When I think of Audra Strickland, the first thing I remember is that she was given $28,650 by the tobacco industry then personally paid nearly $100,000 for her “professional services” in her husband’s political campaign, an amount that’s close to the amount her husband received from the tobacco industry—$101,550.

Nice way to convert campaign contributions into personal income, Tony and Audra!

The next thing that I remember is that Audra was fined recently by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) in an investigation involving gifts to the state Legislature that totaled in the hundreds of thousands of dollars but somehow didn’t get reported. I can’t think of a single thing that she’s actually done for the community, though.

When I think of Linda Parks, I remember that the special interest-funded City Council majority of Thousand Oaks voted 32 to censure her right before her first run for supervisor. The next thing that I remember is that the district attorney found that she did nothing wrong.

I also remember that she successfully fought to rein in county spending, fought to keep fire stations open, reopened the jail in the East County, opened the first county park in her district, helped widen the 23 Freeway without new taxes, “walked the talk” on limiting campaign contributions and spending even before the county made it law, got traffic signals synchronized, lowered government pension obligations and led the way on establishing the county’s reserve fund, leading to increased bond ratings for Ventura County.

Oh, yeah, and helped stopped urban sprawl and saved Ahmanson Ranch!
Paul Nicholson
Thousand Oaks