Sooner the Better for Hill Canyon Vote

Debate over whether to build a golf course in Hill Canyon reached a peak in May when the Thousand Oaks City Council, before an audience of 100 or so concerned residents, voted unanimously to hold a public meeting to discuss putting the matter on the ballot before beginning its traditional August hiatus.

Somehow, the time has slipped away. Last week the council (with Mayor Linda Parks opposed) decided to wait until September before trying again.

There is no shortage of explanations: It’s tough coordinating the schedules of the 10 elected officials who make up the Hill Canyon Recreational Resources Joint Powers Authority (five council members plus five park district board members), it’s vacation season, it’s hard to find time on the cable TV channel to air such a session live. . . .

The bottom line is, if residents want to guarantee the opportunity to vote on this project at the next regular election, in March, they need to begin a petition drive. Otherwise, by September--or whenever the council finally gets around to doing what it said it would do--the ballot deadline will be too close. And the council promised only to consider putting the issue to a public vote (and an advisory vote at that).

What’s the hurry? The city and park district have been working on this project for more than six years. As time passes and the city continues spending money on it, momentum continues to build--even as environmental arguments against it grow stronger and opposition grows louder.

We believe the people of Thousand Oaks deserve a definite decision on this controversial project, and we see nothing wrong with allowing them to decide it at the polls. We encourage the City Council and park district board to schedule the hearing as soon as possible and to put the fate of Hill Canyon on the March ballot voluntarily.