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FREE Ventura REEZE Your Hometown Paper BVol. 3, No. 3 Wednesday, November 18, 2009 The DUI Small group of problem a voters make big decisions for matter of life Ventura & death by Rebecca Wicks by Joseph Owen With mail-in ballots nearly com- 5597 is a large number. Now, if I pleted, statistics show an estimated 27 told you this was the number of crimi- percent of registered voters in Ventura nal complaints referred to the Ventura County made some key decisions which County District Attorney’s Office in 2008 included electing four council members for driving while impaired would you be and deciding three measures in Ventura. shocked? “We had maybe a hundred people all This reporter was stunned! I had no day long,” said a polling site volunteer idea Ventura County citizens were being who asked to remain unnamed. “It’s just victimized to this extent by irresponsible sad. It’s a privilege to vote, I don’t think drivers. people get that.” This was just one statistic of many All three ballot measures for the City provided by this year’s gathering of ex- of Ventura were voted down. perts at the DUI Prevention Summit held 3 familiar faces and a new familiar one will serve Ventura for the next 4 years on the City Council With 15 candidates vying for four city on Thursday, November 5 in the Ventura council seats, this month’s election was Beach Marriott Hotel. ment Office and PLACE (Projects Link- the largest pool of candidates in close to Sponsored by the Ventura County ing Art, Community, & Environment), a twenty years. Behavioral Health Agency, this congrega- Minneapolis based nonprofit organiza- Many have suggested distrust and tion consisted of representatives from lo- tion that specializes in designing, fund- unhappiness with current council mem- cal law enforcement agencies, the health- ing, building and managing sustainable, bers as the pretext for the number of care field, and outreach programs all with mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhoods contenders. Nevertheless, the council’s the goal of helping to eliminate the deaths for creative people and businesses. makeup will stay mostly the same with and injuries resulting from driving while The SHORE project was more than a only one change. impaired. As the speakers outlined the dozen years in the making and has faced In Ventura, voters re-elected three of continued problem with drunk drivers, considerable obstacles in winding its the four incumbents including Neal one also got the sense vast improvements way through the City planning process. Andrews, Brian Brennan and Jim Mo- have been made over the last decade re- The idea picked up steam in 2000 when nahan. The new face on the city coun- garding issues of public awareness and Mayor Ray DeGuillio, in cooperation cil will be Mike Tracy, the city’s former enforcement. with the City Council, made it a prior- police chief. Supervising Deputy District Attor- ity of his administration to address the According to ballots counted so far, ney, Cynthia Nguyen, oversees the DUI issues of homelessness in the City. The Tracy led all council member candidates prosecutions for Ventura County and City eventually agreed to acquire land with Andrews second than Monahan emphasized their office has had a policy for the project. and Brennan. for many years to aggressively prosecute As a result, Project Understand- Incumbent Ed Summers came in drunk driving. Many California Coun- ing formed a blue-ribbon site selection fifth and was not reelected. ties have followed Ventura’s example and committee chaired by Rick Pearson and “I’m not sure one new council mem- Project Understanding Executive Director have copied our cutting edge treatment Councilman Neal Andrews. The commit- ber is enough fresh blood to make a Rick Pearson unveiling a plaque paying tribute and enforcement programs. tee began a four-year search for acceptable difference,” said Amy Seamer, a stay-at- to Ventura carpenter Russell Dana Bell at the Kathy Mulford heads up just such a sites. What they found was considerable home mother of two. “I’m not even sure SHORE opening treatment program through the County community opposition to the project. new council members would have even of Ventura’s Drug and Alcohol Unit in Since the City was also interested in made a difference at this point – it seems Simi Valley. Kathy stated when someone SHORE facility building a housing complex for working like the budgetary problems are huge.” is convicted of a DUI they must complete artists, the selection committee agreed to Tracy along with the three return- the alcohol school to get their driver’s has grand partner with the City to turn these two ing council members recognize the job license back. This county program is separate ideas into a single project. Col- ahead of them is anything but easy. Dif- the largest in the state with an average opening laborating with Chris Velasco, Director Continued on page 2 of PLACE, the project has morphed over of 2200 clients at any one time. Kathy by Tim Pompey Continued on page 2 the last five years into its current location Opinion/Editorial...............................3 Proclaiming that the “dream of mov- and design. Mail Box..............................................3 ing people from homelessness to perma- In addition, the need for a full-servic- Election Reflections............................4 nent housing is this day a reality,” Project es center for homeless people continues Understanding Executive Director Rick to be a community priority, due in no News and Notes..................................5 Pearson presided over the opening cer- small part to the persistent leadership of Community Events.............................9 emony of the new SHORE (Supportive the Ten-Year Strategy to End Homeless- Art Scene...........................................12 Housing Opportunities in a Residential ness, the Ventura County Social Services Senior Living......................................13 Environment) housing units on the cor- Task Force, The Gateway Committee, ner of Thompson and Garden in down- and Project Understanding. School...............................................13 town Ventura. Pearson also paid special tribute to Sports/Religion...........................14 With the addition of fifteen units of Ventura carpenter Russell Dana Bell, Business...........................................15 affordable housing, many families either who often used the services provided by Professor Scamp...............................16 have moved or will soon move into brand- Project Understanding and donated a Public awareness programs encouraging citi- new two and three bedroom apartment large gift to SHORE with money he re- Police and Fire Reports.....................16 zens to always have a DD in their group when units built as part of the WĀV project, a ceived in a lawsuit settlement. Bell died Movie Time........................................17 attending parties or any social get together partnership between the City of Ventura’s in July 2003. In recognition of his contri The Lighter Breeze.............................18 might have prevented this tragic DUI accident Cultural Affairs and Economic Develop- Continued on page 17 2 Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Ventura BREEZE An anxious crowd (including City Manager Rick Cole and Mayor Christy Weir) watches the “big board” at City Hall as the early election results are posted on election night Small group of voters nel cuts are expected. Continued from page 1 Measure B was defeated more sound- ficult decisions will be made and options ly than any of the three measures with 75 will become even more limited with the percent of voters against it. The measure defeat of Measure A which would have in- which would have put a temporary stop creased the city’s sales tax by a half-cent to buildings higher than 26 feet through raising an estimated $8 million. much of the city while starting the pro- Fifty five percent of voters said no to cess to create a view-protection ordinance the measure. was seen by many as flawed. The monies were to be earmarked for Local resident Tim Webb appreci- a number of city expenses including po- ates the city’s views but felt the measure lice and fire officers, street maintenance wasn’t the appropriate way to go about and funding the Wright Library. preserving them. He also had grave con- The week after the election the coun- cerns about the measure deterring busi- ty’s chief librarian made the announce- ness from entering the city. ment that the Wright Library will close at “We don’t need a law that officially the end of the month. discourages construction in Ventura, the “I voted for Measure A in part to save recession is doing a good enough job at the Wright Library,” said Linda Cheney that already,” said Webb. who lives on the east side of Ventura and Measure C which would have stopped will in the future need to travel to the new superstores larger than 90,000 square downtown library. “It’s a sad statement feet when more than 3 percent of the when libraries are not a priority for a sales floor area contains groceries was community.” also defeated with 54 percent of voters Mayor Christy Weir who supported against it. the measure accepted its defeat. Resident Kelleen Almond was initially “Measure A offered voters a choice: confused about the purpose of the mea- Make those cuts permanent or restore sure and ultimately voted against it after some of the highest-priority services,” conducting further research said Weir. “Our council is committed to “I’m not high on the idea of Walmart Accounting carrying out the will of the voters.” here in Ventura,” admitted Almond. “But, since the measure won’t stop Walmart, it Management Advisory Services The city has already cut $11 million out of its annual budget purging 42 posi- seemed like the measure was pretty worth- Business Valuation tions.

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