Jeff Sweeney
Superintendent Fillmore Unified School District

On October 15, 2009, The Fillmore Gazette’s article [Questions & Answers] regarding the petition to convert Piru Elementary to a charter school did not accurately present both sides of the issues. As Superintendant of Fillmore Unified School District, I felt it was appropriate to submit this letter to clarify and explain the District’s position relative to the charter.

At a meeting on October 21, 2009 (after the writing of this letter), the FUSD Governing Board will be conducting a public hearing on the proposal submitted by a small group of teachers, a former principal, and a few community members to remove Piru School from the District, and make it a separate charter school run independently of the District.

Because the decision on the charter affects the entire community, the District is anxious to hear from the public, particularly current Piru Elementary parents and District employees, regarding their feelings about the proposal to convert Piru to a separate school. If the charter is granted, Piru Elementary will no longer be one of FUSD’s schools, but will operate separately under the authority of a corporation. We hope that many community members will attend the public hearing and speak to the Board, whether they are in favor of or opposed to the request to convert Piru. FUSD is concerned by reports it has received that local families whose children attend Piru and are directly affected by the charter proposal were not included in the development of the charter.
Apparently the County Office of Education’s Migrant Program Office is concerned that the migrant population, many of whom have children at Piru, have an opportunity to voice their position on this request. That Office has chosen to provide a bus to transport people from Rancho Sespe to the meeting. The lead petitioner’s allegation that the District was improperly diverting Migrant Education funds to bus parents to the public hearing is quite simply wrong. The bus is being provided and paid for by the County Office, and was not done at the District’s request nor paid for with any monies within the District’s control.

The petitioners and the nine teachers who signed the petition CONTINUED »

Owner Ron Asquith, standing in part of the 17 acres of olive trees he owns.

Enlarge Photo

Several members and friends of the Ventura County Chapter of California Women for Agriculture enjoyed a tour of the Ojai Olive Oil farm and processing facility on Saturday, October 10. Owner Ron Asquith, standing in part of the 17 acres of olive trees he owns, explained the particulars of farming olives. The taste of the oil produced from the fruit varies with the variety of tree, and Ron has French, Italian, Spanish, and Greek varieties on his ranch. The trees need heat in the summer to ripen the fruit (making Ojai an ideal location), and are much more resistant to cold than avocados or oranges. It takes 4-5 years from planting for trees to reach production, and they tend to be alternate bearing (produce a heavy crop one year and a lighter one the next), though this depends on the variety. The primary pest problem is the Olive Fruit Fly. Ron treats for this with an organically-approved chemical, which is spot-sprayed with a backpack sprayer from about mid-June through October. The trees are drip irrigated and are regularly pruned, and can have productive lives for hundreds of years.

Harvest lasts from November to the end of December. While on the tree the exterior color of the fruit changes from light green to bluish to black, but more important is the color of the fruit inside; Ron says you know the olive is ripe and ready to release oil if there is some pink color inside. Ron uses a Farm Labor Contractor from Santa Paula to pick the olives. Pickers grasp a section of a branch and, with their other hand, strip the fruit into a bucket. Full buckets are dumped into a 40-pound box, which will ultimately produce one gallon of the finished product of extra virgin olive oil. Ojai Olive Oil processes olives for themselves as well as for five neighbors with smaller acreages.

The group moved to a nearby building which houses the processing equipment and a small retail store. The key to producing a high-quality olive oil is to process the olives within a few hours of harvest. Ron’s $100,000 stainless steel olive press was imported from Italy, as this type of equipment is not manufactured in the United States. Boxes of harvested fruit are emptied into a hamper, where leaves are blown out and olives are washed. Olives then travel up a tube into a hopper, then on to the crusher. A paste consisting of oil, water, and solids (with a consistency of thick oatmeal) emerges into a tank, where it is mixed and begins to separate. Each tank holds 400 pounds of olives, and after thirty minutes of mixing the separated olive oil is pumped out into a small tank where it can be tasted, tested for clarity, and filtered if necessary. Samples are sent to a lab in Paso Robles to verify that the oil is extra virgin, which is the highest quality.

Ron sells a peppery, a mild and an organic as well as flavored (lemon, mandarin, garlic, and rosemary) extra-virgin olive oils; imported balsamic vinegars; soaps and face creams; and olive trees in one- and two-gallon containers. Visitors are welcome on Saturdays from 10:00 – 3:00, and group tours can be arranged. Ron’s website is www.ojaioliveoil.com, or he can be reached at (805) 701-3825. CWA thanks Ron for sharing his farm and facility and for educating us about this little-known segment of Ventura County agriculture.

A 20-year old man was killed Tuesday in a head-on collision at the intersection of E. Telegraph Road and North Main Street on Highway 126, Piru, west of Center Street. The man was headed west-bound at 5:45 p.m. when his car drifted into oncoming traffic, colliding with a car driven by Adrian Powell, 53, of Valencia. Powell was transported to Henry Mayo Hospital and treated for a broken pelvis and injuries to his ankle and knee.
The 20-year old was flown to Ventura County Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m.
Both men were extricated from their vehicles, according to Ventura County Fireline reports. Both men were wearing seatbelts.

City of Fillmore

10/08/09-10/13/09
VANDALISM
10/08/09
600 Block River St.
10/08/09
200 Block B Street
10/09/09
500 Block Central Ave.
10/09/09
300 Block B Street
10/09/09
2nd St. / B Street
10/10/09
500 Block Kensington Drive
10/11/09
900 Block Sespe Ave.
10/11/09
500 Block Kensington Dr.
10/12/09
600 Block Eagle Ct.
THEFT OTHER CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

*** UPDATED INFORMATION***

Date & Time/ RB#: Oct. 21, 2009 @ 10:30 a.m. / 09-25778
Unit Responsible: Thousand Oaks Police Department Investigations Bureau

A 15-year-old Westlake High School student missing since Monday morning was found Wednesday morning at a youth services center in Los Angeles.

Investigators received a tip from a source in Los Angeles who was in contact with Alexandria “Allie” Phipps Wednesday morning. The source had seen Allie’s image in news footage about her disappearance and notified investigators.

Allie has been returned to Thousand Oaks to be reunited with her family. Investigators are interviewing Allie to determine the reasons for her disappearance.

The cooperation of local and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as news media organizations led to the safe return of this young woman, who was listed as an at risk-missing person.

Bert Rapp, Director of Public Works, shows FEMA’s flood map to council, Wednesday night.

Mayor Patti Walker welcomed everyone to the Joint Fillmore City Council/North Fillmore Neighborhood Committee meeting, Wednesday, October 7, 2009.

Oral communications were first on the agenda. New city manager Yvonne Quiring spoke, saying she was pleased to be part of the “Fillmore family”. She thanked the community for the warm welcome and said she could see why no one ever leaves Fillmore, which drew a laugh.

Quiring began one of her first public appearances with an apology for the failure regarding the Request For Proposals (RFP) that were not sent out in the city’s search for a new auditing firm to meet State deadlines.
“I would like to apologize to the city council and to the community. There seems to be some sort of miscommunication. We have not done a good job as staff at explaining what has gone on with the RFP for audit services so I want to let everybody know that it’s going out for bid at some point in the future, probably in the next several weeks.”

Quiring began her post as city manager on October 1, 2009, before the RFPs were purported to have been sent out as stated by Mayor Walker at the September 22 council meeting and in an October 1st Letter to the Editor to the Gazette. Larry Pennell was city manager at the time.

Quiring went on to say, “I am looking into what exactly CONTINUED »

Caitlin Elizabeth Ann O'Neil-McKeown

2007 Fillmore High School Graduate Caitlin Elizabeth Ann O'Neil-McKeown, 20 years old, is now serving in the United States Air Force. Caitlin also attended Piru Elementary and Fillmore Middle school. While growing up she was active in 4-H, FFA, Art Club and the Mentor Program. She enlisted in the United States Air Force on February 10, 2009 for a 4 year enlistment.

Caitlin is the daughter of Stephen McKeown and Lori Schnieder of Fillmore. Her siblings are; Erica Stout (37) of Germany whose husband Shannon is a Sergeant First Class stationed there with the Army, Michael McKeown (31) of Fillmore, Aimee McKeown (28) of Fillmore, Patrick Wing (28) of Arizona, Morgan McKeown (24) of Arizona, Erin McKeown (22) of Fillmore, Brian McKeown (18) of Fillmore, Ian McKeown (17) of Fillmore, Sean McKeown (16) of Fillmore and Paige McKeown (7) of Fillmore. Caitlin's paternal grandmother is the late Joan McKeown and her maternal grandparents Leori Schnieder and Alvin Schnieder of Oklahoma. Brothers Micheal McKeown served in the United States Air Force and Patrick Wing in the United States Marines. Caitlin's brother-in-law Curtis Kniffen is a Senior Airman with the Air Force stationed in Arizona.

Caitlin is an Airman station at Fort George G. Meade, located near CONTINUED »

Tuesday night’s city council meeting began with Approval of the consent calendar, 4-0.

Public Works Director Bert Rapp asked for authority to proceed with demolition of the garage at 50 C Street. Rapp sought an expenditure of up to $20,000 of Water Recycling Program monies to burn/demolish the old garage building at the closed Waste Water Treatment plant site.

He explained to council that the building stands at the entrance of the plant on C Street, where three acres of grass will eventually be added. The garage was converted into an office and storage building in 1998. The sewer service to the building was terminated when the sewer main to the old plant was abandoned on July 4, 2009. To reactivate the sewer a new sewer main would need to be installed from the garage building to River Street about 500 feet north at a cost of about $150,000.

The building is built low and is subject to frequent flooding. It has not been rented for about 18 months and was last used for storage of bicycle merchandise.

The City of Fillmore would have to obtain a burn permit for the Ventura County APCD and a demolition permit from Fillmore Building and Safety. After the building is burned, the city will process a change order with American Water to complete the demolition with the rest of the WWTP facilities.

Councilmember Jamey Brooks asked about the procedure in burning CONTINUED »