The original San Cayetano School near 7th Street.
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Wire Chief Test Board.
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Sam Stocker receiving award at Ventura County Fair. Mural is now in the City Council Chambers.
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Fillmores first high school circa 1914.
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Fillmores Main Street circa 1895.
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Cactus Flat School. The boards were on loan and returned to the ranchers uncut.
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Courtesy Fillmore Historical
Museum

Did you know that?...

Leo Carrillo (silent film star and 1950s TV actor) was a descendant of the family who originally owned the Rancho Sespe land grant.

Fillmore is named after Jerome Fillmore, Southern Pacific Superintendent, who may only have passed through the town on a special train in May of 1887.

C. C. Elkins owned 50 acres of orange groves in Florida before coming to Fillmore.

The boards of the temporary Cactus Flat school were uncut because the ranchers only loaned them for the building of the school and wrote their names on them to make sure they got them back.

The original San Cayetano School was west of Sespe Creek off 7th Street.

By 1900 Fillmore’s population was 150 people according to Rand McNally. It had grown to 13,643 a century later and to 16,419 by 2020.

Main Street was the town’s main street until it burned in 1903, then Central Avenue developed into the “main” street.

Pole Creek originally emptied into the Sespe until it was rerouted to flow into the Santa Clara.

The Fillmore Rotary club was founded in 1905.

The original (1911) Fillmore Union High School was considered to be one of the most beautiful schools in the state.

In 1911, the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools thought the new Fillmore High School was too big and there would never be enough students to fill it. Fillmore had to build a bigger school in 1924.

The first high school graduating class was in 1911 and the Alumni Association was founded in 1915 when there were 15 alumni.

City Manager Clarence Arrasmith sponsored City “Happy Hours” during the depression. These were variety shows – no alcohol.

The mural in the City Council Chamber was painted as a backdrop for the Ventura County Fair.

Fillmore was then next to last town in California to go from operator assisted calls to direct dial in the early 1960s. Avalon on Catalina Island was the last town.

The canon in front of the Memorial Building used to be fired during the May Festival.

Two large alligators washed out of animal sanctuary on the mountain on the east end of the valley near Piru in the 1969 flood.

One family has given us 3 mayors. William H. Price, 1926; his son, Lester Price, 1936; and W. H. Price’s great-grandson, Bill Dewey, 1979.

Frank Munoz was the first Hispanic mayor in 1972.

Delores Day was the first women mayor in 1977.

Southern California is experiencing acute levels of homelessness and lack of affordable housing. To help meet the need in the Fillmore community, Many Mansions and the Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura built Mountain View.

On Tuesday, September 27th, over 200 guests gathered to celebrate Mountain View’s Grand Opening. The 77-unit community consists of apartments reserved for extremely and very low-income households, with 8 units designated for those who have suffered homelessness. It is a culmination of a 6-year development process that transformed an essentially vacant and underdeveloped site into a beautiful, well-managed complex.

In attendance at this week’s festivities were residents and community leaders. State Assembly member Steve Bennett, County Supervisor Kelly Long, Fillmore Mayor Pro Tem Lynn Edmonds, California Housing & Community Development Department representative Hector Leyva, and Joseph Alexander, a representative for Mountain View residents spoke compellingly about the need for more affordable housing, and about the collaborative effort that made Mountain View possible.

Indeed, at its inception, the proposed project received enthusiastic response from over 3,000 Fillmore community members, embracing affordable housing and positioning Mountain View to be a welcome addition to the city. With design elements that recognize and celebrate Fillmore’s history and setting, such as a wall mural painted by a local artist and playgrounds inspired by agricultural equipment, Mountain View is a Fillmore community asset.

Mountain View residents are part of the Fillmore community and stories such as a 76-year-old 5th generation Fillmore resident who could not afford her home after her husband passed away in 2013, are representative of those who found a home in Mountain View.

To further support residents, on-site services and programs such as case management, life-skills workshops, and children’s after-school programs are available at no cost to all residents. These programs are run at on-site amenities designed to support community building and wellbeing, such as a community room, a pocket park, playgrounds, and courtyards. They are facilitated by Many Mansions and partnering organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley.

Many Mansions is a leading provider of affordable housing and life-changing services in Ventura County. With the belief that everyone deserves a place to call home, we house and serve close to 1,500 individuals, with a focus on working families in the very low-income brackets, seniors, veterans, persons with disabilities, and individuals and families who have experienced homelessness.

The Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura is an independent, nonprofit agency serving the residents of Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and the unincorporated areas of Ventura County. It is a leader providing opportunities and assistance to people in need of affordable housing through development, acquisitions, and partnerships.

7-A PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDER WHETHER TO ADOPT THE DRAFT UPDATED NORTH FILLMORE SPECIFIC PLAN AMENDMENT, NEXUS STUDY FOR IMPACT FEES, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ADDENDUM. Staff recommends that the City Council receive a presentation on the NFSP Amendment and Environmental Addendum, ask its questions, take public comment, consider the Ordinance and Resolution on the Addendum, and continue the public hearing to October 11, 2022, to consider the Nexus Study.
Consent Agenda - 5-0 approved. 7-A - 4-O (Mayor recused herself).

7-B REQUEST. 461 Central, LLC (Alex Glasscock), Owner, is requesting that the City Council approve an Amendment to the Property Remediation Agreement (Attachment 1) for the property located at 461 Central Avenue (“Property”). The requested amendment to the Agreement would allow the Owner until April 20, 2023, to complete installation of the fire alarm system and to satisfy all of the Conditions of Approval. Currently, under the Agreement and several time extensions previously granted, these tasks must be completed by September 30, 2022.
Council approved.

7-C REQUEST. The City Council is being requested to adopt an Amendment to Employee Handbook and updated Personnel Rules to be in compliance with current laws, regulations and personnel procedures. The Amendment to Employee Handbook incorporates previous authorized amendments.
Request approved.

7-D REQUEST Staff is requesting City Council authorization to exercise the City’s option to extend the auditor contract for two years so that annual audit for FY 2021-22 can be scheduled as soon as possible.
Council approved.

7-E REQUEST. Staff is requesting that the City Council authorize staff to invest cash in U.S. Treasury notes to take the opportunity to lock in interest rates that are earning close to 4.0%. The City has approximately $35 million of liquid cash, $26 million in California Local Agency Investment Funds and $5.4 million in Certificates of Deposit held in trust by MBS Securities.
Request approved.

Michael Mobley, 66, of Oxnard.

Michael Mobley, a VC Resource Conservation District board director, resigned from two officer roles Wednesday morning, September 21, 2022, nine months after pleading guilty to grand theft in December 2021 for stealing nearly $50,000 from clients over a 7-year range. Bill Morris, of Fillmore, was chosen as vice president, and Kevin Cannon, of Santa Rosa Valley, was chosen as treasurer to replace Mobley. Mobley, 66, of Oxnard, did not resign from his seat as director, and continues to serve on the agency boards of Mound Basin Groundwater Sustainability and the United Water Conservation District.

Mobley returned $49,000 in victim restitution prior to pleading guilty in exchange for reducing the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor in a plea agreement. He was also ordered to complete 60 hours community service.

BACKGROUND:
In mid-March of 2021, an agricultural corporation identified as the Winchester Water Well group contacted deputies from the Moorpark Sheriff’s Station and reported that they were the victims of embezzlement by their property manager. The Winchester Water Well group was comprised of five ranch owners whose property was located in the unincorporated area just outside the city of Moorpark. Deputies obtained the basic facts, completed a theft report, and the case was forwarded to the Moorpark Investigations Bureau.

Over the next several weeks, investigators learned that the ranch owners hired a property management firm that specialized in agricultural land management, identified as Progressive Land Management to manage and service an irrigation water well for the ranchers. The ranch owners initially contracted with Progressive Land Management in mid-2014. Investigators determined that over the course of several years, the owner of Progressive Land Management, identified as Michael Mobley, 66, of Oxnard, stole tens of thousands of dollars from the ranch owners and falsified bank documents in order to conceal the thefts.

On the morning of May 20th, 2021, detectives from the Moorpark Station contacted Mobley as he was leaving his home in Oxnard and arrested him for the thefts, a felony. Detectives then returned to Mobley’s home and served a search warrant and seized additional evidence related to the thefts. Simultaneously, detectives from the Thousand Oaks Special Enforcement Unit, working in conjunction with Moorpark Detectives, served a search warrant at the offices of Progressive Land Management in the city of Santa Paula, where additional evidence was located and seized.

Detectives eventually determined that Mobley embezzled nearly $50,000.00 from the Winchester Well Water Group. Mobley was booked at the Ventura County Main Jail on the charge of 487(a) PC / Grand Theft with bail set at $10,000.00. He had no prior criminal record.