City should
control ugliness
in Thousand Oaks

It is refreshing to read in The Acorn the item on "community standards"and find that at least one other citizen is concerned about the eyesore in the Village Glen shopping center.

I remember when our elected representatives were conscious and involved in and of the appearance and aesthetics of this community. I distinctly recall two instances which reflected the care and concern of our early community leaders.

One was the initial opening of what is now the Vons/Sav-on center with a large red-and-white sign and glaring parking lot lights—in a matter of days the sign color and size were cut back and the offensive lighting was toned down.

The other was the initiation of bus services from the San Fernando Valley. Bus benches appeared with brightly colored, garish advertisements. I think it was two days and they were gone—replaced with simple unadorned benches.

Well, the wooden and tape supports for the lamp posts in the Village Glen shopping center have been up (in my recollection) in excess of two years. Obviously needed to align and support a resting of these posts, I would guess that the cement cured a long, long time ago.

My original effort to address this eyesore involved filing a complaint at city hall around January 2002, having seen these supports in place for about a year (2001). A year later, I visited city hall (January 2003) and discussed the situation with Claudia Pedrosa, a senior planner in the Community Development Department. I was assured that her boss, Jeff Turnbill, building inspector supervisor, was aware of the situation and resolution would be imminent.

Five months later I called this department at city hall and left a voice message agout the now two-plus years of this ongoing situation. This call was never acknowledged or returned. It is now another five months and, although these wood supports are gray with age and the yellow tape is tattered, they still stand.

Could it be that this is meant as a monument to the uncaring and disregard of the Thousand Oaks Development Department to promote unaesthetic conditions and eyesores in our community?

I thank Evelyn Edelstein for rekindling my concern on this subject in her recent letter to The Acorn.

John Helm

Westlake Village