3 Agencies to Poll Residents on School, Park Needs

The wish list would entice urban planners and soccer moms alike: a children’s museum, air conditioning in every classroom, more soccer and baseball fields, a community center, more land devoted to hiking and biking trails, and more space for smaller classes.

But the questions about to be posed by pollsters for the City Council and school and park districts are: How much do Thousand Oaks families want these amenities? And how much are they willing to pay for them?

Five dollars a month? Or $20? In the form of additional sales tax or a bond? And would people view the projects in a better light if all three public entities pursued them together? Or would separate fund-raising projects by each agency be more appealing?

After chatting for years about raising money to enhance open space, school facilities and recreational opportunities, public officials finally appear to be at the jumping-off point.

But first, they’re taking their ideas to the Conejo Valley masses via telephone survey.

“This [survey] is going to tell us a lot, hopefully,” said Tex Ward, general manager of the Conejo Recreation and Park District, “whether things should be jointly pursued or independently pursued. It will tell us preferences and level of support . . . a public agency, you have to do the best you can to gauge public needs and support. Based on that, how do you get there?”

The survey--which would cost $16,000, split three ways--has already been approved by the Conejo Valley Unified School District and park district. The council, which deferred the matter recently to tinker with survey wording, is set to consider the issue again in May.

If council members approve the survey--as expected--workers for the Sacramento public opinion research firm J. Moore Methods could start dialing 400 to 600 Conejo Valley residents almost immediately.

With any luck, the public poll--with a sampling error of plus or minus 5%--will help the public officials decide on a proposal and funding vehicle to put before voters.

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The unprecedented coupling of the agencies is the result of a common belief: Young people in the Conejo Valley need more recreation alternatives--from sports fields to additional gymnasium space to museums.

At a meeting in 1995, representatives of the three boards agreed to jointly pursue a bond or maybe a half-cent sales tax override. At the time, officials speculated that they could raise $40 million or more.

While the joint effort is a first for Thousand Oaks, City Councilman Andy Fox predicts that it won’t be the last.

“We each have our distinct areas of responsibility,” Fox said of the agencies involved. “On the other hand, I think we ought to look past that--as I think we are--and see that we all serve the same constituents.”

As survey time nears, the school, parks and city officials are reading mixed messages from recent voter actions: the passage of Proposition 218, which limits the ability to impose special purpose taxes, and a string of school bond successes.

The passage in November of Proposition 218, which limits the ways government agencies levy taxes and fees, is widely interpreted as voter frustration with how officials spend taxpayer money. Whether a special assessment district for lighting or fees for public services are involved, Proposition 218 requires that a majority of voters approve new and existing taxes.

This anti-tax initiative complicates matters for the school and park districts, both of which have retired, or are about to retire, existing bonds. When the bonds run out, officials note, the population doesn’t stop growing. Nor does school paint stop peeling.

“Proposition 218 is reducing the [revenue-generating] options that are available considerably,” Ward said.

Yet school bonds are enjoying a heyday as of late, passing in Los Angeles, Fillmore, Hueneme and Oxnard High school districts.

“That says just what polls have been saying for two years,” Conejo Valley Unified Supt. Jerry Gross said. “Voters have recognized that school facilities funding is underfunded by the state and that local communities . . . have to make sure their schools are well-maintained and meet modern standards. Good schools sell property.”

Thousand Oaks Mayor Judy Lazar said she is keenly aware of the conflicting messages: “That’s why we need the survey.”

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The 15- to 20-minute survey itself will pose numerous questions to voters: Are taxes too high or just right? Did you vote in the last election? Do schools lack funds? How important are law enforcement, open space and recreation? Is a special assessment district, bond or minimal sales tax increase preferable? Do you consider yourself an environmentalist?

This mix of questions is designed to pinpoint realistic community desires, Fox said. Oftentimes, “what people want and what people are willing to pay for are two different things,” he noted.

Pollsters will also query residents about specific projects.

The park district has the most prolific list of proposals, with 21 parks and facilities that are in the General Plan but remain unfunded.

They include a four-acre Banyan neighborhood park; a 36-acre Lang Ranch park with a gymnasium, racquetball and meeting rooms; 14 acres of soccer and softball fields at Thousand Oaks Community Park; a 75-acre outdoor exposition center for Conejo Valley Days and similar events; a revitalized McCrea Ranch with a children’s zoo; expanded trail offerings near Lake Eleanor and the Hillcrest open space; junior high school gymnasiums; and hundreds of acres of new open space in the Conejo Ridge and Montclef Ridge areas and Triunfo Park.

The school district is aiming for computers in every classroom, air-conditioning for a dozen or so schools, and an overhaul of antiquated wiring, plumbing and roofing.

While not necessarily the purview of the City Council, other proposals include expanding the main library, adding new child-care facilities, constructing an Olympic-sized community swimming pool and building a children’s museum.

What happens once poll results are tabulated is anybody’s guess.

Fox, for one, thinks that revenue generation will only work if the three agencies work in concert.

If the poll results are unfavorable? “Then we drop it,” he said.

“The people are writing the check and paying the freight,” he added. “They ought to be the final determinants in how we spend their money. Our job is to say, ‘Here is a community need that we are seeing.’ ”

Park and school representatives seem to part company here. With the City Council in the midst of recall mania, some officials worry privately that hostility toward the city could hurt the schools’ or parks’ chances. All agree that a group proposal is the ideal.

“If it turns out people aren’t into park development but are interested in a school bond, that would tell you one thing,” Ward said. “If open space ranked high and gymnasiums didn’t, that would give you another hypothetical framework.”

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And crunched by swelling enrollment and smaller class sizes, the school district may not have much of a choice. The revenue-generating question for school officials isn’t so much “Should we try it?” as it is “How do we convince the voters?”

“Our facility needs can’t wait,” said Gary Mortimer, assistant superintendent for business services.

Officials in the school and parks districts are already polishing their pitches for the public, pointing out how prudently they spent their previous bond money. The park district’s $3.3-million bond from 1970 built a swimming pool at Newbury Park High School, trails in Wildwood Park and five or six neighborhood parks. A schools assessment from 20 years ago built Westlake High School and added improvements to all other schools.

Once a voter-worthy proposal is agreed upon, an education campaign about recreation facilities will begin, Lazar said. In all likelihood, the proposal won’t reach voters until 1998.

“You need to show people ‘What does it mean to me? How does it improve my quality of life right here?’ ” she said. “You have to plan a campaign. It’s not a short, fast turn-around operation.”