Council Pulls the Plug on Plan for Talk Show About Thousand Oaks

Offered a chance to host their own issues-oriented TV talk show, members of the Thousand Oaks City Council modestly declined.

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“I have the feeling that residents get enough of this council with our lengthy meetings,” Mayor Jaime Zukowski said late Tuesday, as the council was entering the sixth hour of a nearly eight-hour meeting.

For once the frequently divided council was in complete agreement about whether it should take a stab at a world inhabited by such notables as Oprah Winfrey and Montel Williams.

“I’m not the least bit interested in having a television program,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “I think we spend too much time on TV already.”

City staff had recommended starting a program called “City Scene,” featuring an informal 90-minute discussion of issues.

The program would have been patterned after “Citizens Exchange,” a quarterly show hosted by former Councilman Frank Schillo.

But council members pointed out that Schillo had done much of the preparation on his own time.

The staff could have spent up to 30 hours preparing for the new show.

“That’s pretty substantial,” Councilman Andy Fox said.

Instead, council members seized on an idea put forth by Zukowski to reinstitute a defunct city newsletter, but on video.

Staff members and residents could appear on a taped update of city activities.