THOUSAND OAKS : No Meeting on Guards

Ventura County officials have refused to meet with the Thousand Oaks City Council to discuss funding crossing guards for schools that take students from the unincorporated part of the county.

Citing county budget constraints, Supervisors Maggie Kildee and Maria VanderKolk said they saw “no basis for the initiation of further discussions on the crossing guard issue.”

Thousand Oaks Councilman Alex Fiore, who requested the meeting to keep crossing guards on duty outside Madrona and Walnut elementary schools, said he was outraged by the supervisors’ refusal.

“I’m amazed that they are unwilling to meet with elected officials,” Fiore said. “The voters who care about this issue should know about this snub, and it ought to be reflected at the ballot box.”

About 85% of the students at Walnut live in unincorporated county territory, along with 15% of the students at Madrona. But county supervisors have refused to pay a share of the crossing guards’ salaries. Thousand Oaks council members reluctantly picked up the tab in September, but limited the funding to six months.

The six-month period elapses at the end of February, but the city has extended its commitment to ensure that guards remain at Camino Manzanas and Marian Avenue and at Wendy and Ruth drives.

The total cost for both crossing guards is $8,400 a year.

Councilman Frank Schillo said the council wanted to fund the crossing guards from money generated by Proposition 172’s half-cent sales tax.

In a letter, the supervisors said tax revenue was needed to make up for money lost to the state.

Fiore said the county should still be able to contribute.

“They’ve got a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, and they can’t squeeze out a measly $8,000 for something this important?” he said. “I’m fed up to my eyeballs with the fact that our city ends up paying for things that the county should be doing.”