The Save Open Space (SOS) ads in the Thousand Oaks Acorn regarding the Rancho Potrero plan hit well below the belt when they insinuate that the Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) board isn't listening to residents.

The ads sound as if SOS is getting ready to throw a childish tantrum if the board doesn't adopt SOS's version of what's best for Thousand Oaks.

Fourteen-hundred signatures in a city of 130,000 doesn't demonstrate a mandate. SOS's ideas may be right on, but their message and tactics are not, hence they don't earn my support.

Frankly, while I love horses, the manure, flies and odor can at times be offensive. That is real.

Yet balance calls for equestrian and other reasonable opportunities. But fires, DJs, bus exhaust, a busy parking lot, a large party pavilion- - it sounds as if SOS is describing an outofcontrol situation. For real evidence of family and group fun without their doom and gloom predictions, drop by the Conejo Creek facility on Janss Road, where good stuff happens every day.

Sorry, folks, but this city needs more facilities that cater to families and provides multiuse opportunities.

Not everyone shares SOS's views nor has the resources to purchase half-page hit pieces that criticize otherwise hardworking elected/unpaid board members.

Where else but in Thousand Oaks could you give so much to your city and get publicly reamed in the local newspaper. Ron Bauer Thousand Oaks