Letters to the Editor
July 19, 2012

To the Editor:
RE: City Attorney
Apart of being an elected official is the responsibility to be truthful with all constituents – good or bad. As your City Council Member I would like to clarify some deliberate fallacies made by Council Member, Steve Conaway.
At the June 19th City Council meeting, Council Member Conaway conveyed some distressing information pertaining to some apparent personnel issues towards the City Attorney. For clarification of the record, I as an elected official had absolute NO knowledge of the events that may have occurred a month or so, ago. Council Member Conaway, again, wasn’t forth right with the public by inserting that the majority of the City Council was somehow behind this.
The office of the City Attorney has NOT been fired. The issue at hand is simply a personnel issue of conduct of City Attorney, Ted Schneider. Personnel issues, by virtue, are handled by the head of human resources. These matters, like at any other working, ethical entity, are never exposed, publically. To do so would be a breach to an employee’s right to confidentiality.
At the July 10th City Council meeting, all Council Members were briefed and put on notice of this matter.
I affirm to the public that Mayor Gayle Washburn handled this delicate situation with grace, impartiality and with professionalism. Unfortunately, the unnecessary drama was grossly contributed by a notorious, disgruntled City Council Member, Steve Conaway.
Our City should be pulling together as a whole for the betterment of the community - not digging a deeper hole of division for political purposes.
I am committed to working with City staff, my fellow Council Members, and most importantly, the community of Fillmore. Now is the perfect time to prepare for a bright future ahead, and design a community that we can be proud of.
Brian Sipes,
Fillmore City Council Member

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To the Editor:
I attended a Tony Strickland “meet-&-greet” in Fillmore last Thursday. I hadn’t met Tony before and didn’t know too much about him except the name and that he was our state senator. He’s now running to represent us in the US Congress so I thought I’d better get to know him.
He seemed down to earth to me. Seemed like the issues he’s taking to Washington are the things I care about and believe in. I like to try and be informed before voting. From what I’ve seen and heard so far, Tony is someone I can support.
Tim Holmgren
Fillmore

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To the Editor:
I was at a meet and greet hosted by Councilman Eduardo Gonzalez at El Pescador. Since it was a great opportunity to talk to Tony Strickland, I decided to go. As soon as I entered through the door, I saw Councilman Eduardo Gonzalez wave at me as if we had been good friends for a while. The room had about forty people mingling and talking to Tony. I went up to Tony and we started talking about cutting spending in Washington. He seemed to be open-minded and liked the insight of what the people wanted from Washington. I can say that Tony Strickland is here to represent his constituents at whatever position he holds.
It was a pleasure talking to him. Afterwards Tony spoke about why he is running for Congress and how he wants to leave Ventura County and the United States in a better state for future generations. The whole event was a great experience overall and it showed me that Tony Strickland is committed to uniting out community and country. That is why I will be giving Tony Strickland my full support this November.
Ernesto Ambrocio
Newbury Park