2023-05-05
City sets districting discussion dates
Thousand Oaks has begun the process of moving from at-large to by-district elections, with plans to complete the switch in July. Currently, all Thousand Oaks voters may vote for all five City Council members. Upon completion of the districting process, the City will have separate voting districts. Beginning in 2024, each voter will vote for one council member to represent […]
Activist organization files Gorell campaign complaint
District 2 supervisor counters claimsA new campaign finance violation allegation has surfaced against Ventura County Supervisor Jeff Gorell. The basis of the complaint filed with both the county and state against the District 2 supervisor is the fair market value of the office space Gorell leased for his campaign headquarters. The complaint claims that during his campaign, Gorell “inaccurately reported the fair market value […]
Council votes to improve bicyclist safety
City to add lanes, dividers for bikesCyclists and pedestrians on Lynn Road and Hillcrest Drive are soon going to be safer on the streets with new bike lanes and pedestrian improvements. The City Council took steps to create safer bike lanes at its April 25 meeting by approving with a 5-0 vote a resolution for a cooperative agreement between the California Department of Transportation and the […]
Kill talk banned in shelter group chats
Disagreements said to inflict emotional pain on staff, volunteersVolunteers at the Camarillo Animal Shelter are getting a lesson in obedience. The facility at 600 Aviation Drive has recently come under fire over a pit bull mix that was put down for aggressive behavior, including biting a 71- year- old volunteer. Now the volunteers, whose tasks include walking dogs and cleaning kennels, have been told to quiet down about […]
Rain’s impact on agriculture
Farmland in Camarillo is flooded after a storm in January. MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers Recent storms brought badly needed rain to Ventura County, but all that water hurt some crops. Hardest hit is the county’s top crop, strawberries, with the local harvest expected to be down by double digits. Camarillo has received 16.03 inches of rain since Jan. 1, […]
Small Business Week is a great time to shop local
Local business owners who managed to eke out a living through the depth of the pandemic were looking forward to fair winds and flowing seas once COVID numbers died down. They had another thing coming. True, they’re past the mandated closings and reopenings, supply shortages, the laying of tape 6 feet apart to mark where to stand and the constant […]
Thoughts on changes in council elections
On April 14, the T.O. Acorn had an editorial titled “Community can provide input on election districts.” The key takeaways: Thousand Oaks will switch from at-large to by-area or by-district elections. The former is what we had; change implemented on April 4, 2023. The city took up the issue in response to a March 15 letter threatening legal action from […]
One-party rule leads to poor quality of life
On April 7, the Acorn published a perfect letter, that I happened to author, which prompted numerous angry responses that mislabeled my perfect letter “hateful.” I was born in California, and have lived here nearly 50 years now and love the state and it’s immutable qualities. My perfect letter focused strictly on the visible and verifiable deterioration of the quality […]