Claudia Bill-de la Peña Calling herself fiscally conservative, Thousand Oaks Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña makes a frequent plea along the campaign trail: “Please don’t lump me in with the others.”

The incumbent said she finds people are fed up with council members who spend money unwisely.

“(People) ask questions that don’t always get answers. They ask, ‘Why are they spending money subsidizing wealthy developers and not helping mobile home park owners?’”

Bill-de la Peña has a few questions of her own. She wonders why in 2005 the City Council unanimously voted to give $250,000 out of the general fund to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, but it won’t help Thousand Oaks “mobile home park residents who are about to become homeless,” referring to the ongoing situation at Conejo Mobile Home Park.

Running for a third term, the professional newswriter said she wants to be on the council again because she’s a voice of reason when it comes to being fiscally responsible.

“It’s plain and simple: I’m all about necessities—not luxuries,” she said.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the city has tried to deal with many financial challenges, but this year was the first in which the city actually laid off dozens of employees and offered buyouts to those close to retirement, she said.

“Our vacancy rate of commercial and office space is at an all-time high. Residential development projects have stalled and turned into an eyesore. Yet the city is subsidizing a wealthy developer, spending tens of thousands of dollars on tax surveys, logos and plans that include high-rises on Thousand Oaks Boulevard,” she said.

Bill de-la Peña said she voted against buying commercial land next to city hall for $3.5 million while employees are being laid off and many in Thousand Oaks face homelessness.

“At the same time, a mobile home park in our town is closing— the only true affordable housing for low-income residents— and now families, seniors, the disabled and war veterans may find themselves homeless,” Bill-de la Peña said.

She said she’s proven herself as a council member who knows how to balance the true needs of residents with declining revenues.

“We must rein in the high costs of pensions, benefits and salaries, plain and simple. They are the biggest chunk of any city budget. At the same time, we must protect tax dollars from subsidizing private pet projects.”

The city should put money back where cutbacks have been made—police, street maintenance and library manpower, Bill-de la Peña said.

“The city has not been funding our open space fund either.”

She said she donates 10 percent of her paycheck to protect open space.

The mother of twins is married to a physician. She grew up in Germany, speaks four languages and has a master’s degree in public administration from California Lutheran University. She said she paid for CLU herself even though the city offers council members tuition reimbursement.

Bill-de la Peña has opposed salary increases for top city management since the beginning of the recession in 2007 and voted against spending $100,000 per year for a day laborer site and $400,000 for The Lakes study and its angled parking spaces, she said.

She also opposed $65,000 for a city logo “when the other logo was fine” and a survey asking if residents wanted to pay more taxes, she said.

Bill-de la Peña supports the teen center’s expansion, the construction of the children’s library and the Senior Adult Master Plan to manage issues such as transportation, housing and healthcare for the city’s aging population, she said.

She is running as a team with Al Adam, her appointed planning commissioner.