City Council Meeting 1/14/2025
1. Senior Center There needs to be a vote by residents as to whether we should have a senior center. A few years back when Mayor Fox was on the Council, there was a discussion as to possibly having a Senior Center in Newbury Park in addition to the one in Thousand Oaks. This did not happen and the Senior Center was turned into an adult center.
I called a few months ago regarding this as there is a need for a Senior Center and most cities have at least one. It is a place for seniors that is just for them. It reduces isolation and offers classes that seniors would like to have and need on the schedule instead of adding classes for adults and eliminating classes as there is not enough room on the schedule.
The Board member I spoke with said that people did not want a senior center and preferred an adult center. I am not aware of such a vote ever taking place. There are people that want a senior center.
There are classes that used to be offered that are not on the schedule and haven't been for a while. This includes a second choral group, a class to keep cognitive abilities intact that involve math and other skills. There used to be a beginning bridge class and more card games. I was told by the Board member that no one has come forward to offer these classes. There is such a thing as Out Reach. I have not seen any evidence that any Out Reach has been done. This could mean advertising in the newspaper, contacting universities that have students that are taking classes involving working with seniors. It could also mean contacting other close by Cities to find out what classes that they offer at their senior centers and if persons working with seniors have the time to add our community to their schedule.
2. Preparedness of our City for Wild Fires
We still have streets that have power poles which can be dangerous in times of fire and wind. When are these power poles going to be replaced with underground utilities? There are trees in Thousand Oaks that are very combustible such as eucalyptus trees. Palm trees and plants need to be reduced in frequency in favor of fruit trees or other trees and succulents which are more fire retardant.
Regarding artificial turf, some artificial turf may be very combustible and may be toxic when it burns. This needs to be looked into.
Received at City Council
Meeting of 1/14/2025
Agenda Item #
Sharon Miret Copies to Council mail
Hem#8
Which reservoir is our main water source in case there is a fire? How often is it checked for the level of the water and if there are needed repairs? Who checks are fire hydrants and how frequently are they checked. Do we have the necessary equipment on board if there is a fire?
We have heard that the Palisade reservoir was empty and out of commission. The fire hydrants were not working properly. According from what we have heard, L.A. gave some of their equipment to Ukraine and I don't know if this hampered the fire fighting effort.
Mayor Bass left for a trip to Ghana, knowing that the Santa Ana winds were coming. It is uncertain if she checked to see if the fire equipment was in working order before she left.
The City Council and Mayor Bass of L.A. slashed 17 million dollars from the fire department's budget. Our State government and Governor Newsom approved the slashing of 100 million from the Fire Prevention budget. There was supposed to be a new reservoir and more water projects which were eliminated from the budget. This is not a good sign.
Are Bass and Newsom going to be recalled or will they get a pass. Thousands of residents have lost their homes. Stores and schools were burnt to the ground. This has been destruction on a massive scale.
We have heard that Governor Newsom has put aside 50 million dollars to fight President Trump's efforts to deport illegal aliens. It is important to note that our State did nothing to prevent the invasion of our Country by 11 million unvetted illegal aliens. Our tax dollars were never meant to support illegal aliens. According to news reports, 5 billion dollars of our tax dollars are going towards supporting illegal aliens. This results in tax dollars being diverted from our infrastructure to support causes which pulls away funds included what is needed for fire management, water management and forestry management. We cannot afford this. There should be prerequisites for running for office in order to have the knowledge to handle these complicated matters and to forego over the top environmental concerns that interfere with our safety.
It is incompetence that the City was unprepared to handle the wild fires. Why wasn't the Palisades reservoir repaired and ready for fires which might occur and did occur?. Wild fires occur, however it is up to our government to be prepared to take action when they occur.
3. It would be to the benefit for the public if the City Council would invite our elected State and Federal officials to make sure that they are aware of and in sync with our concerns. It is known that some of these officials would not participate in debates.