In the past year, the City Council has approved a number of fiscally reckless items.

The most recent is the $400,000 angled parking misstep.

Just think what city jobs that could provide or other wiser expenditures.

Ten extra spaces at $40,000 each? One of the largest parking structures in Ventura County is like 1,000 feet away.

The council, driven by Andy Fox, is grasping at straws to fix The Lakes and deal with the city’s worst financial crisis ever.

A few more parking spaces was the best they could come up with from $75,000 sent to a San Francisco firm? Certainly, that study could have been done locally. Parking isn’t the problem.

Any marketing firm–heck, any shopper knows what’s wrong with The Lakes. There aren’t enough reasons to go there besides dining.

Put some vendor booths on the plaza lawn. Or get Lakes’ tenants to incentivize customers over.

How about a Ferris wheel or carousel where the skating rink was? Anything with broader appeal than expensive handbags?

How about an all T.O. vendors store with “T.O. Lover” merchandise?

The council also purchased the property on the other side of the Civic Arts Plaza. A great idea unless they build The Lakes II and waste more tax-generating property.

There have been a run of approved projects this year that demonstrate the same lack of clear thinking.

Was it necessary to have yet another attitude survey for $30,000 and send that money to Encinitas?

The city needs to keep its money here.

Don’t forget the logo and image campaign. The council approved sending $90,000 to Tennessee to market itself. They ended up with no image campaign whatsoever. Two firms, including mine, offered campaigns pro bono.

Instead, they bought a $25,000 logo, in town fortunately, but it looks like anything but an oak tree.

Let’s stop this angled parking fiasco before they break ground and really create a mess.

I’m running for City Council.

Help me replace Andy Fox and bring some innovative thinking, marketing expertise and basic business sense to T.O.
Billy Martin
Thousand Oaks