latimes.com/business/la-fi-ghost-towns-20110106,0,3711336.story
latimes.com
Housing bust creates new kind of declining city
A study says cities where home prices have fallen the most — including Riverside, San Bernardino and Fresno — could suffer long-term deterioration similar to that of the Rust Belt.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times January 6, 2011
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Death to lifetime benefits
2011-01-06 / Editorials
It’s been nearly two months since the City Council—in response to voter outcry—agreed to look at the issue of lifetime health benefits, and officials are just now getting around to talking about it.
This is the kind of government minutia that drives taxpayers crazy.
Two City Council members met with staff this week to begin a review of all council compensation, in particular an outrageous provision that guarantees lifetime medical coverage to council members who are over 50 and have served five years in office.
Our question: What do Councilmembers Tom Glancy and Jacqui Irwin and city staff have to talk about?
The answer: nothing. The lifetime benefits have to go.
While the public has been promised an “unbiased” report from the committee, it’s pure folly that those with a vested interest in keeping these benefits should be involved in discussions about the possibility of terminating them.
The findings will eventually be made public. But it’s not clear when because the group is unsure how many times they’ll need to meet, Glancy told the Acorn.
How many meetings does it take to say enough is enough?
Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña has asked for an immediate termination of the council members’ lifetime benefits. She’s right on.
Bill-de la Peña was accused of grandstanding when she called for the abolition of the program in November. Whether or not that’s true, the fact remains that she’s right.
The council needn’t waste their time or that of their constituents with lots of closed-door meetings. If it’s necessary, for legal reasons, to meet and move forward in the most appropriate way, fine. But let’s not dilly-dally.
The council members have mostly agreed that the benefits program is not “appropriate,” but they’ve carefully avoided calling it excessive or inflated.
It is.
The days of topped-out salaries, excessive benefits and extra perks for government employees have passed. We’re moving beyond entitlements. It’s time to make a big move toward mirroring the private sector. And banishing a program that includes lifetime health benefits for relatively young, part-time council members is a good start.
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Missed deadline costs city thousands for solar
2011-01-06 / Front Page
By Michelle Knight
The future of solar energy at the Newbury Park Library just became a little dimmer.
A month after hiring an engineer to design the project, the city has learned it won’t receive thousands of dollars in funding it was counting on to help pay the cost of installing carports mounted with solar panels in the parking lot of the library on Borchard Road.
When the City Council gave the go-ahead to the estimated $1.2-million plan in November, staff cost estimates included $372,000 of funding from the California Solar Initiative—a rebate program sponsored by the Public Utilities Commission and managed through Southern California Edison.
At the time, the city was awaiting response from Edison as to whether an extension it requested to apply for the money had been approved.
Facilities manager Liz Perez told the Acorn this week that she received word Dec. 8 that the city’s request for a deadline extension was denied and the city’s application canceled.
“ It’s not really anybody’s fault,” Perez said. “It’s just how the system works.”
Perez said she submitted another application to Edison around Dec. 23, but this time the most the city could qualify for is about $200,000—at least $172,000 less than was originally expected. The solar rebate fund decreases with time, an incentive for cities to use the money sooner rather than later.
“We’re going forward with it (nonetheless),” Perez said. “Obviously it’s always disappointing (to miss out on money).”
The loss means that the taxpayers’ portion of the somewhat controversial $1.2-million solar energy project is now estimated to be $ 612,000, as opposed to the $440,000 figure that was presented to the council in November. In turn, the predicted payback period— the time it takes for the solar panels to pay for themselves in energy-cost savings—increases from 15 to 20 years.
When asked about the loss in funding and whether it would affect her support for the solar panels, Councilmember Jacqui Irwin said she had just returned from vacation and hadn’t heard the news.
Irwin, a supporter of the project in November, said it was something she’d have to consider.
City projects can’t just be good for the environment, they must also make fiscal sense, Irwin said.
“If the payoff period is too long, in my opinion, we shouldn’t be doing it,” she said.
Councilmember Claudia Billde la Peña wants the city to explore alternatives, such as leasing the property to energy companies to create solar energy, similar to public private ventures in Europe.
“They should be investigated before we move forward on spending $1.2 million on solar panels,” Bill-de la Peña said in an e-mail. “At the least, we could try to renegotiate the current deal to make it more cost-effective for the taxpayers.”
Bill-de la Peña said she’s also concerned that the project has drawn little support from the community because of how the panels look.
“That is why I suggested a broad community meeting for more public input, but it was not supported by the council majority,” she said.
When asked what caused the city to miss Edison’s original deadline of Nov. 17, Perez said it generally takes one to two years to apply for outside funding.
In the case of the Solar Initiative money, Thousand Oaks only had eight months, the maximum time allowed by the program. Perez said she thought the effort it would take to meet the deadline was worth the opportunity to obtain “free money” for the project.
But the plans hit a roadblock in September when the planning commission unanimously rejected the solar panel project, citing “aes- thetic concerns.”
The commission’s action added further delay because it forced the issue to go before the City Council.
At the Nov. 16 City Council meeting, several critics, most of them from Newbury Park, said the panels would be an unsightly welcome to the city and would cost too much. Noting their concern but moving the project forward, the City Council approved a $107,000 contract with Digital Energy of Thousand Oaks, asking for several design options.
Perez said she hopes to know before the Jan. 25 City Council meeting whether the city qualifies for the rebate and, if so, how much.
Depending on action taken by the council, final construction costs and a recommended contractor could go before the City Council for approval by April, Perez said. If all goes as planned, construction could start by early June.
In addition to the Edison rebate, the city will pay for the solar panels with $400,000 in federal stimulus funds and the remainder from the general fund.
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Closed-door meetings on council compensation underway
2011-01-06 / Front Page
Lifetime medical benefits at center of discussions
By Michelle Knight
Two City Council members are meeting with staff this week to review compensation for the council, namely a provision that guarantees lifetime medical coverage to council members who are over 50 and have served five years in office.
Councilmembers Tom Glancy and Jacqui Irwin, who sit on the city’s finance audit committee, were expected to meet Wednesday with staff to begin evaluating salary and benefits for the city’s five council members.
At least since 1998, Thousand Oaks City Council members can receive lifetime citypaid monthly health insurance premiums benefits for themselves and their immediate family.
To receive the benefits, council members must be at least 50 years old and have served on the council for at least five years. They also cannot accept another position in government that provides California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Cal PERS) pension benefits.
Since the council adopted the ordinance, three council members have retired and received this benefit: Ed Masry, Alex Fiore and Judy Lazar. Four people are currently receiving benefits: Masry’s widow, Joette; Fiore’s widow, Katherine; and Lazar and her husband, Roger.
Prompted by questions from voters, Councilmember Dennis Gillette brought up the issue of lifetime medical coverage during a November council meeting shortly after being reelected to a fourth term.
Gillette said he raised the issue because the decision for lifetime health benefits was made in a different economic climate, most likely before he took office in December 1998.
“Quite honestly, I don’t recall it,” Gillette said of the vote that established the benefit.
Gillette said although he thinks a careful scrutiny of the council’s compensation is appropriate and warranted, by no means is he implying the city is mismanaged.
“Is it appropriate or isn’t it? That (question) to me is a real simple thing,” Gillette said.
Mayor Andy Fox says it’s inappropriate.
“That’s completely out of line with the public’s expectation,” Fox said of the lifetime benefits.
Councilmember Claudia Billde la Peña and Planning Commissioner Al Adam, one of 10 challengers in last year’s election, have called for an immediate termination of the council members’ lifetime benefits.
Bill-de la Peña has said taxpayers “should not be on the hook” for lifetime medical benefits for council members and their families, especially considering the council is a part-time position.
“I don’t know of anyone in the private sector who receives such a generous benefit after five years in a part-time position,” Bill-de la Peña said.
The council majority rejected the idea of immediately terminating the benefit in November, saying such a move could have unintended consequences with Cal PERS and affect the council’s current health coverage. Instead, they ordered a review.
At least one person at the Dec. 14 meeting criticized the City Council for not including members of the public in the fact-finding efforts of the finance audit committee.
Gillette and Glancy said it’s routine for only council members to sit on certain committees, such as the finance audit and facilities committees.
“That’s a housekeeping issue and it’s done routinely,” Gillette said. “There’s no controversial issue here.”
But Pete Sepp, spokesperson for the nonpartisan advocacy group National Taxpayers Union based in Alexandria, Va., echoed what many residents expressed to the council: How can those with a vested interest in keeping these benefits recommend their termination?
Sepp said that T.O.’s lifetime health benefits policy for council members is more generous than for members of Congress. Federal congressional retirees must be 62 or older to receive healthcare for life for themselves and their spouse.
People are living and working longer than in times past, Sepp pointed out, so, in addition to the cost to taxpayers, lifetime healthcare benefits for former council members in their 50s “may not have a basis in common sense anymore.”
The Jan. 5 finance audit committee meeting and any of its subsequent meetings are closed to the public. But the committee’s findings will be made public when they’re presented to the City Council, Glancy said.
Glancy said he didn’t know when that would happen because it depends on the number of times the committee needs to meet before coming to a decision.
Glancy said he expects the committee to submit a “totally unbiased” report to the City Council.
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Dean takes over newlook sheriff’s department
2011-01-06 / Front Page
By Daniel Wolowicz
OATH OF OFFICE—Camarillo resident Geoff Dean was sworn in this week as the 19th sheriff in the history of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn NewspapersVentura County has a new sheriff in charge.Geoff Dean was sworn in Monday before an audience of police, county and city officials at the county government center in Ventura.
Dean replaces Bob Brooks, who retired after 37 years with the department, to lead an agency with 1,200 employees, a budget of more than $200 million, and five contract cities to keep watch over—including Thousand Oaks.
Sworn into office by Clerk-Recorder Mark Lunn, Dean then swore in his assistant sheriffs, Gary Pentis and John Crombach.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Dean, 53, said of the brief afternoon ceremony that provided a final chapter to the contentious 2010 race for sheriff which pitted Dean against Dennis Carpenter, a now-retired chief deputy. “It’s an awesome experience. It’s a huge responsibility.”
CRIMEFIGHTERS—Sheriff Geoff Dean and assistant sheriffs Gary Pentis, left, and John Cromback are tasked with maintaining the department’s level of service amid deep budget cuts. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn NewspapersJoined by his children— daughter Lindsey, 22, and son Andy, 19— Dean’s wife, Marlene, pinned the badge to his chest moments before he took the oath of office.“It’s not about me, it’s about the office of the sheriff,” Dean said. “It’s a distinguished office.”
Even as he savored the moment, the new top lawman in the county already had his eyes set on the obstacles that lie ahead, namely budget cuts.
“We’re seeing significantly reduced revenues coming into the county in all forms of government, and our challenge is to deliver the necessary services with reduced revenue,” he said.
“We have to keep doing what we can with less and less money.”
To help lower the department’s payroll, Dean announced in November his plans to name Pentis and Crombach as assistant sheriffs, new positions created to replace the former executive command staff that included an undersheriff and four chief deputies.
The move is expected to save about $1 million a year.
County Supervisor Kathy Long lauded Dean’s decision to trim the executive command staff and said she looks forward to maintaining a good relationship between the sheriff’s office and the board of supervisors.
“It’s not him against us or any of that,” said Long, the board’s chair. “He understands the relationship and that we need to support one another.”
The new positions mean Pentis and Crombach will divide the department and manage approximately 600 employees each, a job that was once the task of five executive officers.
Pentis, who commanded special services as a chief deputy, now also oversees the county’s three jail facilities as head of detention services. Special services includes major crimes, SWAT, the air unit and the bomb squad.
Pentis is a 32-year veteran of the department.
“ I’ve worked every geographical area of this county in 32 years . . . and to be valued by citizens when you’re working law enforcement in their area and to be valued by their elected representatives is extremely rewarding,” said Pentis, 56.
Crombach starts at the sheriff’s department two months after retiring from the Oxnard Police Department, where he’d served as chief since 2005.
Dean joked with his longtime friend during the induction ceremony, pointing out that Crombach began his career with the sheriff’s department in 1978 but soon left for more than three decades with the Oxnard Police Department.
“Ironically it took him that long to realize he belonged in this color,” Dean said, referring to the tan and green uniform of the sheriff’s department.
Crombach, 57, will oversee patrol and support services. Patrol services include deputies patrolling each of the department’s five contract cities, emergency services and the communications center. Support services includes financial and business operations, human resources and the regional training academy.
Dean, Pentis and Crombach all live in Camarillo.
Cmdr. Steve DeCesari, chief of the Camarillo Police Department, said Dean’s arrival hasn’t signaled any large- scale changes across the department.
“Everything we’ve been doing for the past six months would indicate to me that everything is pretty much going to be the same. We’re just going to be a little leaner at the top,” DeCesari said. “ I think with day- to- day business people won’t see any difference.”
DeCesari said the command staff will have its first meeting with Dean as sheriff soon, and there will also be a meeting in the coming days with the department’s managing ranks.
Brooks, whose career included three terms as sheriff, said he is ready for retirement.
“I feel great about my career, and I feel great about the future of this department,” said Brooks, who will leave on a humanitarian mission to Haiti in February. “It’s a good way to go out.”
When asked about the changing of the guard moments after the ceremony, Brooks, who backed Carpenter in the sheriff’s race, focused on the future.
“The department is in good shape; I can leave with a clear conscience,” he said. “It’s in real good hands.”
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Rent hearing for Thunderbird is Monday
2011-01-06 / Community
By Michelle Knight
HEARING SET—The owner of a T.O. mobile home park wants to raise rents $323 per month. MICHELLE KNIGHT/Acorn NewspapersThe city’s Rent Adjustment Commission will hear arguments Monday from an attorney representing a mobile home park owner who wishes to raise rents and from residents who say they can’t afford it.Andrew Hohn, owner of Thunderbird Oaks Mobile Home Park, applied to the city last spring to raise rent at the lowincome senior park by several hundred dollars per month per space.
Rent at the 161-space park south of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Live Oak Street ranges from $373 to $525 a month. Hohn proposes raising the monthly rent $261, to between $634 and $786.
City code requires owners of mobile home parks to file a detailed application justifying rent increases on the basis of improvements made to the property or to recoup a “just and reasonable return.”
Hohn’s attorney, Boyd Hill of Hart, King & Coldren of Santa Ana has told the Acorn in past interviews that the property owner has a constitutional right to get a fair return on his investment.
Marilyn Aurand, spokesperson for Thunderbird Oaks residents, said as many as 100 of her neighbors plan to attend the 6 p.m. public hearing Monday at city hall, which is expected to go late into the night.
The city’s staff report and recommendation to the commission on what it considers a just and reasonable return for Hohn is expected to be posted on the city’s website today, along with a report from paid consultants Kenneth Baar, a mobile home expert hired by the city, and Anderson & Brabant, an Escondido firm hired to do an appraisal of the park.
Thunderbird residents were expected to meet yesterday to organize transportation to the evening meeting. Some of the elderly residents don’t venture out at night alone because they have poor night vision, are unable to drive or have difficulty walking, Aurand said. Others are in wheelchairs or need to carry oxygen tanks.
“It’s a big deal to get there,” Aurand said.
Park residents plan to wear signs at the meeting identifying themselves. They call their group SOS, or Save Our Seniors.
“We want the city to know exactly who we are,” Aurand said. “We want them to know they’re going to destroy us if they do this.”
Aurand said residents from other mobile home parks in Thousand Oaks—Ranch, Vallecito, Conejo—and the advocacy group Congress for California Seniors have said they’ll attend Monday’s meeting in a show of support.
It’s reasonable to expect the Rent Adjustment Commission to make a decision before the end of the month, said Russ Watson, the city’s housing and redevelopment manager. Either party has 14 days after receiving the commission’s decision in writing to file an appeal to the City Council.
The 6 p.m. Jan. 10 public hearing will be in the Scherr Forum. All commission meetings are open to the public.
A second hearing on the proposed rent hike at Ranch Mobile Home Park in Newbury Park— also owned by Hohn—will be on Mon., Jan. 24.
That meeting is being continued from Dec. 6 because commissioners felt the meeting was running too long.
Opponents of auto mall sign keep up the pressure
2011-01-06 / Letters
Community outrage over the auto mall sign has not gone unnoticed. As a result, plans for the new sign have been tabled but not canceled.
Do we want this scenic Conejo Valley segment of the old El Camino Real Highway lined with obnoxiously large signs with LED readers like Oxnard, Carson or, for that matter, Calabasas?
If the auto mall sign was approved, retailers like Home Depot, The Oaks mall and gas stations would argue that they also have a right to erect large LED monuments and signs.
Santa Barbara has strict architectural requirements for buildings and limitations on signage. Because the planners and policy makers have rigidly enforced the architectural code, they’ve been able to keep growth and urban redevelopment from becoming blight.
We should take a page out of Santa Barbara’s playbook if we want to retain the unique character of our city.
I would challenge the auto mall’s assertion that a larger sign with an LED reader would increase sales volume.
In today’s world, most consumers research products, prices and merchants online to make an informed decision.
This is especially true when purchasing an automobile. I seriously doubt that a large LED sign will bring in more spontaneous buyers to the auto mall than did the previous sign.
I wonder if the auto dealers have done any marketing research to back their argument that an LED sign will significantly increase sales over the old highway sign?
At the recent City Council meeting, a representative of the Auto Dealers Association stated that the proposed sign would be no more of a distraction to those driving down 101 than a beautiful sunset. I was stunned by the comment.
If the dealers were more respectful of the historic nature and aesthetics of our community, the public relations value would certainly outweigh any sign.
The Auto Dealers Association and policy makers should listen very closely and take heed to what the people are saying, not a politically padded ad hoc committee.
Ronald H. Siegel
Westlake Village
Westlake Village
For all those who are thankful the auto mall sign didn’t go through, rethink the plot. We have a band of auto mall-sponsored career politicians who just mixed up the issue by not pushing through all the auto mall wants at once.
Remember, the auto mall needed more parking and wanted landscaping redone at the taxpayers’ expense, this from the wealthiest families in the city.
I never have seen the city ask its taxpayers to help out the small businessman, even though it’s small business that accounts for the largest percentage of taxes collected.
The auto mall got what it paid for through its reelection funds to the likes of Andy Fox and his old boys club. The auto mall diverted our attention by using the sign issue as a diversion
Now that they got their first two issues taken care of they’ll be back for the sign very soon, and our City Council will help them in exchange for the reelection funds.
This is why we need term limits. We don’t need these corrupt lifers anymore, but it will take a citizens group to organize and stop these czars before Andy Fox finishes his retirement plans, again using taxpayer money for him and his family.
There always is enough money in the city to pay for their medical insurance, just not any for the taxpayers.
I am more than willing to help organize a citizens committee that the City Council has to answer to before giving themselves any more money. Without this we will sit by and watch them feather their beds forever.
Interested citizens can e-mail me at rickong@roadrunner.com.
Richard Ongstad
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
We the people in a city of 165,000 have made it clear we don’t want the 30-foot-tall auto sign blighting the gateway to our fair city.
Four City Council members do.
Does their disregard for people they supposedly represent not echo the millions of the people vehemently opposing Obama’s policies like healthcare, stimulus packages, outrageous spending, etc., but Obama pushed them through regardless of the peoples’ wishes?
Let’s get back to representative, not dictatorial, government.
Miriam Jaffe
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
Do we really need a huge, flashing LED animated sign? No.
The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission thinks so. They think we need a monster distraction from seeing the beautiful hills of the Conejo Valley or to take our minds off of driving.
We have cellphones, alcohol, car TVs and all kinds of structures to keep our minds off driving. Do we need more?
Do we need a Lowe’s across the street from Home Depot? No.
Why not something we don’t have, like a Wal-Mart, or were they not the highest bidder?
Do we need more housing? No. The city wants us to reduce our water use and at the same time they create more demand for it.
People moved from the San Fernando Valley to the Conejo Valley to get away from the junked up environment.
Joyce Clark
Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks
I almost got into a horrible traffic accident last month. I was on the 101 Freeway in front of the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall when my eyes were distracted from the road.
I noticed a large new sign that read 12:01 p.m. I panicked because I was already late for an important appointment.
I wanted to use my cellphone to call ahead but it’s against the law as it distracts the driver. So I was in a Catch 22 situation.
Shouldn’t electronic billboard signs be against the law? Aren’t they specifically designed to distract drivers?
Why do our City Council members want to spoil our scenic highway with sign blight?
Gloria Holtz
Westlake Village
Westlake Village
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Translation of letter offered
2011-01-06 / Letters
In regard to Paul Kessler’s letter, “GOP sent economy into a tailspin” (Acorn, Dec. 30), I would offer a possible translation to help him understand the points made by Mr. Gabrielson.
Begin translation: The United States of America was in poor budgetary and economic troubles in 2009 when the current government administration took over. America is now in deeper budgetary and economic troubles. The recent omnibus spending bill presented by the current administration would have made the budgetary and economic troubles worse.
Anyone who promotes the further decline of America by supporting a progressive philosophy that taxes more and spends more must be plain stupid, ignorant, arrogant, evil and/or just plain doesn’t care about doing the right thing. End translation.
Progressivism, in a simple definition, is the belief that the individual is not capable of making the right choice if given the choice; only the sage government can make the right choice.
In order to accomplish the goals of that belief system, the government must grow and be given or take the power and authority to take away the private individual’s money, property and personal rights whenever they see fit, not as the individual wants.
Mr. Kessler aptly stated that the current administration has taken less than two years to challenge the highest deficits created by three presidents over 20 years; everyone should find great umbrage with the fiasco of growing an unlimited government.
Almost 90 percent of the cost of government is funded by 25 percent of income earners, and more than 50 percent of Americans now have no net income tax liability and therefore no accountability.
George Bernard Shaw once stated: “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.”
The growth and power of government must be reduced. Even God does not ask for more than 10 percent of what I earn.
Jim McCollum
Newbury Park
Newbury Park
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Law protects vets from unfair taxes
2011-01-06 / Letters
A few days ago I became aware of the start of an aggressive campaign to increase tax revenues for the cities of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley.
Two city officials, Mr. Scott of T.O. and Mr. Purtee of Simi, announced a tax revenue hunt for noncompliant businesses. They did not mention that a California state law exists which exempts veterans from such taxes or fees.
By coincidence, my monthly American Legion magazine printed a reminder to California veterans owning businesses in our state about that law.
It reads as follows: California Business and Professions Code Section 16001.7: “Every person who is honorably relieved from the military, naval, or air service of the United States and who is a resident of this state, may distribute circulars, and hawk, peddle and vend any goods, wares, or merchandise owned by him or her, except spirituous, malt, or vinous, or other intoxicating liquor, without payment of any business license fee, whether municipal, county, or state, and the legislative body shall issue to that person, without cost, a license therefore.”
This law was passed by California to honor and thank the veterans of our state for the duty and sacrifices made in peace and war to protect our freedom and way of life.
Many vets have returned wounded or injured for life. Many cities and counties in our state shamelessly try to avoid losing any tax revenue by never advising vets about this law, or they try to call the charge for a license another name in order to grab the money.
Some municipalities claim they were not aware of this law. However, they sure know how to find even obsolete laws to milk every citizen they can grab for extra revenue or fines. It seems like a vet never stops fighting in order to get a fair deal, even at home.
If vets have any problem, I suggest they contact the state attorney general office, the county legal counsel, local Assembly member or state senator. These offices will educate the necessary local officials.
Do not take no for an answer.
Michael L. Penilla
Newbury Park
Newbury Park
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Hot coffee spill goes to court
2011-01-06 / Community
Child scalded in Calabasas bookstore
By Sylvie Belmond
A woman whose child was burned by spilled coffee purchased at the Starbucks counter inside Barnes & Noble in Calabasas almost nine years ago has won a new trial and will take the bookstore back to court on charges of negligence.
According to court documents, plaintiff Dahlia Toberoff said a barista failed to take adequate precautions when serving the hot beverage in a cup that was too full and prone to spilling.
The incident occurred September 2002 when the Malibu resident and her toddler walked up to the coffee counter at the Calabasas Commons bookstore and ordered a large decaf with room for milk.
Toberoff said the server handed her a cup that was filled to the brim with hot coffee. As she took the cup from the server, Toberoff said the liquid splashed through an opening in the lid and spilled onto the arm of her 20-month-old son, who was standing next to his mother.
“It burned a hole through his sweatshirt and took his skin off,” Toberoff said in a deposition.
At the time of Toberoff’s deposition in March 2009, the scar from the burn was barely visible. Los Angeles Superior Court dismissed the case, but Toberoff’s husband, attorney Marc Toberoff, filed an appeal.
On Dec. 27, Judge P.J. Epstein of the California Second District Court of Appeals agreed that Barnes & Noble may have failed to exercise due care when its server handed over the hot coffee.
The trial will begin in February.
EVERY DAY MATTERS!!
PO Box 824
Newbury Park CA 91319-0824
i.quidwai@gmail.com
Cell 805-390-2857
Concernedcitizensthousandoaks NickQuidwai
Voice (805) 390-2857 Fax (805) 421-5345
from july 11 2007 star!! Mixed message
ReplyDeleteWhich is it? The mayor of Thousand Oaks has been quoted as stating: "The city of Thousand Oaks is in outstanding financial condition. We're not experiencing hard times. We're not having cash flow problems." He also said: "Revenues and expenditures have come to a collision point."
Whatever one believes, the fact remains that some of our City Council and senior staff may be attempting to take our city in a very immoral direction!
The recent city budget was approved by the council 4-1. It included $100,000 to beautify the day-laborer site near Hampshire Road (which, in my opinion, should not exist); a $2 million gift to the auto mall to pay for a multilevel parking structure for its inventory (last I checked this is a private business entity); and $5 million to the Conejo Recreation and Park District (operated separately from the city with its own budget) for the Lang Ranch Community Park. The addition of baseball fields and lights is not wanted by many of the residents; and it is not a project to assist the teens of our community. Add to this we are paying a special parcel tax to the district already.
Most recently, a group of about 30 Thousand Oaks Boulevard business owners joined forces with some of our city officials in an effort to get around the city's master plan and build high-rise buildings to increase density.
Their design group consultant, who hails from out of the area, stated: "There will be a lot of traffic, but slower traffic won't kill anybody."
Last I checked, smog, accidents, crime and stress do, in fact, kill! In addition, it has been reported that a business that gives "a little extra" to the project could build even higher than 55 feet and that our oak tree ordinance is too restrictive.
Sounds like we may become the San Fernando Valley or Anytown, USA, if we are not careful.
My family and I moved to the Westlake Village portion of Thousand Oaks more than 14 years ago from the Valley for the friendly, small-town feel, open space, low crime, building standards, clean air, schools and beauty and serenity of the area. I can tell you that the property I own today would not cost as much in the San Fernando Valley, and there's a reason for that.
We must take a stand. Only we can protect ourselves. Residents need to be involved in what is happening in our city and hold our City Council and staff accountable.
— Amy Walker-Davis,
Former Thousand Oaks planning commissioner,
Westlake Village
New label suggested
Time to change the "Made in China" notices on products to "DANGER: Made in China."
— Steve Morsa,
Thousand Oaks
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2007/jul/11/no-headline---ob7ecletters11/#ixzz1DisF5w2O
- vcstar.com
may 11th 2007 Star BUY LOCAL
ReplyDeleteDaniel Petrucelli spent a recent morning approaching strangers at the mall.
It was all in the name of research.
Petrucelli, 24, is a world business major at CSU Channel Islands, and his task that day was to question people at The Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks about their shopping habits.
"It was nice to just get out there and hear from actual people other than just reading stuff in a textbook," Petrucelli said of the survey, which was prepared by other CSUCI students.
The survey gave students a taste of real-world market research and will provide information for those in the real world of economic development.
The survey, also conducted at the Janss Mall, is part of the city of Thousand Oaks' Buy Local strategy and will be used by the Buy Local committee.
The survey will provide "a sense of what consumers are looking for and what kind of stores consumers would like to shop in," said Cheryl Brown, chairwoman of the committee, which is part of the Thousand Oaks Business Roundtable. The next step might include new marketing materials, Brown said.
The campaign was designed to encourage residents to shop locally. It includes direct mailings to residents, window signs for businesses and other advertising. The message is that sales tax revenue is essential to such local services as police and libraries, but the taxpayer-funded program stalled not long after its launch in 2005.
Now, the CSUCI students plan to conduct another survey, this one for merchants. Queries about the Auto Mall have also been done.
Ashish Vaidya, the university's dean of students, serves on the Business Roundtable. He approached city officials about using the students to conduct the marketing research.
"I think it's a really nice opportunity for our students to be exposed to what cities and businesses have to deal with," he said.
The committee should get the results of the shopping survey in the next week or so. More than 200 interviews were conducted at the two shopping centers.
The students who created the survey questions are currently crunching the numbers, said Joe Rossetti, the team leader.
Rossetti and teammates Cris Powell, Matt Stone, Natalie Willis and Patricia Guertler are taking the university's inaugural consumer behaviors class, taught by lecturer Joan Giglione.
The team got information from Brown and Thousand Oaks Economic Development Director Gary Wartik before formulating the questions.
Among other questions, the interviewers asked people how often they shopped at the centers and if they knew about the Buy Local program. If they didn't, the students gave them informational fliers.
"It's been such a long process," said Rossetti, 24, a senior majoring in business. "It's a great project compared to sitting in a classroom highlighting a book."
The Buy Local survey had its roots in pilot surveys conducted last semester.
Preliminary results show that many who purchase vehicles at the Auto Mall want more restaurants at The Oaks, which is undergoing a renovation and expansion.
The survey also found that people liked the Janss Mall because of its setting, ample parking and eateries.
"We found people buy local in Thousand Oaks," Giglione said. "They are very loyal."
The university and city negotiated a service learning agreement for the students. Service learning gives them real experience as part of their coursework, something Giglione said is important to her.
"I've taught at other universities where students come out without job skills, and that just horrifies me," she said. "You have to walk out the door with something in your hand other than a degree."
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