Piru Charter School petitioners made a presentation to the FUSD board on October 21st, 2009.
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On October 21, 2009, the Fillmore United School District Governing Board held a public hearing on the proposal to remove Piru School from the District, and make it a separate Charter school run independently of the District. Following are five of the statements read at the meeting by both opponents and supporters of the Charter conversion:

Richard Durborow
First of all, we want to thank everyone for being here this evening and for taking part in the process of creating a “new choice” in public education. Tonight this determined and accomplished petitioning group is prepared to take a big step towards assuring that your children will not only experience improved student learning today but for generations to come. I applaud their efforts and commitment for wanting to make a profound difference in the lives of children. It is with great anticipation and excitement about the future success of your children and their students that has led them to design this high quality charter petition. This petition not only defines what it means to be an “educated person” in the 21st Century but also includes how learning best occurs. This petition reads like a good book. If you haven’t read it I suggest you do. And just like all good books the charter petition tells a compelling story; a story of next steps and high expectations, a story of how all students can reach high levels of academic achievement, how all students can be supported in a school climate based on mutual-respect and self-discipline, how all parents can be assured that their child’s teacher is using classroom instruction that works, and how all students can grow to become healthy lifelong learners. Thank You, Richard Durborow Before we go any further this evening I want to address the issue of misinformation about Migrant Education. Let’s clear this up right now. Migrant funds will continue at Piru Charter School! All migrant programs will remain in place at PCS!

Greg Spaulding
Let me start by thanking the school board CONTINUED »

Fillmore Veterans Memorial building came alive last Thursday night, October 22, as several hundred residents came to ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) why it was requiring flood insurance on approximately 1,500 Fillmore homes.

The informational meeting was hosted by Bert Rapp, Fillmore’s Director of Public Works, FEMA’s Ed Curtis, Region IX Engineer, and FEMA flood insurance expert Jana Crutchfield.

Rapp began the evening with a history of flood occurrences in Fillmore and a PowerPoint explanation of the area’s prospective flood areas. He explained the recertification process for all levees in the United States, which are reviewed every five years for reaccreditation.

But the spirit of the evening was in the questions and concerns of the citizens who came to the microphone to express those concerns. Paul Schifanelli spoke on behalf of the elderly who live at the El Dorado Mobile Home Park. Resident Joel Quintero encouraged the county to question FEMA’s rezoning. Diane Scoggins drew one of the few laughs of the evening when she said her house was in the flood zone, but not her backyard, and wondered if she could get half the insurance needed. David Reeves question the financial impact on not only the individual homeowner but the greater cost to the community in levee retrofitting. Rapp answered his question with a breakdown of subsidy involving grants and builder funding.

He explained how two-dimensional CONTINUED »

HK&C partner Mark Alpert.
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Pictured (l-r) Soroptimists Nora Toledo and Oralia Herrera, with Mayor Patti Walker presenting them with two proclamations.
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Fillmore City Council began with Closed Session conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation, El Dorado Estates v. City of Fillmore. The representative for El Dorado Mobile Home Park Estates is Mike Cirillo of Star Management. Cirillo filed an application on March 5, 2009 for a Vesting Tentative Tract Map. The application proposes to convert the existing 302-space park from a rental park into a resident-ownership park where park residents would be able to purchase the lot(s) their coach sits on. City staff has been working with Cirillo and the park’s legal counsel, Hart, King & Coldren (HK&C), in reviewing and processing the application in accordance with the Fillmore Municipal Code, the State Permit Streamlining Act, the State Subdivision Map Act, and the State’s Mobilehome Parks Act.
A Letter of Incompleteness, dated April 1, 2009, was sent to Star Management. Application was re-submitted on June 10, 2009, deemed incomplete on July 10, re-submitted July 23, deemed incomplete on August 19th. An Appeal of Incompleteness to Planning Commission was filed on September 2, decision was made to uphold City Staff’s “incomplete” determination on October 21, 2009. A request on behalf of Star Management was filed on October 22 to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to city council. An Appeal of Determination of Incompleteness, presented Tuesday night by HK&C partner Mark Alpert, covered five “incomplete items”: Offer to purchase, with estimated price and estimated space rent; 60 day required Notice; Demand for 43 new parking spaces under Fillmore Code; Property Right “Peer Reviewed” by certified inspector; and FEMA map and flood calculations.
Alpert, representing El Dorado Mobile Park (owner Nancy Watkins), refuted each “incomplete item” citing case law (Sequoia case), lack of city authority, and pre-empting of local ordinance. According to Alpert, the April 1st Letter of Incompleteness did not expressly state Star Management’s application was “incomplete”. He also stressed that El Dorado residents were advised about the option-to-buy, and that a tenant impact report will be served on residents at least 15-days before hearing. Alpert stated that since his client is not an apartment building, etc., they are not subject to several of the city’s demands. And that the city has no authority to require an inspection of any kind regarding the “so called Peer Review Inspection Report,” but added that the inspector was licensed, a statement that was refuted by city staff, who said they spoke with the inspector directly. He said that although he retains several certifications, he is not a licensed building inspector. The point may be lessoned by the fact that only one permanent common structure is involved in the inspection, the park’s clubhouse.
Alpert continued to build his case for reversal of the CONTINUED »

The City of Fillmore Fire Department in conjunction with the Oxnard Fire Department will be conducting a live fire training exercise. The training will commence November 4, 2009 between the hours of 8:00AM – 5:00PM. The location slated for training is located at 46 C Street, just south of C Street & River Street in Fillmore.
Training is planned to include the burning of a 900 square foot abandoned residential structure. Smoke and flames will be visible throughout the area however should have a minimal impact on both traffic and routine activities.

The purpose of this exercise is to provide fire personnel the rare opportunity to obtain hands-on experience with live fire in a controlled non-emergent environment. The process will be supervised by experienced personnel and will follow strict safety guidelines set by the California State Fire Marshal and the National Fire Protection Agency. This process provides invaluable training experience for fire personnel while simultaneously reducing the cost to demolish such structures.

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At the opening of the Fillmore Unified School District board meeting on Tuesday, October 20, Blanca Martinez was recognized as the Power of One recipient for 35 years of service to the district.

As a migrant support teacher Martinez served students in the homework center since its’ beginning. She was an instructional assistant in reading. “It was a pleasure to serve the students of Fillmore for all these years,” Martinez said. She was presented a certificate honor by board member Tony Prado.

Student board representative Garrett Riley told the board that Joe Ricards, Fillmore alumni and science and agriculture teacher at the school was voted to be Grand Marshal of the homecoming parade. Riley will be leaving as board representative in the next few weeks. He’ll be participating in the Civil Air Patrol at Camarillo Airport.

Katy Hadley, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services presented the board with a detailed CONTINUED »

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.

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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.