City to donate furniture

Nonprofit groups in Thousand Oaks will soon benefit from the city's overflowing storage facilities.

Surplus furniture and equipment no longer needed by city hall will be donated to local organizations. The city council recently authorized staff to create guidelines for donating the items. Qualified groups will be able to request spare furnishings from the city and upon approval will be responsible for pickup and installation of the donations.

"Now people randomly call to ask if we have things like office chairs to donate," said Elizabeth Perez, the city's construction project coordinator.

In the 10 years that city offices have been housed at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts

Plaza, dozens of old desk chairs, tables, shelving units and other items no longer used have filled up storage areas in the building as well as at the Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park library branches.

"The things we can reuse, we do," Perez said. "But there are things that can't be reused, mostly freestanding things that were unique to a certain configuration or situation."

The city looked into selling the items to used-furniture dealers but the prices offered were insignificant.

Ideally, Perez says, once the guidelines are set, the city will separate those things it will retain from those that will be donated so that groups can come and view available items.

--Sophia Fischer