To the Editor:
Celebrating the reason for the season Fillmore Style
What an incredible community we live in! In all the years that I have celebrated the holiday season, I have never been afforded the opportunity to participate in caroling. This year was different for me, because of the group of individuals that decided this is the year to come together and celebrate the holiday spirit. In particular Diane McCall, Kerry McCall, Rick Neal, Christie Neal and their daughters as well as Caitlin McCall who facilitated bringing some the youth cheer team. Also, Rigo Landeros, Patrick Maynard along with many of the Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department and many others who worked so hard to make this event come alive. As the evening festivities progressed, we were able to hand out candy canes, toys and teddy bears to members of the community.
We spent the evening driving through Fillmore singing the songs of the season, bringing cheer and joy to the community. What was most amazing was the response we received. It was so heartwarming to see Fillmore come together and out of their homes to join us in our caroling efforts. We met and saw children of all ages, adults young and old leaving the warmth of their homes to bring warmth to us. It was an extraordinary evening that I will remember for the remainder of my years. I would like to truly thank the Citizens of Fillmore for joining us and making this year’s holiday season a little extra special.
I look forward to making this a tradition that will last for years to come.
Sincerely,
Douglas Tucker, Mayor of Fillmore

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To the Editor:
What a wonderful place to live
This morning I was driving to work when I noticed that a car had pulled off to the side of the road and a woman got out of her car and started to run toward a gentleman than had fallen on the bike path along Old Telegraph road. I pulled over as well and asked what had happened. She stated that the gentleman had fallen and was bleeding from his hands from the fall. We contacted the Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department who immediately dispatched assistance to the scene. I kept thinking to myself what a selfless act to see a person in need and to stop everything and come to the aide of the gentlemen. To my surprise while this was happening another lady stopped and also came to the aid the gentlemen. With the three of us there, I knew that this individual would be safe until the Volunteer Fire Department could arrive.
With this said, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to these two ladies for taking the time to stop and take a moment out of their day to come to the aide of someone in need. This is just one example of why Fillmore is truly the last BEST small town in California.
Thank you again
Douglas Tucker, Mayor City of Fillmore

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To the Editor:
Happy New Year Fillmore!!
I have fallen behind in updating you all about the Chevron superfund site, so with out further ado.
In November the community scoping meeting had a great turn out of near by residents adjacent to the superfund site. The city had Rincon Consultants Inc run the scoping meeting to get information and feed back from the community. Long and short is that most of the near by neighbors present requested that nothing be built there and that a multi use trail idea not be part of any plan that connects the Chevron superfund site to the residences on 3rd or 2nd streets. One idea that was requested was the change of the foot bridge and 2nd access point to the site be off Santa Clara street and not Sespe Ave as not to impact near by neighbors. The ideas of a solar farm were talked over and will be looked into.
The December R&R meeting had a Chevron employee who has worked on the development of a solar farm in Bakersfield give a presentation. Chevron is looking into the solar farm idea but will still need to see if it will make them the money they want.
The group is still waiting to hear what the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic substance and Disease Registry) report says. ATSDR is completing a health consultation evaluating potential exposure of Fillmore community members to dust in the air during recent clean-up activities at the superfund site and possible direct contact with soils at the site in the future. In an email I received forwarded from ATSDR their comments to the City are that: 1) they(ATSDR) want to protect the health of Fillmore community 2) they belive that site –related odors could be a concern if future work disturbs petroleum-contaminated soil from historical refining operations 3)they are concerned that the proposed project could impact air quality as a result of construction activity and earth moving operations and would need to mitigate using techniques used as they did during clean up 4) it is recommended that special consideration in the EIR to the maintenance of the caps covering the contaminated soil that was excavated during the PCPL(Chevron superfund site) clean up process. 5) Deed restrictions will limit future land use at the site to commercial & recreational. The Remedial Investigation indicates that residences, hospitals, daycare centers and schools will not be built on the site, and that plants for human consumption will not be grown on the site.
I hope this gets you updated and thinking about our City’s future in the New Year.
Thank you,
Kathy Pace