Residents speak their minds on ‘Open Mike Night’





By Stephanie Bertholdo
bertholdo@theacorn.com


Three residents recently addressed the Agoura Hills City Council on various issues during an inaugural "Open Mike Night."


Jodi Regan suggested that the city create a citizens’ advisory committee similar to one in Westlake Village. If there were more consistent input from residents, better communication would result, she said. Regan added that such a committee could include people from various neighborhoods and address the needs of everyone.


City Manager Greg Ramirez said that the city conducts a business roundtable one time per year to hear the concerns of local business people. He said that the roundtable allows the business owners and the city to share ideas and get feedback.


Mayor Dan Kuperberg explained that there are already several citizens’ advisory groups. He named some of the committees, including the Youth Advisory, Senior Advisory Council, a committee focused on the Reyes Adobe restoration, the Agoura Village Committee and the most important of all, the Agoura Hills Planning Commission. He added that another citizens’ advisory group will form when the council reviews the general plan in the coming months. Open space, housing and other issues will be reviewed at that time.


City Councilman Jeff Reinhardt, who created Open Mike Night, said that the city council has invited homeowners’ associations (HOAs) to attend council meetings, but to no avail. An open invitation has been extended, said Reinhardt, to HOAs for council members to attend their meetings and build bridges. "I’m delighted to answer every e-mail and respond to every phone call," he said.


Mercedes Fullmer, a single mother of six and owner of Manny’s Mexican Grill, requested that a roundtable for small businesses be created in conjunction with the local chamber of commerce. She added that the cty of Calabasas has created such a venue for small businesses.


Agoura Hills resident Peter Jullian commented on Kanan Road traffic. He said that it never ceases and added that he gets "sunburned sitting (in traffic) on the bridge."


Jim Thorsen, assistant city manager, took the opportunity to provide an update on the Kanan interchange project, estimated to cost $23.5 million. He said that it will be the largest single civil project for Agoura Hills and that it will take about a year to complete. Thorsen explained that traffic will be reduced by constructing "free-flowing right-hand turns onto the freeway." All left-hand turns, he said, will be removed.


Jullian also voiced his displeasure about pole signs.


City Councilman Ed Corridori discussed the history of the city’s fight on state and federal levels regarding the removals of pole signs and billboards. An ordinance was adopted by the city in 1985 eliminating all pole signs, but a handful of business owners appealed the decision in 1992, the time when all businesses were to be in compliance.


The issue was put before a vote of Agoura Hills residents and they were overwhelmingly in favor of eliminating pole signs. Corridori said the pole sign owners sued and won. The city appealed, but lost. "We pretty much lived with those signs ever since," Corridori said. More than half of the pole signs and billboards have been removed, he said, and most businesses now comply voluntarily.


Reinhardt was happy with the first Open Mike Night. "I think it was a success. I wish there had been more folks there, but the people who came were certainly connected to the spirit and intention of what it was about," said Reinhardt. He would like to conduct Open Mike Nights, he said, four times a year.



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