Thousand Oaks to Test Direct-Dial Democracy

Registering your opinion on what belongs next door to the Civic Arts Plaza is about to become as easy as picking up the phone.

No need to set up a meeting with a council member or schlep down to a long Tuesday night meeting. Just press a few numbers and--voila!--your opinion will be tallied on whether the so-called “east-side parcel” should contain a small museum complex, including the Ventura County Discovery Center, or if it should be a bigger affair with more frills and less open space.

The fate of the 11-acre parcel next to City Hall will be the first trial run in Thousand Oaks’ experiment with direct-dial democracy--an innovative program in which residents can weigh in on city issues without leaving their homes.

At a meeting late Tuesday, City Council members unanimously approved the trial run and also agreed to four scenarios for the parcel that will be presented.

“This is a way to provide the community with an opportunity to participate in the beginning of the decision-making process on what to do with the east-side property,” Councilman Andy Fox, who introduced the idea, said before the meeting. “People can look at a range of options from relatively minor improvements to the property all the way to using around 167,000 square feet of space.”

The idea is a partnership between the city and GTE.

Because it will serve as a demonstration for other cities that have expressed interest in the idea, GTE has agreed to hook the service up for free and charge Thousand Oaks $1,200 a month.

To make sure that people know what they are voting for, a public education campaign--in which the various ideas will be presented on Thousand Oaks TV and elsewhere--will take place about three weeks before the Public Outreach Teleregistration program begins in April.

When the time comes to call in preferences, each of four land-use scenarios will be given its own phone number, which residents can call to say yea or nay, registering opinions if they care to.

It is hoped that such push-button participation will involve a range of residents, not just the City Council regulars, in plotting the course of the land next to the Civic Arts Plaza.

“We’ve been working on this property for a while,” Mayor Mike Markey said. “Now this will give the public an opportunity to call in and let us know what direction they want to look at. I think it’s a very good idea because it increases input from the public.”

As for the east-side parcel, the city snapped up the property--roughly bounded by the Civic Arts Plaza, Thousand Oaks Boulevard, the Ventura Freeway and Conejo School Road--for about $9 million in the late 1980s.

Development plans for the property have all but died since the council shot down a proposal from Kilroy Industries of El Segundo to build a 90,000-square-foot, two-story movie and virtual reality center plus restaurants, offices and shops. City leaders and residents agreed that the project did not fit in with its next-door neighbors, City Hall and performing arts venues.

This time around, the development will have clear parameters. The city has already promised the Ventura County Discovery Center, a children’s museum, 60,000 square feet of space in the new development. Other necessities include a police substation, park area and restrooms.

The development is expected to be a private one, said Housing Services Manager Olav E. Hassel, who is coordinating the dial-in program for the city.

While council members have not voted about the city participating financially, he said, the understanding is that the city’s contribution would be land donation “at the most.”

Following are the choices that callers will have to vote on:

* A simple 79,400-square-foot development with the basic necessities plus a museum bookstore and two restaurants. It would include a parking lot and at least two acres of open space.

* A somewhat more elaborate 116,900-square-foot complex that would also include a 400-seat Imax theater, another restaurant and a parking structure.

* A bigger development that resembles the second but adds another cafe and a bookstore for a total of 127,400 square feet.

* A fancier complex that includes all the elements from the third concept--but reduces open space to an acre. It would add amenities, including a conference center and catering center, for a total of 167,400 square feet of development.

City Council members will not be bound by the results of the phone poll, but will have a better feel for community sentiment. Once general parameters are set, the city will solicit specific proposals from developers that meet those criteria.

As envisioned, a handful of the more detailed proposals would also be featured on cable television so that the public could call in specific preferences.

To see how the program functions, Fox urged his colleagues to keep quiet about what they would like to see in the grassy lot next door to City Hall.

“I would encourage council members not to prejudice the public with their own personal viewpoints on this,” he said. “I think we as a City Council member should remain silent and let the process work.”