On Tuesday, June 1, 2010, the Fillmore School Board of Trustees met for a regular public meeting. As usual Public comment was the first order of business, with Board reports, action and discussion items rounding out the meeting.

During public comment the Board heard from several community members about inquiries regarding how the District is assessing student progress and what programs are in place to improve student achievement. Mrs. Rita Avila, a parent from Piru, put the Board “on notice’ regarding her request of an accountability report. Avila mentioned Board President Mr. Tony Prado’s recent comments regarding his disregard of State test scores and Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) data regarding the District. Prado did respond that he did in fact believe testing to “be very important”, but that the No Child Left Behind program is currently under debate. The Board also heard from Mrs. Mary Ford who spoke in favor of having a local resident, Mrs. Cynthia King, a certified mediator, help with the issues in Piru. District Superintendent Mr. Jeff Sweeney did thank and agree with Ford regarding the help that King can bring, and Sweeney reported that King has in fact been invited to act as a mediator in the community of Piru. Sweeney provided some background on King, including that she has returned to live on the King Family Farm on Guiberson Road and has worked with many schools and with many small towns in the past, as well as large corporations and companies. King will begin the mediation process immediately by meeting first with Piru teachers and staff and then with School Board members.

Board members also heard from CONTINUED »

At the Piru School Site Council (SSC) meeting on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Dr. Michael Babb, a director with the Ventura County Office of Education presented a brief introduction on the roles and responsibilities of School Site Council as mandated by the State of California Education Code Section 52852. This Code specifies who can serve on the Council, what the Council is responsible for, and how they shall carry out their duties. Currently a majority of the members of Piru SSC are serving for the first time. It appears timely that Dr. Babb did his presentation now, this late in the school year. Several parents and community members used their public comment time to inquire about how the Piru SSC has been operating over the past school year and the records of their decisions. No responses were provided at this meeting.

What is School Site Council?
The California Education Code (Section 52852) mandates that a School Site Council, (SSC) is a planning and advisory committee that is made up of at least ten (10) members. A SSC must include an equal number of teachers/staff and parents. For a ten-member group the make up of the group must include the principal, four teachers or staff members, and five parents. The teachers and staff at the school elect the teacher and staff members of SSC, and the parents elect the parent members. The SSC with more than ten members, can include community members that are neither parents nor employees of the District if it so chooses. Dr. Babb emphasized that the structure of the Council is important as it ensures a balance in influence over decision making, and that the “principal has one equal vote” to the parent members. And that the principal does not lead the group, but instead should provide any requested information to the SSC so that they can make decisions accordingly. Babb also reminded parent members that they are there to serve the “interests of all children” which attend the school. SSC is one of the ways that schools meet the State guidelines which mandate parental involvement in order to qualify for and receive particular (supplemental) funds.

School administrators must often take CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

On May 19, 2010, four suspects were arrested for felony conspiracy to commit a crime and commercial burglary in the City of Fillmore. The suspects belonged to a theft ring, which was responsible for stealing in excess of $21,000 in cash and property. The theft ring consisted of 2 to 6 suspects who would enter a store and intentionally distract a lone or multiple employees for the purposes of stealing their purses, cash from register, or monies kept near the register. Additionally, suspects would also steal merchandise if the opportunity allowed. The theft ring targeted businesses based on their research of the store to determine sales volume and the numbers of employees. The suspects would then determine the numbers of ring members were necessary to commit the crimes.

The members of the ring would cause a distraction by luring the employee(s) toward the back of the store, usually with a request to have an item shown to them or explained to them how it worked. On one occasion, the suspects purposely broke a bottle in the back of the business, which caused the employee to respond to the spill and clean it up. Once the employee was lured to the back and distracted, the others then searched the front register area for items to steal. The group that committed the theft would then walk out of the store without being detected. The suspect(s) causing the distraction would eventually walk out of the store once the other suspects were safely out of the store. Business owners or employees would usually discover the thefts minutes or in some cases hours later.

The following businesses, in the Fillmore area, reported thefts of this nature:
99 Cent Store, 703 Ventura Street, Fillmore
Elva's Market, 3969 Center Street, Piru
All Occasions Bridal Shop,1317 Ventura Street, Fillmore

The City of Oxnard also CONTINUED »

Former Mayor Roger Campbell challenged the accuracy of statements made at the previous city council meeting regarding the Fillmore Business Park. Campbell explained the difference between residential, commercial, and industrial development which had been mistakenly misidentified earlier. He urged council to assist in ways to finance the Park and cited the need to have the site construction ready.

Announcements
Fire Chief Rigo Landeros announced that the Fire Department has updated the emergency preparedness information on the City website, where residents can now also register for reverse-911 alerts. He thanked Disaster Coordinator Patrick Maynard for his efforts in compiling the information and updating the site.

Councilwoman Laurie Hernandez urged local nonprofit groups to verify whether they should have filed IRS #99-09 forms. She also noted that Cabrillo Economic Development is looking for farm workers in need of affordable housing; there are units still open, and they are taking applications.

Fillmore Chamber of Commerce President David Crockett announced a public outreach meeting to be held Thursday, June 3, at 6:30 pm at the Senior Center. The event is meant to shed light on the project and allow citizens to hear both sides of the issue. Refreshments will be served and all Fillmore residents are invited to attend.
Citizen Norma Amaro presented her project of a large easel to be set up in front of Vintage Pleasures on Central Avenue to honor local members of the armed forces. She invites the community to bring in 2x3” photographs mounted on index cards with the branch, rank, and name of the individual listed beneath the photo.

Amaro also noted the disappointment registered by tourists who have noticed the dwindling number of vintage shops in Fillmore. She offered her experience and expertise to help individuals get such a business started. For those unsure of opening a shop of their own but still interested in a smaller venture, Amaro offers to make space in her own store.

Bruce Stenslie, president of the Economic CONTINUED »

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On Monday morning, 5/24/10, at approximately 11:35 a.m., the body of Roberto Barrios was recovered from the bottom of Lake Piru. Barrios was reported missing on Saturday after he disappeared below the surface of the water while swimming with friends during an outing after the group had graduated from nursing school.

A party of nine people rented a pontoon boat from the Lake Piru Marina and motored to Pump House Point where three members of the party decided to go for a swim. Two of the group donned life preservers, but Barrios elected not to. As the trio jumped into the water the wind became extremely strong and blew the pontoon boat away from the swimmers. Barrios was seen struggling in the choppy waves of the lake and soon disappeared below the surface. A passing boat recovered the two other swimmers.

Emergency personnel were summoned and the Ventura County Aviation Unit responded with a SCUBA equipped diver and a rescue swimmer onboard who were deployed into the lake. They were able to immediately start searching the bottom of the lake while the Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue Dive Team was activated.

Upon arrival of the dive team, they CONTINUED »