Although it is still a few weeks away the Fillmore Lions Club is gearing up for their “85 Anniversary Celebration” by hosting a recognition of this event on Saturday September 29, 2012 at the Fillmore Historical Society, 340 Main Street. The celebration will be assisted by the Pleasant Valley Lions and Santa Paula Lions Clubs starting with a 5:00-6:30 PM reception and followed by a 6:30 PM dinner. Past District 4-A3 Governor, Chuck Cassy, Ventura Downtown Lions Club, will be the guest speaker. The Fillmore Lions Club was founded on September 29, 1927 and began what would be their eighty-five years of good service to the community of Fillmore.

Members of the Fillmore Lions Club are very visible in the community of Fillmore. For many of us they are most visible with probably five of their most “hands-on” projects; Highway 126 Cleanup, Annual November Enchilada Dinner, Christmas Parade, Fourth of July Fireworks Booth and the May Festival Bingo Booth! Long-time Lions Member, the late Henry “Hank” Carrillo, liked to tell the story of the Highway Cleanup crew meeting up with a customer of a local business along the Highway while the Lions were collecting trash from the Highway. The exchange, as Hank told it was, “It is about time they had you guys payback society!” The customer, as they say, was obviously not from around here, and was assuming the cleanup crew were court ordered miscreants collecting trash from the Highway as a way to payback their debt to society!

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Fillmore’s city manager Yvonne Quiring has resigned her office effective Oct. 1, after three years of service. Her last day of work will be Thursday, Sept. 13.

She is quoted as saying she gave notice to city council members during “the past few weeks” notifying her staff Thursday. Councilman Steve Conaway received notice less than a week ago.

Quiring’s 3-year tenure as city manager has been highly controversial. A year after being hired Quiring faced two open letters of no confidence signed by 32 of 37 city employees.

Quiring is reported to have been hired by the City of Davis to assist Davis City Manager Steve Pinkerton as Assistant City Manager/Administrative Services Director (Human Resources), effective October 1, 2012.

Mr. Pinkerton is reported to have said, “I am thrilled that she was willing to relocate to Davis.”
According to the Davis Vanguard (davisvanguard.com), "The city's press release indicates that she also served as the Deputy Director of the Housing and Redevelopment Department for the City of Stockton. This would seem to be her point of contact with Steve Pinkerton but also a potential connection to that city's bankruptcy."

Conaway and Dean coming into the finish line during a practice run. (Conaway in blue/white leathers).
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Close up of how close the racing is. Conaway leading Dean by inches after 1 mile of racing.
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Christian Conaway traveled to Calgary Canada this past week to compete in the International Gravity Sports Association 2012 Winsport Canada Cup World Championship event. The race was held at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, site of the 1988 Winter Olympics. Conaway races Street Luge and Classic Luge.

The course was 1 mile long and contained 2 sweeping corners and 4 hairpin turns. The course had two speed bumps which also added a level of complexity for the racers. Race speeds exceeded 58 mph.

Conaway qualified with the 4th fastest time down the course in both of his disciplines. In his first heat race while leading the remaining 4 racers Conaway drifted out of a corner and made contact with the hay bales and was dismounted from his luge. He was able to recover quick enough to finish in the 3rd position to allow him to advance to the next round of racing. Interestingly when he jumped back on his luge he did so with the luge backwards and managed to finish the heat to advance to the Semi Finals in which he took 2nd place in the heat.

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With the recent layoff of roughly 50% of Fillmore City employees and the City’s diminished capacity to provide service, the Veterans Memorial Building (VMB) Board is questioning the City’s ability to deliver on the services they need.

The service contract with the City was originally entered into about twelve years ago due to VMB fluctuating employment needs. The facility sometimes needs workers to set up tables, cook in the kitchen and do various task when it is rented out; but bookings are not consistent, making it difficult to maintain employees. The City, at the time of the contract agreement, had full time employees available and could provided most of VMB’s service needs. One City employee, Annette Cardona, is knowledgeable of what a services are needed and what to charge customers. But Cardona may be leaving as an employee at the end of the year, and with only half of the City staff available it is questionable how well the VMB can be serviced.

The land where the VMB stands was donated by the Shields Family and built in 1952 to recognize our veteran’s service. It is a Special District authorized in the California Veterans Memorial Code and has the largest non-sectarian hall/ballroom in Fillmore along with a large banquet room, kitchen, lobby and basement where rifles and flags used for funerals and Memorial Day Parades are stored along with other equipment.

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The Fillmore Unified School (FUSD) Board met on Tuesday to a standing room only capacity. In attendance were members of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) to receive an award along with a representative of the local 4H Clubs and the head of the migrant program who gave a presentation on student improvement during the summer.

Last week the FFA members attended the Buyers Banquet and on Tuesday the FUSD Board presented them with an award for their outstanding achievement at the 2012 Ventura County Fair. In attendance was Salvador Lopez, Ricardo Aparicio, Hailee Smith, Chris Berrington, Brooke Aguirre, advisor Joe Ricards and receiving the award on behalf of the members was Alexus Galassi.

In all, 35 FFA Fillmore students participated this year receiving 31 awards and recognitions, winning first place in every category entered, with the exception of sheep. FFA Member Brooke Aguirre read the names of the other award winners and their categories; Novice Swine: 1st Jaylene Ortiz, 2nd Alexis Rodriquez; Advance Swine: 1st Marc Zavala, 2nd Felicity Zavala, 3rd Ryan Calderon, 4th Yasmine Luna, 5th Andrew Perez, 6th Kaileigh Carpenter, 7th Tina Wheeler, 8th Sierra Blankenship. Replacement Heifers; 1st Sam Wokal, 2nd Macie Wokal.

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The Ventura County Sheriff’s Explorers receive a donation of $1,008 from Ari Larson with Cookie Lee Jewelry and Teresa Robledo with Diamond Realty at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
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Recognition of Fillmore Senior Center volunteer Vivian Johnson. Mayor Gayle Washburn presents Senior Center volunteer Vivian Johnson with a Proclamation at Tuesday night’s council meeting. The Proclamation recognized Johnson’s service since 2008 as Board Secretary and Field Trip Chair; 2nd Term Representative for Fillmore on the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging; serves on the Senior Nutrition Task Force; and serves as Hostess at the Center’s welcome desk.
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After having been dark for over a month, the Fillmore City Council Meeting of August 28, 2012 began with every seat in the chamber filled. Most in attendance came to receive a Proclamation and others to give presentations or their opinions. Agenda items included the water treatment plant, abandoned shopping carts and public records requests response procedures.

There are still questions as to what exactly happened and why the former City Attorney Ted Schneider left his position. The Council stated that Schneider’s firm told them they could not disclose conversations due to client-attorney confidentiality and that the decision for Schneider to leave was made by the firm members. Soon after this was disclosed Council Member Steve Conaway stepped down from the Dias and addressed the Council as a citizen and stated the comments made regarding the matter did not address conversation the that Mayor Gayle Washburn had with Schneider’s law firm just prior to his leaving.

Conaway stated, “We’ll never know with exactness what she (Gayle Washburn) said (to the senior partner at the city attorneys law firm). The City Manager nor any one council member has the power to remove the City Attorney. That is a true statement. Here is what is not talked about. We do know that Gayle Washburn called the law firm. She certainly didn’t call to chat about the weather; it’s not unreasonable to assume that she expressed her displeasure or “issues” about our City Attorney (or) one of his partners. She certainly didn’t speak to Mr. Schneider about her concerns at that time. That said I suggest you reread my statement, made as a private citizen. Let’s review--Gayle Washburn calls the law firm, who wants the city’s business, and she says something which results in the firm removing Ted Schneider from our meetings immediately while the bidding process is ongoing. Gayle Washburn sits on the council who will be deciding which law firm gets Fillmore’s business. The citizens of Fillmore can put two and two together.”

City Manager Yvonne Quiring, who could not attend the meeting due to family matters, asked Attorney Julie Scott to act as Special Council and give information on California Public Records Act and Freedom of Information Act to the Council. Scott stated the public should have access to information but there are between 40-50 exceptions to the rules. These exceptions include things such as the right to privacy, trade secrets, names of children involved in a crime and others. These exceptions are called “Catch Alls or Balancing” and public agencies often have the discretion as to whether disclosure does more harm than good. These decisions are done on a case by case basis. Scott cited a 2006 Supreme Court Case where the court decision was, the interest in withholding names until the case was completed was alright if releasing information beforehand might harm the city’s flexibility and negotiations.

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