Gold Coast Champions
Approximately 30 young men, ages 6 to 14 years, filled the council chamber Tuesday night to receive a Proclamation, presented by Mayor Patti Walker, in recognition of Fillmore Youth Football League’s winning season. The boys are all part of the 2009 Gold Coast Youth Football Champions. Coaches Ram Medina, Val Pillado, John Ortiz and John Grove were present for the honor; Eddie Ortiz was not present.

Boys & Girls Club Donations
Also, a presentation of donated checks was made on behalf of the Santa Clara Valley Boys & Girls Club. Interim Chief Executive Officer Sheila Tate thanked the community for their efforts in raising funds for the Club, “The Boys and Girls Club Board, staff and members are deeply touched by the generosity of the City employees, Cops Running for Charity and the Ventura County Sheriff's Association. We are working hard to provide critical services to the children of this community and we appreciate the confidence and commitment that the City staff and Sheriff's Department have shown by their generous contributions. This is a great community and we are proud to be a part of it.”

Check amounts totaled $2,350; $500 from Cops Running for Charity, $600 from the City of Fillmore employees and City Council Members; and $1,250 from the Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.

Housing Element
Community Development Director Kevin McSweeney presented an introduction to the second draft of Housing Element. State law requires cities to update their Housing Element every five years. One of the goals is to maintain Fillmore’s rural charm, stated McSweeney. Every city is required to share housing needs requirements, as directed by The Regional Housing Need Assessment (RHNA), and monitored by California Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD). The 1998-2005 elements were not accommodated, and the HCD asked for the city to analyze and address the effects of Measure I. Councilmember Laurie Hernandez asked if city staff could track the cost of Measure I to date, to which Councilmember Jamie Brooks announced, “I will not support going through all of this [sic] to make a political statement.”

The city is looking at the 2006-2014 Housing Element planning period right now, stated McSweeney, which requires 1,103 units. The 2014-2020 plan will still need to accommodate 1,212 units. Public workshops have contributed input into the first draft, which was created prior to the last election, which included Measure I. The public, the state and Measure I all had input into the formation of the proposed plan, which was presented to the Planning Commission on October 2009. McSweeney said the city met four times with housing advocacy groups at the “eleventh hour” for input. It was stressed that substantive changes need to be made before the environmental document is developed. As of August 2008, 164 units of the 985 RHNA have been built and approximately 139 units are under construction. This leaves an estimate of 682 units to fulfill for the 1998-2005 period. McSweeney stated that zoning ordinance change is needed from 15 to 20 units per acre to help offset the effects of Measure I. “All these numbers, when they get into your head, can be complicated,” said McSweeney. He asked council to give city staff direction after his presentation.

Sonja Flores, Coordinator of House Farm Workers of Ventura County and Fillmore Farm Housing stressed the need for affordable, extremely low and low income housing, and farmworker housing.

Susan Johnson, Chief Deputy Agricultural Commissioner also asked the city to support farmworker housing, low and very low housing. She stated that farmworkers provide “cheap, local produce, and sustain farms in the area. Farmworkers are vital to the county economy. You get a lot of bang for your buck when you are housing farmworkers.” Failure to deal with low income housing in the past has brought the city to the greater need now, said Johnson. She asked council not to pass the problem onto future councils but to deal with the problem now.

Eileen McCarthy, Housing Element Specialist Staff Attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance, stated that parcel sizes are an issue. She asked why anything but very low income housing would be attributed to the available parcels. She encouraged rezoning within the next year, in time for the end of the present 2006-2014 Housing Element, and recommended a minimum of 20 dwelling units per acre. She referred to the Section 8 “wait list”, which is one to eight years in Fillmore saying, “There is a lot of competition for existing vouchers.”

Citizen Gloria Hansen reminded council, that although low income housing is important, the need for new schools, traffic mitigation, and a full-service downtown business district is also very necessary for the community. She later returned to the microphone to re-emphasized the traffic problem in Fillmore.

Resident Brian Sipes queried in regard to the illegal construction amnesty program, saying, “I know Ms. Washburn has mentioned this quite a deal.” He also mentioned the possible availability of grants. “We have an opportunity here to focus on, number one, what does the community want? Let’s keep the debate going, let’s not be forced to irritate the electorate to impose more initiatives…as was done in 2008,” a reference to Measures H & I.
Councilmember Steve Conaway requested that a Redevelopment Agency map with overlay be included in the Housing Element, and that alternate mitigation should be reviewed once again. Walker emphasized the need for rezoning to alleviate clustering of units, as did several other councilmembers.

Brooks stated that Fillmore accommodates “a lot of farmworkers per capita”. He said council needs to be thorough and creative, and that he is happy with the input of diverse groups. “We take your comments with respect, but again we plan, we don’t build.”

Councilmember Gayle Washburn raised the question of implementing an Amnesty Program, regarding illegal additions, allowing them to be identified and legally permitted. Conaway said, “I don’t think we should be grandfathering illegal dwellings,” calling the action “short-sided”. Washburn countered that Ojai has found a way to make it work, and that it gives code enforcement opportunity to go in and inspect. Mayor Walker said she would like to take a look at Ojai’s program, and other ways to enhance the current housing program. Brooks said there is “obviously some legal way to do it.”

From the public podium, Marcoz Hernandez asked council not to make the mistake that the last council did by not listening, and creating another atmosphere for Measure I-like action.

The meeting took a downward turn with former mayor Gary Creagle, also from the podium, accusing Councilmember Hernandez of being for high density, a comment she objected to, “I am not for high density. I said that is what is going to happen, so please do not put words in my mouth”, with Creagle shouting something back from the audience.

Sipes returned to the public podium to say Councilmember Hernandez flipped in her density-stance, from 2006 to 2008, calling it an “issue of consistency”. She again protested, saying false statements were being made.
Recommendation was made to receive the report, and it was received.

Budget Adoption and Review
Interim Finance Director Anita Lawrence presented the Midyear Budget review for the Redevelopment Agency and asked for adjustment/amendment approvals. Call to amend budget, passed 5-0.

2nd Street Project
Public Works Director Bert Rapp asked for award of contract regarding the ‘B’ Street Extension, 2nd to 3rd Street, and selection of projects for surplus proposition 1B funds. He recommended the contract to Toro Enterprises Inc. in the amount of $154,229. He also asked council to authorize the City Manager to approve change orders to a combined maximum of $25,000. Also, he asked council to direct staff to pursue one or more of several completion options, recommending slurry seal and Cape seal at the cost of $251,000, a change in street lighting, and to convert the pedestrian push buttons to pedestrian detection pads on the Old Telegraph at B Street flashing X-Walk.

Bartels’ Resignation
Interim Deputy Director Bill Bartels said farewell; he is leaving the city to begin teaching music for the Santa Clara School District, a passion he will be gladly pursuing. Council thanked him for all he has done for the city, as Interim Deputy Director, and for the green-trash program he pioneered in Fillmore.

Equestrian Rep Named
Arthur Sanchez was named citizen representative for the Equestrian Center.

Public Comment
Bob Stroh criticized the Fillmore Gazette publisher Martin Farrell for his February 11th editorial, regarding several council members.

Closed Session
Council went to closed session for conference with legal counsel-existing litigation, Richard P. McKee v. Fillmore City Council. Upon returning, City Attorney Ted Schneider announced that Council authorized city legal counsel to defend the city against the lawsuit. No vote numbers were announced.