For over two hundred years a true “government by the people” has been diligently sought after by the American people. When the U.S. Constitution was adopted, only white male property owners were granted the right to vote. Since the original Bill of Rights was enacted there have been only seventeen Amendments to the Constitution; seven of them concerned voting rights. In 1810 the last religious requirement for voting eligibility was removed. The requirement for ownership of property was suspended in 1850. Former slaves were given the vote in 1870; women in 1920; and Native Americans in 1924. Poll taxes and literacy tests were banned in the mid-1960’s. The voting age was set at 18 in 1971.

The right to vote is a right that patriots have fought and died for throughout our country’s history. It is each citizen’s main vehicle for having his/her voice heard concerning the terms, conditions and direction the country establishes that will govern his/her way of life. It is a precious gift that should be utilized with great care and a deep sense of responsibility. We as a people need to be diligent in our scrutiny of candidates for public office. We need to determine if they steadfastly defend our interests; if they follow our wishes or their own agendas when representing us in the halls of congress; if they do what they promised us they would do. We need to be astutely aware of who has the greatest influence on these candidates; is it big business, labor unions, special interest groups or the people who elected them into office. Each candidate’s honesty and integrity should also be carefully considered. CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

At approximately 10:30 p.m. Saturday July 11, A strong arm robbery occurred on the 200-300 block of Saratoga St. Rigoberto Santa Rosa 31, was walking north bound on Saratoga Street from a local market. He was approached from behind and knocked to the ground by two suspects. Hispanic male 18-20 years. They then stole his wallet, his beer, and a cell phone. SantaRosa was able to flee uninjured. The suspects are at large. Gang Unit will investigate. Courtesy of Fillmore Police Department.

Interim City Manager Larry Pennell

Fillmore City Council held a Special Meeting on July 14th to discuss the appointment of a permanent City Manager. All five Council Members, the Transitional City Manager Larry Pennell, and City Attorney Ted Schneider were present. The discussion itself took place in closed session, but beforehand the Council mentioned some of the issues involved in their upcoming decision.

Council Member Jamey Brooks requested that the Council discuss the permanent City Manager's pay range as a future agenda item. He wants to set a firm limit at the high end of the range, and opined that the current salary is too high. The current salary range is $9,395.84 - $10,583.33 per month, or an annual salary of $112,750 - $127,000. Pennell mentioned that the position candidates are good people who are on the way up, and for the most part already employed. He provided the Council with handouts listing salaries of city managers in cities comparable to Fillmore. Council Member Laurie Hernandez said that Fillmore's salary was not out of line, but agreed that it should be discussed as soon as possible. Mayor Patti Walker noted that Pennell is scheduled to cease being Transitional City Manager after August 26th. The City's employment agreement with him limits the total number of hours he will work. The agenda item was set for the July 28th meeting, because the July 23rd meeting already has a full agenda. CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

POLICE BLOTTER
07/02/09 – 07/07/09
BURGLARY VEHICLE
07/02/09
Olive St. / Ventura St.
SEARCH WARRANT
07/02/09
700 Block 4th Street
07/02/09
200 Block Olive Street
07/06/09
100 Block Surrey Way
07/06/09
300 Block Fillmore Street
VANDALISM
07/02/09
900 Block Ventura Street
07/05/09
1000 Block Waterford Lane
07/06/09
N. C. Street / Meadowlark Dr.
07/06/09
B. St. / Burlington Street
07/07/09
300 Block Main Street
THEFT OTHER CONTINUED »

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Ariat, International of Union City, California, Resistol Hats of Garland, Texas and the National High School Rodeo Association-Wrangler Division is proud to announce that Tyler Forsberg, Piru, was recently named the boy's Ail-Around Champion for the year by the 2009 California Junior High School Rodeo Association.

To earn this honor, Forsberg accumulated more points in two or more events, than any other male California High School Rodeo members for the 2008-2009 rodeo season, which ended with the recent California Junior High School Rodeo finals held in Plymouth, California.

Forsberg finished the state/province finals as follows: Tie Down Roping – Reserve Champion 2009; Boys Goat Tying – Champion (won 3 rounds and average); Ribbon Roping – Champion (won 2 rounds and average); Team Roping Heeler (won 2 rounds and average).

For being named the All-Around Champion, Forsberg was awarded numerous prizes as well as a new pair of Ariat boots and a new Resistol straw hat.

"This sponsorship of the boy's year-end Ail-Around awards for the 47 NHSRA-Wrangler Division state and provincial associations is a true privilege for Ariat and Resistol. We take great pride in manufacturing the finest footwear and cowboy hats available for the equine competitor and consider it to be an honor to be the official footwear and cowboy hat of the National High School Rodeo Association-Wrangler Division," comments Tabatha Nelson, Sponsorship Coordinator for Ariat and Stan Redding of Resistol Hats.

"Without the tremendous support the NHSRA-Wrangler Division receives from great companies like Ariat, the NHSR-Wrangler Division would simply not be able to accomplish everything it does for its members. The Ariat All-Around Champion awards program is just on example of how much all of our sponsors care about the success of the NHSRA-Wrangler Division," adds Kent Sturman, NHSRA Executive Director.

As a non-profit corporation organized in 1947 to support youth, education, the great sport of rodeo, and the North American western heritage, the NHSRA is the world's largest rodeo organization with over 12,000 members. Annually, the NHSRA sanctions more than 1,200 rodeos through out the U.S., Canada, and Australia. To find out more about high school rodeo or how you can become involved with the NHSRA, call the NHSRA National Office at 1-800-466-4772 or visit the web site at www.nhsra.org.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

At approximately 1:37 a.m., July 5, 2009, deputies with the Fillmore Police Department responded to a call of a shooting victim in the 1000 block of Wileman St. When they arrived, they found that Rafael Torres 21, a resident of Santa Paula, had suffered a single gunshot to his chest.

Torres was treated at the scene by personnel with the Fillmore Fire Department and American Medical Response and transported to the Ventura County Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sergeant Hester, with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Unit, or the Ventura County Crime Stoppers.

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 494-TALK (Thousand Oaks / Moorpark)

For over a year, Fillmore citizens have been lobbying the Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) to allow public access to the new all-weather track installed at Fillmore High School (FHS). Both the City Council and the School Board had given their approval to the development of a pilot program for community access to the track at specifically scheduled times through a Runners’ Club. A public meeting for interested runners and walkers regarding the formation of the club and the start of the pilot program will be held at the District Office Boardroom (627 Sespe Ave.) on August 3, 2009 at 7 p.m. Assistant Superintendent Mike Bush and Deputy City Manager Bill Bartels expect the club to have access to the track starting in mid-August or late September, depending partly on how the meeting goes.

Two main issues which had to be resolved by City and FUSD staff before the pilot could proceed were supervision and liability. Insurance is part of the liability issue. As early as August 2008, there was an understanding among School Board members that the track had been used by the community in the past, the community would like to continue using the track, and that most of the public advocates were hoping for a compromise that would allow public access to the track without significantly increasing the risk of damages. On Aug 19, 2008, the School Board decided that the public should only have access to the track through the Civic Center Act to limit damages and liabilities. The Act allows organizations to apply at the District for permits specifying dates to use school facilities. A private organization would have been charged a rental fee of $125 per hour for use of the track and field, in addition to the costs of obtaining insurance and paying school employees to supervise running time. At the September 2008 joint City Council-School Board meeting, it was agreed that City and FUSD staff would work out the issues involved before handing the formation of a public running club over to Parks and Recreation. Bartels explained that because the City and FUSD have a Joint Use of Facilities Agreement, the hope is to make the club affordable for its members, the City, and FUSD. CONTINUED »

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By July 15, 2009 the sewage flow to the 1955 Wastewater Treatment will be completely redirected to the new Wastewater Recycling Plant. After the week of July 15th the shut down and decommissioning of the old plant will begin. The old plant will likely give us a few odors as a goodbye present.

A sewer treatment plant is a complex organism that lives on the energy in the sewage. As the bacteria, protozoa, and rotifers consume the waste they clean the water. When a treatment plant’s food supply is cut off it dies and begins to stink. To control the odors as much as possible we will feed the plant molasses as a replacement food supply while we take each process off line cleaning and disinfecting each component.

The new wastewater recycling plant was started up on June 18th as we imported 9 tanker truck loads of bacteria from the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Santa Clarita. Then we fed these new bacteria with our Fillmore sewage gradually growing their numbers. For the first week we pumped 90,000 gallons per day of sewage to them and on June 24th we gave them 75% of the sewage from the City. Finally on or about July 15 100% of the sewage flow will be directed to the new plant completely turning off the old plant. CONTINUED »