Fillmore voters will go to the polls to choose candidates in the city’s first districts election race on November 5th.

The city approved the switch from at-large candidates to districts in December 2023, and Districts 1, 2 and 5 are up for election this year.

One person, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, seeks the District 1 seat. The other two districts have two candidates singly vying to represent each:

District 2-John L. Garnica, Mark Austin (incumbent); District 5-Gary A. Cushing, Christina Villaseñor (incumbent).

Candidate Statements:

Candidate

Mark Austin

District 2

Over the next 4 years, I will concentrate on the local economy, public safety, and repaving of our streets.
Business development, job creation, and tax revenue are extremely important to Fillmore because it creates more opportunities and a better quality of life for citizens. I will continue to work towards streamlining the permitting process to allow businesses to open and locate within Fillmore more quickly. Fillmore needs to cooperate with business owners to develop ways to say yes instead of no to projects that will benefit Fillmore. As your council member, I will continue to make business and job creation in Fillmore a priority.

Ventura County, which includes Fillmore, is recognized as one of the safest counties in the State of California. Over the past 8 years, I have helped to provide the funding needed to maintain service ratios for our police and fire departments. Funds have also been provided to train and graduate 17 reserve fire fighters and install a police station emergency generator. As your council member, I will continue to ensure our public safety professionals are provided with the resources needed to keep our families and community safe.

The repaving and maintenance of streets has been deferred over the years due to City funding issues. With the substantial rain over the last couple of years, our streets are in dire need of repair. We are allotted money from the state in the form of gas taxes, and general sales taxes which do not amount to a lot of money. I plan to tackle this issue over the next 4 years by setting aside general fund reserves each year to be used only for Citywide roadway improvements. I also plan to apply for several state and federal grants available to communities like Fillmore.

***
Candidate

Christina Villaseñor

District 5

Dear community, my roots run deep here - I am the granddaughter of farmworkers who came to Fillmore in the early 1930’s. Through hard work and opportunity, they built a bedrock of stability for their family. As someone who has dedicated their career to public service and your Councilmember, my constant goal has been to be responsive to resident needs and to support those windows of opportunity for Fillmore families to thrive and succeed.

My top priority is meeting the needs of our growing community (13% pop. growth between 2013-23). I plan to ensure that 1. Our infrastructure – roads, water and sewer system and power sources – are keeping up with the demand through pro-active monitoring and keeping our “D” St. sewer line expansion moving forward; that 2. We provide quality community programming and recreational and cultural arts opportunities for families, including prioritizing upgrades to Two Rivers and Shiells Parks; that 3. More Fillmore residents invest their time and consumer spending within the city, from seeking both external and internal improvements for businesses to be successful, to forming an exploratory committee to bring back our beloved May Festival, and 4. We are well-prepared for emergencies and extreme weather events.

I’ve served with integrity, respect, a constant curiosity to dig deeper to fully understand the issues and with humility, knowing that I’m part of a team and when we work together, we can achieve great things for Fillmore. We have our challenges and we need sensible, thoughtful, proactive and hard-working leaders to tackle these challenges. My track record shows that I AM this leader and I’m more than up to the task. I humbly ask you to put your confidence in me once again and vote for me, Christina Villaseñor for Fillmore City Council, District 5. Please visit my website: 4more4Villasenor.com.

***

Candidate

Gary Cushing

District 5

My name is Gary Cushing. My wife Julie, and I have 8 children and 16 grandchildren.
I have owned Marie Callender’s Restaurant in Camarillo for 34 years.

I have a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from California State University Channel Islands, and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from Cal Lutheran University.

I am currently a Planning Commissioner for the City of Fillmore, on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club of the Santa Clara Valley, a member of Fillmore Rotary, on the Vista Real Charter High School Board of Directors and founding Board Member of Miracle League of the 805.

My top priorities are:

Economic Development: The city budget over the last 5 years has risen 32.5%, the amount that has been dedicated to Economic Development has dropped by 50%. Growing our existing businesses and attracting new businesses will help the city budget grow to provide needed services to our citizens.

Highway 126 has 2 problems, the first being the backup of traffic that pushes traffic to the side streets. We need to work with Cal Trans to synchronize the signal lights through town. Secondly, there was a plan to make Highway 126 safer back in 2016, with Cal Trans but it was never implemented. There have been 27 deaths on the 126 in the last 5 years, this is unacceptable. I will advocate revisiting parts of the plan.

Public Safety and Homelessness go together, we need to work with the County to solve the problem, not just rely on the County to fix the problem here. Be proactive in finding solutions. I have spoken to our Police Chief about starting Neighborhood Watch Programs in Fillmore, to help limit crime.

I will bring strong leadership and business experience to the Fillmore City Council.
Gcushing7797@gmail.

Patterson Hardware Closes After 105 Years

Patterson Hardware employees Adrian Davis, employed 19 years, and Augie Alfaro, employed 1 year, helped close down the business on Saturday, October 19, 2024, after 105 years of operation in Fillmore. Photo credit Fillmore Gazette Staff.