Fillmore Unified School District

Trustees of the Fillmore Unified School District questioned two candidates who want to fill the vacant seat left by former Board Member David Dollar on the board Tuesday night.

The two applicants, Mike Saviers and Scott Lee, answered six questions from a list supplied by board members before a large crowd at the FUSD Headquarters. The process Tuesday started with an overview of District policy for making a provisional appointment. They then discussed the interview process and the questions.

The candidates were asked: Why do you think you are qualified to be a board member? Lee said he's a registered voter and has lived in Fillmore for quite a few years. His children attended Fillmore schools and he was involved in the Middle School Site Council. Saviers said he's lived here for nine years and has mid-management experience from his years in law enforcement. He retired from law enforcement and has worked as a substitute teacher in the elementary schools and was a school bus driver for two years.

Why do you want to be on the board? Saviers responded by saying that he's been a volunteer for the last seven years in youth sports and he likes to make a difference in children's lives. Lee said, “I'd like to help the board fill the gap until December. I haven't been away from the school board that long. I wouldn't have to be trained to be a board member.”

In light of challenges facing public CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Update:
On March 7, 2010, at approximately 8:14 p.m., deputies from the Fillmore Station and personnel from the Fillmore Fire Department responded to a call of a pedestrian down from a traffic accident. A 33 year-old male from the City of Fillmore was crossing “A” St. on foot south of River St, just before the bridge at the Santa Clara River, when he was struck by a 1992 Buick sedan traveling south. The pedestrian was transported to the Ventura County Medical Center where he died as a result of his injuries.

The driver of the involved vehicle, 22 year-old Harim Gonzalez of Oxnard, and his passenger stated they did not see the pedestrian until after the collision. An independent witness in another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction on A St. verified their account of the collision.

Original:
Location: A St. south of River St., Fillmore, CA.
Date & Time: 3/7/2010, 8:14 p.m.

On March 7, 2010, at approximately 8:14 p.m., deputies from the Fillmore Station and personnel from the Fillmore Fire Department responded to a call of a pedestrian down from a traffic accident. A 33 year-old male from the City of Fillmore was crossing “A” St. on foot south of River St, just before the bridge at the Santa Clara River, when he was struck by a 1992 Buick sedan traveling south. The pedestrian was transported to the Ventura County Medical Center where he died as a result of his injuries.

The driver of the involved vehicle, 22 year-old Harim Gonzalez of Oxnard, and his passenger stated they did not see the pedestrian until after the collision. An independent witness in another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction on A St. verified their account of the collision.

Officer Preparing Release: Sergeant Dave Wareham

Follow-up Contact: Deputy Jerry Petersen 805-524-2233

Approved By: Capt. R. Hindman

Date of Release: 3/7/2010

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

02/24/10 - 03/02/10
02/24/10
Vandalism
500 Block A St.
Annoy/Obscene Phone Call
400 Block Foothill Dr.
Battery
500 Block Central Ave.
500 Block A St.
Keep the Peace
250 E. Telegraph Rd.
02/25/10
Vandalism
400 Block Mt. View St.
800 Block Edison Ln.
1000 Block Candelaria Ln.
800 Block Burlington St.
Stolen Vehicle CONTINUED »

Bret Wear, 21, Santa Paula, was arrested for residential burglary and possession of stolen property.

On 2-28-10, Bret Wear was arrested for breaking into an occupied residence and stealing property from that home. He was also identified as the same subject who broke into and stole property from at least two vehicles the same morning; he was found in possession of some of that stolen property at the time of his arrest.

Over the past several months, Wear is suspected of breaking into numerous other homes, garages, storage areas and vehicles in the areas between eastern Ventura, Santa Paula and Fillmore. Investigators believe Wear, and possibly other accomplices, are selling the stolen property to unsuspecting buyers. Anyone who has purchased any property from Wear or any of his associates is urged to contact Sheriff’s Department investigators at the Fillmore Station or the Headquarters Station.

The majority of the property Wear is suspected of stealing has serial numbers associated with it and if a person is found to be in possession of that stolen property, they could be arrested and prosecuted. The stolen property ranges from guns, TV’s, Wii game consoles, digital cameras, portable DVD players, digital camcorders, Sony Playstations, numerous tools such as paint sprayers, drills and grinders.

Location: Unincorporated area east of Ventura and west of Santa Paula

Date & Time/ RB#: 2-28-10 0600 / 10-4936

Unit Responsible: Headquarters Detective Bureau

Suspect Age City of Residence

(S) Bret Wear 21 Santa Paula

Officer Preparing Release: Detective Christine Rettura

Follow-up Contact: Detective Rettura at 662-6770 or Detective Hendren 525-2233

Date of Release: 3-1-10

Investigators of the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) have cited four stores for selling alcohol to minors. The actions were taken on February 27, 2010 during a minor decoy operation. During the operation, minors worked under the direct supervision of department investigators and attempted to purchase alcohol from 13 retail licensees in the city of Fillmore and unincorporated areas just outside the city.

Those who sold to the minor face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC will take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage licenses of the businesses that sold alcohol to minors. That may include a fine, a suspension of the license, or the permanent revocation of the license.

ABC is conducting the compliance checks state-wide to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. Statistics have shown that young people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunken driving fatalities than the general adult population.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

ABC is a department of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which is under the direction of Secretary Dale E. Bonner, a member of the Governor's Cabinet.

Fillmore Unified School District

The Fillmore Unified School District board gave special recognition to a pair of migrant education students and a parent at Tuesday night's board meeting.

Emilio Gomez and Mariela Inda-Ramirez were honored as migrant education students of the year. Emilio's father, Emigdio Gomez was also given recognition as parent of the year.

The migrant student of the year honor is awarded to the student(s) who exhibits exceptional leadership, maintains a grade point average of 3.5 or better; and plans to continue their education and involvement in their school and community. The migrant parent of the year is awarded to the parents who become involved in their children's education, strive to further their education and get involved in school and community.

Tricia Gradias, Migrant Education Coordinator, introduced the three honorees.

Certificates were presented by FUSD Board President Tony Prado.

Gomez, a senior, has a 3.6 GPA and was CONTINUED »

The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) announces that it soon expects to receive certificates of occupancy for its newest development in Fillmore. The community, called Central Station, is nearly done as CEDC’s expert construction team completes the final finishing touches. The new development will soon be home to farmworkers and local lower-income families and features a mix of affordable rental and ownership homes.

The development has a total of 29 homes – 21 are affordable rental homes and eight other townhomes are available for ownership to local families living in the Fillmore area earning between 30-50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). The homes have three bedrooms and two bathrooms each, and range in size from 1,140 to 1,337 square feet. The development also features a community room, five courtyards, a tot lot, and on-site garage parking. A landscaped bike path runs alongside the community with a decorative railing to match the existing bike path near Fillmore City Hall. The site is two blocks east of the city’s downtown center, close to shopping, transportation and other services.

“The Central Station community will provide more housing choices for individuals and families in the Fillmore community who want to rent and buy homes at affordable prices,” says Eduardo Espinoza, CEDC’s Project Manager for the development. “Increasing the supply of home choices for lower-income renters and owners ultimately benefits the entire community.”

The new community will be professionally managed on-site by CEDC’s Property and Asset Management Division, which manages each of the CEDC’s 15 other apartment communities in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. CEDC’s Community Building and Neighborhood Revitalization Division will facilitate the formation of both a tenant council and an on-site homeownership council at Central Station.

For more information about Central Station please call Jennifer Koch, CEDC’s Communications Manager at: 805/672-2575.

CEDC is a private non-profit community development corporation that provides comprehensive housing services, through a community building approach, in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Since its incorporation in 1981, CEDC has built more than 1,347 units of affordable for-sale and multi-family rental homes, manages 693 affordable rental units, and has helped more than 400 families into home ownership through education, counseling, and lending services. CEDC is a chartered member of NeighborWorks®, a national network of more than 220 community development and affordable housing organizations. This year marks CEDC’s 29th year of operation.

Mountain View is still closed but work looks close to completion.
Enlarge Photo

Enlarge Photo

Q: Do I have to purchase flood insurance? Didn’t FEMA postpone the insurance requirement?

A: Many Fillmore residents are being told by their lenders and insurance carriers that they must purchase flood insurance even though they are not required to. Effective January 21, 2010, FEMA adopted a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMR) that effectively postponed the requirement to purchase flood insurance for about two years.

If you are being asked to purchase flood insurance and you do not want the insurance, you can obtain a copy of the LOMR by downloading it from the City of Fillmore web site (www.fillmoreca.com) or pick up a copy at City Hall during regular business hours. The send the LOMR to your lender or insurance agent and it will provide them the information they need to see that you are not required to purchase flood insurance.

There are two small areas of the City that are still required to purchase flood insurance. These areas have been required to have flood insurance since 1984 and include the easterly section of the El Dorado Mobile Home Park and an area in the vicinity of C Street and River Street.

Q: What are the purple pipes for along the railroad and bike path?

A: The purple pipes are a temporary irrigation system to water a tall fescue grass that will be planted this month along the railroad corridor from B Street to Central Avenue. After the grass is established the above ground sprinklers will be removed and the grass will be irrigated with a subsurface drip system.

The subsurface drip system is an important part of the winter time disposal system for surplus recycled water so it is not discharged to the river. During heavy rain events the drip system will percolate water into the soil. During the summer it will keep the grass green. The tall fescue will be mowed about twice a year.

Q: When will the Mountain View railroad crossing be opened back up?

A: The Mountain View Railroad crossing was opened up to pedestrian traffic on Tuesday March 2nd and will be opened to vehicle traffic on Sunday evening March 7th. The work to install concrete railroad pads is about a week ahead of schedule. In about four months Mountain View will be repaved and the street will be like new.

If you have questions regarding our public infrastructure please send them to: Bert J. Rapp, P.E., Public Works Director at City Hall, 250 Central Avenue, Fillmore CA 93015, or leave a message 24 hours a day at 524-1500 x 231 and he will address them in a future column.

Public Works Director Bert Rapp.

The Fillmore Water Recycling Program has been selected the Ventura County American Public Works Association (APWA) project of the year in the Wastewater and Water category. In addition APWA selected the Fillmore project to represent all Ventura County Public Agency projects as the Project of the Year at the National Engineers Week Banquet at the Reagan Library on Thursday, February 18th. “It is very wonderful that the American Public Works Association has selected the Fillmore Water Recycling Program to be Project of the Year out of 10 excellent projects around the County,” said Bert Rapp, Fillmore Public Works Director. Some of the other candidate projects were the Toland Road Sludge Drying Facility and the Thousand Oaks Photo Voltaic system at their Sewage Treatment Plant.

“The Fillmore project was selected because of an innovative management approach and due to its many unique characteristics,” said Chris Hook with APWA. For example the "Design-Build-Operate" procurement process helped assure that the plant was as efficient and economical as possible. It also included an exacting quality assurance program so that the plant would have low maintenance costs for 20 years.

Another unique aspect is CONTINUED »