Thousand Oaks candidates show mutual respect at CLU forum
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WENDY LEUNG/THE STAR Rick Lemmo (left) chairman of the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce board, gives opening remarks during Saturday’s forum for Thousand Oaks City Council candidates at California Lutheran University. At the table are the candidates (from left), Dan Roundtree, Ed Jones, Chaise Rasheed and Rob McCoy.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Questions about traffic, housing and some touchy issues were lobbed at the four Thousand Oaks City Council candidates during a forum Saturday at California Lutheran University.
The event was cordial despite moderator Herb Gooch’s attempt to bring some sparks to the 90-minute discussion.
“It was hard to pick one who did bad,” said Tom Hunt, one of about 60 people in the audience. “You can sense the camaraderie. There’s no back-stabbing. Everyone respects each other.”
Perhaps it is this lack of fireworks that will lead to low turnout, an anticipated result of this low-key special election.
During the forum, which was hosted by the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, Gooch urged audience members to honor the four candidates by voting.
“Whatever you can do to help people get engaged, please do it,” said Gooch, a political science professor at Cal Lutheran.
Voters will decide June 2 between Ed Jones, Rob McCoy, Chaise Rasheed and Dan Roundtree to fill an open council seat.
Jones, chairman of the local parks district board, distinguished himself as a candidate concerned with environmental protection while Roundtree, a planning commissioner and financial planner, says he has something the current council doesn’t have — an academic background in financial planning.
The two differ on a plan for Thousand Oaks Boulevard passed by the council to bring housing in the form of mixed-use development.
If done right, Roundtree believes the effort could create a vibrant, walkable downtown.
“It has to be done prudently,” Roundtree said. “We’re not going to be San Fernando Valley.”
While Roundtree believes mixed-use development could ease congestion on the thoroughfare, Jones believes it’ll do the opposite.
“T.O. Boulevard was never designed to be a downtown and as far as I’m concerned, it never will be,” Jones said. “I think it’s a dream right now. I don’t like it.”
Rasheed, who lost to three incumbents in the last City Council race, said he supports mixed-use housing as long as there are affordable units for seniors.
“The community is aging,” Rasheed said. “Seniors have to be focused on.”
A freelance worker for Amazon, Rasheed has become a regular at City Council meetings and is a critic of the city’s gradual relaxation of oak tree protection as well as a planned loan to the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall.
The city agreed in February to evenly split a $10 million bill for auto mall upgrades. Annual car sales bring the city about $6 million, about a quarter of total sales tax revenue.
Jones said public money shouldn’t be given to businesses.
“People in private enterprise are always saying, ‘If only the government could get off our backs. Just leave us alone.’ And then they want money,” Jones said. “The auto mall is wealthy; let them spend their own money to build a parking lot.”
McCoy, a local pastor, called the agreement to help the auto mall a “sweetheart deal.”
“I don’t see the return of investment on this,” McCoy said.
But McCoy believes the city should have an open dialogue with businesses and develop a better relationship because the state is becoming more and more anti-business with its high taxes.
Like Rasheed, McCoy ran in the November election, but he ran in the Assembly race against Jacqui Irwin, who at the time was a Thousand Oaks City Council member.
Irwin’s Assembly victory led to the vacancy on the council. The winner in the council race will serve the remainder of Irwin’s term, which is 18 months.
When asked if a seat on the council would be a stepping stone for a career in Sacramento, McCoy answered, “I’m committed to finishing the term that Jacqui vacated. In addition, if honored to be elected to a second term, I will fill it in its entirety.”
In a round of what Gooch called “hard questions,” Rasheed was asked whether running for the council seat is an “ego trip,” considering he has raised little money and didn’t pay for a candidate statement in the voter guide, which costs approximately $1,200.
Rasheed called his campaign grassroots, adding that he doesn’t like to ask for money because it’s rude. He said he has received hateful emails from people who compared him to a dog and suggested he clean tables instead of running.
“I’m in this for public service. If I can take this kind of gunfire, then this is not an ego trip for me,” Rasheed said to applause from the audience.
Jones was asked about his past run-in with the law. Jones was convicted of a misdemeanor in 1985 for disturbing the peace.
The former Thousand Oaks mayor and Ventura County supervisor said he has won the support of voters six times.
“The public has confidence in me,” Jones said.
McCoy defended his opponents.
“Ed is a good man. His past is behind him. And Chaise, keep running, you’re an inspiration. Whoever wins in this election, the city is in good hands,” McCoy said. “These questions are brutal. Let’s get together as a community and start caring for one another.”
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