Roy Payne, Fillmore City Manager 1989-2005, Special Projects Manager 2005-2009.

February 3, 2009

TO: FILLMORE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: ROY PAYNE, FILLMORE CITY MANAGER (1989-2005)
SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER (2005-2009)
SUBJECT: RENEGOTIATION OF FEE AGREEMENT

In response to the Fillmore City Council’s decision on January 27, 2009 to renegotiate the terms of my fee agreement with the City, why in the world would I want to continue working for a City that has a City Council who questions my integrity and value and my right to speak out on issues by stating:

1. According to Mr. Brooks, my expressed extensive opinions on Measures H and I and the passage of those measures by the voters of Fillmore was a clear no confidence vote against me and that Brooks heard from many voters that I should not be working for the City because of my opinions. I seriously doubt that Brooks heard from all 2300 voters who supported these measures; I seriously doubt that some of the persons who Brooks takes counsel from are even residents of Fillmore; and I guess freedom of speech is not permitted when it comes to expressing opinions that are contrary to the liking of Brooks.

2. Brooks stated that the fact that part of my compensation from the City was from deposits made by developers is in his opinion a conflict of interest. This is an insult to my integrity as a person who has spent the last 20 years of my working career attempting to represent the best interests of the City of Fillmore and to faithfully and honestly carry out the directions of the Fillmore City Council. My method of receiving payment for my services is no different than the method used to pay the Public Works Director, the City Engineer, the contract employees who work for the engineering department, the employees in the City Planning Department and the contract employees who work for the Planning Department. The salary of each and every one of these city employees and contract employees is partially funded from developer deposits to the city. The reason for this is to save the taxpayers of Fillmore money and not have the taxpayers paying for development projects within the City. So, if in Brooks’ opinion I have a conflict of interest, then I guess the City has a conflict of interest because the City accepts monies from developers and pays it employees with those monies on a regular basis. CONTINUED »

A helicopter went down in the Santa Clara River bottom, near Piru just east of Torrey Road bridge, Saturday, January 31st. The pilot, Hiroyuki Hoiuchi, 47, of Japan, was killed in the crash.

Horiuchi took off from Camarillo Airport around 10:30 a.m. and crashed the Robinson R-22 two-seater about 11:07 a.m. The rugged area made access to the crash site difficult for rescue personnel, according to Chief Tim Hagel, Fillmore Sheriffs.

The victim worked for Shizuoka Air Commuter Co. Ltd., and is survived by his wife and two children in Japan.
Horiuchi was an experienced pilot; the crash is still under investigation by the Federal aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board at press time.

City of Fillmore

What is the Housing Element? Simply put, the Housing Element, a component of a city’s General Plan, is a blueprint for housing ratios in towns and cities from very low, to above moderate income groups. Upon studying a region’s demographics and other influencing factors such as labor categories (white collar, blue collar, farm-worker), wages, unemployment statistics, senior, disabled and homeless populations, available housing in all categories, vacancy rates, overcrowding, land use and environmental restrictions etc., State and regional agencies mandate cities and towns across California to adhere to guidelines when creating their Housing Elements.

State law, enacted in 1969 requires jurisdictions to address needs of all income groups. California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) defined those needs, and local governments must adopt without undue constraint, land use plans and regulatory systems that provide opportunities for housing development by private enterprise. The Housing Element is not an official Affordable Housing document, but a means of identifying the housing needs of a community. It states the community’s goals and objectives regarding housing production, rehabilitation and conservation and defines the policies and programs the community will implement to achieve those standards. CONTINUED »

Enlarge Photo

The One Step Teen Drop-In Center in conjunction with Fillmore Options celebrates its Grand Opening Saturday, February 7th from 11am to 3pm. One Step A La Vez is a committee composed of 12 high school youth who started in 2004 to look into improving mental health care for the youth of Fillmore and Piru. The name One Step A La Vez was chosen by the youth committee in 2005 to show that you can always take One Step At A Time toward a positive future. It is in both English and Spanish to reflect and value the dual heritage of our community.

One Step officially opened its doors this past September and is now fully operational with a computer lab, Wii video games, foosball, as well as ongoing classes in cooking, nutrition, group, creative expression, career and college preparation and yoga. February 7th is our chance to let the community know about what we have to offer, to thank the community, and to celebrate all of the local support we have received over the past four years.

There will be a raffle, canned food drive, bake sale, dancing, food, and games for the whole family. A formal opening will begin February 7, 11am at Fillmore Options Counseling Center, 828 Ventura St., with the reception to follow at 1:00 at 600 Saratoga and Second St. at the Chocolate Church hall. Please come help us celebrate four years of dedication and support for Fillmore's youth.

Fillmore Unified School District

The open session of the Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board meeting was February 3, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office. The Board discussed actions they are taking to ensure that FUSD has enough money to operate, and heard a report on FUSD's independent study program.

Sierra High School Principal Tony Held presented a report on the independent study program. There are currently 32 students in the program: one Fourth Grader, two Eighth Graders, one Freshman, and multiple Juniors and Seniors. Eleven students are scheduled to graduate this year: six before June and five in June. Graduation requires 230 credits, and the students are limited to 40 credits per semester. Fillmore High School (FHS) students usually take 30 credits per semester. Held noted that the program is not easy. Each independent study student meets with the teacher weekly, and is assigned a work packet designed to be completed in approximately 20 hours. The teacher, who covers all subjects but has a slight weakness in math, is available to answer questions throughout the week. Held explained that there is no money in the budget for an FHS math teacher to help out, and that volunteer peer tutors have so far not been available. CONTINUED »

Dillon Galarza takes first place in Scripps National Spelling Bee.

For the first time in Sespe school history, there was a three-way tie for the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. Twelve students were vying for the championship this year. The competitors consisted of Fifth Graders Anthony Cardoza, Emily Garnica, Sereth Malagone, Lu pita Perez, and Serena Rivas. The Fourth Grade competitors were Viviana Ceja, Brenda Delgado, Dillon Galarza, Emma Godfrey, Alana Juarez, Gerardo Sandoval, and Leighanne Thompson.

The Spelling Bee was open to all fourth and fifth graders, but in order to be a contestant, a student needed to pass a written spelling test with a score of 80% or better.
Once the test was over, fourteen of about fifty students remained but two of them needed to opt out, leaving twelve.

The remaining twelve contestants were each issued a Merriam-Webster 2009 “Spell It!“ book containing the official spelling bee words. The book contains fourteen word lists from Eponyms (words based on a person’s or character’s name) to thirteen different language origins; Latin, Arabic, Asian Languages, French, German, Slavic Languages, Dutch, Old English, New World Languages, Japanese, Greek, and Italian. CONTINUED »

Fillmore’s new $1.1 million skateboard park is the centerpiece a 22-acre multi purpose Community Park, a vision presented by City officials eight years ago. The skate park, in Phase I of the 22,000 total square foot Community Park, is located at C and River Streets. It has attracted record crowds from as far away as Santa Barbara and San Diego along with local skaters of all ages and experience levels since its unofficial opening on December 22, 2008.

Reviews on the skateboard park have been very favorable! The superiority of the state of the art facility is credited in part to 15 year-old Christian Conaway, multi-medalist street- luge racer including, 1st place in the North American Championships and 6th place in the World Championships in 2008, and his association with skateboarding legend Jeff Tatum. Tatum’s consulting and design expertise together with Scott Price of Community Works Design Group, and builders, California Skateparks, led to scrapping original plans for a wooden structure, and creation of the concrete facility. Councilman Steve Conaway, former Mayor of Fillmore, was an aggressive proponent of the project. Although father and son are both skateboarders, the senior Conaway who “long boards” for recreation only admits, “my greatest trick is to not fall. Sometimes I succeed.” CONTINUED »

Yeoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Claudia Toledo, USN Active Reserves received the Department of the Navy’s “Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal” during a ceremony at Port Hueneme! Yeoman Petty Officer 2nd Class (YNPO2) Claudia Toledo received this award on December 7, 2008 for her professional achievement in the superior performance of her duties while serving as a Yeoman Clerk with Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 14 stationed at Port Hueneme. YNPO2 Toledo’s battalion is a component of the Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Group located in Williamsburg, Virginia where YNPO2 Toledo is now attending an advanced training class. Yeoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Claudia Toledo joined the Navy Reserves in 2003 and she is the daughter of Ignacio and Maria Toledo of Fillmore and the mother of Salma 9yrs. Maria and Salma will be traveling to Virginia soon to visit YNPO2 Toledo while she attends her courses. CONTINUED »