Ed Wholenberg.

Ed Wholenberg, a (non-political) volunteer from an organization called Range Riders, a branch of International City Managers Association (ICMA), addressed city council Monday evening. Mr. Wholenberg is a retired city manager with many years experience. He was asked by the council to explain how the City of Fillmore should go about finding a new, permanent city manager, following the early resignation of former City Manager Tom Ristau. According to Mr. Wholenberg, the city should hire a firm specializing in locating city managers and other top executives. The cost is expected to be between $15,000 and $25,000 and could take up to a year. The city would also have to pay living and relocation expenses for a professional interim (transitional) city manager, above and beyond his salary, until a permanent manager is hired. The city finds itself in a very awkward situation since its city manager, management analyst, and special projects specialists manager have all resigned during the past month.

Billy Gabriel was announced as the new Fillmore Fire Department Captain at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

Fillmore City Council held an extraordinarily brief meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 11th, at City Hall. The Council passed an ordinance regulating push-cart vendors and door-to-door solicitation, announced its intention to promote and cooperate with the 2010 Census, discussed the changing Santa Paula/Fillmore Greenbelt Agreement, heard an update on the Draft Storm Water NPDES Permit, and conducted other City business.

The Council postponed a few agenda items. A special meeting will be held on March 17, 2009 to cover awarding a contract for the Fillmore High School Recycled Water project. If Council Member Steve Conaway is able to attend, the Council will also discuss implementation of Measure I (North Fillmore Area Initiative), including discussion of required General Plan amendments, zoning ordinance amendments, and costs. The Measure I item was postponed to allow Mayor Pro-tem Gayle Washburn, who had been on vacation, to finish reading the relevant staff report and background information. If Conaway cannot attend the March 17th meeting, then implementation of Measure I will be covered at the regular March 24th meeting. Police Captain Tim Hagel's report on 2008 crime rates was postponed until the March 24th meeting.

Mayor Patti Walker, on behalf of the Council, presented a proclamation to Dave Rodriguez, representing the US Census Bureau. The proclamation declared that the City is partnering with the Bureau, the City will support the census process, the City will cooperate with the Bureau, and explained the importance of the census. The 2010 Census will provide employment opportunities to local residents, will determine how some federal funds are allocated, and will determine how many representatives California has in the Congressional House of Representatives. Rodriguez explained that census employees will start verifying addresses within the next couple of months, surveys will be mailed out to those addresses, and census workers will visit addresses of those who do not return the surveys. Fillmore Citizen Gary Creagle said that he wanted the upcoming census to reflect the true economic demographics of Fillmore, and that he did not believe the usual census methods were adequate. CONTINUED »

At 11:22 am, on March 4, 2009, Moorpark Traffic Units were called to an accident on Park Lane just south of Los Angeles Avenue. A flat bed truck driven by Juan Vasquez, 37, of Fillmore backed out of the Tuscany Square parking lot onto Park Lane hitting Helen Shannon, 86, of Moorpark who was walking by at that moment. The truck flatbed hit Shannon causing her to fall to the ground. Vasquez was unaware of hitting Shannon and continued to back over Shannon’s legs until a passerby waved him down at which time he stopped the truck.

Shannon suffered major injuries to both legs. She was taken by ambulance to Simi Valley Hospital for treatment where she was described as being in critical condition. Shannon died Saturday, March 7th.

There was no evidence of alcohol or medication being a factor in this incident.

The investigation is still in progress.

Los Camperos
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Mariachi Los Camperos celebrated its 2009 Grammy Award with a concert at El Pescador Restaurant.
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Fillmore’s own Natividad “Nati” Cano and his band, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano celebrate their 2008 Grammy win at El Pescador on Wednesday, February 25th. Los Camperos de Nati Cano won a Grammy Award February 8th, 2009 in the Best Regional Mexican Album category for Amor, Dolor y Lágrimas: Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano. This is the first Grammy Award for Los Camperos de Nati Cano (though Nati Cano performed on Linda Ronstadt’s grammy-winning recordings Canciones de Mi Padre and Mas Canciones).

The music world’s highest honor was presented for the first time to a Mariachi group and not to just one, but two very different kinds of Mariachi groups, Los Camperos and the Mariachi Divas, who tied in the same category for Best Mexican Regional Music.

This category has typically gone to a solo musician, but this year it went to Los Camperos and the all female Mariachi ensemble, the Mariachi Divas, who blend the use of many instruments into Mariachi music. This is considered historic and a tremendous break-through as Mariachi musicians in the past have not received the recognition they deserve, nor understanding of the complexity and discipline of the music.

Los Camperos has also performed at the White House for President Clinton, and at the Latino Inaugural Gala in Washington, D.C., as part of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration celebration.

Tom Ristau

In a brief telephone interview with City Manager Tom Ristau, who has recently resigned to take a position with the City of San Fernando, he had these thoughts to relate. Mr. Ristau has been employed by the City of Fillmore for about 19 years, nearly 5 of those years as City Manager. He took over from his mentor, former City Manager Roy Payne. Ristau looks back with considerable satisfaction for his part in the completion of our new, long awaited, state-of-the-art swimming pool-tennis complex. He was responsible for organizing all planning and for overall supervision of the project. Perhaps his greatest achievement is to be seen in successfully maintaining a 40 percent reserve in the city’s general fund. The fund is expected to exceed a 40 percent surplus this year, an
enviable achievement in such difficult times, when other cities are running deficits. One reason motivating his resignation was a substantial disagreement with new positions taken by the newly elected council. Upon leaving, Tom wishes “...the best of luck to the city and its employees. I have enjoyed my tenure with the City of Fillmore
and the years I have served as its manager.”

Tom's Resignation Letter:

March 3,2009
TO:City Council
I hereby submit my resignation for the position of City Manager for the City of Fillmore. I respectfully request that the City Council waive the three (3) month notice period required under section 11 of the City Manager Employment Agreement entered into August 18,2005. CONTINUED »

At the March 3, 2009 Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board meeting, the Board extensively discussed the budget. The Board heard a budget update, approved layoffs, and cited the budget while considering Raiders Youth Football's request to use alternative payment for use of the high school stadium. The Board also heard a report on the Gifted Program.

Assistant Superintendent Evalene Townend reported on school districts' budget-cutting trends across the county. Districts are laying off employees in all categories: administrative, certificated, and classified. According to Townend, an estimated 400 to 500 Ventura County teachers will lose their jobs. Nine districts will be increasing class size. Many districts are reducing the number of work days, not filling administrative vacancies, offering retirement incentives, postponing facilities maintenance, and concerned about meeting transportation costs.

Superintendent Jeff Sweeney said that FUSD's budget had already been reduced by $1.2 million last year, so further reductions are difficult to accommodate. Sweeney noted, "It is going to hurt one way or another." Board members expressed sorrow over cutting essentials.

Sweeney explained that the budget process involves district staff researching and recommending cuts, which must be considered and voted on by the school board. According to law, certificated employees who will be laid off must be notified by March 15th. CONTINUED »

Gregorio Aguilar

Gregorio Aguilar, 19 of Fillmore, was arrested on February 27 on suspicion of killing a Ventura Circle K clerk in the commission of an apparent botched robbery on December 26, 2008. He is being held at Ventura County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

A 17-year old male was also detained in the case after authorities served a search warrant at his home in the 300 block of Rhodes Court, Fillmore. The juvenile was questioned and released pending further investigation.
The store clerk, Sean Odle, 30, was shot in the chest with a rifle about 4:25 a.m. He was taken to Ventura County Medical Center, where he died.

A store surveillance camera shows two hooded individuals in the store, with one crouching by the front door while the other one approaches Odle with a rifle. Odle is seen holding a cordless phone, possibly calling 911, according to investigators. After the shooting, both suspects are seen running out of the store. Nothing was taken.

In 2008, Aguilar pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of second-degree residential burglary. This year, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor petty theft with a prior conviction. He served a 30-day jail sentence in both cases. CONTINUED »