Oak Park council welcomes a pair of new members

Todd Haines Oak Park is losing two longtime community leaders. Todd Haines and Deena Parry will step down from their seats on the Municipal Advisory Council Dec. 16 to make room for new members Derek Ross and Mike McReynolds, who were elected to the five-member panel last month.

Haines and Parry chose not to seek reelection.

First elected in 1995, Haines served three terms on the MAC. Parry was elected in 2001 and served two terms.

"I'm going to miss Todd's great leadership," said Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks. "He led very well-run meetings as chair of the MAC, which was acknowledged by his fellow MAC members who elected him chair more than any of the others."

Parks appreciated Parry's contributions as well. "Deena is so caring. She worked on beautification projects, road safety and children's issues, and I know Oak Park is better for her public service," Parks said, adding, "I'll continue to seek both their advice."

Todd Haines

Haines originally ran for the MAC because the other council members were older.

Deena Parry "I felt that someone younger should be on it to represent the kind of new generation of Oak Park," said Haines, whose daughter, Kelsey, was 6 months old at the time. She's now a 14-year-old Oak Park High School freshman. Haines and his wife, Nicole, also have two sons, Chad, a Medea Creek Middle School seventhgrader, and Trent, an Oak Hills Elementary fourth-grader.

Part of his campaign pledge was to make sure the Oak Park library and community center were completed. In the late 1990s Haines lobbied for Oak Park to have its own ZIP code after years of sharing one with Agoura Hills. The change was important because tax assessments were done by ZIP code, and Oak Park, in Ventura County, was being taxed according to rates in Agoura Hills, in Los Angeles County, Haines said. Utility bills and insurance costs were higher, and there was confusion as to which county's emergency personnel should be sent to Oak Park, resulting in delays, Haines said.

He will continue his involvement in school athletics and Agoura Pony Baseball. He served on the Westlake Agoura Girls Softball board for years.

"I just think that after a certain amount of time you could lose your edge and might not be as open-minded," Haines said. "With all the talent we have in our area it might be a good idea to let someone else do it."

Haines enjoys how MAC meetings are run informally, giving residents a greater voice.

"If you truly have a problem in Oak Park, you show up at the council and, if it's a reasonable request, it most often is going to be rectified," Haines said. "The people I've worked with have been great."

His advice to successors is to remain relevant.

"They have to make sure the county is listening," Haines said. "If they're not somewhat forceful in their voice, the bureaucrats will take the easier road, which is to ignore what the MAC has to say. In the past we've never let them ignore us."

He cautioned MAC members to ensure that services are maintained despite the financial crisis.

He'd like to see more athletic fields built in Oak Park.

"We owe it to the kids to have more baseball, soccer, lacrosse and football fields," Haines said.

He urged other residents to volunteer.

"If you are really interested in making sure your community stays nice, it's better to be involved," Haines said.

Deena Parry

Parry ran at the suggestion of resident Glen Wilcox, a MAC member at the time who was impressed by her accomplishments. Parry had obtained signatures from residents on her street for a petition to install speed humps to slow speeding motorists. She collected $250 from each neighbor to pay for the speed humps, which the county didn't provide at the time, and obtained bids for the work.

"People were driving 50 mph down on our street. Every time I walked to Brookside to pick up my kids I got so aggravated by all the speeders," said Parry, who lives on Smoketree Avenue. She and her husband, Craig, have three children: Ryan, a student at University of California, Berkeley; Amanda, a senior at Oak Park High; and Julia, a Brookside Elementary fourth-grader.

While the speed humps did help slow traffic, Parry believes that no deterrent, other than police, will help because people don't care enough to drive safer.

"Traffic and speeding are what we see most at the MAC meetings. It's frustrating to listen to because I know someday someone is going to get hurt," Parry said.

With the exception of Bonnie Biddison, who served for one year, Parry has been the lone female MAC member. She hopes that one day there will be another woman on the currently all-male MAC.

"I feel like I've been like the wife on the MAC," Parry said. "I never had to be the loudest voice—I listened, took it in and gave my opinion. I see the big picture, but sometimes it's the details that are easier to solve."

Parry initiated the effort to create a Volunteers in Policing program for Oak Park in 2004. There were sufficient volunteers, she said, but not enought funding.

"Maybe at some point in the future, the MAC will look into it further, but it's an issue of funds and cooperation with the city of Thousand Oaks for it to happen," Parry said.

Parry upgraded the Oak Park bulletin boards on Kanan and Lindero Canyon roads, changing the messages herself until Jan Oesterhaven, from Parks' office, took over.

"If ever I got an e-mail or call from a resident, I always tried to help them or solve it or point them in the right direction," Parry said.

Her advice to the council is to honor the community's previous leaders who "built the platform for them to speak on." She urged the council to be open to older people who might feel left out or pushed aside by younger residents. She's concerned that MAC members are fairly new, with none having served longer than three years.

"Sometimes history can be very helpful in certain situations," Parry said.

Maintaining Oak Park as it ages, meeting the needs of young and old residents, and avoiding budget cutbacks are among the biggest challenges, Parry said.

"I learned so much from being on the MAC and really truly did enjoy it," Parry said. "One day I might run again. Right now I just really want to put my energy into other things."