Fillmore Fire Captain Rigo Landeros speaks to the Fillmore Lions Club regarding upgrades for the Reverse 911 System.

It has been announced that Ventura County, CA (and its nine municipalities, including the City of Fillmore, City of Camarillo, City of Moorpark, City of Ojai, City of Oxnard, City of Port Hueneme, City of Santa Paula, City of Thousand Oaks and City of Ventura) has replaced its Reverse 911 system with Everbridge SmartGIS. The County selected Everbridge for its performance, near infinite scale and interactive communications capabilities, which allow County officials to reliably gain situational intelligence from their more than 800,000 residents. In addition, Ventura introduced its new “VC Alert” citizen Web portal, powered by Everbridge SmartRegistration™, to provide residents with an advanced opt-in that will allow them to personalize which alerts they receive from city officials.

The next generation emergency and incident management solutions developed by Everbridge offer interactive communication capabilities that inform constituents and empower them to be part of the incident response and resolution lifecycle, thereby helping public safety officials make better decisions.

“With Everbridge, we now have a way to interactively communicate with our citizens, and allow them to quickly inform us regarding their specific need for assistance, so we can most efficiently manage our available resources during an incident,” said Patrick Maynard, Program Administrator, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Office of Emergency Services.

Malcolm Lloyd Jackson (1917-2012)

Malcolm Lloyd Jackson passed away on the morning of January 15th, 2012, as the result of a fall at home on January 2nd. Malcolm celebrated his 94th birthday on December 10th, 2011.
He was born in 1917, in Sneed, Oklahoma. He spent his early years growing up near Ardmore, Oklahoma. His first trip to Fillmore, California, was in 1924, arriving on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena on New Year’s Day, in the midst of the Rose Parade. He often recalled his disbelief that there were that many people and cars in all the world. After just one year his parents and he returned to Oklahoma. Then at the age of seventeen he returned to California on his own in the midst of the Depression years.
After a few years at various labor jobs, he was hired by the State Department Of Transportation to act as the blaster on the Hwy 33-Maricopa Hwy improvement project. Evidence of his drilling and blasting can still be seen along the lower portions of the Maricopa Hwy. Near the end of the project, a large boulder struck Malcolm on the side of the head crushing his skull. He was off work for nearly two years. He rehabilitated himself by using the time to explore the eastern Sierra High Country by pack horse and on foot. Upon returning to work he entered the oil industry as a wireline technician. He retired from Sun Oil in 1976 to work full time at his vocation of gunsmithing. He had already become famous among shooters from all walks of life, business people, movie actors, politicians, judges, and just plain folks. The shotguns he made for trap shooters and the rifles he built for target shooters and hunters have become much sought after. He also repaired literally thousands of guns. All of that becomes almost a footnote to the stories he told, the life lessons he shared and his view of the world through eyes that saw everything as either right or wrong. His ability to communicate with generations of young people became legend.
Malcolm Jackson had many more true friends than most people. Over 400 friends attended his 75th birthday event and again on his 90th birthday from such diverse places as New Jersey, Alaska, Montana, Oregon, and Nevada. He was loved far more than this written account can possibly portray.
Malcolm was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Annabelle Marie, in 1998, and his daughter Christina Jackson Warring in 1984, and great grandsons Logan and Parker Farstad.
He is survived by his daughter Linda Ann Durand, grandchildren Holley Hammond (Chris), Mandy Farstad (Spencer), Kevin Warring, Brian Warring, Pierre Durand (Maria) and Mario Durand. Also, son and daughter Larry and Jeannie Carpenter. Also surviving are great grandchildren Payton Christina Hammond, Kiefer Farstad, Jadon and Kiera Durand.
Special thanks to caregivers Helen Riesgo and Liliana Vazquez.
Malcolm was a founding member of the Piru Sportsman Club and also a founder of the Piru Petroleum Club. He was, as well, a Life Member of the National Rifle Association since 1948.
In Lieu of flowers, Malcolm asked that donations be made to the Piru Petroleum Club, P.O. Box 178 Fillmore, CA 93016.
Graveside services, open to all, Monday January 23rd at 11:00am, Bardsdale Cemetery. Shuttle service will be provided by Wm. L. Morris Chevrolet from the lot located at 211 Central Ave (North of Hwy 126). There will be a shuttle at 10:00am and 10:20am with return service directly following the service.

Tuesady night, Jeff Nigro, CPA, with the State of California, presented the Fillmore Unified School District with a “clean audit” and explained the new format and the States’ findings. Each year the State does an audit of FUSD which is part if the educational code requirement; it begins in spring and ends in December, and takes approximately 300 hours.
Enlarge Photo

Ali Widmar spoke to the Board of the run around she received when trying to address the use of the running track, at Tuesday’s board meeting.
Enlarge Photo

The main topics of discussion at the January 17, 2012 Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Board meeting were the cost of education and what funds are available after the State announced the proposed cuts. The FUSD is dealing with what schools throughout the state are facing – a $248 million cut in school transportation funding; the first state in the nation to completely eliminate transportation funding. Also Governor Jerry Brown is proposing to eliminate funding for the new Transitional Kindergarten program.

The proposed cuts take effect the second half of the academic year. Brown is calling for a new “weighted-pupil” funded formula which allocates funding to schools based on each school’s needs. Those schools with higher poverty or greater number of English learners receive greater funding.

The Transportation Funding cuts will hit hard for those school districts with a large percentage of low income students like FUSD. Many of the families do not have transportation to take the children to school and pick them up.

Another program on the chopping block is the Kindergarten Readiness Act which was signed into law on September 30, 2010 by then Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger. It pushes back the date by which children must turn five to enter kindergarten from December 2nd to September 1st. For children with birthdays that fall between Sept. 2 to Dec. 2 and are too young under the new cutoff date to enter regular kindergarten, a Transitional Kindergarten has been established. But just as schools are starting to phase in the new program, Brown is proposing elimination of funding for the classes. At the December 7, 2011 board meeting, FUSD Alan Nishino announced the start of the program with such enthusiasm only to face its elimination less than two months later.

Dr. Michael Bush, assistant superintendent, informed the Board that as a result of the California Supreme Court ruling eliminating all of the State’s Redevelopment Agencies (RDA), the FUSD will no longer be receiving a percentage of the revenue generated from Fillmore’s Redevelopment Agency. When addressing the Governor’s stated goal of eliminating the RDAs to aid funding education and schools, Bush added, “It is very unlikely we will not see any new revenue……a lot of it’s a shell game.” To which Nishino stated, “It doesn’t benefit us.” Nishino went on to say the Governor is using the kids to get his tax increase passed on the November ballot and was “very problematic…..to use our kids as a pawn bothers me.” Bush said that it won’t be clear how greatly this will affect the district until around June 30th.

Jeff Nigro with the State of California presented the FUSD with a “clean audit” and explained the new format and the states findings. Each year the State does an audit of FUSD which is part if the educational code requirement. It begins in spring and ends in December and takes approximately 300 hours.

Ali Widmar spoke to the Board of the run around she received when trying to address the use of the running track. Widmar said she has a disability that is helped by having the use of a soft track. When informing the Board of all the people she spoke with and the continued non-answered responses, those in the room laughed.

The Board approved a field trip for approximately 25 students from Piru’s 6th grade to the Outdoor School at Rancho Alegre. The date of the trip is May 15-18 and will cost $7,356. The students will sleep in cabins, share KP duty in the dining hall, learn to take 3 minute showers, go on hikes and have the chance to learn activities such as boating, archery, crafts, games, etc. After breakfast each day, plus one evening they will go on educational walks where they learn about wildlife biology, botany, geology, astronomy, nocturnal animals, and Chumash culture.

All individuals and groups who want to use the all weather track at the high school please attend the City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 6:30 PM., for public comments at the beginning of the meeting. A group has been working with the City Council and School District for nearly 3 1/2 years to secure community rights to use a track once accessible to the public but closed to us after the all-weather track was built with community financial support. If you believe that this is an important community issue, this is the time to so advise the City Council, for while the District Board is responsible only for the District, the City Council is elected to serve the needs of the entire community. If you believe that the track is a community asset and access to it is vital to public health and safety, please attend and let the City Council know of your support.

Fillmore Firefighters sift through the remains of a residential garage fire that occured early monday morning in the City of Fillmore. No injuries were reported at the fire was contained to the garage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Enlarge Photo

At 4:43am the City of Fillmore Fire Department was responded to a reported structure fire in the 300 block of Bard Street in the City of Fillmore. Upon arriving at the location, first in units reported heavy smoke and fire contained to a detached garage. Firefighters were able to make quick work of the fire by using forcible entry techniques to gain entry into the structure, allowing them an opportunity to extinguish the blaze before it spread to adjacent structures. The fire was reported out at 4:58am. Three occupants were asleep inside the nearby home when the fire first ignited however they were able to evacuate safely resulting in no injuries at the scene of the incident. The cause of the fire remains under investigation however it appears that heavy fire loading contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. Damage was contained to personal property and the structure and is estimated at $16,000. Issued by: Patrick Maynard, Public Information Officer Follow-Up Contact: Rigo Landeros, Fire Chief 805-844-7109

City Clerk Clay Westling swears in councilmember Eduardo Gonzalez.
Enlarge Photo

Fillmore Fire Chief Rigo Landeros, State Farm Public Affairs Official Greg Sherlock, and Asst. Fire Chief Bill Herrera hold a $5,000 check, presented to the Fillmore Fire Dept. for the C.E.R.T. program and equipment and training. The grant was presented by State Farm Insurance.
Enlarge Photo

Mayor Gayle Washburn thanks Glenda Jay for exemplary efforts at city hall.
Enlarge Photo

Two important items were on the January 10, 2012 Fillmore City Council’s agenda. One was the decision of who would fill the vacant council seat left when Councilmember Patti Walker resigned. The second was what to do with the Fillmore Redevelopment Agency after the recent California Supreme Court decision upheld legislation that abolished redevelopment agencies throughout the State.

There were four applicants vying for the seat on the Council. They included Alex Mollkoy, Adrian Grimaldo, Eduardo Gonzalez and Barbara Cavalli. One by one the four applicants were given 20 minutes to answer four predetermined questions and one additional question chosen by each Councilmember. The four standard questions asked were; Why do you want to be appointed to the City Council? What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the City of Fillmore in the next year or two? What do you feel needs to be done to maintain and enhance the City’s economic health? What approach would you take as a Councilmember to balance the budget or address budgetary issues? The additional questions asked were whether the candidate could commit to the time needed to serve and complete the term, leadership, if the applicant could put aside their self-interest, why the Council members should support them, and what the candidate wanted to comment on that the Council hadn’t covered.

Cavalli responded to the question of why she wanted to sit on the Council by stating her love for the City and her ability to make level-headed decisions. Gonzalez answered the question with his education and business experience having done hundreds of budgets. Grimaldo’s answer was, “I’m young and not afraid to say what’s on my mind.” Mollkoy answered with, “I have a strong desire to serve the community.”

Each Councilmember then gave their opinion on who had impressed them, when Councilmember Jamey Brooks quickly motioned that Gonzalez be appointed to which Mayor Gayle Washburn seconded. There was a pause and the other two Councilmembers Steve Conaway and Brian Sipes said they wanted more discussion with Conaway motioning for Mollkoy to be nominated, but no one would second Conaway’s motion. Then in a 3 to 1 vote with very little discussion, Washburn, Brooks and Conaway voted to give the seat to Gonzalez; only Councilmember Brian Sipes voted against it.

The second big item on the agenda was whether the City should become a “Successor Agency” to the Fillmore Redevelopment Agency. In a presentation City Manager Yvonne Quiring gave the pitfalls that the City may face if it decides to give control of Fillmore Redevelopment assets to the State and relinquish control. Quiring informed the Council that the State requires cities to meet enforceable housing units and there would not be any money if housing responsibility went away. Also that the State legislation regarding this component was not well written and contains conflicting provisions.
The situation began when Governor Brown took office and targeted funds historically earmarked for Redevelopment Agencies (RDA) to help fill the States multi-billion-dollar budget deficit. The California Legislature then adopted two companion bills - ABX126 which dissolved the RDA’s and an alternative bill, ABX127, which was an exemption from dissolution and left the ability to keep the RDA’s if cities and counties agreed to make a “ransom” payment (Fillmore’s ransom payment was to be $1.9m this year and approximately $400k every year thereafter) to fund education, transit and fire districts. The law was upheld by the court and passed on June 29, 2011, stating that RDA’s would be eliminated on Oct. 1, 2011 but the court delayed the date to February 1, 2012.

This legislation did not go over well with the RDA’s throughout the State and on July 18, 2011 the California Redevelopment Association and the League of California Cities filed a suit with the California Supreme Court arguing that Proposition 22, which was passed by California voters, prohibited the Legislature from eliminating the roughly 400 RDA’s and the State from using RDA funds.

On December 29, 2011 the California Supreme Court ruled on the suit and found that ABX126, which dissolved the RDA’s, did not violate Prop 22 and was a valid exercise of the Legislature’s authority stating that because the State Legislature authorized the creation of the RDA it has the power to eliminate them. And in an opposite decision in that same suit, the court also ruled that ABX 127 asking for the “ransom” did violate Proposition 22.
The court ruling requires RDA’s close down by February 1, 2012. Cities and Counties must choose by January 13, 2012 to take over the RDA’s as “Successor Agencies” or Gov. Brown will appoint a three-member panel to handle the task. As Successors, cities will become the owner of the housing and property now owned by the RDA and will assume the functions, powers, duties and obligations of the agency, including the responsibility to carry out any projects that have previously been approved and also be responsible for winding down the RDA and repaying the agency debt. But since the law was passed the agencies have been banned from issuing or expanding any new debt or making loans, entering into new contracts or amending them, renew or extend leases or other agreements, selling assets or buying land, approving any program, project, or expenditure, transfer of funds out of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund. Basically all RDA ability to function has been halted. Also, the validity of bonds or other obligations issued or entered into after January 1, 2011 could be reviewed for up to two years after the action.

Each Successor Agency will be under the jurisdiction of an oversight board and must put together a payment schedule for the RDA’s liabilities/obligations which must then be signed off on by the county auditor-controller and finally the State Finance Department. The RDA’s will be audited to determine the amount of tax-increment revenue that each RDA had been collecting and any property tax funds remaining after repayment of debt will be distributed to local government agencies in proportion with their usual share under state law. The Successor can receive funds of no less than $250k for administrative costs or up to 5% of property tax for 2011-2012. It is not known at this time if there will be any more layoffs due to this new predicament the City finds itself in. The RDA is very meshed into the workings of the City and handled by many of Fillmore City staff, from Account Clerk to the Finance Department and City Manager.

What is considered an “obligation” may also come into question. Projects and loans approved in 2011 by RDA’s will be in limbo until there is a clearer understanding of of the definition of “obligation”.
How redevelopment originally functioned was the agencies collected the incremental property tax growth in areas that were designated “blighted” and used the increased tax revenue to back bonds sold to fund economic development and affordable housing. This continued increase in tax revenues created by their projects went to fund more projects. The RDA’s were required by the State to use 20% of the revenue for affordable housing development with the remainder used to develop infrastructure projects and business. At the beginning of the year when Brown gave the RDA’s the ultimatum of paying or dissolving their agencies, Fillmore decided that the 20% set aside funding was going to go to the State to pay the ransom, but now that there isn’t a choice, that portion of local property taxes that once funded the RDA’s Housing (Low/Moderate Housing Fund) will eventually go into the State for disbursement.

After listening to the presentation, Brooks responded, “We don’t have a choice.”
In response to the courts ruling the 400 RDA’s throughout California are drafting a bill to extend the February 1 deadline and asking it be pushed back to April 15, 2012.

In other business, Conaway asked that the Council discuss the terms of the City Manager’s contract which is set to automatically renew for two more years employment. Sipes asked if this practice was done in the past with other City Managers and Conaway responded, Yes. Sipes then said that going back to his notes he saw nothing like that happening. Conaway then reminded Sipes that none of the other contracts contained an automatic renewal clause. Washburn, Brooks and Gonzalez stated, “I do not support a review.” Conaway then went on to remind the other Councilmembers that if it is not reviewed or considered, the City Manager’s contract will automatically extend for another two years. The other members were fine with that.