John Wooner speaks to the council on the City of Fillmore’s 2009-2010 Budget.

On August 11, 2009, Fillmore City Council held its third Budget Workshop as part of the development of a 2009-2010 budget. The Council plans to adopt the final budget after a formal public hearing on August 25th. At the previous workshops, on July 23rd and 28th, Transitional City Manager Larry Pennell expressed concerns that the City would suffer a financial crisis in the middle of the 2010-2011 fiscal year if spending were not curbed to match projected decreases in revenue. The Council directed staff and John Wooner, a consultant who had been hired to help with budget preparation, to incorporate suggested cuts and other recommendations into the budget. The budget was revised on August 10th. After a general overview of the changes, the Council reviewed the budget funds almost page-by-page, asking questions, making corrections, and requesting changes. Wooner hopes to receive the last of the Council's change requests by August 14th, so that he will have time to incorporate the changes into the final budget to be presented on August 25th.

Wooner had been hired, on Pennell's recommendation, to reformat the budget. On July 23rd, Wooner presented the Budget in a new format as a series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. The formatting changes to the budget do not indicate a shift in accounting practices, but are expected to make the budget more transparent to increase its usefulness as a management tool. The new format is expected to provide City employees, Council members, and the public with a budget that is easier to read, analyze, and manage. The Council will be able to see spending patterns on a monthly basis. The previous budget format was more line-item oriented, and items were identified by fund and divisions within each fund. The new format shows a summary page, detail page, and salaries page for each fund. The August 10th version of the 2009-2010 budget will be available for download in pdf form at www.fillmoreca.com CONTINUED »

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The hit Fox Network series “Bones” was fi lming in Fillmore on Monday, August 10 on Grand Avenue and Old Telegraph. Shown is a FBI van used in fi lming. Bones is an American drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensics and police procedurals in which each episode focuses on an FBI case fi le concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to the forensic anthropology team of Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan. Emily Deschanel stars in the title role, opposite David Boreanaz as Special Agent Seeley Booth. The rest of the cast includes Michaela Conlin, T. J. Thyne, Eric Millegan, Tamara Taylor and John Francis Daley. The series, created by Hart Hanson, is very loosely based on the life of forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who is a producer on the show. Its title character, Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan is named after the protagonist of Reichs’ crime novel series. Bones is a joint production by Josephson Entertainment, Far Field Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. The fourth season premiered on September 3, 2008 on Fox. In the UK, it aired on Sky1 on Thursdays, starting on September 25.[3] The show was picked up for two more seasons, with the fi fth season set to premiere September 17, 2009 on Fox.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

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2ND Street/B Street
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200 Block Los Serenos Drive
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600 Block Ventura Street
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500 Block Sespe Avenue
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800 Block Santa Fe St.
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A concrete slab which had supported a temporary classroom at San Cayetano is being converted to a patio, and there will be steps from the patio to the kindergarten play area.
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Board Member Tony Prado presided over the Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board Meeting on August 4, 2009. The Board reviewed salary schedules for the upcoming year, heard an update on facilities repairs and improvements, heard plans for welcoming staff back to school, and approved a bus contract.

School will start on August 19, 2009. Superintendent Jeff Sweeney said that staff were being welcomed back to school on Monday, August 17, 2009. Sweeney said on that Monday staff will receive training on the new data management system, Zangle, which Assistant Superintendent Mike Bush has been working to roll out. The motivational guest speaker for the day will be Jeff Eben (www.jeffeben.com). Teachers will be setting up classrooms on August 18th.

The Board postponed approval of the 2009-2010 Salary Schedules, because Board Members John Garnica and David Dollar were absent. Materials handed out at the Board meeting consisted of: the Certificated Salary Schedule, the Certificated Salary Schedule with Longevity, rates for Hourly Teaching Assignments, description of rates for Extra Services by Counselors, description of rates for Extra Period Teaching Assignments, the Extra Pay Schedule (Stipends), the School Psychologist/Coordinator Salary Schedule, the Management Salary Schedule with Longevity, Classified Job Titles and Longevity, the Classified Salary Schedule, and the Supervisory Employees Salary Schedule with Longevity. Substitute teachers’ pay rates were not included. Bush noted that approving the Schedules was a formality, and that the Schedules merely implemented decisions that the Board had previously made. Sweeney noted that the Certificated Salary Schedule includes the Fillmore Unified Teachers Association’s 1% raise. Bush noted that the Management Salary Schedule includes reductions to the number of days worked per year. When Prado asked whether the Schedules contained anything controversial, Bush replied that some people were not happy with working a shorter year but the Board had already considered that issue. Bush explained that he needs the Schedules approved to issue August paychecks, but said that the Board could approve them on August 18th, which is before paychecks would have been issued anyway. CONTINUED »

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that the Real Estate Fraud Division and Consumer Protection Division have concluded a civil prosecution conducted against real estate businesses owned and operated by Oscar Soto Vasquez (DOB: 11/30/71) of Fillmore and his wife Delia. Vasquez, along with his loan company, Quest Home Loans, Inc. (“Quest”), dba Quest Mortgage of Oxnard, and his realty company, Real Estate Vision, Inc. (“REV”), dba Century 21 New Vision of Oxnard, and Vasquez’s wife, Delia Vasquez (DOB: 05/25/71) of Fillmore, agreed to pay restitution, civil penalties and costs of the suit. The Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction were signed this afternoon by Judge Frederick Bysshe.

An investigation of Quest was initiated by the District Attorney’s Office in 2005 after Quest was determined to be the most prolific advertiser in local Spanish-language media for home loans and refinancing services. The Office began an investigation into whether Quest was providing written Spanish translations of loan documents written in English to its Spanish-speaking customers as required by law. The investigation discovered that Quest only provided documents in English. CONTINUED »

Pictured above (l-r) City Planner Manuel Minjares and Mayor Patti Walker. Minjares was awarded Employee of the Quarter.
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Pictured above (l-r) Community Services Supervisor Annette Cardona and Mayor Patti Walker. Cardona was Employee of the Quarter for April-June.
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Pictured above (l-r) Ginger Gherardi and Mayor Patti Walker.
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The City Council met July 28th, had many of its questions regarding FEMA flood maps and flood insurance answered by the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, conducted miscellaneous City business, and presented awards to staff.

Staff from the Ventura County Watershed Protection District (VCWPD) provided a presentation which addressed the need for Fillmore residents in certain locations to buy flood insurance before the updated FEMA maps are finalized and go into effect. The report provided updates on the Status of FEMA's Sespe Creek, Pole Creek, and Santa Clara River Flood Insurance Study, FEMA's Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs), and the District's Levee Certification Efforts for the Sespe Creek Levee. The three main parts of National Flood Insurance Program are mapping (to identify flood hazards), floodplain management (building practices aimed at reducing flood damage), and insurance (reducing the economic impacts of flooding). Flood Insurance Studies are used to develop maps which set flood insurance rates based on potential flood scenarios (specifically, severe floods which are estimated to occur only once in 100 years). Rates are set by location, with higher rates for areas more likely to be flooded. Some mortgage-holders require homeowners to buy insurance if their houses are in high rate (i.e. high risk) locations. A letter of final map determination for countywide DFIRMs was issued July 7, 2009, but the Santa Clara River and Tributaries DFIRM letter of final map determination will not be issued until May 2010. The DFIRMs are legally effective six months after the final map determination letter is issued. Fillmore and VCWPD worked together after the initial maps were issued to use technical evidence to convince FEMA to reduce the projected amount of water flow, reduce the projected flood area (i.e. the floodway), and to re-certify the Sespe Creek levee. The levee was conceptually divided into two parts for analysis and certification. FEMA is expected to re-certify the first part by November 30, 2009. Construction will probably be necessary to enhance the second part of the levee, but studies are ongoing, and the final report including a proposed solution to the levee's alleged deficiencies will not be ready until September 30, 2009. Revised Sespe Creek DFIRMs are expected in September 2009. VCWPD staff explained that flood insurance would be available until the end of 2009 at a reduced rate of $350 per year. Fillmore residents within the designated floodplain might be required by mortgage-holders to pay $1700 per year if they wait to buy insurance and the levee is not certified. Even if the levee is certified, as expected, the price for flood insurance will rise to $850 per year after 2009. The Council directed staff to post a map showing the projected floodway on the Fillmore City Hall web site (www.fillmoreca.com). FEMA insurance experts will be in Fillmore on September 30, 2009, for a public workshop at 6:30 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Building. Flood insurance is available through insurance companies. CONTINUED »

El Dorado resident David Roegner addressed the El Dorado Rent Control issue at Thursday night’s city council meeting. The Fair Rent and Home Ownership Initiative will be the only item on Fillmore’s November ballot.
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Fillmore City Council Chambers were packed last Thursday, July 23rd, for a Special City Council and Budget Workshop Meeting. Most of the audience was there to hear and comment on the Fair Rent and Home Ownership Initiative impact reports. The Council was legally required to either adopt the Initiative or put it on the November ballot. The atmosphere was tense as audience members whispered to each other about various speakers: “Is he on our side?” At one point, Mayor Patti Walker threatened to clear the room because a few who were apparently in favor of the Initiative were booing while people tried to speak. The Initiative will be the only item on Fillmore’s November ballot.

Manuel Minjares, Assistant Planner, presented the Planning Department’s report on how the Fair Rent and Home Ownership Initiative would impact the General Plan, Housing Element, Zoning Ordinance, vacant land, agricultural lands, traffic congestion, and existing business districts. The City, at the Council’s direction, had hired Management Partners Inc. to conduct a fiscal impact study. Andrew Belknap, Regional VP, and Jovan Grogan, Management Advisor, presented the fiscal impact report at the July 23rd meeting.

The Planning Department’s report notes, “If the initiative serves to facilitate a conversion of the El Dorado Mobile Home Park from rental to resident-ownership, with no age restriction, then it should be expected that traffic will increase as families move into the mobile home park.” According to the Planning Department’s analysis, the initiative would not significantly impact vacant land, agricultural land, open space regulations, or any business district in Fillmore. Minjares explained that the Initiative calls for the creation within the General Plan of a new land use designation, “Mobile Home Park Exclusive”, and would alter the Zoning Ordinance. The Initiative would theoretically allow El Dorado to grow to 562 units (the maximum is now set at 412), but El Dorado currently has only 302 units and it would be physically difficult to add more. CONTINUED »