Thousand Oaks Sewage Spill

Re “U.S. Inquiry Into Spill Puts City on Short List,” April 5.

It is a pity that this generally excellent piece was flawed by inaccurate information. Since the article also reports how newspaper stories draw the attention of investigators, I would have expected scrupulous fact checking prior to repeating politically based charges in print.

The article implied that the sewage spill was somehow due to delays in approving the bond in that “for two years . . . the replacement project was tied up while council members fought.” It also reported that “public works officials warned that a major spill could occur if the lines were not replaced.” Of course, we all know which City Council member has been cited as the culprit in all of this by her political enemies.

There is too long a scenario to cover all the events leading up to the line break in this letter. But one fact is paramount: On Dec. 17, 1996, the City Council voted 3 to 2 to order replacement of the line in question. Linda Parks, Elois Zeanah and Judy Lazar voted affirmatively; Mike Markey and Andy Fox dissented.

The city staff thus was given direction to replace the lines but, for reasons that are not clear, decided to delay the work. Whether that was the proper decision or not is for the investigators to decide. Any objective review of the situation would indicate no reasonable relationship of the line failure to the City Council disagreements.

I believe you owe it to the citizens of Thousand Oaks to publish another piece that presents a factual, complete and unbiased history of this very sensitive issue.

JOHN RELLE

Thousand Oaks

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Instead of trying to drag other people into the sewage with her, Elois Zeanah should be grateful that the very staff members, consultants and council members she’s attacked are willing to help solve the problem she created.

LOIS and FLOYD WILLIAMS

Thousand Oaks