Thousand Oaks Residents List Wishes for Funds

With their city flush with $6.4 million in unrestricted money, Thousand Oaks residents had no trouble drawing up a wish list of worthy projects to spend it on that includes a new equestrian facility, sound walls along Lynn Road and the purchase of more open space.

More than 300 people packed the Newbury Park High School cafeteria Tuesday night for a special meeting of the City Council to offer suggestions on how best to use the developer fee money. Some lined up in the rain for a chance to speak.

Proposals ranged from helping fund the YMCA in Dos Vientos to bringing a bowling alley to town for teen recreation.

But most speakers advocated investing in the city’s three high schools’ athletic facilities: repairing bleachers at Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks high schools, installing all-weather tracks at Newbury Park and Westlake highs and improving the fields, possibly with artificial turf, at all three campuses.

Several residents pushed to allocate most of the money for Newbury Park, saying their high school’s need is greatest and that because the money was collected from development projects in Dos Vientos and Rancho Conejo, it should benefit those directly affected by increased traffic.

“We are tired of being the stepchildren of Thousand Oaks. The phrase ‘all for one’ sounds egalitarian, but there is nothing equal when the starting point is so unequal,” said John Anderson, a 17-year resident of Newbury Park. “Do the courageous thing, do the moral thing. Spend the money in Newbury Park where it’s needed.”

Members of a community group working to renovate the Newbury Park High stadium told the council they have worked for more than a year and received pledges of nearly $200,000 toward a $1-million fund-raising goal.

Newbury Park High student Tiara Wentworth, who has taken summer school classes at Thousand Oaks High, told the council that comparing the campuses “is like comparing a palace to a prison yard.” She urged the council to spend most of the money to make repairs and modernize facilities at her school “and then, if there is any money left, then we can share.”

But an organized group of parents from around the city maintained that it was best to divide the money evenly among the schools because there is a multitude of need and to prevent divisiveness.

“All our kids play in the same league, and you don’t want to set a precedent of spending money on just one school,” said Doug Jones, president of the soccer booster club at Westlake High.

Mayor Andy Fox disagreed that each campus should be treated the same.

“We need to look at this not in terms of equal distribution but in terms of community need,” he said. “I think there’s enough money to go around.”

After more than five hours of public comment, the council appointed council members Claudia Bill-de la Pena and Dennis Gillette to work with Conejo Unified School District officials and residents to determine the best way the city can help the district improve its facilities via some form of matching funds.

“Now that the genie is out of the box, we have got to move and move quickly to determine how to spend this money,” Gillette said.

Bill-de la Pena told the audience a final decision on how to spend the money may not come for months. “We need a lot more dialogue with the school district before we can make any decisions.”