Residents Roundtable may have outlasted its usefulness

The city of Thousand Oaks Residents Roundtable will soon fade to black (see story on page 1).

Although it served a useful purpose in advising the City Council on various issues, the panel no longer is viable and it had started to produce unnecessary work for the city staff. The roundtable also spawned duplication of effort for items that were the responsibility of the planning commission.

It's important to remember that the Residents Roundtable functioned effectively as long as the City Council kept the members busy and focused. Volunteer groups work well in government as long as they're actively involved and pointed in a specific direction.

Problems arise, however, with idle time.

If committee members aren't kept busy pursuing a primary task, they tend to wander off the beaten path. Pretty soon, they forget about their mission.

Call it human nature or groupthink, if people aren't given specific instructions, they eventually create their own agenda.

Members of the Residents Roundtable began to tackle problems that weren't their responsibility.

Some people who volunteer to serve on government committees may have ulterior motives. They may be secretly seeking a ticket to elected office. At the very least, a resume that includes references to serving on city committees helps feather the nests of would-be officeholders. Community service is, after all, expected of legitimate candidates, and rightfully so. But serving on a committee shouldn't be just a springboard to public office.

On the positive side, the Residents Roundtable provided a conduit from the people to their City Council. Any time that citizens communicate with elected officials, representative government has been well served.

In saying goodbye to the Residents Roundtable, council members should open other doors so the voices of city residents can still be heard.