County GOP committee backs Strickland bit to unseat Parks

The Ventura County Republican Central Committee went public this week with its support of Assemblymember Audra Strickland’s plans to go after Linda Parks’ seat on the Board of Supervisors.

The committee also claimed responsibility for a telephone survey last month that asked residents in Parks’ district about a potential campaign between the two women.

After six years in her seat, Strickland (RThousand Oaks) will term out of the Assembly at the end of the year.

The Republican committee met last week and unanimously approved a resolution asking Strickland to run for Parks’ 2nd District supervisor seat, despite the fact that she lives in Moorpark, which falls in the 4th District.

Strickland supporter Peter Foy—who’s also up for reelection—currently holds the supervisor seat in the 4th Disrict.

“She’s been wildly supported by the 2nd District for several years,” said Mike Osborn, committee chair. “We feel she is much more in line with the constituents there. Her ability, reputation and the high regard everyone keeps her in makes her the favorite.”

Parks, also a registered Republican, said she feels attacked by the group. “I feel like I’m being targeted by the more extreme right wing for being a moderate Republican,” Parks said. “Yet the office of county supervisor is a nonpartisan office, something that I think is a good thing. We really don’t need at the Board of Supervisors the kind of partisan divide that has gridlocked our state’s Legislature.”

Osborn said that Parks “became a Republican when she wanted to run for office in Thousand Oaks.”

Previously a Democrat, Parks switched to the Republican Party in 1996, the year she became a Thousand Oaks City Council member. She said her “fiscal conservative outlook better fit with the Republican Party.”

“There’s been a huge uproar about Linda Parks from her constituents,” Osborn said. “The complaints we hear are mostly about property rights. They feel she’s very radical when it comes to land-use issues. We don’t feel she has the best interests of the residents of the 2nd District at heart.”

The party’s support was also promised in the resolution, which was brought forward by five committee members from Parks’ own district.

“It’s obvious the GOP Central Committee is trying to provide termed-out Assemblymember Audra Strickland with the cover she needs so she doesn’t look like a desperate politician in search of another government-funded job,” Parks said. “The public trust for Audra is eroding because in two months’ time she’s jumped from trying to run for secretary of state, then county treasurer-tax collector and now county supervisor.

“The committee . . . is trying to do damage control so she doesn’t look so desperate in her job search,” Parks said.

Strickland has many allies on the committee, including her mother-in-law, Toni Strickland, and principal assistant Darin Henry.

If she decided to run, Strickland would move from Moorpark, where she lives with her husband, state Sen. Tony Strickland, and her young daughter and son, to the 2nd District, which includes Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park and surrounding areas.

“The people who have a problem with (her moving to get the job) wouldn’t vote for her anyway,” Osborn said. “It’s a short distance. The supervisors are about Ventura County, and she represents Ventura County. And she’s represented the 2nd District for the last six years (in the Assembly).”

Rondi Guthrie, director of Strickland’s district office, said Strickland is “flattered and honored” by the committee’s resolution and plans to make a decision “very shortly.” Guthrie said Strickland was in Sacramento until yesterday and will likely make an announcement upon her return.

Osborn also said he expects Strickland to announce her plan to run “very soon.”

“I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t,” he said. “Everything we’ve seen is telling us this is going to be a great race.”

Last month, some residents in the 2nd District participated in a telephone survey asking about a potential campaign between Strickland and Parks, who’s seeking reelection for a third term.

The poll included a series of questions asking whether voters would be more or less likely to vote for an opposing candidate if they were aware of some negative assertions about the incumbent.

Statements included claims that Parks had cut funding for libraries, firefighters, law enforcement and affordable housing, and that she supports marijuana dispensaries and opposes city upgrades and new job creation.

In contrast, Strickland was called an “ardent tax fighter” who insists on honesty and good government and who took a voluntary 5 percent pay cut.

But there were some negative assertions about Strickland as well, including questions about “riding her husband’s coattails” and campaign funds shared between the spouses.

Osborn said the poll was fair, with negative assertions about both candidates. If there were more negative remarks about Parks, he said, it’s just because there was more to work with.

Parks said she was shocked at the “deceitful” nature of the poll, which Strickland’s camp said the Assembly member wasn’t aware of.

The election is Tues., June 8.

A runoff election would occur in November, but only if the winning candidate doesn’t get more than 50 percent of the vote in June.