On Nov. 5, citizens of Conejo Valley had the chance to vote for the new Conejo Valley Unified School District [CVUSD] trustees, Thousand Oaks City Council and Conejo Recreation and Park District chairs.
The CVUSD Board of Education is governed by five trustees from Areas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and a Student Board Trustee. The current board members include President Cindy Goldberg, Vice President Lisa Evans Powell, Clerk Bill Gorback, members Lauren Gill and Karen Sylvester and Aidan Light, the Student Board Trustee. Each trustee is expected to serve for four years and may run for re-election after their term is up to continue serving.
Having both begun their term in 2020, Trustee Gill and Trustee Sylvester’s positions were up for election. After counting up over ten thousand votes of Conejo Valley citizens, both Gill and Sylvester were re-elected.. For Area 5, Sylvester, with 6,939 total votes, surpassed her competitor, Nancy Van Volkinburg who raised a total of 4,195 votes. Gill won the polls with 65 percent of the votes, defeating competitor Frank Enderle.
Over the next four years, Sylvester and Gill have stated their plans to implement a more diverse education plan and promote the use of wellness centers and other mental health related assistance on campuses across the Conejo Valley Unified School District. The two incumbants also plan to To read more about their proposed policies, visit “pantherprowler.org.”
In the District 4 race for Thousand Oaks City Council, incumbent Al Adam was re-elected with a win of 60 percent of the total votes over opponent Jeff Schwart. Adam plans to improve downtown Thousand Oaks and expand Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. In District 5 Connie “Tie” Gutierrez won 55 percent of Thousand Oaks citizens’ vote.
In the Conejo Recreation and Park District’s election, incumbent Chuck Huffer was elected to serve a fourth term as a member of the board of directors after receiving 84 percent of the votes. Huffer plans to continue to strengthen the district’s financial and personnel policies.
As the 2024 elections come to a close, citizens examine what local policies will look like over the next four years and prepare to have the continued leadership from all incumbents.