City of Thousand Oaks Concludes Districting Process and Adopts Five-District Map

The Thousand Oaks City Council adopted an ordinance establishing the City’s first City Council district map and district-based elections.

Starting with the November 2024 election cycle, residents of Thousand Oaks will vote for one City Councilmember to represent the district they live in. Districts 4 and 5 are up for election in 2024, and Districts 1, 2, and 3 are up for election in 2026.

On March 15, the City received a letter challenging the City’s at-large election system and asserting that the system violated the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The City of Thousand Oaks began the districting process in April 2023 to protect itself from financial and legal risks and hired National Demographics Corporation as the demographers and Tripepi Smith to assist with community outreach efforts.

The City launched the process by creating a dedicated districting website, maptoaks.org, which provided background information about districting, a schedule of upcoming meetings, a form to submit communities of interest, mapping tools, draft maps submitted throughout the process, and answers to frequently asked questions. The website was regularly updated with new and relevant information throughout the process.

To gather public input and feedback on the district formation process, the City of Thousand Oaks held five public hearings and four community workshops:

•     May 9, 2023 - First public hearing

•     May 11, 2023 - Virtual community workshop

•     May 16, 2023 - Second public hearing

•     June 3, 2023 - In-person community workshop

•     June 20, 2023 - Third public hearing

•     June 22, 2023 - Virtual community workshop

•     June 24, 2023 - In-person community workshop

•     July 11, 2023 - Fourth public hearing and first reading of the ordinance

•     July 18, 2023 - Fifth public hearing and second reading of the ordinance

The community workshops gave residents an opportunity to learn more about why the City was pursuing a move to district-based elections and share input on communities of interest, and draft maps once they were available. The City’s demographer also demonstrated how to use the mapping tools made available for the public to create maps.

In addition to community workshops, the City encouraged Thousand Oaks residents to get involved in the process through regular outreach emails, phone calls to community-based organizations, social media posts, flyers, and pop-up events.

At the public hearings, City Council received an overview of the process, reviewed public comments, and examined draft maps submitted by the public and created by the demographer. After extensive public feedback and engagement in the process, the Council selected Map 106 B for adoption at the July 11 City Council meeting. Map 106 B divides the City into five districts and follows the legal criteria set forth in the CVRA.

    District 1 encompasses Newbury Park up to Ventu Park Road and follows the 101 Freeway as the northern border.

    District 2 includes the area surrounding Wildwood Regional Park, California Lutheran University and Los Robles Hospital. The district follows Moorpark Road on the northeast and includes Conejo Creek Equestrian Park. The southern region of the district follows Janss Road, down Lynn Road and goes west along the 101 Freeway.

    District 3 includes the communities east of Moorpark Road and follows Avenida de Las Flores as the southern edge. This district includes Lang Ranch Park and its surrounding open space.

    District 4 includes the Westlake Village area and the eastern side of Newbury Park from Ventu Park Road, containing the surrounding residential and commercial areas.

    District 5 includes the core of Thousand Oaks and takes in the business areas along Moorpark Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard up to Westlake Boulevard. The western region of the district includes the California Botanical Garden.

For more information regarding the districting process and to see the district in which you reside, visit maptoaks.org.

City of Camarillo Provides Trolley Bus Service Seven Days a Week

The City of Camarillo provides trolley bus service Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until 9 p.m.

The fare price is $.50 for seniors and ADA riders and $1 for adults and students.

The service provides convenient, air-conditioned, nostalgic transportation to Camarillo retail and dining destinations. Accommodations for persons with disabilities are provided.

The trolley bus route starts at the Metrolink train station, runs west on Daily Drive, south down Las Posas Road, and then east on Ventura Boulevard back to the Metrolink station. Here are the stops and the minutes the trolley reaches each stop after each hour and half hour:

• Metrolink (Camarillo Train Station) (0 min)

• Ponderosa Center (next to 99 Cent Store) (4 min)

• Camarillo Plaza (Daily Dr west of Murray Ave) (7 min)

• Carmen Plaza (Daily and Carmen) (9 min)

• Las Posas Plaza (Daily and Calle La Roda) (11 min)

• Camarillo Town Center (between Ross and Walmart) (17 min)

• Premium Outlets Promenade (Ventura Blvd) (20 min)

• Premium Outlets Main Court (Ventura Blvd and Camarillo Center Dr) (22 min)

• Old Town (Ventura Blvd and Fir St) (25 min)

• Dizdar Park and Camarillo Chamber (27 min)

• Metrolink (30 min)

The trolley stops at shopping centers all along the route on a 30 minute schedule. Riders can also flag down the trolley to board anywhere along the route.

Where IS the trolley at any given point in time!? Well you can get that answer on the Trolley Tracker at www.camarillotrolley.com.

www.ci.camarillo.ca.us/residents/public_transportation/camarillo_trolley.php

City of Camarillo Announces Costco Seeks to Develop New Location in Town by Mid to Late 2024

Aerial Site Plan

The City of Camarillo announced the other day that Costco has submitted an application to develop a 160,000 square foot location with a freestanding gas station situated on a vacant lot at the west end of the Camarillo Town Center, south side of Highway 101 and west of Home Depot near Springville Drive.

The city indicated it is an ideal location for Camarillo residents. Over the last 12 months, an estimated nearly 37,000 Camarillo residents visited the Oxnard store nearly 388,000 visits, nearly 13,000 visited the Westlake Village store for nearly 90,000 visits, and over 6,000 visited the Simi Valley store for nearly 33,000 visits. A local Camarillo store would recapture quite a bit of this business.

Costco and the owner of the vacant lot are currently in the process of negotiations, so at this point while the development is not guaranteed, if all goes as anticipated, the store could open by mid to late 2024.

always a Costco favorite!

$27 Million State Homekey Grant to Help Fund the Creation of 77 Permanent Supportive Housing Units

A month ago, the City of Thousand Oaks, in partnership with Shangri-La Industries and Step Up on Second Street announced an award of $27 million to permanently convert the Quality Inn & Suites at 12 Conejo Boulevard into 77 units of supportive housing for the chronically homeless.

The state’s Homekey program has offered a rare opportunity to leverage substantial resources to meet this challenge in our community. With unanimous support from City Council and the County Board of Supervisors to apply for the funds, an extensive, compelling application was submitted to the state for consideration. After a lengthy and thorough review process, the Governor’s Office announced the City of Thousand Oaks as a recipient of its Homekey Round 2 awards.

The multi-agency effort included a contribution of $1.8 million from the City’s Housing Successor Fund Budget, $6.6 million from the County of Ventura and the waiver of $852,875 in Quimby Fees by the Conejo Valley Recreation & Park District to support the project.

To learn more about the City’s ongoing and multifaceted efforts to address homelessness and find project updates, please visit www.toaks.org/homekey.

Groundbreaking for the the project will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 28, 2022.

Back in the 1960s, the Quality Inn & Suites was the Hyatt Lodge. See then and now pictures and more information at THIS LINK.

City of Camarillo Public Library to Reopen on Tuesday, April 27, 2021

The City of Camarillo is pleased to announce the modified reopening of the Camarillo Public Library (4101 Las Posas Road, Camarillo) on Tuesday, April 27, 2021.

The Camarillo Public Library, which has been closed since March 14, 2020, due to the state of emergency arising from the spread of COVID-19, will reopen to the community beginning Tuesday, April 27, 2021. The hours will be Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Curbside service will continue with modified hours, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., which is consistent with the current peak use of curbside service.

Visitors will be allowed to browse bookstacks and check out physical materials from all areas of the library including the fiction, non-fiction, young adults, and children sections. In addition, each area will have pre-selected book bundles available for quick access and checkout. Books and other physical materials returned or handled by the public will be held in quarantine for 48-hours before being returned to shelves, consistent with state guidelines.

Both visitors and staff will be required to wear masks. Physical distancing protocols will be enforced, and furniture and chairs will be rearranged to ensure proper distancing. The use of plexiglass barriers will be used in areas where person-to-person interaction is likely to occur.

Cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing will be conducted throughout the day. The number of available library computers has been reduced to provide for proper distancing, and a time restriction of one hour per user per day will be imposed. Access to printers, copy machines, and Wi-Fi will be available.

In-person library programming and private events remain unavailable at this time and will be evaluaed and expanded as conditions improve. The literacy program and Russell Fischer Business Collection will continue to be offered as virtual services, and a virtual summer reading program will be added to encourage students in maintaining reading and comprehension skills during their summer break. For more information on services and programs offered at the Camarillo Public Library, visit camarillolibrary.org.

Thousand Oaks Police Department Vulnerable Population Officers Help to Assist the Homeless

Thousand Oaks Police Department Vulnerable Population Officers continue their efforts to assist our homeless community, collaborating with area social services to arrange placement in assistance programs. The latest success was helping deliver a homeless man to a substance abuse rehabilitation program after months of interaction.

On January 6, 2021, deputies assisted Ventura County Behavioral Health in taking the homeless person to a facility to begin a 7-10 day program for substance abuse rehabilitation. The program includes housing and treatment. The process began after Vulnerable Population Officers assisted Ventura County Behavioral Health with an assessment on the person and space was located for him at the facility. After that, Ventura County Behavioral Health will follow-up to pursue additional placement for housing and further treatment. This opportunity was openly accepted by the homeless person to take the positive steps forward for help. This success is an example of the continuous and dedicated work by collaborators, sometimes over a span of weeks, months, or even years, to maintaining contact with and find placement for homeless persons in need of assistance in our community.

Over the past two years, Vulnerable Population Officers, Senior Deputy Juan Cordova and Deputy Josh Richter, have collaborated with stakeholders to find needed assistance for our homeless population. A local area focus group was established that includes the City of Thousand Oaks, Harbor House, Lutheran Social Services, Ventura County Health Care Agency, Ventura County Continuum of Care, Many Mansions, faith- based organizations, Ventura County Superior Court - Homeless Court, Ventura County Public Defender, and other non-profit organizations.

If you know any homeless person in Thousand Oaks who is willing to take a positive step forward to get help, the Vulnerable Population Officers are interested in contacting those who suffer from mental health, drug addiction, disabilities, or are in need of medical assistance. You can reach out to Sr. Deputy Cordova at juan.cordova@ventura.org, dial 2-1-1 (in Ventura County), or call Ventura County Behavioral Health Homeless Services at (805) 981-4200.

local.nixle.com/alert/8465720

Schools Will Consider Reopening Dates as Ventura County Coronavirus Status Improves

Today, Ventura County moved off the most restrictive tier of the state’s COVID-19 watch list, which means schools could soon have the option of reopening for in-person instruction at all grade levels. If Ventura County maintains its status for two additional weeks, schools may choose to reopen as early as Wednesday, October 21. However, it will be up to each individual school district to determine exactly when they can safely begin welcoming students back to class. Some schools may choose to reopen their campuses later than October 21 for a variety of reasons.

When they do reopen, schools will need to maintain strict social distancing, keeping students and staff at least six feet away from each other. This means classrooms can only be filled to a fraction of their normal capacity. Schools are also required to keep the same groups of students together to the greatest extent possible to limit the number of people each student is exposed to throughout the day.

In elementary grades, many schools will comply with these rules by bringing only a portion of students to class each day. On the days they are not in class, students will continue receiving instruction through distance learning. This hybrid approach will allow all students to have some in-class instruction a few days per week.

The situation becomes much more complicated in middle school and high school where students switch classrooms and mix with different groups multiple times a day according to each student’s unique schedule. Because of this and the fact that classrooms cannot be filled to capacity, it will be extremely difficult to create a workable in-person schedule at the middle and high school levels. As a result, some schools may determine that the best option is to continue with full-time distance learning.

In addition to scheduling and safety considerations, school districts need to ensure there are enough teachers available to resume in-person instruction. Many teachers are in high risk groups, which could prevent them from returning to class. Others may have reservations about being in a crowded school environment while the pandemic is ongoing.

Another issue that complicates reopening is transportation. Because of social distancing requirements, school buses will not be able to carry the usual number of students. It’s very likely there will not be a sufficient supply of buses and drivers to provide transportation to all students who may need it.

“We recognize that people have passionate feelings on both sides of the school reopening issue, and we want nothing more than to get students safely back to class,” said Stan Mantooth, Ventura County Superintendent of Schools. “I urge everyone to understand that school district leaders are working to reopen in the most responsible way, which may mean spending additional time on distance learning at some schools.”

All Ventura County schools have prepared detailed reopening procedures that will help ensure the safety of students and staff when they return to campus. They include:

• Face coverings will be required for all staff and for students in third grade and above.

• Classrooms will be arranged to keep everyone at least six feet apart.

• Students will be kept in consistent groups (cohorts) as much as possible.

• Parents will be instructed to keep students home whenever they have a temperature or show symptoms.

• Anyone experiencing symptoms at school will be sent home.

• Facilities and equipment will be disinfected on a regular basis.

• School officials will work with Ventura County Public Health on contact tracing if positive cases arise.

• Athletic training and conditioning are allowed with social distancing, but actual competitions are on hold pending further guidance from public health officials.

• Staff will receive COVID-19 testing as required by state and local regulations.

• Staff and students will receive health screenings on a regular basis.

Each school district is communicating independently with parents and students about their reopening timelines. For additional information about reopening protocols, see the Framework for Reopening Ventura County Schools at www.vcoe.org/framework.

About the Ventura County Office of Education

The Ventura County Office of Education provides a broad array of fiscal, training and technology support services to local school districts, helping to maintain and improve lifelong educational opportunities for children, educators and community members. VCOE also operates schools that serve students with severe disabilities and behavioral issues, provides career education courses, and coordinates countywide academic competitions including Mock Trial and the Ventura County Science Fair. Learn more at: www.vcoe.org.

New Ventura County Office of Education Building to Serve Needs of Students with Autism

The Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) today marked the completion of the new Mary E. Samples Education Services Center building in Camarillo.

The 29,944 square- foot, two-story building at 5250 Adolfo Road. was finished just over two years after construction began. The building is the new, permanent home of VCOE’s Triton Academy, which serves students with autism in 3rd through 12th grades. It also houses the administrative offices of VCOE’s Special Education Department and has space reserved for what could become a high-tech makerspace lab for middle school students throughout the county.

The building is named after Mary E. Samples, a longtime champion of children with special needs in Ventura County. Before she retired in 2018, Samples served for 14 years as the leader of the Ventura County SELPA (Special Education Local Plan Area), the agency that administers special education programs for public school students countywide. That capped a distinguished career spanning nearly four decades in Ventura County public education.

Plans to bring students back to class in the new building are temporarily on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. Once it’s safe for them to return, students will find state-of-the art classrooms equipped with smart video screens, the latest specialized learning tools for children with autism, and an interactive outdoor play area. A formal dedication and grand opening ceremony for the new building will be held at a future date when conditions allow.

The $15 million in funding for the new building came from Proposition 51, a statewide school facilities bond measure that voters approved in 2016. The Mary Samples Center was built by Oxnard-based Viola Constructors and designed by DC Architects. Additional information, including a time lapse video of the building’s construction, is available at www.vcoe.org/msc.

About the Ventura County Office of Education

The Ventura County Office of Education provides a broad array of fiscal, training and technology support services to local school districts, helping to maintain and improve lifelong educational opportunities for children, educators and community members. VCOE also operates schools that serve students with severe disabilities and behavioral issues, provides career education courses, and coordinates countywide academic competitions including Mock Trial and the Ventura County Science Fair. Learn more at: www.vcoe.org.