Judy Dressler received a commendation for her six years of service as Chair of the Vision 2020 Civic Pride Committee. Dressler was one of the founding members of the Committee. Mayor Patti Walker thanked Ray Dressler (shown) and the Committee for their support and hard work.

Fillmore City Council met at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at City Hall. The Council heard presentations from local service organizations, honored Judy Dressler, and discussed construction projects.

Council Member Jamey Brooks had corrections for the minutes of three past meetings, and the Council discussed whether the January 13th minutes should contain direct quotes regarding City Clerk Clay Westling's presentation.
Mayor Patti Walker, on behalf of the Council, presented Judy Dressler with a commendation for her six years of service as Chair of the Vision 2020 Civic Pride Committee. Dressler was one of the founding members of the Committee, and served many years as Secretary before becoming Chair. She thanked Ray Dressler and the Committee for their support and hard work. The Committee supports the annual Art Walk, yard of the month, business of the month, street fairs, and the Spring 2009 flower show.

The Council appointed Tom Fennell and Vance Johnson to the Planning Commission.

The Council discussed allocation of the 2009-2010 Community Development Block Grant provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The City has $25,575 available for public service programs, and it has $136,734 available for public improvement projects. CONTINUED »

For several years Bob Hammond pondered what might be done with the wind machine standing in his orange orchard. Power to the motor had been disconnected and the prop spun freely in the wind which regularly swept across his trees near the Santa Clara Riverbed. The machine, installed in the 1950s, really wasn’t needed in the micro-climate surrounding Bob’s orchard and had not been used in nearly 10 years.

Last July Bob read an article in Central Coast Farm Bureau Magazine about wind turbines. He thought his wind machine might be converted to a wind generator like the article mentioned. So he contacted Bob Hayes with Prevailing Wind Power in Redondo Beach. Bob researched weather conditions, concluded his wind turbine would work, and checked-out county permits and costs. He was shocked to learn that costs and fees amounted to more than $10,000 and was therefore not feasible. CONTINUED »

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In an earlier article I had mentioned a “Military Banner Program” to honor the young men and women of our community who are currently serving in the military. The intent of the “Military Banner Program” is to recognize their service and the sacrifices they are now making and will make in the future to keep our Country safe. The “Patriotic Banners” that will be placed on Central Avenue on the light poles will be partially funded by the families of those currently serving and the remainder funded by grants. Each banner will have the name and branch of service of those young men and women from the Fillmore/Piru communities currently serving in the military. When the person named on the banner is no longer serving the banner will be given to the person named on the banner or to a family member.

The “Military Banner Program” is an effort begun by Fillmore School Board Member Virginia de la Piedra, in conjunction with the City of Fillmore, Fillmore Unified School Board, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Fillmore Sunrise Rotary. It is similar to other programs begun by other cities including the City of Santa Paula.

To participate in this recognition a family member of a currently serving military man or woman should contact:
Virginia A. de la Piedra
School Board Member/Up for Education
(805) 524-1732
(805) 524-4154 FAX
Email - militarybanners@yahoo.com

You will be required to complete a short form and provide the following information that will be used to administer the program:

A “Military Recognition Form” must be completed by either the individual whose name will appear on the banner, or a family member. This form may be picked up at City Hall or you may call or email Virginia at the numbers listed above. The form asks for the name and branch of service of the currently serving military person to be recognized as well as some additional contact information. CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s end of year Part I crime statistics for 2008 are now available. Significant details are as follows:

When compared to 2007, the total Part I crime rate per 1,000 population for the entire Sheriff’s jurisdiction decreased from 17.30 in 2007 to 16.34 in 2008. This represents a decrease of 6%.

The total Part I violent crime rate per 1,000 population had a very slight increase from 1.51 in 2007 to 1.53 in 2008, an increase of 1% (or a numerical increase of 11 more total Part I violent crimes).
Within this grouping, robbery increased from 0.31 robberies per 1,000 in 2007 to 0.37 robberies per 1,000 in 2008. In actual numbers, there were 22 more reported robberies in the Sheriff’s jurisdiction in 2008 versus 2007. CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

Homicide Investigation
Location: 21 Peres Lane, Santa Paula
Date & Time: 10/11/2003 / 2345

Unit Responsible: Sheriff’s Major Crimes Homicide Unit

(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (W)itnesses, City of residence, Age
(V)Samuel Reeves – (03/08/1988) Victim, Santa Paula, 15

On 10/11/2003, Samuel Reeves was shot and killed while attending a large ranch-style party at 21 Peres Lane in Santa Paula. This investigation was recently re-opened because of new leads and scientific evidence. Detectives have been continuously working with new information. This case is still under investigation and Detectives encourage anyone with information reference the Reeves Murder to contact the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau.

Roy Payne, Fillmore City Manager 1989-2005, Special Projects Manager 2005-2009.

February 3, 2009

TO: FILLMORE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: ROY PAYNE, FILLMORE CITY MANAGER (1989-2005)
SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER (2005-2009)
SUBJECT: RENEGOTIATION OF FEE AGREEMENT

In response to the Fillmore City Council’s decision on January 27, 2009 to renegotiate the terms of my fee agreement with the City, why in the world would I want to continue working for a City that has a City Council who questions my integrity and value and my right to speak out on issues by stating:

1. According to Mr. Brooks, my expressed extensive opinions on Measures H and I and the passage of those measures by the voters of Fillmore was a clear no confidence vote against me and that Brooks heard from many voters that I should not be working for the City because of my opinions. I seriously doubt that Brooks heard from all 2300 voters who supported these measures; I seriously doubt that some of the persons who Brooks takes counsel from are even residents of Fillmore; and I guess freedom of speech is not permitted when it comes to expressing opinions that are contrary to the liking of Brooks.

2. Brooks stated that the fact that part of my compensation from the City was from deposits made by developers is in his opinion a conflict of interest. This is an insult to my integrity as a person who has spent the last 20 years of my working career attempting to represent the best interests of the City of Fillmore and to faithfully and honestly carry out the directions of the Fillmore City Council. My method of receiving payment for my services is no different than the method used to pay the Public Works Director, the City Engineer, the contract employees who work for the engineering department, the employees in the City Planning Department and the contract employees who work for the Planning Department. The salary of each and every one of these city employees and contract employees is partially funded from developer deposits to the city. The reason for this is to save the taxpayers of Fillmore money and not have the taxpayers paying for development projects within the City. So, if in Brooks’ opinion I have a conflict of interest, then I guess the City has a conflict of interest because the City accepts monies from developers and pays it employees with those monies on a regular basis. CONTINUED »

A helicopter went down in the Santa Clara River bottom, near Piru just east of Torrey Road bridge, Saturday, January 31st. The pilot, Hiroyuki Hoiuchi, 47, of Japan, was killed in the crash.

Horiuchi took off from Camarillo Airport around 10:30 a.m. and crashed the Robinson R-22 two-seater about 11:07 a.m. The rugged area made access to the crash site difficult for rescue personnel, according to Chief Tim Hagel, Fillmore Sheriffs.

The victim worked for Shizuoka Air Commuter Co. Ltd., and is survived by his wife and two children in Japan.
Horiuchi was an experienced pilot; the crash is still under investigation by the Federal aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board at press time.

City of Fillmore

What is the Housing Element? Simply put, the Housing Element, a component of a city’s General Plan, is a blueprint for housing ratios in towns and cities from very low, to above moderate income groups. Upon studying a region’s demographics and other influencing factors such as labor categories (white collar, blue collar, farm-worker), wages, unemployment statistics, senior, disabled and homeless populations, available housing in all categories, vacancy rates, overcrowding, land use and environmental restrictions etc., State and regional agencies mandate cities and towns across California to adhere to guidelines when creating their Housing Elements.

State law, enacted in 1969 requires jurisdictions to address needs of all income groups. California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) defined those needs, and local governments must adopt without undue constraint, land use plans and regulatory systems that provide opportunities for housing development by private enterprise. The Housing Element is not an official Affordable Housing document, but a means of identifying the housing needs of a community. It states the community’s goals and objectives regarding housing production, rehabilitation and conservation and defines the policies and programs the community will implement to achieve those standards. CONTINUED »

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The One Step Teen Drop-In Center in conjunction with Fillmore Options celebrates its Grand Opening Saturday, February 7th from 11am to 3pm. One Step A La Vez is a committee composed of 12 high school youth who started in 2004 to look into improving mental health care for the youth of Fillmore and Piru. The name One Step A La Vez was chosen by the youth committee in 2005 to show that you can always take One Step At A Time toward a positive future. It is in both English and Spanish to reflect and value the dual heritage of our community.

One Step officially opened its doors this past September and is now fully operational with a computer lab, Wii video games, foosball, as well as ongoing classes in cooking, nutrition, group, creative expression, career and college preparation and yoga. February 7th is our chance to let the community know about what we have to offer, to thank the community, and to celebrate all of the local support we have received over the past four years.

There will be a raffle, canned food drive, bake sale, dancing, food, and games for the whole family. A formal opening will begin February 7, 11am at Fillmore Options Counseling Center, 828 Ventura St., with the reception to follow at 1:00 at 600 Saratoga and Second St. at the Chocolate Church hall. Please come help us celebrate four years of dedication and support for Fillmore's youth.

Fillmore Unified School District

The open session of the Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board meeting was February 3, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office. The Board discussed actions they are taking to ensure that FUSD has enough money to operate, and heard a report on FUSD's independent study program.

Sierra High School Principal Tony Held presented a report on the independent study program. There are currently 32 students in the program: one Fourth Grader, two Eighth Graders, one Freshman, and multiple Juniors and Seniors. Eleven students are scheduled to graduate this year: six before June and five in June. Graduation requires 230 credits, and the students are limited to 40 credits per semester. Fillmore High School (FHS) students usually take 30 credits per semester. Held noted that the program is not easy. Each independent study student meets with the teacher weekly, and is assigned a work packet designed to be completed in approximately 20 hours. The teacher, who covers all subjects but has a slight weakness in math, is available to answer questions throughout the week. Held explained that there is no money in the budget for an FHS math teacher to help out, and that volunteer peer tutors have so far not been available. CONTINUED »

Dillon Galarza takes first place in Scripps National Spelling Bee.

For the first time in Sespe school history, there was a three-way tie for the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. Twelve students were vying for the championship this year. The competitors consisted of Fifth Graders Anthony Cardoza, Emily Garnica, Sereth Malagone, Lu pita Perez, and Serena Rivas. The Fourth Grade competitors were Viviana Ceja, Brenda Delgado, Dillon Galarza, Emma Godfrey, Alana Juarez, Gerardo Sandoval, and Leighanne Thompson.

The Spelling Bee was open to all fourth and fifth graders, but in order to be a contestant, a student needed to pass a written spelling test with a score of 80% or better.
Once the test was over, fourteen of about fifty students remained but two of them needed to opt out, leaving twelve.

The remaining twelve contestants were each issued a Merriam-Webster 2009 “Spell It!“ book containing the official spelling bee words. The book contains fourteen word lists from Eponyms (words based on a person’s or character’s name) to thirteen different language origins; Latin, Arabic, Asian Languages, French, German, Slavic Languages, Dutch, Old English, New World Languages, Japanese, Greek, and Italian. CONTINUED »

Fillmore’s new $1.1 million skateboard park is the centerpiece a 22-acre multi purpose Community Park, a vision presented by City officials eight years ago. The skate park, in Phase I of the 22,000 total square foot Community Park, is located at C and River Streets. It has attracted record crowds from as far away as Santa Barbara and San Diego along with local skaters of all ages and experience levels since its unofficial opening on December 22, 2008.

Reviews on the skateboard park have been very favorable! The superiority of the state of the art facility is credited in part to 15 year-old Christian Conaway, multi-medalist street- luge racer including, 1st place in the North American Championships and 6th place in the World Championships in 2008, and his association with skateboarding legend Jeff Tatum. Tatum’s consulting and design expertise together with Scott Price of Community Works Design Group, and builders, California Skateparks, led to scrapping original plans for a wooden structure, and creation of the concrete facility. Councilman Steve Conaway, former Mayor of Fillmore, was an aggressive proponent of the project. Although father and son are both skateboarders, the senior Conaway who “long boards” for recreation only admits, “my greatest trick is to not fall. Sometimes I succeed.” CONTINUED »

Yeoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Claudia Toledo, USN Active Reserves received the Department of the Navy’s “Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal” during a ceremony at Port Hueneme! Yeoman Petty Officer 2nd Class (YNPO2) Claudia Toledo received this award on December 7, 2008 for her professional achievement in the superior performance of her duties while serving as a Yeoman Clerk with Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 14 stationed at Port Hueneme. YNPO2 Toledo’s battalion is a component of the Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Group located in Williamsburg, Virginia where YNPO2 Toledo is now attending an advanced training class. Yeoman Petty Officer 2nd Class Claudia Toledo joined the Navy Reserves in 2003 and she is the daughter of Ignacio and Maria Toledo of Fillmore and the mother of Salma 9yrs. Maria and Salma will be traveling to Virginia soon to visit YNPO2 Toledo while she attends her courses. CONTINUED »

Employee of the July-September 2008 Quarter Angela Mumme.
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Mayor Patti Walker, on behalf of the Council, presented the award to Angela Mumme.
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Pictured above are City of Fillmore’s Employee’s of the Quarter for October - December: Arnold Castaneda, David Brown and Joe Zuniga.
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Fillmore City Council met at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at City Hall. Council Member Laurie Hernandez was absent. The Council honored certain city employees, recognized winners in a student essay contest, received updates on the Central Ave. Storm Drain Project, adopted safety laws for the new skate park, and discussed the Special Projects Manager position.

Mayor Patti Walker, on behalf of the Council, presented awards to city employees. Employee of the July-September 2008 Quarter was Angela Mumme for her outstanding work, positive attitude, and friendly disposition. Employees of the October-December 2008 quarter were Joe Zuniga, Ray Morales, Jaime Magdaleno, Arnold Castaneda, and David Brown. Those five employees were called to duty on New Year's Eve to repair a broken water main. Water was restored by morning. Employee of the Year 2008 was Angela Mumme. She responded, "I'm flattered considering the quality of the people I work with."

Judy Dressler, Chair of the Vision 2020 Civic Pride Committee, presented awards to winners of The Fillmore Civic Pride Essay Contest. The contest was open to 4th and 5th Grade students who submitted 200-word essays on "Why I Like Living in Fillmore." Liz Ocampo won First Place. Diego Aparicio Rodrigues won Second Place. Mirella Lemus won Third Place. Honorable Mentions were received by Perla Chavez-Hernandez, Sammy Estrada, Andrea Diaz, Destiny Alonzo, and Taylor Wright.

Deputy City Manager Bill Bartels said that Central Ave. will be re-opened Monday February 2nd. Crosswalks will be restored before the project to repave Central Ave. from Sespe St. to Highway 126 starts. The project has gone out to bid and paving will occur in late April or early May. Rubberized asphalt will be used. Because the price of asphalt has decreased, the city will also make sidewalk repairs. Large signs advertising downtown Fillmore have gone up adjacent to Highway 126. CONTINUED »

School Board President John Garnica with Norma Perez-Sandford. Perez-Sandford received “Be the Change” certificate at Tuesday night’s meeting.
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School Board President John Garnica with Kirk Richter. Kirk Richter received “Be the Change” certificate at Tuesday night’s meeting.
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The open session of the Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board meeting was January 20, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office. The Board presented awards to Norma Perez-Sanford and Kirk Richter, discussed grading policies, heard Sespe Players' proposal for facilities' use, approved an e-rate proposal, heard a budget update, and discussed Fillmore High School (FHS) track and field use.

Sierra High School (SHS) Principal Tony Held introduced Norma Perez-Sanford, school counselor for SHS and FHS. Perez-Sanford said that she was guided by God, she loved the community and her work, and was honored. She spoke about the importance of mentors and role models in school. FHS Principal John Wilber introduced FHS teacher Kirk Richter. Richter started a Ventura College agriculture class at the high school to simultaneously teach students landscaping and improve the appearance of FHS's campus. He hopes that the class will continue in the fall. Board President John Garnica, on behalf of the Board, presented "Be the Change" certificates to both honorees for their outstanding work.

Principal Wilber and FHS Counselor Al Arguelles presented FHS's policy on credits and grading for Advanced Placement (AP) and College courses. The policy was designed to encourage students to go to college, and help them get there. AP courses receive an extra .5 credit for calculation of GPA. College courses that are transferable to universities in the U.C. system receive an extra .5 credit and college units for those courses are multiplied by 3.3 to determine the number of high school units credited. According to Board Policy 5127, Honors classes count A's as 5 points, B's as 4 points, etc. There was some controversy in the discussion regarding the rigor of various courses, and whether GPA rankings could be manipulated by a student's choice of classes. Garnica noted that the top 5% of the graduating class is guaranteed admission to a U.C. school. Arguelles explained that students and parents are aware of their options, and that colleges consider transcripts, which list the specific classes taken, when making admissions decisions. CONTINUED »