Fillmore’s City Manager is determined by the council majority to be a hard worker.

[The Gazette’s city reporter is absent]

MEETING SUMMARY
Last night’s city council should be remembered more for its public comment than for approval the city budget items.

Fillmore resident Joan Archer addressed the council, saying that her questions from the previous week’s special meeting were not answered. She reiterated her questions regarding the need for specific information to determine whether the releasing of city employees and hiring of temporary and contract replacements was economically feasible. The council majority had quickly come to the defense of City Manager Yvonne Quiring, stating that she was a very hard-working person. Archer reminded council that she certainly believed Ms. Quiring worked very hard at her job, but that was not the question she had asked.

Former resident and mayor Patti Walker read a prepared statement which condemned the Fillmore Gazette, Councilman Steve Conaway, former mayor Evaristo Barajas, former city manager Roy Payne, former city engineer Bert Rapp, and all former council members who had anything to do with city projects and budgets for the past 10 years or so. Mismanagement was the theme of her remarks. Mismanagement, according to Walker, is what has brought Fillmore to the brink of bankruptcy.

Central to Ms. Walker’s comments was the question “Where did all the city money go?” According to Walker it went largely into a water treatment plant that was too expensive, and other public projects which the city could not afford. Coupled with a housing market collapse, the loss of Redevelopment money, and dwindling tax receipts (particularly the Owens & Minor tax lawsuit expense) she claimed previous councils had overspent. She also accused the Gazette of inaccurate reporting.

Councilman Conaway, who was away on vacation, could not respond. The other four council members side with Walker.

Highlights Video

On Sunday June 24th, 2012, at approximately 5:03am officers responded to the Texaco Gas Station located at 206 E. Harvard Blvd. for the report of an armed robbery. The suspect entered the business brandishing a knife and demanded money. An unknown amount of money was taken and the suspect fled east through the parking lot. The suspect was described as a male subject, thin build, approximate 5-11, wearing unknown clothing. The area was checked by officers from the Santa Paula Police Department as well as K-9 deputies from the Ventura County Sheriffs Department. However they did not located the suspect. At this time the investigation is ongoing.
If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact Detective Paul Spencer at 805-525-4474 Ext 221.
Cody Madison
Sergeant

Meeting Highlights Video

Complete meeting video

What began as a normal city council meeting, Tuesday, quickly exploded into verbal fireworks from Steve Conaway, a seven-plus year councilman, as he condemned Mayor Washburn for her unprecedented conduct.

Last Monday Washburn called the city attorney’s office, informing a member of that firm that Fillmore’s City Attorney, Ted Schneider, was no longer to attend any city meetings. It is alleged that her justification for banning Schneider was based on accusations that he has had a relationship with a former city employee.

Conaway expressed outrage with this action, stating that neither the Mayor nor the City Manager, Yvonne Quiring, had any business taking such action, implying a lack of authority to do so. Conaway said it was nothing less than “a personal vendetta being executed” against Schneider, and that “an individual’s personal life is none of your business.”

Quiring was silent. Washburn CONTINUED »

On Thursday, June 7th, the Ventura County Emergency Medical Services Agency partnered with the American Heart Association to coordinate a county-wide CPR program. This service was free to the public and was held in various locations across Southern California, Including Fillmore, with the goal of increasing the number of lifesavers in the community. Emergency healthcare providers, such as fire departments, ambulance companies, hospitals - Ventura County Medical Center, Santa Paula Hospital, Los Robles Hospital, Community Memorial Hospital and St. John's Hospital — and education programs went out into the community to teach residents how to save a life with "Hands-Only" CPR.

CPR instructors were on hand to demonstrate the basics and proper techniques of "Hands-Only" CPR, and participants had the opportunity to practice on mannequins. The training did not result in CPR certification.
Cardiac arrests are more common than you think, and can happen to anyone at any time. Nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually and only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a lay person. Failure to act in a cardiac emergency can lead to unnecessary deaths. In fact, less than eight percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive. On the other hand, effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim's chance of survival. In 2011, Ventura County responded to 440 cardiac arrests; only 30% had bystander CPR in progress. Of those, only 14% went home neurologically intact.

Sadly, 70 percent CONTINUED »

Story Courtesy goventura.org

VISTA bus riders may soon encounter some service disruption arising from recent bankruptcy proceedings associated with service contractor CUSA. “Within the past two days, representatives from CUSA which operates our popular VISTA inter-community bus service informed the Commission that it intends to halt operations on or about June 30, 2012 due to bankruptcy sale of assets. We clearly understand the negative impact which this action may have on our valued VISTA customers, and VCTC staff is working actively to identify a safe and quality solution”, noted Darren Kettle, VCTC Executive Director.

Any possible disruption in CUSA operations would not have an impact on VISTA dial-a-ride services in the Heritage Valley (Santa Paula, Fillmore, and Piru); nor on any of Ventura County’s other public transit providers: Ojai Trolley, Moorpark City Transit, Gold Coast Transit, Thousand Oaks Transit, Camarillo Area Transit, and Simi Valley Transit. About 1,500 passengers are served daily through VISTA.

VCTC will continue to honor all Go Ventura bus pass cards on the VISTA inter-community bus service through June 30, 2012. Go Ventura bus pass products will continue to be honored on other participating public transit providers throughout Ventura County, including VISTA dial-a-ride services in the Heritage Valley (Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru).

New sale and CONTINUED »

[The Gazette’s city reporter was absent this week]
A budget crisis is arising at city hall. City Manager Yvonne Quiring was unable to answer budget questions at Tuesday’s meeting, for the second week. After eliminating “fifty percent” of the city’s work force, in and out of city hall, and replacing many with temporary and contract workers, Quiring does not know what, if any, savings resulted.

For the second week chambers was filled with concerned citizens responding to expressed intentions by the council to close Fillmore’s parks and restrooms. City Manager Quiring suggested last week that, because Fillmore is such a small town, those participating in sporting events at the parks could run home to use bathroom facilities.

Councilman Steve Conaway expressed frustration in the Manager’s inability to provide specific answers to budget questions and time is very short for the mandated budget approval.