The main reason we have excellent roads, sustainability, water, and wastewater services here is the city’s dedicated, highly competent Public Works team.
This week, they’re giving around 1,600 local students tours of the Municipal Service Center to learn how public works improves everyone’s quality of life.
Today’s opening of the Conejo Canyons bridge in Hill Canyon is excellent news for hikers, cyclists, and public safety. Hikers and cyclists will no longer have to share the single-lane road with trucks entering/leaving the Hill Canyon wastewater treatment plant.
And because the bridge connects Hill Canyon with the Western Plateau in Newbury Park, first responders and public works employees no longer will have to travel out of town via the Camarillo grade to reach either end of the Conejo Canyons.
We are incredibly fortunate to live in such a beautiful area. Hope you get out and enjoy it!
Thanks so much to the Conejo Open Space Foundation National Wildlife Federation teams for the tour of the in-progress Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. What a wonderful way to enhance and protect open space for humans and wildlife alike!
Special thanks to former Sen. Fran Pavley, Beth Pratt, and Lauren Gill, all of whom are playing key roles in making this crossing a reality.
Volunteer bingo! In a characteristically fun and creative event, the Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library thanked the dozens of volunteers who assist staff in making our libraries so consistently excellent. Most played “volunteer appreciation bingo” and several brought service animals.
Volunteers help with everything from cataloging to programming to book sales (both in-person and online). We are very fortunate for the Friends, and for such fine libraries.
More proof that we have the best students here in Thousand Oaks: Attentive groups of kids observed and asked great questions during Trails Education Week, where experts from @conejoopenspacefoundation and @conejoopenspace helped students enjoy and learn about our beautiful open space.
Photo 1: An attentive group from Westlake Hills Elementary observed and asked great questions of @conejoopenspace director Brian Stark.
Photo 2: Students learned about trail etiquette from COSCA board member @dorozoea. Remember the courtesy triangle: Horses have priority over hikers, who have priority over cyclists.
Photos 3 and 4: This is YOUR open space – get out there and enjoy it!
Charity weekend! On Saturday evening Bob and Sue Engler and I attended Senior Concerns’ annual fundraiser, supporting this nonprofit’s essential services for older residents.
On Sunday we were back for the Many Mansions Bowls of Hope event, where we joined Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, Ventura County CEO Dr. Sevet Johnson (pictured here with VCOE superindent Dr. Antonio Castro), and many other local community leaders in serving up tasty soups to hundreds of attendees interested in housing for everyone.
Delighted to say both events drew full-house crowds.
Mayor Al Adam and I met with Rep. Adam Schiff and staff to discuss the Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act, a bill the congressman proposed to protect and enhance the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and surrounding areas.
The City of Thousand Oaks supports this federal legislation and related measures to protect wildlife habitat.
As we build out infrastructure like the Wallis Annenberg crossing in Agoura Hills, it’s important to enhance area wildlife corridors that direct animals away from city streets and back into open space. These measures keep both wildlife and humans safe!
Mayor Al Adam, Councilmember Bob Engler, and I had a productive set of meetings today with our federal representatives in Washington, including here with Rep. Julia Brownley.
We’re in the nation’s capital to ask for federal assistance with sustainability, transportation, and emergency preparedness programs, among other topics.
These annual trips, which also involve a National League of Cities conference, return big benefits for all Thousand Oaks residents. For example, the recent $7M in grant funding we’re receiving for EV chargers is something we discussed on last year’s trip.
Photos by Mina Layba, the city’s legislative affairs manager.
PSA: Caltrans plans an overnight closure of the 101N-SR23 interchange TONIGHT to perform guardrail work. This closure originally had been scheduled for this weekend but Caltrans moved the date forward because of the possibility of rain over the weekend.
Had a wonderful time celebrating wildlife corridor protection at the Connections in Conservation event tonight in Agoura Hills.
Thanks to organizers Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Cougar Conservancy for all their work on wildlife connectivity in the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond.
Thanks too those who traveled from as far as Florida and Texas to view the excellent film "Path of the Panther."
After all I heard at this event, I'm even more glad the Thousand Oaks City Council has made natural habitat protection one of its top goals for 2023-24.
PSA: Caltrans just advised this afternoon that the 101 northbound exit to Highway 23 will be closed from 8 pm TONIGHT through 6 am tomorrow morning for asphalt dike repair work. There will be a marked detour via Rancho Road.
Thanks to Rep. Julia Brownley, Ventura County today received a $12 million federal electrifcation grant, with $7 million of that heading to Thousand Oaks.
The grant will fund EV charging stations, battery storage, related infrastructure, and job training.
This is a win-win-win-win:
It’s good for our climate
It’s good for the growing number of EV users
It’s good for public safety (essential city services need power during emergencies)
It’s good for our economy, creating green jobs
This was a team effort, with many on city staff taking part, along with partners across the county. Kudos all! This will improve people’s lives.
Advocates for the unhoused, police, and healthcare providers all agree that the best thing we can do to address homelessness is provide housing and services.
Last night the City Council did both when it unanimously approved plans to construct a Navigation Center on a city-owned, undeveloped lot in an industrial area of Newbury Park.
The facility will feature 30 tiny homes with room for up to 20 additional units and on-site services. This center is part of the city's ongoing efforts to address homelessness. It's a big step in improving everyone's lives.
With an aggressive construction schedule, we hope to have this facility occupied late this year.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to the city’s Public Works staff, who work day and night to provide excellent services we often take for granted – safe water; smooth streets, bike lanes, and sidewalks; and rapid removal of fallen trees and other hazards, to name a few.
Today the entire crew enjoyed a BBQ lunch (funded by staff contributions), and councilmembers and senior city managers got a chance to say thanks.
Excellent news for hiking, biking, and public safety: Work is well under way on a single-lane bridge over Conejo Creek.
This 140-foot span will connect the Rancho Conejo/Western Plateau area with Hill Canyon. It’s just wide enough to carry an emergency vehicle, saving first responders from having to travel to Camarillo and through the Santa Rosa Valley to reach Hill Canyon. The project also involves a new hiking/biking trail.
Last week the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) board honored longtime chair Rorie Skei, third from left, and voted to nominate Dorothy Sullivan, next to Skei, as the board’s next citizen representative. This week the City Council unanimously approved Dorothy’s nomination. Both women are giants in local open-space usage and conservation.
City staff has posted the agenda for the 10/10 City Council meeting, including a review of the city's Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (IHO).
I encourage all interest residents to read the materials, attend the meeting (in person or remotely), and if so inclined to comment on the IHO or other topics on the agenda.
Congratulations to Jack Nosco of Newbury Park, who today rode his bike for the 1,000th day in a row! How many days a week do you exercise?
Jack, a retired VCFD captain, also organizes the Mike Nosco Memorial Ride. Every Nov. 3 hundreds of cyclists (or more) ride to benefit local families and individuals facing life-threatening illness. Learn more/donate at mikenosco.com.
In unanimous votes, the City Council this week moved to protect senior households from risk of displacement and prevented a sleepy subdivision from being carpet-bombed with stop signs.
Staff and Council deserve credit, but the real heroes are the residents who brought both issues to us.
Residents showed up and made clear they expected their employees – that’s us – to serve community interests. That’s what happened this week. This is how representative government is support to work. #tocc