3 Residents Try Again to Block Civic Center

Three Thousand Oaks residents said Thursday that they will ask the City Council to allow them to begin gathering signatures for an initiative to stop the controversial Jungleland civic center project.

Residents Dick Booker, Heinrich (Corky) Charles and Joan Gorner say voters should be allowed to decide whether the city can proceed with the development, especially since city officials recently announced that the Jungleland project will cost more than $55.6 million to build.

The three critics, who attempted to place the issue on the ballot two years ago, plan to present their initiative statement to the city clerk on June 19. The council will then be asked to approve circulation of the petition among registered voters.

Booker said they hope to get the issue on the November ballot, but if they miss the filing deadline, they will settle for the April election.

“We’re saying, ‘Let the people decide,’ ” Booker said. “It’s our money. It’s our decision.”

Gorner added: “We’re going to stir the pot. . . . We want the people of Thousand Oaks to realize that this civic center is going to be a huge white elephant.”

The project would be built on the site of the former Jungleland amusement park.

The residents have hired an attorney to write the initiative statement to avoid the same problem that they encountered two years ago, Booker said.

In March, 1988, the residents submitted an initiative statement to the council and asked that the matter be placed on the June ballot. But council members said the measure was written incorrectly and voted 4 to 1 to reject the request.

Jenny Harrison, Ventura County’s election service coordinator, said the city must approve the residents’ ballot statement before beginning the petition drive. They then must gather the signatures of 5,550 registered voters and present them to the county by July 25 to qualify for the November ballot.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Alex Fiore, who is spearheading the civic center project, scoffed Thursday when told of the residents’ plans.

Fiore said city officials will try to find a way to keep the issue off the ballot. “This is the kind of project that is the prerogative of the council,” he said. “We’ve made the decision, and we’re moving ahead.”

Earlier this spring, the city approved a $55.6-million budget for the development, which would include a new government center and cultural arts complex on 20 acres at the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Conejo School Road.

But the city and the owner of the site are in a legal battle over the price of the land, which could cost the city more than $22 million. The city already has paid the landowner, Asad Moravati, $12 million for the site. Thousand Oaks also has agreed to pay about $7 million for consultants and architects for the project.

Opponents say the project could cost the city more than $100 million, a claim most city officials deny. Recently, Councilman Larry Horner assailed the project, predicting that the development will cost the city millions more than originally anticipated.

Nevertheless, Horner said he fears that it is too late to stop the project because the city already has spent millions of dollars on the planning.

City Manager Grant Brimhall said the city would lose “tens of millions of dollars” if the project is stopped because of an initiative.

“There are contractual obligations . . . there are commitments,” Brimhall said.

Construction is expected to start next year.