The Thousand Oaks City Council made it abundantly clear Tuesday night that it has one priority above all others: finding the Los Angeles Rams a permanent home in the city.
“I would agree that the L.A. Rams (should) remain the No. 1 priority for the city of Thousand Oaks,” council member Claudia Bill-de la Peña said at the council’s annual Top 10 priority-setting session. “Everything else, for me, is priority No. 2.”
Indeed, for the third consecutive year, the council unanimously made its top priority finding a permanent “in-season” training facility and headquarters for the National Football League team in Thousand Oaks.
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Earlier in the day, the team, which at least for now trains at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, gave the city some cause for optimism.
The Rams informed the city that it had officially executed its option to use its facility on CLU’s North Campus for the 2019 season, Thousand Oaks City Manager Drew Powers said at the council’s priority-setting session.
“They’ve extended to be there for another year,” Powers said.
The team, which moved back to Southern California from St. Louis in 2016, originally signed a two-year deal with CLU with three, one-year options. The team has now exercised two of those options. It has business offices in nearby Agoura Hills.
The city says it places such value on landing the Rams permanently because of the economic boost the team gives Thousand Oaks.
“We’re proud to be home to the Rams’ training facilities and happy that so many players, coaches and staff members call Thousand Oaks home,” Powers said in an interview. “We’re looking forward to another great year of partnership ahead.”
The Rams’ head of government affairs, Maria Camacho, said the team was “thrilled to remain at CLU for another year as we continue to try to bring a Super Bowl championship back to Southern California.”
Especially, she said, “on the heels of a season that saw this community come together through unprecedented tragedy and triumph.”
That was a reference to the Nov. 7 mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks that took the lives of 12 people and the devastating Woolsey wildfire and the less destructive Hill wildfire, that broke out the next day.
CLU President Chris Kimball said the school is “delighted that the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams will be staying on our campus for another year.”
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At the council’s priority-setting session, Thousand Oaks Mayor Rob McCoy said that if the Rams ultimately decide to find a permanent home elsewhere, “we would be highly disappointed.”
He said the city hasn’t done anything improper to try to lure the team to Thousand Oaks.
Nothing “beyond the normal presenting of the city and a desire for them … to realize the beauty of our city,” McCoy said.
“A lot of folks think we have too much in the pot in relation to the Rams,” he said. “The reality is we’re in the running because our city is so desirable and we want to let them know they’re welcome.”
Powers responded: “Obviously, if the Rams choose to do something different, it will be a business decision. But what’s important to note is that in my regular and ongoing conversations with them, they have not made a decision and they are still very much weighing options and one of those … is within the city of Thousand Oaks.”
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Powers said it was important “to remember that the Rams came to us in February of that year, having just moved from St. Louis and wanting to have an in-season training facility operational by Labor Day. A lot of cities had indicated that was an impossibility.”
But Thousand Oaks “moved everything we could, along with our partners at CLU to do that,” he said. “And that’s the reason they’re here today. That’s the reason they set root here. And it’s the reason that they’ve extended to be there (CLU) another year.”
Council member Bob Engler said, “if we can get the Rams in here, that would be a feather in all our caps and an economic boost to our city.”
The council’s nine other priorities are:
- Embark on a comprehensive update of the city’s general plan.
- Complete a Civic Arts Plaza campus master plan.
- Ensure fiscal sustainability through the 2019-2021 budget process
- Focus on collaborative efforts to address homelessness and mental health issues.
- Focus on economic development activities, specifically in the biotech sector.
- Advance arts, culture and literacy through the Civic Arts Plaza’s 25th anniversary and library initiatives.
- Promote environmental sustainability efforts through the city’s sustainability strategic plan.
- Address shortfalls in state mandated regional housing needs assessment categories.
- Invest in public infrastructure projects across the community. That will include a Borderline memorial.
Although the nine other priorities are ranked two through 10, they are, as Bill-de la Peña said, in reality, all No. 2’s behind the Rams.
“I don’t think they are necessarily prioritized,” council member Al Adam said. “Except I would state that the Rams are the No. 1 priority.”
Said Powers: “There are very few NFL football teams in the country and we’re fortunate that we have one that’s at least temporarily residing here.”
Star staff writer Joe Curley contributed to this story.
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