On Wednesday, October 9th at 10am, new military banners were installed. In October 2008, the Fillmore Unified School Board together with the City of Fillmore adopted a program to recognize the family members of Fillmore residents serving in the Military.

The program is supported by our local Veterans of Foreign War and Up for Education 501C. If your family member or you have been discharged from the military, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (805) 524-3701 or by email militarybanners@yahoo.com so that arrangements may be made to have your banner removed and then presented to you or your family. Banners will be removed approximately 3 to 4 times per year and you will be advised as to the dates and time. We continue to receive phone calls and correspondence from residents and neighboring cities regarding the recognition program and hope this has given you a sense of community support and pride. We thank you and please receive our utmost gratitude for your service to our country. City of Fillmore, FUSD, Up for Education – Virginia A. de la Piedra, Local VFW.

A unanimous vote, 4-0, at last week’s Oct. 8th City Council meeting awarded a contract for the Fillmore Police Station and City Parking Lot to Asphalt Rubber Hot Mix Overlay Project to J & H Engineering General Contractors Inc. J & H submitted the lowest bid of $113,700 but the city projects the cost of the paving to be closer to $142,000. The Council had budgeted $190,000 for the Project. Councilmember Manuel Minjares missed the vote upon late arrival.

In the vote, the Council authorized City Manger David Rowlands to sign the contract documents and approve change orders, if any, to a combined maximum of $12,000; and to authorize the budget adjustment as set forth in the fiscal impact section. An asphalt overlay of the 524 Sespe Avenue parking lot will expand the police station lot by approximately 45 feet.

Good evening Dr. Nishino, Michael Johnson, Todd Schieferle, and School Board Members,

Tonight we represent dedicated professionals that educate the students of Mountain Vista School under the administration of Mr. John Wilber. As a staff, we are committed to the students we serve. We continue to hold high expectations of ourselves and of our students. We are reminded daily of our task - to educate the future generation; those future adults who will be faced with different opportunities and challenges than we might have faced growing up.

FUSD is in transition. As with any transition, problems become apparent and need to be resolved. First, Common Core curriculum is being written by Fillmore elementary teachers to align the eleven year-old Open Court program. Second, there is no ELD curriculum, yet Lesson Plans are being required. Clearly, these concerns need to be addressed immediately.

Although we do have a professional duty to implement the curriculum, we question whether it is also our responsibility to write the curriculum we deliver. One can ask how is it reasonable to then spend additional hours rewriting our curriculum into lesson plan format. What is the limit to our professional day?

While Mountain Vista teachers move forward with implementing Common Core this year, and continue to prepare our students for their future, there is an urgent need for curriculum support and training for the Mountain Vista Staff now. After all, “the future” sits before us everyday.

Respectfully,
Mountain Vista Teachers

The little town of Piru, population about 1,000, has lost a $672,000 arrangement for a bike path on farmland. The contract was canceled several weeks ago when county officials tried but failed to reach an agreement with critics of the planned path.

Piru Neighborhood Council and several farm interests expressed concern and opposition on public safety issues, possible pesticide exposure and crop contamination.

Supporters of the project said the concerns were without merit.

Contractor R.C. Becker and Son Inc., of Santa Clarita, was awarded the bid, and was on hold while county officials tried to come to an agreement with those opposing the path. The decision to cancel the contract was approved without opposition.

Becker and Son will submit a settlement to compensate the company for expenses. A $1 million federal grant would have paid for the project.

On Thursday October 24th, the Fillmore Chamber of Commerce will host a "get together" at Wm.L. Morris Chevrolet Dealership in the Showroom along with Chevron. Chevron representatives Leslie Klinchuch and Bill Almas will do a presentation updating the community on the "Fillmore Works Project". This is the project east of Pole Creek. For those of you that have any questions or concerns we urge you to attend. This is a free event and will start at 5:30 pm and end at 6:30 pm. A no host bar along with refreshments will be provided.

City of Fillmore

The State Board of Equalization has allocated $21.1 million to Fillmore resulting from a resolution of the sales tax revenue dispute between the Cities of Livermore, Lathrop, and Industry.

In dispute was tax revenue sharing generated by Owens & Minor which has a sales office in Fillmore and distribution centers located in other cities.

According to former Simi Valley City Manager Mike Sedell, advisor to the City of Fillmore, the City will keep about $500,000 of this allocation.

According to Fillmore’s new City Manager David Rowlands, “The city received all of the BOE (Board of Equalization) funds, but the city will need to repay MTS/Owens & Minor over several years. Per the contract with MTS until approximately 2025 the city keeps 15% of the sales tax generated by O&M, the other 85% is paid to MTS and MTS shares some portion of that with O&M.”

Rowlands continued, “We haven’t finished our calculations yet. However, Fillmore received $13,936,174 from the BOE on October 4, and expects to retain about $500,000 after payments to other involved local agencies and MTS/Owens & Minor. An additional $5.4 million is due to the city from the BOE in FY 2014-15 (Triple Flip amount).” This money will, according to Rowlands, reestablish Fillmore’s normal tax income flow; our cash flow “...will be more consistent. The settlement payments to San Joaquin County and Industry are made from MTS and O&M’s share of the proceeds.”

Fillmore is expected to receive between $500,000 and $750,000 from O&M per year in sales tax revenue, according to Rowlands. He added, “We will begin to have a healthy budget.”

Rowlands emphasized that a top priority is replenishment of the city’s reserve funds. New capitol projects are being planned, including street paving which has been long neglected by necessity.

[EDITORIAL COMMENT: The final outcome of this fiercely-debated Owens & Minor sales tax plan is a strong vindication of former City Manager Roy Payne and the many other honest, dedicated council members and city staff who created and defended it. These good people endured years of insult and slander to promote a plan which will greatly benefit our city for decades to come. Congratulations to those who stayed the course!]

District Attorney Gregory I). Totten announced today that Eric Gabriel Suarez (DOB 9/6/84) of Oxuard, Cimitrio Ambris Cervantes (D013 5/5168) of Mission Hills, and Fernando Ambris Cervantes (DOB 6/22/66) of Santa Paula were arrested in a multi-agency crackdown on store owners who pay cash to recipients of government food assistance benefits. Suarez and Cimitrio Cervantes have been charged with felony grand theft and welfare fraud. Suarez is also charged with trafficking more than $150,000 of government benefits and stealing more than $200,000. Fernando Cervantes has been charged with misdemeanor welfare fraud. This case was the result of ajoint investigation by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General, and the United States Secret Service.

CaLFresh and the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provide nutrition assistance benefits to eligible, low-income individuals and families. It is illegal for a store owner to redeem these food assistance benefits for cash. Trafficking in SNAP and CalFresh benefits occurs when a merchant pays a welfare recipient cash for these government benefits. The operation targeted markets in both Ventura and Fillmore. It is alleged that from October 2010 to February 2013, Eric Suarez trafficked in government benefits while working at Avenue Mini Market in Ventura. It is alleged that beginning in early 2012 to May 2013, Cimitrio and Fernando Cervantes trafficked in government funds by exchanging Electronic Benefit Transfer (ERT) benefits for cash while working at Victor’s Market in Fillmore.

Eric Suarez and Cimitrio Cervantes were released on $10,000 bail and both will be arraigned on October 8, 2013, in courtroom 12 at 9:00 a.m. Fernando Cervantes was released on $5,000 bail and will be arraigned on January 2, 2014, at 8:15 a.m. in courtroom 10.

Misdemeanor welfare fraud charges have also been flied against 25 additional defendants fbr illegally selling their food assistance benefits for cash, in lieu of arrests, letters have been sent directing those defendants to appear on October 22, 23, and 24, 2013. for arraignment. Additional misdemeanor charges will be filed in near future against other individuals for similar conduct.

Photo by Keith Macleod
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The Ventura County Sheriff's, Fillmore Search and Rescue Team, rescued a dog on Thursday after it became stranded 150ft over the side of a cliff.

City firefighters arrived on scene first and found some good Samaritans attempting to rescue the dog on their own. The firefighters were concerned for the safety of the good Samaritans and decided to notify the Sheriff's Department.

The situation was evaluated by members of the Sheriff's Search and Rescue unit, and a decision was made to activate the Fillmore Search and Rescue Team and have them take the lead in the rescue.

Seven members from the Fillmore Search and Rescue Team responded to the scene. Once on scene team member N. Brown immediately jumped into action and rappelled 150ft over the side of the cliff. After two tries the frightened dog was eventually brought to safety and returned to his worried owner.

The Fillmore Search and Rescue Team is comprised of highly trained volunteers who donate hundreds of hours of their time each year to trainings and call-outs. Additional members are currently in Lake Arrowhead assisting the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept in their search for a missing hiker.

At the October 8, 2013 Fillmore Unified School Districts (FUSD) Board Meeting a presentation was given by Art Teacher Doris Nichols and teacher Josh Bricker on the Fillmore Middle School NASA Program conducted after school during the summer break. The 20 day 10 exercise course provided students with a non-traditional classroom environment that reinforced the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students were given questions and problems requiring them to find their own solutions, both individually and in groups of four, through a hands-on empirical process. With real world constraints such as time, weight to power ratios, questions of sustainability/waste management concerns and a finite amount of materials (everything they used was recycled material and had to fit into a small cup by the end of the day) requiring budget restraints, the students were forced to develop creative solutions to the types of problems NASA engineers face daily.

They learned how to use gravity to aid travel, how to insulate with weight considerations and thermo design along with design and use of a solar oven and how to control its temperatures. One exercise required the students to design a propulsion system forcing them to engineer and design a space craft containing a specific list of essential elements; finding the volume of their craft to ensure the essential payload would fit, weighing their space craft, testing the rockets and an understanding of drag and aerodynamics.

From the activities students CONTINUED »