Most people start the New Year with goals, and the Fillmore City Council is doing exactly that. The first Council meeting of 2016 was a special meeting to address the goals that have been completed and those it wants accomplished.

Back in April 3, 2013 Bill Herrera conducted a Town Hall Meeting held at City Hall that was the beginning of a number of Goal Setting Workshop's with the objective of setting priorities and goals for Fillmore, both immediate and long-standing.

At that time there were a number of changes to the council itself, as new members arrived and old members changed their direction or resigned. The issues of the tax monies being withheld by the Board of Equalization was a big issue along with the need for a new City Manager and a new Finance Director; all of which have now been resolved.

The residual affect of the recession and staff hours cut to the bare-bones only added to the difficult issues City Hall was facing. Problems such as record retention and staff identifying what records they did have, the need for reports to be efficient and concise, and not enough staff to function full time were high hurdles. Many of those problems have been addressed and put in order.

Council Member Douglas Tucker stated "You want to look out at least five years....most go out to ten years" to have goals with time lines that help guide you and keep you on target. "Giving you not firm, but reasonable and feasible expectations," Tucker continued.

Today, almost three years later, City Hall and the Council can now address the remaining goals of that first workshop and put the focus on priorities that will move the town forward. But looking forward should not overlook what Fillmore has accomplished in those three years; a balanced budget along with cash reserve goal of $6M that is over half way there with $3.9 million in reserve (it was at $500,000 when the goal was set). Many of the streets in town have been repaved and City Hall now has new fiber optic lines, an upgraded internet/phone system and energy efficient lighting upgrades.

Some goals have been started and are still ongoing such as bringing new business to town. Fillmore has retained The Retail Coach, a consulting firm that studies and strategize how towns can recruits retailers and developers, to review Fillmore's business need. Their recommendations have given the Council and city staff some great guidelines on improvements where needed.

The goal of improving City communications was addressed with new Twitter and Insta-gram accounts, a new mobile app and a new City homepage. The water bills also were upgraded and easier to read.

The Chevron Superfund Site cleanup is completed and the land is being annexed to the City where a future solar panel farm will be built.

Expanding the bus routes to Santa Clarita and Moorpark continues and is considered long term goals as the City works with the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) to get it done.

The Building Department is running more efficiently with a staff better trained on procedures and most of the department forms are now available online. Planning Department Kevin McSweeney told the Council, "We're complaint driven, we go out after a complaint." To address the practice of unpermitted buildings the Council would like future Code Enforcement to work 30 weekends each year when much of the work is being done.

The goal of having the Council meet twice a year with joint commissioners is on-track and the filling of vacant staff positions has mostly been addressed with a new City Engineer expected to be hired within the next week.

Council Member Rick Neal suggested sprucing up the metal light poles and other painted metal surfaces around town that are showing signs of rust and age. Mayor Diane McCall suggested that maybe one of the nonprofits in town might adopt the project. There was concern over the possibility of the Fillmore & Western Railway trains not succeeding in their lawsuit with VCTC, which would impact tourism in town. To address the loss of tourism should Fillmore loose the trains it was suggested adding some new festivals such as an avocado festival.

The issue of loitering on Central Avenue and the impact on the merchants was discussed with a suggestion of changing the planter/crosswalk to discourage sitting and loitering. It was also suggested that the merchants on Central Avenue stay open longer hours.

The signage around town was discussed such as the one El Pescador removed that was placed in a planter in front of the restaurant, and the 'feather banners' around town that have time limits on how long they can be kept up. Another sign that has been discussed for years is the one on Highway 126 that directs traffic toward downtown. Like so many other discussions, suggestions were made but action is pending. Suggestions of signage directing passerby's to Central Avenue at both ends of town were mentioned.

It was agreed that the City's housing element needs to have mix of middle to upper middle housing, not just the affordable housing the State demands. Having such a mix in other cities has shown significant financial improvements in those towns as it brings in a higher property tax base and higher spending residents.

A new amphitheater is still being discussed and where to place it, along with having new recreation programs for all ages. Two Rivers Park needs to be completed, but in the mean time a pump track was added at no cost to the City.

Fillmore is starting 2016 in far better shape than just three years ago when the Goal Setting Workshop began. With high expectations and many of the goals already addressed Fillmore is moving forward in the right direction.