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Fillmore was on high alert Thursday, November 13th, as the State of California declared a mock state-wide emergency with a hypothetical magnitude 7.8 earthquake, ie: The Great Southern California Shake Out of 2008.
The drill was ready for Fillmore, but was Fillmore as ready as it could be for the drill? Logistics for the drill were complex, with “victims” at the Veterans Memorial building segregated on different colored triage tarps indicating levels of injury; green was “walking wounded”, yellow was “delayed”, and red was “immediate.” Approximately 35 volunteer citizens, 12 police officers, 15 firefighters, and city staff participated.

A series of hands-on exercises geared toward potential damage scenarios took place throughout the day. Ventura County Office of Emergency Services Officials activated their emergency operations center for approximately 48 hours and simulated similar scenarios. An increased number of City of Fillmore Fire Department and Ventura County Sheriffs Department personnel were visible city-wide.

The state-wide drill was considered the largest in U.S. history, with approximately 5 million people participating at different levels. In Ventura County public agencies, schools, residents and emergency responders were involved.

Scientists spent over a year creating the realistic scenario which would more than likely take place along the San Andreas Fault. The drill was estimated to cost $2 million to organize and execute state-wide. The USGS and its partners received financial support from corporate sponsors including the Home Depot Inc., Tyco Electronics, and State Farm Insurance Co.

At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Sespe School Cafeteria Manager “Grandma” Lou Hoover was presented the “Be the Change” award.

Board Member Liz Wilde chaired the open session of the Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board meeting November 18, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office. The Board heard updates from the Sespe Elementary School and Piru Elementary School Principals, and honored Lou Hoover. The Board approved field trips, math textbooks, and a Use of Facilities Agreement with Ventura College.

The Board honored Sespe Elementary School’s Cafeteria Manager, Lou Hoover, for exemplifying the District’s motto: “Be the Change”. Principal Geri Lunde introduced the honoree, and said that she provided not only great food, but also great care of the cafeteria, staff, and students. The students call her “Grandma Lou”.

Sespe Principal Geri Lunde and Piru Principal Richard Durborow provided updates on plans to improve student academic achievement and parent outreach.

Lunde emphasized her successful attempts to increase parent involvement. The school has reached out to English Learners' parents by holding English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) meetings monthly at 8 a.m. The meetings include information on how parents can help their children learn. At past meetings, parents have received handouts on how to read aloud to their children and how to help children be responsible. Recent meetings have had a turnout of approximately twenty parents. The next ELAC meeting at Sespe will be in January. School Site Council meetings have also provided education for parents.

Sespe teachers have been trained in using ADEPT to test English Learners, so that they can acquire current information about their students’ English proficiency and meet students' needs now rather than waiting a year for CELDT test results.

Durborow presented three strategies that Piru Elementary School is using to improve student learning: data teams, rubrics and exemplars, and identifying academic terms in math. Durborow noted that his third strategy is intended to improve scores on standardized math tests. He said that students who lack math vocabulary often have difficulty understanding and answering math questions even if they know how to solve the problems.

Piru teachers are collaborating in data teams. They use the allocated time to discuss student achievement data, review best practices, share ideas, and develop new strategies.

Durborow explained Piru's use of rubrics and exemplars. Rubrics are systematic lists that correlate score levels with detailed descriptions of (or standards for) work at each level. Rubrics provide a standard scoring method that allows for comparison of student progress. In the example Durborow gave, a Score of 2.5 is associated with the description, "There are no major errors or omissions regarding the simpler details and processes, and partial knowledge of the more complex ideas and processes." Rubrics are sometimes used to provide objectivity when grading essays, short answers, classroom participation, etc. Piru teachers are collaborating to develop their own rubrics. Exemplars are samples of student work that help people to understand the descriptions in a rubric. Rubrics with exemplars clarify expectations, and promote good communication between teachers and students. Durborow explained, "Examples of student work are placed in the classroom and act as guides to facilitate independent work habits and the successful completion of assignments at higher levels of proficiency." Durborow said that self-assessment is a powerful way to improve student learning. Teachers at all grade levels at Piru are using rubrics and exemplars, and Durborow expects all Piru teachers to be using them soon.

Durborow mentioned that school safety is much improved from when he started working at Piru years ago. He also mentioned that a Piru teacher wants to teach English to English Learners' parents; the administration is setting up a night class. CONTINUED »

The Fillmore Middle School Basketball Program was in need of funds for referees so the program could get underway. Boys Basketball coach, Joe Alcantar asked the Piru Petroleum Club if they could help with this and the Club funded the referees for the season. Youth activities and high school scholarships are a large part of the Club's donations to the community.

Piru Petroleum Club has a membership of about 80 people from various areas of the County. Membership is open to anyone and the dues are $40 per year. Lunches are the 2nd & 4th Fridays of each month and Family Night Dinners are the 3rd Thursday of each month. There are no meetings in December. The New Year will begin with lunch the 2nd Friday of January.

A New Year's Eve Dinner-Dance will be held at the Club with a steak dinner, drinks, and dance to the music ofDJ Paul Vaiz. Tickets are available from Board members @ $45 per person. Board members are: President, Gil Escoto, Vice-President, Pat Casas, Secretary-Treasurer, Lynda Edmonds, Richard Arias, Greg Taylor, Rob Frost, Jerry Edmonds, George Real, Tim Lovelace, Vie Piche, Don Downey, Jim Rogers and Bill George.

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Santa Paula Hospital, the “Hospital on the Hill” has many friends and supporters, but none more dedicated than the Santa Paula Hospital Auxiliary Sewing Committee. Three dedicated women, Carolyn Laskey, Jane Duchacek and Marilyn Marson, all of Fillmore, meet every Monday morning for three hours in the conference room of the hospital’s James Knight Administration Building, to create wonderful gift items for SPH patients and their families.

Laskey, began volunteering twenty-five years ago when the hospital was known as Santa Paula Memorial Hospital. She currently volunteers at the front desk on Thursdays. Marson volunteers at the front desk on Friday mornings while Duchacek works in the gift shop. The ambitious core group, brought together by Marson in May 2008 produce soft, stuffed creatures including teddy bears, fish, kittens, ducks and other endearing creatures for child patients, as well as knitted caps and flannel blankets with whimsical patterns for newborns. With help from Friends of the Auxiliary, they completed 93 cuddly animals, 36 blankets, 4 afghans, 21 pillows, 25 NICU pillows, 72 caps, 7 Christmas stockings, and a wonderful fundraiser quilt.

During Christmas week, newborns will receive an extra special gift, hand made “stocking type boots”. The ladies are also working on white, stretchy, loomed beanie caps with green and red tassels to be given to the newborn babes throughout December.

Laskey, Duchacek and Marson also take projects home in order to keep up with the demand. The work keeps growing as SPH, a satellite campus of Ventura County Medical Center expands its service, and they are looking for additional volunteers for this worthwhile endeavor.

To help raise funds for materials and supplies, the industrious trio held an opportunity drawing for a beautiful bunny quilt. Supportive hospital staff and employees helped raise $275 through ticket donations, earmarked for a new batch of precious creations. The drawing was held on November 12. Marivel Avila, Fillmore resident and an employee at VCMC’s main campus, was the lucky winner.

You do not need to know how to sew if you would like to volunteer your time. Stuffers and pattern cutters are welcomed. Donations of fabrics, thread, baby yarn and other related items are always appreciated as well. Join the Santa Paula Hospital Auxiliary Sewing Committee and you will find that their motto is true, “A Stitch in Time Saves the Mind”. As a bonus, your efforts will make others feel good too.

For information, to donate or to volunteer, please call:
Debbie Hill, Director of Volunteer Services, (805)652-6695

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Anna Maldonado, 15, has a big heart—and a lot of hair. On Tuesday, Nov. 18th, Anna took her grandmother and grandfather, Esther and Juan Jacinto, her teacher A Cut Above Stacia Helmer and her Fillmore High School Special Education class to Terri’s Beauty Salon to watch her get her hair cut for Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Salonist Debra Burhoe, a cancer survivor, cut Anna’s hair while everyone watched. “That was very special,” stated Burhoe, who is now cancer-free, after being treated for the disease in 2004-05. “I am free as we speak.” Terri’s Salon & Boutique is owned
by Terri Hastings and Patricia Padilla. The hair is prepared by being bound with a rubber-band and bagged immediately after being cut. The Gazette thanks Anna for her generous act!

Gilbert Zavala
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I have received frequent emails from United States Army Staff Sergeant Gilbert Zavala since he deployed to Afghanistan and I recently asked him to write an update on his experiences there to include some recent pictures that he could share with the people of the communities of Fillmore and Piru. Below is what he sent me for publishing in the Fillmore Gazette. We all here back at home wish United States Army Staff Sergeant Gilbert Zavala safe travel while in Afghanistan and on his return trip home and thank him and his family for their sacrifices they have made during his service. Staff Sergeant Gilbert Zavala is truly an American Hero!-Dick Diaz

By United States Army Staff Sergeant Gilbert Zavala in Afghanistan:
After High School many people often wonder what they want to do when they graduate. As for me I wanted to be a soldier like my father, grandfather, uncles and other relatives had been. After 14 yrs in the Army I sometimes feel like a kid again, getting to do things that few of my friends or family have done or seen. When I was a boy I played Army like many other kids and had fun doing it with all my friends, pretending I was shooting a gun and blowing things up, thinking how cool it was. One never realizes at that time and place how what you pretend to do or want to do is so far from the truth.

After just passing six months on my 4th deployment, I find myself in the Helmand Province which is the most hostile place in all of Afghanistan. So for our small operational force, we often have several missions where we have to live out of a rucksack, sleep next to our trucks in hostile areas for several days with limited food, water, ammunition and few basic amenities that we are able to carry with us. Camping and hunting with my father and brother in the Sierras comes close, but then again there wasn’t Taliban hunting us. Since we arrived 6 months ago, my team and I have been in at least 12 major engagements all of which have been in the past 4 months. Several days ago our small element came under an attack from fighters in the area next to the Helmand River. The Taliban had fired first but we soon gained the upper hand with our constant air support. The Taliban had gathered several fighters with rocket propelled grenades and Russian PKM machine guns in an open area. Almost immediately after, a small force of fighters attacked from the right side and for the next 45 minutes in one of the most intense firefights, which at one time was roughly no more than 30 yards away as we fought through the hail of bullets. With all the fighting that ensued, no American or our Afghan soldiers that were with us received any injuries. CONTINUED »

Measure H and Measure I both passed on November 4, 2008. City employees believe that Fillmore could be sued as a result. Land owners' opinions are extremely varied.

For development to occur, sometimes the land owner submits a building proposal to the City. More usually a developer purchases an option to buy from the landowner, submits a building proposal to the City, and waits until the City has approved the proposal before buying the property. The City has to review the proposal to ensure that it meets City and State codes, including environmental regulations. Changes can be made and the proposal resubmitted as necessary. Community Development Director Kevin McSweeney stated that only one development in North Fillmore had been approved before the election: the Reider development. That development approval was rescinded by Measure H. The Reider development had been under review for more than five years before the City was satisfied.

Measure I modifies the North Fillmore Specific Plan (NFSP) to set a maximum of 350 housing units in North Fillmore instead of a maximum of 700. It also reduces the potential density of development. Measure I modifies the Land Use Element of Fillmore's General Plan. The State requires those two plans to comply with Fillmore's Housing Element. The Housing Element must be and has been approved by State agencies. The State requires Fillmore to have plans allowing for 985 new housing units by 2014. The Fillmore Redevelopment Agency requires that 15% of the new homes built within its domain be affordable. The City's Housing Element is updated every five years. The current update is under development, and a public workshop is scheduled for November 18th. The latest draft of the Housing Element is available on the City's website at http://www.fillmoreca.com/planning_download.htm#he

City and State plans relied upon the ability of North Fillmore to contain 700 housing units, including an appropriate number of affordable housing units. McSweeney said that the housing units which would qualify to be built in the North Fillmore area under Measure I are less likely to be affordable to moderate or low income households. The density level described in Measure I goes beyond what Fillmore usually designates as "Residential Low Density". As the Housing Element reads, "This designation provides for low-density neighborhoods with detached single-family dwellings with private yards at a density of up to 7 units per acre." Measure I sets the maximum density level at 5 units per acre. The City will have to find an alternate plan for constructing 52 affordable units previously allocated to North Fillmore. McSweeney mentioned that rezoning other areas in Fillmore is a possibility. According to Fillmore's Housing Element: "On January 17, 2002, the City Council adopted an ordinance establishing a City Urban Restriction Boundary (CURB). The purpose of this ordinance is to establish an urban boundary for the City of Fillmore that accommodates a reasonable amount of future growth for the City of Fillmore, but limits additional urbanization outside of the CURB line without a vote of the citizens of Fillmore." Jamey Brooks, a proponent of Measure I, said that building outside the CURB line would have been a better idea than allocating so many units to North Fillmore, but, as McSweeney noted, a vote is required for that to happen. CONTINUED »