Focus on the Goals

It’s tempting to poke fun at the Thousand Oaks City Council’s recent group therapy retreat. Five on a shrink’s couch? Getting in touch with their inner statespersons?

Instead, we offer a sincere congratulations to the board for making a concrete effort to leave behind the bickering and backbiting of City Councils Past and do a better job of working together--productively and politely.

It’s a good start. May that spirit of teamwork continue. And no, we neither expect nor desire this to result in an endless string of 5-0 votes from now on. There is room on the council for a range of perspectives and a genuine difference of opinion. There is room for strong views and passionate debate. It is rudeness and disrespect that have no place here.

The most enlightening portion of the two-day, 13-hour retreat was an exercise in which each council member was asked to privately list his or her expectations for Thousand Oaks 15 years from now. Surprise: The five visions of the future were essentially the same.

“What we did just solidified that there’s no difference in visions,” said Councilman Michael Markey. “We may just have differences in how to get there.”

Next, the firm that facilitated the sessions will prepare a report laying out the list of goals agreed on by the council members. We would like to see that list posted on the city’s Web site and on the bulletin board outside City Hall as a reminder--just in case things ever threaten to become overheated again--that much can be accomplished when strong-minded, strong-willed leaders make the effort to stop, look and listen.