Ventura City Council

I am disgusted and appalled by the action of the Ventura City Council regarding the Buenaventura Mall deal. To have our elected representatives not only ignore what an awful lot of city residents are questioning about the "subsidization" of the mall development by the city, but to censure, belittle, run down and otherwise criticize people who are only exercising their rights as citizens, is intolerable. What do we have up there in that City Hall Valhalla? We have a dictatorship, that can do anything it wants, without questioning by their subservient citizens.

The Ventura City Council has approved plans to develop one of the last vacant waterfront parcels in Southern California. The council voted Monday to rezone a nearly 25-acre tract and amend its coastal development plan to accommodate 300 apartments and 20,000 square feet of commercial space next to Ventura Harbor.

The Ventura City Council today will consider applying for a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to place public art at the Ventura Pier. The public art grant request would be added to a $3.5-million package put together by the city and the state of California to restore the pier, which is the largest of its kind in the state but has deteriorated so much that its outer portion is closed.

Advocates for the working poor didn't get very far when they tried to pass a minimum-wage ordinance in Ventura five years ago. Yet this week, the Ventura City Council voted unanimously to enact just such a law. This time, the Ventura Chamber of Commerce signed on, as did Jim Monahan, the City Council's staunchest pro-business member. Why the change of heart? "Everybody gave a little bit," said Zoe Taylor, president and chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce.

Ventura City Council critic Caroll Dean Williams was arrested Monday night after he refused to leave the podium at the City Council meeting. Williams, who frequently uses meeting time to berate council members and read his own poetry, was arrested on suspicion of disrupting a public meeting. His nephew, Randy Williams, was arrested on the same charge after he also caused a commotion. Both were booked in Ventura County Jail, police said.

After three years of banning residential construction because of drought concerns, the Ventura City Council has decided to allow large-scale development. The council on Monday voted 6 to 1 to allocate 500 housing units in the downtown area and 175 housing units elsewhere in the city each year until the year 2000. Thirty-five units will be set aside for small projects. A unit is a single-family home or an apartment.

It's back to the drawing board again for a developer who has been trying for more than a year to build a condominium complex in the 400 block of Poli Street in downtown Ventura. The Ventura City Council rejected Monday plans for a three-unit, flat-roofed, Southwest-style condominium project proposed by Michael Wooten, president of Darrick Marten Development Co.

In an effort to stave off "frivolous" requests from citizens, the Ventura City Council this week approved a special policy instructing city staff members not to waste time on any matters they deem to lack merit. "Except as may be required under the law, time should not be spent by city administration responding to frivolous questions or requests from persons who have made ongoing, repeated, frivolous requests or complaints," the order states.

A computerized list of undisclosed campaign contributors and 50 political posters were stolen Wednesday night in a burglary at the headquarters of Ventura City Council candidate Greg Carson, the candidate and his campaign manager said Thursday. Carson said computer disks containing lists of his campaign contributions and supporters that were vital to a campaign rally planned for Saturday, along with a computer, phone equipment and fax machine, were stolen.

The Ventura Chamber of Commerce--which helped catapult three successful candidates to the Ventura City Council two years ago--announced Wednesday its endorsements for November's council race. The slate--three men and one woman--will receive a total of $16,000 in financial support from the chamber, officials said. The money will not go directly to the candidates, but will be spent on flyers, posters and advertisements endorsing the slate, officials said.

"A city, like a living thing, is a united and continuous whole." Greek essayist Plutarch, quoted in Ventura's new General Plan * After reshaping Pasadena and reviving Azusa, urban design guru Rick Cole is helping transform Ventura by demanding that developers follow a new growth plan for this once-sleepy seaside community.

Seeking to crack down on bars, restaurants and grocers that violate their liquor licenses, the Ventura City Council unanimously approved an ordinance this week that will levy fees of up to $1,700 annually on alcohol purveyors to pay for additional enforcement.

From his music and video stores, Ventura merchant Jim Salzer looks down a busy road and bristles at what might come: Word is that Wal-Mart is eyeing a move to a shopping center half a mile from where he has done business for more than 30 years. Although no formal plans are pending, Salzer already is worried about increased traffic, an influx of low-paying jobs and the effect the retail giant could have on independent business owners such as himself.

The city of Ventura is moving forward with a project to build 50 low-rent artists lofts in a reinvigorated downtown, a move officials hope will help establish the seaside community as a regional center of cultural activity. The City Council, acting as the redevelopment agency, voted Monday night to negotiate an agreement to turn over an acre on Thompson Boulevard to a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that creates modestly priced rentals for painters, poets and sculptors across the United States.

Azusa City Manager Rick Cole has been hired for the same job in Ventura. The Ventura City Council voted 5 to 2 Monday night to hire the 50-year-old Cole, described as an advocate of "smart growth." Cole will begin his new duties April 26. He will earn $155,000 a year on a three-year contract. His contract includes built-in raises based on job performance that could bring his salary up to $164,000 within a year.

The Ventura City Council voted to put a civic "branding" study on hold but ordered staff members to come up with proposals for directional signs that would point visitors to major tourist spots. The council voted unanimously Monday night to indefinitely shelve efforts to design a new logo, or brand, that would be used throughout the city to create a clear and consistent identity for Ventura.

Patagonia Inc., which helped push three slow-growth candidates to victory in the 1989 Ventura City Council race, endorsed two slow-growth candidates Thursday for this year's race. Incumbent Deputy Mayor Donald Villeneuve and write-in candidate Steve Bennett won endorsements from Patagonia, ending speculation about whether the Ventura-based clothing maker would take an active role in this year's council race.

A dozen candidates for the Ventura City Council filed election papers by the Friday filing deadline, which City Clerk Barbara Kam said was "an average turnout" for the four council seats up for grabs in November. More candidates may emerge next week because the filing deadline was automatically extended until Wednesday when incumbent Councilwoman Cathy Bean did not file papers to run for reelection. Under the new deadline, candidates will have until 5 p.m. on Wednesday to turn in their papers.

Brian Brennan began his first day as Ventura's mayor Tuesday by paddling out to catch a few waves before heading up to City Hall. The beach was a logical starting place for the leader of a seaside city, particularly one known for his environmental advocacy and passion for coastal protection. Brennan, 51, intends to focus on those issues as mayor while taking an aggressive stance to shelter the city from statewide budget cuts.

An incumbent and two newcomers to the Ventura City Council are slated to be sworn into office Monday night. Voters reelected Carl Morehouse and elected Bill Fulton and Christy Weir on Nov. 4. Morehouse, 52, is a senior county planner. Fulton, 48, is an author and nationally recognized urban planner, and Weir, 50, is a freelance writer. The three are to be sworn in about 8 p.m. following recognition of outgoing Mayor Ray Di Guilio and Councilman James Friedman. Neither sought reelection.