Every few years starting in 1968, the city has conducted a Community Attitude Survey. The City Council heard the results of the 2026 survey in its meeting Tuesday. Full survey results are now available on the city website (link in comments).

Many of us feel fortunate to live where we do, something reflected in the survey results. Ninety-one percent of respondents say their quality of life here is excellent or good. This is similar to the result in the 2023 survey.

There is remarkably little change in the services residents like year after year: Safe streets, abundant parks and open space, and excellent public schools consistently finish at or near the top of survey results each time (Table 2). Moreover, residents generally satisfied with the way the city provides these services (Table 3), with scores in several areas improving since the 2023 survey.

One significant change from even a few years ago is that many residents want the city to address homelessness, and appreciate the steps the city is taking. With the opening of the Thrive Grove temporary shelter last year, unsheltered homelessness dropped 46% in 2025, and the number of encampments is currently at zero.

This survey was based on 1,071 random phone and online interviews, with a margin of error of +/- 3% at a 95% confidence interval. In addition to this statistically valid survey, all residents also had the opportunity to weigh in with individual responses. The city's website links to both sets of responses.

#thousandoaks #communityattitudesurvey #conejovalley #tocc

Borderline Bar Tragedy: A Night of Terror and Loss

On Nov 7, 2018, 13 people died in a Thousand Oaks bar shooting. 18 were injured. Find out what happened and who was affected.

#BorderlineShooting, #ThousandOaks, #GunViolence, #OfficerHelus, #NeverForget

https://newsletter.tf/thousand-oaks-bar-shooting-13-dead/

13 people lost their lives, including a police officer, in the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting. This is a significant loss for the Thousand Oaks community.

#BorderlineShooting, #ThousandOaks, #GunViolence, #OfficerHelus, #NeverForget
https://newsletter.tf/thousand-oaks-bar-shooting-13-dead/

Last night the City Council held its annual priority-setting meeting in the Thousand Oaks Library. Council voted unanimously to continue its work in 11 key areas, though the "resiliency and sustainability" category listed here will probably be folded into the list of public works priorities to make a list with an even 10 items.

This was also an occasion to hear results of the 2026 Community Attitude Survey (more about that in a future post), and to hear updates from various city departments.

There was lots of positive news in the area of public safety. Assistant city manager Ingrid Hardy reported the Thrive Grove Navigation Center is full, and is beginning to see residents transition into permanent housing. All 30 beds are in use, and the facility is ready to accommodate an additional 20 beds using tiny homes; these too would be quickly filled.

In large part because of Thrive Grove opening, TOPD chief Jeremy Paris reported unsheltered homelessness has declined 46% in the past year, and there are currently no encampments within city limits.

Chief Paris also reported Thousand Oaks remains one of the safest cities in the nation. Overall, crime dropped 8% last year. Commercial and residential burglaries respectively dropped 39% and 16%.

Domestic violence continues to be an issue. TOPD and the city are partnering with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office to bring the much-needed resources of a Family Justice Center to the east county.

Chief Paris also reported significant reductions in DUI deaths and stepped-up enforcement and education efforts to deal with unlawful use of ebikes and e-motorcycles. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office is working with CVUSD and CRPD on education and outreach, and with state legislators on reforms to ebike laws.

Last but not least, chief Paris and team are planning to implement a drones-as first-responder capability to speed response time to incident calls and to give police additional information about possible hazards before deputies arrive on site.

#thousandoaks #conejovalley #homelessness #housing #publicsafety

Interesting, they're still looking for that missing person in Thousand Oaks. Either they're at a buddy's house, or someone should check Sapwi Park for any particularly active vultures this week. (my bet is he's down in a creekbed in that park). I really should get a drone to go chasing these things (or maybe not... 😬 )

(No update yet)
https://nixle.us/H97SX

#MissingPerson #ThousandOaks

In Sacramento for the annual League of California Cities City Leaders Summit conference. Thursday was packed with educational sessions on water supplies; misinformation about public agencies; uncertainty in state and federal budgeting; and the role grants play in economic development.

The day’s highlight was a forum featuring three of the candidates vying to be California’s next governor: Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Xavier Becerra. The League invited 10 leading Democratic and Republican candidates to attend, but these are the three who accepted the invitation.

Prior to the conference, Mayor Taylor and I had a busy day Wednesday meeting with elected leaders and agency officials. We met with:

- Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin to discuss various new bills, including one from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks that may make it easier to build more condominiums.

- Officials from the California Department of Insurance and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) on how best to insure residents can keep their fire insurance.

Quote of the day from the insurance commissioner’s office: “We don’t regulate underwriting; we regulate rates,” meaning it’s really up to the insurance companies whether to continue coverage. The state does maintain a list of tips on finding residential coverage: https://lnkd.in/g8mHR7nv

The news was somewhat more positive from Cal Fire. A recent update to draft Zone Zero regulations improves on previous versions in two ways, allowing for some regional variation in clearance mandates and no longer taking an all-or-nothing approach to vegetation. This is important because the right type and placement of vegetation can help slow the spread of wildfires.

Here’s a link to the latest draft Zone Zero regulations:

https://lnkd.in/gQZuCWqt

- Assemblymember Steve Bennett to discuss AB 1873 on backup capability and other resiliency requirements for water systems.

- Senator Henry Stern’s staff discussed housing initiatives and economic development zones

- We thanked Assemblymember Isaac Bryan for AB 1349, a bill that cracks down on websites using unauthorized names to sell tickets. Given that there are more than 330 shows each year at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Thousand Oaks, it’s important to ensure the tickets come from, and only from, legitimate sources.

#calcities #california #governance #thousandoaks #tocc

Hmm, VCSO helicopter maybe doing a search pattern in the hills today, wonder if they're looking for signs of that missing person.

https://nixle.us/H97SX

#ThousandOaks #NewburyPark #helicopter