Why CUT Svc take more taxes No discussion NO choices Flier makes me think "Long Week end"

http://www.toaks.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=19715

Beginning January 3, City Hall will have modified hours & alternate Friday closure for Thousand Oaks City Hall.  The New Year also brings a realignment of operating hours at both City libraries.

As a cost saving and efficiency measure, Thousand Oaks City Hall will open ½ hour earlier on Monday – Thursday and close on alternate Fridays beginning Friday, January 7, 2011.

To view a calendar with new 2011 City Hall hours click here

During the past year, the City of Thousand Oaks has endured many of the same budget challenges experienced by residents, businesses, and other communities.  With the reduction of 74 staff positions over the last three years, providing consistently efficient service has become difficult. As demonstrated by several other Ventura County cities, such as Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, and Ventura, adjustments to City operating hours has proven to be an effective response to staffing cutbacks while providing more efficient daily service.

The City of Thousand Oaks' phone and online systems will continue to provide easy and efficient 24/7 access to services through its website and "City Hall Anytime" phone service. 

Call “City Hall Anytime” (805) 449-2600 to:

• Inquire and pay City Utility Accounts (water and wastewater)
• Inquire and pay City Parking Citations
• Schedule inspections for Building Permits 

Online Services:

• Visit the Customer Response Management System to request City assistance and submit a question, complaint, concern, or issue
• Purchase tickets - www.ticketmaster.com
• Go to “eGov,” www.toaks.org/paybill for Business License Renewal and to inquire and pay Utility Bills.
• Thousand Oaks Library: visit www.toaks.org/library to renew materials, access research databases, place holds, pay fines, get real-time homework help, check your library account, view the library events calendar, download audio books, get recommendations on the latest new fiction and non-fiction and more.

City Hall – Schedule changes beginning January 3, 20112011 City Hall operating hours are: (* denotes schedule changes)

Monday–Thursday*             7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.    (City Hall opens ½ hour earlier Monday - Thursday)

Alternating Fridays              8:00 a.m. – 5 p.m.    (City Hall open January 17 & 28)

City employees will be working the same number of hours, a work schedule comprised of eight 9 hour shifts and one 8 hour shift over a two week period.  Residents will have increased access to customer service counters in all departments beginning at 7:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday. 

City Hall will be closed on the following alternate Fridays in 2011:

January 7, 21

February 4, 18

March 4, 18

April 1, 15, 29

May 13, 27

June 10, 24

July 8, 22

August 5, 19

September 2, 16, 30

October 14, 28

November 11, 25

December 9, 23

Libraries – Schedule changes beginning January 3, 2011 Grant R. Brimhall Library (* denotes schedule changes)

Monday–Thursday* 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.                (Library opens 1 hour later & closes 1 hour earlier Monday - Thursday)     

Friday                         10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Saturday                    10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sunday*                    12 p.m. – 5 p.m.             (Library opens 1 hour earlier on Sunday)
                                                                                                       
Newbury Park Library (* denotes schedule changes)

Monday–Wednesday*        12 p.m. – 8 p.m.       (Library closes 1 hour earlier Monday - Wednesday)   

Thursday                   10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Friday                         10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Saturday                    10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sunday                                  Closed
                 
Box Office  - Hours remain unchanged:
 Tuesday-Sunday     12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
On performance dates, Box Office remains open until ½ hour before curtain.

Police & Fire Department – Hours remain unchanged

For more information on City Hall, Library, and Box Office Hours visit www.toaks.org.

News Details  Why CUT Svc take more taxes No discussion NO choices Flier makes me think "Long Week end"  Nick
City Hall and Library Hours Have Changed     Also see city hall / council info!!		City of Thousand Oaks	Mission Statement	“Extraordinary service to the citizens we	serve is our purpose and product.”  Laughable!! 2011 Goals

City Council Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (805) 449-2121 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. (805) 449-2125 FAX Thousand Oaks, CA 91362 MayorAndrew P. Fox Elected 1994 (805) 449-2101cnclmanfox@aol.com  Mayor Pro Tem Jacqui V. Irwin Elected 2004(805) 449-2104jacqui@earthlink.net     Councilmember Dennis C. Gillette Elected 1998 (805) 449-2105dgillette@toaks.org Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la PeñaElected 2002 (805) 449-2103claudia4slowgrowth@roadrunner.com      Councilmember Thomas P. GlancyAppointed 2005/ Elected 2008 (805) 449-2102tglancy@toaks.org AgendaMinutes Citywide Goals & Objectives Top Priorities for 2010-2011 Past Councilmembers Request For Eagle Scout Award Request For Girl Scout Award

live links Easy get to

http://www.toaks.org/default.asp

Location:	Los Robles Greens Golf Course – Banquet Center 299 S. Moorpark Road Thousand Oaks, CA
Dates:	6:00 PM on Thursday, February 10
	View the Presentation from the January 26 Meeting

http://www.tol.lib.ca.us/databases/db_alpha.html#R

http://database.californiapensionreform.com/database.asp?vtsearchname=&vtsearchemploy=thousand+oaks&vtquery=1&vttable=calpers

http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/top100.cfm  TOP 100 exec over pay

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jan/15/governor-leads-charge-to-end-agencies-wrangle-12/

http://www.redevelopment.com    

http://www.atascadero.org/files/RDA/Bonding%20Primer.pdf  CA debt issuance explained 

http://portal.countyofventura.org/portal/page/portal/Grand_Jury/Reports/TAB4579372/10VenturaCountyPensionAnUncontrollableCost.pdf

http://www.californiapensionreform.com/database.asp?vtsearchname=&vtsearchemploy=THOUSAND+OAKS&vtquery=1&vttable=calpers    California Pension Reform

http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1018523&session=2009&aboveview=contributions  Debra Bowen

http://www.coalitionforredevelopmentreform.org/a_ima/california.pdf

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/may/04/judge-upholds-state-transfer-of-redevelopment/

http://www.toaks.org/government/depts/finance/budget/cufr.asp    TO Redevelopment Budgets

http://www.vcta.org/home.html Ventura County Tax Payers Association

http://venturactyngttia.ning.com/    Ventura County Tea Party

Budget issues pensions High salaries stories letters

acorn editorial 02102011

The root of the problem

2011-02-10 / Editorials

The story of Thousand Oaks homeowner Jerry Yeh in this week’s Acorn (see page 1) serves as an important lesson about publicly funded services: Most of us don’t think about them until something goes wrong.

Be it a burst pipeline, a gaping pothole or, in this case, a fallen tree limb, we’re always quick to point the finger at government when we’re confronted by such mishaps. But the root of the problems, especially at the local level, isn’t usually a lack of service but a lack of funding.

Take the comments of Kevin Wilson, supervisor of the city’s landscaping and maintenance department. When asked to respond to Yeh’s complaint about the lack of landscaping done in his neighborhood, Wilson admits his crew is understaffed.

In the past five years, thanks to the city’s ongoing loss of tax revenue and other funding sources, Wilson’s staff of 33 has dwindled to 24 as employees have retired and haven’t been replaced. Those who are left must care for 29,000 trees throughout the city, in addition to their many other responsibilities.

Try as they might to meet the expectations of taxpayers like Yeh, Wilson’s crew is inevitably going to get behind in their work. Even with the help of contractors to spot overgrown trees, city maintenance workers simply can’t be expected to stay on top of every branch in the city.

So while we understand the frustration felt by Yeh and his neighbors, they need to recognize that city services are suffering everywhere, and landscaping isn’t a priority when weighed against things like law enforcement.

The fact that we don’t hear more stories like Yeh’s is actually surprising given the current state of the economy and its impact on local coffers.

A recently released budget report reveals that sales tax revenue in Thousand Oaks fell 10 percent between fiscal years 2008-09 and 2009-10, costing the city another $2.3 million for vital services.

Think about Yeh and his tree the next time you consider shopping out of town or saying no to a new business that wants to come here. Residents must find a way to balance their own wishes with the city’s need to attract new revenue.

As Yeh learned the hard way, you can’t have your tree and trim it too.

============================================================================

Broken branch breeds bad blood

2011-02-10 / Front Page

By Michelle Knight

knight@theacorn.com

UNHAPPY—Jerry Yeh of Thousand Oaks stands in front of a huge hole in his shrubbery caused when a branch fell from a city-maintained tree into his yard. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn NewspapersA Thousand Oaks resident is crying foul over a 500-pound tree branch that toppled into his backyard last month, saying the city failed to properly maintain the tree despite receiving his annual fee to do just that.

When Jerry Yeh goes to pay the property taxes on his Thousand Oaks home, every year he tacks on a fee to the city to pay for street lighting and landscaping. This year the fee was $337.

Yeh and his 12 neighbors on Campbell Avenue live within one of the city’s 39 Lighting, Landscaping and Improvement districts.

Those who purchase homes in those districts are required to split the cost of city-maintained flora upkeep and street lighting expenses in the area.

Despite collecting the annual fee, the city failed to live up to its end of the bargain by not properly maintaining the tree, said Yeh, who called the city in September to ask that someone come out and trim the overgrown tree.

A trimming crew leader inspected the tree but, seeing no immediate need, decided to wait until other trees in the area needed specialized attention, said Kevin Wilson, supervisor of the city’s landscaping and maintenance department.

Yeh thinks they dropped the ball.

“I think it was too heavy,” said the 63-year-old of the overhanging branch that fell into his yard on Jan. 29, causing no damage or injury. “It was overgrown and too heavy; it’s that simple.”

Wilson said he’s sympathetic to Yeh but doesn’t agree that the branch’s breaking off had anything to do with a lack of maintenance.

“It was a healthy tree that was growing,” said Wilson, who believes the unseasonably warm winter and high winds were the real culprits.

Warm days can cause a tree to draw more moisture from the ground, adding to its weight, he said. Also, warm weather pro- motes new growth. More branches and leaves mean more surface area to catch the wind, which can twist and turn branches until they break, Wilson said.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in the area reached about 80 degrees in the days leading up to Jan. 29. Also, wind gusts that week reached 44 mph and 18 mph that Saturday.

The giant limb, 12 inches in diameter, belonged to a 40-foottall silver dollar eucalyptus tree on the outside of Yeh’s backyard fence. It toppled onto his property and his neighbor’s property in the middle of the night.

Yeh, a semiretired stock trader, has lived in the house with his wife and son since 1997. The tree sits on a slope covered with shrubbery and other trees along the east side of Lynn Road and the south side of Janss Road.

Although Yeh owns the property on which the tree sits, the city maintains the slope.

“City hall insists it’s got to look nice,” Yeh said. “They can do (the maintenance); we homeowners can’t do it.”

His neighbors on the Campbell Avenue cul-de-sac, whose backyards face Lynn and Janss roads, also own the slope beyond their backyard fence that stretches to the sidewalk.

Yeh’s neighbor Pat Graham, an original homeowner, said the city and the fire department require her acre of property to be clear of weeds and debris or she’ll be fined.

The city should be fined for improper maintenance of the trees and shrubs along Lynn and Janss roads, she said.

Graham said the only time the city spruced up the slopes along Lynn and Janss roads was in 2004 for former President Ronald Reagan’s funeral procession.

Wilson said the presidential procession was a special event and called for extra attention to Lynn Road landscaping.

But his department doesn’t have the resources for that level of maintenance for all 400 acres it covers.

The last time trees in this area received a “crown cleaning,” specialized work that’s beyond the training of city landscaping crews and requires an outside contractor, was in March 2007, said Wilson, a certified arborist. The city tries to give all its 29,000 trees such attention every five to seven years, he said.

His staff of 24 workers care for 29,000 trees throughout the city, he said. In the past five years, the department has lost nine workers to retirement, and the city hasn’t replaced them.

The landscaping department is also responsible for clearing weeds and shrubs from city property, painting over graffiti and releasing beneficial insects into the environment.

To help the department, the city has two contractors, including a certified arborist, check city trees every week.

The contractor for Yeh’s sec- tion is responsible for monitoring trees from Moorpark Road to the Dos Vientos housing development in Newbury Park, Wilson said.

The contractors check the trees visually by driving by or walking the area, Wilson said. Trees in need of maintenance are reported to the department, and a crew goes out to perform the work.

“We’re trying not to let anything slip through the cracks,” Wilson said.

Yeh thinks his tree is one that did.

An avid gardener, Yeh said he was very fortunate he wasn’t in his backyard when the giant branch came crashing down.

“I could be in the morgue,” he said.

US Immigration stories / ltrs

Jobs are headed overseas

2011-02-10 / Letters

Mr. Clark (“Tired GOP mantra won’t fix economy” letters, Acorn, Feb. 3) implied that Tony Strickland was wrong to say that businesses are moving out of California because of high taxes and regulations, adding that it is foolish to think they are moving to Nevada as Nevada is no better off than California.

No informed person would think that businesses are moving to Nevada. If you can read the labels on what you purchase, most will say made in China or Mexico.

I know personally of two companies that together employed about 200 people who folded because they could not compete with China. Also, Cracker Barrel, a restaurant chain throughout the U.S., will not come to California because it is not business-friendly.

Supporting regulations to clean up the Santa Barbara oil spill is good, but what about the regulation not to drill, causing oil to bubble up and be wasted in Santa Barbara along with damage to animal life?

Supporting regulations against the spread of E. coli is good, but how about supporting regulations that stop companies from hiring illegals who work in agriculture and are used to urinating wherever they please, causing E. coli in our food source?

Also hiring illegals in the food industry and importing food from countries that have no sanitary regulations?

According to a city nurse, many illegals that come into our schools have TB, among other diseases, and that is one reason we have the immigration laws, so diseases are not brought into this nation. Joyce Clark Thousand Oaks

Conejo Valley USD, Con Rec Park & Community Colleges + EDUCATION stories / ltrs

acorn ltr 02102011

Bridges deserves more space

2011-02-10 / Letters

CVUSD meets the needs of its diverse student body by creating magnet schools and enrichment programs at its schools.

CVUSD leaders have often stated, “We’re here for the kids.” Bridges Charter School, with more than 210 students, is also meeting needs, those of families who decided that our school’s type of learning is best suited to their child.

Yet when Bridges opened in August we did so with limited space and resources. We have no access to a kitchen or a full day’s access to an auditorium. The teacher workroom and our music room share one space.

Our sixth- and seventh-graders have no gym, library or lab. Despite our limitations, however, students share recess and lunchtime together as if they were already brothers and sisters and look out for one another.

They work in their garden or walk the labyrinth they helped build. Our educators strive to meet the needs of the whole child, implementing innovative strategies that differentiate for varied learning styles and communication methods that enable kids to have a voice.

Each day parents go beyond their volunteer commitment by supervising children respectfully, leading small groups in the classroom or by developing engaging activities such as art lessons, a talent show or a science night on campus.

The Bridges community is thriving. As President Obama said in his State of the Union address: “In America, we do big things.”

Well, at Bridges, we are doing big things. And our families have every right to desire this type of environment for their child.

Providing adequate space for a growing school community shouldn’t be something we are arguing over. It should be a matter of collaborating and thinking, “How can we work together so that more people will engage in this kind of mind-set, be it at Bridges or elsewhere?

“How can we build upon each other’s strengths so all public schools can more effectively meet students’ needs?”

I hope CVUSD will act as collaborators in the education of children and not as our adversary. They should be there for the kids and grant the space needed to educate our students. Lori Peters Newbury Park

Peters is education team leader at Bridges Charter School.

Drugs, crime. personal interest people ltrs stories

Alcohol, drugs can ruin lives

2011-02-10 / Letters

What can drug and alcohol abuse do to a person?

I know the answer to this question because my father is in the hospital fighting for his life because of drugs and alcohol.

Although he is 27 years clean and sober, the years he spent abusing drugs and alcohol have destroyed his liver.

Alcohol abuse is the cause of many deaths in our country every year. In fact, more people die from alcohol abuse than cocaine abuse or similar drugs. This needs to stop.

One government study claims that 75,000 Americans die each year from alcohol abuse. Drinking too much can also create many health problems and shorten your life span.

Alcohol destroys liver cells and then causes scar tissue. Ultimately, this can cause cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.

Despite his years of sobriety, my father is now suffering the consequences of drinking alcohol excessively for many years.

Thousands of people die each year from drugs as well. Smoking drugs like cocaine can cause serious heart and brain problems.

Using needles to inject drugs like heroin can cause AIDS and hepatitis.

Overdosing on prescription medication is common among celebrities like Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson.

Drugs are dangerous and deadly. Because of his drug use, my father got hepatitis C, which has damaged his liver.

Although there may be nothing wrong with social drinking or taking drugs for medical reasons, abusing alcohol and drugs destroys lives.

Drugs and alcohol have nearly taken my father’s life, and after reading this I want you to consider, what is it doing to yours? Alex Chatoff, 13 Thousand Oaks  acorn 02102011

TO Term Limits Stories..letters + 01/2011

Why term limits are bad for T.O.

2011-02-10 / Letters

Term limits are already proscribed by federal, state and municipal law. They are called elections.

Where elections are held at acknowledged times, the people provide the term limits. To do otherwise subverts the system.

Additional suppression of allowed periods of service tends to produce a situation where we always have a new, untrained, perhaps unaware, definitely inexperienced individual in a position of power.

Such a situation naturally relegates an inordinate amount of control/ power to the staff since a good leader always closely evaluates staff’s recommendations. In most such instances the elected official becomes the tip of staff’s spear rather than the throwing arm of the people.

I favor us having an informed populace as our gatekeepers. I favor keeping experienced, listening officials in control of our destinies rather than bureaucratic career staff members regardless of their devotion to duty and experience.

Proponents of term limits want the law to perform the task of the people—to retain or reject candidates based on mindless periods of time rather than to pay attention to platforms and past performance.

That is to say, we should reward good performance or reject poor performance at the next election. Forrest Frields Thousand Oaks