Woman takes seat on Oak Park MAC

Deena Parry is the mother of three children and has a full-time job as a sales representative.

But now her plate is really full.

Parry was sworn in last week as the first female member of the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council (MAC), the governing panel for the community’s 17,500 residents.

Parry, 40, won election to the MAC Nov. 7 along with council incumbent Todd Haines, who also was sworn in.

The MAC meets only monthly, but Parry must prepare and also serve on the council’s traffic and safety committee, a liaison between Oak Park and the Ventura County fire and sheriff’s departments.

Parry, who led a petition drive earlier this year to have speed humps installed on Smoketree Avenue, said her fear about increasing traffic in Oak Park was the main reason why she ran for the MAC.

"My main goal here really is the traffic situation," said Parry, a resident of Oak Park since 1997.

"People are just sick of it and want people to be more responsible for their actions, especially when it comes to traffic safety around the school," Parry said.

Parry said she looks forward to working with the site councils at each school, including Brookside Elementary, which faces additional traffic safety issues next year when a renovation begins.

"My plan, once I get going here, is to just try to be a liaison among the schools. I’ve also committed to going to some of the school board meetings," Parry said.

She wants more "drive safely" signs erected in Oak Park and even wants to start a citizen-policing group similar to one in Thousand Oaks. And Parry hopes to promote carpooling at schools.

"I think we really have a lot of concerned people and with that will bring some action to it," Parry said.

Parry is a sales representative for a Seattle-based real estate supply company. She received a bachelor’s degree in art and business from Cal State University Northridge.

The MAC’s next meeting is 8 p.m., Jan. 23 at the Oak Park High School auditorium.

––John Loesing