THOUSAND OAKS : Civic Center Project Not Inquiry Target

Ventura County Grand Jury Foreman Lyle Wray announced Wednesday that the jury is not investigating Thousand Oaks’ plans to develop the former Jungleland site.

Wray said in a written statement that the jury “feels some members of the Thousand Oaks community, in an attempt to influence public opinion about the Jungleland project, may have given residents of the city of Thousand Oaks the impression that such an investigation was being conducted.”

Wray declined to elaborate on his statement or name the source of the information.

A Thousand Oaks group has acknowledged that it distributed copies of a form letter urging citizens to sign it and send it to the grand jury. The letter requested an investigation of the city’s handling of the $63-million project.

Dick Booker, a spokesman for the Committee for Government by the People and for the People, which opposes construction of a civic center and arts auditorium at the former wild animal park, claimed that more than 200 letters were sent to the grand jury.

The committee is collecting signatures with the aim of placing a Jungleland measure on the ballot in a special election.

Wray, in his statement, said he refused to allow the grand jury to get involved in a political campaign.

Some city officials, including Mayor Alex Fiore, have been critical of the Committee for Government’s tactics in its attempt to stop the Jungleland project.