Thousand Oaks Politics

Re “Judy Lazar’s Experience Is Irreplaceable,” column by Beverly Kelley, Nov. 15.

Judy Lazar is a real asset to this community. She has done a fabulous job. What a loss to the city government.

Many of us are not surprised. There is a mean streak in a lot of people who move to Thousand Oaks from “the outside.” People who value the area and the community seem to choose to do the right thing; people who bring all their unhappiness with them, and who tear down everything that the good people created, seem to gain a foothold now and then.

This is a community that is not a community. It took three elections to pass what was an obviously needed bond for schools. We have a nationally recognized school system here--most people don’t seem to appreciate it or care about it.

We have an awesome park and recreation system, yet people trash the trails, don’t act responsibly in the parks, etc. We have a beautiful civic auditorium.

We have the Thousand Oaks High School band going to the Rose Parade and the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C., with no community business sponsors. If we were a town in Ohio, people would be throwing money to send 243 kids to be on national TV twice, representing their hometown. There would be a new row of tubas. Some corporate sponsor would decorate the uniforms. Many have been approached; all have declined.

I once heard a great statement about Thousand Oaks: “It takes a village; we don’t have one. All we have are some village idiots!”

We are a very suburban area as a result of 20 years of planning. After earthquakes we all do the right thing toward each other; why can’t that carry into every aspect of local life?

There are good things here but supporting kids and good people in politics aren’t at the forefront.

GAYLE S. SIMPSON, Thousand Oaks