At last night’s city council meeting William Foley, Director of Ventura County Health Care Agency, spoke concerning the assistance needed to continue operations of Santa Paula Hospital, and its importance to the communities of Fillmore, Santa Paula, and Piru.

Councilmembers Manuel Minjares and Mark Austin were appointed to serve on the Santa Paula Hospital Steering Committee.

A presentation was given to Council by William Foley, Ventura County Health Care Agency (VCHCA) Director, concerning assistance needed to continue operations of the Santa Paula Hospital.

Several Fillmore residents spoke to the Council concerning the importance of the Santa Paula Hospital. The Hospital was said to be running $9 million in the red this past year. It is recognized as a critically important medical facility for Fillmore, Piru, and Santa Paula.

Council approved the award of contract to Toro Enterprises, Inc. for the construction of the Neighborhood Street Resurfacing and Sidewalk, Curb and Gutter Repair Spec No. 18-04 as reduced to eliminate slurry seal work by deleting bid item nos. 9 and 10.

City Council amended the existing three-year contract to expire on June 30, 2020, to increase the not-to-exceed amount of $2,460,000 to Willdan Engineering, Inc. for City Engineering Services, as an alternative to the staff recommendation.

Council agreed to receive the proposed addition of the Small Wireless Facility fees to the Schedule of Fees and Charges for City Services; Conduct a public hearing and obtain public comments concerning the proposed new SWF fees to the Schedule of Fees and Charges for City Services. After receiving public comments, close the Public Hearing and commence City Council discussions; and Adopt City Council Resolution 19-3723 to approve the new SWF fees to be added to Exhibit E of the Schedule of Fees and Charges for City Services.

8-E PUBLIC HEARING: RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL
TO ADOPT AND APPROVE: 1) INITIAL STUDY/MITIGATED NEGATIVE
DECLARATION, GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT, ZONE CHANGE, ALLEYWAY
VACATION, LOT MERGER AND LOT LINE ADJUSTMENT, DENSITY BONUS, AND
DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 77 AFFORDABLE
WORKFORCE HOUSING UNITS AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF MOUNTAIN
VIEW STREET AND HWY 126 AND LAND USE AND 2) CITY-REQUESTED ZONING
RE-DESIGNATIONS FOR ADJACENT PROPERTIES were approved.
8-F The first reading to introduce Ordinance 19-912 amending and adding FMC sections under Chapter 15.25 regarding graffiti enforcement and cost recovery and finding of exemption from CEQA was completed.
8-G City Council approved a request to increase the budget to provide interpretation services at City Council meetings. The increased cost, to the original $4,200, is $3,300.
8-H Council approved Ventura County Animal Services contract.
8-I Council approved the amendment to the contract with Kimley Horn and authorized Mayor Diane McCall to sign this contract.

Nova Storage has completed its construction and is holding a Grand (Re)Opening on Thursday, June 20, 2019, from 12pm to 2 pm. Ribbon cutting ceremony will be followed by delicious food, fun photo booth and fabulous prizes, including gift cards, Dodger tickets, FREE Storage and much more! Come join the fun!! Nova was founded in 1978 when San Fernando native Larry Layne opened North Valley Storage in Mission Hills beside the I-5 Freeway. Nova’s second property opened in the mid-1980’s, in Sylmar on Foothill Blvd. The company later expanded into new locations in Downey, South Gate, Lynwood and Gardena. Throughout its 38 years of operating in diverse communities in Los Angeles County, Nova has made a commitment to investing in the communities it serves by supporting local schools, chambers of commerce, hospitals, and service organizations through sponsorship, referral programs, membership, charitable donations, and volunteer efforts. Last year Nova sponsored the boys CIF soccer champs and continues to support the Fillmore High School sports programs. Nova Storage Fillmore is their seventh facility. Nova now has over 5,000 tenants who can make online reservations and pay their bill on NovaStorage.com, and enjoy individually alarmed units, tenant protection and now, at some facilities, individual text alerts for unit entry. To learn more about Nova Storage, visit www.NovaStorage.com

Former Fillmore City Budget Consultant John Wooner

[Courtesy ABC News, Bakersfield]

MCFARLAND, CA - May 14th is when McFarland City Manager John Wooner's wife reported Wooner missing. Wooner was last seen driving a city issued Dodge Durango. Family says he was last seen visiting his father's grave at Hillcrest Cemetery in Bakersfield.

Last week the City Council voted Janet Davis the interim City Manager.

“You can imagine this is a very difficult time for the family," said Davis. "It’s a very difficult time for the employees that worked with Mr. Wooner on a daily basis and in his absence we are leading the way he would like us to lead and taking care of the community, and taking care of the citizens.”

On Tuesday evening, the McFarland City Council called a special closed session meeting. Wooner's position as City manager was on the agenda and who will continue managing his responsibilities.

“The City Council hasn’t made any decisions about going forward with a City Manager," said Davis. "I’m still the interim City Manager and we’re staying on top of city business. It’s a very busy time of the year for us.”

The Bakersfield Police are still handling the investigation into Wooner's disappearance. As of Tuesday, they say he is still classified as missing.

If you have any information on Wooner's whereabouts you're encouraged to call BPD at 327-7111.

Are you ready to camp out at Two Rivers Park next month? It’s FREE to camp out with us! However, you must pre-register with the Parks and Recreation Department still! Email us to get the registration paperwork at recreation@ci.fillmore.ca.us

Join us as Fillmore partakes in the Great American Campout from June 22nd-23rd at Two Rivers Park. We’ll have camp activities throughout the day, a campfire & an evening movie in the park. This is a FREE event to participate in; we’ll have food trucks available for you to purchase treats and meals from. Bring your own tent, sleeping bags, etc. All tents must be secured with weights or sandbags — NO STAKES IN THE GROUND. All youth under 18 years old must be registered with an attending adult. Email recreation@ci.fillmore.ca.us to register!

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The City of Fillmore will be opening the Active Adult Center located at 533 Santa Clara Street in Fillmore as a “Cooling Center” beginning Tuesday, June 11th at 12:00 p.m. and will be open until 8:00 p.m. The dates and hours can change depending on the weather but whenever the temperature reaches 94 or above the Cooling Center is opened. Fillmore residents are encouraged to use the center to remove themselves from the heat and drink plenty of cold water provided by the Fillmore Fire Department. If you have any questions please feel free to call City Hall at (805) 524-1500 or the City Fire Department at (805) 524-0586.

Bob Crum

I read that humans share 98 percent of our genes with chimps. Uh huh. Perhaps that explains why many photographers emulate them. Photographically speaking, chimping is looking at the digital camera's LCD screen as soon as a photo is made. As shuttermuse says, “the term is jokingly derived from the excited noises oooh ohh that photographers often make when they see a great shot on the LCD screen sometimes followed by ape-like hand motions while exclaiming LOOK AT WHAT I GOT! Good grief!

Chimping is often a derogatory term prescribed to photography amateurs lacking confidence. However, professional and enthusiast photographers also often chimp their shots. Of course I don't. OK, I'm guilty! (gasp!)

Chimp at your peril. Action at events is often fast and unpredictable so chimping might cost you a 'money' shot. But, as shuttermuse states, instant feedback is a significant benefit of shooting digital. Chimping is a quick way to check exposure. Sure but (this is embarrassing) if I got a dollar for every potential 'money' shot I missed due to chimping, perhaps I'd have enough money to take all 2,397,602 of my readers out to lunch.

Of course, when shooting landscapes chimp away. It's good to periodically check the histogram to analyze the exposure, check focus, and composition.

Chimping can help photography newbies build confidence. If your camera's settings are out of kilter, instant feedback will show mistakes and guide you make the necessary aperture, shutter speed or ISO adjustments. Used accordingly, chimping can be considered a learning tool, thereby expedite your learning process.

But chimping is not necessarily peachy. As stated above, but bears repeating, chimp at the wrong time and you might miss the shot of a lifetime. At the event, make a test shot or two to check exposure so when the event begins, you can concentrate on composition and not worry about exposure.

Additionally, I often see newbies chimp while not realizing that the camera LCD screens are not Hi-Def. Fact is, the LCD screens on most cameras are lousy. Therefore, the image viewed on the LCD screen is a poor example of the photo's quality or even exposure. If you're capturing photos in RAW mode, what is seen on the camera LCD screen is not the RAW photo but a jpeg based on the RAW photo data. Image exposure is best indicated with the camera's more accurate histogram.

I was assigned to shoot Fillmore High School's graduation ceremony. The light was problematic. With the sun setting, some of the event in the sun, other parts in shadow. Had to continually adjust aperture settings as I pointed the camera in a different direction. I had to make exposure adjustments so fast I had to double clutch the lens to quickly dial in proper aperture! Love muscle memory! But I digress.

Surprises are fine for birthday parties but not at event shoots. It's been ages since I shot the graduation program. Not forewarned, I was bamboozled. As the turning of the tassels was happening, I quickly moved to get in position for the tossing of the mortarboards (caps) into the air. That didn't happen! Instead, the graduates fired plastic streamers (WHAT?) into the air from tubes. I was instantly startled! Then my trusty experience kicked in, and I quickly changed to burst mode and fired away-click-click-click-click-click-click, eight frames/second. Over in seconds, NO time to chimp till done. Success! Whew! One of the ceremony finale photos is the photo of the week. Graduation ceremony photos at fillmoregazette.com.

Send comments, suggestions or questions to: focusonphotography@earthlink.net

Live video stream of 2019 Fillmore High Graduation Ceremony begins tonight at approximately 7:00 p.m. local time.

Instructions for watching the graduation live stream:

Point your web browser to http://www.fillmoreusd.org/stream/

It will take you to a District webpage entitled "Video Streams Fillmore Video Production"

Under "Fillmore Video Production," click on “YouTube Channel”

Direct YouTube link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txj3EQcM63Y

The 106th Annual Fillmore High Alumni Dinner event will take place at the Fillmore-Piru Veterans Memorial Building on Saturday, June 8th.

One of the highlights of the event is the awarding of scholarships to each Alumni Association’s scholar recipient.

Dinner is catered by the award winning DJ’s Catering. The menu includes grilled Angus sirloin beef, roasted chicken breast with wild mushrooms (in Porcini Béchamel) served with field greens and vegetable salad, potatoes Mousseline, three cheese macaroni & cheese, and an assortment of freshly baked rolls with butter. Dessert menu includes choice of warm peach or apple cobbler (with McConnell’s of Santa Barbara vanilla bean ice cream).

There is still room available but reservations are going fast. Purchase your reservations ASAP online at www.fillmorehighalumni.com (click on Events), At the FHS Alumni Store located at 559 Sespe Avenue, or Patterson Hardware located at 362 Central Avenue (open 7 days a week).

Let’s celebrate our alma mater, our community of Fillmore, and our graduating seniors!