,'' he said. ``It's very important that when people add up the score on your effectiveness as a mayor that you were able to try to keep a balanced view toward everybody's concerns . . . and that is how mayors are measured when they finish their term of office,'' he said. ``Were they able to do that or not?''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Linda Parks, with her family's dog Travis, treats her position as mayor of Thousand Oaks as a full-time job, attending meetings and events and sending faxes and e-mails throughout the day.

(2) Parks

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer