West Hills to Fight Picus Poll With Its Own Poll

Saying it would diminish if not destroy the “small-town ambiance” of their fledgling community, West Hills leaders Tuesday pledged to fight what they called an ill-conceived decision by Councilwoman Joy Picus to enlarge their community.

The first volley in the battle will be a public-opinion survey of the 6,500 households in West Hills to determine whether residents want the community’s boundaries extended, said Joel Schiffman, president of the West Hills Property Owners Assn.

The results of the survey will be sent to Picus, who said Monday she is excluding residents of West Hills from a survey she will take to determine the boundaries of the community, which was carved from the western flank of Canoga Park in January.

Aiming at Solution

Seeking to settle a festering controversy, Picus on Monday agreed to let residents of a four-mile area just east of West Hills join the new community if two-thirds of the residents of the area vote to do so.

Picus excluded West Hills residents from the survey, saying she did so at the request of their leaders. “They said there’s no need to poll them,” Picus said Tuesday.

But Steve Ogg, a spokesman for the West Hills group, said its leaders declined to take part in the poll because it “only addresses how far the boundaries are to be moved--not whether they should be moved.”

“I think the people of West Hills have the right to have their wishes heard and respected,” said Schiffman, announcing plans for the group’s own poll at a meeting of the association’s board of directors Tuesday.

“It shouldn’t be whoever shouts the loudest and the longest,” said Rick Davis, a vice president of the West Hills group. “It should be a democratic process.”

Leaders of the movement to rename the hilly residential neighborhood sought to distance themselves from Canoga Park, hoping to gain increased real estate values, lower insurance rates and a heightened sense of community.

But, after the name change, nearby areas of Canoga Park clamored to be admitted. Six months of controversy led to Picus’ decision last week to consider extending the boundaries.

But the controversy appeared to be far from settled Tuesday.

She ‘Betrayed Us’

“All this time, she said she’d never extend the boundaries, and then she turned around and betrayed us,” said Rita Seashore, a leader of the West Hills Property Owners Assn.

Picus’ questionnaire will be sent to Canoga Park residents in the area bounded by Platt and Woodlake avenues on the west, Victory Boulevard on the south, Topanga Canyon Boulevard on the east and Roscoe Boulevard on the north, Picus said.

The questionnaire will ask:

“Shall the eastern boundaries of the community designated West Hills extend to A) Fallbrook, B) Shoup, C) Topanga?”

Picus said it has not yet been decided whether businesses in the area will be polled.

She met privately Monday night with 13 neighborhood and civic leaders from West Hills and Canoga Park to decide the wording of the questionnaire.

John Caulkins, president of the Canoga Park Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber opposes any extension of the West Hills boundaries, but will mount no active campaign to influence the poll.

“We would like to hold the line as close to Platt as we could,” Caulkins said.