To the Editor:
I agree on the passing of Measure T as a resident of the City of Fillmore. I believe this approval with all votes in favor of Measure T will benefit the City of Fillmore. By allowing cannabis cultivation and companies to sell cannabis will allow our city to prosper with taxing companies that cultivate cannabis. As some people oppose this measure T, I understand how residents do not want to allow this to pass. Looking at the bigger picture prop 64 passed in the state of California. It is inevitable that cannabis will be everywhere. The future of this Country has changed and we have to be open to change. So why not be in favor for cultivation in our town as a benefit in our town instead of a burden. It is well regulated with laws that will not harm our city but instead grow it in income. It is regulated by the state and city with laws in place. People who cultivate cannabis are under strict rules if it causes a problem or nuisance permits can be revoked and can be in trouble by the law. No minors will be allowed in cannabis center this means no one under 21 also no minors can work at cultivation sites. Cultivation sites have to be 600 feet away from schools, day care centers, and youth centers. Workers for the cannabis industry will be back ground checked and finger printed. It is well regulated and taking precautions to prevent criminal activity. Cannabis regardless will enter the city legally and illegally. It is time to benefit from it by increase city revenue and helping people with medical problems. It is stated by the City of Fillmore, Small indoor cultivation facility (per the state license and regulations) could generate as much as $70,000 in taxes per year for the City, with each medium sized indoor cultivation facility generating as much as $150,000 per year, and each large sized indoor facility generating as much as $330,000 per year. It is you decision to adapt to the times and pass this measure to have it benefit the City of Fillmore.
Sincerely,
Matthew Irie

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To the Editor:
I was recently told not to get emotional about the marijuana issue in Fillmore. Hmm. Just how does one stay unemotional about an industry that has the potential to permanently change our town and hurt the people [I] love, in so many ways…crime, corruption, addiction? I have been fighting City Hall, along with so many others, for two and a half years on this issue. Just what will it take for us to stop our City Council on its quest for the dubious tax dollars from the Pot Industry? So here are a few the unemotional facts that the pot industry brings with it...
CRIME: Carpinteria is the only other town nearby that has created as much growing area as our City Mayor is proposing. In the last few months, Carpinteria had multiple major armed robberies of their pot growers- and that was only what was reported to the authorities.
The transport of marijuana and the cash only nature of this industry has made it a target of organized crime. Car and truckjackings have spiked from this- the most interesting one I have read: a pot truck was hijacked in San Francisco- in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge! And that was a big city; we are a small town in a rural area.
Our City Council is asking the impossible of our police force and city manager to make sure each pot grower is truthful in the accounting of cash and product. He is to monitor the ‘back door’ movement of any pot (the dispensaries want more of the untaxed/illegal material as they make a better profit), the major security and personnel checks required for this industry. Then there are the environmental regulators who will need to monitor the huge amounts of water usage from our Valley’s aqueduct, and then the clean-up of that water. They will need to monitor of the enormous amount of fungicides and miticides needed for successful growing of a monocrop in a closed, humid environment.
All of us have watched the July 4th illegal fireworks go up in this town, and if we can’t handle regulating those for one day, how do we think our good chief of police and one city manager should be expected to keep this industry clean and honest?
CORRUPTION: City Hall refuses to hear us when we ask our representatives to stop participation in any aspect of the Pot Industry. Over 300 people at the city meeting, overwhelming support at the ‘listening session’ put on the City Hall to end the Pot direction it was taking, over a thousand people signed a petition to stop it (the petition was then lost at City Hall), the County District Attorney had to step in and slap the mayor’s hand because he repeatedly would not allow citizens our constitutional right to speak against the pot issue at city council meeting’s Open Comment…where is the transparency and honesty?
Besides the DA, other outside groups have looked into the issues in Fillmore. The California Election Integrity Project is training local observers to monitor precincts because of the major abuses found in other cities voting on marijuana issues- and they expect the same for Fillmore. The Elections Board is looking at Fillmore’s candidates for political donation guidelines irregularities (always remember the line: just follow the money)
A piece of good news though- for the first time in a very long time, both the Democratic Party and Republican Party have agreed on something- and that is that Fillmore’s Measure T is majorly flawed legislation. Both parties are urging a vote No on Measure T. Take a look at what our own city attorney has written about Measure T: if the Measure is voted in, it gives our City Council the authorization “to amend or appeal the ordinance without restrictions”. Medical Marijuana growing could soon include recreational cultivation and dispensaries as possibilities.
Folks, if there is this much wrong and corruption brought to our community by an Industry that is not even here yet, what do you think it will be like if the Pot Industry does get ahold of our community?
ADDICTION: Where do I even begin with this? As a parent and an educator, it is just plain wrong to say to kids: Just Say No, but we want to make the bucks off of it. How do you rationalize to kids that we want the tax money, even though 9% of those who use marijuana will become addicted, heavy teen use can lower IQ points by about 8 points, that many of the ‘cannabis products’ on the market are at such a high THC content that they have the ability to produce a permanent psychotic state, that pot today is can be at least three times stronger than it was decades ago. These are facts from Ventura County Behavioral Health-who is working already in our Middle School because of student drug issues. Knowing the facts about this product, is it worth it to us? Almost two dozen of our kids were expelled for drug related offenses in our schools last year–the majority of them being marijuana infractions-these are our kids, in our community! What amount of tax money justifies this for our City Mayor who proposed this Measure? Can’t you find any other ways to balance the budget?
Finally, can we all just agree on this one thing? Windowless warehouses the size of Vons, requiring high power security, lining both sides of town along the 126, are about as ugly a blight as we could bring on our community. On the purely aesthetic level, our City Hall must have no sense of who we are, or why ︣we live here, if they think that this is the town we want to show others, let alone what we want to live with ourselves.
I am sorry, but when someone asks me not to get emotional about this issue, you are asking too much.
The elections are this coming Tuesday. Please show that you care. Vote No on Measure T.
Respectfully,
Regina Stehly Nuῄez
Fillmore

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To the Editor:
The current mayor of Fillmore, Manuel Minjares, supports Measure T. He states the main reason for a yes vote is that it will provide a source of tax revenue for the City of Fillmore. The big problem, he wrote, is "The city is facing structural budget problems due to decreases in sales tax revenues." (Emphasis added. Quoted from The County Voter Information Guide, page 56-151)
Putting aside the debate concerning Measure T for a moment, if the City of Fillmore is so concerned about lack of tax revenue, why haven't the Powers that Be done anything proactive about all the empty storefronts and buildings on Central Avenue and State Route 126? This has been an issue for years. Why isn't there a serious revitalization program going on? By all means, preserve the historicity of Central Avenue when bringing in new tenants for that part of town, but on the other hand, with McDonald's, IHOP, Starbucks, ETC., the 126 does not have the same type of historicity that Central Avenue does. It is a potential gold mine of tax revenue, but besides Waba Grill just opening up next to RiteAid, what has been done to make it happen? Maybe that should be a priority before passing Measure T.
Phil Fewsmith
Resident of Fillmore

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To the Editor:
THE NOSE KNOWS!
Do we want to breathe in the sweet, clean smell of citrus trees, avocado groves, and nurseries, or do we want to breathe in the obnoxious, stinky smell of marijuana? Be good to our noses and vote NO ON MEASURE T!
The City Manager and some members of the City Council are trying to convince us that the “sweet smell of success” is money in the City coffers; not quality of life for residents. They seem to think that we are naive enough to believe that if they are *”…authorized to amend or appeal the ordinance without restrictions” they will not overwhelm our lovely community as cannabis growers have for citizens of Carpinteria and other places. Fillmore uniquely affords easy access for pot growers to three major traffic routes; the 5, 101, and 118 highways. Giving the City Council the ability to “…amend or appeal the ordinance without restrictions” is like opening the door to a candy store and telling a child they can go in and eat as much candy as they want to without restrictions.
People who need marijuana for serious medical conditions are a very small percentage of our community, and they know where to buy it in Ventura County. The majority of residents in Fillmore do not need to be subjected to the awful aroma of cannabis growing, the disposal of bio waste such as stalks, increased truck traffic on 126, and increased exposure of marijuana to our youth.
Once growers are allowed into a community it can be legally difficult and expensive to get rid of them because they invest large amounts of money in their businesses and fight hard to stay, especially in a place so strategically well-situated for distribution as Fillmore is.
Don’t be fooled…vote NO on MEASURE T!
*(according to the “City Attorney’s Impartial Analysis of Measure T”)
Joan Archer
Fillmore Resident

CALIFORNIA CITY NEWS
TUE, 05/15/2018
A TOWN ONCE KNOWN FOR ITS FRESH CUT FLOWERS NOW SMELLS LIKE WEED
A lot has changed in the picturesque town of Carpinteria, California. And those changes are being seen, felt, heard -- and yes -- even smelled.
For years, the Santa Barbara County town had a thriving flower production sector. But the business has been waning due to competition overseas. Carpinteria’s once famous carnations are now being replaced by a new kind of plant: cannabis.
As County News reported last month, Santa Barbara County has the most legal marijuana farms in the state. Much of the growth is concentrated in Carpinteria, where greenhouses formerly used for flowers are now grow houses for the county’s booming marijuana industry. For the growers and county coffers and economy as a whole, it’s good thing. But for those with a keen sense of smell, it stinks.
“We don’t want a marijuana smell,” said 73-year-old resident and retired sheriff’s deputy Xave Saragosa. “We want fresh air.”
The county hears them. New odor abatement rules approved in February will go into effect later this year. As cultivators begin installing new odor abatement systems, the smell could let up.
But you can’t please every all the time and that’s clear in Carpinteria. For some, the issue may not be about the smell, but rather then change in the air.
“I would not like Carpinteria to be the ‘cannabis capital’ of Southern California,” said an 80-year-old resident and retired Episcopal priest. “I like it the way it is. It’s a very quiet, unpretentious beach town.”