Council to Pay for Cleanup of Man’s Yard

The Thousand Oaks City Council has decided to spend $15,000 to clean up the property of a chronic junk collector and will ask a Municipal Court judge to order psychological counseling for the man.

“Just cleaning it up is not going to be the solution because it is really, in fact, an illness that he has and he needs medical help,” Councilman Frank Schillo said Thursday.

The junk collector, Adolph Leben of Havenwood Drive, pleaded guilty last April to creating a public nuisance and was placed on three years probation. The court case followed years of the city avoiding prosecution, despite mounting debris in a yard so laden with junk that firefighters last year had trouble gaining access to a blaze next door.

But Leben has missed several court-ordered deadlines to remove the junk, despite the help of a church men’s club--even after serving about 20 days in the Ventura County Jail. The city, after cleaning his yard, is expected to place a lien on the property to recover its costs.

Leben could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Schillo said the city wasn’t empowered to force Leben to obtain medical help but would ask Ventura County Municipal Court Judge John Smiley, who sentenced him, to reconsider the case and order treatment. The city sought psychological help for Leben last summer but Smiley only ordered him to serve time in the County Jail.

The council approved the cleanup measure in a 4 to 1 vote Tuesday. Councilman Lawrence Horner cast the dissenting vote, calling the $15,000 expenditure an unfair use of taxpayers’ money.