On Sunday, January 31st. at approximately 7:46 p.m. Santa Paula Police Officer Michael Hoppin was on routine patrol when he drove into the overpass in the 900 block of Faulkner Road. When he did so he discovered four subjects had been spray painting the walls of the underpass. The four subjects were identified as Rene Mariscal, 22 years old, Saul Torrez, 22 years old, Martin Torres 21 years old, and Jose Lira, 21 years old. All four subjects are from the city of Fillmore. Inside their vehicle, located under the underpass, were numerous spray paint cans, rubber gloves, and marijuana paraphernalia. All four subjects were charged with felony conspiracy and misdemeanor vandalism. Martin Torres was also charged with felony vandalism due to previous convictions for the same offense. All four subjects were transported to Ventura County Main Jail.

By Rich McKee
Californias Aware
While the City Council's public statements suggest a commitment to open government and the requirements of the Brown Act, their actions tell an entirely different story.

In the City of Fillmore’s January 27th press release, the City attempts to absolve itself of its most recent Brown Act violation. But their cries of innocence sound oddly familiar. Maybe that’s because it’s not the first time the City has denied violating the Brown Act.

After we demanded cure for Brown Act violations involving illegal closed sessions back in August, the City Council and City Attorney immediately declared we were wrong. However, less than two months later, they admitted to the violations, paid our attorney’s fees, and attended a Brown Act refresher training in order to settle our lawsuit.

This time the City Council held a closed session to CONTINUED »

Submitted by the City of Fillmore
As the City of Fillmore moves forward with efforts to be the "last best small town in Southern California," by providing efficient services and open government, and enhancing community parks, business opportunities, swimming pools, and theaters--staff and the City Council must continue to divert their attention to defending unfounded demands, like the one filed December 3, 2009 by Richard P. McKee. McKee erroneously alleges that a violation of the Brown Act occurred when the City Council met in closed session on November 24, 2009 under the “pending litigation” provisions of the Brown Act. This meeting was held to discuss enforcement of a prior settlement agreement the City had entered into with McKee.

Despite efforts by City Attorney Ted Schneider to amicably resolve McKee’s current ultimatum, including offering to submit McKee’s question at the City's cost to the California Attorney General for an opinion, McKee changed his mind and withdrew his offer of settlement in favor of pursuing costly litigation. McKee’s attorney, Kelly Aviles, informs the City that McKee has instructed her to file yet another lawsuit against the City of Fillmore.

As Schneider explained during his 90-minute Brown Act CONTINUED »

Fillmore Unified School District

David Dollar has resigned as a trustee of the Fillmore Unified School District and board members decided at Tuesday’s board meeting to appoint his replacement.

Dollar submitted his letter of resignation to the County Board of Education where it was forwarded to Fillmore Board President Tony Prado. Prado read the letter to an overflow crowd at the February 2 meeting.
Instead of holding a special election run by the county, which would be billed to the district, Prado said: “Consensus is that we will appoint someone to fill the position.” Under FUSD bylaws the board shall advertise in the local media to solicit candidate applications. A committee consisting of less than a quorum of the board shall ensure that applicants are eligible for board membership and announce the names of the eligible candidates. The board shall interview the candidates at a public meeting, accept oral or written public input and select the provisional appointee by a majority vote.

Interested applicants must be 18 or older, a U.S. Citizen, live in the FUSD boundaries and not be an employee of the district. Applications should be submitted by March 1 at 4:30 pm Applications can be picked up at the FUSD office at 627 Sespe Avenue. Interviews will take place at the regular board meeting on March 9. The appointment will be made on March 23. The new board member will take the oath of office on March 30 during a joint session with the City Council at the City Hall.

San Cayetano School was chosen last year to participate in a NASA grant for a program called Space Kids where they interact with astronauts. They are one of 10 schools in the country to be chosen and even had to compete with college students to get the grant. Four students, along with their fifth grade teacher Melanie Chisolm and school Principal Jan Marholin, demonstrated their project. The project concerns reduced gravity, also know as micro gravity. The students have participated in video conferencing with their assigned astronaut. The community is invited to their Science Night April 8 where the micro gravity will be present to give more information.
The board heard an updated report from Fillmore High School Principal John Wilbur on graduation requirements and the advanced placement program. He said their goal is to provide students with a rigorous high school experience, similar to other California high schools. He told trustees that they have four reading intervention classes for students who are reading at the sixth grade level or below. They also have three math intervention classes. Wilbur added that the WASC Accreditation Committee recognized the rigor in FHS curriculum and graduation requirements and the number of students meeting the challenge. The AVID program is also there to help all students, whether or not they are in the advanced placement program or not.

Karen Ashim, FHS Head Counselor told the board of recent college graduates from Fillmore, including two from Harvard, one from Stanford, one from the Air Force Academy, two from the University of San Diego, two from USC, three from Cal Lutheran University, one from Loyola and one from Azusa Pacific University. “We have more students graduating from college than Moorpark High,” said Board President Prado.

Mike Bush, Assistant Superintendent for Business told the board that the budget shortfall is still unresolved. What the budget gap will be is still uncertain and Bush said the district is still in talks with the CSEA (California State Employees' Association) and the FUTA (Fillmore Unified Teachers' Association). Bush said one possible avenue to make up for the budget gap would be to cut student days by five, which would save $578,000. “The board can set the calendar but the employee work year is negotiable,” Bush added. Another budget saving idea would be to switch the health benefit plan. That would save $500,000. The last idea is the realignment of categorical funding.

The next regular board meeting will be held February 16 with a closed session at 5:15 pm and the public session at 6:00 pm in the board room at 627 Sespe Avenue.

State Route 126 hosts upwards of 100,000 vehicles per day resulting in several fatal traffic collisions each year. City of Fillmore Firefighters are faced with the constant challenge of responding to major traffic collisions and providing citizens top-notch service with aging equipment.

The California Office of Traffic Safety has awarded the City of Fillmore Fire Department a grant in the amount of $10,889.00 to purchase additional heavy rescue tools and vehicle stabilization equipment to be used for traffic collision responses.

“As firefighters, it is imperative we reach traffic accident victims as quickly as possible” said Fillmore Fire Chief Rigo Landeros. “This new and improved equipment will add to both the safety of the victim and the firefighters working. Another added benefit is the increased efficiency of which the rescue is performed.”
The grant package received is part of a State of California Office of Traffic Safety grant made available to all California fire agencies. In 2008, City of Oxnard Fire Department Firefighter Alex Hamilton began orchestrating local agency efforts by compiling the regional application, representing all Ventura County Agencies. Each local entity was responsible for submitting a list of their needs as well as justification supporting those requests. Following a competitive review of applicants, Ventura County was selected to receive upwards of $182,000 in grant funding.

Grant funding comprises approximately 5% of the City of Fillmore Fire Departments annual operating budget making it instrumental in the ongoing fiscal health an stability of the organization.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

01/20/10-01/26/10
Search Warrant
01/20/10
300 Block Clay St.
01/20/10
100 Block Main St.
01/22/10
100 Block Main St.
01/25/10
500 Block Main St.
Theft Other
01/20/10
500 Block Central Ave.
01/25/10
Central Ave. / Santa Clara St.
Threats – Verbal/Written
01/20/10
700 Block 4th St.
Narcotics Violation CONTINUED »

The Piru Charter School petitioners feel that education reform is the civil rights issue of our time. A good education is inextricably linked to our rights as American citizens. We are disappointed that Ventura County Board members have not supported our vision of quality school choice. Their denial of our petition is in clear opposition to the intent of the Charter Schools Act and the vision of educational reform recently outlined by the Governor of California and the President of United States. Quality education is a fundamental right and if given a chance charter schools can play an important part in erasing the “achievement gap” that exists in many “low performing” schools including Piru Elementary.

It is fundamentally unfair that Americans’ educational opportunities are so heavily influenced by dysfunctional school districts like Fillmore Unified School District where because of poor leadership and a reluctance to implement educational reform strategies each of their four elementary schools and their only middle school find themselves currently identified as a “low performing” school by the California Department of Education.

The Ventura County Board of Education had an opportunity to support Piru Charter School and make a clear choice to promote educational reform in Ventura County now and for generations to come. Many families and students will be disappointed as they learn that their wishes for quality school choice were ignored. To these parents we suggest you hold the Ventura County School Board members who voted against the charter petition accountable at the polls during the next election. As parents and voters you deserve more than “business as usual” from your elected officials.

Piru Charter School petitioners will appeal this CONTINUED »

Enlarge Photo

The Fillmore Police Department has organized the first explorer program in many years. On January 21, 2010, at 6:30 pm., the Santa Clara Valley Explorer Advisors had their first meeting with the explorer candidates.

The advisors are Deputy Leo Vazquez, Deputy Gabe Gonzales, Deputy Daniel Ozuna, Deputy Nora Sanchez and Cadet Leanne Thompson. Youths residing in the Fillmore and Piru areas were asked to sign-up if they were interested in becoming involved in the program. There were a total of 23 candidates and their parents that attended the meeting.

Fillmore Police Chief Tim Hagel, Sergeant Dave Wareham, Fillmore High School Counselor Isela Larin, Jermaine Bell from Boy Scouts of America, and Ventura Explorer Rockwell Ellis also attended. Deputy Gonzales gave a presentation about the program and what is expected of each individual. The purpose of the explorer program is to train young men and women of today for a future in the law enforcement field and to develop an interest in law enforcement.

The explorers will learn the mission of the department and the duties of deputies, build self-confidence and discipline, learn how to handle emergency situations, learn about the community and public relations, and develop leadership qualities. They will receive training in different areas of police work and will perform a variety of tasks under the direction of the Sheriff’s Department.

The explorer program is an organization of young adults CONTINUED »