Concerned Citizens of Thousand Oaks: TOAcorn 12162010 Relevant stories ltrs auto sign claudia passed over County CEO Lowes plann ok +++

Auto dealers pull sign proposal

2010-12-16 / Front Page

By Michelle Knight

A plan to build a 35-foot-tall electronic monument sign next to the 101 Freeway has been put on hold.

The Auto Mall Dealers Association on Friday asked that its proposal, intended to increase the visibility of the 25 dealerships at the 54- acre site, be taken off the agenda for the Dec. 14 City Council meeting.

The proposed sign featured a 12- by- 21- foot LED screen for displaying vehicle advertisements 24 hours a day.

Susan Murata, vice-president of Silver Star Automotive Group and president of the auto mall association, said the group wants to gather more input from residents.

“We want to address the concerns of the community, and that’s why we took it off the calendar,” Murata told the council.

Murata stressed that a new sign is critical to the success of the plan because auto dealers believe it will help them better compete with dealerships to the north and south. She said studies have shown large LED boards can increase sales up to 20 percent.

“We don’t want to shove this down anyone’s throat,” Murata said. “We don’t want this to be a bad thing. There’s enough concern out there; let’s address it.”

With the sign off the table, the council unanimously approved on Tuesday an $8.6-million plan to improve landscaping and parking at the auto mall. The plan includes 364 additional parking spaces and the addition of way-finder signs to help drivers locate dealerships. The city is contributing $2 million worth of redevelopment money to the project.

The current 600 on-street parking spaces aren’t enough to accommodate the 1,100 or so employees of the dealerships, said Jay Spurgin, deputy director of public works.

Even with the sign off the agenda, it still drew numerous comments from the audience. Many said a larger LED sign could be dangerous because it would distract freeway drivers and lead to accidents.

Several speakers questioned the need for a larger sign. Thousand Oaks resident Richard Odom said prospective car buyers don’t drive up and down freeways looking for dealerships.

“We’re much more sophisticated than that,” he said.

Odom said if a larger LED sign is approved he will boycott the auto mall.

“I will not patronize any dealership that contributes to the defilement of our community by putting up a garish sign,” he said.

Others criticized the city’s redevelopment agency for contributing

$2 million to the renovation.

Debbie Gregory said the auto dealers are “special interests” and redevelopment dollars should not be used on their behalf.

City officials stressed that no redevelopment money would be spent on the new sign, when or if it’s approved, but that the auto mall association will finance the entire cost.

Supporters of the auto mall sign also spoke.

Ben Woodle, representing The Oaks mall, said that retailers have lost sales in the past few years. He said a larger sign at the auto mall would benefit nearby businesses, including the shopping center.

George Webb, an employee of the auto mall since 1995, said he’s seen people lose their jobs in recent months. The planned improvements and a larger electronic display sign could save, and possibly add, jobs at dealerships, he said.

“I know if we do this right and we can keep jobs here and grow those jobs back, that means a lot to a lot of people,” Webb said.

The auto mall sells about 20,000 vehicles a year, even in the recession, Murata said.

John Adams, the city’s finance director, said the auto mall has been the top generator of sales tax revenue for the past 10 years. The auto mall generates 25 percent of the city’s sales tax revenue.

Supporters of the new sign reminded opponents that the old auto mall sign must come down because the planned improvements include widening the freeway frontage road near the sign.

A public hearing on the design of the new auto mall sign is expected to take place in February.

The renovation of the landscaping and parking could begin in the summer

Why auto mall sign didn’t fly

2010-12-16 / Editorials

The rumbling of residents has once again reminded a private business who’s in charge in Thousand Oaks.

Despite the approval of an ad hoc committee and the planning commission, a car dealers’ plan to boost business by building a 35-foot-tall sign with an LED screen next to the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall is flashing red.

Following weeks of negative public sentiment about the sign since a computer rendering appeared in the Acorn, the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall Dealers Association decided last week to leave the controversial plan behind and move forward with parking and landscape improvements— for which it received full approval from the City Council.

We think it was a wise move by the auto dealers to pull the proposal off the table and avoid the wave of negativity that was sure to wash over the sign at Tuesday’s council meeting. It’s likely they received some nudging from the council to do so. But at least the dealers were willing to be good corporate citizens and not try to push through a sign the public didn’t want.

As it turned out, many opponents of the project still showed up—either because they didn’t get the news or because they wanted to make a point.

In the end, the dealers and the city took a big step toward what was needed most: more parking at the auto mall. For years, potential buyers, many of them from right here in the Conejo Valley, have avoided the car mecca because they didn’t want to drive around looking for a space or take a quarter-mile walk to purchase a car, costing the franchises much-needed profit and the city sought-after sales tax revenue to fund services.

The plan approved Tuesday calls for 364 additional spaces and magnificent new landscaping that will make the 54-acre site more desirable for customers and residents alike.

Moving forward, residents must accept the fact that the auto dealers need and deserve a new sign. The current sign is outdated and does not reflect the quality of the dealerships at the auto mall.

But the dealers need to accept that any plan for a new sign must be tailored around the fabric of Thousand Oaks. That means no LED screen and no higher than 30 feet. If they try otherwise, they can expect that rumble of residents to surface again.

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More opposition to auto mall sign
2010-12-16 / Letters
I challenge the logic of Susan Murata in her defense of the proposed sign. First, the fact that the existing sign needs to be replaced does not support the need for a larger sign.
It is questionable that we even need a sign at all. Is anyone going to miss the endless string of auto dealerships?
And which of us really needs a 35-foot sign to tell us the time, let alone an always incorrect temperature? Second, touting an animated sign as “the best and most effective form of paid advertising” is highly dubious.

Referring to the illuminated display as “stunning” is insult- ing. A beautiful Pacific sunset or snow- capped local mountains can rightly be called stunning— an animated sign selling cars sign is just plain gaudy.
As a marketing professional, the cited “15 to 150” rates are almost irrelevant and certainly suspect. Lastly, the logic that if the sign creates any increased tax revenue it is a “win-win” for everyone is a poorly constructed argument.
Do we really know what the marginal increase in tax revenue could be? I, for one, would be hard-pressed to agree to another piece of visual clutter, and distraction, along the scenic 101 corridor.
It is bad enough to have to deal with the offensive stadium lights of Oaks Christian and the distraction they cause. The proposed sign erodes the visual serenity of the 101 corridor in Thousand Oaks and creates another distraction to slow traffic flow even further.
City Council and planning commission, please stop this project before it goes any further. Do not let the short-term needs of the auto dealers override the long- established and well- enforced standards for the lifestyle and environment that have made Thousand Oaks one of the most desirable places in the country to call home. Hold the line, stop the sign. Tom Horan Newbury Park
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Sign proposal isn’t going away
2010-12-16 / Letters
Have you seen the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall mock- up sign along the 101 Freeway? Many concerned residents raised hell over its monster size and especially over its lighted billboard TV screen. As a result of the public outcry the auto mall withdrew its application at the last minute.
That’s great, you say? Well, not so fast. This cat’s got eight more lives.
The auto mall will probably reduce the overall size a little bit under the guise of being responsive to the residents. Then they’ll resubmit their application with the same lighted billboard. But that’s not okay.

No one except the auto mall, their friends and cronies want Thousand Oaks to become another trashy drive-by city.
Did you know that our city founders fought against sign blight and banned all billboards, lighted or not? The auto mall wants the City Council to change long-standing municipal code to allow it.
Well, you ask, how did their application even get this far in the first place? Here’s how:
The auto mall dealers and their management contributed tens of thousands of dollars to supermajority council members Andy Fox, Jacqui Irwin, Tom Glancy and Dennis Gillette.
The auto mall expected payback and worked behind the scenes with them to hoodwink the public. Do you think that the council hearing scheduled for last Tuesday during this busy holiday season was happenstance?
For something this controversial, why was there no special public outreach, like a resident survey? Because it’s all scripted. Even the so-called citizen’s auto mall committee was handpicked to get the desired outcome.
Fox and Gillette were barely reelected last month by only 30 percent of the voters. The rest repudiated the Fox-led supermajority.
Claudia Bill-de la Peña, the biggest vote-getter, worked hard to increase public awareness of this monster sign and made it a big part of her reelection campaign. Of course, she received no campaign contributions from the auto mall.
Let’s continue to tell Fox and his gang of four that we don’t want any electronic sign whatsoever and that the size of the existing sign should not be exceeded. John Fonti Thousand Oaks
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Businesses made event possible
2010-12-16 / Letters
I wish to thank the Thousand Oaks Acorn and writer Steve Holt for a far-too-kind article (Dec. 9) about me and A Family Christmas Spectacular, now operating at The Lakes until Dec. 21.
A project of this scale takes the dedication of a huge team, and I want to thank my wife, Deborah James, of Bella Vita Productions and her team.
And this event is so successful because of the partnership with local businesses: Farmers Insurance, Caruso Affiliated, Dole Foods, Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center, Odyssey Investment Partners LLC, BMW of North America, Wells Fargo, Thousand Oaks Boulevard Association, Fred Topper Spas, Warner Brothers, Foxfield, Bella Claire Homes and Natural Balance Pet Food. We had kind media cooperation from Malibu Lifestyle magazine, 805 Living magazine, the Ventura County Star, KVTA, KRTH, KTLA and of course, the locally owned Acorn newspapers.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes generous, wonderful companies to provide an event that your child will never forget.
The Spectacular is now free for children. Thanks to all and Merry Christmas. Bob Eubanks Westlake Village
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Upset over horse complaint
2010-12-16 / Letters
This letter is to the coward who reported me to the city of Thousand Oaks for having “too many horses,” saying they are the source of the odor and flies in the Waverly Heights neighborhood. He didn’t even have the courage to meet beforehand to discuss our situation.
I’ve had the same number of equines for five years. Anyone who has been to my home is impressed with how meticulous we are in keeping our corral clean. I have probably the best- kept property in Thousand Oaks. There are no fly or odor issues.
Interestingly, my family and I did a count recently of the number of barn animals ( horses, cows, donkeys, goats and pigs) on our street and the two adjoining. There are more than 120, and that doesn’t include the 75 dogs and countless number of chickens; for someone to accuse me of being the source of smell and flies is either delusional or vindictive, possibly both.
Two and half years ago, my family and I supported a neighbor in getting a permanent restraining order against three individuals that live in the area.
Since that time there have been: a death threat to my wife and daughter that was video recorded and used as evidence in a court of law, two police reports filed against us that were dismissed, a horse of ours was poisoned when something toxic was thrown into the corral, a civil law suit against me that went nowhere and was dismissed, our property set on fire, our daughter being stalked by an individual since May 2009, threatening notes being left on the windshield of our autos.
In the past, there was kind of an unspoken neighborhood policy: mind your own business and don’t be a troublemaker.
This neighborhood has always been animal-friendly and could be the last remaining area in T.O. that allows horses and the lifestyle from the past.
To my accuser, how about identifying yourself. Let’s have code enforcement and animal control make a visit to your house. Ron Bogoyev
Liked article on mobile home park
2010-12-16 / Letters
I would like to thank Michelle Knight for the recent article regarding Thunderbird Oaks and Ranch Mobile Home Park. It was such a wonderful and truthful article regarding our plight.
She realized the importance of us being able to explain to the community why we need their support. Everyone will be old someday, and if we can let the public know that there really are wolves out there that take advantage of the seniors, this generation will have accomplished something.
Thank you, Michelle and the Acorn, for your support. Marilyn Aurand Thousand Oaks

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Remember the ‘Copper Curtain’
2010-12-16 / Letters
Anyone remember the “Copper Curtain” fiasco at the Civic Arts Plaza?
Residents of Thousand Oaks were duped out of $150,000 for what ended up being, as some have described it, “an oversized air conditioner vent or a refrigerator grill.”
RoadsideAmerica.com makes us a laughing stock for this blunder. Check out www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/18925.
You can’t miss it because from the 101 it’s a constant reminder of just how our City Council can ugly-up our community and make us look foolish to every passer-by.
How about the “Fox Forest”? Also nicknamed the “Fox Fiasco.”
We’re treated to this beauty every time we pass the Los Robles Golf Course on Highway 101.
Now there’s another reason to have confidence in the uncanny ability of our City Council to debeautify our community with their lame ideas.
Now, they want to make another attempt at managing the view from Highway 101? Their track record isn’t such that we want them involved in this project in any capacity other than to deny it.
We already went through this process when the existing sign was approved during the last great auto mall image makeover.
Look at the existing sign, City Council members and citizens; it is an eyesore.
Since you think we now need a bigger one, it evidently has not done the job you promised it would do last time. Proof of yet another managing-the-view failure on your part.
In my opinion, your ad hoc committee is stacked with vested interests, so their recommendation carries little weight. Hey, if the dealers in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall cannot be competitive and attract customers with better prices and products, a bigger sign is not going to help.
This whole thing has the familiar ring of bailing out a failing bank or car company. Perhaps they are “too big to fail”? Is that it?
Tell me it isn’t so. Don’t do more damage to the view from the 101 or the beauty and image of our city. Richard Coplin Newbury Park
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Park owner got break from city
2010-12-16 / Letters
Regarding Ranch Mobile Home Park: When the city gave Mr. Hohn the permit to build the park they waived building fees in exchange for the owner agreeing to a park for low-income seniors.
In 1984, after a request for a rent increase, the city adopted resolution 84-037, which gave a formula for rent increases. It gave the owner a fair return of 11.5 percent after expenses and depreciation were deducted.
Since there have been only two rent increases, one would assume the owner usually made his 11.5 percent.

The owner now wants to terminate that agreement. Perhaps he should give back the money he accepted from the city plus 30 years’ interest.
The residents are still low-income. They bought their homes with the reasonable expectation that the park would remain a lower income park.
They stand to lose their homes if the rent increase goes through. In addition, the homes can’t be sold because of the high space rent. Marie Kofford Newbury Park

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New Lowe’s gets high marks from commission
2010-12-16 / Front Page
By Michelle Knight
knight@theacorn.com
Lowe’s may be coming to town.
The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission approved on Monday a developer’s plan to build a 20-acre shopping center on vacant property on Wendy Drive near Grande Vista Drive in Newbury Park.
Plans include the construction of a 153,000-square-foot Lowe’s home improvement store that includes a garden center.

After the unanimous vote, Commission Chair Tina Grumney congratulated Tab Johnson of Rich Development, representing Lowe’s, and David Filips, project manager for property owner Seventh-day Adventist Church.
“We look forward to having Lowe’s in Thousand Oaks,” Grumney said.
The church owns about 450 acres in the area and is working with the developer to build the shopping center. The church plans to sell parcels to retailers that will occupy the center, which is expected to have a 40,000-squarefoot retail store and two 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot pads for a bank and a fast-food restaurant. Occupants have yet to be announced.
Seventh-day Adventist is also donating 245 acres behind the proposed shopping center to the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency.
Two years ago, Costco Wholesale had proposed constructing a store about the same size as the Lowe’s store at the same location.
But in January 2009 the proposal was taken off the City Council agenda, with a Costco official citing failure to reach a lease agreement with the property owner.
The original development plan for the area, approved by the planning commission and City Council in 1996 and modified in 2006, called for the church to build a foundation for a new fire station on Hillcrest Drive near Lawrence Drive to replace Ventura County Fire Department Station 35.
In the amended plan the commission approved earlier this week, the church will pay to relocate the Hillcrest station.
Planning Commissioner Barry Fisher asked Assistant Fire Chief Rod Megli if he felt the city was treating the county fire station like “a ping-pong ball.”
Megli said no and that he thinks moving the station would be in the best interests of fire protection for the community.
Commercial property owners in the area are paying to widen the Wendy Drive freeway overpass. The church will pay 42 percent of that cost along with the expense of widening the northbound 101 Freeway on- and off- ramps at Wendy Drive.
Commissioner Al Adam said he welcomed the development. The property sports old asphalt roads, neglected housing pads and nonnative vegetation, he said.
He also said that, compared with the plan the commission and City Council approved four years ago, this plan has improved traffic flow and street access, and architecture that blends better with the natural surroundings.
The new plan calls for the relocation of several oak trees and the addition of 24 new ones.
During the meeting, Grumney asked city planner Claudia Pedroso if she’d received any calls about the project from the public. Pedroso said she hadn’t received any complaints but had a few calls from people asking what was being proposed for the lot.
Grumney then asked Johnson why Lowe’s would build a store so close to a competitor. A Home Depot is a half-mile away from the proposed Lowe’s store.
Johnson said the two home improvement giants draw different customers—Home Depot is contractor oriented and Lowe’s decorator oriented. The two businesses could capitalize on the “synergy” of being in close proximity to each other, Johnson said.
The plan must go before the City Council for approval. Johnson said that could happen in February.
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Fox is next mayor of T.O.
2010-12-16 / Front Page
By Michelle Knight
knight@theacorn.com
Andy Fox will lead the city of Thousand Oaks for the fourth time since being elected to the City Council in 1994.
Fox, who reelected in November, was voted into the position of mayor by his fellow council members Dec. 7 during the city’s annual reorganization meeting. Councilmember Jacqui Irwin was chosen as the next mayor pro tem.
It comes as no surprise that Fox was chosen mayor. He served this year as mayor pro tem, a position considered the springboard to the top spot.
It’s also no surprise the City Council passed over Claudia Bill-de la Peña for either post. Elected to the council in 2002, Bill-de la Peña has served as mayor just once, in 2005. She’s the only council member with more than six years on the dais to be mayor and mayor pro tem a single time.
The reason, said the top vote-getter from November’s election, is simple.
“I don’t vote in lock step (with the other council members), and as a result I’ve been ostracized because I speak my mind,” Bill-de la Peña told the Acorn. “Bottom line is, if I was one of them this would not have happened.”
Other council members disagree, saying they’ve continually bypassed Bill-de la Peña during the annual rotation because when she was mayor she didn’t put in the time necessary attending community events.
Councilmember Dennis Gillette, who’s been mayor three times in his 12 years on the council, said the city’s leader typically attends more than 200 events in a single year, not including City Council meetings and time spent with constituents.
The schedule can be exhausting, and if the mayor is unable or unwilling to meet the rigors of the schedule, the responsibilities fall to the mayor pro tem and city staff.
When Bill-de la Peña served as mayor, Gillette said, she failed to perform those extra duties and, as mayor pro tem that year, he had to fill in.
“ It has nothing to do with politics or personality. It’s strictly a matter of ability and willingness to do the expanded duties of service,” Gillette said.
Councilmember Tom Glancy was more direct.
“Claudia had a term as mayor and she hardly did anything,” said Glancy, who was appointed to the council in 2005, elected in 2008 and served as mayor in 2009.
He nominated Irwin for mayor pro tem, a position she’s held once before.
Irwin said she takes no issue with Bill- de la Peña’s voting record but concurred that the city’s leader must attend the hundreds of events that nonprofits, youth, social services and other community groups put on during the year. Irwin has served as mayor once in her six years on the council.
“She has a very busy schedule, and I certainly understand it,” Irwin said of Bill-de la Peña, a newswriter for a Los Angeles television station. “ If she has more flexibility, I would certainly consider her for next year.”
Bill-de la Peña said the argument that her full-time job in L.A. would prevent her from being a good mayor falls flat. Another council member has a full-time job and has served as mayor more than once, she said, pointing to Gillette, a dentist with a practice in Thousand Oaks.
Still, it’s impossible for someone who works full-time to attend all the events the mayor is invited to, said Bill-de la Peña, who was pregnant with twins during her previous tenure as mayor.
Asked how many events she attended that year, Bill- de la Peña said she didn’t know.
“I attended a lot,” she said.
Bill-de la Peña said the assertion that she isn’t as involved in the community as she should be is wrong. When she has asked to represent the council on ad hoc committees, her fellow council members have turned her down, she said.
“You can’t speak out of both ends of your mouth. So it’s not that I’m not trying—I am,” she said.
Besides, she said, having the voters’ trust and confidence is more important to her than being mayor. In the November election, Bill-de la Peña garnered nearly 19 percent of the vote in a 13-person field—more than any other candidate.
When asked if he thought enough time had passed to give the councilwoman another shot at being mayor, Glancy said no, “because she hasn’t changed.”
He said as a council member, Bill-de la Peña hasn’t taken one step toward increasing her visibility in the community.
“We all work, but she doesn’t make herself available,” Glancy said.
And what would Bill-de La Peña have to do to get his nomination for mayor?
“ Start being more around. Start taking the load off of everyone else,” Glancy said.
In a side note, it was Bill-de la Peña who nominated Fox for mayor at the Dec. 7 meeting.
Asked why, she said, “Why not?” adding that she was following tradition and knew she wouldn’t receive a nomination herself.
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Heal the Bay asking residents not to use plastic bags today
2010-12-16 / Front Page
By Sylvie Belmond
belmond@theacorn.com
BAGGED— Ralphs Agoura Hills employee Greg Curtis of Thousand Oaks helps Leslie Kraff load a cart full of groceries in reusable bags into her car on Tuesday.While elected officials still grapple with the legalities surrounding the ban on plastic shopping bags, some local communities are taking matters into their own hands.
Cities and retailers participating in today’s fourth annual Heal the Bay “A Day Without A Bag” giveaway will hand out nearly 20,000 reusable bags at more than 75 locations throughout Los Angeles County. Several businesses in Ventura County will be involved as well.
The goal of the event is to clean up neighborhoods, protect the environment and promote the use of nondisposable bags, said Meredith McCarthy, director of programs for Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental group working to restore Santa Monica Bay.
California municipalities reportedly spend nearly $ 25 million each year to collect and dispose of plastic bags. Only a small percentage of the bags are recycled.
The trend to eliminate singleuse plastic bags at retail stores picked up momentum this year.
In November, Los Angeles County supervisors banned plastic bags at grocery stores and other retail shops in unincorporated areas. Customers will no longer have plastic bags as an option, and those who don’t bring their own reusable bags will have to buy paper bags at a cost of 10 cents each.
Large stores have until July 1, 2011, to comply. The deadline for smaller stores is Jan. 1, 2012.
To prevent contamination, the ordinance doesn’t ban small plastic bags used for fruit, vegetables and raw meats. The law only affects businesses in unincorporated L.A. County, which has about 10 percent of the county’s population.

“Hopefully people will adopt a habit of always shopping with reusable bags,” said Joel Bellman, spokesperson for L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
It’s hoped that all 88 cities in the county will adopt their own plastic bag ordinances, Bellman said.
Statewide effort stalled
Legislation for a statewide ban on carryout plastic bags failed earlier this year, but Assemblymember Julia Brownley, the law’s sponsor, said she hasn’t given up her fight.
“I am working with cities and counties across the state as they consider passing ordinances modeled after the bill I introduced this year, AB 1998,” Brownley said. “I will seriously consider introducing legislation again to significantly reduce plastic bag pollution when lawmakers can no longer ignore the public’s demand for more sustainable communities.”
Working with the grocery industry, the state came close to passing the bill but, according to Calabasas City Councilmember Mary Sue Maurer, “It was killed by the plastic industry.”
‘Too lazy’
Moorpark Councilmember Keith Millhouse, who proposed a ban in his city two years ago, said he’s disappointed with the state Legislature’s indecision.
“Once again Sacramento has shown they’re incapable of taking any action,” Millhouse said. “We have to recognize that we live in a society with limited resources. It is a bit more work for people to take reusable bags, but our generation owes it to the next generation.”
Millhouse said officials in his city are waiting to see what the state does next. They’re also keeping an eye on litigation involving a plastic bag ban in Manhattan Beach.
“This is not going to get done on its own, so government needs to provide a little push. I don’t think our future generation should suffer because we’re too lazy to bring recyclable bags,” Millhouse said.
Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy is against the plastic bag ban.
““I don’t believe that banning these bags is going to bring a solution,” Foy said. “It has greater detriment on people who depend on the use of these bags because of the ease of carrying their groceries. It should be the responsibility of people to make sure (the bags are) disposed of responsibly.”
The city of Ventura recently opposed a ban on plastic bags.
“As soon as this came up to the (county) board, I got a lot of calls from people who say don’t ban the bags—especially from the elderly,” Foy said.
Ventura County officials are working on their own plan to reduce the carryout waste that often ends up in creeks and waterways, Supervisor Linda Parks said.
The board of supervisors referred the matter to the Ventura Council of Governments, which includes representatives of many municipalities, in an attempt to gain a consensus.
“Since most of the stores are in cities, it is the cities that would have to enact laws to limit the use of plastic bags in the stores in their cities, if there was to be an effective regional approach,” Parks said.
For a list of today’s Heal the Bay reusable bag distribution points, visit www.healthebay.org/event/ day-without-bag-giveaways.
Bags also will be distributed from the Shaver Subaru dealership in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall at 3888 Thousand Oaks Blvd.
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New Assemblyman off and running
2010-12-16 / Community

MEETING THE PUBLIC—Assemblymember Jeff Gorell, right, chats with Thousand Oaks resident Ron McElroy on Dec. 10 during a meet-and-greet outside Grinders restaurant in Moorpark. Gorell was out meeting community members and seeking input from the public about the state budget. He says he hopes to hold similar events every month in different cities around the Conejo Valley.WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers======================================================================
Meet the county’s next CEO
2010-12-16 / Community
Powers heads healthcare agency
By Roxanne Estrada
roxanne@theacorn.com
Andrew PowersThe Ventura County Board of Supervisors unanimously selected Michael Powers as the county’s new chief executive officer during a special meeting Dec. 2.
Powers will replace Marty Robinson, the county’s first female CEO, when she retires in March.
“ I’m looking forward to working with the great staff that we have in the county to address the financial challenges we have,” Powers said. “The earlier we address those issues the better. I want to listen to our community as well as reach out to them to get input to improve things.”
As CEO, Powers will oversee 8,000 employees and manage a budget of about $1.7 billion.
Powers is currently the director of the Ventura County Health Care Agency, the county’s largest agency. He oversees 3,000 employees and a budget of nearly $500 million.
Kathy Long, chair of the board of supervisors, said Powers’ leadership experience as head of the healthcare agency played a large part in the decision to name him county CEO.
“ He has the national and statewide picture on healthcare reform, and he’ll bring that strength of understanding,” Long said. “All things lead to budget, that’s priority number one.”
Powers said his immediate focus will be on the county’s three most pressing issues: retirement costs, state budget cuts and the down economy.
Having seen how state budget cuts have impacted the health agency, Powers said finding solutions requires out- of- the- box thinking.
“Sometimes these challenging situations create opportunities,” Powers said. “When you’re short on funds you need to be innovative and creative.”
Supervisor Linda Parks said the county’s finances will be in good hands with Powers.
“He’ll be coming on right at the beginning of the budget session, so that’s going to be the first and foremost focus,” Parks said. “ I look forward to seeing that fresh perspective that we’ll be getting.”
Powers was born and raised in Ventura County and graduated from Ventura High School in 1981. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and business from UCLA and a law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Powers began his career as an attorney in private practice before he started working for the county in 1999 as the assistant county counsel.
He’s since served as deputy director of the compliance office for the Ventura County Medical Center. He eventually became the hospital administrator and director of the county hospital in Ventura.
“(It’s) not exactly a ‘standard career path,’ but I think that variety is a big plus because the county itself is a large and complex organization which provides a wide variety of services,”
Powers said.
Supervisor Steve Bennet said Powers’ long- term experience with the county is an asset in his new position.
“I think it’s increased his passion for his service to this community,” Bennet said. “ He has leadership skills, listening skills and the ability to collaborate.”
Powers said Ventura County is “ civic- minded” and he looks forward to working with community leaders to continue fiscal stability.
“The good thing is we’re in better shape than other counties because of difficult decisions this board has made,” Powers said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re going in the right direction.”
Powers lives in Ventura with his wife, Erin, and their 22- month-old son, Charlie.
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Former teacher to head Regional Art Museum
2010-12-16 / Community
Fran BroughFran Brough was introduced as the executive director of the Regional Art Museum by president and CEO Frank Schillo at a recent meeting of the RAM Task Force at city hall in Westlake Village.
Brough, a former executive director of the Conejo/ Las Virgenes Future Foundation, fills the vacancy caused by the death of Michele DePuy Leavitt, who served as executive director from February through November.
The museum, to be built in front of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, is projected to open in 2016. The idea grew out of a seed planted by the Future Foundation during Brough’s final year with the organization.
Brough and her husband, Walter, a retired screenwriter, moved to Simi Valley in 1998. She said that serving as executive director of the Regional Art Museum is a fitting reason for her to come out of retirement.
Brough was born in the Bronx and raised in Mount Vernon, N. Y. She received a bachelor’s degree in secondary school education from the State University of New York at Cortland. She continued gradu- ate studies at both Fordham and Yeshiva universities and completed her California Life Teaching Credential requirements after moving to the state in the 1960s.
Brough taught math for several years in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She retired from teaching when her family moved to Thousand Oaks in 1975 and her fourth child was born.
In 1995 she joined the Conejo/ Las Virgenes Future Foundation and spent the last several years as the executive director. After retiring in 2008 she became an active member of the foundtion’s board of trustees. She also serves on the board of Community Conscience/Under One Roof.