DEL CAMPO'S BROKEN PROMISES

Prior to his election four years ago Dan Del Campo made several commitments to the RESIDENTS of Thousand Oaks. Let's take a look at what he actually did!

The Following are his commitments followed by what he actually did in Blue.

Further to the above he signed a CONTRACT WITH THOUSAND OAKS CITIZENS, and pledged to;

Dan Del Campo has failed to live up to his pledges and therefore does not deserve to be your representative.

 IS THOUSAND OAKS STILL THE SAFEST CITY IN THE NATION?

Not Anymore!

Thousand Oaks used to be the safest city in America.  However Amherst, New York has held the distinction for the past five years. Here are the facts as reported by Morgan Quitno Press, a Lawrence, Kansas-based publishing and research company that took the data from the FBI 2001 statistics and has placed this information on their web site at http://www.morganquitno.com  or look at the graph on the News page.

Thousand Oaks now ranks 13th in the Nation.
 Six Years ago Thousand Oaks was ranked #1.

What has the Troika done about it?

Andy Fox (8 years on the council) - Claims credit for establishing a task force to combat bank robberies other than that - NADA!

Dennis Gillette (4 years on the council) - An ex-Sheriff with 24 years of service - NADA!

Dan Del Campo (4 years on the council) - He promised to reduce crime. - NADA!

Now these three want us to forget their failures and reelect them for four more years! - We don't think so!

EAST SIDE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CIVIC ARTS PLAZA

Let's establish a frame of reference: If You own a home here in Thousand Oaks, would you sell your home today for what you paid for it ten years ago?  If you answered Yes, read no further, common sense is not one of your strong suits!  If you answered No Read on!

Finally, this area which should have graded, trees and grass planted when the Civic Arts Plaza was finished instead of being allowed to become an eyesore will be developed instead of being used as a storage place for Dirt! That is the good part! 

The City Council Majority (Del Campo, Fox, Gillette, aka the T. O. Troika) approved a "development agreement" for a 48,000-square-foot complex that will include a plaza, an informal performance stage or amphitheater, a clock tower, two ponds, an ice-skating rink and a partridge in a pear tree*, in the belief that it is "a strategic fit to the boulevard" or is it a gift to the developer and a misappropriation of tax payer funds?  

LOOKS LIKE A $16,000,000.00 GIVEAWAY TO US!

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* Thought we would add a little humor.

HOFFMAN'S CREDENTIALS

More to Come! The Facts are only just coming to light!

NOISE, POLLUTION AND TRAFFIC

Look around you, the majority in control of the City Council (Fox, Gillette, Del Campo) and Planning Commission (Bruno, Hoffman, Glancy) care very little about concerns of the citizens they represent. The following will bear that out;

1. Over the objections of the residents and a faulty Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (City Staff admitted they forgot to include proper traffic data) the Planning Commission approve the construction of a 90,000 sq. ft. department store next to a residential neighborhood in Newbury Park (6/10/02 Glancy, Hoffman, Bruno).
    

2. Lynn Road, now a freeway, speed limit increased to 50 MPH.
   No noise mitigation or safety concerns of the residents taken into account. (6/10/02)  
   Go to> Vehicular Traffic.

Firing of Nora Aidukas, Michael Farris and censure of Linda Parks - 
Deputy District Attorney, Thomas Harris determined that the allegations that led to votes by Councilmen  Dan Del Campo, Dennis Gillette and, Andy Fox to fire planning commissioners Nora Aidukas and Michael Farris and censure Linda Parks on  2/13/02  were not supported by any evidence.

Conejo Valley Star, Editorial: Councils actions unwise, vindictive 

Prosecutors also found that the three-member Thousand Oaks City Council majority (Fox, Gillette & Del Campo) that requested the investigation had no reasonable basis for having alleged the violation in the first place.

THE MILLION DOLLAR ELEVATOR

Civic Arts Elevator / Entry Project - Andy Fox, Dennis Gillette & Dan Del Campo allowed the cost of this project to escalate from $225,000 to $1,136,114.00. That is over FIVE times the original budgeted cost.   Is that responsible management and oversight of Taxpayer funds?

 (see City Finance Department report;  FIN:370-10H:Common/Council/120401elevator.wdp  Dated 12/4/2001) 

Question: Did the City officials know in advance that the project would cost in excess of one million dollars and therefore decided to piecemeal approval of the project to the public thereby eliminating a huge public outcry of the exorbitant cost involved?  

By all standard project and procurement ethics that is not allowed.  

They wouldn't do that, would they?

Dan Del Campo "BILLBOARD" Proposal

Thousand Oaks City Council (Del Campo, Fox, Gillette), approved the expenditure of $325,000.00 for three, 320 square foot freeway signs (8 feet high by 40 feet long).     Now that's Chutzpah!

Are these signs future Graffiti targets?

What else have our illustrious City watch dogs foolishly spent our tax dollars on?

Who is the contractor who received this windfall? 

HOUSING ON HILLSIDES

Residents should pay very close attention to what those running for City Council promise.
Will those currently on the council, if reelected, try to change the General Plan to allow homes on hillsides?

Dennis Gillette voted against protecting our ridge lines (October 16, 2001), WHY?

There is very limited space left to build homes in Thousand Oaks and this pro-development majority on the City Council may try to change the General Plan to allow a more liberal interpretation or change it entirely.

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HILL CANYON

Led by Andy Fox, the Thousand Oaks City Council spent  TWO MILLION DOLLARS of our tax money to investigate the possibility of building a Golf Course in a canyon next to a Sewer Plant.

This travesty was averted by concerned citizens forming a grassroots campaign that was determined to prevent the destruction of this natural open space and wild life area. After many heated sessions with the pro-development City Council the residents finally convinced those on the council to stop the madness. This was one of the issues that defeated two members of the council in their bid for re-election in 2000.            See the "Hill Canyon"  web page.

COPPER CURTAIN

After much consideration, two very expensive telephone surveys, a request for bids, community meetings etc. Proposals were  made in late 1999 by companies and artists. Formal bids were received in March of 2000.

The community overwhelming decided that they supported an Oak Tree Design to replace the Copper Curtain hanging on the side of our City Hall.

Have you seen it lately?
What happened to all the work put into this by many interested people?

The public's idea evidently is not good enough, so the City Council and City management has put it on the back burner until the City staff or whoever can implement a  design they want, residents be dammed! 

Has our City management been infected with the NIH syndrome (not invented here)?

Ask those running for election what their position is on this issue.

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SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

Joel S. Wyenn

Biographical Highlights

Top Priorities if Elected

Position Paper
I believe it is time to initiate programs which will benefit our students in ways which have not yet been explored. Education is the path to develop responsible citizens and to provide them with the tools for success in their lives. When students graduate from the Conejo Valley School District we must have provided them with either a skill to enter the work force or the ability to enter a program of higher education. We must produce citizens capable of earning a wage which will support a family. The District needs to investigate programs which will benefit the students and industry at the same time where funding is through a share agreement with the private sector or possibly government. I do not believe in the adage, "We have always done it that way". The Conejo Valley Unified School District is a business and should be operated like a business with an eye to doing it better, providing a better future for the students and keeping up with technology.
When an investigation is required into a matter of alleged wrong doing on the part of a teacher or administrator, involved students and their parents in addition to other relevant witnesses must be contacted and interviewed and that information must be reviewed. Receiving only the information provided by the party accused of the alleged wrong doing and their supervisor, which I found to be the current practice, does not provide enough information to use as the basis for taking or not taking action.

We need to investigate the possibility of creating a homework period at the end of the school day so students may be able to complete their homework at school. In addition the creation of a program for parents to assist their children with their homework using a parent subject guide.

I believe it would be significant to develop a Life Skills seminar for all students starting in middle and completing in high school. The purpose of the program is to offer a foundation of real life skills for future use. The seminars would include such topics as how to obtain health care for you and your family, how to rent or buy a place to live, how to manage a bank account, how and why to provide good nutrition to you and your family, what are your civil legal rights and how to protect them, how not to violate the law, what are your legal rights in the workplace, stopping spousal and significant-other mental and physical abuse, stopping child abuse, how to purchase an automobile, how to establish and use credit wisely, how to understand world events as they relate to you, what voting means and how it works, how to obtain a job, how to find help when you need it and if necessary, how the government assisted benefits programs work.

The sports programs in both the middle and high schools need oversight in their set up, management and selection of coaching staff. Our sports programs should be set up to include students and not exclude them. Coaching Staff should never run their teams as if they were not accountable to anyone. The cost to participate in sports in the high schools is prohibitive and clearly excludes some students.

The costs for these programs should have outside funding and we need to find those sources in order to reduce the burden on the students and their families.

It should never be the practice, as it currently is, for the Board of Education to discourage the identification of a person or persons who a public speaker wishes to identify and make a negative statement about (please see Baca vs. Moreno Valley Unified School District). The Board should encourage free and open speech within the bounds of good taste and with absolute regard for defamation of character. If the speaker is factually wrong in what they are expressing, he or she will lose the argument and find themself without support for their cause.

We need to create a program within the school system that gives as many of the students as possible, 'a reason' why not to use illegal drugs or alcohol. It is my firm belief based upon conducting thousands of pre-employment background interviews for private sector jobs, jobs within law enforcement and the fire fighting service, that kids don't use illegal drugs or alcohol if they have 'a reason' not to. Those kids who do not have 'this reason' continue to use illegal drugs or alcohol and suffer the consequences.

I made the decision to run for the position of Board Member because I believe the present Board has not been as effective as it could be. If elected I will raise my voice to insure that the students' best interests are considered with plain speech and not legalese. I look forward to your comments on issues important to you. If you have confidence that I will perform at my very best I ask you to vote for me, Joel S. Wyenn, for Board of Education. Thank you.

From: "Sydney Stein"
Date: Fri Oct 11, 2002 
Subject: Paper describing my positions

I believe local control of the curriculum is essential if we are going to continue to provide our current quality program.  Both State and Federal plans are aimed at improving low-scoring schools which does not describe the Conejo.  I believe we can influence both agencies if we stay vigilant and inform the citizens of what is occurring since both Washington and Sacramento are political agencies and do respond when they hear from the voters.

I believe we need to review school size and level the enrollment at the schools.  It this means boundary changes, then we need to do that.  The decision should be made on what provides the best opportunity for the students, not which parents show up to the board meeting.

I believe money should be spent to improve the schools we have now instead of focusing on future construction.  These improvements should be done now and not sometime in the future when the district is going for a new bond election.
I am available at 805.497.7987 or sydney.stein@verizon.net.
"Sydney Stein"