The Proposition 64, permitting recreational use of marijuana in California, has passed and the City of Fillmore's Measure I approving the taxing of the sale of marijuana at a rate of up to 15 percent has also passed. Measure H, that would tax commercial cultivation operations at up to $30 a square foot for the first 3,000 square feet and up to $15 a square foot beyond that.

State law requires voters to approve the maximum level of any new city taxes. The Council can set the rate lower at a later time if it chooses.

The new legislation would allow people 21 or older to possess, transport and use up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational purposes and would allow them to grow as many as six plants.

This new revenue would be used to cover costs for expenses related to public safety, code compliance, drug education and mental health programs, according to city authorities.

Growing marijuana in the city will be regulated by an emergency ordinance passed by the City Council in October. The ordinance bans the cultivation of more than six plants in any one household. Outdoor growth operations are banned and indoor operations must be inspected by city officials and requires a permit. Growing without a permit will be a misdemeanor.

The SOAR proposal to extend the SOAR measure A to 2050 appears to be winning.

Measure G, placed by the City Council to extend the deadline to 2030 seems to be winning.

The three open City Council seats will be filled by the only three candidates running for office. Councilman Manuel Minjares, seeking re-election, had a majority of votes at 38 percent (1,957). Mark Austin, City Planning Commissioner, came in second, with 1,640 votes, and Tim Holmgren, also City Planning Commissioner, finished with 1,405 votes. There were 93 write-in votes.

Olivia Carrera-Lopez, running unopposed, has won City Clerk's position, and Shannon Godfrey running unopposed, has won 97 percent of the vote. Three percent of the vote went to a write-in candidate.

Thanks to the dogged efforts of Raymond S Brown Sr., Fillmore will soon have a traffic light on Highway 126 and Mountain View.

On Monday of this week the construction of the new light will begin with a survey team plotting the location. The Gazette will follow this story until construction is completed because it is an urgently needed safety feature. Many children cross fast-moving streams of traffic to and from school each day near Mountain View.

Mr. Brown is the true hero of this story. In a determined, single-handed effort, begun March of 2012, Brown has preached and prodded city and state organizations to take action. He worked closely with Caltrans and spoke-out at several city council meetings prompting action on the project, for four years and eight months.

The city owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Brown for his support for this life-saving project.

A 33-year-old Camarillo man was found by Ventura County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team following a 26-hour hike into Los Padres National Forest. The man set off from Dough Flat and planned to bike east to Piru. The experienced set off on a mountain bike thinking that the trail would be more open than it was. He had few supplies except for water and a “space blanket”. When he recognized that his trip would take longer than he anticipated, he hunkered-down through the night. Helicopter attempts to find him after 8 p.m., resumed early the next day with a search-and-rescue volunteers. Rescue crews flew the route that night, using night-vision goggles and, later, infrared technology. Because he was located in a steep canyon there was no heat signature to see. At 2:00 p.m., 26 hours after leaving Dough Flat, above Fillmore, his tire tracks were which led to his rescue.

American Red Cross of Ventura County

The American Red Cross of Ventura County is hosting the Second Annual Operation: Ride for the Red cycling event on November 12, 2016, at the Red Cross office located at 836 Calle Plano, Camarillo, CA 93012. The event, which will benefit the local Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) Program, begins with the first riders leaving at 6:30 a.m.

This event has received a proclamation from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in support of the ride and its cause. Support has also poured in from local companies who have joined the ride as sponsors including California Resources Corporation, Wells Fargo and Aviara Real Estate in Thousand Oaks among others.

There are four ride routes to choose from which vary in length between 5, 30, 50 and 100 miles, traversing Port Hueneme, Naval Air Station Point Mugu, and Channel Islands Air National Guard Station. All routes will start and end at the Red Cross office. Registration fees start at $50. Participants are asked to fundraise additional money for the cause and will receive a free t-shirt for participating. Anyone who does not wish to ride but would like to donate to the program, can do so online through the event’s Crowdrise page.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Red Cross SAF program which aims to provide humanitarian support to military members, veterans and their families around the clock and around the globe, under a trusted symbol. These support services include 24/7 global emergency communication services and support to military and veteran health care facilities across the country and overseas. The Red Cross helps families cope with deployments and support returning combat veterans as they reintegrate into the community.

Last year the Red Cross provided nearly 36,000 emergency communication services to more than 115,000 military members and their families, distributed more than 136,000 care, comfort and therapy items at military hospitals and medical facilities, and served nearly 23,000 individuals through rehabilitation and morale programs.

The SAF goal for the Central California region is to continue providing exceptional support to our military members and their families while expanding our direct support services to veterans. With increased support from this event, the Red Cross would be able to provide increased comfort and morale items and events, reintegration training and education, as well as improved support and partnership with other Veteran Service Organizations.

Learn more by visiting RedCross.org/OperationRide.

About the American Red Cross Central California Region
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. The American Red Cross Central California Region provides services to the ten counties across Central California that is home to more than 4 million people. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org.

The Share-iff’s Toy Drive has been a tradition in Ventura County for 31 years. Many families do not have the resources to provide their children with a traditional Christmas celebration. Each year, thousands of children experience a Christmas morning with no gifts to open.

Members of the Sheriff’s Office respond to calls throughout the county and encounter families without the means to exchange gifts during the holiday season. Fortunately, some of these families will be the recipients of gifts this holiday season, thanks to volunteers who participate in the Share-iff’s Toy Drive.

The Sheriff’s Office will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for children ages 13 and younger. All of the toys will be distributed to children within the cities of Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Fillmore, Ojai, and the unincorporated areas served by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

All of our patrol stations will have boxes where staff members and the public can leave their unwrapped toys Monday through Friday from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm between November 01th and December 15th.

On December 17th, members of the Sheriff’s Office will open Santa’s workshop and provide some Christmas magic to those who need it most.

Toy drop off locations:

Camarillo Police Department 3701 Las Posas Road, Camarillo (805) 388-5100

Thousand Oaks Police Department 2101 E. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks (805) 494-8200

Moorpark Police Department - 610 Spring Road, Moorpark (805) 532-2700

Fillmore Police Department - 524 Sespe Avenue, Fillmore (805) 524-2233

Ojai Police Department - 402 S. Ventura Street, Ojai (805) 646-1414

Sheriff's Headquarters - 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura (805) 654-2304

For more information about how you can help, please contact:

Corina Lozano at corina.lozano@ventura.org
Victor Flores at victor.flores@ventura.org
Tim Lohman at tim.lohman@ventura.org
Jennifer Sezzi at jennifer.sezzi@ventura.org

Caltrans is proposing to build four roundabouts on Highway 126 to slow traffic. This plan is opposed by the Fillmore City Council. The Council also hopes that Santa Paula and county transportation agencies will join in this opposition.

By constructing these large traffic circles on the highway between Santa Paula and Fillmore Caltrans believes this measure will slow traffic and reduce the number of fatal accidents.

The council voted against this plan 5-0 and hopes to show that it would slow traffic and interfere with emergency response vehicles. The Council also sees no safety benefit to this construction and worries about the probable need to take farmland as well.

The Fillmore Council has drawn a resolution opposing the project and has asked the City of Santa Paula and the Ventura County Transportation Commission to join in this opposition. Councilman Doug Tucker has called for additional collaborative efforts to stop this plan.

Concerns about the roundabouts safety has become public following the death of Ryan Osler who was riding in a water truck, through a roundabout on Highway 246, when it overturned after hitting a curb. The event occurred near Lompoc.

Councilman Manuel Minjares expressed concern about the construction slowing ambulance traffic to the hospital in Santa Paula or Ventura. In February a Caltrans official told the Council that the roundabouts would probably slow traffic by up to three minutes between Fillmore and Santa Paula.

California has released a new surveillance, prevention and care plan designed to dramatically reduce new HIV infections in the state, with the goal of eventually getting that number to zero. The “Getting to Zero” plan is a blueprint for state and local health departments and community organizations working to achieve a more coordinated statewide response to HIV.

“Thanks to better treatment and prevention options, new testing technology and better access to health care, California has reached a point where we can begin to envision the possibility of zero new HIV infections,” said California Department of Public Health Director State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith. “In a state as large as ours, it will take an incredible amount of coordination, innovation and work to make this vision a reality. This report lays the foundation for achieving our goals.”

The “Getting to Zero” plan was developed by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in coordination with local health officials, other state departments, medical and non-medical providers, and HIV community organizations and planning bodies. The report set four goals to be achieved by 2021. The four goals are to reduce new HIV infections, increase access to care, reduce disparities in underserved communities and achieve a more coordinated statewide response to the HIV epidemic.

To achieve those goals, the report outlines 15 strategies and 12 key objectives that will be monitored on an annual basis by CDPH’s Office of AIDS. Some of the strategies include improving HIV testing and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) utilization, enhancing availability of HIV care and increasing community collaboration and involvement.

“This comprehensive plan reinforces the state’s ongoing commitment to address the HIV epidemic,” said Dr. Karen Mark, Chief of the Office of AIDS at CDPH. “This commitment includes supporting people living with HIV, reducing the rate of new infections, and recognizing that not all communities have been equally impacted by this epidemic, and making those most at risk a high priority.”

The full Laying a Foundation for Getting to Zero: California’s Integrated HIV Surveillance, Prevention and Care Plan report and Executive Summary are available on CDPH’s website.

www.cdph.ca.gov

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The Ventura County Sheriff Explorer Van was sponsored by Rotary Club of Fillmore, Fillmore Chamber of Commerce, Fillmore Women’s Service Club, and many others.
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The Santa Clara Valley Explorer Post #2958 was reactivated in 2010, by Deputy Leo Vazquez, Commander Tim Hagel, and Captain Dave Wareham, with only 6 interested Explores. Fast forward 6 years later and the Post has 32 Explorers enrolled and continues to grow.

The Explorers are tasked with community events in the city of Fillmore, unincorporated areas of Ventura County and other cities within the County of Ventura. Some of the community events are: Fillmore and Piru Christmas Parades, Fillmore High School Parades, toy drives and giveaways, Shop with a Cop in Camarillo, Camarillo Air Show, and Moorpark Safety Days at Underwood Farms, just to name a few. These events stress the importance of planning, teamwork, and coordination of resources.

In order for the Post to attend all of the community events, the Post has had to carpool in privately owned vehicles. Up to 5 vehicles may have been needed when attending any Explorer function, and it was often overwhelming trying to find a ride for everyone. Some of our Explorers come from low income families and it's amazing to find a program where students/explorers can gain so much knowledge, guidance, and self-confidence without worrying about burdening their parents’ financial situations.

The Post is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that depends on donations in order to be successful. This past year, the Post has been planning to purchase a passenger van. Being able to purchase a van would be a great asset to the Post, as it would help transport Explorers to community events, meetings, and training events, both within the county and out of state. The Post held multiple fundraisers and received donations from various organizations within the city of Fillmore and County of Ventura. With the hard work and dedication of the Post Advisors, they were able to purchase a passenger van for the Post.

The Santa Clara Valley Explorer Post #2958 would like to thank the following organizations for their generous donations and making this purchase possible: Fillmore Rotary Club, Bank of the Sierra, Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, Ventura County Sheriff's Foundation, Fillmore Women's Club, Fillmore Chamber of Commerce and SBR Signs for the van wrap.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement Explorer program consists of young men and women, 14 (and completed 8th grade) to 21, who have an interest in learning more about a career in Law Enforcement. The Explorer program provides law enforcement experiences, leadership opportunities, educational training, and community service activities. The primary goals of the program are to help young adults choose a career path within law enforcement and to challenge them to become responsible citizens in their communities and the nation.

If you would like more information about the Law Enforcement Explorer program, please contact your local Police Department.

Fillmore Police Department 805-524-2233
Camarillo Police Department 805-388-5100
Moorpark Police Department 805-532-2700
Headquarters Patrol Station 805-654-2890
Ojai Police Department 805-646-1414
Thousand Oaks Police Department 805-494-8200

City Manager David Rowlands presenting 3 Beacon Awards to Fillmore Mayor Diane McCall.

The Fillmore City Council received 3 Beacon awards last night from the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative. The City was recognized for energy savings with a platinum award, and a gold for Best Practices Activities, and a silver award for greenhouse gasses reduction.

Dave Smallwood discussed the city's serious drought problem and the continued importance of water conservation.

The Council also approved an ordinance adding requirements for personal cultivation of marijuana in the event Proposition 64 (recreational use of marijuana) should pass on November 8.

A letter to CalTrans opposing the proposal for a round-about on Highway 126 was approved. It is thought that such a project would unduly and dangerously congest the flow of traffic at that location.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Monday, October 31, is Halloween. Most children will be out wearing their favorite costume and visiting homes in your neighborhood. Please remember there are issues when children in costumes are mixed with darkness and vehicles.

The Thousand Oaks Police Department would like to offer the following safety tips to keep your children safe:
For Parents and Children:

• Children under 12 should trick-or-treat and cross streets with an adult.

• Children should never enter homes to get candy or go near a vehicle offering candy.

• Stay in a well-lit and well populated area.

• Set a time for your children to be home and have them check in frequently.

• Always walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible.

• Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Parents should remind children to watch for cars that are turning or backing up.

• Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross. Walk; don't run, across the street.

For Drivers:

• Slow down and be especially alert in residential neighborhoods. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.

• Anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic and turn your headlights on earlier in the day so you can spot children from greater distances.

• Remember that costumes can limit children's visibility and they may not be able to see your vehicle.

• Reduce any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
Costumes and Treats

• Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and choose light colored costumes to improve visibility.

• Choose face paint and make-up instead of masks, which can obstruct a child's vision. Look for non-toxic designations when choosing Halloween makeup.

• Avoid carrying sticks, swords, or other sharp objects.

• Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights in order to see better, as well as to be seen by drivers.

• Check treats for signs of tampering before children are allowed to eat them. Candy should be thrown away if the wrapper is faded or torn, or if the candy is unwrapped.

On average, twice as many kids are killed or injured while walking on Halloween as compared to any other day of the year. This year let’s not make your child one of them.

Nature of Incident: Halloween Safety
Location: Citywide
Date & Time: October 31, 2016
Unit Responsible: Thousand Oaks Police Department
Prepared by: Senior Deputy Timothy Lohman
Media Release Date: October 25, 2016
Media Follow-Up Contact: Senior Deputy Timothy Lohman
(805) 947-8255 – tim.lohman@ventura.org
Approved by: Captain James Fryhoff

Decorative contact lense

California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith today warned consumers about the risks associated with wearing decorative contact lenses.

“Wearing any kind of contact lens, including decorative lenses, without proper consultation of an eye care professional can cause serious injury,” Dr. Smith said. “The risks include infection, ulcers, decreased vision, cuts or scratches to the surface of the eye, itchiness or redness. If these conditions are left untreated, the injuries can progress rapidly. In severe cases, blindness and eye loss can occur.”

The sale of contact lenses without a prescription is illegal. Only Board of Optometry licensed optometrists and ophthalmologists are authorized to prescribe and dispense prescription contact lenses. Medical Board of California registered opticians and optical shops are authorized to fill contact lens prescriptions.

Decorative contact lenses are intended to temporarily change the appearance of the eye, but do not correct vision. Advertised as color, cosmetic, fashion and theatrical contact lenses, they are especially popular around Halloween. Decorative contact lenses are typically sold at beauty supply and novelty stores.

Consumers who have experienced any injury or illness with decorative contact lenses should contact their health care provider. Consumers can report the illegal sale of decorative contact lenses without a prescription to CDPH’s Food and Drug Branch Hotline at 1-800-495-3232 to initiate an investigation.

www.cdph.ca.gov

American Red Cross of Ventura County

Many regular donors delay giving between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day because of holiday activities. This often causes a drop in donated blood available for patients. Therefore, more donations are needed in the weeks leading up to the holidays to help ensure the blood supply is sufficient through the winter months.

For blood donor Katie Osorio, giving a little bit of time is worth it because she’s giving someone a chance at life. “Someone’s mother, brother, sister, father or the love of someone’s life has been given back to their loved ones all because I gave something that I could. It takes so little from me and gives a world back to another.”

To make an appointment to give blood, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Donors are encouraged to make appointments and complete the RapidPass online health history questionnaire at redcrossblood.org/rapidpass to save time when donating.

Upcoming blood donation opportunities:

Ventura

Moorpark
11/2/2016: 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., Moorpark College, 7075 Campus Road

Simi Valley
11/3/2016: 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., Apollo High School, 3150 School Street
11/11/2016: 1 p.m. - 7 p.m., Rancho Santa Suzanna Community Center, 5005-C Los Angeles Ave

Thousand Oaks
11/7/2016: 1 p.m. - 7 p.m., Thousand Oaks Inn, 75 W Thousand Oaks Blvd
11/10/2016: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., California Lutheran University, 60 West Olsen Road

Ventura
11/15/2016: 1 p.m. - 7 p.m., EP Foster Library, 651 E Main Street

How to donate blood
Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Blood donors can now save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, prior to arriving at the blood drive. To get started and learn more, visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass and follow the instructions on the site.

About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.