Noah Stoessl, 8, of Fillmore, was airlifted by a VC Fire Department helicopter out of a remote section of Los Padres National Forest, Saturday, north of Fillmore. As of Sunday Stoessl was in good condition at the Ventura County Medical Center. He had been hiking with his mother and a group of people on a trail above the U.S. Forest Service’s Oak Flat Ranger Station, when he fell about 10 feet, hitting his head on a rock. He has been reported in good condition.

Mike Saviers

Mike Saviers’ grin was audible through the phone, and now his self-deprecating humor comes through from the other side of his sunglasses. The sun’s higher in the sky and he’s no longer sitting in the shade; would he like to move? “Oh, I could use some color on my head,” he laughs as he runs his hand over his shiny scalp. Powered by a can of Diet Coke, he thinks through his answers yet displays a surprising degree of candor, remaining patient through equipment malfunctions, flying papers, and a deluge of questions; he’s an advocate of the slow pace of small town life.

It’s what he likes about Fillmore, where he moved his family in 1991; the city is about the same size as Santa Paula when he was growing up there. “I’m as local as you can get without being from Fillmore,” he jokes. Saviers waves back to someone rolling by in a sedan, “The people here are awesome. It’s fun to walk around; people know each other. Before we lived here in Fillmore, we lived in east Ventura. Life is different—it’s more kick-back and relaxed here.”

After thirty-some years in law enforcement, Saviers appears to fit the bill of a capable cop—approachable, but someone you don’t want to mess with. When asked how he ended up the provisional school board member, he seems surprised himself.

Saviers originally wanted to go into CONTINUED »

On Thursday, June 3, Fillmore River View LLC, the partnership made up of several developers responsible for the Fillmore Business Park Project held an informational meeting for the community at the Senior Center in Fillmore. Over 30 residents and local business owners came to hear the presentation. Presenter, Ray Harper of KDF Communities, one of the developers, believes that Fillmore with the addition of this Business Park is ideally situated to attract some large and diverse companies, bringing with them jobs at all levels of pay, expertise and skill.

What Happens Next?

As the development phase of the project is complete, the phase of a joint venture group taking possession in now in process. The project is currently in escrow with a joint venture group consisting of PacTen Partners and The Southwest Carpenters Pension Fund. According to Harper, both of these groups fund their projects with cash, so there is no dependence on approval from any lender or need for a line of credit. If things progress on schedule escrow will close in the next few months, and at that time the venture group will begin the process of developing building plans, obtaining contractors, and receiving necessary permits from the City for Phase One of the project. Phase One will consist of nine separate buildings on 7.76 acres; totaling 122,162 square feet of interior space being built according to previously approved master plans. The process of obtaining permits generally is a back and forth ongoing event between the City and the venture group that may take several months of negotiating.

How will this project benefit Fillmore?

Fillmore residents and CONTINUED »

On Tuesday, June 1, 2010, the Fillmore School Board of Trustees met for a regular public meeting. As usual Public comment was the first order of business, with Board reports, action and discussion items rounding out the meeting.

During public comment the Board heard from several community members about inquiries regarding how the District is assessing student progress and what programs are in place to improve student achievement. Mrs. Rita Avila, a parent from Piru, put the Board “on notice’ regarding her request of an accountability report. Avila mentioned Board President Mr. Tony Prado’s recent comments regarding his disregard of State test scores and Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) data regarding the District. Prado did respond that he did in fact believe testing to “be very important”, but that the No Child Left Behind program is currently under debate. The Board also heard from Mrs. Mary Ford who spoke in favor of having a local resident, Mrs. Cynthia King, a certified mediator, help with the issues in Piru. District Superintendent Mr. Jeff Sweeney did thank and agree with Ford regarding the help that King can bring, and Sweeney reported that King has in fact been invited to act as a mediator in the community of Piru. Sweeney provided some background on King, including that she has returned to live on the King Family Farm on Guiberson Road and has worked with many schools and with many small towns in the past, as well as large corporations and companies. King will begin the mediation process immediately by meeting first with Piru teachers and staff and then with School Board members.

Board members also heard from CONTINUED »

At the Piru School Site Council (SSC) meeting on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Dr. Michael Babb, a director with the Ventura County Office of Education presented a brief introduction on the roles and responsibilities of School Site Council as mandated by the State of California Education Code Section 52852. This Code specifies who can serve on the Council, what the Council is responsible for, and how they shall carry out their duties. Currently a majority of the members of Piru SSC are serving for the first time. It appears timely that Dr. Babb did his presentation now, this late in the school year. Several parents and community members used their public comment time to inquire about how the Piru SSC has been operating over the past school year and the records of their decisions. No responses were provided at this meeting.

What is School Site Council?
The California Education Code (Section 52852) mandates that a School Site Council, (SSC) is a planning and advisory committee that is made up of at least ten (10) members. A SSC must include an equal number of teachers/staff and parents. For a ten-member group the make up of the group must include the principal, four teachers or staff members, and five parents. The teachers and staff at the school elect the teacher and staff members of SSC, and the parents elect the parent members. The SSC with more than ten members, can include community members that are neither parents nor employees of the District if it so chooses. Dr. Babb emphasized that the structure of the Council is important as it ensures a balance in influence over decision making, and that the “principal has one equal vote” to the parent members. And that the principal does not lead the group, but instead should provide any requested information to the SSC so that they can make decisions accordingly. Babb also reminded parent members that they are there to serve the “interests of all children” which attend the school. SSC is one of the ways that schools meet the State guidelines which mandate parental involvement in order to qualify for and receive particular (supplemental) funds.

School administrators must often take CONTINUED »

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

On May 19, 2010, four suspects were arrested for felony conspiracy to commit a crime and commercial burglary in the City of Fillmore. The suspects belonged to a theft ring, which was responsible for stealing in excess of $21,000 in cash and property. The theft ring consisted of 2 to 6 suspects who would enter a store and intentionally distract a lone or multiple employees for the purposes of stealing their purses, cash from register, or monies kept near the register. Additionally, suspects would also steal merchandise if the opportunity allowed. The theft ring targeted businesses based on their research of the store to determine sales volume and the numbers of employees. The suspects would then determine the numbers of ring members were necessary to commit the crimes.

The members of the ring would cause a distraction by luring the employee(s) toward the back of the store, usually with a request to have an item shown to them or explained to them how it worked. On one occasion, the suspects purposely broke a bottle in the back of the business, which caused the employee to respond to the spill and clean it up. Once the employee was lured to the back and distracted, the others then searched the front register area for items to steal. The group that committed the theft would then walk out of the store without being detected. The suspect(s) causing the distraction would eventually walk out of the store once the other suspects were safely out of the store. Business owners or employees would usually discover the thefts minutes or in some cases hours later.

The following businesses, in the Fillmore area, reported thefts of this nature:
99 Cent Store, 703 Ventura Street, Fillmore
Elva's Market, 3969 Center Street, Piru
All Occasions Bridal Shop,1317 Ventura Street, Fillmore

The City of Oxnard also CONTINUED »