Ventura County Exceeds State Average

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

VENTURA COUNTY CIVIC ALLIANCE ADVANCING REGIONAL STEWARDSHIP & DIALOGUE William A. and Cynthia D. Fairburn Jr. Memorial Fund

William and Cynthia Fairburn Jr. believed they could make the biggest impact with their legacy through the support of education and research.

The Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF) worked with the late Ojai couple to establish memorial funds, through which:

• Their fund has granted nearly 1,100 scholarships totaling $2,072,417 • Their fund has generously supported Ventura County Civic Alliance’s State of the Region Report, which oﬀers impartial data to assess the progress and the challenges facing Ventura County.

William and Cynthia Fairburn Jr. Let VCCF help you create a legacy that speaks to your heart.

Because of the unique way VCCF invests charitable capital for Ventura County, our donors’ funds will generate support for their favorite causes for generations to come.

Contact Amber Landis, Donor Relations Oﬃcer, at [email protected] or 805.330.6615 The William A. and Cynthia D. Fairburn Jr. Memorial Fund at VCCF is pleased to support the State of the Region report.

4001 Mission Oaks Blvd, Suite A | Camarillo, CA 93012 | Oﬃce: 805.988.0196 | www.vccf.org VENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT LEARN MORE • EARN MORE • BE MORE!

CAREER ONLINE and WORKFORCE EDUCATION ON CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT Time for a change? Study Anywhere! Meeting your Make it happen! Study Anytime! business training Explore a new ﬁeld. Easy access to your needs Expand your skills. community college. • Custom training Career Education and Enroll ONCE and take • Adult education skill enhancement classes at ANY of our • Apprenticeships courses available. locations.

MMUNITY CO CO TY L N LE U G O E C D A I S R T

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E c t o n n e o m m i op c el & W ev orkforce D MOORPARK COLLEGE

MOORPARK COLLEGE OXNARD COLLEGE VENTURA COLLEGE moorparkcollege.edu oxnardcollege.edu venturacollege.edu Table of Contents

ABOUT VCCA...... 4 EDUCATION...... 39 VENTURA COUNTY KEY STATISTICS...... 6 Public School Enrollment...... 40 INTRODUCTION...... 8 Per-Pupil Spending...... 42 AGRICULTURE...... 9 Average Class Size...... 43 Harvested Acres...... 10 English Learners...... 44 Crop Changes...... 11 NEW High School Graduation and Dropout Rates...... 45 Crop Value...... 12 Childhood Socioeconomic Disparities...... 46 Organic Production...... 13 NEW School Safety...... 47 Land Values...... 14 NEW Standardized Test Scores...... 48 Agricultural Exports...... 15 Community College Enrollment...... 52 Employment and Earnings...... 16 Four-Year College Enrollment...... 54 Earnings by Educational Attainment...... 55 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Preschool Opportunities...... 56 & RESOURCES...... 17 Voter Registration...... 18 LAND USE & HOUSING...... 57 Voter Turnout...... 19 Acres of Urban and Built-Up Land...... 58 Political Party Affiliation...... 20 New Housing Starts...... 59 Nonprofits...... 22 Homeownership Rate...... 60 Nonprofit Revenue...... 24 Median Home Price...... 61 Creative Economy...... 25 Apartment Rents...... 62 Public Libraries...... 26 Housing Affordability...... 63

ECONOMY...... 27 NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL Unemployment...... 28 RESOURCES...... 65 Employment Growth...... 29 Electricity Use...... 66 Employment by Sector...... 30 Solar Power Installations...... 67 Salaries by Sector...... 31 Air Quality...... 68 Gross County Product...... 32 Rainfall...... 70 Wages and Cost of Living...... 33 Drought...... 71 Gender Difference in Pay...... 34 Water Use...... 72 Cost of Child Care...... 36 Ocean Water Quality...... 73 Economic Impact of the Port of Hueneme...... 37 Oil and Gas Production...... 74 Landfill Disposal Rate...... 75

2 | TABLE OF CONTENTS Ventura County Civic Alliance

PUBLIC HEALTH...... 77 THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! Life Expectancy and Income...... 78 Asthma Hospitalizations...... 80 Teen Birth Rate...... 81 NEW Teen Substance Abuse...... 82 NEW Teen Mental Health...... 84 Leading Causes of Death...... 85 Opioid Deaths...... 86 PUBLIC SAFETY...... 87 County Crime Rates...... 88 City Crime Rates...... 90 Juvenile Arrests...... 91 NEW Traffic Collisions...... 92 Calls to Ventura County Fire Department...... 93 SOCIAL SERVICES...... 95 2-1-1 Calls by Need...... 96 Revenue to United Way...... 97 Homelessness...... 98 Homelessness Among Children...... 100 Child Abuse...... 102 Domestic Violence Calls...... 103 TRANSPORTATION...... 105 Means to Work...... 106 Transit Ridership...... 107 Bike Lanes...... 108 Time Spent Commuting...... 109 WILDFIRE IMPACTS...... 111 SPECIAL SECTION Insurance Claims From Fire Losses...... 112 Air Quality During the Thomas Fire...... 113 Fire Related School Closures...... 114

SOURCES...... 116 SPONSOR MESSAGES...... 120 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... 126

Ventura County Civic Alliance TABLE OF CONTENTS | 3 About The Ventura County Civic Alliance OUR MISSION: TO PROMOTE A HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR THE VENTURA COUNTY REGION

Founded in 2001, the Ventura County Civic Alliance is a coalition of regional civic leaders with a shared commitment to the three Es — Economy, Environment and Social Equity. This balance ensures our research and community dialogue is embedded with a broad and diverse set of perspectives and priorities. As a neutral convener, we examine community concerns, with an emphasis in creating civic dialogue around issues that affect Ventura County’s quality of life.

The Civic Alliance is now an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the Ventura County region and committed to engaging the community with unbiased dialogue and data such as this 2019 State of the Region Report.

THE CIVIC ALLIANCE FOCUSES IN THESE AREAS:

The Livable Communities Initiative works with local governments and civic groups to increase understanding and support for integrating livable community principles into development decisions, and to showcase how those principles are being used throughout Ventura County. The State of the Region Report provides accurate data and balanced insight across ten domains. The biennial reports are distributed free throughout the community thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. The reports are released in the odd-numbered years. The Future of the Region Conference takes place in the even- numbered years and builds on the data in the State of the Region Report to stimulate discussion about our region’s future by connecting the dots in our existing trends. Innovative speakers share their insights and connect their work with the data in the State of the Region Report. Civic Dialogue is a core mission of the Ventura County Civic Alliance, and we continue to explore and promote forums and technologies to engage our community and foster dialogue between residents and community leaders. The State of the Region Report, and its fact-based research, is a tool to encourage informed conversation among all stakeholders.

4 | ABOUT THE VCCA Ventura County Civic Alliance

Core Principles & Values The Alliance holds a set of core beliefs that guide its mission: regional stewardship, open dialogue, collaboration, even- handedness, unbiased research, the building of community capacity, and consensus-based decision-making. We bring together residents and civic organizations to cooperatively explore the complex economic, environmental and social equity challenges of our region, with the goal of finding integrated solutions to those issues and problems.

The Alliance welcomes supporters to become members for a small annual fee. Members receive discounts to special events, VCCA EXECUTIVE newsletters, invitations to participate on committees, and most importantly, the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment COMMITTEE: to ensuring Ventura County’s quality of life. To join, visit David Fleisch CivicAlliance.org. VCCA Chair County of Ventura Public Works Agency

David Maron State of the Region Report Committee Chair, VCCA Vice-Chair Maron Computer Services

Samantha Argabrite City of Simi Valley

Albert De La Rocha National University

Rebecca Evans County of Ventura Workforce Development Board

Marv King Business Consultant

Katrina Maksimuk City of Ventura

Tracy Perez United Staffing Associates

Vanessa Rauschenberger Gold Coast Transit District

Stacy Roscoe Community Volunteer

Sandy Smith SESPE Consulting

Nancy Stehle Retired Environmental Consultant

Tom Tarantino City of Santa Paula

Celina L. Zacarias California State University Channel Islands

Ventura County Civic Alliance ABOUT THE VCCA | 5 Key Statistics VENTURA COUNTY

Median Age 2017: 37.5 2011: 36.2 2015: 37.1 2009: 36.1 Population 2013: 36.6 2000: 34.2 2017: 847,834 2015: 840,833 Income (2017) Household Income includes all households, regardless of size; 2010: 809,080 Percent of Residents Family Income only includes 2000: 753,197 below the Poverty Level: 10.3% households with two or more Number of Veterans: 42,012 persons related through blood, Per Capita Income: $35,771 marriage or adoption. Persons per Household: 3.09 Median Household Income: $81,972 Land Area (2010): 1,843 sq. miles Median Family Income: $91,732 Persons per Square Mile: 460.0 Educational Achievement, Age 25+ (2017) High School Diploma or Higher: 84.0% Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 32.6%

All information listed is for 2017 unless otherwise noted.

Population by City in Ventura County (2000, 2010, 2017) 2000 2010 2017 250000

200000 206,732 192,520 150000 170,358

100000 128,909 126,546 124,671 121,662 117,005 111,351 110,153 105,211 96,589 100,916 94,495 93,127

50000 67,116 63,599 57,077 22,262 21,723 21,845 15,529 14,721 13,643 7,862 7,525 7,594 36,060 33,808 29,145 31,415 30,344 0 28,598 Camarillo Fillmore Moorpark Oai Oxnard Port Santa Simi Thousand Ventura Unincorp. Hueneme Paula Valley Oaks Ventura County

Under 18 (2017) 21.7% 28.6% 23.8% 20.7% 27.9% 23.2% 29.1% 22.3% 21.9% 22.2% 21.3% 65 Plus (2017) 19.2% 13.1% 11.0% 22.2% 9.5% 11.3% 10.9% 13.8% 17.9% 15.6% 16.0%

6 | KEY STATISTICS Ventura County Civic Alliance

Ventura County Median Household & Family Income in Inflation-Adjusted Dollars (2009 - 2017) Median Household Income Median Family Income 100000 $91,732 $88,547 $86,321 $86,579 $86,301 $86,890 $86,766 $83,830 $84,364 $81,972 $78,593 $74,828 $75,348 $76,728 $76,483 $76,544 $77,335 $77,348 75000

50000

25000 (In Inflation Adjusted Dollars) 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Ventura County Population by Household Income, Age and Race (2017)

80 years over, 3.6% Some other race alone 0.11% $200,000 or more 70 to 79 years Asian alone 11.65% 5.8% 7.02% Native Hawaiian and 60 to 69 years Other Pacific $150,000 to $199,999 Islander alone 10.4% 9.51% 0.14% American Indian and 50 to 59 years Alaska Native alone 0.29% $100,000 to $149,999 14.1% Hispanic or Latino 19.10% Black or African 42.25% American alone 1.58% 40 to 49 years 13.2% Two or more races $75,000 to $99,999 2.48% 13.70% 30 to 39 years 12.6%

$50,000 to $74,999 16.37% 20 to 29 years 13.8%

$35,000 to $49,999 White alone 9.99% 10 to 19 years 46.13% $25,000 to $34,999 13.9% 6.92% $15,000 to $24,999 6.60% Under 9 years $10,000 to $14,999, 3.02% 12.6% Less than $10,000, 3.14% Household Income Age Race

Ventura County Civic Alliance KEY STATISTICS | 7 The State of the Region, Ventura County 2019

The Ventura County Civic Alliance (VCCA) is proud to publish Other indicators that have not had any new research in years this 2019 version of our State of the Region Report examining have been dropped. Those older indicators are available in our 10 domains of interest to residents. We believe accurate, earlier State of the Region reports located on our website. unbiased data is essential to guide civic engagement and This 2019 edition includes a special section documenting policy development that address the challenges facing our some of the impacts of the Thomas, Hill and Woolsey fires region. We also use this data to guide our work to promote that caused so much destruction in Ventura County in 2017 a healthy and sustainable future for Ventura County. and 2018.

We are grateful for the generous support of our sponsors This report requires considerable effort to produce and who enable us to produce and distribute this report. Please we are thankful to all who participated. Please see the see their messages beginning on page 120 and view a Acknowledgments section of the report for a list of our complete list of sponsors on the inside back cover. contributors.

We have again contracted with the California Lutheran This report is also available on our website along with other University Center for Economics of Social Issues (CESI) information about the Civic Alliance. You can download to research this report under the direction of Jamshid the report by visiting CivicAlliance.org. Damooei, Ph.D. His team has carefully compiled the data Our goal is to provide accurate data that assists business from national, state and local sources which are listed leaders, elected officials, community organizations and others beginning on page 116. to achieve effective solutions to the challenges our region To remain relevant, this report includes several new faces. Ventura County is an extraordinary place to live and we indicators with a “New This Year” flag on each page and in look forward to working with you to preserve the best of our the Table of Contents. region and pass it on to future generations.

8 | INTRODUCTION Ventura County Civic Alliance 2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

Agriculture

The past decade hasn’t been easy for Ventura County Years of water shortage prompted innovation in the farmers. They’ve battled drought, invasive pests, labor agricultural industry. Growers installed more efficient shortages, tariffs and increased global competition, along irrigation, and water suppliers built infrastructure to with the perennial challenges of development pressure and store and deliver water. In the summer of 2018, farmers, changing regulations. landowners and water rights holders in Ventura County launched a market to buy and sell the Then, in 2017, some faced a ferocious rights to pump groundwater. It’s the enemy: the Thomas Fire. It started in an Ventura County remains first project of its kind in California and agricultural area north of Santa Paula a national leader in the includes an attempt to comprehensively and eventually burned 281,893 acres measure the groundwater that growers in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, production of strawberries, use. The market encourages farmers including thousands of acres of avocado to consume water more efficiently and orchards and other farmland. Farmers lemons, avocados and rewards conservation by allowing them lost crops, saplings, livestock, equipment, other crops. to sell their excess water to other users. vehicles, barns, and their own homes. Signs of stagnation have emerged in the county’s agricultural Recovery will take years, but most of the affected farmers are sector. Total farm revenues — the figure that best captures the rebuilding and replanting as they continue to deal with other size and health of the industry — dropped in 2016 and 2017. challenges facing their industry. Chief among them is drought, But the declines are modest, and Ventura County remains which plagued the county from 2012 to 2018. The winter a national leader in the production of strawberries, lemons, of 2018/19 proved sufficiently wet, though, to lift drought avocados and other crops. The county’s oldest industry isn’t conditions in Ventura County and throughout the state. going anywhere.

Ventura County Civic Alliance AGRICULTURE | 9 Harvested Acres SLOW DECLINE IN ACREAGE CONTINUES

What is the measure? trend is similar. Harvested acres hovered around 110,000 in The measure is the number of crop-producing acres in the 1990s then dropped below 100,000 in the early 2000s, Ventura County. It includes all irrigated and dry-land farmed before spiking in 2013. Although every crop category saw acreage. Pastureland that is irrigated, fertilized and otherwise some drop in acreage between 2013 and 2017, the overall cultivated for grazing is included; rangeland, which is natural number of organic acres increased from 6,394 to 8,851. land used for grazing and makes up most of Ventura County’s There are several likely explanations for the decline. One is cattle acreage, is not. The measure excludes agricultural lands drought. As the dry years dragged on from 2013 through that are not producing crops. 2017 and water became harder or more expensive to obtain, Why is the measure important? farmers took land out of production. The amount of land in Ventura County devoted to agriculture The decades-long shift toward berries and away from other tells us about the industry and the region’s larger land-use crops could be another factor in the long-term decline, as patterns. As land is converted from farming to other uses, berries are less land-intensive than other crops grown in the character of the county evolves. Farmed acreage also Ventura County. Seasonal fluctuation in the berry business measures the health of the agricultural economy: If farming contributes to a change in acreage, too: When strawberry is profitable, landowners will devote more of their property prices are higher, growers don’t need to plant as much. Low to it. At the same time, if farming becomes more efficient, berry prices likely contributed to the 2013 spike in acreage. growers can use less land to produce the same or more output. Finally, the harvested acreage data is broken down Some farmland also has been converted to housing or into different types of crops, revealing how our agricultural commercial uses, though that trend slowed after the real industry is changing. estate crash of 2008. And, a tight labor market may have played a part, as some farmers reported cutting back their How are we doing? output because workers have become scarcer and more Active farmland in Ventura County has slowly declined since expensive to employ. 2013. In 2017, growers worked 95,137 acres in the county, down 10.7 percent from four years earlier. The long-term

Total Harvested Acres in Ventura County (2007 - 2017)

110000 14 Cut Flowers 2017 Acres: 668 100000 13

90000 12 Field Crops 2017 Acres: 578 80000 11

70000 10 Nursery Stock 2017 Acres: 3,159 60000 9

50000 8 Vegetables 2017 Acres: 38,373 Harvested Acres Harvested 40000 7

30000 6 Fruits & Nuts

20000 5 Organic Acres as Percent Acres of Total 2017 Acres: 52,359

10000 4

0 3 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

10 | AGRICULTURE Ventura County Civic Alliance Crop Changes STRAWBERRIES ARE STILL KING

What is the measure? or any other purpose, pressuring growers to get the most The measure is a breakdown of the 10 most valuable crops in from every acre. Berry fields generate more revenue per acre Ventura County in 2017, by total revenue, and a snapshot of than citrus orchards or bean fields, so they often represent the top crops in previous years. the best return for agricultural landowners. Why is the measure important? The specific crops grown here are crucial to the region’s Top 10 Crops in Ventura County (2017) economy, ecology, culture and aesthetic appearance. Changes in crop production are also a window into evolving CELERY consumer tastes at home and abroad. NURSERY STOCK $210,408,000 How are we doing? $197,969,000 Strawberries have been king in Ventura County since the 1990s. In 2017, the strawberries grown in the RASPBERRIES county were worth $654.3 million to growers, $166,725,000 more than twice as much as any other crop.

Lemons, the top crop for most of the second half AVOCADOS of the 20th century, have settled into second $118,680,000 place in the 21st century. In 2017, lemons were LEMONS $258,602,000 worth $258.6 million. CUT FLOWERS Celery, nursery stock and raspberries rounded $49,904,000 out the top five. Raspberries declined in recent years, plummeting from $240.7 million in TOMATOES revenue in 2014 to $166.7 million in 2017. $47,507,000 STRAWBERRIES A century ago, beans and sugar beets dominated PEPPERS $654,312,000 Ventura County agriculture. Citrus gradually $45,809,000 displaced those crops, and then strawberries CABBAGE overtook citrus. The shift toward strawberries came $33,919,000 as land values took off in Ventura County for farming

Crop Changes in Ventura County (1982 - 2017)

CROP 2017 RANKING 1982 1992 2002 2012 2016 2017 VALUE 1 Lemons Lemons Strawberries Strawberries Strawberries Strawberries $654,312,000 2 Celery Strawberries Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons $258,602,000 3 Poultry and Dairy Celery Nursery Stock Raspberries Nursery Stock Celery $210,408,000 4 Strawberries Nursery Stock Celery Nursery Stock Celery Nursery Stock $197,969,000 5 Valencia Oranges Valencia Oranges Avocados Celery Raspberries Raspberries $166,725,000 6 Seed Avocados Cut Flowers Avocados Avocados Avocados $118,680,000 7 Nursery Stock Lettuce Tomatoes Tomatoes Peppers Cut Flowers $49,904,000 8 Lettuce Cut Flowers Peppers Peppers Cut Flowers Tomatoes $47,507,000 9 Avocados Broccoli Valencia Oranges Cut Flowers Tomatoes Peppers $45,809,000 10 Broccoli Cabbage Raspberries Cilantro Kale Cabbage $33,919,000

Ventura County Civic Alliance AGRICULTURE | 11 Crop Value TWO YEARS OF REVENUE DECLINE

What is the measure? The revenue drop in 2016 was a substantial 3.9 percent. In The measure is the total wholesale value of all crops and 2017, it fell 0.5 percent. When combined these contractions livestock produced in Ventura County and that value as a are modest, making it difficult to say whether the agricultural percentage of the county’s total economy, as reported by the industry in Ventura County is truly in decline. Revenue fell county agricultural commissioner. The commissioner’s annual in 2005 and again in 2011, and both times it recovered the Crop Report is drawn from surveys of county farmers and following year. others in the agricultural industry. The dollar decline from 2015 to 2016 was concentrated in Why is the measure important? two major crops: avocados and raspberries. The avocado Crop value represents the total income to farmers, an harvest in 2016 was nearly $60 million smaller than in 2015; important measure of the scope and health of the county’s raspberry revenue was down $57 million that year. Both agricultural industry. It measures gross revenue, so it does crops stabilized in 2017. Avocado yields tend to follow a not reflect growers’ profits or losses. strong season with a weak one, so fluctuation is common in the industry. Raspberries, on the other hand, declined three How are we doing? straight years. Farm revenue in Ventura County dropped in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, farmers in the county made $2.09 billion in The Thomas Fire alone might account for these weaker revenue, down from the record high of $2.19 billion in 2015. revenues. The fire scorched thousands of planted acres and Agriculture accounted for 4.1 percent of Ventura County’s destroyed thousands of tons of fruit, though its full impact on economy in 2017, down from 4.4 percent two years before. the region’s farm economy has yet to be precisely measured.

Total Crop Value in Ventura County (2006 - 2017) All Other: Livestock, $25B Poultry, Sustainable Ag., Field Crops $12,148,000 $20B Cut Flowers $49,904,000 $15B Nursery Stock $197,969,000 $10B

(In $ Billions) $ (In Vegetables $569,471,000 $05B Fruits & Nuts $1,270,397,000 $00 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (Figures Are 2017 Revenue)

Total Crop Value as Percent of Total Ventura County Economy (2006 - 2017)

Total Crop Value As Percent of Economy $22B 6.0 $2.09B $20B 5.5 $18B 5.0 $16B 4.5 $14B 4.0 Total Crop Value Value Crop Total $12B 3.5

Total Crop Value (In $ Billions) $ (In Value Crop Total $10B 3.0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (as Percentage Economy) of Total

12 | AGRICULTURE Ventura County Civic Alliance Organic Production ANOTHER RECORD YEAR FOR ORGANIC CROPS

What is the measure? growing part of the American agricultural industry, and The measure is the number of acres in Ventura County organic products tend to command higher prices than their devoted to organic farming. According to federal standards, conventional counterparts. organic food is produced without most conventional How are we doing? pesticides; without fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients Organic farming took up 8,850 acres in Ventura County in or sewage sludge; and without bioengineering and ionizing 2017, a record high after an unusual one-year decline in 2016. radiation. Organically labeled livestock must be fed organic The portion of farmland used for organic crops grew from feed, have access to the outdoors and cannot receive around 5 percent in 2004 to over 9 percent in 2017. Most antibiotics or growth hormones. of that growth has come since 2012, with organic acreage Why is the measure important? expanding 70 percent. As with conventional farming, the Once a niche market for environmentalists and health most common types of organic crops are fruits and nuts, food proponents, organic products are offered by every followed by vegetables. major grocery store. Organic farming is a large and rapidly

Acres of Organic Farming in Ventura County (2006 - 2017)

9,000 Flowers 2017 Acres: 9 8,000

7,000 Field Crops 6,000 2017 Acres: 81

5,000 Fruits & Nuts 4,000 2017 Acres: 6,260 3,000 Vegetables 2,000 2017 Acres: 2,500 1,000

0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Ventura County Civic Alliance AGRICULTURE | 13 Land Values AFTER PULLBACK, STILL HIGHER THAN STATE AVERAGE

What is the measure? These figures dwar f the average value of an acre of cropland in The measure is the median value of one acre of agricultural the United States, which was $4,090 in 2017, according to the land in Ventura County. The values are broken down by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In California, the value of median value of an acre used for row crops, such as berries, cropland averaged $11,740, but Ventura County is still and for different types of tree crops. The estimates are drawn extraordinarily expensive compared to the state as a whole. from property sales compiled by a statewide professional It isn’t just land value that drives these high prices. The crops appraisers association. grown in Ventura County, particularly strawberries but also lemons and avocados, are more valuable on a per-acre Why is the measure important? basis than most crops, which makes land planted with those Land, whether bought or leased, is among the biggest costs products more valuable. for any agricultural operation. At the same time, property is an asset to farmers who own it, and their businesses benefit In Ventura County, lemon and avocado orchard land values from rising values. have mostly caught up to row cropland. In 2007, row cropland was worth nearly 60 percent more per acre than orchard land. How are we doing? Since then, row crops have remained steady while lemon land As any homebuyer can attest, land in Ventura County is values have surged higher. Avocado orchards shot higher expensive, and farmland is no exception. In 2017, the median then fell back in 2017 below row crops once again. acre of most types of farmland was between $50,000 and One possible explanation for this is the drought. Strawberries $70,000. Lemon groves were appraised at $68,000 per acre, are a relatively thirsty crop, and growers may have reduced avocado orchards at $50,000 per acre and row cropland at the value of berry acreage by fallowing it rather than paying $63,000 per acre. the high cost of water. At the same time, global demand for citrus and avocados has accelerated, which could drive up the value of orchard land.

Estimates of Crop Land Values Per Acre (Midpoints) in Ventura County (2007 - 2017)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

$80,000

$70,000

$60,000

$50,000

$40,000

$30,000

$20,000

$10,000

$0 Row Crop Land Lemon Orcard Land Avocado Orcard Land

14 | AGRICULTURE Ventura County Civic Alliance Agricultural Exports CANADA IS TOP DESTINATION

What are the measures? shipments to Canada is partially due to the presence of Light The measures are the agricultural commodities most often Brown Apple Moth in Ventura County. Prior to the pest’s exported from Ventura County in 2018, expressed as shares arrival, Canada, under NAFTA regulations, did not require of the total number of shipments exported, and the countries export tracking for some crops. that are the biggest markets for those exports. The Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s office tracks this data as Top Agricultural Commodities Exported it inspects shipments for export. from Ventura County (2018) Why are the measures important? The market for Ventura County agriculture is a global one. BEET SPINACH 2% OTHER When growers here think about which crops to plant, CELERY 3% 4% 5% they must consider not only local markets and field AVOCADO conditions, but also what customers want in Asia, 4% Europe and elsewhere. RADISH How are we doing? 5% Strawberries, the top crop in value, were also the most exported product, with more than GREEN ONION STRAWBERRY 5% 3,000 shipments totaling over 1.5 million 20% cartons shipped beyond our borders in 2018. That amounted to 20.2 percent of the county’s CILANTRO agricultural export shipments. Raspberries were 6% next, with 2,399 shipments, or 15.8 percent of the county’s total exports, followed by lemons, RASPBERRY at 13.1 percent, and parsley, at 9.3 percent. 16% Ventura County growers sent their produce to BLUEBERRY 76 countries in 2018. Canada was by far the most 8% LEMON 13% common destination, accepting 4,855 shipments. Japan was next, at 1,985 shipments, followed by PARSLEY Korea, with 1,115 shipments. The increase in recorded 9%

Top Ten Export Countries for Ventura County Agricultural Commodities (2018)

5,000 4,855 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,985 1,500 1,115 1,000 633 Number of Shipment Certificates 500 377 336 284 172 157 148 0 Canada apan Korea Saudi Taiwan nited Arab Cile eico Pilippines Kuwait Arabia Emirates

Ventura County Civic Alliance AGRICULTURE | 15 Employment and Earnings FEWER WORKERS, HIGHER PAY

What are the measures? predict, salaries have grown during that time. In 2017, there The measures are the real and nominal wages in the were 23,683 agricultural workers in the county, down 13.1 agricultural industry and wages by job category. percent from the peak in 2013. Their average annual salary in 2017 was $33,126, up 15.3 percent from 2011, when Why are the measures important? adjusted for inflation. Ventura County’s agricultural businesses employ thousands of people. Those workers’ salaries support local businesses in The average salary figure hides a great deal of variance a wide array of industries, and employees rely on that income within the industry. The biggest category of employees — to pay their rent and feed their families. If farm wages are too accounting for a little less than 1 in 5 agricultural workers — is low, governments and charities end up providing aid to help laborers in fields, nurseries and greenhouses. In 2018, their the workers afford basic necessities. average salary was $25,294. Supervisors and managers, who accounted for a little more than 1 in 20 industry workers, How are we doing? earned an average of $52,674 in 2018. Growers are serious when they speak of a farmworker shortage. Ventura County’s agricultural workforce has been shrinking in recent years, and, as an entry-level economics student could

Ventura County Agricultural Production Employment & Earnings (2007 - 2017)

35,000 $33,126 33,000 Average Annual Salary ($ per worker) 31,000 29,000 Employment in Agricultural Production (number of jobs) 27,000 $25,540 25,000 23,000 Average Salary in Real 2005 Dollars ($ per worker) 23,683 21,000 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Agricultural Earnings (Mean Annual Wage) in Ventura County (Q1, 2011 - 2018)

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

$60,000 $52,674 $50,000

$40,000 $34,363 $32,836 $30,000 $25,294 $24,571 $20,000

$10,000

$0 FirstLine Farmworkers Euipment Farmworkers raders Sorters Supervisors Farm Ranc Operators Laborers anagers Animals Crop, Nursery reenouse

16 | AGRICULTURE Ventura County Civic Alliance

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT Community Engagement & Resources

Community engagement and resources is an umbrella willingly better their community by voting, volunteering and that covers culture, politics, nonprofits and the arts. These creating art. can be tricky to measure because the By some measures, Ventura County impact on our county of an informed By some measures, has an unusually engaged, cultured and engaged body politic, a thriving and passionate populace. People here arts scene or a culture of charity and Ventura County has an are likelier than the average Californian volunteer work defies description with unusually engaged, cultured to vote, and our creative industries hard data. In this section we focus on are a large and growing part of our the aspects that can be measured: and passionate populace. economy. In other areas, we could voter registration and turnout, party stand to be more generous. Funding affiliation, nonprofit fundraising, spending on public libraries for most of our public libraries long has lagged behind the and the economic impact of creative industries. Between state average, and the same is true of the revenue of our them, they paint a picture of a county in which people nonprofit organizations.

Ventura County Civic Alliance COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES | 17 Voter Registration RATE MATCHES ALL-TIME HIGH

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the percentage of eligible Ventura County More than 80 percent of eligible Ventura County voters residents who are registered to vote. have been registered for the past few years, and even when the percentage dipped below 80 in the 2000s, it never fell Why is the measure important? under 74 percent. In 2018, the county’s registered voters Registering to vote is not by itself enough to make your voice reached an all-time high of 448,174 or 81.37 percent of those heard in selecting our leaders, but it’s a necessary first step. eligible. The landmark high-turnout election of 2008 was the California generally requires voters to register at least 15 only other time this percentage of county residents were days before an election though if they miss that deadline, registered. The registration rate tends to dip in non-election prospective voters may now register “conditionally” as late as years and peak in presidential election years, ranging in this Election Day at their county elections office. century from a low of 74.58 percent in 2007 to a high of 81.38 percent in 2008. Ventura County had the 15th highest registration rate among California’s 58 counties in 2018. The statewide registration rate was 78.16 percent.

Ventura County Voter Registration (2001 - 2018) Eligible Voters Percent Registered 560,000 83 550,773 550,000 82 81.37% 540,000 81

530,000 80

Voters 79.60% 520,000 79

510,000 78

500,000 77 494,244

Number of Eligible of Number 490,000 76 Percent of Eligible Registered Eligible of Percent

480,000 75

470,000 74 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

18 | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Voter Turnout VENTURA COUNTY EXCEEDS STATE AVERAGE

What are the measures? How are we doing? The measures are the percentage of eligible voters who In recent elections, voter turnout in Ventura County voted in recent elections, and whether they cast their ballots consistently topped the state average and that of our by mail or in person. neighboring counties. In the 2018 general election, 57 percent of eligible voters in the county cast ballots, compared Many government agencies report voter turnout as a to 53.6 percent in Santa Barbara County, 48.5 percent in Los percentage of the number of registered voters. We believe Angeles County and 50.5 percent statewide. expressing turnout as a percentage of the number of eligible voters — whether or not they are registered — more Turnout in 2018 ranked very high for a midterm, non- accurately measures civic engagement. The first step in presidential election. The last midterm election, in 2014, saw voting is registering, and when people do not register, the turnout of 37.6 percent in Ventura County and 30.9 percent turnout rate should group them with non-voters. in California. Presidential elections always draw more voters than midterms, and the last presidential election, in 2016, Why are the measures important? saw particularly high turnout. In Ventura County, 66 percent Our nation is supposed to derive its powers from the consent of eligible voters cast ballots in 2016 compared to 58.7 of the governed, and voting is the most basic expression of percent statewide. that consent. Voter turnout is often considered a measure of a government’s legitimacy; in a free and fair election with Turnout has fluctuated dramatically over the past decade, contested seats, the higher the turnout the more likely the particularly in non-presidential elections. Almost 20 results reflect the will of the people. A high turnout also percentage points separates the lowest-turnout midterm indicates a vote of confidence in a country’s political system, election, in 2014, from the highest-turnout contest, in 2018. as it signals citizens’ belief their votes can make a difference. Turnout rises and falls, but one inescapable trend is the rise of absentee voting. In 2018, the portion of ballots cast by mail hit its highest level yet, at 63.3 percent, around 20 percentage points higher than 10 years before.

Percent of Eligible Voters Actually Voting in California General Elections (2008 - 2018) 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 80 60 61% 57% 55% 54% 49% 50% 40 20 0 San Luis Obispo Ventura County Orange County Santa Barbara Los Angeles California County County County Ventura County Mail-in Ballots vs. Precinct Voting (2008 - 2018) Mail-In Ballots Precinct Voting 400,000

300,000 144,589 194,104 165,488 39.8% 115,259 56.5% 50.1% 36.7% 200,000 135,030 51.0% 84,672 41.6% 218,696 198,612 100,000 149,586 129,801 164,931 60.2% 49.9% 119,111 63.3% 43.5% 49.0% 58.4% 0 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

Ventura County Civic Alliance COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES | 19 Political Party Affiliation GROWTH IN “NO PARTY PREFERENCE” CONTINUES

What is the measure? the county’s registered voters were Republicans, and 30.6 The measure is the percentage of registered voters in percent belonged to no party or a smaller party. Ventura County and in each city who register as Republicans, In 2018, there were 178,374 Democrats, 132,841 Republicans, Democrats or as Other/No Party Preference — which means 112,869 voters listed as No Party Preference, 10,524 American they are not members of any political party or they affiliate Independents, 1,804 Greens, 3,600 Libertarians, 1,181 Peace with a third party. & Freedom voters, 1,711 with unknown affiliations and 5,270 Why is the measure important? with smaller parties. In federal and state elections, the party affiliation of voters Oxnard is the bluest city in Ventura County, with 55 percent in the district often decides who is sent to Sacramento or of its voters registered as Democrats in 2018. Santa Paula was Washington, D.C. Local elections are officially nonpartisan, next at 50 percent Democrats, and Port Hueneme, Fillmore, but party affiliation can influence voters’ choices on local Ojai and Ventura were also heavily Democratic. Republicans candidates and issues, too. did not enjoy comparably large majorities anywhere in the county. Simi Valley had the biggest Republican edge, with 39 How are we doing? percent of voters registered as Republicans and 30 percent as Democrats have a comfortable majority in Ventura County, Democrats. Camarillo and Thousand Oaks were the only other at 39.8 percent of registered voters in 2018. Their numbers cities with more Republicans than Democrats. Unaffiliated held steady from 2000 through 2018, while the number of and third-party voters are fairly evenly distributed throughout Republicans declined and the number of voters with no party the county, making up between 30 percent and 33 percent of preference grew. In 2018, Republicans in Ventura County the electorate in each city. were overtaken by independent voters: 29.6 percent of

20 | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Affiliations of Registered Ventura County Voters (2000 - 2018)

Democratic Republican Other/No Party Preference

100

90 19.4% 19.8% 20.6% 22.1% 22.4% 23.3% 25.1% 26.6% 26.4% 30.6% 80

41.7% 41.5% 60 41.1% 37.6% 37.0% 39.8% 36.4% 34.2% 32.3% 29.6% 50

41.3% 20 38.9% 38.7% 38.3% 38.1% 40.0% 39.7% 38.5% 39.2% 39.8%

0 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

Affiliations of Registered Ventura County Voters by City (2018)

Democratic Republican Other/No Party Preference

100

90 16,120 12,647 2,259 6,298 1,518 24,638 3,123 3,769 22,420 24,073 20,094 30% 80 30% 33% 30% 30% 30% 32% 31% 31% 31% 31%

12,511 60 1,104 15% 1,876 2,377 19% 17,650 1,577 22% 19% 17,019 15,692 23% 7,365 27,917 27% 27,753 32% 50 37% 35% 36% 39%

30 45,286 2,410 55% 4,750 6,126 3,050 48% 49% 50% 27,232 20 44% 20,398 26,147 42% 13,847 7,307 21,821 38% 33% 33% 35% 30% 10

0 Camarillo Fillmore oorpark Oai Onard Port Santa Simi Tousand nincorporated Ventura Hueneme Paula Valley Oaks Ventura County

Ventura County Civic Alliance COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES | 21 Nonprofits COUNTY HAS MORE THAN 3,000 NONPROFITS

What are the measures? The county’s biggest nonprofits, in financial terms, tend to The measures are the number of charitable nonprofits in be hospitals, colleges and major foundations. The county’s Ventura County, broken down by type; and the assets and largest nonprofit in the 2017/18 fiscal year was Community revenues of a selection of the county’s biggest nonprofits. Memorial Health System, which took in $444.1 million in gross receipts and had assets of $891 million. The nonprofit Why are the measures important? owns Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, which The nonprofit sector is an important part of Ventura County’s in 2018 finished construction on a $275 million building. economy and its social fabric. Some of the region’s biggest California Lutheran University was second, with $200.5 hospitals and universities are nonprofits or have nonprofit million in revenues and $344.6 million in assets. foundations associated with them. Nonprofits also provide a Other nonprofits with more than $100 million in assets large part of Ventura County’s social safety net, helping feed included the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, which the hungry and shelter the homeless. supports the Reagan Library in Simi Valley; the Thacher School How are we doing? in Ojai; the Gene Haas Foundation, a private foundation started by the founder of Haas Automation in Oxnard; the In 2018, Ventura County was home to 3,021 groups that filed Ventura County Community Foundation; and Clinicas Del as nonprofits under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Camino Real, a network of medical clinics. Code, which covers charitable organizations and foundations. Human services organizations were the most common, making up 25 percent of the total, followed by churches and other religious organizations, at 22 percent, and private schools and other educational nonprofits, at 17 percent.

Number of Ventura County Nonprofit Organizations by Type (2018)

Environment and Animals: 169 Health & Hospitals: 165 6% 5%

Education: 513 17% Human Services: 757 25%

Human Services Human Arts, Culture, Humanities: 259 9%

Public Benefit: 349 Religion Related: 658 11%

22% International

Unknown, Unclassified: 90 International: 61 3% 2%

22 | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Total Assets and Gross Receipts for Selected Large Ventura County Nonprofits (2017/2018) Total Assets (In $ Millions) Gross Receipts (In $ Millions)

Community emorial $891.05 Health System $444.14 $344.56 California Luteran niversity $200.48 Ronald Reagan $337.53 Presidential Foundation $46.13 $300.88 The Thacher School $48.67

Gene Haas Foundation $225.02 $94.06 Adventist Health $183.95 Simi Valley $143.71

Tomas Auinas College $130.10 $42.60 Ventura County $126.51 Community Foundation $19.88

Oaks Christian School $121.58 $56.72 $118.32 Clinicas Del Camino Real Inc $101.20 $98.54 Hogan Family Foundation $42.58 $89.20 Amgen Foundation $72.82 Cabrillo Economic $59.20 Development Corp $4.63 $46.59 any ansions $6.81

$0 $500 $1,000

Comparison of Ventura County and California Nonprofits (2014 - 2017)

2014 2015 2016 2017 Organization Count (Filing 990 or 990-EZ) Ventura County 741 812 929 936 California 35,325 37,116 43,002 43,842 Total Revenue on 990 and 990-EZ Ventura County $1.58 Billion $1.68 Billion $2.06 Billion $2.11 Billion California $248.84 Billion $269.57 Billion $287.84 Billion $305.63 Billion Total Assets Ventura County $3 Billion $3.08 Billion $3.39 Billion $3.59 Billion California $399.99 Billion $421.09 Billion $444.68 Billion $486.15 Billion Total Net Assets Ventura County $1.81 Billion $1.88 Billion $2.11 Billion $2.39 Billion California $236.68 Billion $251.51 Billion $263.46 Billion $294.65 Billion Per Capita Revenue International: 61 Ventura County $1,862 $1,969 $2,415 $2,466 2% California $6,443 $6,921 $7,340 $7,737

Ventura County Civic Alliance COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES | 23 Nonprofit Revenue COUNTY REVENUE TRAILS NEIGHBORS AND STATE

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the revenue of nonprofits based in Ventura Ventura County’s nonprofit sector is underdeveloped, at County on a per capita basis and compared to the state and least by this measure. In 2017, there were 936 nonprofits nearby counties. It includes nonprofits with $50,000 or that took in more than $50,000. Their total revenue was a more in revenue and excludes private foundations, which are little over $2.1 billion, or $2,466 per county resident — well largely funded by an individual, family or company. below the statewide per capita figure of $7,737 and the per capita revenues in Santa Barbara County, at $9,625, and Why is the measure important? Los Angeles County, at $5,636. While Ventura County has Revenue, in relation to the county’s population, measures many small nonprofits and a few mid-sized ones, it lacks the how much the county’s nonprofits have to work with rel- concentration of large nonprofits or major donors found in ative to the size of the market they serve. It also offers an Los Angeles, Santa Barbara or San Francisco. imprecise measure of the philanthropy of Ventura County residents — imprecise because donations to nonprofits Though Ventura County’s nonprofit sector lags behind much based elsewhere are not counted, while contributions to of the state in per capita revenue, it has grown in recent local nonprofits by non-residents are included. years. Per capita revenue rose every year from 2014 to 2017 for a total increase of 32.4 percent over three years.

Nonprofit Per Capita Revenue (2014 - 2017) , $9,625 $8,072 Santa Barbara County $8,206 , $7,051 California $7,737 $7,340 , $6,921 $6,443 Los Angeles County $5,636 $5,146 , $5,013 $4,540

Ventura County , $2,415 $2,466 $1,862 $1,969

24 | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Creative Economy THOUSANDS WORK IN CREATIVE FIELDS

What are the measures? The biggest creative industry in Ventura County was film, The measures are the number of businesses and employees in radio and TV with 4,761 workers in 2017. Visual arts and Ventura County’s creative industries in 2017, according to a photography ranked next with 2,639 workers, followed by study by Americans For The Arts. Creative industries include design and publishing with 2,315, and performing arts with film, radio and television; design and publishing; performing and 1,407. visual arts. Employees Within Ventura County Why are the measures important? Creative Industries (2017) The arts are an often overlooked economic and cultural force. Jobs in creative industries stimulate the larger economy, as DESIGN & PUBLISHING people who spend money at concert venues and galleries 2,315 also tend to patronize restaurants and hotels. And 20% research suggests an urban area’s friendliness to artists ARTS SCHOOLS and creative types correlates positively with many & SERVICES measures of vitality and quality of life. 352 3% How are we doing? Around 5 percent of Ventura County’s businesses and 2.8 percent of its workers were in creative industries in 2017. Both figures were above the VISUAL ARTS/ national average but slightly below the average PHOTOGRAPHY FILM, RADIO for California. 2,639 & TV 22% 4,761 41% Number of Businesses and Employees in Creative Industries and Percent Share of Total (2017)

Ventura County California United States

6 PERFORMING 5.10% MUSEUMS & 5.00% ARTS 2,441 103,191 COLLECTIONS 1,407 4 4.01% 210 673,656 12% 2.80% 2.90% 2% 11,684 545,627 2 2.04% 3,480,000

0 Buinee loyee

Ventura County Civic Alliance COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES | 25 Public Libraries LIBRARY FUNDING MOSTLY DOWN

What is the measure? exceeded that level. The Thousand Oaks Library was next The measure is spending on public libraries on a per capita in funding at slightly below the state average, at $48.02 per basis. person. At the low end of the spectrum, Simi Valley’s library system budgeted $16.86 per city resident in 2016/17, with Why is the measure important? Oxnard at $18.68. Public libraries are a vital community resource. They offer free Internet access for people who have no other way to The Ventura County Library System fell in the middle of the connect, and space for lectures, meetings and other public pack, at $32.47 per resident in 2016/17. The county system events. They promote children’s literacy and put thousands operates branches in Ventura, the Ojai Valley, Fillmore, Piru, of books at every resident’s fingertips — all free of charge. Port Hueneme, Saticoy, El Rio and Oak Park. The rest of the county’s cities have independent library systems, run either How are we doing? by the cities themselves, as in Thousand Oaks and Santa Most of Ventura County’s libraries are underfunded Paula, or by a private contractor, as in Moorpark, Camarillo compared to the rest of California. The state average in and Simi Valley. 2016/17 was $53.08 per capita. In Ventura County, only the Camarillo Public Library, at $61.23 per city resident, Per Capita Spending for Ventura County Public Library Systems (FY 2010/11 - 2016/17)

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

$70

$61.23 $60

$53.08 $48.02 $50

$40

$32.47 $30 $25.04 $22.29 $20 $18.68 $16.86

$10

$0 No Data Available 2010/11 No Data Available 2011/12 No Data Available 2012/13 Caarillo ouan a Ventura County anta aula oorar City nar ii Valley C tate uli irary irary irary irary irary uli irary uli irary erae

26 | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

Economy

Technically speaking, Ventura County is in a recession and food service are expanding, while manufacturing and — or was in one, as recently as 2018. And yet, “how is our other high-paying industries shrink. The population is aging, economy doing?” is not an easy question to answer. By and people aren’t moving here. Our population growth some measures, it is remarkably healthy. The unemployment consistently has underperformed the expected rate due rate is near record lows. The county to births and deaths, which means has added jobs every year since 2011. people are leaving. Ventura County is The demand to live here outstrips the Negative economic growth in danger of evolving in the direction of supply of housing. is the standard definition so much of coastal California, a place defined by its wealth and its poverty, By other measures, our economy is of a recession, and it’s with less room for the middle class anemic. According to the Center for than in previous generations. Economic Research and Forecasting at happened here while the California Lutheran University, Ventura state and nation hum along Ventura County is an expensive place County’s economic output shrank in to live and do business. Typically that 2016 and 2017, when adjusted for with steady growth. comes with a tradeoff: High-cost inflation, and was projected to contract areas are usually high-growth areas. again in 2018. Negative economic growth is the standard San Francisco is a prime example. Living there is extremely definition of a recession, and it’s happened here while the expensive, but opportunity abounds for both entrepreneurs state and nation hum along with steady growth. and workers. In Ventura County, we have high costs and low growth — not a recipe for prosperity. Our government and We have had sustained employment growth, but that has business leaders have taken an approach that produced a been relatively meager, not topping 1.5 percent annually since comfortable life for many current residents, but they will 2013. And the jobs we create aren’t always the ones we need need to consider a different course to provide sufficient for a balanced economy. Low-paying sectors like hospitality opportunities for increasing the middle class population.

Ventura County Civic Alliance ECONOMY | 27 Unemployment JOBLESS RATE AT RECORD LOWS

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the unemployment rate in Ventura County, Our economy has its problems, but it is providing work which reflects the number of people in the workforce for nearly everyone who is actively looking for it. In without jobs. Only people with jobs or looking for work are 2018, just 3.8 percent of the Ventura County workforce considered in the workforce; those who stopped seeking was unemployed, the lowest level of the 21st century. While employment are excluded. Ventura County’s economic recovery has lagged behind California and the United States in some aspects, our Why is the measure important? unemployment rate stayed slightly below that of the state Employment is the primary way most people participate and the nation in 2018. in the economy. Without jobs, they are at a greater risk of poverty, hunger and homelessness. Stretches of job- The turnaround in our unemployment rate has been lessness can damage a worker’s career, and long-term remarkable. It started to rise during the Great Recession and unemployment can be devastating. On the macroeconomic more than doubled in three years, peaking at 10.8 percent level, the unemployment rate is a common, if imperfect, in 2010. shorthand for the economy’s strength. Unemployment worsened even after the recession of 2008/09 ended, because the jobless rate is known as a “lagging indicator.” Businesses tend to take a long-term view when making mass hiring decisions, so the unemployment rate usually doesn’t rise until well after a recession has begun and doesn’t decline until after a recession has ended.

Ventura County Unemployment (2003 - 2018)

Number of Unemployed As Percent of the Labor Force 60,000 12 10.8% 10.2% 0,000 10 9.6% 9.1% 46,586 44,223 7.9% 0,000 8 41,470 39,523 6.6% 6.3% 34,145 30,000 5.7% 5.6% 6 5.3% 4.9% 28,566 5.2% 4.7% 27,015 4.3% 4.5% 24,125 23,512 3.8% 20,000 22,016 22,210 4 19,733 20,666 Number of Unemployed of Number 18,053 19,084 16,066 10,000 2 Unemployment as Percent of Labor Force Labor of Percent as Unemployment

0 0 2003 200 200 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 201 201 2016 2017 2018

28 | ECONOMY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Employment Growth JOB GROWTH PLUGS ALONG

What is the measure? jobs in the county, 1.3 percent more than the year before The measure is the number of people employed in Ventura and 4,509 above the pre-recession peak in 2006. Jobs were County each year. It does not include the agricultural projected to grow by 1.4 percent more in 2018. industry, where employment is highly seasonal. While our county’s economy has struggled in terms of total output, job growth in recent years has been respectable. It Why is the measure important? was above 1 percent in five of the seven years from 2011 A robust supply of jobs is a community’s most effective anti- to 2017, easily outpacing our population growth of around poverty program. If the Ventura County economy doesn’t 0.5 percent per year. During the post-recession period of generate enough jobs for its residents, many will go without the 2010s, Ventura County’s job growth has been slightly work or will commute to employers outside the county, stronger than just before the recession. increasing household expenses, traffic congestion and pollution. That trend is not expected to continue. The California Lutheran University economic forecast team is projecting How are we doing? job growth of 0.7 percent in 2019 and 0.6 percent in 2020. Ventura County has gained back the more than 22,000 jobs That would be the first two years of back-to-back job growth lost between 2007 and 2010, or about 7.6 percent of its total below 1 percent since 2007 through 2010, when we saw four nonfarm employment. In 2017, there were 304,192 nonfarm straight years of negative job growth.

Ventura County Employment Growth (2005 - 2020) Number of Non-Farm Jobs Percent Change from Prior Year

31,000 4 PROJECTION 310,000 3

30,000 2

300,000 1

29,000 0

290,000 -1

28,000 -2 Percent Change Number of Jobs 280,000 -3

27,000 -4

270,000 -5

26,000 -6 292,767 299,683 298,767 293,417 278,067 276,108 278,067 282,925 289,467 293,733 296,408 300,417 304,192 308,366 310,625 312,532 260,000 -7 200 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 201 201 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Ventura County Civic Alliance ECONOMY | 29 Employment by Sector SERVICE JOBS ON THE RISE

What is the measure? This is a problem because goods-producing jobs generally The measure is a breakdown of employment in Ventura pay better than service jobs as reported on the next page. County by industrial sector. It starts in 2007, just before the In manufacturing, for example, a worker received an average Great Recession, and tracks employment changes every two salary of $98,332 in 2017, but the sector lost 21.2 percent years until 2017. of its jobs between 2007 and 2017. Leisure and hospitality showed strong growth during that decade, adding 15.6 Why is the measure important? percent to its employment total but is the region’s lowest Job creation is important, but not all jobs are created equal. paying industry, at $21,840 per year in 2017. Breaking down employment by sector shows whether new jobs are emerging from well-paying industries. This data also allows people — as well as businesses, governments, schools and universities — to plan for careers most likely to offer good job prospects. How are we doing? Ventura County, like most of the United States, is shifting from an economy based on manufacturing to one centered on services and information. In 2017, the county had 207,308 jobs in service-providing industries and just 70,202 jobs in goods-producing industries. What’s more, that gap is widening: Between 2007 and 2017, the county’s service jobs grew 7.1 percent while goods-producing jobs fell 14.1 percent. Ventura County Employment Growth (2007 - 2017) 2007 (Pre-Recession) 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

6,000 GOODS-PRODUCING SERVICE-PROVIDING

60,000 59,110 56,527 ,000

0,000

,000 43,479 38,686 0,000 38,138 36,738 36,863 3,000 31,889 30,050

30,000 29,139 23,687 2,000 23,748 Number of Jobs 21,488

20,000 18,792 16,828 15,588 1,000 10,172 10,000 9,371 5,772 ,000 4,919 1,058 877 0 Manufacturing griculture, Construction Mining Trade, Education & Leisure Professional Financial ther Services Information Forestry, Oil Extraction Transportation ealth Services ospitality Business Activities Unclassiﬁed Fishing & Hunting & Utilities Services

2007 Goods-Producing Total = 81,736 Jobs 2007 Service-Providing Total = 193,623 Jobs 2017 Goods-Producing Total = 70,202 Jobs 2017 Service-Providing Total = 207,308 Jobs

30 | ECONOMY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Salaries by Sector SALARIES IN MANUFACTURING OUTPACE SERVICES

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the average pay in Ventura County employment Salaries vary widely by industry, from manufacturing at an sectors. average of $98,332 in 2017 to leisure and hospitality at $21,840. In most sectors, salaries are on the upswing with Why is the measure important? a few exceptions: Manufacturing salaries peaked in 2015 A worker’s salary is the most important factor in determining and dropped for two straight years afterward, and earnings living standards and economic opportunities. Knowing which in mining and oil extraction declined steadily since 2012. careers pay well is crucial to gauging whether the jobs created Salaries in the information sector as well as the education in the county can sustain a decent quality of life. and health services sector grew slower than inflation. Salaries rose fastest in financial activities; agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; professional and business services; and construction.

Ventura County Salaries by Sector (2012 - 2017)

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

$120,000

$110,000 $98,332 $100,000 $94,380 $90,000 $80,444 $80,000 $70,148 $70,000 $61,204 $57,460 $60,000

$0,000 $46,852 $46,800

$0,000 $33,176 $33,020 $30,000 $21,840 $20,000

$10,000

0 Manufacturing Mining Financial Information Professional Construction Education & Trade, griculture, ther Services Leisure Oil Extraction Activities Business Services ealth Services Transportation Forestry, ospitality & Utilities Fishing & Hunting

Ventura County Civic Alliance ECONOMY | 31 Gross County Product THREE YEARS OF STALLED GROWTH

What is the measure? The CLU forecasters do not expect things to get much better The measure is gross county product, which is defined in in the coming years; they are projecting growth of 0.45 much the same way as the U.S. gross domestic product: the percent in 2019 and 0.3 percent in 2020. If those predictions total market value of all goods and services sold in Ventura hold true, Ventura County will go seven years without County in one year. Gross product counts only the final significant economic growth. sale to the consumer, not intermediary transactions among This is not a symptom of an unhealthy national economy, producers and wholesalers. such as we experienced when Ventura County’s production shrank by 4.5 percent during the recession of 2008. During Why is the measure important? our local recession of 2016 through 2018, the state and the Gross product tells only part of the story, but it is the most nation experienced steady economic growth. common shorthand for describing the economic productivity and standard of living of a region or nation. Growth or decline California’s economy has been particularly hot. In the in gross product is the most accepted gauge of whether a San Francisco and Los Angeles regions, high-cost areas nation or region is in a period of economic contraction, are thriving, creating high-paying jobs even as they fail to known as a recession, or one of expansion. provide enough housing for the workers who take those jobs. In Ventura County, something in this chain is broken. How are we doing? There is plenty of desire to live here, and our cost of living The Ventura County economy has been far from robust in is correspondingly high. But with our economy no longer recent years. Total inflation-adjusted economic output shrank growing, we lack the economic opportunities that make a in 2016 and again in 2017 to $50.8 billion and was projected high cost of living tolerable. to contract again in 2018, according to the California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research and Forecasting. When adjusted for inflation, the county experienced almost no economic growth between 2013 and 2018.

Recent and Projected Growth in the Ventura County Economy (2001 - 2020)

$60 12 $56B $ 10 Ventura County Gross County Product $0 8

$ $44B 6 Real (2009 $) Gross County Product $0 4

$3 2 0.30% $30 0 Percent Change From Prior Year $2 -2 Percent Change Percent $20 -4 PROJECTION $1 -6 Gross County Billions) Product $ (In

$10 -8

$ -10

$0 -12 2001 2002 2003 200 200 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 201 201 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

32 | ECONOMY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Wages and Cost of Living THE ENDS DON’T MEET EASILY

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the hourly wage a full-time worker in Ventura In many industries, supporting even a single person in Ventura County must earn to support a family. It represents the income County with one salary is a challenge. As households get needed to cover housing, food, child care, transportation, health larger, they become nearly impossible to maintain on a single care and other expenses. income, except in the highest paying jobs. Why is the measure important? The living wage for one adult in 2018 was $14.63 per hour. Wages are half of a household’s financial equation. Expenses Most jobs in Ventura County pay more than that except are equally important and vary widely by region and by farming, food service and personal care. For a single adult household size. with two children, the living wage rises to $36.56 per hour. That’s more than the average wage in teaching, construction, social services and many other industries. And for an adult with three children, the living wage in 2018 was $47.92 an hour, exceeding the average wage in all but the management and legal fields.

Ventura County Cost of Living and Hourly Wages Comparison (2018)

Farming, Fishing and Forestry $12.93

Food Preparation and Serving-Related $13.40 Living Wages for 1 Adult: $14.63 Personal Care and Service $14.06

Sales and Related $19.84 Living Wages for 2 Adults (1 Working): $22.65 Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance $15.84

Transportation and Material Moving $16.68 Living Wages for 2 Adults (1 Working), 1 Child: $28.41 Production $19.25

Healthcare Support $18.37 Living Wages for 1 Adult, 1 Child: $30.77 Oﬃce and Administrative Support $20.34

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair $24.91 Living Wages for 2 Adults (1 Working), 2 Children: $31.22 Construction and Extraction $26.37

Education, Training, and Library $28.24 Living Wages for 1 Adult, 2 Children: $36.56 Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media $32.79

Community and Social Services Occupations $26.19 Living Wages for 1 Adult, 3 Children: $47.92 Protective Service $30.74 Business and Financial Operations $40.05 Life, Physical, and Social Science $40.66 Healthcare Practitioners and Technical $41.91 Computer and Mathematical $44.01 rchitecture and ngineering $45.22 Management $60.96 Legal $68.07 $0 $10 $20 $30 $0 $0 $60 $70 Estimated Hourly Wage

Ventura County Civic Alliance ECONOMY | 33 Gender Difference in Pay WOMEN MAKE 85% OF MEN

What is the measure? Women in local government, a major employer in Ventura The measure is the average annual salary for men and women County, earned 74.5 percent as much as men in 2017. One in various employment sectors from 2013 to 2017. It covers possible explanation is police officer and firefighter are people over the age of 16 who work full time and aren’t in among the highest paying positions in local government, and the military. those fields typically are not characterized by gender equity. In state and federal governments, women earned 80.5 Why is the measure important? percent and 80.4 percent, respectively. In the private sector, When women earn less than men, they face a lower standard women in private for-profit businesses earned 85.2 percent of living and are less able to provide for their families. If their as much as men, and women in private nonprofits earned 84.8 lower wages stem from fewer opportunities for promotions percent as much as men. That means that even in Ventura and new jobs, their careers are harmed as well. County’s sector closest to parity, women earned nearly 15 How are we doing? cents less on the dollar than their male counterparts. Women consistently earn less than men in all types of full- There is a silver lining in this data: the gender wage gap in time employment in Ventura County. In 2017, women made Ventura County appears to have shrunk in recent years, 84.6 cents for every dollar earned by men, which was similar going from 82.6 percent in 2013 to 84.6 percent in 2017. to the nationwide gender gap. Female entrepreneurs have it particularly hard: Women who own incorporated businesses earned just 60.6 percent of men’s wages in that sector in 2017. Women who own unincorporated businesses fared a bit better, at 74 percent of men’s earnings.

34 | ECONOMY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Pay for Work by Gender, Median Earning in Ventura County in 2017 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars (2017) Male Female $100,000 $93,085

$80,024 $78,467 $75,000 $69,971 $66,033 $63,054 $59,604 $56,429 $56,358 $55,729 $56,309

$50,555 $50,031 $47,634 $50,000 $43,058

$36,999

$25,000

$0 Federal Local Self-Employed in State Private Private Self-Employed in Ventura Government Government Incorporated Government Nonproﬁt For-Proﬁt Unincorporated County Business Business Workers Business Average

Female Earnings as a Percentage of Male Earnings (2013 - 2017)

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

100%

90% 84.4% 85.2% 84.6% 80.4% 80.5% 80% 74.5% 74.0%

70%

60.6% 60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0% Federal Local Self-Employed in State Private Private Self-Employed in Ventura Government Government Incorporated Government Nonproﬁt For-Proﬁt Unincorporated County Business Business Workers Business Average

Ventura County Civic Alliance ECONOMY | 35 Cost of Child Care PROFESSIONAL CHILD CARE OUT OF REACH FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the cost of licensed child care in Ventura Child care can eat up a huge portion of the budget for all County in 2017, expressed as a percentage of the federal but the highest income families. For example, two working poverty level for different family structures. parents with two children, earning 400 percent of the federal poverty level, would need to spend 20.8 percent of their Why is the measure important? income on full-time child care. For the truly poor, paying for Stay-at-home parenting is now the exception, and most professional child care is out of the question: A single parent families need help with child care. But licensed care can be at the poverty level would have to spend 63.1 percent of unaffordable for many. her income on care for one child, and 100.3 percent for two children.

Cost of Child Care as a Percent of Family Income in Ventura County (2017)

Couple with One Child Couple with Two Children Single Parent with One Child Single Parent with Two Children

120

100.3% 100

83.3% 80

63.1% 60 50.2% 50.2% 41.6% 0 31.5% 33.4% 27.8% 25.1% 25.1% 21.0% 20.8% 20 16.7% 15.8% 12.5%

Cost of Child Care (as Percent of Family Income) 0 100 Federal Poverty Level 200 Federal Poverty Level 300 Federal Poverty Level 00 Federal Poverty Level

Family Income (as Percent of Federal Poverty Level)

36 | ECONOMY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Economic Impact of the Port of Hueneme SLIGHT RISE IN JOBS; FINANCIAL IMPACT GROWING

What are the measures? for a total of 7,007 jobs in 2018, which is 9.2 percent more The measures are the jobs related to the Port of Hueneme than in 2015. That includes direct employment as well as and the revenue generated by the port to businesses as indirect and induced jobs. Indirect jobs are generated as a well as state and local governments, according to a study result of local purchases of goods and services by firms conducted by the port. operating at the port. Induced jobs are those that provide goods and services to outside firms and workers dependent Why are the measures important? on the port. For example, taxes paid by the port support jobs The Port of Hueneme is one of Ventura County’s chief in local government, and the workers at the port go to local connections to the global economy. It handles much of the doctors for health care. county’s exported farm products, and it receives imported Business revenue at the Port of Hueneme was $362.9 million automobiles, produce and other goods. in 2018, up 5.4 percent from 2015. That led to $119.2 million How are we doing? in state and local tax payments and $164.6 million in local purchases by firms dependent on port activity. The tax The Port of Hueneme directly employed 2,585 people in revenue grew 27.9 percent in three years. 2018, little changed from the 2,524 it employed in 2015. But a closer look at the employment and revenue data shows the port’s impact grew in those three years. It was responsible

Revenue, Tax and Economic Impact (in $ Millions) from Port of Hueneme Jobs Related to Port of Hueneme Marine Terminals (2015, 2018) Marine Terminals (2015, 2018) 2015 2018 2015 2018 3,000 $00 3,000 $00 2,930 $30 $362.90 2,00 $30 $344.30 2,651 2,00 2,585 2,524 $300 $300 2,000 2,000 $20 $20

1,00 $200 1,00 $200 1,492 In $Millions In $10 $164.60 1,239 1,000 $10 $138.50 1,000 $100 $119.20 $100 $93.20 00 00 $0 $0

0 $0 0 irect Induced Indirect $0 irect State Local Local irect Induced Indirect Businessirect evenue State Taes Local LocalPurchases Business evenue Taes Purchases

Ventura County Civic Alliance ECONOMY | 37 38 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

Education

Ventura County’s schools, colleges and universities are California’s system for testing students and tracking school among our greatest assets, and they also hold vast untapped performance also is entirely new. In 2013, California potential. Our college student population grows every year suspended its standardized testing program until it could as our biggest universities continue to expand and that institute tests that matched the state’s new Common bodes well for our workforce and employers. At the primary Core standards. Then in 2015, the federal No Child Left and secondary level, some of our schools Behind Act was repealed, giving states authority over rank among the most successful in the state, their testing regimes. while others face challenges common to high- ...some of our This change resulted in the demise of the poverty districts throughout the nation. schools rank Academic Performance Index, which rated The past few years have brought major among the most all public schools in California on a 200 changes to public education in California. The to 1,000 scale, based on standardized- state completely revamped its method for succesful in the test performance. The new assessment funding schools, starting with the adoption of system, the California School Dashboard, the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013. state, while others debuted in 2017. More holistic than the Under that law, extra funding goes to schools face challenges... API, it includes standardized test results and judged most in need, because they have more measures along with rates for attendance, English language learners, more low-income students or more graduation and suspension — instead of a single measure pupils in foster care. In the intervening years the law has based on testing. This means the State of The Region made a dramatic impact. A decade ago, schools in low- Report includes more data about schools than ever before. income areas received the same funding — or sometimes It also means more data is available than we can include. less — than their counterparts in high-income areas. Now Complete reports on standardized testing and all other the schools and districts judged to have the greatest need information the state collects about public schools can be get the most state funding. found at www.CaSchoolDashboard.org.

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 39 Public School Enrollment STUDENT POPULATION DROPPING

What are the measures? which is as far as the state’s projections go. By 2026, Ventura The measures are the number of students enrolled in Ventura County is expected to have fewer public schoolchildren than County public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, in 1997. and the public school enrollment by school district. This follows national demographic trends. There are simply fewer young children today than there were in the 1990s Why are the measures important? and early 2000s, when the millennial generation, now the A school’s average daily attendance is the most important largest generation in U.S. history, was still in school. Ventura factor in determining how much funding it receives from County last experienced declining enrollment in the early the state. Districts with growing enrollment will see their 1980s, before millennials reached school age. Public school funding increase, while those with declining enrollment will enrollment in Ventura County peaked in 2004, at 145,316 see their funding drop, which can lead to teacher layoffs or students. even school closures. Schools aren’t shrinking everywhere in the county. Those How are we doing? losing students are concentrated in areas with high housing Public school enrollment in Ventura County slowly declined costs, as families with young children find it harder to afford for most of the 21st century so far, and that decline is expected homes. Districts in Oxnard and Port Hueneme grew between to accelerate in the coming years. In the 2017/18 school 2009 and 2018, a reflection of the growing and relatively year, there were 137,758 students in kindergarten through young populations in those areas and of their lower housing 12th grade, a 1 percent drop from the previous year and the costs when compared to other cities in Ventura County. fourth straight year of declining enrollment. The California Districts in Ojai, Simi Valley and the Conejo Valley lost the Department of Education projects county enrollment to most students. continue to fall every year from 2018/19 through 2026/27,

Ventura County Public School Enrollment (2007/08 - 2026/27)

Total K - 8 Total 9 - 12 100,000

96,836 97,293 97,059 95,945 96,668 95,822 94,576 95,441 95,310 94,948 93,837 90,000 92,523 91,252 89,127 87,152 86,382 85,427 84,344 83,594 80,000 82,893

70,000

PROJECTION

60,000

0,000 46,479 45,970 45,994 45,642 44,993 45,613 45,461 44,838 44,941 44,763 44,595 44,607 44,458 43,916 44,471 44,624 44,067 42,859 41,846 41,267 0,000 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 201 201 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 202 202 2026 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 201 201 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 202 202 2026 2027

40 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

Ventura County Public School Enrollment (2009/10, 2013/14, 2017/18) 2009/10 2013/14 2017/18

56 Santa Clara Elementary 57 58

132 Mupu Elementary 386 157

479 Somis Union Elementary 256 261

513 Briggs Elementary 576 549

1,217 Mesa Union Elementary 1,418 1,251

3,044 Ojai Uniﬁed 2,751 2,518

2,554 Ocean View Elementary 2,628 2,626

entura County 2,014 2,943 Oﬃce of Education 3,257

3,855 Fillmore Uniﬁed 3,825 3,751

3,814 Oak Park Uniﬁed 4,669 4,554

4,423 Rio Elementary 4,809 5,090

Historical Data Not Available Santa Paula Uniﬁed 5,503 5,306

7,319 Moorpark Uniﬁed 6,812 6,377

Pleasant alley 7,089 Elementary 7,299 7,154

8,079 Hueneme Elementary 8,442 8,429

15,554 Oxnard Elementary 16,803 16,599

20,303 Simi Valley Uniﬁed 18,353 16,801

17,506 Ventura Uniﬁed 17,430 16,813

16,856 Oxnard Union High 16,876 17,474

21,199 Conejo Valley Uniﬁed 20,142 18,733

0 2,000 ,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 1,000 16,000 18,000 20,000 22,000

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 41 Per-Pupil Spending SCHOOL SPENDING KEEPS CLIMBING

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the total spending on a per-pupil basis by seven School spending has risen since a post-recession dip that ran unified school districts in Ventura County. Per-pupil spending roughly from 2008 through 2013. Most unified districts in is calculated by adding up most expenditures, including Ventura County have seen steady increases since 2014. In salaries, food service, facilities and certain retirement the 2017/18 school year, districts spent between $10,000 benefits. The number is then divided by the district’s average and $11,000 per student, with a few exceptions: The daily attendance. Fillmore Unified School District spent more than the others, at $12,146 per student, and the Moorpark and Oak Park A unified district covers grades kindergarten through 12, districts each spent a little less than $10,000 per student. in contrast to districts that have only high schools or only elementary and middle schools. We compared unified Generally speaking, districts in lower-income areas get more districts because the available funding and the necessary funding than those in higher-income areas. This is a recent costs differ from high schools and elementary schools in development in California, starting with a law enacted by some ways. Santa Paula was not unified until 2013. the Legislature in 2013. This new formula awards extra funds to districts with large numbers of students classified In 2014/15, the California Department of Education started as English language learners as well as students from low- including state payments to employee pension funds in its income families. Before 2013, funding across districts was per-pupil statistics. Spending totals spiked that year due to broadly even, and in many cases schools in more affluent the change and can’t be compared directly to earlier totals. areas received more money than schools in poorer areas. For Why is the measure important? example, in the 2011/12 school year the Oak Park Unified Nearly everything in a school, from the teachers to the School District spent slightly more per student than the books to the building itself, costs money. Adequate funding Fillmore district. The next year, Fillmore spent more, and by isn’t enough by itself to ensure a quality education, but it’s 2017/18, its spending was nearly $2,500 per student more a necessary element. Looking at how funding changes over than Oak Park’s. time shows whether state, federal and local policymakers are prioritizing education, and comparing spending by different districts can show whether students in different cities are getting similar resources. Annual Per-Pupil Spending in the Unified Districts (2007/08 - 2017/18) 2007/08 (Pre-Recession) 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 $13,000 $12,146

$10,986 $10,967 $11,000 $10,407 $10,126 $9,988 $9,689 $9,000 $8,291 $8,261 $ 8,270 $7,719 $7,945 $7,709 $7,918

$7,000

$,000

$3,000 Fillmore Ojai Simi Valley Ventura Conejo Valley a Par Moorpar Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified

42 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

Average Class Size CLASS SIZES DECREASING, BUT TOP STATE AVERAGE

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the average number of students per class in Classes in Ventura County are consistently larger than the Ventura County and statewide. The California Department statewide average. In 2016/17, the average class in a Ventura of Education did not accurately collect this data for the County public school had 24.7 students, compared to 23.9 2009/10 school year. statewide. Why is the measure important? Class sizes in the county have decreased slightly since With smaller classes, students get more individualized 2010/11. Before that, classes were larger, topping 27 instruction, and teachers are better equipped to handle students per classroom in Ventura County in 2006/07. pupils who are having trouble. Many studies have shown a positive impact on student achievement, especially in the lower grades. Average Class Size in Ventura County and California (2006/07 - 2016/17) Ventura County California 29

28 27.6

27 26.8 26.5 26.5

26 25.4 25.2 25.3 25.1 25.1 25.0 25.0 25.0 2 24.9 24.9 24.7 24.2 24.3 24.3 2 23.9 23.6

21 Data Not Collected 200607 200708 200809 200910 201011 201112 201213 20131 2011 20116 201617

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 43 English Learners MORE THAN 1 IN 5 STUDENTS LACK FLUENCY

What is the measure? an extra burden in school: They are struggling with language The measure is the percentage of public school students comprehension at the same time they are trying to learn in Ventura County who are classified as “English learners,” math, history, science and other subjects taught in English. which means they speak a language other than English at How are we doing? home and would benefit from enhanced English language In the 2017/18 school year, Ventura County public schools had skills to succeed in their school’s core academic programs. 31,334 students classified as English learners, a 5.6 percent Students move out of this classification as their English skills drop from the year before and the lowest total since 2005/06. improve. That decline is tied to the overall decrease in enrollment; the In 2010/11, the state’s data collection was incomplete, so the percentage of students who are English learners actually has statewide figure for that year is unusually low. grown slightly. In 2017/18, English language learners made up 22.7 percent of the county’s students, while in 2005/06 they Why is the measure important? made up 21.6 percent of students. Fluency in spoken and written English is an important skill for the classroom and beyond. Students with limited English bear

Number of Public School Students Classified as English Learners (2005/06 - 2017/18) Ventura County California 40000 1900000

Ventura County 35000 33,745 33,821 1750000 32,895 32,843 32,973 33,195 32,172 32,696 31,390 31,994 32,018 30,852 31,334 1,568,738 30000 1,553,091 1600000 1,570,424 1,513,233 1,468,235 California 25000 1,413,459 1450000 1,387,665 1,392,263 1,346,333 1,373,724 1,332,405 20000 1300000

1,271,150 California Learners English Ventura County English Learners County English Ventura 15000 1150000

1,057,075 *The official statewide English Learner count for 2010/11 was incomplete. 10000 1000000 2005/ 2006/ 2007/ 2008/ 2009/ 2010/ 2011/ 2012/ 2013/ 2014/ 2015/ 2016/ 2017/ 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

44 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

NEW THIS High School Graduation YEAR and Dropout Rates MORE STUDENTS GRADUATING, FEWER DROPPING OUT

What are the measures? students had a 91.1 percent graduation rate, much higher The measures are the high school graduation rate, defined as the than Latino students, at 81.5 percent, and African American percentage of students who enter public high schools in Ventura students, at 84.2 percent. County in the 9th grade and complete high school with a standard While nearly 14 percent of the class of 2018 in Ventura diploma at the end of 12th grade; and the high school dropout County did not graduate with their classmates, not all of rate, defined as the percentage of students who leave school them are considered dropouts. The countywide dropout early without earning any type of degree or certificate. rate was 6 percent, so 8 percent of Ventura County high Why are the measures important? school seniors obtained some sort of alternative to a diploma. A high school diploma is typically the minimum level of Dropout rates, too, vary widely by ethnicity: The rate among education required to find a career that can bring long-term Asian American students was just 1 percent, while among prosperity. Compared to graduates, high school dropouts have Latinos it was 7.9 percent. much lower salaries for their entire working lives, and they are The graduation rate has ticked up slightly over the years, but more likely to be unemployed. it has not improved as dramatically as the dropout rate. In How are we doing? other words, high school students are much more likely than Ventura County high school students had an 86.1 percent a decade ago to obtain a high school equivalency or other graduation rate in 2018, slightly better than the year before certificate, but only slightly more likely to finish high school and also above the statewide rate of 83 percent. Wide with a standard diploma. disparities exist between ethnic groups, though. White

Ventura County Schools Graduation Rates (2016/17, 2017/18)

2016/17 2017/18

96.1% 97.3% 95.3% 93.5% 90.4% 91.1% 91.1% 88.3% 86.9% 85.7% 86.1% 85.4% 84.2% 81.6% 81.5% 82.7% 83.0% 78.4%

Dropout Rate: 9.6% Dropout Rate: 8.5% Dropout Rate: 7.9% Dropout Rate: 10.4% Dropout Rate: 11.9% Dropout Rate: 1.6% Dropout Rate: 1.0% Dropout Rate: 2.0% Dropout Rate: 2.4% Dropout Rate: 15.1% Dropout Rate: 8.4% Dropout Rate: 4.6% Dropout Rate: 3.8% Dropout Rate: 6.0% Dropout Rate: 3.5% Dropout Rate: 6.8% Dropout Rate: 6.0% Dropout Rate: 9.1% isani or erian sian iliino frian hite o or ore Ventura California Latino nian erian aes County otal tate otal

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 45 Childhood Socioeconomic Disparities INEQUALITIES ARE BROAD, DEEP

What is the measure? the southeastern end of the Oxnard Plain, in the heart The measure is a “misery index” made up of six socioeconomic of Ventura County’s agricultural industry. It is surely no indicators from 2017, applied to 18 school districts in Ventura coincidence in these neighborhoods, where many people County. The indicators are the poverty rate among children 5 work low-paying agricultural jobs, young children face the and younger; the percentage of women-led households with greatest socioeconomic challenges. Other districts with high children 5 and younger who live below the federal poverty “misery index” scores include those in Oxnard, Santa Paula line; the percentage of adults 25 and older without a high and Fillmore. school diploma; the percentage of people who speak English At the other end of the scale, the Oak Park Unified School “less than very well”; the percentage of students classified as District had by far the lowest score on the index, followed English learners; and the percentage of students eligible for by the Santa Clara Elementary district, a district with one free or discounted meals at school. The percentages are added small school between Santa Paula and Fillmore. Districts in together and weighted equally for the index. A higher number Simi Valley and Camarillo and the Mesa Union Elementary indicates greater socioeconomic challenges. district outside of Camarillo rounded out the five with the Why is the measure important? lowest scores. Not all schools face the same task in educating their students. The differences between the high and low end of the index In some areas, children are much more likely to enter school are vast. In Fillmore, 36.3 percent of children 5 and younger having grown up poor or without fluency in English. These live in households below the federal poverty line. While factors challenge educators, and the state recognizes this in Oak Park and the Santa Clara Elementary district, no when it makes extra funding available for schools with large children live below the poverty line. Four districts — Santa numbers of these students. Paula, Hueneme, Oxnard and Ocean View — have more than How are we doing? 80 percent of their students eligible for free or discounted The Ocean View and Hueneme Elementary school districts meals at school, while in Oak Park, 6.7 percent of students scored highest on the index. Both districts are located at are eligible.

“Misery Index” for Selected Ventura County School Districts (2017)

281.75 271.61 256.72 242.90 253.06 236.77 224.54 203.63 179.07 157.75 125.31 116.26 90.95 100.95 87.13 81.56

46.40 19.24 a anta esa leasant ii Coneo uu oorar Ventura ai riggs io ois illore Oxnard anta uenee ean ar Clara nion Valley Valley Valley Ele Unified Unified Unified Ele Ele nion Unified Ele aula Ele Vie Unified Ele Ele Unified Unified Unified Ele

46 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

NEW THIS School Safety YEAR BULLYING, WEAPONS ON THE DECLINE

What are the measures? of 11th graders reported being bullied. The measures are the number of 11th graders who report There is progress here, even as more is needed. Reports of seeing a weapon at school or being bullied in the previous bullying decreased in almost every district between 2014/15 12 months, according to an annual survey by the California and 2017/18. In Fillmore, the percentage of students who Department of Education. reported being bullied dropped from 34 to 20 percent in that Why are the measures important? three-year period, and it declined in Moorpark from 33 to 25 A school where students are bullied and exposed to weapons percent. is not a healthy learning environment. A gun, knife or other Weapons at school are less common than bullying, but in weapon suggests serious violence could occur. Bullying, even some districts more than 10 percent of 11th graders report without violence, can inflict severe psychological harm on seeing a gun, knife or other weapon at school in the past the victims. year. Simi Valley Unified had the highest rate, at 13 percent How are we doing? — somewhat surprising since Simi Valley is generally a low- A substantial minority of 11th graders in Ventura County crime city. Santa Paula and Ventura were also above 10 are bullied at school. During the 2017/18 school year, 32 percent, and Fillmore and Oak Park had the lowest rates, percent of 11th graders in the Conejo Valley Unified School both at 4 percent. Like bullying, weapons are becoming rarer District reported being bullied in the past year, the highest in our schools: The percentage of students who said they’d number in the county, followed by Oak Park Unified at 30 seen one at school dropped in every school district between percent and Ventura Unified at 29 percent. Santa Paula 2014/15 and 2017/18. Unified was the only district in which fewer than 20 percent 11th Grade Students Who Have Seen a Weapon At School in Last 12 Months 2014/15 2015/16 2017/18

11th Grade Students Who Have Been Bullied in Past 12 Months 2014/15 2015/16 2017/18

Available Not Conejo Valley Fillmore Moorpark a ar ai Oxnard Union anta aula ii Valley Ventura Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified igh Unified Unified Unified Survey Question: During the past 12 months, how many times on school property were you harassed or bullied for any of the following reasons? Your race, ethnicity, or national origin; your religion; your gender; because you are gay or lesbian or someone thought you were; a physical or mental disability; or any other reason.

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 47 NEW THIS Standardized Test Scores YEAR ACHIEVEMENT GAPS PERSIST

Hueneme Mesa Union Ocean View Oxnard Elementary (K-8) Elementary (K-8) Elementary (K-8) Elementary (K-8) 100

80 ENGLISH MATH Multiple Races 70.2 64.6 Asian 60 60.9 Multiple Races

Asian 51.3

40 White 39.0 Student groups above 0 exceed the state minimum standard. Negative scores represent test 20 results below minimum standard. 16.1 White ENGLISH MATH All Students 13.5 Multiple Races 8.4 ENGLISH MATH ENGLISH MATH 0 Asian 3.0 Hispanic -5.2 Multiple Races -4.3 -9.9 All Students Asian -12.6 English Learner -18.0 African American -16.1 -20 Multiple Races -20.0 -22.8 Multiple Races Soc. Disadvantaged -23.1 White -24.0 -23.5 Multiple Races White -23.6 -27.6 Asian White -30.2 -32.0 Hispanic -32.3 Asian -32.4 English Learner

-40 -39.6 White -46.5 Soc. Disadvantaged -48.5 African American All Students -51.9 All Students -53.3 -53.3 White African American -56.9 Hispanic -57.2 Soc. Disadvantaged -58.6 -58.6 Multiple Races -60 Hispanic -60.0 English Learner -61.6 -60.1 African American All Students -62.8 -61.5 White Soc. Disadvantaged -60.1 Hispanic -65.8 English Learner -67.7 Soc. Disadvantaged -69.9

-76.8 African American African American -75.9 English Learner -77.8 -80 -81.7 All Students -80.5 All Students -86.5 Hispanic -88.0 Soc. Disadvantaged -87.0 Soc. Disadvantaged -88.7 Hispanic -88.0 English Learner -92.7 English Learner -96.6 All Students -99.3 Hispanic -100 -102.4 Soc. Disadvantaged -107.2 English Learner

Charts include subset of Calif. Dashboard student groups. Omitted groups are: English Only, Filipino, Foster Youth, Homeless Youth, Students with Disabilities. These groups are included in the “All Students” category.

48 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

What are the measures? state standard, which is defined by the California Depart- The measures are the scores by students in 15 school districts ment of Education as “demonstrating the knowledge and in Ventura County on California’s standardized tests for math skills necessary for students to be on track for college and and English language arts in 2018. Students are tested annually career readiness at their grade level.” Scores are listed for all in grades three through eight and in grade 11. students in a district and for most subgroups, such as ethnic or socioeconomic, when the district has a statistically signifi- The scores are expressed as a distance above or below the cant number of students.

Pleasant Valley Rio Schools Oxnard Union High Elementary (K-8) Elementary (K-8) School District (9-12) ENGLISH MATH 100 Asian 95.4

ENGLISH MATH Asian 78.6 80 74.5 Asian

64.6 Asian 60

White 48.7

Multiple Races 40.2 40 White 36.3 ENGLISH MATH Multiple Races 33.0 Asian 30.4

All Students 23.4 20 14.4 Multiple Races 10.1 White

Multiple Races 0.6 0 African American -0.4 White -5.9 Hispanic -7.7 -6.0 All Students -6.2 White

Soc. Disadvantaged -15.7 -15.6 Multiple Races English Learner -16.0 -22.7 Multiple Races -20 -25.3 White All Students -26.0

-42.0 Hispanic All Students -41.8 African American -43.3 -40 -45.1 African American Hispanic -44.8 -46.5 English Learner Hispanic -47.7 Soc. Disadvantaged -51.4 -50.6 Soc. Disadvantaged Soc. Disadvantaged -52.1 African American -53.8 English Learner -58.8 -60 -65.2 All Students -71.9 Hispanic -75.3 Soc. Disadvantaged -80.0 English Learner -80 -81.0 African American -89.9 All Students

-100

-111.1 Hispanic Note: Charts omit student groups when less than -113.5 African American English Learner -114.4 -116.1 Soc. Disadvantaged minimum number of children are in measurement. For additional performance measurements, visit www.CaSchoolDashboard.org -173.1 English Learner (not to scale)

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 49 Why are the measures important? that fall below state standards on these tests or those that Standardized tests measure the knowledge California’s public fail to show improvement or to close gaps between different school students are expected to master in each grade level. That subgroups can face sanctions from the state. isn’t the only thing we should know about school performance, but it is undoubtedly one of the most important factors. Scores How are we doing? School districts in Ventura County vary tremendously in their for subgroups — for example, the average results for white academic performance. At one end of the spectrum, every students and Latinos, or for pupils who are socioeconomically group of students in the Oak Park Unified School District disadvantaged — are useful for gauging whether a school or exceeded state standards in both math and English. At the district is educating all students in an equitable way. Schools

Conejo Valley Unified Fillmore Unified Moorpark Unified Oak Park Unified (K-12) (K-12) (K-12) (K-12)

ENGLISH MATH 100 ENGLISH MATH 99.9 Asian Asian 96.0 95.4 Asian ENGLISH MATH Asian 88.5 Asian 86.2 Multiple Races 84.8 80

71.8 Asian All Students 70.5 White 64.6 African American 63.1 60 60.8 Multiple Races Multiple Races 54.8 Multiple Races 53.4 White 53.9 49.8 All Students

White 41.1 42.3 English Learner 40 English Learner 39.3 37.4 White 37.4 Multiple Races Hispanic 34.9 Soc. Disadvantaged 33.6 African American 31.5 ENGLISH MATH All Students 25.8 24.5 White Multiple Races 23.7 All Students 22.8 23.7 Multiple Races 20 18.0 White

10.4 All Students 11.5 African American

3.7 Hispanic African American 0.7 1.4 Soc. Disadvantaged 0 -3.4 Multiple Races

-10.4 All Students Hispanic -12.8

-20 -22.0 African American -21.5 African American White -24.9 Soc. Disadvantaged -25.3 Hispanic -31.8 English Learner -33.7 Soc. Disadvantaged -36.8 -40 English Learner -46.0 -45.5 Hispanic

-54.2 Hispanic All Students -55.1 -54.6 White -55.8 Soc. Disadvantaged -58.5 Soc. Disadvantaged Hispanic -57.8 -60 -61.7 English Learner -60.3 English Learner Soc. Disadvantaged -63.8

-80 English Learner -81.7 -85.9 All Students -88.8 Hispanic

-95.3 Soc. Disadvantaged -100 -105.5 English Learner

50 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

other end, not a single group of students in the Ocean View Wide gaps exist within school districts, too. In the Conejo Elementary School District, at the southern end of the Oxnard Valley Unified School District, Asian students scored 99.9 Plain, met standards in either math or English. points above the standard in math and 88.5 points above in English, and white students scored 41.1 points above These disparities between districts correspond to socio- the standard in English and 24.5 points above in math. In economic indicators detailed on page 46. In other words, contrast, Conejo Valley Unified’s Hispanic students scored students who grow up in areas with higher poverty levels 31.8 points below the standard in English and 54.2 points and lower adult education attainment end up in schools that below in math; the district’s students classified as perform much worse on standardized tests than those in socioeconomically disadvantaged scored 36.8 points below areas with less poverty and better educated adults. the standard in English and 58.5 points below in math.

Ojai Unified Santa Paula Unified Simi Valley Unified Ventura Unified (K-12) (K-12) (K-12) (K-12) 100

ENGLISH MATH Asian 60.1 ENGLISH MATH Asian 59.2 60 ENGLISH MATH 53.5 Asian Asian 47.8 Student groups above 0 exceed the state 42.3 Asian White 36.9 40 minimum standard. Multiple Races 36.0 31.2 Asian Negative scores Multiple Races 31.8 represent test results below minimum 20 standard. White 16.7 8.4 Multiple Races 9.2 Multiple Races White 7.8 7.5 White All Students 5.3 Multiple Races 5.2 All Students 3.2 0

African American -11.8 -10.6 White All Students -16.1 ENGLISH MATH White -17.8 African American -18.7 -22.0 All Students -20 Hispanic -25.5 -26.1 White Hispanic -27.2 -27.6 All Students Soc. Disadvantaged -28.9 Soc. Disadvantaged -33.8 -38.1 Multiple Races -38.1 White Soc. Disadvantaged -41.7 -40 All Students -45.2 -47.9 All Students Hispanic -46.2 Soc. Disadvantaged -48.8 English Learner -48.5 -48.3 African American Hispanic -56.7 English Learner -54.8 English Learner -59.4 -57.2 Hispanic -59.6 Hispanic -60.1 African American -60 English Learner -62.8 -63.4 Soc. Disadvantaged -61.2 Soc. Disadvantaged -67.8 English Learner -71.1 Soc. Disadvantaged -73.4 All Students -74.7 Hispanic -76.9 Soc. Disadvantaged -83.9 Hispanic -80.5 English Learner -80 -84.3 English Learner -87.1 English Learner

-100

Note: Charts omit student groups when less than minimum number of children are in measurement. For additional performance measurements, visit www.CaSchoolDashboard.org

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 51 Community College Enrollment COUNTY’S COLLEGES GROWING AGAIN

What are the measures? growth after the 2015/16 school year. In the fall of 2018, The measures are the number of students enrolled at the three there were 33,081 students enrolled in the county’s campuses of the Ventura County Community College District: three campuses, 1.2 percent more than the previous year. Ventura College, Oxnard College and Moorpark College; and Enrollment remains below the fall of 2011, though, when the the age breakdown at each campus. district had 3.8 percent more students than it did in 2018. Why are the measures important? Moorpark College, with 13,570 students in 2018, and Community colleges are a key cog in the educational system. Ventura College, with 12,691, are much larger than Oxnard Affordable and open to anyone, a community college is the College, with 6,820. The Oxnard campus experienced the only route to a four-year university for many people. A two- steepest enrollment decline in the early 2010s, relative to year degree is also, on its own, a boon to the recipient’s job its size, losing 13.2 percent of its enrollment between 2010 prospects and earning potential. And community colleges and 2013. offer classes and technical certificates for people who aren’t Moorpark College has the highest portion of traditional traditional college students, so they can improve their skills college students, with 78 percent of its enrollment under the and advance in their careers or train for new ones. age of 25 in 2018. At Ventura College, 69.8 percent of the How are we doing? students were younger than 25, and at Oxnard College, 69.3 After shrinking for a few years due to post-recession budget percent were younger than 25. cuts, Ventura County’s community colleges returned to

Ventura County Community College Enrollment (Fall Term, 2010/11 - 2018/19)

Moorpark College Oxnard College Ventura College

12,859 12,706 12,691 12,130 12,183 12,209 12,522 12,195 12,268

7,237 6,694 6,429 6,283 6,506 6,370 6,453 6,767 6,820

14,242 14,244 13,570 13,280 13,111 12,951 13,172 13,401 13,570

52 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

Ventura County Community College Enrollment by College and Age (Fall Term, 2018/19) 96 221 144 539 402 304 320 510 1,405 483 775 1,611 60 or older 50-59 4,947 40-49 35-39 61 162 4,375 30-34 268 25-29 453 261 888 20-24 19 or younger 2,275 5,640 4,489 2,452

oorar College nar College Ventura College

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 53 Four-Year College Enrollment CSUCI STILL COMING INTO ITS OWN

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of students enrolled at Ventura Ventura County’s only public university, CSU Channel County’s four-year universities: California Lutheran University Islands, is the fastest growing campus in the California State in Thousand Oaks; California State University, Channel Islands, University system. In 2017, it had 6,813 undergraduate near Camarillo; and Thomas Aquinas College, near Santa Paula. students, nearly 1,000 more than just two years earlier. The school approximately doubled in size between 2009 Why is the measure important? and 2017. The University opened in 2002 with 29 students College attendance has become a requirement to participate and plans to accommodate more than 10,000 by 2025. in many parts of the modern American economy. A four-year degree dramatically improves a graduate’s lifetime earning The county’s largest private university, California Lutheran, also potential and going to college without graduating helps as is growing, though not as quickly. It had 2,963 undergraduates well. Thriving four-year universities benefit our county’s in 2017, its third straight year of enrollment growth and a culture and economy, as they bring well-paying jobs and 34.9 percent increase between 2008 and 2017. educated students and faculty to our communities. The county’s other private college, Thomas Aquinas, is much smaller, with 370 undergraduates in 2017. It grew slowly in the early 2000s and stayed about the same size since 2012.

Four-Year College Undergraduate Enrollment in Ventura County (2005/06 - 2017/18) California Lutheran University CSU Channel Islands Thomas Aquinas College

7,000 6,611 6,813 5,879 6,000 5,551

4,881 5,000 4,522

3,988 3,573 4,000 3,402 3,234 3,348 2,963 2,825 2,713 2,804 2,888 2,808 2,810 2,892 3,000 2,545 2,336 2,352 2,124 2,129 2,196

2,000 2,095

1,000 359 351 360 340 345 355 358 370 366 378 377 389 370 0

54 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

Earnings by Educational Attainment DIPLOMAS PAY OFF

What is the measure? earned almost twice as much as the average high school The measure is the median annual earnings by Ventura graduate, and around 50 percent more than the average County residents, sorted by gender and education level. worker with some college education but lacking a four-year It includes all county residents 25 and older, whether they degree. The average worker with a graduate or professional work full or part time. degree earned more than twice as much as the average worker with some college education but without a four-year Why is the measure important? degree, and almost a third more than the average worker Education is among the most important factors in with a bachelor’s degree. determining future prosperity. From high school on, every Women earn less than men at every level of education. This level of additional schooling produces lifelong benefits. This data includes all working adults 25 and older, regardless of is true for men and women, though gender disparities exist whether they work full or part time. Because women are at all education levels. Additional information on the gender more likely to work part time, this data shows larger gender earnings gap is included in the Economy domain. gaps than the section on the gender wage disparity presented How are we doing? in the Economy domain of this report, which includes only full-time workers. The economic benefits of education are enormous. In 2017 in Ventura County, the average holder of a bachelor’s degree

Ventura County Median Earnings by Gender and Educational Attainment for the Population 25 Years and Older (2017)

Male Female $104,147

$79,396 $67,558

$50,613 $50,733 $48,281 $35,751 $32,813 $34,086

2017 Inflation-Adjusted2017 $ $24,217 $25,732 $16,739

Less than igh hool igh hool rauate oe College or ahelors rauate or eighte rauate nlues Euialeny ssoiates egree egree rofessional egree erage

Ventura County Civic Alliance EDUCATION | 55 Preschool Opportunities PRESCHOOL SPACE IN SHORT SUPPLY

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the ratio of demand for preschool among low- In most of the county, the demand for free preschool income families to the number of spaces available in First 5 outstrips the supply. The biggest shortages were in Ventura’s preschools in 17 Ventura County ZIP codes. 93003 ZIP code, which had 14.1 children in need per open spot in 2016; the 91320 ZIP code in Newbury Park, with 12.6 Why is the measure important? children in need per opening; and the 93065 ZIP code in Simi Numerous studies show quality preschool prepares children Valley, where there were 12.1 children in need per opening. for school and imparts long-lasting educational benefits, which are particularly helpful to low-income children. But Only Fillmore and Piru (the 93015 ZIP code) had more most preschool is privately provided and out of the financial openings than children in need, with a ratio of 0.9. Other reach of low-income families. areas that came close, with ratios between 1.0 and 2.0, were Oxnard (93030, 93033 and 93036), Thousand Oaks (91360), Ojai (93023) and west Ventura (93001).

Ratio of Demand to Available Preschool Spaces in Ventura County (2016)

12.6

1.8

3.8

1.4

14.1

4.9

4.5

0.9

2.8

1.7

1.8

1.4

3.7

1.4

6.5

2.7

12.1

erage 2.7

56 | EDUCATION Ventura County Civic Alliance 2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

Land Use & Housing

California finds itself in the throes of a housing crisis. The western Ventura County, destroying hundreds of homes in chief problem is affordability, especially in desirable and Ventura and the upper Ojai. In November 2018, the Hill and prosperous areas like Ventura County. With demand outstripping Woolsey fires hit eastern Ventura County, burning hundreds supply, home prices and rents have been on a long upward of dwellings in Oak Park, Thousand Oaks and Malibu. More trajectory, and the results include longer than 2,500 structures were lost in these commutes from sprawling exurbs, young blazes, most of them single family homes. people driven out of state by the cost There has been a Rebuilding will take years, and in the of living and rising homelessness in our flurry of apartment meantime a region already suffering a biggest cities. housing shortage, will be squeezed harder. construction in recent Our county presents unique challenges in Despite these challenges, some progress this crisis. With abundant acreage devoted years in Ventura, is being made. Ventura County’s housing to farms and ranches, national forest and starts — the number of new homes permitted coastline, much of the county is off limits Oxnard and Camarillo, to be built — reached a 12-year high in to development, either by necessity or by with more proposed 2017. There has been a flurry of apartment choice. The political equilibrium across the construction in recent years in Ventura, county resists large-scale development, in the near future. Oxnard and Camarillo, with more proposed in and that resistance is codified in SOAR, the near future. Cities from Thousand Oaks or Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources, a set of to Ventura are planning downtown areas with improved access laws that give voters the final say on most development to transit, housing and jobs, aiming to create truly walkable projects planned for open space or farmland. neighborhoods. Perhaps, when future State Of The Region reports are written, 2019 will be seen as a tipping point, a Natural disasters pose another obstacle to providing enough time when our communities began to seriously address the housing. In December 2017, the Thomas Fire tore through housing crisis.

Ventura County Civic Alliance LAND USE & HOUSING | 57 Acres of Urban and Built-Up Land WE DON’T SPRAWL LIKE WE USED TO

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the amount of land in Ventura County devoted The urbanization of Ventura County slowed after the Great to urban purposes, defined as developed to a density of at Recession of 2008. Between 2010 and 2016, the last year for least one residential or commercial unit for every 1.5 acres. which data is available, the county developed just 733 acres, an increase of 0.7 percent over six years. That brought the Why is the measure important? total to 105,966 acres of urban and built-up land in Ventura If developers and governments want to meet the demand for County in 2016, or about 10,000 acres more than the amount housing, jobs and other expansion in our region, they have of harvested agricultural land. two choices: Increase the density of land already urbanized or zone more rural land for urbanization. Developing rural land Even during the last real estate boom, in the early 2000s, decreases the amount of farmland and open space, threatens Ventura County’s urbanization proceeded relatively slowly. the viability of the agricultural industry and could harm our The county peaked at adding 2.6 percent to its inventory of environment and rob us of places for outdoor recreation. On developed acres between 2000 and 2002, which was similar the other hand, refusing to develop rural land puts pressure to the growth rate the county saw during the recession of the on our existing urban spaces, and the public and elected early 1990s. The last true building boom in Ventura County officials frequently reject increasing density in those areas. was in the late 1980s when the county developed 4,256 acres of rural land between 1988 and 1990, an increase of 5.1 percent.

Politics appears to matter at least as much as economics when it comes to urbanization. The development rate of rural land slowed noticeably after 1995 when Ventura County voters passed growth control laws collectively known as Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources or SOAR. In 2016, voters extended these measures through 2050, so it seems unlikely Ventura County will see 1980s-style sprawl development anytime soon.

Acres of Urban and Built-Up Land and Percent Change in Ventura County (1988 - 2016) Urban and Built-Up Land Percent Change 7%

6% 104,280 105,233 105,461 105,671 105,966 101,841 102,874 97,236 99,789 5% 95,522 92,883 89,035 91,541 87,859 4% 83,603 3% Acres of Land 2% PercentChange

58 | LAND USE & HOUSING Ventura County Civic Alliance New Housing Starts RECENT BUMP IN NEW HOME PERMITS

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure known as “housing starts” is the number of It took a decade but in 2016 and 2017 Ventura County building permits issued each year by local governments for seemed to turn a corner toward building more housing. In new housing units. It does not necessarily reflect the number 2017, agencies issued 2,565 permits for new housing units, of new homes actually built in a given year. the highest number since 2005 and the fifth year in a row of year-to-year growth in housing starts. Recent figures remain Why is the measure important? far below the early 2000s boom, when the county frequently Ventura County’s housing shortage is undeniable and by topped 3,000 housing starts, peaking at 4,511 in 2005. many measures is worsening. Apart from the years following the crash of 2008, home prices consistently have risen For a decade, housing starts fell behind our population faster than inflation for decades. Rents are climbing fast, growth. Between the start of 2010 and the end of 2015v, too, and apartment vacancy rates are low. The way to meet Ventura County’s population grew by 31,853, according to rising demand is to build new housing, and that requires the California Department of Finance. Since approximately building permits. three people occupy the average household, the county would need to add more than 10,000 units to accommodate those additional residents. But during that time, building permits were issued for 5,472 new homes.

In 2016 and 2017, new building permits of 4,174 more than kept pace with population growth of 5,112 residents or roughly 1,700 new homes. We still have plenty of catching up to do to make up for the deficits incurred between 2006 and 2015.

New Housing Units Permitted in Ventura County (2003 - 2017)

4,511 3,567 2,565 2,617 2,244 Acres of Urban and Built-Up Land and Percent Change in Ventura County (1988 - 2016) 1,595 1,609 1,314 1,433 1,001 893 590 568 352 566

Ventura County Civic Alliance LAND USE & HOUSING | 59 Homeownership Rate HOMEOWNERS TO THE EAST, RENTERS TO THE WEST

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the percentage of homes occupied by their Despite the high price of homes in Ventura County, people owners rather than by renters. here are more likely than the average Californian to own their home. In 2017, the homeownership rate in the county was Why is the measure important? 63.2 percent, higher than the statewide rate of 54.5 percent Promoting home ownership has been a goal of public policy- and about the same as the national rate of 63.8 percent. makers and private financial institutions for generations. Homeownership rates dropped nationwide after the real Home ownership helps families build wealth, and owning estate crash of 2008 and continued to decline during the a home often fosters connection to the neighborhood and recovery. In Ventura County, the rate fell from nearly 70 community. percent in 2005 to 65.8 percent in 2011 and 63.2 percent in 2017. Owning a home also has drawbacks, and many economists believe it is a troubling sign if the homeownership rate climbs Ventura County’s homeownership rate is higher than other too high. Buying a home is a major financial risk. Families no Southern California counties — with the exception of longer able to pay their rent can look for a cheaper apartment; Riverside County, where home prices run much lower than homeowners who fall behind on their mortgages and are Ventura County. unable to sell can lose their homes and see their savings Residents of eastern Ventura County are likelier to own evaporate and credit ruined. Owning a home also makes their homes than people in the western part of the county. people less mobile; if a homeowner loses her job, it’s harder Moorpark had the county’s highest homeownership rate in to relocate for employment than it would be for a renter. 2017, at 75 percent, followed by Simi Valley at 72 percent and Thousand Oaks and Fillmore, both at 70 percent. Port Hueneme had the lowest rate, at 46 percent, followed by Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Paula and Ojai, which were all between 54 and 56 percent.

Homeownership Rate by County (2013 - 2017) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 65.0% 63.2% 63.8% 60.0% 59.2% 57.4% 54.5% 53.0% 52.3% 45.9%

Riverside Ventura an Luis an range an iego anta Los Angeles California iso ernardino arara

Percentage of Owners and Renters in Ventura County (2017) Owner-Occupied Renter-Occupied 25% 28% 30% 30% 33% 37% 44% 45% 46% 47% 54% 75% 72% 70% 70% 67% 56% 55% 54% 63% 53% 46% Moorar imi Thousand illmore Camarillo ai anta Ventura nard Port verall Valley as Paula Hueneme Ventura County

60 | LAND USE & HOUSING Ventura County Civic Alliance Median Home Price HOME VALUES NEARING 2006 PEAK

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the median price of all homes sold each year Ventura County’s median home price hit $589,117 in 2018, in Ventura County, including new and existing houses and which is 6.7 percent higher than the year before and the condominiums. The median is the point at which half of all fourth straight year of rising prices. sales were for higher values, and half were for lower values. Prices in 2018 approached their peaks from the last real Why is the measure important? estate boom, when the median price in Ventura County Home values are important to people who own homes and topped $600,000 in 2006. That peak was followed by five those who want to buy them. When prices rise, homeowners years of steep decline, bottoming out at $356,408 in 2011. see their net worth balloon along with their home equity, and Home prices in February 2019 were lowest in Port Hueneme, renters see the dream of home ownership slip away. When which had a median sale price of $325,000, and highest in prices drop, homeowners lose equity and can find it hard to Westlake Village, where the median sale was for $1.1 million. sell their homes, while people looking to buy benefit as more Oak Park, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Ojai were all homes come into their price range. near the top, with prices above $700,000. At the low end, Oxnard and Santa Paula joined Port Hueneme with medians below $500,000.

Ventura County Median Home Price, Annual Average (2008 - 2018) $ $589,117 $

Ventura County Median Home Price by Community (February 2018 - 2019) February 2018 February 2019 $ $ $1.1M $ $ $875 $ $790 $765 $798 $710 $705 $713 $ $659 $680 $631 $ $550 $580 $597 $565 $562 $555 $565 $532 $530 $513 $ $485 $417 $442 $409 $ $383 $358 $325 $ 567 sales 567 90 sales 90 $ sales 7 sales 17 sales 14 sales 33 sales 30 sales 68 sales 63 sales 85 sales 17 sales 89 sales 14 15 sales MedianHome Price (In Thousand of $) a Par ai Westlae Moorar eury Thousand Camarillo imi Ventura anta nard illmore Port verall Village Par as Valley Paula Hueneme Ventura County

Ventura County Civic Alliance LAND USE & HOUSING | 61 Apartment Rents FEWER VACANCIES WHILE RENTS STEADILY CLIMB

What are the measures? Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo and Simi Valley posted The measures are average rents and vacancy rates in market- the county’s highest rents in 2018, averaging above $2,000 rate apartment buildings in Ventura County, as tracked by per month for all unit sizes. The lowest monthly rents were in Dyer Sheehan Group. For vacancy rates, a weighted average Fillmore, at $1,216, and Santa Paula, at $1,293. of all apartments is used, regardless of size. While rents are high, vacancy rates in Ventura County are quite low. The countywide rate was 2.37 percent in July 2018, Why are the measures important? down from 3.02 percent a year earlier. It dropped in 2015 Tens of thousands of households in Ventura County rent their as rents went up, after a few years of floating between 3.5 homes. Rent is almost always their biggest monthly expense, percent and 4 percent. The rate here consistently falls below and the type of home they can afford is often dictated by the the national vacancy rate of around 7 percent for rental ups and downs of the rental market. housing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. How are we doing? Apartment rents in Ventura County have skyrocketed. In July 2014, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $1,479; in July 2018, it hit $2,089, a 41.2 percent climb in four years. That came after nearly a decade of stagnation; the average rent in 2014 was $17 per month more than in 2005, which amounts to a decrease when adjusted for inflation.

Average Ventura County Two Bedroom Apartment Rents & Weighted Average Vacancy (July 2005 - 2018) Average Monthly Rent Weighted Average Vacancy Rate (%) $2,089 $ 7% $ 6% $ 5% $1,462 $ 4% $ 3.60% 3% $ 2% 2.37% $ 1%

Average Monthly Rent Monthly Average $ 0%

WeightedAverage Vacancy Rate

Average Monthly Apartment Rent - All Unit Sizes (July 2015 - 2018)

2015 2016 2017 2018

$ $2,163 $2,105 $2,059 $2,021 $ $1,954 $ $1,823 $1,787 $ $1,513 $ $1,293 $ $1,216 $ $ $ Thousand as Moorar Camarillo imi Valley Ventura nard ai Valley anta Paula illmore Ventura County Westlae Village Port Hueneme (Weighted Avg)

62 | LAND USE & HOUSING Ventura County Civic Alliance Housing Affordability BUYING A HOME MOSTLY A DREAM

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the percentage of households who can afford Our median family income has been rising in recent years but to buy the county’s median-priced home. The calculation not enough to keep pace with increasing home prices. In 2018, assumes a 10 percent down payment and a 30-year mortgage just 28 percent of Ventura County residents could afford the at prevailing interest rates. If the mortgage payment is less county’s median-priced home, down from 47 percent in 2012. than 30 percent of the household’s income, the home is Ventura County’s affordability rate mirrored California as considered affordable. a whole, but measured about half the national rate of 53 Why is the measure important? percent. In Southern California, higher-wage, higher-cost Ventura County’s home prices are relatively high, but they counties like Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange scored lower are only half of the home-buying equation. The affordability in affordability than lower-wage, lower-cost counties like index measures the true cost of buying a home, because it Riverside and San Bernardino. In other words, our higher factors in upkeep expenses. If people who live and work in wages fail to offset our higher housing costs. Ventura County cannot afford to buy here, they might move farther from their jobs — worsening traffic and air quality. They might leave the region altogether. Or they might stretch their budgets to buy, putting themselves at risk of foreclosure.

Housing Affordability Index (Q3, 2012 - 2017)

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

53% 48% 37% 28% 27% 22% 20% an ernardino Riverside Ventura Los Angeles range California County County County County County

Median Family Income in Ventura County (2005 - 2017)

$ $88,547 $ $86,579 $86,890 $91,732 $84,996 $84,364 $ $86,321 $86,301 $86,766 $79,910 $ $83,830 $ $81,187 $75,157 $

Ventura County Civic Alliance LAND USE & HOUSING | 63 64 | NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT Natural & Environmental Resources

Ventura County’s natural environment is among its that looked strongly positive in the long term have either greatest resources, and over the past several decades we stopped improving or actually started moving in the opposite have done a good job of safeguarding direction. In recent years particulate matter it. Our county embraced the modern There are signs we may in the air has spiked. Beach advisories due environmental movement, which started to contaminated ocean water, once an in nearby Santa Barbara in the aftermath have reached a point everyday occurrence, nearly disappeared of a major oil spill in 1969. Compared to of diminishing returns by 2009, only to creep back over the past where we were a few decades ago, our air decade. We are sending more trash to our and ocean water are much cleaner. We use in many measures of landfills than just a few years ago. By most less electricity per person, get more of our environmental quality. measures, we are still much better off than power from renewable sources and extract we were a generation ago, but without far less oil and natural gas. action we could find ourselves once again breathing dirty air and swimming in polluted ocean water. But there are signs we may have reached a point of diminishing returns in some measures of environmental quality. Trends

Ventura County Civic Alliance NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES | 65 Electricity Use USAGE RISES IN 2017 AFTER MULTI-YEAR DECLINE

What is the measure? declining energy consumption, from a high point in 2012 of The measure is the amount of electricity used by residential 1.92 billion kilowatt-hours. customers in Ventura County, in kilowatt-hours per year. Two trends in energy usage appear at work simultaneously. Why is the measure important? The first is that consumption of power, like that of most Energy efficiency is good for our bank accounts, the other goods, rises during a strong economy and drops during electricity grid and for the environment. Though California a recession. Usage grew steadily from 2001 until the Great has set a goal of 100 percent clean power by 2045, for the Recession started in 2008. That was followed by a decline time being most of our electricity comes from sources that as the downturn deepened, and an increase in 2012 during affect the environment in some way. Natural gas, the state’s the recovery. In recent years, as the region’s economy has top fuel source for power plants, releases carbon dioxide stagnated or grown very slowly, consumption has been when burned, contributing to climate change. Hydropower nearly flat. dams, another leading source of California’s power, do not The second trend is a slight decline in overall consumption, produce carbon, but they cause other ecological problems, which becomes clear when the figures are adjusted for the such as harm to fish habitats. county’s population growth. On a per-capita basis, energy How are we doing? consumption in 2017 was lower than it had been in 2000. Ventura County residents used 1.84 billion kilowatt-hours Conservation and efficiency are working: Even with the of electricity in 2017, an increase of 2.8 percent from the proliferation of electronic devices in our lives, we use slightly previous year. That came after four straight years of flat or less power.

Ventura County Residential Electricity Consumption (2000 - 2017)

2.00 1.92 1.89 1.90 1.91 1.90 1.84 1.86 1.82 1.84 1.79 1.80 1.79 1.80 1.79 1.77 1.74 1.69 1.70 1.65 1.58 1.60 1.53 1.50 (In Billions of kWh/yr) of Billions (In 1.40 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

66 | NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Solar Power Installations THE SOLAR BOOM SLOWS

What are the measures? County, bringing the county’s total capacity to 131.79 The measures are Ventura County’s solar power capacity and megawatts. That’s equal to one large commercial solar field, the number of new solar projects each year. enough to power tens of thousands of homes. The 15.18 megawatts added in 2018 was the smallest output of new Why are the measures important? solar projects since 2013, though. In 2018, California passed a law mandating half of the state’s energy will come from renewable sources by 2025, and 100 Ventura County’s solar power capacity is scattered through- percent by 2045. Solar power is the state’s leading source of out thousands of small installations on public and private renewable energy, and an expansion of our solar capacity will property. By the end of 2018, there were 17,588 solar be essential if we are to meet those targets. installations in the county, 2,129 of which went online in 2018. The peak of the recent solar boom was 2015, when How are we doing? 3,216 new installations powered up. The solar industry in Ventura County continues to thrive, though its growth has slowed in recent years. In 2018, the industry added 15.18 megawatts of capacity in Ventura Ventura County Solar Capacity (2009 - 2018) Prior Years’ Cumulative Capacity Current Year Capacity

15.18 16.86 20.03 19.29 20.19 131.79 116.62

(In Megawatts) 99.76 9.48 10.93 79.73 5.12 60.45 2.41 2.95 40.26 29.33 14.74 19.85 11.79

Ventura County Solar Projects (2009 - 2018) Prior Years’ Cumulative Projects Current Year Projects 2,129 2,189 2,599 3,216

17,588 2,437 15,459 13,270 1,788 10,671 705 952 7,455 384 5,018 273 3,230 1,573 2,278 1,189

Ventura County Civic Alliance NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES | 67 Air Quality WE BREATHE CLEANER AIR THAN BEFORE

What are the measures? limit 14 times. In the 1970s and 1980s, the county almost The measures are the number of days per year Ventura always exceeded state ozone limits more than 100 days per County exceeded state standards for ozone and particulate year. Ozone levels declined throughout the 1990s and early matter in the air. 2000s, before flattening out near the current levels around 2010. There was a bit of a spike in 2017, though. That year Why are the measures important? saw three days over the one-hour ozone limit, tying the High levels of both ozone and particulate matter are harmful, highest level since 2009; its 22 days above the eight-hour in different ways. Ozone, a molecule consisting of three limit were the highest since 2012. oxygen atoms, occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere, where it is essential as a filter of harmful radiation. In the Ventura County also has achieved long-term reduction in the lower atmosphere, however, it is a pollutant formed by amount of particulate matter in its air though improvement reactions between two other types of air pollutants, nitrogen has been less dramatic than with ozone and, in fact, has oxides and volatile organic compounds. High ozone levels reversed in recent years. In 2018, the county exceeded the contribute to smog and can cause eye and throat irritation, state 24-hour standard 23 times for PM10. That was down reduced lung capacity and crop damage. from 34 times over the limit in 2017, and far below the levels in the 1990s, when the county routinely topped 40 days per Small enough to be inhaled, particulate matter is a mixture year over the PM10 standard. of metal, soot, soil, dust and liquid droplets. Particles 10 microns or smaller are known as PM10. Exposure to PM10 However, PM10 levels in 2018 were well above those can aggravate asthma and other respiratory illnesses and is between 2010 and 2015, when the county exceeded the associated with increased risk of premature death, especially limit fewer than 10 times each year. In fact, in 2013, Ventura in the elderly and people with cardiopulmonary disease. County went all year without surpassing the PM10 standard. How are we doing? Although the smoke from wildfires is generally associated Frequent days with dirty air appear to be a thing of the past with PM2.5, particles can affect PM10 and are responsible in Ventura County. Twice in 2018, the region exceeded for some of the increase in 2017 and 2018. Even after fires California’s one-hour limit for ozone, and its eight-hour ozone are out, blowing dust and ash can impact PM10.

68 | NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Number of Days Ventura County Exceeded State Ozone Limits (1980 - 2018)

State 1-Hour Standard State 8-Hour Standard

158 151

137 133 129 118 115 122

95 104

68 74 64 50 46 54 24 15 16 14 8 2

Estimated Days in Ventura County Above the State 24 - Hour PM10 Standard (1990 - 2018)

100 99 90

70 66 60 57

50 47 43 40 39 34 30 31 30 24 25 24 29 20 18 17 23 18 19 12 12 12 13 8 9 10 6 6 6 7 0 0

Ventura County Civic Alliance NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES | 69 Rainfall ANOTHER DRY YEAR IN 2018

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the amount of rain that falls in different Six of the past eight years have been unusually dry in Ventura locations in Ventura County during each “rainfall year,” from County, though the 2019 rainfall year is shaping up to be Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 of the following year. above average. In 2018, rainfall totals ranged from 5.89 inches in Oxnard to 12.21 inches in Ojai. Most of the county Why is the measure important? received less than half as much rain in 2018 as in 2017, which Life needs water. By filling lakes, rivers and aquifers, rainfall was the wettest year in most areas since 2011. Ojai almost supplies both drinking water and agricultural irrigation. It is always gets the most rain of any city in Ventura County; in also crucial to the health of wildlife and wildlife habitats, and 2018, more than twice as much rain fell there as in Oxnard. it reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

Average Inches of Rainfall* (2011 - 2018) 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 30

12.21

10 7.63 7.57 7.88 6.32 5.89 6.43 5

0 Ojai Thousand Oaks Fillmore Moorpark Ventura Oxnard Camarillo *Rainfall is counted on a “water year” which is October 1 through September 30

70 | NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Drought IT’S OVER

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the level of drought across California, according After drought parched nearly the entire state from 2011 to the U.S. Drought Monitor, produced by researchers at the through 2016, California flitted in and out of drought status University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in cooperation with the U.S. from 2017 through early 2019. Throughout all of that, Ventura Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and County was one of the state’s driest regions. By January 2019, Atmospheric Administration. most of the state was covered by moderate drought, with Ventura County one of only a few areas still in a state of Why is the measure important? extreme drought. Then the rain began to fall, and by March Drought hurts our economy, environment and health as water 2019 the entire state, Ventura County included, was no longer for drinking and irrigation becomes scarcer, more expensive in a drought. and of lower quality. The longer a drought persists, the drier the brush becomes in our wildlands and the greater risk of serious wildfire.

March 13, 2018 March 14, 2019 Intesity:

D0 Abnormally Dry D1 Moderate Drought D2 Severe Drought D3 Extreme Drought D4 Exceptional Drought

Ventura County Ventura County

Ventura County Civic Alliance NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES | 71 Water Use HOTTER REGIONS, BIGGER HOMES CONSUME MORE

What is the measure? scarcity is to reduce usage. Conservation also allows us to The measure is the amount of residential water used per grow our population without putting further strain on our person each day in 2018, in 14 service areas of Ventura water resources. County. The statistics for Westlake Village include some How are we doing? residences in Los Angeles County. People in warmer parts of Ventura County use far more water Why is the measure important? than people in cooler climates, and water usage is also higher Water is precious in Southern California, even during our in areas with larger residential properties. Neither of these wettest years. Ventura County lacks enough locally sourced facts is surprising, because landscaping requires more water water for its population and must rely in part on imports than other residential uses. The differences can be extreme: from Northern California or the Colorado River. Areas of the Westlake Village residents used an average of 237 gallons county that do not import water, such as the city of Ventura, per day in 2018, while Oxnard residents used an average of are considering doing so. The drought also has renewed 55 gallons daily. interest in ocean desalination plants or other projects to increase the water supply. But the cheapest way to deal with

Average Residential Water Use per Capita per Day in Gallons (2018)

250 237

200

150 139 138 132 119 117 114 109 100 98 86 86 68 57 55 50

0 Westlake Camarillo Thousand Oaks Moorpark Thousand Oaks Simi Valley Ojai, Fillmore Simi Valley Santa Camarillo Ventura Port Oxnard Village (Camrosa) (Cal Am Water) (District #1) (City) (District #8) Oak View, (Golden State) Paula (City) (City) Hueneme West Ventura (Casitas)

72 | NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Ocean Water Quality MORE BEACH ADVISORIES POSTED

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of days per year beaches in In 2018, beach advisories in Ventura County were posted Ventura County were posted as unsafe for public use because 321 times due to excessive bacteria in the water, up from 216 of bacterial contamination, for reasons other than rainfall. the previous year. Our beaches consistently rate among the The Ventura County Environmental Health Division bases cleanest in Southern California. However, our ocean water these warnings on tests for three types of bacteria: fecal has gotten dirtier since 2009, when beaches were closed only coliform, total coliform and enterococcus, all of which are 48 times. They remain much cleaner than they were in the associated with sewage, animal waste and other pollutants. early 2000s — in 2004, county health officials posted beach advisories 752 times. A large part of that improvement came Why is the measure important? from focused efforts to clean up a few especially polluted Ventura County’s coastline is one of our greatest resources, beaches. The resurgence in beach closures over the past but its value diminishes greatly if the ocean is too dirty to decade is a sign the county might need to expand that effort enter safely. Polluted water puts swimmers and surfers at risk to more of its shoreline. of illness and rashes. It also hurts our economy, as dangerous beaches can depress the tourism industry in seaside areas.

Days of Posted Beach Advisories for Water Quality - Ventura County (2004 - 2018)

800 752 700 656 600

500 423 400 321 300 222 216 191 193 181 200 140 120 144 116 Days of Beach Advisories 100 58 48

0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Ventura County Civic Alliance NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES | 73 Oil and Gas Production PRODUCTION FELL TO ALL-TIME LOWS IN 2017

What is the measure? Several factors are at work here. The first is the price of The measure is the amount of crude oil and natural gas oil: inflation-adjusted prices were higher in the early 1980s extracted from Ventura County each year. Oil is measured before beginning a long decline through the end of the 1990s. in 42-gallon barrels, or BBL, and natural gas is measured in This made it more efficient to extract oil in the United States thousands of cubic feet, or MCF. than to import it. The local political and geologic conditions are also important. Oil and gas production have taken off in Why is the measure important? other parts of the United States, due in part to advancements Oil and gas are essential to the world economy and to the in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Ventura County has region’s, despite recent efforts to reduce our reliance on seen no such boom since California more strictly regulates fossil fuels. The local production and sale of petroleum fracking and other extraction methods. In addition, a strong generate jobs and revenue for Ventura County, as they have environmental movement here frowns upon petroleum for more than a century. Oil extraction also poses a threat to exploration and extraction. our environment that must be carefully monitored. How are we doing? Despite its rich history in western Ventura County, including the founding of Union Oil (Unocal) in Santa Paula, Ventura County’s petroleum industry is not what it used to be. In 2017, the county produced around 6.7 million barrels of oil and 6.3 million MCF of natural gas. Both were the lowest totals on record, with oil roughly 40 percent and natural gas 33 percent of production in the early 1980s.

Oil and Gas Production in Ventura County (1982 - 2017) Oil Production (BBL) Gas Production (MCF)

25M

19,386,433 20M

Natural Gas Production

15M 17,296,511

14,802,078

(In Millions) (In 10M 6,308,300 11,747,842 10,295,967 Oil Production 8,300,559 5M 7,133,476 8,575,182 6,685,593

0M 1982 1987 1992 1997 2002 2007 2012 2017

74 | NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance

Landfill Disposal Rate MOST CITIES PRODUCING MORE TRASH

What is the measure? in 2012. Sometimes those margins are wide. In Oxnard, the The measure is the disposal rate — the pounds of trash per disposal rate went from 6.3 pounds per person, per day in person, per day sent to landfills — for Ventura County’s 10 2012 to 8.1 pounds in 2017 — an increase of 28.6 percent over cities and the county’s unincorporated areas. five years. Ojai’s rate jumped 33.3 percent, and Santa Paula’s spiked 62.9 percent. Disposal rates in Ventura, Thousand Why is the measure important? Oaks, Fillmore, Simi Valley and Moorpark increased slightly, Trash is a pollutant. Refuse thrown in landfills can release and the rate in Port Hueneme declined. toxic substances into the air, ground and water, sometimes These wide disparities in cities’ disposal rates don’t seem for hundreds of years. And landfill space is finite. When a easily explained by location, population density, development landfill reaches capacity, it is covered with earth and can be patterns, demographics or economics. The average Oxnard unsuitable for future development or recreation. resident threw away more than twice as much trash in 2017 How are we doing? as the average resident of neighboring Port Hueneme, and the average Ojai resident discarded more than twice as much For decades, disposal rates dropped and recycling rates grew as the average residents of Simi Valley, Moorpark, Fillmore in Ventura County. But the trends have reversed in recent and Port Hueneme. years: In nine of 10 cities and the unincorporated county, residents threw away more trash per person in 2017 than

Per Capita Disposal Rates in Pounds/Person/Day (2012 - 2017)

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 8.4 8.1 7.3 6.2 5.7 4.8 4.5 4.1 4.0 3.8 3.5 ai nard nincororaed an ana hosand aarillo ii illore Moorark or enra Benavenra ala aks alley enee ony

Ventura County Civic Alliance NATURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES | 75 76 | PUBLIC HEALTH Ventura County Civic Alliance

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT Public Health

The health of Ventura County’s people is encouraging in hit Ventura County particularly hard. During the past decade some ways and distressing in others. We live in a wealthy hundreds of county residents died of overdoses of opioids, nation that generally falls on the higher end of most global both legal and illegal. Our county often records a rate of fatal health measures, yet we lag other countries of similar wealth overdoses at twice the state average, and higher than other on some key statistics, such as life coastal Southern California counties. expectancy and child mortality. Most Most Ventura County Bright spots do appear, though, and Ventura County residents live longer some of those are among young than the national average, but a residents live longer than the people. Teen pregnancy has dropped closer look reveals life span is tied to for decades and is now at its lowest our relative prosperity. People in our national average, but a closer rate in recorded history. Smoking higher income ZIP codes can expect look reveals life span is tied tobacco, one of the deadliest habits to live years longer than those in our a young person can acquire, is also lower income areas. to our relative prosperity. much rarer among today’s teens We share life-expectancy challenges than youth of previous generations. with our fellow Americans. The leading causes of death in Vaping, though, has gained popularity, a sign the societal war Ventura County are cancer and heart disease, just as they are we’ve waged on tobacco and nicotine may not be over yet. nationwide. The national epidemic of opioid addiction has

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC HEALTH | 77 Life Expectancy and Income HEALTH AND WEALTH GO HAND IN HAND, USUALLY

What are the measures? average household income of $174,031 in 2017, residents The measures are the life expectancy of someone born born between 2015 and 2017 can expect to live 86.6 years. between 2015 and 2017 in 23 ZIP codes in Ventura County, Those living in the second highest income area, the Oak Park and the average household income in each ZIP code in 2017. ZIP code of 91377 with an average household income of $163,949 in 2017, have a life expectancy of 85.8 years. Why are the measures important? Life expectancy is one of the most important indicators The county’s lowest median household incomes were in of public health and of an individual’s likely well-being and the 93041 ZIP code in Port Hueneme, at $72,405, and the quality of life. It often serves as shorthand to compare the 93060 ZIP code in Santa Paula, at $72,581. Both had life health or health-care systems of different countries or expectancies lower than the wealthiest areas — 81.9 years in regions. Comparing life expectancy to income shows the Port Hueneme and 80.8 years in Santa Paula. Neither were extent to which wealth is correlated with health outcomes. at the bottom of the longevity list, however. The shortest life expectancy was in the 93022 ZIP code of Oak View and How are we doing? Casitas Springs, at 79.1 years, although average incomes The average Ventura County resident born between 2015 there were near the middle of the pack, at $95,201. and 2017 can expect to live 82 years, above the national average of 78.7 years in 2016. Wealth and health relate This could be explained by what public health experts call the closely, but not perfectly. The county’s wealthiest ZIP code “Hispanic paradox” or the “epidemiological paradox.” Latinos also is home to residents who can expect to live the longest: in the United States experience longer life spans compared to 91361, in Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. With an people of other ethnicities. Nationwide, Latinos born in 2014

Ventura County Life Expectancy (2015 - 2017) & Average Household Income (2017)

Life Expectancy (2015 - 2017) Average Household Income (2017)

86.2 85.8

84.8 83.2 82.9 82.7 81.5 81.1 81.5 81.8 80.6

79.1

Life ExpectancyLife

aarillo aarillo/ illore Moorark ery ark ak ark ak ie ai nard nard nard nard or enee ana ala ii alley ii alley ois hosand aks hosand aks/ hosand aks/ enra enra enra ana osa alley ana sana Weslake Weslake

78 | PUBLIC HEALTH Ventura County Civic Alliance

could expect to live 81.8 years, compared to 78.8 years for non- In Ventura County, many ZIP codes with low incomes Hispanic whites and 75.2 years for African Americans, according are heavily Latino, including those in south Oxnard, west to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This Ventura, Port Hueneme, Fillmore and Santa Paula. They occurs even though white Americans have higher average all have higher life expectancies and lower incomes than incomes and education levels than Latinos, and those factors are Oak View, nearly 80 percent white in the 2010 census. usually associated with better health outcomes. However, the average life expectancy countywide is similar for whites and Latinos: 81.6 years for whites, and 81 years for Latinos.

86.6

84.2

82.4 82.0 82.2 81.9 81.4 81.9 80.8 80.2

Average HouseholdAverage Income

Available expectancy Not Life aarillo aarillo/ illore Moorark ery ark ak ark ak ie ai nard nard nard nard or enee ana ala ii alley ii alley ois hosand aks hosand aks/ hosand aks/ enra enra enra ana osa alley ana sana Weslake Weslake

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC HEALTH | 79 Asthma Hospitalizations FEWER COUNTY CHILDREN HOSPITALIZED FOR ASTHMA

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of hospitalizations for asthma Hospitalizations due to asthma are declining, even as the symptoms each year in Ventura County per 10,000 residents, disease becomes more common. Children are the most sorted by patient age. likely to be hospitalized for asthma attacks. In 2016, the overall asthma hospitalization rate was 4.5 per 10,000 Why is the measure important? children in Ventura County, down from 5.4 per 10,000 the A chronic respiratory disease, asthma affects around 8 percent previous year. Admittance rates have declined steeply for the of Americans. It disproportionately is diagnosed in children, youngest children who also are most likely to be hospitalized. young adults and the poor. Asthma attacks can be triggered by Seven children were admitted for asthma for every 10,000 exposure to pollutants, tobacco smoke, dust from farm fields or children under the age of 5 in 2016, down from 10.6 the year construction sites, and fine soot in smoke and diesel emissions. before, and down from more than 20 hospitalizations per

10,000 young children in 2003.

Ventura County Asthma Hospitalization Rate by Age (2003 - 2016) 0-4 Years 5-17 Years

20.7 0

10 6.5 7.0 3.6 Rate per 10,000 population

0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 010 011 01 01 01 01 01

80 | PUBLIC HEALTH Ventura County Civic Alliance

Teen Birth Rate CONTINUED DECLINE IS A PUBLIC HEALTH VICTORY

What is the measure? The measure is the number of births to teen mothers (ages 15 to 19), expressed as the rate of births per 1,000 teen girls. Why is the measure important? Teen birth has a detrimental impact on the future quality of life of both mother and child. Teen mothers are more likely than their peers to drop out of school, live in poverty, be single parents, lack adequate prenatal care and deliver premature and low birth-weight infants. Children of teen mothers tend to have poorer health and more behavioral problems than their peers and are more likely to become teen parents themselves. How are we doing? The decline in teen birth rates across the country is an underappreciated public health success story. The birth rate for girls in the United States was 18.8 births per 1,000 teens in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s 70 percent lower than the rate in 1991.

Ventura County mirrors that trend, although our teen birth rate is higher than the national average. In 2018, the birth rate was 23 per 1,000 teen girls, down from 28 the year before and 34 in 2014. In California, the teen birth rate in 2016 was 24, a drop from 36 in 2014. Santa Barbara County’s teen birth rate slightly exceeded that of Ventura County in 2018, at 25 births per 1,000 teen girls. San Luis Obispo County had a much lower rate of 13 per 1,000.

Teen Birth Rate per 1,000 for Ages 15 to 19 (2014 - 2018) 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

0 36 35 34 34 34 32 33 32 30 29 0 29 28 25 23 24 0 18 17 17 15 13

Rate perRate 1,000 10

0 anta arara nty entra nty an Li ip nty aifrnia

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC HEALTH | 81 NEW THIS Teen Substance Abuse YEAR ALCOHOL, POT DECLINE AS VAPING RISES

What are the measures? districts between 2013 and 2018, while electronic cigarette The measures are the percentage of children in grade 11 usage rose in some districts and fell in others. in selected Ventura County school districts who report the A few decades ago, smoking was the most popular vice following: smoking one or more cigarettes in the past 30 among teens. That’s changed — in the 2017/18 school year, days; using electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days; smoking the percentage of 11th-graders who reported smoking one or otherwise consuming marijuana in the past 30 days; and or more cigarettes within the past 30 days was 4 percent in having been “very drunk” or high seven or more times in Ventura Unified School District, 3 percent in Conejo Valley their lives. Unified, 2 percent in Oxnard Union and 1 percent in Santa Why are the measures important? Paula Union. Tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs are particularly harmful to Electronic cigarette use, or vaping, is much more common developing minds and bodies. Tobacco use ranks among the than smoking among the high school juniors surveyed. leading preventable causes of death in the United States, and Vaping rates vary widely, from 23 percent of 11th-graders cigarette smokers can expect to live at least 10 fewer years in Ventura and the Conejo Valley to 9 percent in the Oxnard than non-smokers, according to the Centers for Disease Union district (which includes high schools in Oxnard and Control and Prevention. Camarillo) and 8 percent in Santa Paula.

Electronic cigarettes have not been studied to the same Marijuana appears as popular as vaping. Again, usage varies, extent, so the health effects are not as well understood. For from 22 percent of 11th-graders in Ventura to 9 percent adults, they may serve as a tool to quit smoking, but for teens in Santa Paula. Marijuana use fell between 2013/14 and vaping likely introduces them to nicotine use and possibly 2017/18 in seven of the eight districts reporting results. addiction. High school juniors in Ojai and Ventura were more likely than Millions of adults use alcohol and marijuana in moderation their counterparts elsewhere in the county to report being without serious problems, but people who take them up very drunk or high seven or more times in their lives: 18 at a young age are more likely than their peers to develop percent of 11th-graders in Ventura Unified and 22 percent addictions and other problems related to substance abuse. in Ojai answered that question in the affirmative. In every How are we doing? district with complete survey results, the percentage of Cigarettes, marijuana and binging on alcohol and other drugs students reporting that level of inebriation fell between all became less popular in most Ventura County school 2013/14 and 2017/18, sometimes by wide margins.

Drunk or High, 7 or More Times by 11th-Grade Students (Lifetime) 2013/14 2015/16 2017/18 0

0 Available Not ne ire rpar a ar ai Oxnard anta aa ii aey entra Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified nin i Unified Unified Unified Survey Question: During your life, how many times have you been… - Very drunk or sick after drinking alcohol? - High (loaded, stoned, wasted) from using drugs?

82 | PUBLIC HEALTH Ventura County Civic Alliance

Cigarette Use by 11th-Grade Students in the Past 30 Days 2013/14 2015/16 2017/18

0 Available Not ne ire rpar a ar ai Oxnard anta aa ii aey entra Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified nin i Unified Unified Unified

Survey Question: During the past 30 days, on how many days did you use cigarettes?

Electronic Cigarette (Vape Pen) Use by 11th-Grade Students in the Past 30 Days 2013/14 2015/16 2017/18

0 Available Not ne ire rpar a ar ai Oxnard anta aa ii aey entra Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified nin i Unified Unified Unified

Survey Question: During the past 30 days, on how many days did you use electronic cigarettes?

Marijuana Use by 11th-Grade Students in the Past 30 Days 2013/14 2015/16 2017/18

0 Available Not ne ire rpar a ar ai Oxnard anta aa ii aey entra Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified nin i Unified Unified Unified

Survey Question: 2014/17: During the past 30 days, on how many days did you use marijuana (pot, weed, grass, hash, bud)? 2017/18: During the past 30 days, on how many days did you use marijuana (smoke, vape, eat, drink)?

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC HEALTH | 83 NEW THIS Teen Mental Health YEAR 1 IN 6 JUNIORS CONSIDERED SUICIDE IN PAST 12 MONTHS

What are the measures? How are we doing? The measures are the percentage of students in selected In 2017/18, the portion of 11th-graders who said they Ventura County school districts who report experiencing “considered suicide” in the past year ranged between 13 chronic sadness or considering suicide over the past 12 percent and 20 percent depending on the school district. months, according to an annual state survey of public That’s comparable to the 16 percent of high school students school students. who reported “seriously considering” suicide in a recent nationwide survey. Depression is more common: 46 percent Why are the measures important? of 11th-graders in Ojai Unified reported experiencing Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between chronic sadness, and other school districts showed slightly the ages of 10 and 24 in the United States, and the suicide lower totals. Depression remained about as common in most rate among teens and young adults has nearly tripled since school districts in 2017/18 as it had been four years earlier, the 1940s. Feelings of chronic sadness, of course, are not while the percentage of students reporting suicidal thoughts the same as suicidal thoughts or actions, but they indicate fell in all but two districts over that period. mental health problems and potentially call for treatment.

Percentage of 11th-Grade Students Reporting Chronic Sadness in Past 12 Months (2013 - 2018) 2013/14 2015/16 2017/18

0 0 0 0 1 10

0 Available Not ne ire rpar a ar ai Oxnard anta aa ii aey entra Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified nin i Unified Unified Unified Survey Question: During the past 12 months, did you ever feel so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more that you stopped doing some usual activities?

Percentage of 11th-Grade Students Who Considered Suicide in Past 12 Months (2013 - 2018) 2013/14 2015/16 2017/18

0 0 0 0 1 10

0 Available Not ne ire rpar a ar ai Oxnard anta aa ii aey entra Unified Unified Unified Unified Unified nin i Unified Unified Unified Survey Question: During the past 12 months, did you ever seriously consider attempting suicide?

84 | PUBLIC HEALTH Ventura County Civic Alliance

Leading Causes of Death 1 IN 6 JUNIORS CONSIDERED SUICIDE IN PAST 12 MONTHS CANCER, HEART DISEASE CLAIM THE MOST LIVES

What is the measure? diseases also are less prevalent here than nationwide; they The measure is a ranking of the most common causes of are the fourth leading cause of the death in the nation, death for Ventura County residents. and the fifth in Ventura County. This difference could be attributed to our low smoking rate, as long-term cigarette use Why is the measure important? often causes respiratory diseases. Accurate information on the top causes of death enables doctors, researchers and public health professionals to focus their efforts and resources. Knowing what kills us also tells us about the choices we make — for example, heart disease and other ailments often are tied to diet and lifestyle. How are we doing? Heart disease and cancer are by far the most common causes of death in Ventura County, just as they are in the United States. Cancer was the county’s biggest killer, responsible for 1,411 deaths, followed by heart disease, at 1,285 deaths — an inversion of their ranks at the national level. In Ventura County, Alzheimer’s, stroke and chronic lower respiratory disease rounded out the top five.

Unintentional injuries — car accidents and the like — accounted for 303 deaths in Ventura County in 2016, the sixth most common cause of death. Nationally, accidents ranked third in 2016, accounting for more fatalities than either stroke or Alzheimer’s. Chronic lower respiratory

Leading Causes of Death in Ventura County (2014 - 2016) 2014 2015 2016

Intentional Self Harm 101 113 icie 91 rnic Lier ieae 89 111 an irri 110 ypertenin an 115 151 ypertenie Rena ieae 142 174 iaete eit 177 196 259 Unintentional Injuries 291 303 rnic Ler 274 277 Repiratry ieae LR 322 ereracar ieae 296 339 tre 395 340 eier ieae 435 413 1,236 ieae f te eart 1,315 1,285 ainant epa 1,385 1,394 ancer 1,411 ter ae 1,213 1,264 f eat 1,114

0 0 00 0 1,000 1,0 1,00

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC HEALTH | 85 Opioid Deaths FATAL OVERDOSES SPIKED IN 2017 AFTER A DECLINE

What is the measure? From 2008 to 2017, Ventura County’s rate of opioid overdose The measure is the number of people who died each year deaths exceeded the statewide rate every year, sometimes of opioid overdoses in Ventura County and in California, more than doubling that rate. including prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and The county’s fatal opioid overdoses peaked at 10.75 per street drugs such as heroin. Fatalities are expressed as a rate 100,000 residents in 2012, amounting to approximately one of deaths per 100,000 residents. death every four days. That’s higher than the peak rates for Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Orange counties. Why is the measure important? The fatal overdose rate in Ventura County dropped for The United States has been mired in a crisis of opioid four straight years after that, bottoming out in 2016 at 5.01 addiction for the past decade, and Ventura County is deaths per 100,000 residents, closer to the statewide rate. no exception. Overdose deaths are only one aspect of the problem — addiction can wreck lives that it does not Ventura County’s overdose deaths spiked in 2017, though, ultimately end — but they are a useful metric. Understanding at 9.8 per 100,000 residents for a total of 85 lives lost — the scope of this problem, where it is most severe and whom nearly double the rate in the previous year. It’s too soon to it typically affects, is a necessary step in solving it. say whether this is an anomaly or the start of a troubling new trend. How are we doing? Overdoses of all opioids, both legally prescribed and illegally acquired, now kill more Americans than car accidents. In 2017 across the nation, more than 70,000 people fatally overdosed on drugs of all kinds — double the number in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fatal opioid overdoses nearly tripled in that decade, and this class of drugs now accounts for about two-thirds of all fatal overdoses.

Opioid Overdose Deaths per 100K Residents (2010 - 2017)

11 11 Ventura County (85 Deaths in 2017) 10 10 San Luis Obispo Orange County California Santa Barbara Rate per 100K Residents Los Angeles 1 1 0 0 010 011 01 01 01 01 01 01

86 | PUBLIC HEALTH Ventura County Civic Alliance

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

Public Safety

Ventura County takes pride in its public safety. Police creep up in recent years, but Ventura County is not among and fire services are among the highest priorities of every them; here, our neighborhoods remain as safe as they have local government in the region, and that investment has been in generations. brought results. The county always The remarkable decline in crime places among the safest large Police and fire services are in American cities in the 1990s counties in California; Thousand has been studied widely. A variety Oaks and Simi Valley routinely rank among the highest priorities of of theories try to explain the among the nation’s safest cities of phenomenon, from policing tactics more than 100,000 residents. every local government in the to a growing economy to a reduc tion And while crime is higher in Oxnard region, and that investment in childhood lead exposure, but and Ventura than in other parts has brought results. none has been established as of the county, those cities also definitive. Without a clear story of are success stories. Crime rates across the county are a why crime dropped, it is difficult to draw lessons for what fraction of what they were 30 years ago, a trend that repeats can be done to foster further improvements. But whatever across the nation. Some areas have seen their crime rates Ventura County is doing seems to work.

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC SAFETY | 87 County Crime Rates VENTURA COUNTY RANKS AMONG STATE’S SAFEST

What are the measures? How are we doing? The measures are the number of serious crimes reported Ventura County is a low-crime area, compared to other per 1,000 residents in California’s 16 largest counties, and California counties and compared to Ventura County’s own Ventura County’s crime rate over time, according to the FBI past. In 2017, offenders committed 21.42 serious crimes in and the California Department of Justice. The crime rate is the county for every 1,000 residents, the second lowest rate based on what the FBI classifies as “Part I crimes,” including among California’s largest counties, after San Diego County. rape, murder, robbery, aggravated assault, arson and grand Only San Mateo and Orange counties had lower violent theft. crime rates. Why are the measures important? Ventura County’s rate in 2017 fell slightly from the year Violent and property crimes seriously erode a community’s before, the third lowest since 1993. quality of life. Victims suffer, of course, as do other residents The county’s crime rate has changed little since the early who live under threat of victimization. Crime also consumes 2000s, ticking up slightly between 2003 and 2007 and then public resources, as the cost of investigating and prosecuting dropping again. The long-term story of crime in Ventura crimes and imprisoning offenders falls on taxpayers and County is one of dramatic success, similar to the experience takes away from other priorities. of the entire nation in the 1990s and 2000s. Crime rates in Ventura County are now about half of their peak in the early 1990s.

88 | PUBLIC SAFETY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Crime Rates in California’s Most Populated Counties per 1,000 (2017)

Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate

an ie 3.4 17.3

entra nty 2.6 18.8

an ate 2.5 19.8

rane 2.4 20.6

anta ara 3.1 23.4

an ernarin 4.7 24.3

Rierie 3.1 26.0

acraent 4.9 24.4

ntra ta 3.4 26.3

L nee 5.9 24.6

tania 6.0 30.8

ren 5.8 31.0

an ain 8.0 29.5

ern 5.6 33.1

aea 6.0 39.1

an rancic nty 7.3 63.6

0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Number of Crimes (per 1,000 population)

Overall Ventura County Crime Rate per 1,000 Population (1993 - 2017)

39.45 0

21.42 0 Overall Crime Rate

0 1 1 1 1 001 00 00 00 00 011 01 01 01

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC SAFETY | 89 City Crime Rates MOORPARK LEADS IN SAFETY

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of serious property and violent In 2018, Moorpark posted the county’s lowest crime rate, crimes reported per 1,000 residents in Ventura County’s with eight Part I crimes per 1,000 residents. Ojai had the cities. county’s lowest violent crime rate, while Moorpark saw the Why is the measure important? lowest rate of property crimes. Ventura County’s overall crime rate gives a useful big- The three cities with rates higher than the county as a picture view of the county’s safety, but the crime rates in whole were Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme. Ventura our individual cities better describe the impact of crime on consistently had the county’s highest crime rates over the residents’ daily lives. City rates also reveal inequalities in past decade, and 2018 was no exception. The city reported safety and could point to where our police resources are best 35.6 Part I crimes per 1,000 residents. That was down directed. slightly from 2017 but still well above Oxnard, the city with the second highest crime rate, at 28.6 Part I crimes per 1,000 residents. Ventura had the highest rates of both violent and property crimes.

Ventura County City Crime Rates per 1,000 Population (2018)

Violent Crime Rate Property Crime Rate

rar 0.89 7.07

irrate 1.44 7.20

Oai 0.78 8.99

illmre 2.44 8.53

a Oa 0.97 11.40

imi alle 1.68 11.64

Camarill 1.13 12.28

ata ala 2.89 14.71

rt eeme 2.55 18.05

Oar 3.88 24.68

etra 4.00 31.59

Ct verae 2.37 16.88

Number of Crimes (per 1,000 Population)

90 | PUBLIC SAFETY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Juvenile Arrests FEWER CHILDREN COMMITTING CRIMES

What are the measures? How are we doing? The measures are the number of arrests of people under age Juvenile arrests have declined steeply for the past decade. 18 for felonies and misdemeanors in Ventura County. In 2017, there were 469 felony juvenile arrests in Ventura County, slightly fewer than the previous year and down 61.1 Why are the measures important? percent from 2008. In 2017, misdemeanor juvenile arrests Crimes committed by children are doubly tragic. They harm numbered 1,319, also a slight decline from 2016 and a drop victims and society to the same extent as crimes committed by of 69.3 percent since 2008. adults, and they also hurt the perpetrators to an even greater degree. Entering the criminal justice system at a young age This dramatic decline came during a period when the overall is a predictor of future incarceration and other negative life crime rate stayed flat, so the trend represents efforts at the outcomes. To keep young people off that track, the juvenile state and local levels to address juvenile crime with methods justice system puts a greater emphasis on rehabilitation than other than arrest and incarceration. the adult system.

Ventura County Juvenile Felony Arrests (2002 - 2017) Male Female 190 189 182 184 175 160 143 144 140 139 112 91 1,016 113 926 953 938 85 833 97 93 711 802 778 614 644 495 510 544 451 376 376

Ventura County Juvenile Misdemeanor Arrests (2005 - 2017) Male Female 1,063 1,053 972 934 880 983 777 673 3,246 3,108 3,188 519 2,795 2,962 2,708 454 2,167 459 1,893 417 1,588 413 1,295 1,067 991 906

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC SAFETY | 91 NEW THIS Traffic Collisions YEAR CRASHES UP, DEATHS DOWN

What are the measures? How are we doing? The measures are the number of vehicle collisions each year The number of fatal accidents and the number of people in Ventura County and the number of people injured and killed in those crashes declined substantially since 2011. This killed in those crashes. appears to be more a function of safer automobiles than safer driving, because the number of collisions and injuries in Why are the measures important? them has not declined. Driving is the most dangerous activity people undertake on a regular basis. Every year, thousands are injured on roads In 2018, vehicle accidents killed 43 people in Ventura County, and highways in Ventura County and dozens are killed. the lowest figure of the decade and a 41.9 percent drop from Grasping the extent of the problem is a first step in reducing the total in 2011. There were, however, 1.3 percent more this danger. collisions in 2018 than in 2011 and 17.8 percent more injuries. The number of crashes and injuries may be related to texting and other distractions, along with an increase in the number of miles motorists drive. At the same time, the number of fatalities is on a slow and steady decline, due presumably to better safety features in our cars.

Number of Traffic Collisions and Injured Victims in Ventura County (2011 - 2018)

Total Collisions Injured Victims

9,295 9,211 9,350 8,903 9,021 8,280 8,000 7,674

5,749 5,643 5,571 5,195 4,730 4,563 4,070 4,105

Victims Killed in Ventura County Traffic Collisions (2011 - 2018)

74 65 58 54 53 49 47 43 Victims Killed

92 | PUBLIC SAFETY Ventura County Civic Alliance

Calls to Ventura County Fire Department FIRE CALLS TRENDING UP

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of calls to the Ventura County Fire departments do a lot more than fight fires. In 2017, the Fire Department, divided into medical, fire and other types of Ventura County Fire Department responded to 44,715 calls; service requests. The department serves the unincorporated only 3.4 percent involved fires. Emergency medical calls areas of Ventura County and six of its 10 cities: Ojai, Port made up 73 percent of the volume, and the department’s Hueneme, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark and Simi total workload grew by 7.5 percent from 2016 to 2017. Valley. Though the long-term trend is for fire departments to devote Why is the measure important? more energy to medical emergencies compared to blazes The number of calls a fire department responds to helps — as structure fires grow rarer than they were decades determine how many firefighters and stations it needs and ago — there is a short-term trend toward more fire calls how much public funding it requires. The number of calls can for the Ventura County Fire Department. The department measure the community’s success at fire prevention, while responded to 1,522 fire calls in 2017, a 17.2 percent increase the number of medical calls likely reflects the age and health over 2016 and the third consecutive year that number rose. of the population.

Calls to Ventura County Fire Department (2009 - 2017) EMS Fire Other

32,624 30,013 28,902 26,564 25,653 23,596 24,756 22,795 22,793

1,299 1,522 1,133 1,204 1,238 1,123 1,197 1,064 1,165

10,036 10,299 10,569 8,831 8,973 8,771 8,959 8,686 9,717

Ventura County Civic Alliance PUBLIC SAFETY | 93 94 | SOCIAL SERVICES Ventura County Civic Alliance 2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

Social Services

On the whole, Ventura County is beautiful, prosperous In some areas, these services are achieving the desired effect. and safe. Left out of that positive quality of life, however, Take the matter of homelessness, among the most serious are residents who need help making societal issues our communities face. ends meet, feeding their families, putting Over the past decade, Over the past decade, we have seen a a roof over their heads and dealing with substantial drop in the number of Ventura addiction and mental health issues. we have seen a substantial County residents who sleep outdoors, They also may seek protection from in their cars, in homeless shelters or in domestic abuse and other violence. drop in the number of other substandard conditions. In our county and nation, these problems Ventura County residents However, the recent data is disturbing. are addressed through a patchwork quilt who sleep outdoors, Homelessness is back on the rise in of social service providers, including Ventura County, and in 2019 reached its charities and faith institutions, private in their cars, in homeless highest level in six years. businesses, individual volunteers and shelters or in other government agencies at the local, state Ventura County is a region with residents and federal levels. The 2-1-1 phone service substandard conditions. at both extremes of the economic reflects this cooperative approach. spectrum. That means we face great Funded by a coalition of charitable and governmental agencies challenges in helping the most vulnerable among us, but we and operated by a nonprofit, this hotline connects people to also can draw upon abundant resources for those efforts, as social services. seen in the dramatic increase in charitable giving after the Thomas Fire.

Ventura County Civic Alliance SOCIAL SERVICES | 95 2-1-1 Calls by Need HOUSING AID TOPS THE LIST

What is the measure? Why is the measure important? The measure is the volume of calls to Ventura County’s 2-1-1 The 2-1-1 hotline receives more than 30,000 calls and texts social services call center. 2-1-1 Ventura County is a program per year. Its operators connect callers to nonprofit and of Interface Children & Family Services, which operates a government agencies that provide food and rent assistance, 24-hour hotline that connects callers with health and social substance abuse treatment, help dealing with domestic services organizations. It also provides information about violence and other social services. The hotline’s database shelters, road closures and other emergency services during of calls, organized by need, offers insight into where our disasters. community’s needs lie. How are we doing? Housing in Ventura County is expensive and often in short supply, so it should come as no surprise this is the area of greatest need for 2-1-1 callers. In 2018, calls for help with shelter and utilities made up 31 percent of the county’s 2-1-1 calls, higher than their share in either 2015 or 2016. The rest of the top five categories of calls in 2018 were general income assistance, at 14 percent; mental health and addiction, at 13 percent; individual, family and community support, at 9 percent; and legal, consumer and public safety concerns, at 8 percent.

Ventura County 2-1-1 Calls by Category of Need (2015 - 2018)

2015 2016 2017 2018

31.0%

13.6% 13.0%

9.5% 8.7% 7.8% 6.6% 6.5% 3.3%

i me etal ivial eal eal ealt Care Information Oter Utilities rt ealt amil Cmer ervie itae Addictions Cmmit li aet rt

96 | SOCIAL SERVICES Ventura County Civic Alliance Revenue to United Way FIRE RELIEF BOOSTS DONATIONS TO NEW HEIGHTS

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the amount of money received each year by The United Way of Ventura County took in around $7 million the United Way of Ventura County. in donations in the 2017/18 fiscal year, far more than any year in the previous decade and more than three times as Why is the measure important? much as it received in any of the previous four years. The The United Way is only one charity, but it is one of the majority — a little over $4.6 million — was earmarked for county’s biggest. It has a broad mission and does most of its victims of the Thomas Fire and the subsequent flooding and work by leveraging volunteer resources through its Volunteer mudslides. But regular donations, unrelated to the disasters, Ventura County program and strategically investing grants in totaled $2.4 million, more than the United Way received in programs like 2-1-1 Ventura County. It also provides resources any year since 2012/13. Before 2017/18, revenue dropped for people affected by wildfires and other disasters. for six straight years, going from $2.98 million in 2010/11 to $2.04 million in 2016/17.

Revenue to United Way of Ventura County (2009/10 - 2017/18)

$7.00

In $ Millions $ In $2.98 $2.47 $2.45 $2.29 $2.12 $2.12 $2.09 $2.04

In 2017/18, United Way regular donations were $2.4 million. Funds earmarked for Thomas Fire/disaster victims were $4.6 million.

Ventura County Civic Alliance SOCIAL SERVICES | 97 Homelessness HOMELESS COUNT SURGES AFTER YEARS OF DECLINE

What is the measure? organization that oversees the study, the Ventura County The measure is the number of people in Ventura County Continuum of Care Alliance, offers a few possible explanations who were homeless on the day of the annual homeless for the increase, including: rising rents; displacement due to census. Taken annually by volunteers since 2009, the census homes destroyed in recent wildfires; and a more thorough counts people as homeless if they are living in emergency volunteer effort to locate homeless persons on the date of or transitional shelters or are without shelter, such as those the census. sleeping in parks, along rivers, on sidewalks or in cars. People Though their efforts are improving, the volunteers almost living in motels or staying with friends or family are not certainly undercount the number of homeless people in counted as homeless. Also excluded are people who are in Ventura County. The tally happens on only one day — a jail, hospital or other institution when the census happens. Jan. 22 in 2019 — so it omits people who are homeless Why is the measure important? at other times of the year or who are in jail or the hospital Few human needs are more elemental than shelter. People on that day. And it includes only individuals the volunteer without homes often live without adequate sanitation or census takers can locate, who agree to speak with them and protection from the elements. They lack reliable medical who admit to being homeless. care and often go without treatment for chronic diseases, Despite the uptick in 2018 and 2019, the long-term trend addiction or mental health problems. They face the risk is positive. The first year of the count, in 2009, volunteers of theft, violent crime or legal penalties for sleeping in found 2,193 people living without permanent shelter, 31.4 unauthorized public or private spaces. Because homeless percent more than in 2019. people frequently end up in county jail or emergency rooms, local governments often foot the bill for their care. Most of the improvement came between 2012 and 2017. Whether that is because the economy was improving in that How are we doing? post-recession period, or because of policy choices made After five consecutive years of decline, Ventura County’s by leaders in Ventura County and elsewhere, is not clear. homeless population rose the last two years, reaching 1,699 What is clear is that the homelessness crisis across Southern people in January 2019. That was a 28.5 percent increase California intensified even as the problem lessened some- over the previous year, and the highest total since 2013. what in Ventura County. In Los Angeles County, the 2017 Ventura County’s homeless people are concentrated in count found more than 55,000 homeless people, an increase Ventura and Oxnard. In 2019, Ventura had 555 individuals of 42 percent since 2010. living without permanent shelter, and Oxnard had 548, The county’s social services infrastructure, both public and adding up to nearly two-thirds of the county’s total. Simi private, has focused on homelessness among veterans by Valley was third with 121 homeless people, and Santa Paula reaching out with services and building more housing for was fourth with 106. Santa Paula’s homeless population them. This brought results: The 2018 census of the county’s more than doubled from 2018 to 2019. homeless population found 63 homeless veterans, down The spike in homelessness in 2019 is the most dramatic one- from 140 five years earlier. In 2019, though, the count of year increase since the count began a decade earlier. The homeless veterans jumped to 102.

98 | SOCIAL SERVICES Ventura County Civic Alliance Ventura County Homeless Counts (2009 - 2019)

Homeless Counts Veterans (Sheltered & Unsheltered)

2,193

1,936 1,872 1,815 1,774 1,669

1,449 1,417

1,271 1,299 1,152

140 102 103 78 80 63 102

Ventura County Homeless Counts by City (2017 - 2019)

2017 2018 2019

Moorar 2

illore 10

ort uenee 30

Caarillo 33

ai 47

ousan as 103

anta aula 106 ninororate Ventura County 114

ii Valley 121

nar 548

Ventura 555

Ventura County Civic Alliance SOCIAL SERVICES | 99 Homelessness Among Children MORE THAN 5,000 STUDENTS LACK STABLE HOUSING

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of students in or near The number of homeless or near-homeless children in homelessness in each school district in Ventura County. The Ventura County dropped dramatically between 2015 and figures are drawn from a California Department of Education 2016 before rising again in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, there survey that differs in three major ways from the annual were 5,715 public school students whose families reported census of homeless people in the county. First, the survey being homeless at some point in the previous year. That is given to all public school students, while the volunteers number was up 29.9 percent from 2017, though it was still working on the annual census only consider people they 12.7 percent lower than the total from 2015. Homelessness find who appear to be homeless. Second, the student survey among public school students also grew statewide in 2018, uses a broader definition of homelessness: Students are by a smaller margin of 1.1 percent. classified as homeless if they live in a hotel or motel or In Ventura County, homelessness among children is most shared housing due to economic hardship, while the census common in the Oxnard Union High School District, which only considers people homeless if they stay in a shelter, a car had 2,519 students on its Oxnard, Port Hueneme and or outdoors. Third, the county census measures how many Camarillo campuses classified as homeless in 2018. That was people are homeless on one specific day, while the student a stunning 78.8 percent increase from the district’s total in survey classifies children as homeless if at any point in the 2017. Since no other school system came close to a spike of previous year they stayed outdoors, in a shelter, in a car or that size, the district’s higher numbers could be due in part in shared housing for financial reasons. Those differences to its efforts over the past two years to train staff to identify contribute to a higher count on the student survey than in homeless students more accurately. the volunteer census. Why is the measure important? The crisis in homelessness among children is felt mostly by those living in motels, cars, garages or other substandard Homelessness is an unacceptable condition, especially housing, rather than those living on the streets. The 2019 for children. A child who is homeless is more likely to be count of the homeless in Ventura County found 12 people unprepared for school, have an unstable and stressful home under the age of 18 without shelter, and 104 more classified life, be poorly nourished or be sleep-deprived. Though a as homeless but staying in shelters or transitional housing. motel room or a garage shared with another family might Homeless teens, though, might try harder than adults to technically qualify as shelter, it is rarely a home suitable for avoid the census takers, for fear of alerting foster care or children. juvenile justice officials to their presence.

100 | SOCIAL SERVICES Ventura County Civic Alliance Ventura County Public School Student Homelessness (2015 - 2018) Ventura County California 262,748 265,671 246,167

235,914

6,544

5,715 California

Ventura County Ventura

4,400 4,017

Homeless Children in Ventura County for Larger Public School Districts (2016 - 2018)

2016 2017 2018

Oak Park Unified 0 uenee leentary 17 Ojai Unified 35 Moorpark Unified 45 leasant Valley 92

Conejo Valley Uniﬁed 125 V.C. Oﬃce of Education 167

illore leentary 179 School DistrictSchool Simi Valley Uniﬁed 198

io leentary 267

nar leentary 463

Santa Paula Uniﬁed 607 Ventura Uniﬁed 725

nar nion i 2,519

Ventura County Civic Alliance SOCIAL SERVICES | 101 Child Abuse REPORTS IN VENTURA COUNTY ON THE RISE SINCE 2000

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of children each year reported In 2017, reports of child abuse and neglect in Ventura County to authorities as abused or neglected, expressed as a rate were only slightly higher than the overall California rate. per 1,000 children in the county. The total includes reports Ventura County had a rate of 57.1 reports per 1,000 children that were substantiated, along with those found to be compared to 54.3 statewide. inconclusive, unfounded or still under investigation. The Santa Barbara County had a similar rate, at 51.7 cases per data counts each child only once per year, even if authorities 1,000 children. Orange County’s rate was lower than Ventura received multiple reports of abuse or neglect. County’s, and San Luis Obispo and Kern counties both had Why is the measure important? significantly higher rates of reported child abuse. Child abuse visits serious mental and physical harm upon While the statewide number has been virtually the same some of society’s most vulnerable people. Studies suggest since 2000, Ventura County has seen an increase in abuse victims may be more likely to grow up to be abusers and neglect reports. In 2001, there were 39.4 reports per themselves or to be victimized again as adults, so stopping 1,000 children in Ventura County compared to the statewide abuse in one household can break a multigenerational cycle rate of 50.5 at the time. The county’s rate has fluctuated of trauma and violence. since then, but the overarching trend has been a steady increase, with our region matching the state average in 2011.

Although distressing on its face, this trend has not resulted in an actual increase in substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in recent years. In fact, the number of children in care has declined by 28% during the last four years. Child abuse, like many forms of domestic abuse, tends to be under- reported, so an upturn in reports might mean Ventura County residents are doing a better job reporting suspected abuse.

Child Abuse and Neglect Allegation Rate Per 1,000 Residents Age 0-17 (2000 - 2017)

San Luis Obispo County Kern County 77.8

70.2 Ventura County 57.1 Santa Barbara County California 54.3 51.7

43.8 Orange County

102 | SOCIAL SERVICES Ventura County Civic Alliance Domestic Violence Calls 9-1-1 CALLS STEADILY DECREASE IN FIVE CITIES

What is the measure? and Fillmore. Oxnard showed the biggest improvement, with The measure is the number of 9-1-1 calls in Ventura County 24.4 percent fewer calls per 1,000 residents in 2017 than in pertaining to domestic violence, including abuse of spouses, 2015. Simi Valley and Santa Paula logged the lowest rates of partners and children. It is expressed as a rate of calls per domestic violence calls, at 3.72 per 1,000 residents in Simi 1,000 residents. Valley and 3.26 per 1,000 in Santa Paula. Calls also declined in those cities between 2015 and 2017.

Why is the measure important? Though these numbers are encouraging, they might not Domestic violence has far-reaching implications for the signify a real drop in domestic violence, because many physical and mental health of adults and children. Its direct incidents of such violence go unreported. effect on victims is obvious and tragic. It also indirectly affects generations of children, as people exposed to abuse as youngsters are more likely to be involved in abusive relationships as adults. How are we doing? Emergency domestic violence calls dropped for two straight years leading up to 2017, going from 9.43 calls per 1,000 people in 2015 to 8.21 calls per 1,000 in 2017. The rate also fell in all four cities with a history of the highest rates of domestic violence calls: Ventura, Port Hueneme, Oxnard

Domestic Violence Calls per 1,000 Residents (2015 - 2017)

2015 2016 2017

13.05 12.31 10.88 10.17

8.21 7.88 7.24 7.04 6.18

3.72 3.26

Ventura ort nar illore Caarillo ai Moorar ousan ii anta Ventura uenee as Valley aula County otal

Ventura County Civic Alliance SOCIAL SERVICES | 103 104 | TRANSPORTATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT Transportation

Ventura County’s transportation network, like That’s unlikely to change anytime soon, but other alternatives that of most of Southern California, is centered on cars and help mitigate that dependency. In April 2018, for example, freeways. In 2018, a series of natural disasters reminded us Amtrak started running its Pacific Surfliner in the morning, just how important that infrastructure is, and how vulnerable. so workers can travel by rail from Ventura County to Santa Barbara. The mudslides that devastated Montecito in January 2018 covered Highway 101 with tons of mud, rock and debris. For In Ventura County’s cities, development patterns are slow two weeks, the freeway was closed between Ventura and Santa to evolve in a direction that’s friendlier to walking, biking or Barbara, a stretch of highway traveled by around 100,000 mass transit. While, Ventura, Oxnard and Thousand Oaks vehicles every day. have emphasized density and walkability in new land use policies, historical planning practices Thousands of commuters had to miss that focus on the movement of work, work from home, take the train In Ventura County’s cities, cars, make real change a challenge. once it resumed service a few days Pedestrian and bike safety measures after the slide or travel by sea on development patterns are such as protected bike lanes, lighting tourist excursion boats that shifted slow to evolve in a direction and other measures that encourage to commuter service during the crisis. walking, biking and transit are the Volunteer pilots shuttled patients in that’s friendlier to walking, exception in most cities rather than and out of Santa Barbara for medical biking or mass transit. the rule. appointments or workers to jobs crucial for public safety. Since voters did not reach the two-thirds approval threshold in the 2016 election for a sales tax earmarked for transportation The mudslide, triggered by the December 2017 Thomas Fire, projects, we lack dedicated funding to improve roads or make wasn’t the only disaster to shut down major roadways. In public investments in alternative transportation modes. For November 2018, nearly every highway and many local roads the near future, it appears Ventura County must make do in eastern Ventura County were closed at some point as the with the transportation culture and infrastructure we have. Woolsey and Hill fires tore through the area.

These road closures are a reminder that Ventura County relies heavily on a few major highways and the local road network.

Ventura County Civic Alliance TRANSPORTATION | 105 Means to Work DRIVING ALONE STILL RULES THE COMMUTE

What is the measure? total of workers who walk, use transit, ride bicycles or choose The measure is the primary method of transportation to any other non-car method of getting to work added up to and from work for Ventura County residents 16 years of age 4.7 percent. Factor in workers who didn’t commute at all and older. because they work from home, and the total non-driving population barely creeps above 10 percent. Why is the measure important? Driving alone on a daily basis, the most common way for generations of Americans to get to work, puts stress on the roads and the environment. Public agencies, employers and environmentalists are urging us out of our own vehicles Means to Work in Ventura County (2017) and into transit and carpools, and this data illustrates the results so far. One success story is the Ventura County to CAR, TRUCK, OR VAN Santa Barbara 101 corridor which has less than 70% of (carpooled 2-4) 11% commuters driving alone. WORKED AT HOME How are we doing? 5.7% The commuting habits of Ventura County residents WALKED have been resistant to change. In 2017, the last 1.8% year with survey results available, 78.2 percent PUBLIC of employed county residents reported driving TRANSPORTATION alone as their primary method of getting to work. (includes railroad, That’s about a half a percentage point higher excludes taxicab) than the year before, and only slightly lower 1.3% than the 80 percent figure back in 2005. TAXI CAB, After driving alone, the most popular commuting MOTORCYCLE, OR method was carpooling, with 11.7 percent of OTHER MEANS respondents sharing rides with people they 0.9% CAR, TRUCK, OR VAN know. Most rode in carpools with four or fewer BICYCLE (drove alone) people, while less than 1 percent vanpooled 0.6% 78.2% with five or more people. Public transportation, including railroad, ranks near the bottom of the list, CAR, TRUCK, OR VAN at just 1.3 percent of workers in 2017. The combined (carpool 5+) 0.5%

106 | TRANSPORTATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

Transit Ridership BUSES DECLINE IN POPULARITY

What is the measure? service, which runs buses between Ventura County cities The measure is the total number of trips per year on Ventura and to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties. Ridership County’s four largest public transit systems: Gold Coast on the VCTC intercity bus service dropped every year from Transit, which serves Ventura, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme 2012 to 2017, with a 12.1 percent decline over the last two and the adjacent unincorporated county; the city bus systems years of that period partially due to a reduction in service. in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley; and the Ventura County Thousand Oaks has seen a more sudden and steep drop in Transportation Commission’s intercity buses, which run on bus ridership, with a decline of 39.8 percent between 2015 longer routes between cities as well as between Ventura and 2017. County and Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. Gold Coast Transit, which runs bus service in Ventura, Ojai, Why is the measure important? Oxnard and Port Hueneme and is by far the county’s biggest Buses are the dominant form of public transportation in transit provider, saw a two-year ridership decline of 6.9 Ventura County. For people who don’t drive or can’t afford percent between 2015 and 2017. Simi Valley Transit ridership to, they’re often the only affordable option. Encouraging dropped 3.3 percent in the same two-year period. transit use is a policy goal of government at most levels, These declines come as nearly every local government and since more bus trips reduce traffic congestion, gasoline transit agency is trying to promote walking and the use consumption and air pollution. of public transit. While there is no easy explanation for How are we doing? why people travel by bus less than they did in 2015, a few Ridership in Ventura County’s four largest transit agencies possibilities are worth investigating: the spread of Uber peaked in 2015 and declined in each of the next two years. and Lyft, the dramatic rise since 2000 of private vehicle The drop was seen across the county: All four agencies had ownership, particularly among lower-income households; fewer passenger trips in 2017 than two years earlier. less expensive gasoline; freeway widening projects that have made driving freer of hassles; fare increases by some transit The biggest declines were at Thousand Oaks Transit and agencies; and holes in the transit system that render it a the Ventura County Transportation Commission’s intercity suboptimal choice for people with other options.

Number of Annual Ventura County Unlinked Trips (2011 - 2017) Gold Coast Transit VCTC Intercity (formerly VISTA) Simi Valley (SVT) Thousand Oaks (TOT)

320,717 399,049 238,770 261,631 264,262 433,045 423,816 267,364 377,104 240,328 463,710 480,802 482,470 409,819 1,012,646 933,999 915,246 1,073,935 1,053,105 821,093 1,008,648

3,900,253 3,993,452 3,893,947 3,718,811 3,637,397 3,430,269 3,545,026

Ventura County Civic Alliance TRANSPORTATION | 107 Bike Lanes CITY OF VENTURA LEADS THE WAY

What is the measure? The measure is the total miles of bike lanes in each Ventura County city and in the county’s unincorporated areas. They are divided into Class 1, which are paths used only by bicycles and pedestrians; Class 2, which are painted bike lanes next to lanes of automobile traffic; Class 3, bike routes designated by street signs or painted markings on the road, but without separate lanes; and Class 4, bike lanes that are separated from motor vehicle traffic by a physical barrier or a lane of parking. Why is the measure important? Ventura County’s bike infrastructure is unevenly distributed, Bicycling is good for our health and for the environment. Our and not all bike lanes are created equal. Ventura has more bike roads, however, are often ill-suited for bicycles, and riding lanes than any other city, followed closely by Thousand Oaks, can be inconvenient or dangerous without designated bike while Camarillo has the most on a per capita basis. Oxnard, the lanes. county’s most populous city, ranks third in bike lanes. How are we doing? The most common type of bike lane is a Class 2, which is Ventura County had 511.6 miles of bike lanes in 2018, which separated from traffic by a line painted on the road. Seventy was 28.3 miles more than two years earlier. Camarillo created percent of Ventura County’s bike lanes follow this model. the most new lanes, adding 12 miles in two years; Simi Valley Class 1 and 4 lanes, the only kinds that physically separate added 6.4 miles; Fillmore, 5.1 miles; and the city of Ventura, bikes from automobiles, make up 15.8 percent of the 7.4 miles, including the county’s first Class 4 bike lane. Santa county’s total bike lanes. Ventura is far and away the county’s Paula and Port Hueneme lost a small portion of their bike leader in separated bike routes, followed by Simi Valley. lanes between 2016 and 2018.

Miles of Ventura County Bike Lanes (2018) Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

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108 | TRANSPORTATION Ventura County Civic Alliance

Time Spent Commuting LONG COMMUTES, AND GETTING LONGER

What is the measure? The measure is the one-way time it takes Ventura County residents to get to their jobs. Why is the measure important? Commuting is a drain on productivity and quality of life; every minute on the road is time not spent on work, leisure, exercise, sleep or with family. Long commutes — whether they result from living farther away from work or encountering more congestion on the roads — worsen traffic and degrade the environment, as idling cars release more air pollutants per mile than moving ones. How are we doing? On the edge of a major metropolitan area, Ventura County This chart shows our commutes are getting longer. Fewer lacks its own robust job market, potentially forcing people have short commutes of 24 minutes or less, while county residents into lengthy commutes. In 2017, more the number of workers with commutes over 25 minutes has than 134,000 county residents, about 35 percent of the grown significantly since 2014. employed population, commuted longer than half an hour.

Travel Time to Work in Ventura County (2014 - 2017) 2014 2015 2016 2017

53,616 53,254 53,239 Miles of Ventura County Bike Lanes (2018) 50,070

40,663 34,977

26,650

21,568

12,862 12,235 8,279 8,809

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Ventura County Civic Alliance TRANSPORTATION | 109 110 | WILDFIRE IMPACTS Ventura County Civic Alliance 2019 STATE OF THE REGION REPORT

Wildfire Impacts

Two of the 10 most destructive wildfires in California their residence in the Thomas Fire and more than $1 million history started in Ventura County less than a year apart: given to the Salvation Army by the Community Foundation the Thomas Fire in December 2017 and the Woolsey Fire to help those affected by the Woolsey Fire. in November 2018. The Thomas Fire burned 281,893 acres Over the past few decades, our fires have grown bigger and and destroyed 1,063 structures in Ventura and Santa more destructive, and nothing suggests the worst is over — Barbara counties, killing two people. The Woolsey scorched except, perhaps, the fact that hundreds of thousands of acres 96,949 acres and claimed 1,643 structures in Ventura and of vegetation blackened in 2017 and 2018 Los Angeles counties, taking three lives. will need time to regrow before they can Those frightening figures tell only part of Over the past few burn again. the story. Businesses and schools closed, decades, our fires Taking a wider view, though, the entire farmers lost crops and equipment, county state of California and the rest of the residents breathed air far dirtier than have grown bigger and American West might be changing their normal and the Thomas Fire led to the more destructive approach to preventing, fighting and Montecito mudslide that killed 21 people. controlling fires. The recent firestorms The story of these disasters also is a tale of renewal and focused attention on the problem and garnered support for rebuilding, helped by the generosity of our community and better forest management, tighter restrictions on building its nonprofit organizations. The Ventura County Community in fire-prone areas, new requirements for fire-safe buildings Foundation, the United Way of Ventura County and other and better methods of notifying people of an evacuation and groups raised millions of dollars to help people who lost their getting them out of their homes safely. The question now homes or otherwise suffered in these fires. That includes is whether we can take any of those steps before the next $1,500 in recovery assistance donated by the United Way catastrophic fires erupt. to each household that sustained destruction or damage to

Ventura County Civic Alliance WILDFIRE IMPACTS | 111 Insurance Claims From Fire Losses NEARLY $4.8 BILLION IN DAMAGES

What is the measure? commercial property losses totaled $101.5 million, including The measure is the total dollar value of all insurance claims 31 properties claimed as complete losses; that figure includes filed related to the Thomas, Hill and Woolsey fires in Ventura apartment buildings. Ventura County residents also filed County, according to data collected by the California 619 claims on automobiles and non-residential commercial Department of Insurance. property, totaling $36.9 million. Why is the measure important? The Hill and Woolsey fires of November 2018 were even While not everyone who suffers losses in a fire is insured, more destructive, at $3.32 billion in total insurance claims, most people are. That means the Department of Insurance’s but most of the damage occurred in Los Angeles County. In totals for insured losses are the best metric we have for Ventura County, 135 homes were destroyed for a total of gauging the fires’ direct financial impact. $344.8 million in losses. Commercial property owners filed 290 claims, totaling $37.9 million, and 170 claims were filed How are we doing? for automobiles and non-residential commercial property, The Thomas Fire destroyed about $1.47 billion in insured totaling $5.3 million. property in Ventura County. More than 4,000 claims were filed for personal residential property, including 620 homes listed as total losses, for a total of $1.33 billion. Insured

Ventura County Insured Lossess Ventura County Insured Lossess from 2017 Thomas Fire from 2018 Hill and Woolsey Fires

Auto and All Other Property Loss Auto and All Other Property Loss 619 Total Claims Commercial Property Loss 170 Total Claims Commercial Property Loss $36,915,530 524 Total Claims $5,265,255 290 Total Claims $101,528,541 $37,852,729

Residential Property Loss Residential Property Loss 4,081 Total Claims 4,091 Total Claims $1,334,884,659 $344,779,079

Total Property Loss Total Property Loss $1,473,328,730 $387,897,063

112 | WILDFIRE IMPACTS Ventura County Civic Alliance Air Quality During the Thomas Fire PM2.5 SPIKED IN OJAI AS INFERNO BURNED

What is the measure? The air measured near Oxnard was cleaner, but it also The measure is the air quality index during December 2017 deteriorated during the fire. On Dec. 8 the air hit the at three measuring stations in Ventura County: one in Ojai, unhealthy level and seven other days it hit moderate or another in the El Rio area north of Oxnard and a third in “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, meaning conditions were Thousand Oaks. The index is based on measurements of unhealthy for the very young, the elderly and people with PM2.5, which is particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller. asthma. PM2.5 is present in smoke and is smaller than the particles in There is no official PM2.5 measurement station in the the PM10 measurements discussed elsewhere in this report. Ventura area. Ventura presumably fell between Oxnard and Why is the measure important? Ojai in these measurements, as it was usually closer to the The Thomas Fire started Dec. 4 near Santa Paula and burned fire than Oxnard and farther than Ojai. But during the first through the month of December. Its impact on the air was two days of the fire, on December 4 and 5, it burned within obvious, as people in both Ventura and Santa Barbara Ventura’s city limits, so the air quality may have reached the counties could see, smell and taste the smoke sometimes unhealthy or hazardous range for at least a few hours. without even stepping outside. Schools districts shut down, in some cases for weeks, to keep children from going out into the dirty air. How are we doing? The air in some parts of Ventura County was dangerous to breathe during the early days of the Thomas Fire. In Ojai, the air quality index (AQI) reached the maximum value of 500 on December 6 and again on December 8. The index ranks a score of 150 and above as “unhealthy” and readings above 300 are “hazardous.” For twelve days beginning December 5, the Ojai air was classified as unhealthy for all but two days. Six of those days were “very unhealthy” or hazardous.

Air Quality Index in Ventura County (December 2017) Ojai El Rio/Oxnard Thousand Oaks

HAZARDOUS VERY UNHEALTHY UNHEALTHY UNHEALTHY (FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS) Air Quality Index Values Quality Index Air MODERATE GOOD

st n r t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t st n r t t t t t t t st Day in December 2017

Ventura County Civic Alliance WILDFIRE IMPACTS | 113 Fire Related School Closures CLASSES CANCELED FOR STUDENT AND STAFF SAFETY

What is the measure? How are we doing? The measure is the number of days of school canceled in The Thomas Fire was very disruptive to the 2017 /18 Ventura County K-12 districts due to wildfires in the 2017/18 school year in western and northern Ventura County. The and 2018/19 school years. Ventura Unified School District canceled 14 days of school in December 2017, and the four districts in or around Santa Why is the measure important? Paula — Briggs, Mupu, Santa Clara and Santa Paula Unified The typical school year in the United States is already short — each called off 11 or more days of school, out of 180 days by international standards, and many countries that routinely in a typical school year. Those closures came just before outscore us on measures of student achievement have the scheduled two-week winter break, so in some schools, longer school years, longer school days, or both. Research students were away from the classroom for nearly five weeks on the effect of summer breaks indicates missing school can in a row. be especially harmful for children from low-income families and those who are behind their peers academically. And, The Hill and Woolsey fires in November 2018 had a smaller when school is canceled because of a wildfire, mudslide impact, but children still missed a week or more of instruction threat or other disaster, concerns arise beyond academics — in some districts. The Conejo Valley Unified district shut disruption of students’ routines during an already traumatic down for seven days, and Oak Park Unified canceled five time may add to the disaster’s psychological toll. days.

114 | WILDFIRE IMPACTS Ventura County Civic Alliance School Days Lost Due to Thomas Fire (2017/18)

ris lementary 12 Conejo Valley Unified 1 Fillmore Unified 9 ueneme lementary 7 esa nin lementary 7 Moorpark Unified 1 uu lementary 13 cean Vie 8 Ojai Unified 10 Oxnard (K-8) 7 Oxnard Union 8 leasant Valley 5 i lementary 11 anta lara 13 Santa Paula Unified 13 Simi Valley Unified 1 mis nin 5 Ventura Unified 14

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School Days Lost Due to Hill and Woolsey Fires (2018/19)

Conejo Valley Uniﬁed 7

Fillmore Uniﬁed 1

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esa nin lementary 1

Moorpark Uniﬁed 1

Oak Park Uniﬁed 5

Oxnard (K-8) 1

Oxnard Union 2

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Ventura County Civic Alliance WILDFIRE IMPACTS | 115 3) Political Party Affiliation a) California Secretary of State, Voter Registration Statistics by Sources County, General Election 15 Day Report, 2001-2018. https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/voter- registration-statistics/ b) Ventura County Clerk and Recorder Voter Registration and Turnout Statistics, General Election 15 Day Report. Agriculture c) https://recorder.countyofventura.org/elections/elections/ voter-information/registration-turnout-stats/ 1) Harvested Acres a) Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s Annual Crop 4) Nonprofits Report 2005-2017. a) IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract. http://www.ventura.org/ag-commissioner/crop-reports https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt- 2) Crop Changes organizations-business-master-file-extract-eo-bmf a) Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s Annual Crop b) GuideStar Custom Data Services. Report 2005-2017. https://www.GuideStar.org http://www.ventura.org/ag-commissioner/crop-reports c) California Department of Finance E-4 Population Estimates. 3) Crop Value (Acres) http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/ Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s Annual Crop a) Estimates/e-4/2010-19/ Report 2005-2017. 5) Nonprofit Revenue http://www.ventura.org/ag-commissioner/crop-reports 4) Crop Value (Economy) a) GuideStar Custom Data Services. a) Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s Annual Crop https://www.GuideStar.org Report 2005-2017. b) California Department of Finance E-4 Population Estimates. http://www.ventura.org/ag-commissioner/crop-reports http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/ b) California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research Estimates/e-4/2010-19/ and Forecasting. 6) Creative Economy https://www.clucerf.org/ a) America for the Arts: The Creative Industries in 5) Organic Production Ventura County. a) Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s Annual Crop https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and- Report 2005-2017. data/research-studies-publications/creative-industries http://www.ventura.org/ag-commissioner/crop-reports 7) Public Libraries 6) Land Values a) California State Library: California Library Statistics. a) Trends in Agricultural Land and Lease Values, California and http://www.library.ca.gov/services/to-libraries/statistics/ Nevada. http://www.calasfmra.com/trends.php 7) Agricultural Exports a) Custom report from Ventura County Agricultural Economy Commissioner’s Office. 1) Unemployment 8) Employment and Earnings a) Bureau of Labor Statistics: LAU Tables, Annual Average a) California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research County Data. and Forecasting. https://www.bls.gov/lau http://www.clucerf.org 2) Employment Growth 9) Earnings by Occupation a) California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research a) Employment Development Department. and Forecasting. https://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/data/oes- http://www.clucerf.org employment-and-wages.html 3) Employment by Sector a) Employment Development Department, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). Community Engagement & Resources https://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/qcew/cew-select.asp 4) Salaries by Sector 1) Voter Registration a) Employment Development Department, Quarterly Census a) California Secretary of State, Voter Registration Statistics of Employment and Wages (QCEW). 2001-2018. https://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/qcew/cew-select.asp https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/voter- 5) Gross County Product registration-statistics/ a) California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research 2) Voter Turnout and Forecasting. a) California Secretary of State, Voter Participation Statistics http://www.clucerf.org by County (PDF), General Elections, 2001-2018. 6) Wages and Cost of Living https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/ a) State of California: Employment Development Department, statewide-election-results/ Wage and Data Tables – Ventura County, 1st Quarter 2018. https://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/data/oes- employment-and-wages.html

116 | SOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance b) Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 6) Childhood Socioeconomic Disparities Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier. a) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, Poverty http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06111 Status in the Past 12 months by Family type by Age of Related 7) Gender Difference in Pay Children Under 18 Years 2012-2016 American Community a) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table S1701. 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/ Full-Time, Civilian, Table S2419. productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_16_5YR_S1701&prodType=table https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/ b) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, Poverty jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_ Status in the Past 12 months 2012-2016 American Community S2419&prodType=table Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B17006. 8) Cost of Child Care https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/ a) California Child Care Resources & Referral Network. productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_B17006&prodType=table https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/rrnetwork/ c) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, Language pages/1415/attachments/original/1529513424/ Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Ventura_06-18.pdf Years and Under 2011-2015, Table B16001. b) Office of theAssistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/ https://aspe.hhs.gov/2017-poverty-guidelines productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_B16001&prodType=table d) California Department of Education: Percentage of Free 9) Economic Impacts of the Port of Hueneme and Reduced Priced Lunches. a) Martin Associates, 2018 conomicE https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/cbeds2.asp?cYear=2015-16&Fr Impact of the Port of Hueneme. eeLunch=on&cChoice=CoProf2&TheCounty=56%2CVENTURA https://www.portofhueneme.org/wp-content/ &cLevel=County&cTopic=Profile&myTimeFrame=S&submit1=S uploads/2019/05/ExecutiveSummary_Hueneme-5-28-19. ubmit pdf e) California Department of Education: Total Percentage of English Learners, 2017-2018. https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/cbeds2.asp? Education cYear=2015-16&Enroll=on&PctEL=on&PctFEP=on&PctRe=on&c Choice=CoProf2&TheCounty=56%2CVentura 1) Public School Enrollment 7) School Safety a) California Department of Education: Dataquest →Create a) California Department of Education: CalSCHLS Dashboard. Custom Report→County Summary with District Data https://calschls.org/reports-data/data-dashboards/ (Ventura County). 8) Standardized Test Scores https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/SearchName.asp?rbTimeFra a) California School Dashboard. me=oneyear&rYear=2017-18&cCounty=56+VENTURA&Top https://www.caschooldashboard.org ic=Profile&Level=County&submit1=Submit 9) Community College Enrollment b) RAND California, Public School Enrollment Projections. a) Ventura County Community College District. https://www.randstatestats.org/ https://www.vcccd.edu/departments/institutional-research/ 2) Per-Pupil Spending snapshot-reports a) California Department of Education. 10) Four-Year College Enrollment https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/currentexpense.asp a) California Lutheran University. 3) Average Class Size https://www.callutheran.edu a) California Department of Education: Dataquest →Create b) Thomas Aquinas College. Custom Report→Average Class Size→County Summary https://thomasaquinas.edu (Ventura County)→select year. c) California State University Channel Islands https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/Cbeds2.asp?classize=on&c https://www.csuci.edu Choice=CoProf1&cYear=2016-17&TheCounty=56%2CVEN 11) Earnings by Educational Attainment and Gender TURA&cLevel=County&cTopic=Profile&myTimeFrame=S&su a) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, bmit1=Submit Table B20004 ACS 5 Year. 4) English Learners https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/ a) California Department of Education: Dataquest →Create productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_B20004&prodType=table Custom Report→English Learners→County Summary 12) Preschool Opportunities. (VenturaCounty)→select year. a) First Five Ventura County. https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/Cbeds2.asp?PctEL=on&cC http://www.first5ventura.org/ hoice=CoProf1&cYear=2015-16&TheCounty=56%2CVENT URA&cLevel=County&cTopic=Profile&myTimeFrame=S&sub mit1=Submit 5) High School Graduation and Dropout Rates a) California Department of Education: Graduation Rates. https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/CohRate. aspx?agglevel=county&year=2017-18&cds=56 b) California Department of Education: Dropout Rates. https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/CohOutcome. aspx?agglevel=county&year=2017-18&cds=56

Ventura County Civic Alliance SOURCES | 117 Land Use & Housing 8) Oil and Gas Production a) Drilling Edge, INC. 1) Acres of Urban and Built-Up Land http://www.drillingedge.com/california/ventura-county a) California Department of Conservation, Historical 9) Landfill Disposal ateR Land Use Conversion. a) California.gov: CalRecycle. https://www.conservation.ca.gov/dlrp/fmmp/pages/ventura. https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/LGCentral/AnnualReporting/ aspx DisposalRateCalculator 2) New Housing Starts a) U.S. Department of Housing and Development: State of the Cities Data System, County Total, Annual. Public Health https://socds.huduser.gov/permits/ 3) Homeownership Rate 1) Life Expectancy and Income a) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder, a) Ventura County Public Health: Health Matters. 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, http://www.healthmattersinvc.org/indicators/index/ Table B25003. view?indicatorId=6049&localeTypeId=3 https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/ 2) Asthma Hospitalizations jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_ a) Kidsdata.org: Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. B25003&prodType=table https://www.kidsdata.org/ 4) Median Home Price 3) Teen Birth Rate a) Zillow.com: Home Listings and Sales. a) County Health Rankings and Roadmaps: Robert Wood https://www.zillow.com/research/data/ Johnson Foundation & University of Wisconsin Population 5) Apartment Rents Health Institute. a) Dyer Sheehan Group Inc. https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/california/2018/ http://dyersheehan.com/ measure/factors/14/data 6) Housing Affordability 4) Teen Substance Abuse a) California Association of Realtors. a) California Department of Education: CalSCHLS Dashboard. https://www.car.org/ https://calschls.org/reports-data/data-dashboards/ 5) Teen Mental Health a) California Department of Education: CalSCHLS Dashboard. Natural & Environmental Resources https://calschls.org/reports-data/data-dashboards/ 6) Leading Causes of Death 1) Electricity Use a) California Health and Human Services Agency. a) California Energy Commission. https://data.chhs.ca.gov/dataset/leading-causes-of-death-by- http://www.ecdms.energy.ca.gov zip-code 2) Solar Power Installations 7) Opioid Deaths a) California Distributed Generation Statistics. a) California Department of Public Health: California Opioid https://www.californiadgstats.ca.gov/charts/nem Overdose Surveillance Dashboard. 3) Air Quality https://discovery.cdph.ca.gov/CDIC/ODdash/ a) California Air Resources Board. https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/html/ds.htm 4) Rainfall Public Safety a) Ventura County Water and Power District: Hydraulic Data Server. 1) County Crime Rates https://www.vcwatershed.net/hydrodata/php/getyears.php a) California Department of Justice: Open Justice. 5) Drought https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/exploration/crime-statistics/ a) United States Drought Monitor: California. crimes-clearances https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/ b) California Department of Finance: Population and Housing StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA Estimates. 6) Water Use http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/ a) California State Water Resources Control Board: Water Estimates/e-4/2010-19/ Supplier Dataset. 2) City Crime Rates https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/ a) Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. conservation_portal/conservation_reporting.html https://www.venturasheriff.org/public-resources/crime-stats- 7) Ocean Water Quality public-info/ a) Ventura County Resource Management Agency. b) California Department of Finance: Population Estimates https://vcrma.org/log-of-beach-postings-rainfall-advisories for Cities, Counties, and the State. http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/ Estimates/E-1/ 3) Juvenile Arrests a) California Department of Justice: Open Justice. https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/exploration/crime-statistics/ arrests

118 | SOURCES Ventura County Civic Alliance 4) Traffic Collisions Wildfire Impacts a) California Highway Patrol, SWITRS, Custom Data Report. 5) Calls to Ventura County Fire Department 1) Insurance Claims From Fire Losses a) Ventura County Fire Department: Annual Reports. a) California Department of Insurance, Reported Losses https://vcfd.org/about-vcfd/annual-reports 2017 Report. https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press- releases/2018/upload/nr013-2018SoCalFiresUpdate013118. pdf Social Services b) California Department of Insurance, Reported Losses 2018 Report. 1) 2-1-1 Calls by Need https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press- a) 2-1-1 Ventura County: Reports. releases/2019/upload/nr041-19InsuredLosses2018Wildfir http://www.211ventura.org/reports/ es050819.pdf 2) Revenue to United Way 2) Air Quality During the Thomas Fire a) United Way of Ventura County. a) California Air Resources Board, Air Quality Data Query Tool. https://vcunitedway.org/ https://www.arb.ca.gov/aqmis2/aqdselect.php?tab=hourly 3) Homelessness b) AQI Calculator. a) Ventura County Continuum of Care Alliance. https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.calculator http://www.venturacoc.org/facts-figures 3) Fire Related School Closures 4) Homelessness Among Children a) Ventura County Office of Education, Custom Data Report. / Ventura County Office of Educaton. https://www.vcoe.org a) https://www.vcoe.org/ b) National Center for Homeless Education. https://nche.ed.gov/data/ c) California Department of Education https://www.cde.ca.gov/ 5) Child Abuse a) University of California at Berkeley: California Child Welfare System Outcomes System Summary Table. http://cssr.berkeley.edu/ucb_childwelfare/RefRates.aspx 6) DomesticViolence Calls a) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder: Total Population, Table B01003. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/ jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_ B01003&prodType=table b) California Department of Justice: Open Justice, Domestic Violence Calls. https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/crime-statistics/ domestic-violence

Transportation

1) Means to Work a) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder: Means of Transportation to Work, Table B08301. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/ jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_ B08301&prodType=table%22 2) Transit Ridership a) Federal Transit Administration: Annual Database Service. https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/data-product/2017- annual-database-service 3) Bike Lanes a) Ventura County Transportation Commission. https://www.goventura.org/ 4) Time Spent Commuting a) United States Census Bureau, American Fact Finder: Travel Time to Work, Table B08303. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/ jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_5YR_ B08303&prodType=table

Ventura County Civic Alliance SOURCES | 119 At Aera Energy, the oil we produce enables millions of Californians to travel to work every day, allows businesses to grow and thrive, and helps California-grown food to arrive at dinner tables. We are proud of the role that we play in powering the vital work Californians do every day.

Networking

matters.

Connections are critical to success. In Ventura County and across the U.S., AT&T links businesses with their customers and the world through the nation's largest Wi-Fi network. It's just another way we

help communities stay connected.

Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

120 | SPONSORS Ventura County Civic Alliance The Center for Economics of Social Issues (CESI) is dedicated to exploration of economic aspects of social progress, health, human rights, the environment, and other important issues within the university and in the larger community. We organize conferences, host speakers, serve as a clearinghouse and resource center for pertinent literature, and conduct relevant research in economics of social issues.

Our data are presented in Excel, easy to understand graphs and with GIS mapping for cities and ZIP codes. They can help our visitors to gather the information they need for research and grant preparation.

The available information is provided free of charge and they are gathered and presented as a public service for the common good of our community.

Jamshid Damooei, Ph.D. Executive Director of CESI Phone: (805) 493-3357 Phone: (805) 493-3360 Email: [email protected] | [email protected]

Please visit CESI: www.callutheran.edu/centers/cesi Database: www.callutheran.edu/centers/cesi/ventura-county

Martin V. Smith SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

California State CHANNEL University ISLANDS

Ventura County Civic Alliance SPONSORS | 121 Haas Automation Supporting Ventura County Through Corporate Social Responsibility

OUR BELIEFS: • Fair treatment of employees Through good working conditions, wages & benefits • Care for the environment Through solar power generation and a clean factory • Support the needs of the community Through giving from the Gene Haas Foundation

Visit us at HaasCNC.com

122BusinessProgram7.5x4.875.indd | SPONSORS 1 Ventura County Civic5/23/19 Alliance 4:09 PM For over 40 years, Montecito Bank & Trust has worked side-by-side with individuals and organizations to help the local economy thrive. Come experience what we can do for you. Personal & Mortgage & Digital Business Banking Residential Lending Banking

4730 Telephone Rd, Ventura, CA 93003 montecito.bank

Ventura County Civic Alliance SPONSORS | 123 WE’RE GOING PLACES. ARE YOU ON BOARD? Making a Difference For Ventura County Students

The Ventura County P-20 Council promotes collaboration and innovation among education, business, government and community organizations to advance academic achievement and support the workforce and civic needs of our region.

Connect with Us at: www.vcp20.org

Providing Fixed-Route & Paratransit Bus Service in OJAI, OXNARD, PORT HUENEME, Follow us! VENTURA, & THE COUNTY OF VENTURA

Visit us Online! www.GoldCoastTransit.org | 805.487.4222

Economic Opportunity at the United Staffing Nation’s Greenest Port. UNITED STAFFING ASSOCIATES www.UnitedWeStaff.com ® Associates Temporary | Temp-To-Hire Direct Placement | Executive Search Payroll Services | Safety Training We Make Cargo Move • 3.3 billion bananas come to our Port yearly For over 15 years, United • 340,000 autos are imported and exported annually Staffing Associates has • We import non-hazardous fertilizer to feed our farms provided Ventura County businesses a broad range A Vital Economic Engine in Ventura County of workforce solutions. • 15,834 trade-related jobs • $119 million in tax revenue for our state and local communities Our highly skilled team is • $1.7 billion total economic contribution known for maintaining A Legacy of Environmental Protection strategic partnerships with our valued clients by • Greenest US Port – Green Shipping Summit successfully recruiting • Green Marine-certified – first port in California • Ventura County’s Environmental Stewardship Award, 2017 top talent.

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124 | SPONSORS Ventura County Civic Alliance Ventura County Office From special education to career education and test ofConnect Education with Education scores to charter schools, the is your source for information about local schools and educational programs. Connect with us to stay up-to-date on education issues that affect yourSubscribe family, your to Focusbusiness on andEducation your community. to get local education news delivered to your inbox: vcoe.org/subscribe

www.vcoe.org venturacoe PROUDLY SUPPORTING the Ventura County Civic Alliance ventura.coe venturacoe Pacific Coast Business Times is the weekly business journal of record serving Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.

VISIT PACBIZTIMES.COM/SUBSCRIBE TODAY OR EMAIL: [email protected]

Stanley C. Mantooth, County Superintendent of Schools Ventura County Civic Alliance SPONSORS | 125 Acknowledgements

Research Production Research completed by Dr. Jamshid Damooei, Executive Writing by Director, Center for Economics of Social Issues (CESI) Tony Biasotti, Freelance Journalist California Lutheran University and the graduate research Editing by assistants from the Center with Institutional Support from Colleen Cason, Digital and Analog Communications Dr. Gerhard Apfelthaler, Dean of the School of Management of California Lutheran University. Project Management by Greg Amantia VCCA Executive Committee Graphic Design and Production by David Fleisch * Mustang Marketing VCCA Chair County of Ventura Public Works Agency Advisory Support Provided By David Maron * Dena Jenson, Center for Nonprofit Leadership, California VCCA Vice-Chair Lutheran University Maron Computer Services Darren Kettle, Ventura County Transportation Commission Samantha Argabrite * Ellen Kragh, Ventura County Agricultural Comissioners Office City of Simi Valley John Krist, Farm Bureau of Ventura County Albert De La Rocha National University Jennifer LaMoure, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office

Rebecca Evans California Highway Patrol County of Ventura Workforce Development Board California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research Marv King and Forecasting Business Consultant Interface Children & Family Services Katrina Maksimuk United Way of Ventura County City of Ventura Ventura County Air Pollution Control District Tracy Perez United Staffing Associates Ventura County Human Services Agency

Vanessa Rauschenberger Ventura County Office of Education Gold Coast Transit District Ventura County Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector Stacy Roscoe Community Volunteer Ventura County Public Health Department Sandy Smith * Media Sponsor SESPE Consulting Pacific Coast Business Times Nancy Stehle Retired Environmental Consultant

Tom Tarantino City of Santa Paula

Celina L. Zacarias California State University Channel Islands

* State of the Region Report Committee Member

126 | ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ventura County Civic Alliance Thank You to Our Sponsors!

RESEARCH SPONSOR:

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

DOMAIN SPONSORS:

WE’RE GOING PLACES. ARE YOU ON BOARD?

SUPPORTING SPONSORS:

Providing Fixed-Route & Paratransit Bus Service in OJAI, OXNARD, PORT HUENEME, Follow us! VENTURA, & THE COUNTY OF VENTURA

Visit us Online! www.GoldCoastTransit.org | 805.487.4222

CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS: California Lutheran University Center for Nonprofit Leadership Ventura County Credit Union SESPE Consulting Inc. Ventura County Transportation Commission

FRIEND SPONSORS: Dyer Sheehan Group, Inc. Kate McLean Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP Slover Memorial Fund Terri & Mark Lisagor Stacy and Kerry Roscoe David Maron United Way of Ventura County VENTURA COUNTY CIVIC ALLIANCE Join us! Become a member at www.CivicAlliance.org

Ventura County Civic Alliance www.CivicAlliance.org P.O. Box 23412 [email protected] Ventura, CA 93002 (805) 665-3834