North Park vote pushed back to February 2006
By Sylvie Belmond

belmond@theacorn.com

The Moorpark City Council voted 3-2 to call for a North Park election at a Sept. 21 meeting instead of Sept. 7, as previously planned. The new date will set the North Park election back to Feb. 7, 2006. The move is meant to prevent conflict with the holidays, officials said.

“It’s not a delay tactic, it’s a practical matter,” said Councilmember Roseann Mikos.

Voters will decide the fate of the North Park Village and Nature Preserve project slated for the northeast corner of Moorpark. The project is planned in an unincorporated area that would need to be annexed to the city.

Last month, the council agreed to continue the North Park discussions to Sept 7 and call for a Jan 24 election but upon further review, the city staff indicated the date would create a hardship for city employees and for the election consultant because it would require extra work during the holidays.

The two-week delay will help city staff and the public who may want to work during the election and pre-election period because many of the pre-election deadlines would have fallen during holiday times, Mikos said. The move is also good for the opponents who aren’t paid to lobby for their cause, she said.

“This is a win-win situation for both North Park proponents and opponents,” said Mikos, providing everyone with a chance for a more balanced debate.

But Mikos reiterated the election should have taken place in November because the residents of Moorpark are capable of separating out local versus statewide issues.

Although they supported moving the election date, Council-members Janice Parvin and Keith Millhouse cast the dissenting votes because they didn’t endorse moving the council meeting date that will officially call for the election.

But if the date hadn’t been changed, absentee ballots would have to be mailed out on Dec. 26.

“The city and the consultant would be trying to hire people to work during the holiday week at a time when they want to be home with their families,” Mikos said.