Carrie Broggie

Tuesday's City Council meeting was packed with residents, there to congratulate new council members, our new mayor, and to express strong opposition to water and sewer rate increases.

Carrie Broggie has been voted-in as the new Mayor of Fillmore. She has served with distinction on the Council for the past four years. Brogie replaces former Mayor Diane McCall who has also served with great distinction since her election as Mayor two years ago.

Manuel Minjares returns to his seat on the council after the Nov. 8 election. Mark Austin and Tim Holmgren are new to the Council. All three ran unopposed. Former Councilmen Douglas Tucker and Rick Neal both served one term then decided not to run for re-election. Minjares has done great work during his previous four years as Councilman.

Mark Austin comes to the council with extensive Planning Commission experience. He resigned from the Commission in 2011 after serving for 12 years. He left the Commission during a curious dispute with the Council over the proposed placement of a cell phone tower, now located adjacent to A Street and the railroad tracks. This was during what the Gazette characterized as the reign of the Katzenjammers, who were later all swept out of office. Austin is the owner of a land use consulting company located in Westlake Village.

Holmgren, 57, works for the Santa Paula Unified School District as a computer technician. A resident of Fillmore since 2008, he has been a regular attendee of council meetings for several years, and has spent the past six years as a Fillmore Planning Commissioner.

Holmgren started Safeguard Fillmore, an energetic anti marijuana group, largely responsible for having Fillmore being the only city in Ventura County to vote no on Proposition 64, the state marijuana legalization issue.

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The Council chambers was filled to capacity last night. Numerous residents complained bitterly about the new water and sewer rate hike. Many explained that they were on Social Security, and some on disability, with no funds to pay for the new rate hike. Businesses as well strongly disapproved of the new rates, claiming they significantly increase the cost of doing business.

Hearing that the same costs in neighboring Thousand Oaks are less by more than 500 percent, the city explained that the financial structure for water and sewer charges in cities with lower rates is completely different. The City of Fillmore must be sure that its bond obligations are met to insure its ratings. If its bond rating drops it damages the ability to borrow and would force the city to pay a higher rate of interest on its municipal bonds. No solution to reduce the new water-sewer rates was suggested.

California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith today reminded holiday travelers to protect themselves from mosquito bites when traveling to areas with known transmission of Zika virus, including Mexico.

“Pregnant women and couples considering pregnancy need to be particularly cautious because Zika virus can cause severe birth defects,” said Dr. Smith. “Pregnant women are urged to avoid travel to areas with known Zika transmission if at all possible. If travel is necessary, it is extremely important to take steps to prevent mosquito bites.”

Many areas of Mexico continue to experience transmission of the Zika virus, particularly popular tourist destinations, including Cancun, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa and Mazatlan. The states of Baja California Sur, where Cabo San Lucas is located, and Sonora, which borders Arizona, have recently reported local Zika virus transmission. While the state of Baja California bordering California has not reported local Zika virus transmission, the mosquitoes that transmit the virus are present along the border. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers any travel to Mexico to be a potential risk for Zika virus infection.

While there has CONTINUED »

Publisher's Editorial
A response to a letter from Regina Stehly Nunez.
A story which appeared in the Ventura Star a few weeks ago has raised the hackles among some Fillmore residents. A remark attributed to Fillmore City Manager David Rolands may be the source of some confusion.

The vote (city council on taxing marijuana) "tells me the community is open to the possibility of cultivation and taxation of marijuana...the thing with Proposition 64 is it has to do with recreational use. They're saying they are comfortable with the medical side, but they do have concerns about the recreational side."

A couple of facts should guide us through this discussion and quiet the alarm bells. First, the City of Fillmore does not want marijuana within its boundaries. The City was the only municipality in Ventura County to vote NO on Proposition 64 which permitted recreational marijuana throughout the State of California.

City groups were formed on short notice before the election for the purpose of saying no to Prop 64. But Prop. 64 passed, subjecting Fillmore to a plague of new issues and challenges.

Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten sent a four-page letter to city leaders two days after California voters approved Prop. 64. He stated "I write to encourage your city council to enact coordinated, uniform regulations preventing the marijuana industry from bringing harm to our communities,". His purpose was to encourage our leaders to enact comprehensive regulations "to prohibit the operation of commercial marijuana enterprises in our county". Totten further warns of the enticement "by the promise of substantial tax revenue from commercial marijuana interests. Experience has shown this promise to be illusory." In other words, the marijuana market is a cash market which easily escapes proper taxation - and the cost of controlling crime can exceed any expected tax revenues. The cost of physical and psychological injury can be huge, and damage to our youth incalculable.

Fillmore approved two local measures Nov. 8 that could tax marijuana sales and commercial cultivation operations, should the city ever allow them. The approval of these two measures is causing the current, unnecessary, uproar. The council could appear to be lying-in-wait, as it were, to approve commercial activities at a later date
I received this response to my inquiry from our city manager: "We took the proactive approach and placed these issues on the ballot this year rather than wait till 2018, which is the next time we could have done it. We did no campaigning nor did we talk about it outside my one article in the paper and both passed with 60%+ of the vote. In order to tax we would need to overturn our bans. Before anything is done we would have a community dialogue. Once again Fillmore was in the forefront on this issue. It's important to remember the residents, not city council, voted and passed taxing marijuana by an overwhelming number.” - David W. Rowlands.

However, if the time came and the city council decided to permit and tax the commercial marijuana industry, nothing could be done without a public hearing. I don't believe that there is an agenda in city hall to permit the marijuana industry in our city now or in the future. If there were such an agenda why wouldn't an attempt be made to implement it today? But, since there seems to be some doubt about this issue now is a good time to ask our council members in person at the next council meeting.

The passage of Proposition 64 is simply another example of what California has become during the past 30 years. It has been taken over completely by the far Left-Progressive-Democrats. Republicans now have only one third of Sacramento government. Governor Brown and his henchman Gavin Newsom, have secured complete control, making California a staging place for every foolish, idiotic, immoral, and ungodly idea conceived of during the past 100 years.

Want a multi-billion dollar bullet train to nowhere, which no one will use? you will find it here. Want a sanctuary STATE for illegals? it's here now. Partial birth abortions? step right up. How about drivers licenses for illegal aliens? we have them. Get out of jail free for felons? we're OK with that as well. California has become absolutely toxic for traditional conservative values under Democratic rule.

So, it was only to be expected that Proposition 64 would flood the state with marijuana; it's the kind of suicidal culture Sacramento encourages.

Maybe if President-Elect Trump cuts-off all federal largess to California it can be tamed.

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I salute Regina Stehly Nunez for her energetic and persistent opposition to marijuana in Fillmore, as expressed in her letter. She correctly outlines many of marijuana's deadly attributes. Hers' is a great example of good citizenship. I also share her hatred of marijuana, and every other illegal drug. But I disagree with her worry about a council agenda threatening our town. It's time for our council to again speak out clearly on this issue.

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By the way, I mislabeled Proposition 64 as Prop. 65 last week. It's one thing to grow old - quite another to grow old and be in a hurry. Well, at least I came close.

Martin Farrell
Publisher
The Fillmore Gazette