Lazar-Fox Recall Leaders Hope for January Vote

THOUSAND OAKS — Organizers of an effort to recall Councilman Andy Fox and Mayor Judy Lazar said Thursday they have more than 8,000 signatures and hope to qualify the petition for a special January election.

Organizer Kitty Radler said the group needs 10,169 signatures to qualify the recall petition for the ballot. A recall election mounted by a rival group against Councilwoman Elois Zeanah has already qualified for a ballot vote in November.

To get an election by January, however, the group must soon file the petition with the city, according to Thousand Oaks City Clerk Nancy Dillon. Both the city and county would have to verify the petitions and then the council would have to vote on whether to hold an election.

Although the campaign appears to be gaining momentum, it hasn’t been without problems.

In recent weeks, the organization has been busy mailing information pamphlets and holding impromptu rallies outside City Hall, hoping to drum up support and signatures from passing motorists and pedestrians. The reason, Radler said, was to meet today’s deadline and get the recall on the November ballot.

On Thursday, Radler said her group would not have enough signatures for that deadline.

“I guess the bottom line is we’re not going to be able to meet the deadline,” she said. “But we’re going to keep pushing to get the rest of the signatures.”

One problem, according to Dillon, was that the recall group had already missed its deadline. She said the organization had to submit its petitions by early June.

“My understanding was that we would have until August to get the signatures,” Radler said. “But, the bottom line is, we wouldn’t have met the November ballot deadline anyway.”

So Zeanah will be the only one facing a recall vote in November’s special election. The group Yes! Remove Elois Zeanah had its recall petitions certified last month.

Fox and Lazar have been the targets of a recall campaign because slow-growth proponents claim they are too friendly with developers.

Zeanah, a staunch slow-growth advocate, is under fire for her opposition to rampant development.

Despite the Fox-Lazar recall campaign’s failure to find a place on the upcoming ballot, Radler and her supporters aren’t disappointed. Rather, she said recent support for her effort mushroomed after Fox and Lazar’s support of a measure to eliminate the council’s public comment period from being broadcast on cable television.

“I’ve been getting a lot of people who are really angry about the censorship,” Radler said. “And what’s interesting is that after this, these people are concerned about what a recall might cost the taxpayers.”

Radler said supporters of the Fox-Lazar recall will keep up the pressure to ensure the matter is brought before city voters.