Thousand Oaks to Get Touch-Tone Democracy

City residents who are too tired, too jaded or just too busy to weigh in with an opinion will now be able to let their fingers do the talking thanks to an experiment in direct-dial democracy unanimously approved this week by the City Council.

Expected to be in place by mid-November, the Public Opinion Tele-Registration will allow the city’s armchair politicians to express an opinion on everything from what to do with the land next to the Civic Arts Plaza to how the city’s annual budget should be divided.

“It means more input and that’s good,” Councilwoman Linda Parks said just before Tuesday night’s vote. “And, who knows, it might even encourage someone to come down to City Hall and participate directly.”

The service will be established by GTE as an experimental model for other communities interested in touch-tone political participation. Participation will be free of charge for local callers and the tallies will be added to the city’s Internet Web site as well as forwarded to city leaders as a tool to gauge community reaction.

The service, which will cost Thousand Oaks about $1,200 each month it’s in operation, will be used by the city on an as-needed basis.

The idea for the phone poll was suggested earlier this year by Councilman Andy Fox who wanted to bring residents into the fray of city governance.

“I think we’re getting into a very innovative and cutting edge kind of democracy in Thousand Oaks,” Fox said.

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As an example, should the City Council want input from the community on how to develop the 11-acre parcel next to the Civic Arts Plaza, the council could pitch a number of projects to the public to gather opinions.

Residents would call one of two numbers corresponding to a particular design proposal to cast their “yea” or “nay.”

Similarly, the service could be used by the city to paint a picture, though blurred, of community attitudes toward building a new park, creating new assessment districts or whether to fund a study on arroyo toads.

While city leaders say the opinion data will prove a valuable resource, they are careful to add that because the service is dependent upon those motivated enough to call, the data is far from accurate.

“I don’t think it’s going to affect anyone’s vote, but it will be useful for us,” Parks said. “But the public still needs to hear the discussion” at council meetings.

The service, initially dubbed “Dial-a-Developer” by critics, has since overcome fears that it would be abused.

Both Parks and Councilwoman Elois Zeanah were concerned that it would be used repeatedly by development interests to pad public opinion in their favor, but the two officials have been assured by GTE that no more than one call could be logged from the same phone number on the same issue.

If successful, GTE plans to market the service to other communities that are looking to better plug into the public’s mood.

“We’re hoping that after this is up, if anyone’s interested we’ll be happy to set it up for them,” said John Dokken, GTE’s public affairs manager for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.