I'm a 30-year resident of Conejo Valley. After reading the many letters about Home Depot, I found I, too, need to speak.

To all the people who showed their concern for the seniors and children in the area, where have your complaints been for the past 40 years? Do you think that having a major retailer in this location didn't cause pollution?

As for the migrant workers that you complained about loitering, have you taken the time to drive to the other side of the freeway to see them loitering today?

Why are you not complaining about this eyesore that we pay for? If one side of the Hampshire Road offramp is a gateway to the community, why isn't the other? Is this not the offramp that leads to the Civic Arts Plaza?

We once had a roller skating rink across the street from Kmart and a bowling alley that's now a bookstore. We also had an ice rink which has been leveled. This leads me to my next point.

To all of the people who want a community-friendly facility at this location, where have you been? We were supposed to have a science center and IMAX theater next door to the Civic Center. Instead, we received expensive restaurants and overpriced retailers, neither of which serve the youth of our community.

Thank you to our City Council, which is throwing nearly $100,000 for consultants to find out how to improve the site.

If the site is successful, why improve it?

The reason we'll never get what you want at this location is because you've proven that you won't support it.

You have also proven that if you continue to support your current City Council, all you're going to get are projects that serve their wallets and agendas, not your community.

You got what you asked for; now may you all enjoy another five plus years of it while it wallows in further decay.

This site truly is a perfect gateway to describe the incompetence of our community. Robert Martz Thousand Oaks