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Ventura City Council Takes A Bold Step, Repeals Net Zero

August 6, 2024/in Newsletters/by VREG Editors

Credit where credit is due. In mid-July 2024, the Ventura City Council took a bold step to stimulate economic vitality by voting unanimously to repeal the Net Zero fee.

What is Net Zero?

Net Zero was the city’s policy to ensure that new development does not increase the overall water demand on the local supply. Its purpose was to protect the city’s water supply and ensure sustainability for current and future residents. Net Zero has been the city’s policy since 2016.

Net Zero requires developers to offset their water usage through one of three methods: dedicating specific water rights, extraordinary conservation measures or paying a water resource net zero fee. Most developers opted for choice number three, which acted as a tax on development and inhibited economic growth.

The table shows how onerous the Net Zero fee was. It ranged from a low of $522 for erecting a school to $50,388 for a golf course or a park.

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows

Councilmembers Doug Halter and Mike Johnson partnered to present the policy consideration to repeal the Net Zero fee. While the two Councilmembers didn’t always agree on prior matters, they joined together to do what they believed was in Ventura’s best interest regarding Net Zero.

They argued that the Net Zero fee discouraged business creation, expansion and housing development. It stifled economic growth, and the indirect costs likely outweigh

the revenue Net Zero provided to the Water Capital Improvement Projects fund.

Their argument was persuasive. All seven Councilmembers voted to repeal the fee.

Who Wins And Who Loses?

While it’s too early to tell what impact repealing Net Zero will have on economic vitality, it is possible to know who will benefit from the repeal in the short term.

Developers and taxpayers are winners. The City Council has opened the door to entice more construction in the city, which will, in turn, mean Ventura will receive more tax dollars.

Ventura Water and no growth proponents lose. The repeal of Net Zero means Ventura Water will receive less money into the Water Capital Improvement Projects fund. Ventura Water representatives attending the City Council meeting appeared upset by this prospect. Slow growth proponents will be troubled if repealing Net Zero results in the economic vitality and building the City Council seems to think it will.

Editors Comments

We see the repeal of Net Zero as a victory for Ventura in several ways. First, it removes a barrier to economic growth that kept Ventura’s economy moribund for eight years. Without Net Zero, Ventura may see some economic vitality it hasn’t seen in decades.

Second, we applaud two City Councilmembers working together to propose a bi-partisan policy consideration. Too often, the current City Council has degenerated into a fractured, squabbling body. Repealing Net Zero proves this group can work for the common good of Venturans.

Third, we welcome the City Council’s fresh perspective to invigorate the local economy. The Council used the one level it controls to stimulate the economy: reducing fees and regulations. Repealing Net Zero accomplishes both.

Write Your City Councilmember To Congratulate Them:

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’re email program will ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

Let them know what you’re thinking. Tell them what they’re doing right and what they could improve upon. No matter what you write, however, share your opinion. Participating in government makes things better because our city government is working for all of us.

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Is Leadership Scarce In Ventura? The Censure Farce Suggests Yes

July 6, 2023/in Newsletters/by VREG Editors

The Move To Censure Turns To Tragedy

VREG has been silent for six months. City Hall decisions have been hard to reconcile and easy to criticize, so we have held off joining in on the fray. It is difficult not to write about what has been happening with our City government, but as we explain below it has all the makings of a modern Shakespearean tragedy.

New City Council

In December 2022, voters elected three new City Council Members, Jim Duran, Liz Campos and Bill McReynolds. We will reserve the temptation to comment on their talents or lack thereof. Still with these three joining the other four (voters elected Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios after she was appointed to fill a prior vacancy, Joe Schroder, Mike Johnson and Doug Halter), the longest tenure of any of them is just over two years.

The historical knowledge of this group is limited to their personal experience, with little regard for past governmental actions. Some declare a ‘lifelong’ familiarity with ‘all things Ventura,’ but overseeing city politics from an elected city council perspective is far different from being a citizen. The most significant gap is understanding the difference between being in a ‘board of director role,’ as an elected council member, versus being a ‘department head, manager or even a CEO of a company.’ The first lesson they need to learn and accept is that the city council only hires two people for advice on the everyday management of our city, the City Manager and the City Attorney.

As City Councilmembers, they are not HR directors and do not micro-manage staff, city departments or budgets. The role of a council member is to set policy, direct procedures and, in some cases, make laws when necessary.

Councilmembers Unclear On Roles

The greatest surprise is that the staff does not work for the City Council. Councilmembers must understand that the staff answers to their supervisors and, as is human nature, will not jeopardize their position, supervisor or job if it is avoidable. And, to make matters worse, the staff may have budgets and goals contradictory to the public and the elected officials.

The staff can access details and information the City Council needs to make decisions or set policies. Yet, the staff is not the only source of information available to the City Council. Our elected officials must be truthful and ask tough questions about budgets, expenses, staffing, project deadlines, and other options before making decisions. No staff member has ever told the Council, ’We can cut our budget and staff and provide better efficiency with less.’ Again, the role of a Councilmember is to set policy, direct procedures and, in some cases, make laws. The Council cannot do that properly without being provided with all the options unbiasedly.

This concept of questioning or challenging staff information has led to dysfunction at City Hall for the last six months.

By observation, the City of Ventura is a wasteland regarding leadership. Recent Councilmembers have needed to be more experienced in their leadership roles. There has not been a permanent City Manager for over six months. During that time, several department heads were placed on leave or terminated. Most recently, there has also been an attempt to censure an elected Councilmember. All this while the new Mayor says that the city is in great shape with a ‘deep bench’ of staff, and another Councilmember says this is the best group of Councilmembers ever.

To Censure or Admonish Another Council Member?

Censure was the question before the City Council during a 5-hour special meeting. Notably, the City Attorney, who makes a living defining words, told the Ventura County Star there was no real difference between these two actions.

We beg to differ and refer to Mr. Webster. To admonish is ‘to warn or reprimand someone firmly’ while censure is ‘to express severe disapproval, typically in a formal statement.’ Without taking sides in this debate, it finally came down to a Council member using the wrong ‘tone’ with a staff member in an effort to obtain the information he wanted to do his job as an elected official for the benefit of the community.

When we asked some individual Council Members about the outcome of the meeting, one expressed that they wanted to take away the specific committee assignments for which the accused Councilmember received a ‘meeting stipend.’ This reply sounds purely punitive and more like retribution. The investigation may have been an indictment of something wrong, but it was never a legal judgment and certainly not conclusive of any wrongdoing. Judging their peers is not the role of a Councilmember. All seven need training in what their roles are.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

We do not need the details of the HR complaint to comment on the actions of the Councilmembers. We know that the Mayor, City Attorney and City Manager (interim) were present and either did not witness or did not see fit to deal with the purported infraction when it occurred. Even the current City Councilmembers, in a very diplomatic way, did not see fit to question, deflect or detour the questionable ‘exchange.’ The Council and staff focused on the complaint and Mr. Johnson, but somehow there was no further discussion about the fact that eight other members on the dais were present when the ‘offense’ allegedly occurred. Instead, this becomes a 5-hour discussion that looks more like a ‘gang attack’ on one council member. We make no excuses for what may or may not have occurred. Yet, if something did happen, everyone present needs to share in the guilt.

Making the situation even more absurd was the City Attorney’s unilateral decision to hire an outside law firm for $75,000 to investigate the impropriety of one of his bosses.

Waiting for the Next Shoe to Drop

During the 5-hour discussion about censoring or admonishing Council Member Johnson, some members stood on three moral high ground standards:

‘Zero tolerance’ for bullying.
Elected officials should hold themselves to a ‘higher standard’ of conduct than the ordinary citizen.
Even the ‘perception’ of disrespecting a staff member was severe enough to take action.

At this point, Councilmember, Liz Campos, stated publicly that her fellow Councilmembers disrespected and belittled her (2:25:08 to 2:28:28) in a closed session, with both the interim City Manager and City Attorney present.

Surprisingly, nobody commented on this statement. When will this investigation begin? Will the City Attorney contract another outside law firm to investigate Ms. Campos’ claims, and what will that cost the citizens?

And, given the three moral high ground standards set forth earlier in the meeting, there should have been four resignations from the four Councilmembers claiming that higher ground. Yet, there weren’t. If those four Councilmembers are to be true to their beliefs and to not be hypocritical, we expect four resignations when the investigation begins.

Editors Comments

We, as citizens, should be disappointed and embarrassed. The Shakespearean quote above is apropos. It means goodness is bad, and badness is good.

Councilmembers and staff need to stop patting each other on the back for doing a good job when it is their job to perform their work and fulfill their assignments and quietly accept that a Councilmember might be verbally critical if they do not do their job.

What should the citizens of Ventura be entitled to expect? Hire a City Manager to manage our affairs and help the Council through decision-making. As for the City Attorney, he will always warn that the city can be ‘sued,’ but the possibility of a lawsuit cannot be the overriding reason for the Council to vote a certain way. The City Attorney’s job is to “advise” and help on legal matters. A City Manager’s job is to help the council stay focused on their roles and priorities.

City Council’s priorities are budgets and safety. It is not to accept all staff reports and recommendations at face value. City Council’s job is to question, challenge and determine the best use of the citizens’ money. It is not to be the cheerleader to all staff members or to accept every report and recommendation staff presents. The City Council is the last safeguard to protect the citizens against wasteful spending. Nobody recalls a time when the staff has reduced their budget or lowered their personnel count. While asking questions, one person’s inquiry may appear to be another person’s assertiveness or aggression. Answering Council’s questions is a large part of the staff’s job.

While other communities are trying to address housing, traffic, economic issues and crime, Ventura is squabbling and spending time pointing fingers and punishing each other.

You don’t like our tone? Is the message too harsh? Too bad. Get over it.

Tell The City Council To Focus On Their Job

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’re email program will ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

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How to hire better for the most influential job in Ventura

How To Make Better Hiring Decisions For The Most Influential Job In Ventura

December 19, 2022/in Newsletters/by VREG Editors

Here we go again. Ventura is hiring its fifth City Manager since 2000.

The City Manager is the most influential job in Ventura’s city government. He controls millions of dollars and impacts Ventura for years to come. Unfortunately, he does this with little oversight from a part-time City Council.

Neither the City Manager nor the City Council has shown an ability to run the city in a fiscally responsible way. As a result, the Finance Department has provided the City Council with a projection that the City of Ventura will lose money over the next five years.

Four previous holders of the most influential job in Ventura.

For the fifth time since 2000, Ventura is hiring a new City Manager.

Poor Choices Lead To Financial Disaster

The City Council does a poor job of overseeing the City Manager. Former City Manager Rick Cole played financial games with the budget. He moved $7.5 million from the Public Liability Fund, Workers’ Compensation Fund, and Information Technology Fund to other areas in the budget. These moves made it appear as if the city’s budget was balanced. Unfortunately, the Council didn’t catch the manipulation or was unwilling to investigate further.

Former City Manager Donna Landeros reallocated $9 million earmarked for the proposed Convention Center to various city programs. Unfortunately, no one can determine what happened to the money.

Former City Manager Mark Watkins acted as the chief cheerleader on Measure O. He touted the money was for city services. Yet, oversight for Measure O has disappeared as the citizens’ committee has several vacancies. Measure O money will ultimately go toward employees’ pensions, not city services.

Moreover, the City Council’s decision to hire Mr. Watkins cost the Ventura taxpayer’s money. When Mr. Watkins took the most influential job in Ventura, the Council chose to increase his salary and bonus to $242,059. That was a $52,718 increase over his predecessor, Mr. Cole. Former Councilmember Christy Weir claimed hiring Mr. Watkins would save the city more money than the rise in his salary. Unfortunately, the figures don’t bear that out over the four years he served in the role. And now, Mr. Watkins receives his retirement pension based on his highest salary of $242,059.

The City Council put Mr. McIntyre on paid administrative leave. At the same time, Ventura hired an independent auditing firm to review city credit card usage from the city’s executive team and other spending. On December 12, 2022, Mr. McIntyre resigned before the audit results became public. The City Council accepted his resignation and paid him $150,000 severance pay.

There Will Be Pressure To Hire Fast

The Council will feel internal and external pressure to act quickly. They’ll want to fill the vacant position immediately to provide leadership at City Hall. In addition, citizens will demand someone to manage the Thomas Fire and COVID-19 recoveries. The search firm Ventura hired to help find someone for the position will add to the pressure, too. Ventura pays the search firm when the new City Manager accepts the job. Typically, the fee is three months of the City Manager’s starting salary. In this case, it’s $76,177.

A hasty decision now could lead to adverse consequences in the future. Therefore, the Council should be deliberate, bold and thoughtful when hiring. Likewise, they should think creatively and progressively as they make their selection.

Balancing these goals will take work, and the Council must resist succumbing to the pressure.

Qualities Ventura Needs In A City Manager

The challenges facing Ventura’s new City Manager have never been more significant. The city is recovering from back-to-back adversities and requires steady leadership. Here are some attributes that the City Council should demand of the new City Manager.

Fiscal Responsibility

The new City Manager will inherit a budget with declining revenue and the possibility of a recession in the general economy. Therefore, the new City Manager must thoroughly understand the city’s budget and financial figures. In addition, they must include an understanding of fiscal policies, procedures and controls. For example, Ventura is spending over $100,000 on auditors to investigate city credit card usage by City employees and executive spending. Taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay this if the city accounting staff and the current assistants and deputies in the City Manager’s office had done their job and had implemented proper controls at City Hall.

Accountability

Residents expect the most influential job in Ventura to be accountable. President Truman said, “The buck stops here.” In Ventura, the “buck stops” at the City Manager’s desk, which applies to all the City Manager’s subordinates. The top person is accountable for results, even if the underlings underperform.

Communication

The City Manager must be able to communicate with various groups. For example, they must be able to collaborate with city staff, labor unions, the City Council, the media and the community. Also, the City Manager needs to articulate the city’s plan to move ahead following the Thomas Fire and COVID-19. They must also communicate changes in department policy and practices.

Transparency

Transparency begins with knowing how the City Manager is performing. The city should use Standards of Performance (SOPs) to measure achievement. Currently, the City Manager doesn’t have SOPs listed on its website. The Council should prepare SOPs, and the city should post them for the public to review. What’s more, the City Manager’s accomplishments should be in the public record. Citizens deserve a yardstick to measure if the city meets the City Council’s directives.

Results Driven

The new City Manager should be goal oriented and a self-starter. Once the City Manager understands the Council’s direction, this individual cannot wait for an elected, part-time City Council to implement action. The new person must be able to meet deadlines to produce measurable results on the projects the city commits to completing. The new Council intends well, but they are part-time. They do not have the ability or tools to implement their policy decisions and then follow up to ensure others successfully implement them. Only the City Manager and his lieutenants can do that.

Delegation

Delegating responsibility will be crucial to the new City Manager. Yet, delegation doesn’t mean surrendering responsibility. On the contrary, the new City Manager must regularly inspect the assigned projects for results and, if necessary, take action for missed goals.

What The City Council Must Avoid When Hiring A City Manager

Equally crucial to the qualities to look for in a new City Manager are the things the City Council must avoid when hiring that person.

Requiring Former Public Service

Nothing limits the candidate pool like requiring previous public service at the city, county or municipal level. Past City Managers had a bureaucratic background. Locking in on prior public service leads to a “status quo” in city government. Little new or original thinking will come from other public servants. If the city wants to change and improve, finding a person with a business management background would be more beneficial in the long run.

Negotiated Automatic Raises

One salary negotiating tool for a prospective City Manager is to ask for—and usually receive—a salary increase after a specified period. Mr. McIntyre negotiated such a deal, and the increase was unwarranted. Base all increases on meeting or exceeding predetermined measurable results. Tenure should not be a criterion.

Long-Term Severance Packages

Mr. McIntyre also negotiated a $300,000 severance package over twelve months if the City Council terminated him without cause. The severance was too much and will last for too long. Any negotiated severance packages should be at most six months.

Residency Requirements

Requiring a candidate to live in or close to Ventura limits opportunities. Local applicants may only be able to offer new ideas if they know a little history of what came before. It limits the ability to break from entrenched solutions and historical changes. Making needed changes requires fresh thinking that a local person may not have.

Unsuitable Compensation

Each successive City Manager has received higher salaries and benefits. Higher compensation hasn’t produced better outcomes from the City Manager, though.

The City Council should be critical when determining the salary for the new manager. The current compensation for Ventura’s City Manager may be too high. For example, outgoing City Manager McIntyre received $304,707 to manage a General Fund of $126 million and 600 employees. By contrast, Mike Pettit, Ventura County Assistant County Executive Officer, receives $322,355 to administer a $2.7 billion General Fund and 10,000 employees.

Only an extraordinary candidate with a proven track record would warrant a higher salary. Yet, while compensation expenses are an essential concern, now is not a time to “pinch pennies” for the right hire.

Editors’ Comments

Hiring the next City Manager is paramount. The City Manager is the most influential job in Ventura’s city government. The new manager will be responsible for healing Ventura from back-to-back adversities. Hiring the right candidate will affect Ventura for years to come. There can be no higher priority for the incoming City Council.

The Council should be slow, bold and thoughtful when hiring. They should select a replacement creatively by thinking outside the box. What they do now echoes in eternity.

Tell The City Council Not To Act In Haste When Hiring A City Manager

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’re email program will ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

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How To Connect To Your 2023 Ventura City Councilmembers

December 13, 2022/in General News/by VREG Editors

Our federalist system gives us many opportunities to participate in our democracy. Some forms of participation are more common than others. And some citizens participate more than others, but almost everyone has a voice in government.

Ventura is a small city. You should feel comfortable contacting any of the 2023 Ventura City Councilmembers to voice your opinion on any issue. The more active you are, the better the city becomes for all of us.

Meet Your 2023 Ventura City Councilmembers

We have a new Ventura City Council for 2023. We have three new 2023 Ventura City Councilmembers and four established members. Each of them has an email account with the city. Not everyone knows how to contact them, though.

We’ll give you the tools to contact any of the seven City Councilmembers. You’ll find most Councilmembers are responsive, particularly the newly elected ones. The new faces on this Council are Liz Campos, District 1, Bill McReynolds, District 5 and Jim Duran, District 6.

Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios is not new to the Council. She was appointed to District 4 in February 2020 when the elected Councilmember vacated his seat. This is Ms. Sanchez-Palacios’ first time being elected to the seat, though.

Governing By Districts

Our Councilmembers were elected by districts. While each Councilmember was elected by constituents in their district, they serve the entire city. You should feel free to contact any of the 2023 Ventura City Councilmembers regardless of the district in which you live.

Click On A 2023 Ventura City Councilmembers’ Photo To Email

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’re email program will ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

For more information like this, subscribe to our newsletter, Res Publica. Click here to enter your name and email address.

Ventura Fire Department Wants More Money

If Ventura Fire Department Is So Terrible, Why Don’t Statistics Show It?

May 14, 2021/in Newsletters/by VREG Editors

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

—Albert Einstein

Ventura Fire Department (VFD) is asking the City Council for more money so they can maintain the inertia they’ve had for the past fifty years. The basis for their demands is an operational assessment of Ventura Fire by Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI). Another multi-million decision based on flawed data faces the City Council. And it appears that they’re in a hurry to make it.

How We Got Here

In 2019, Ventura Fire confronted newly installed City Manager Alex McIntyre with a massive overtime bill. This prompted Mr. McIntyre to recommend a thorough evaluation of VFD’s operations. He told the newspaper he proposed a report to determine if Ventura Fire’s activities were “consistent with contemporary fire services practices.” The Council concurred, and they selected ESCI to do the evaluation.

Things Have Changed For The Ventura Fire Department

Ventura Fire was initially designed to fight fires. Over time, their duties expanded to include safety inspections, and they built their processes to meet those needs. It was a model that had worked. After all, it was a 100-year-old tradition. Firefighters waited in the firehouse to be dispatched to an emergency.

The problem for VFD is that the community’s needs changed. The ESCI Operational Assessment of the Ventura Fire Department shows that only 3% of the calls were for fires. The majority, 73%, were for emergency medical service (EMS). Another 15% were “good intent” calls, or what ordinary people call false alarms. Ventura Fire is using an outdated business model to address modern challenges.

What Hasn’t Changed For Ventura Fire

The response time for VFD to respond to a call is in the 90^th percentile compared to other fire departments nationally, according to the ESCI study. That’s good news for Ventura citizens.

Confronted with the changed requirements of what Ventura Fire does, one would expect the fire department to rethink its role. Yet, it still clings to the 100-year-old way of doing business. There is no new thinking within the department and no original ideas in the operational assessment done on the department.

The Flaws In The Study

The Ventura Fire Department seized on the ESCI assessment to lobby the City Council for more money. How much money? They’re asking for between $3.9M and $14.9M in the first year, with more in subsequent years. The study outlines several short-term, mid-term and long-term recommendations. (See attachment B)

Close examination of the ESCI report reveals several flaws. First, the ESCI is the consulting service of the International Fire Chiefs Association. The people interviewed to gather data for the assessment were Ventura firefighters. The report is built on fire chiefs asking firefighters what they need, then comparing that to what other fire departments across the nation have. The potential for inherent bias exists in this report.

For instance, when asked in an online survey (page 219) about how city firefighters feel: 75 percent of City Firefighters say more tax money “would allow us to better support fire prevention in our community.” Unsurprisingly, ESCI concluded that Ventura Fire needs more money.

ESCI’s Assessment Lacks Local Context

Second, the review presents detailed costs associated with each of its recommendations. What it fails to offer are the benefits to citizens that each proposal represents. For instance, the report calls for adding eight more firefighters. What benefit is there to hire eight more firefighters? VFD is already in the 90^th percentile in response time. Page 21 of the report says, “VFD call processing time and turnout response time performance are excellent compared to other agencies studied by ESCI.” The actual turnout time is one minute and 21 seconds (81 seconds).

To support their recommendation for more firefighters, ESCI compares firefighting personnel per 1,000 population based on the 2016 National Fire Protection Association Study for the Western United States. By that measure, ESCI concludes Ventura Fire Department staffing is 38 percent below the Western US median. There is no support for the formula by any data, and it appears to be irrelevant.

Third, the evaluation fails to recognize the number of firefighters added since Measure O passed. In that time, the Ventura Fire Department added twelve sworn officers, bringing its force up to 75—a 19% increase in the workforce. Compare that to Ventura Police (VPD). They added ten sworn officers, bringing the force up to 137—a 7.8% increase.

Fourth, the ESCI recommendations don’t mention the long-term financial impact of adding new firefighters to Ventura’s pension obligation. One estimate is that the city needs to set aside an additional $42,000 a year per firefighter to grow enough over 30 years to cover the pension benefits.

Ventura Fire Department Looks For More Money

Fifth, ESCI recommends on page 195, “Recommendation 1-G: Explore the option of an additional special measure to support (V)FD operations and to obtain a larger share of Measure O to support recommendations to increase staffing.”

Over time, the purposes of Measure O get fuzzy. None of the current City Councilmembers were on the Council when voters passed Measure O. The Measure O literature specifically said the city would not use the money to supplant existing positions. Yet, the Ventura Fire Department is asking for more employees paid for by Measure O. VFD seems to forget that at the time, Ventura Fire received funds from Measure O to keep Fire Station N^o. 4 operating. They have also received a 19% increase in firefighters since Measure O.

With the city’s other needs—aging infrastructure, pension liability obligations, homelessness, and more—Ventura Fire’s requests seem self-interested.

Sixth, on page 197, ESCI presents, “Recommendation 2-H: Explore the implementation of a fire services subscription program, where residents pay an annual membership fee for the fire department service.” This recommendation seems insensitive. It wasn’t that long ago that the City of Ventura tried to impose a 9-1-1 fee on all emergency calls. That decision was abruptly reversed, but not before the city collected the fee from several residents and never returned it.

Open Debate On The Issues

The ESCI report is 227 pages long. There is much detail to comprehend. Mayor Sofia Rubalcava introduced a motion to create a subcommittee for a more detailed of the fire department’s report and recommendations.

Jim Friedman objected, saying, “We made it clear we’re not interested in kicking the can down the road. Why a whole layer of discussions and subcommittee? That part I don’t understand.”

Councilwoman Lorrie Brown said she wanted the council to take action on the study and was not in favor of a committee taking months to make a recommendation.

Councilman Mike Johnson said he didn’t want to wait and see if a sales tax gets passed.

“There are things we can do,” Johnson said. “I look forward to really getting into the numbers. I’m not looking forward to making the hard choices, but I’m looking forward to having that discussion with my colleagues.”

It bears mentioning who has received campaign money from the Ventura Fire Department.

In the end, Mr. Friedman won. There will be no subcommittee to do a thorough evaluation of the recommendations.

Editors Comments

There are too many flaws in the ESCI Operational Assessment of the Ventura Fire Department for the City Council to decide where and how to spend the money. We urge the Council to be extremely skeptical of the data presented. We hope they will see the same flaws and incompleteness in the report that we’ve reported here.

The crucial, objective metric on which residents can judge Ventura Fire is response time. And VFD’s response time is in the 90^th percentile. It will be hard to improve on that.

The City Council must realize from this study that Ventura no longer has a Fire Department. It has a medical triage team in red trucks. It’s irresponsible to focus on new fire trucks and adding new fire stations when 73% of their work is emergency medical services, not fighting fires.

To ask citizens to pay an additional tax to support the fire department is untenable. Residents will be paying higher water and wastewater bills, and they’re already paying higher electricity bills to support the Clean Power Alliance.

The notion of a subscription fee for fire department services seems absurd. Ventura already tried a similar idea with the 9-1-1 fee, and citizens rejected it.

Suggesting the Council divert money from Measure O to support the Ventura Fire Department violates the spirit—and the stated purposes—of Measure O. If the city does use Measure O money, it will send a clear message to voters, “All political promises are worthless.” The Council will use Measure O for whatever purposes it wants. Councilmember Friedman will appear prescient when he said, “It’s all green and it’s all spendable.” Measure O and the General Fund are really all the same money.

In the end, progress will happen if Ventura Fire rethinks the role of VFD. They can no longer rely on a 100-year-old tradition of firefighting. Trying to extort more money from residents to pay to continue doing things the way they’ve always been done is unconscionable. It gives the appearance that Ventura Fire is more interested in fighting change than fighting fires. Citizens should expect more from our fire department. We should expect thoughtful solutions, not ones that throw more money at existing problems.

Insist The City Council Seek More Original Solutions

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’ll open your email program ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

For more information like this, subscribe to our newsletter, Res Publica. Click here to enter your name and email address.

How To Connect To Your 2021 Ventura City Councilmembers

December 15, 2020/in General News/by VREG Editors

To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers.
—Louis L’Amour

Meet Your 2021 Ventura City Councilmembers

We have a new Ventura City Council for 2021. We have three new 2021 Ventura City Councilmembers and four established members. Each of them has an email account with the city. Not everyone knows how to contact them, though.

Governing By Districts

For the first time in Ventura’s history, our Councilmembers were elected by districts. While each Councilmember was elected by constituents in their district, they serve the entire city. You should feel free to contact any of the 2021 Ventura City Councilmembers regardless of the district in which you live.

City Council Elections In 2021

There will be no City Council elections in 2021. The next election will be in 2022 for Districts 1, 4, 5 and 6. You should note that the 2020 City Council elections were the costliest in Ventura’s history. Candidates and PACs spent 7.9% more in 2020 than in 2018. The impact of the campaign spending on local politics remains to be seen. We certainly will see even higher campaign spending in the 2022 election.

Click On A 2021 Ventura City Councilmembers’ Photo To Email

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’ll open your email program ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

Let then know what you’re thinking. Tell them what they’re doing right and what they could improve upon. No matter what you write, however, share your opinion. Not participating in government makes us worse because our city government isn’t working for all of us.

For more information like this, subscribe to our newsletter, Res Publica. Click here to enter your name and email address.

Will governing change with the next City Council?

How Will Governing Be Better With A New City Council?

November 30, 2020/in Newsletters/by VREG Editors

“The election is over. It’s time for the work of governing to begin.”

—Sen. Tom Daschle

The 2020 City Council election marked a new beginning for governing Ventura. The newly elected Councilmembers campaigned to drive change at City Hall. Now, the emphasis for the newcomers will be to shift from campaigning to governing.

Three New Councilmembers

2020 is the first election for Ventura Districts 2, 3 and 7. The city shifted from citywide to district elections in 2018 when voters elected four City Councilmembers.

Doug Halter defeated incumbent Christy Weir in District 2. Mike Johnson won an open seat in District 3 vacated by Mayor Matt LaVere, who voters selected as a County Supervisor. Voters selected Joe Schroeder in District 7 to replace retiring Councilmember Cheryl Heitmann.

Campaign Spending

This year’s candidates raised a record amount of money. Campaigning was in districts instead of citywide. One would think the amount of money needed would be less, but that has not proven to be the case.

The candidates raising the most money were Nancy Pedersen, $57,531; Aaron Gaston, $54,195; and Doug Halter, $54,161. Of the three top fundraisers, only Doug Halter won his district. (These numbers will increase. The final campaign finance report is due January 31, 2021)

To put this year’s spending into context, the total amount raised for three districts was 7.9% higher than in 2018 for four districts ($216,684 vs. $200,811).

Voter Turnout

High numbers of voters turned out in each district. All three districts had more people vote than even District 4, with the highest voter in 2018.

The districts were more competitive this year than in 2018. Only one candidate received more than 3,000 votes compared to three out of four winning candidates in 2018.

Platforms For Governing

Each candidate presented his top priorities for the city to the voters. Here’s what each promised.

Doug Halter, District 2

Mike Johnson, District 3

Joe Schroeder, District 7

Priorities In Common

There were some commonalities between the priorities. Yet, the candidates missed the mark on one crucial issue.

All three candidates promised to deliver economic vitality while governing. Improving the economy is the most specious of any City Council candidate’s priorities. Candidates offer this promise during each election cycle. Yet, the Council has little control over Ventura’s economic prospects. Councilmembers can’t control which businesses move to Ventura. Nor can they determine which existing companies should expand. When the Council does meddle in selecting companies, the city has experienced catastrophes. One only needs to remember the Brooks Institute debacle.

There is one area over which the City Council can control the business environment. They can make it easy for businesses to start-up or expand. Easing regulations and reducing approval time can stimulate business. We’ll see if this freshman class of Councilmembers will enact changes in this area. Their predecessors have not.

What All Three Are Missing

All three winners failed to mention one opportunity to reduce regulations and cut bureaucracy. Not one of them prioritized recovering from the Thomas Fire. It’s been three years since the disaster, and the city has not recovered economically. Victims have rebuilt only 190 of the 535 houses destroyed in the fire. That’s 35% of the buildings in three years. The City Council promised quick response and expedited procedures. The city waived some fees and added extra city staff to handle the influx of building plans. Yet, it’s hard to argue that Ventura’s response has been quick.

Another glaring omission is addressing the unfunded pension liability deficit. Retirement pensions are the city’s number one problem. Ventura currently has a $215.1 million obligation. That number continues to grow. CalPERS (the California Public Employees retirement fund) demands rapidly increasing contributions from Ventura. We will have permanent increases of at least $2 million per year for five to six consecutive years.

Issues

Newly-elected Councilmembers now have to shift their focus. The entire campaign focused on convincing district voters their interests came first. Once elected, they must change that focus to represent the whole city.

The top issues facing the City Council continue to be water, homelessness, budget deficits, pensions, economic stability and growth.

Two of the three new Councilmembers list water as a priority, but none of them has a stated water policy. Without alternative thinking, water ratepayers will have no choice but to surrender to Ventura Water’s strategy for VenturaWaterPure. Citizens should balk at this policy for both health & safety reasons and millions in unnecessary cost.

Homelessness is a priority for two new Councilmembers. Homelessness is an intractable problem showing all the signs of a failed paradigm. Ventura continues to spend more money on the homeless, yet the outcomes continue to worsen. What’s more, the COVID-19 recession will make more people unsheltered in the future. Court rulings and voter initiatives have made it increasingly difficult for public safety to help. Ventura needs a collaborated effort and some creative thinking to make any headway against the problem.

The One Issue Plaguing Ventura’s Long-Term Vitality

The incoming City Council will have to sharpen their pencils to impact the budget deficits and pension liabilities. The economic impact of the pandemic makes this challenge even harder. The city will have reduced sale tax revenue from the business shutdowns and diminished disaster support from Sacramento. Together, it will be harder to meet expenses.

The new Councilmembers must acknowledge that growth, jobs and water availability are inseparable. They also need to recognize the opposition to more houses (the NIMBYs) by some in the community. Forward progress on growth means accommodating, integrating and compromise.

Editors Comments

We have been through two election cycles now, and districts have elected all of the City Councilmembers. While it’s still too early to evaluate the impact of moving to district voting entirely, some things are becoming clear.

First, campaign spending is increasing unabatedly. In the last two elections, spending has reached record levels. It used to be that a candidate for City Council had to spend money throughout the city to get voters. Under district voting, candidates spend money to influence their 15,000 potential voters. On the surface, one would think it would take less money to reach a smaller group of people, yet spending is skyrocketing.

Second, some of the campaign spending is money spent by Political Action Committees (PACs) to support candidates they favor. The chief PACs are the fire and police unions and the Chamber of Commerce. This year PACs spent over $104,000 to support Aaron Gaston, Doug Halter and Nancy Pedersen.

In 2018, PACs spent over $84,000 to support Kevin Clerici, Jim Friedman and Erik Nasarenko. The year-over-year increase in PAC spending is 30.7%.

What We Learned About PAC Spending

The PACs supported six candidates, only three of whom were elected. What does this tell us?

Voters don’t always vote for the candidate spending the most money— good news in an era of rising campaign expenditures.
The PACs’ record for getting the candidates they want into office is only partially successful. In turn, it may also mean that the PACs’ influence over the City Council may not be as strong as it has in the past.
Candidates are willing to spend large sums of money for the chance at governing. Voters should scrutinize from where their preferred candidates receive their funds.
Citizens United determined that money spent in political campaigns is free speech. The PACs know this and contribute more to campaigns than any individual contributor. Who will the Councilmembers listen to when there is a crucial decision to make?

Third, if diverse representation is the reason for voting by districts, then the 2020 election contradicts that intent. All three elected Councilmembers are old, white males. Two of the three replaced women on the Council. It’s too early to draw any conclusions from two elections, but it appears that voters are electing candidates that revert to the old norm to govern them.

Fourth, voter turnout was unprecedented for the City Council election. The overall numbers, and the percentage of eligible voters in each district, were the highest recorded. Strong voter turnout is good news. Democracy works best when voters engage.

Finally, it’s up to each individual to hold our elected officials accountable. The commitments they make during the campaign must translate into action while they are governing. Otherwise, they’re just empty promises. It’s up to you to make sure the Councilmembers live up to their commitments.

Here’s How You Can Write Directly To Your City Councilmember

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’ll open your email program ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

For more information like this, subscribe to our newsletter, Res Publica. Click here to enter your name and email address.

Watch This Year’s City Council Candidates Battle In A Forum

October 7, 2020/in General News/by VREG Editors

The 2020 Ventura City Council Candidates for Districts 2, 3 and 7 squared off in the East Ventura Community Council’s voter forum.

We’re replaying the video for those voters who missed the virtual event.

Unlike in years past, voters attended the 2020 candidate forums remotely. Covid-19 prevented in-person candidate engagement to woo voters.

Who Are The 2020 City Council Candidates?

In District 2, Doug Halter, Dougie Miche and Christy Weir (the incumbent) answered the moderator’s questions about their platforms.

In District 3, Barbara Brown, Aaron Gaston, William Cornell, and Mike Johnson faced the moderator’s fire. District 3 has no incumbent running for City Council because Matt LaVere won a seat on the County Board of Supervisors.

The District 7 candidates, Heather May Ellinger, Nancy Pedersen, Joe Schroeder and Michael James Nolan, answered the moderator’s questions. District 7 also has no incumbent running because Cheryl Heitmann chose not to seek re-election.

What’s Ahead For The 2020 City Council Candidates

The City of Ventura faces challenges in the coming years. These City Council Candidates must prove they are capable of meeting those challenges.

Ventura hadn’t recovered from the Thomas Fire in 2017, and it now faces recovering from the Covid-19 economic shutdown.

Watch how the candidates present their ideas for economic recovery and vitality. Also, watch how the candidates respond to the moderator’s questions about the city’s most critical issues.

VREG Has Reported On These Issues

For years, VREG has reported on the challenges the city faces. Feel free to review our previous articles on topics ranging from water to city employee pensions to failed economic development attempts. You’ll find some of the most in-depth reporting on these issues available.

We founded Venturans for Responsible and Efficient Government (VREG) in 2007 to assist the citizens of this community in better understanding their city government’s fiscal management and the policy decisions that lead to our tax dollars’ expenditure. We advocate open government, freedom of information, constructive dialog and efficient use of resources.

We’re a watchdog group determined to keep an eye on the city government to ensure it’s working for all. We’re ever mindful of Plato’s warning to the citizens of any representative democracy. He said, “If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.”

All You Need To Know About Local Campaign Issues 2020

September 22, 2020/in Newsletters/by VREG Editors

“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”

—John F. Kennedy

We should say from the start that VREG does not endorse candidates. Our goal is to keep you informed and to educate wherever possible, but we shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to outline the critical campaign issues facing City Council candidates in 2020.

If you live in District 2, 3 or 7, you have an important decision to make in this election. Your choice for City Councilmember will shape Ventura’s future for decades. How the candidates address the current campaign issues should guide your selection.

Meet Your 2020 City Council Candidates

First, familiarize yourself with the candidates. Campaigning has changed in the COVID-19 environment, so you may not be able to meet your candidates in person. Zoom townhall meetings and campaign videos are replacing in-person, door-to-door campaigning.

Ten of the eleven candidates provided qualification statements. We’ll highlight and summarize each declaration to save you from looking them up.

Here are the City Council candidates with their self-described ballot designations. The candidates are presented in the order as they will appear on the ballot. The Secretary of State randomly drew names to determine the ballot order on 8/13/2020.

District 2

Doug Halter is a local businessman. He a passionate about Ventura and is knowledgeable about how Ventura operates. He is running on changing the status quo. Mr. Halter ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1999 and 2007 under the open election system. 2020 is his first campaign under the district system.

Dougie Michie is a certified financial planner with a degree in law and a doctorate in urban planning. He is running on his wide range of education and experience, which will enable him to guide the city through the challenges Ventura faces.

Christy Weir has been on the City Council since 2003. Historically, she has proven to be open-minded and approachable.

District 3

Barbara Brown is a business owner and a professor at Laguna College of Art and Design. She serves as a Public Arts Commissioner. Ms. Brown’s family lost their home in the Thomas Fire. Her passions include the Ventura Botanical Gardens, Interface Children Services, and Goodwill Industries.

Aaron Gaston is a realtor and business owner. He graduated from UCSB. For nearly 30 years, Mr. Gaston ran a technology company. He is interested in supporting a healthy business community with affordable housing to be compatible with smart growth.

William Cornell is a small business owner with over 15 years in the construction industry. He is concerned about the city’s ability to sustain itself on its current path. He also wants to improve public safety, community and economic development.

Mike Johnson is a faithful attendee at several city community subcommittee meetings on economic development, housing, water and Measure O. He is thoughtful with his approach to problem-solving. He is ‘ready to lead on day one.’

District 7

Heather May Ellinger is a real estate agent. She is interested in the homeless crisis, crumbling roads, housing and affordability and community development. The city budget is a significant concern, and a need to make the city more business-friendly to attract companies with high paying jobs will improve revenues. Her experience as a mortgage field inspector would assist in ‘navigating the complex issues’ in reconstruction.

Nancy Pedersen is a business owner and is chair of the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau Board of Directors. She has professional credentials with 40+ years as a business and legal executive.

Joe Schroeder is a retired CEO of the Ventura County Credit Union. His financial expertise and management experience are what he feels the City Council needs. He has also served on community boards such as Food Share and the Global Women’s Leadership Network. His priorities are supporting public safety, economic growth, natural resources, an updated coastal plan and a short-term rental plan that protects community interest.

Michael James Nolan is a realtor and communications manager, but without a statement of qualifications provided to the City of Ventura and we didn’t find an election website. VREG cannot give any useful information on his candidacy.

Ventura’s Key Campaign Issues In 2020

What campaign issues do you want your candidate to address? Your answer will depend on the district you live in, but there are some citywide issues every candidate must address.

Water Is Among The Top Campaign Issues

Water will be among the costliest issues the City Council will face in the next four years. Ventura Water is asking the Council for over $300 million, making it as expensive to the city as public safety.

Find out from your candidates where they stand on VenturaWaterPure. Are they content to drink recycled wastewater? Do they know that no standards exist yet for purifying wastewater into potable water? Will Ventura ratepayers willingly accept the increases needed to pay for the $300 million Ventura Water is requesting?

How much do your candidates understand the litigation the city is involved in concerning water? Do they know what alternatives exist to the Wishtoyo Consent Decree of 2012? Do they know the Ventura River cross-complaint Ventura filed against 10,000 property owners along the river?

Homelessness and Vagrancy Are Important Campaign Issues

Ventura’s homeless shelter is operating. It costs the city $712,000 per year to house 55 of the city’s 531 homeless. Shouldn’t the Council and citizens know precisely how much homeless services cost and how they get allocated? What should Ventura do for those not housed in the shelter? Some of the remaining homeless are vagrants. They choose to live the lifestyle and to panhandle. How do candidates plan to combat that so Ventura is more tourist-friendly?

Future Budget Deficits Rank High Among The Campaign Issues In 2020

The current City Council balanced the 2020-2021 budget by reducing costs in 11 key areas. City employee pension costs continue to rise and may rise more quickly because of COVID-19’s impact on CalPERS’ investments. Each increase in pension costs squeezes money out of the General Fund that otherwise could go towards street repair, tree trimming or public safety.

Public Employee Pensions Is The Toughest Campaign Issues

Ask the candidates running in your district if they will work with the city’s unions to reform public employee pensions. The last time the City Council modified pensions was 2010, and those changes were modest. The city staff believes pensions will level out in six or seven years. Can Ventura last that long amid its other financial burdens? The city still hasn’t recovered fully from the Thomas Fire. The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered businesses for months, robbing the city of sales tax revenue, and there is no clear plan to reopen them completely.

Campaign Finances

The first district elections in 2018 were the costliest in history. The top three fundraisers were Jim Friedman, $60,887; Kevin Clerici, $44,862; and Erik Nasarenko, $36,464. Messrs. Friedman and Nasarenko won. On a cost per vote basis, Mr. Friedman spent $19.90 to get a vote. Mr. Nasarenko paid $11.97. Mr. Clerici, who lost, spent $45.52 per vote. Big money doesn’t always win, but the exception proves the rule.

We will monitor the candidates’ campaign finance reports to report this year’s totals.

Growth Is Always Among The Key Campaign Issues

Growth means different things to different people. It’s inescapable that Ventura needs to grow.

Ask if your candidates acknowledge that growth, jobs and water availability are inseparable. They also need to recognize the opposition to more houses (the NIMBYs) by some in the community. Forward progress on growth means accommodating, integrating and compromise.

Editor’s Comments

Voting works best when people take the time to learn about campaign issues. We urge you to get involved. Educate yourself on the candidates’ positions on the campaign issues for 2020. We’ve provided a framework to ask pertinent questions. Use ours or develop your own, but find out where the candidates stand.

Don’t succumb to the clichés candidates use to get your vote. Candidates always discuss growth and public safety while campaigning. Look beyond that. These are not the pressing campaign issues in 2020. The most demanding issues are water, labor contracts, long-term planning and reductions in services. These problems with budgets, growth and water have happened over the last fifteen years. Ask yourself, “Do these candidates have the capabilities to solve these problems?”

Once elected, it’s vital to review the new Councilmembers’ performance. Accountability and transparency are glossed over and only get ‘lip service’ during election time. In the past, Councilmembers knew voters would forget over the next four years. It’s up to each of us to make sure that our elected officials do what they promised to do.

We respect anyone who steps up to run for office. It is not easy to subject yourself and your family to public scrutiny and comments. So, regardless of the election outcome, we applaud everyone who threw their hat in the ring.

Postscript

The Fire and Police Unions are supporting Doug Halter in District 2, Aaron Gaston in District 3 and Nancy Pedersen in District 7.

Here’s How You Can Write Directly To Your City Councilmember

Below you’ll find the photos of our current City Council. Click on any Councilmember’s photo and you’ll open your email program ready to write directly to that Councilmember.

For more information like this, subscribe to our newsletter, Res Publica. Click here to enter your name and email address.