Campaign season arrives early in Thousand Oaks

The 2006 election season has begun early in Thousand Oaks.

Recently, Councilman Andy Fox requested that the city attorney provide a legal opinion regarding his proposal to require city council candidates to submit bank statements, something never done before and generally uncommon. Controls already exist which require timely and proper reporting of all contributions and expenses. Misreporting is already against the law and no past problems were ever mentioned.

As a matter of fact, it was actually Fox's former campaign manager who was found guilty of campaign violations and fined by the FPPC, the state watchdog agency for political campaign corruption. The city may want to consider a different law instead, one that would ban joint charitable and political campaign fundraising events, something that Fox does every four years.

This may curtail questionable campaign donations from contributors like the Walt Disney Co., Dodgers baseball, the L.A. Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and others. Did they knowingly contribute to Fox's political campaign of 2002? Or did they believe they were instead contributing to his selfnamed community fund?

Fox's fundraising practices are questionable at best. All his new proposal does is allow for baseless charges against his political opponents.

Would the city attorney investigate similar charges levied against one of her incumbent bosses? Or would that be a council decision instead?

Last year the council decided against investigating itself for alleged municipal code violations when it was charged that Andy Fox acted unilaterally to fire City Manager Phil Gatch. As we march toward November watch for more grandstanding by those up for reelection. John Fonti Thousand Oaks