The bulk of the printed agenda for the July 8 City Council meeting was the consent calendar. That calendar is usually a small part of the agenda and is supposed to contain routine matters expected to be approved by a quick vote with no discussion. It usually passes in about five minutes, but this consent calendar took about 30 minutes.

Mayor Jacqui Irwin asked that items 7H, 7I, 7N, 7R, 7V, 7X all be set aside for further discussion before the council voted to approve the consent calendar. Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña asked that item 7O be set aside before the vote.

As in Bill-de la Peña's case, oftentimes a council member will ask that an issue they had previously voted against be separated before the approval vote of the consent calendar so that when that issue is voted on they can be consistent and reject it again. Item 7O was an amendment that included authorization to spend $94,000 to hire a consultant to help coordinate code compliance and maintain order at the day labor site at 3120 Royal Oaks Drive.

Item 7H was a $110,000 budget increase for the operation of Dial-A-Ride. The expected costs already in the 2007/2008 transportation budget amount to over $1 million.

As the mayor asked questions, staff admitted the report presented to the council was confusing and agreed to rewrite the report and present the information again at a future council meeting.

It was found to be unclear why Dial-A-Ride needed the increase.

The discussion determined that the transportation often used by seniors hadn't improved its excessively long waiting times that some of its clients said they endured.

The other items set aside only required clarification and a little discussion before being passed.

Item 7I was to authorize city staff to waive formal bid requirements to employ one particular vendor who specializes in equipment needed for the Civic Arts Plaza two chillers that keep the building comfortable for those working there. It also included the expenditure of $64,000.

Item 7N was for approval of $160,000 for actuarial consulting for the city's pension plan for the city's hourly/part-time employees.

On Jan. 11, 2005, the council approved formation of a propertybased business improvement district in defined areas of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and several adjacent streets. The council was asked to approve the plan for the current budget along with the tax assessment, according to item 7R

When voting on 7V, the council granted an 18-month time extension to Oct. 4, 2009 to complete construction of a 38-unit development at the Villa Racquet Club.

Item 7X was the city's new outdoor smoking ban ordinance as amended at the last city council meeting. A concern was brought up about how the new outdoor smoking ban would outlaw cigar smoking at Los Robles Greens Golf Course. After a discussion, the council passed this item along with other consent calendar items that weren't questioned.

One such item was $25,000 for a consultant to provide additional services to untangle overlapping responsibilities for theaters at the Countrywide Performing Arts Center at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.