Conejo Post

*Please see Editor’s Comment at the bottom of this post.  7-14, 10:07 PM  This post was written at approximately 7:30 AM. 

I watched the Thousand Oaks TV channel last night so that I could hear what folks were saying about the proposed Los Robles Hospital and parking expansion, during the public comment segment at the Thousand Oaks City Council.

Prior to this, Mayor Pro Tem Andy Fox announced that he had 67 speaker cards, and that comments would be limited to 2 minutes.  From watching until 10 PM, although I did not hear all the speakers, it seemed to me that there were trends in who criticized the growth plans, and who supported them.

Most critics appeared to me, to live in the neighborhoods immediately surrounding Los Robles.  One thing that was pointed out was that only residents living within 500 feet of the project got official notices about it.  There were also  a lot of questions about why it was moving so fast at this point, with the threat of non-compliance of state law about earthquake retrofitting, when it really seemed like an excuse for expansion.  There were comments on why parking couldn’t be underground, instead of in a new above-ground structure at the corner of Janns and Lynn Roads.  I did not hear anyone saying that they did not want a hospital or that it was not needed in the Conejo Valley, just that they wanted an expansion plan with less impact on the community, and with more community involvement with the plan.  As one person said, what he wanted was a lower profile, with a wider footprint. 

Those people for the expansion, mostly seemed to live further away, and wanted to support having a good hospital nearby.  There were also a number of people from University Village, a retirement community of over 500 residents, who spoke in favor of the expansion.

I don’t know what the Thousand Oaks City Council decided after all the input, because the meeting ran so late.  But whatever the decision, I find it unfortunate that the Council had this important issue up for discussion when only three councilmembers were attending.

Posted by Janna Orkney

Editor Comment:  It is Wednesday at 9:59 PM, and I want to thank Harvey Kern for bringing to my attention that the VC Star has an article online about the Thousand Oaks City Council meeting and the decision on the Los Robles Hospital expansion.  His comment is posted under comments to this post.  Both Mayor Dennis Gillette and Councilmember Claudia Bill de la Pena recused themselves on this issue, and that is why they were not present at the meeting during the public comment period.  Please read Harvey’s comment for a link to the VC Star article.