City of Fillmore

Southern California was a busy time in the late 1800’s. With the coming of the railroad, and regularly scheduled freight and passenger train service available from Los Angeles to Santa Paula in early 1887, real estate prices boomed and the pioneer spirit prevailed in little villages and settlements nestled in the sheep and cattle country of the magnificent wild mustard covered Santa Clara Valley. Advertisements in the Los Angeles Times, train excursions and barbecues all served to lure Angelinos and others to the developing area.

Our town’s formal beginnings go back to 1887 when visionary, Joseph D. McNab of the Sespe Land and Water Company convinced the Southern Pacific Railroad to establish a stop on the Fillmore site in lieu of the Cienega area site, east of the fish hatchery, Bardsdale, or the Sespe area, west of Sespe Creek. McNab was also instrumental in much of the infant town’s early activities and development, which included laying out the future city’s plans and hiring William Mullholland from Los Angeles to develop a wooden flume system, bringing essential water from upper Sespe Creek. Named in honor of Jerome A. Fillmore, a Southern Pacific General Superintendent, the town’s first street map was recorded in 1888 at the Ventura County Court House. By 1900, Fillmore boasted 150 citizens (Rand McNally Atlas). In 1958, a half century ago, the recorded population had grown to 4,725. Today, approximately 14,000 men, women and children call Fillmore home.

Growth, change and disaster have touched Fillmore through the decades. During Fillmore’s early days, businesses sprung up on either side of the railroad right-of-way near the depot on Main Street, the original main street. The first businesses, all wooden structures, included a rooming house, pool hall, general store, saloon, lumberyard, fruit stand, and barbershop, servicing the needs of rail passengers and residents alike. Dozens of other businesses including a newspaper, theatre, olive oil factory and an inn spread east down Main and along Fillmore Street. Fruit packinghouses, warehouses and corrals for cattle were located east of the depot. The railroad company owned a gravel pit, employing one hundred Chinese laborers loading cars of gravel. They lived in a tent village on the edge of town and traded with local merchants.

The Ventura Free Press applauded Fillmore’s acumen, serving the Santa Clara Valley in 1899 citing numerous service and goods businesses, two churches, grammar school, large public hall, Justice of the Peace, Constable and Deputy Sheriff, three notary publics, and an insurance and real estate agent. Other businesses included The Sespe Land and Water Co., Fillmore Irrigation Co., Sunset Telephone and Telegraph Co., Excelsior Laundry, on site representatives of Wells Fargo and Western Union Telegraph Co., and a stockyard with facilities to ship cattle. CONTINUED »

Whose Town Do They Want to Take Back? The Town that Gary Creagle and a few others envisioned in the 1980s? Gary and others wanted the City to grow all the way to Piru, build an airport and allow a gaming casino. Do we want Back the dysfunctional Town that nearly brought Fillmore to financial ruin? The voters threw out Gary and his cronies, and with a new city council under Mayor Delores Day, Roy Payne was hired as city manager and the city began to pick up the pieces. Now Gary wants it all back his way, and he's convinced a few newcomers to see things his way.

The frugality of the current City Council and city management is not an issue. Our city has lived within its means for many years now. The cost increases for management employees were largely beyond the city council's control; these were due to increases in medical insurance and the PERS retirement fund. It has been a difficult inflationary year for everyone, yet our city continues to operate on a BALANCED BUDGET. Since the recovery from the 1994 quake, the city has steadily built up RESERVES which amount to about 36% of the current operating budget.

With our financial house in order we can soon look forward to a new community swimming pool, new tennis courts and a new 22 acre park. These long-terms visions are coming to reality thanks to the support of the community and the leadership shown by the current city council. Fillmore needs more jobs and services. Santa Paula Hospital has been reopened and we have a new modern urgent care facility and Fillmore's budding business park and the needed jobs it will bring will soon be realized.

Above all, we are saddened by all the negative commentary about our community and our city. We need to start building bridges rather than creating walls of division. The discussion needs to focus on what is right for Fillmore, not who is right.

That is why we five retired Mayors of Fillmore are supporting Steve Conaway, Cecilia Cuevas and Norris Pennington for City Council. Vote November 4!

Sincerely,

Scott Lee, Mike Mc Mahan, Don Gunderson, Roger Campbell and Evaristo Barajas
5 Retired Mayors of the City of Fillmore

Linda and Jerry Edmunds had a problem. They were country folks at heart, but they were city dwellers. Linda’s grandparents had a citrus ranch in Bardsdale and after they passed away, the Edmunds bought five acres from the family and decided to make the move to the country. First they built a barn for Jerry’s ranch management business and eventually they began to design a house. The idea of a modular home appealed to them and they ordered one which was delivered on three very long trucks. With extensive planning and vision, Jerry and Linda have transformed a modular home into a beautiful living and entertaining space.
Entering through large gates, a wide driveway leads to the home. The Edmunds have upgraded the interior with granite and tile and the spacious rooms are beautifully decorated. Several Kincaid paintings grace the living room and the family room/kitchen is large and welcoming with a stone fireplace. Three spacious bedrooms, an office, and a laundry area completes the home. In the backyard they have built a large entertainment area with a kitchen, massive stone barbecue and spit and plenty of seating space. It is a perfect gathering place for large groups of friends.
You will be delighted by this lovely home which is one of the four homes featured in the Fillmore Historical Museum Annual Fall Home Tour. The date is Sunday, Nov. 9th from 12:00 to 4:00. The Heritage Valley Fine Arts Sale will take place on the Museum grounds from 11:00 to 4:00 on the same day. Tickets are $20.00 advance sale and $25.00 the day of the tour. They may be purchased through the Museum (524-0948) or at Coffeeboy or Mirage in town, or at any home the day of the tour.

Campus Updates… Fillmore Middle School (FMS) Principal Todd Schieferle, left, and Sierra High School (SHS) Principal Tony Held provided updates on plans to improve student academic achievement, school discipline and safety, and parent outreach, at Tuesday night’s school board meeting. Schieferle emphasized FMS’s improved school climate and a new-to-FMS professional development method, Professional Learning Communities (PLC).

Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board held the open session of its regular meeting October 21, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office. The Board heard an update from two school principals, reviewed Walk to School/Work Day, and discussed future construction.

Fillmore Middle School (FMS) Principal Todd Schieferle and Sierra High School (SHS) Principal Tony Held provided updates on plans to improve student academic achievement, school discipline and safety, and parent outreach. Schieferle emphasized FMS’s improved school climate and a new-to-FMS professional development method, Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Both FMS and SHS had struggled under a lack of firm and clear procedures due to staff turnover. Held and Schieferle are remedying those situations.

Schieferle deliberately started out the school year in a manner designed to ensure that FMS would be safe, orderly, positive, and have systems in place. He said that discipline had always been an area of concern. Last year, then-Principal Held with Schieferle as Dean had started addressing the gang problem. There were ten expulsions and six sexual battery cases last year. This year, the administration is laying down the law. Schieferle described the orderly manner in which students are required to enter and exit the gym for grade-level assemblies. Students have been pre-warned against specific behaviors that would be punished by expulsions and suspensions. They have also been warned that the school does not tolerate violence, sexual assault, battery, or dress code violations. FMS has a new dress code this year. Assistant Principal Tricia Godfrey has visited each class to describe the dress code, and it is now well-established. CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Location: 300 block Sespe Avenue, Fillmore, CA. 93015
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (W)itnesses, Address, Age
(V) Male, Fillmore, California, 88

On October 16, 2008, deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department responded to a dog bite victim in the 300 block of Sespe Avenue in Fillmore. Deputies arrived and discovered an eighty-eight year old male had been bitten by a dog while bicycling. The victim suffered a small puncture wound to his left calf as a result of the dog bite. He was treated at the scene by emergency medical technicians who had been summoned by deputies.

The dog, an American Stadfordshire Terrier, was located roaming nearby. Deputies corraled the dog until the arrival of Ventura County Animal Control, who collected the dog and placed it under a standard ten day quarantine. The dog’s owner was located and it was learned the dog had escaped from the owner’s backyard.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department reminds dog owners to ensure their dogs are properly secured at home and to always obey local leash laws.

Norma Amaro, representing the Fillmore Downtown Merchants Assn., pleaded for assistance for merchants who have been financially devastated by storm drain construction which has closed Central Avenue for months. An emergency meeting was scheduled to seek a remedy.

Fillmore City Council held a well-attended meeting October 14, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. The Council will have a special meeting this Friday to address concerns raised by business owners, including schedule conflicts over possible further construction on Central Ave. The Council approved a final budget for Fiscal Year 2008-2009.

Norma Amaro spoke movingly on behalf of the Downtown Business Merchants. This holiday season will be critical for their businesses. She said, "In the last fifteen months, nine businesses have had to close on Central Avenue due to little or no foot traffic." Over the past two years, the Merchants have repeatedly emphasized the importance of "Significant Signage". Significant Signage means large permanent attractive signs located along the promenade next to the train tracks and at the gateway entrance to Central on Highway 126. The Merchants have been tracking the activity of train-riding tourists and have concluded that when signs directing those tourists are placed near the promenade, then sales go up on that day. Deputy City Manager Bill Bartels remarked that some signs have been approved and purchased, but are not installed because their hangers cannot stand up to the Santa Ana winds. There are extra train rides scheduled from now through December because the Railway offers pumpkin patch and Christmas tree trips. Amaro noted that several businesses are in danger, and requested a special emergency meeting. The Council granted a special meeting for Friday, October 17th, at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

The Council engaged in intense discussion regarding a potential change order with Lash Construction to incorporate the extension of the Central Ave. storm drain from Sespe Ave. to First St. The controversy arises from the potential damage further construction could do to downtown businesses. The proposal called for additional construction along Central Ave.: from Sespe Ave. to Kensington Dr. during November and from Kensington Dr. to First St. during the high school's winter vacation. The City and the Merchants had agreed that there would be no construction downtown from November 1st until January 1st, so that holiday shopping would not be negatively impacted. All parties agreed that the Merchants have been exceedingly patient, and the Council does not want to cause them any further hardship. CONTINUED »

United States Marine Corps Private Tabetha Solorio.

2008 Fillmore High School Graduate Tabetha Solorio, 18 years, has entered United States Marine Corps Boot Camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), Parris Island, South Carolina. Tabetha left for Parris Island on August 25, 2008 for a challenging thirteen weeks of military training. In addition to FHS Tabetha also attended Sespe Elementary and Fillmore Middle Schools and enjoyed playing basketball.

Private Tabetha Solorio is the daughter of Maria Barragan of Fillmore and Guillermo Solorio of Arizona. She is the granddaughter of Trinidad Barragan of Palmdale, California and the late Guadalupe Barragan. Private Tabetha Solorio has two brothers; Robert Solorio, 21 years, of Arizona, Adam Solorio, 20 years, of Fillmore and one sister Samantha Valdez, 22 years, of Fillmore. Her Cousin Monique, 2 years old, Fillmore misses her auntie very much and can’t wait to see her after her graduation. She also has seven uncles, 4 aunts and too many cousins to mention that all miss Private Tabetha Solorio very much and are extremely proud of her service.

MCRD Parris Island is the only location for the training of women Marines. MCRD Parris Island is generally the location for the Recruit Training of new Recruits who enlist from states east of the Mississippi River. Recruits living west of the Mississippi River receive their Recruit Training, as I did, at MCRD San Diego. Recruit training is divided into three phases: Phase 1 is Basic Learning; physical and mental, Phase 2 is Rifle Training, Phase 3 is Field Training. The Training Matrix represents the best training in the world. It is a methodical and time-tested process. Every hour of every day for 13 weeks culminating with the 54-hour Crucible is designed for just one purpose...To make the highest quality basically trained United States Marine.

The first part of week one is called "forming." The Drill Instructors "form" new recruits by a process known as "total immersion." Without a doubt, Marine boot camp is more challenging -- physically and mentally -- than the basic training programs of any of the other military services. Not only are these requirements much higher, but recruits are required to learn and adhere to the core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.< !--break-->

The Crucible is the 54-hour culmination to the transformation of recruit training. It is a physically and mentally challenging event that involves food and sleep deprivation and the completion of various obstacles for the potential Marine to negotiate. It has been said time and time again by former Marines that Marine Corps recruit training was the most difficult thing they ever had to do in their entire lives. In order to train the world's most elite fighting force... It has to be that way.

Basic Facts about the Crucible:
1. Recruits will travel 42 miles on foot during the event.
2. There are 29 problem-solving exercises during the Crucible.
3. It consists of 36 different stations.
4. The recruits will have three meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) during the 54 hours.
5. The recruits will be required to carry ammunition cans up to 50 pounds and dummies up to 100 pounds during the Crucible, in addition to combat (782) gear, uniform and M16 A2 service rifle weight.

After Recruit Training Private Tabetha Solorio will receive technical training in Shipping and Receiving.

All of us here in the Santa Clara Valley are especially proud of Private Tabetha Solorio and her commitment to serving her Country. As a former Marine myself I am especially proud to have her join the ranks of the Marines. We wish her safe travel and thank Private Tabetha Solorio and her family for their sacrifices now and others sure to come to keep the United States of America strong.