I'm getting married in April and I wanted to see if they still rent out britt park for my reception. Does anyone have a phone number I can call to find out if they still rent out their banquet hall?

Could someone please share the established grievance procedures for a City employee? Also, did any City employee use these procedures prior to signing on to the group letter presented to the Council? Thanks

I am a little disappointed that the Gazette did not have any coverage of the FYCCC 5K Fundraiser that went on 10/10/10. My apologies if there is an article somewhere...I did not see it.

Mrs V

Well, I have been doing quite a bit of reading here tonight and this is what I see.
A constant attack on so called Katsenjammers with no substance. A lot of name calling and put downs but where's the beef? Where are the balanced and intelligent people in this town? Have they all moved away? [UNFOUNDED AND SLANDEROUS REMARKS REMOVED]

Yesterday (9/29) morning there was a child abduction attempt. 2 kids on their way to school (just leaving the house) and the younger one was grabbed. Luckily he fought his way free and ran back in the house. The police were called and a report was taken. There is no description of the man at this time.
This took place near Manzanita and Chaparral street - near the middle school.

Parents ~ please keep a close eye on your kids. Don't let them outside without supervision.

Notices such as this do not come often. When I originally began to "blog" to the Gazette, I was searching for someone in particular. I found them. Having resided in Fillmore twice and having marital relatives live in the immediate area (after 1988, and a familial relative in San Francisco), I became more and more interested in the Gazette and in Fillmore. Over the previous near two years now I have been commenting in this web site, I experienced great associations, and then some not so great; as everyone naturally experiences in life anyway.

At this time, however, I feel it is best for all considered if I no longer communicate on this or any other web site. The reasons primarily are devotion to time and personal matters. Due to having to co-operate a business in the Philippines and directly assist my wife with her upstart business in France and to be with my family responsibilities there, it becomes necessary to devote full-time adherence. We are now selling the home and the property in the Philippines, making France our only and primary residence.

The other less prioritized decision here is that Fillmore needs to work things out on their own without "outside" interferences. No matter if some of us "have been" residents of Fillmore or not! Sorry for the problems I could have caused in reporting facts, but I think it best for everyone concerned to leave matters in the hands of those responsible for their own actions, decisions and agendas in Fillmore. The boomerang is in France now, and is on display; thank you Steve Conaway and the Gazette for this! A lot of people I communicated with in here have been extremely patient and kind to me, but everyone has been equal, whether or not they disagree with each other or my viewpoints. In no way, did the Gazette staff influence this decision; it's mine to take. I'll monitor the Fillmore news, though, but feel it is best at this point for personal and time available for me and my family to say a "good-bye".

I realize there could be additional lower-end comments on this departure, but like in political suicide, "it" happens, and I don't hold anyone responsible for what they say this time. Thanks to all! [J T Jackie King]

With the hope of enjoying a civil dialog I offer the following; does a home town newspaper have a unique responsibilty to the children of a community with regard to content? For example, we have recently elected a man of color to the highest office any American can hold and this paper did not, to my knowledge, have a story about the civil rights movement or the contributions of the many thousands of Americans who came before this President to help make this historic moment a reality. I think that was a mistake. Politics aside, I think a home town paper does bear a responsibility to our youth to inform and educate. I believe there should always be a story, an article and on occasion an editorial that a young person or a teacher could bring to school to discuss.
All The Best,
Noirjak

For those of you that don’t punish yourself year round with watching Fillmore City Council meetings, NOW IS THE TIME! With the November 2010 General Election just right around the corner, the fate of the very community you live in lies in your hands! If you haven’t been able to tune in, please be sure to checkout the nightly replay of these meetings on channel 10. They play each evening around 6:00pm or so.

If you do not have first hand personal knowledge of any of the candidates seeking office then this is a good way to become familiar with them! I will warn you ahead of time… these meetings can be rather painful. Use your senses wisely and pay close attention to the level of professionalism and/or behavior each of the candidates demonstrate. It will not take you more than one meeting to decide who has the illtellectual ability to perform as an elected official and who needs to continue picking up downed street signs and trash from the freeway.

Most recently Council Candidate Marcoz Hernandez demonstrated his lack of illtelect, professionalism & reasoning ability when he stood up in front of the council and made a number of excuses as to why he would not participate in the weekly question and answer articles in the Gazette. Hernandez cited several reasons why he would not grace us with his knowledge and abilities however I will summarize his comments by stating it was a bunch of nonsense. Mr. Hernandez clearly has little to NO understanding of currently city affairs and is too busy to learn about them.

Moments after publicly reciting his letter written by his campaign manager Mr. Garry Creagle, Mr. Hernandez sat in the city council chambers coughing obnoxiously loud while mumbling sarcastic comments under his breath. Of course - this is completely appropriate behavior considering he is an adult and is running for public office, right?

In case you have yet to make the correlation, this gentleman tried his luck with local government in November of 2008 only to find himself in 7th place out of 8 potential candidates. The Citizens of Fillmore obviously knew not to vote for him last election and I rest assured, they will do the same in 2010.

Mr. Hernandez has made it his modus operandi to use aggressive tactics to conquer not only his personal agenda, but the agenda of others too weak to conquer it themselves. His ongoing use of fear and trepidation amongst those who do not succumb to his belligerent immature behavior has and continues to prove to us he is only a nuisance to society and does not deserve to be seated at the dais.

The Farmers Market rolled into town today. Anyone got feedback, besides it was HOT and crowded?

Steve Conaway

The 2010 Flashes Football Season gets underway this Saturday. Saturday? Yes, Saturday. Game 1 Fillmore travels to Malibu and will play tomorrow (9/4) on the Malibu Field for a day game. (Their field is not permitted to have lights as that would alter the "viewscape" at night, oh well).

9/4: Fillmore travels to Malibu.
9/10: Village Christian travels to Flashes field.
9/17: Fillmore travels to Morro Bay.
9/24: Fillmore travels to Frazier Park.
10/1: Bishop Diego travels to Flashes field.
10/8: Santa Clara travels to Flashes field.
10/15: Fillmore travels to Carpenteria.
10/22: Nordoff travels to Flashes field.
10/29: Bye.
11/5: Fillmore travels to Oak Park.
11/12: Santa Paula travels to Flashes field for the 100th contest between the two cities. This will be an event, not just a game.

Steve Conaway

Yvonne Quiring does have an open door policy when it comes to Brian Sipes. He is constantly in city hall and appears to have a backstage pass, at least from what I see. She does not meet with other people like she does him. Then again maybe she feels obligated to give him time since he owns the home she lives in and he controls the amount of rent she pays! Coinkidink? I think not!

Is the City “required” to provide street sweeping service? I’m asking only because I don’t see it doing much good with all of the park cars in the way.

I heard just about two hours ago on local television in Montauban, where thousands were celebrating the Roman Catholic Holy Day of Assumption at Lourdes, here in France, when a bomb threat displaced everyone participating in addition to nearly a thousand disabled and other unfortunate people from an area worshiping. {No bomb was located}

Yesterday I ran across a comment by a person in the NYT who said (in an unrelated comment), why don't "we" (whoever "we" are) bomb the Eid sometime and "get even" with the Muslims for what they did to so many US buildings, people and military establishments.

This religious-based hatred has gone far enough and long enough. Why cannot people grow up and out of this distrust and displaced feelings for people of other religious sects, cults and "near Christians"; considered as such by the US Government - and worse - by people themselves...and step up to solve real issues plaguing the world; which are so many?

To my mind, I happen to be "color blind" and "religion blind". I could care less if the guy next to me on the train, or plane, or walking down the street, or where he lives, or where he works, or where he worships, or where his place of worship is located, or anything else about him is Muslim, Mormon or Methodist, or anything else! Let him live his or her life just as much as I want to live mine, in peace. I think God loves all of us, and it is a matter of how we live and appreciate others who share this world with us. But, seems humanity will never grow up out of themselves until we all realize the true meaning of life. Someday; and this is a sure thing! [zca]

Employee morale at the city of Fillmore is at an all time low. Threats of layoffs, benefit cuts and pay cuts due to the "Budget crisis" has gotten everyone down.
The employees (those in the union and those who are not) have been asked to prioritize which cuts would be preferrable to them. With the knowledge that if they don't cut enough some of their coworkers will be laid off.
The employees have come up with several ideas to help soften the blow of this crisis. The Town Theater loses money every year, it is very expensive to operate yet the city continues to fund it. Why? Other cities in the county don't operate theaters. The new pool, although helped by a tax to support it will cost the budget thousands of dollars to continue running at the current level of service. Other ideas to help the budget, don't fill vacant positions such as the deputy city manager,(100,000 plus) or the administrative assistant(90,000 plus) which are large dollar ticket items. These positions have gone unfilled for quite sometime.
One of the reasons morale is so low is the so called "open door policy" of the new city manager. Some people have discribed it as "an electric fence". Scare tactics continue with some long standing , hard working , employees being told their positions could be cut due to reorganization. This city manager hasn't learned. Her last job ended in controversy over very similar circumstances.
The city council who hired her have an agenda. Their ideas to cut benifits to city employees now have the oportunity to come to fruition, due to bad economic times that are at hand. But there are other ways to fix this "budget crisis", dont ride on the backs of employees to pay for bad business decisions. More home work is needed, not decisions made to help an election year.
Hiring untested new eployees while laying off long,good standing employees is just bad business (and unethical if you already know who you are going to hire) Their experience cannot be just thrown away. What happened to loyalty??

The closer we get to the election the more Mayor Walker agrees with and votes with Steve Conaway and the further she gets from council members Washburn and Brooks the two she strongly supported in the last election. On the other hand she is the one that is pushing for the largest water rate increase in Fillmore's history(33% over the next couple of years). Mayor Walker is also putting a new fee (read TAX) on all of us for street sweeping. And don't forget about a new increase in our sewer rates. So what do you think is she or isn't she? Should she or shouldn't she?

On March 23 a request from a developer in the business park was made to the City Council to borrow $4.9 million to pay for infrastructure projects within the new business park using the City’s general fund as collateral. The loan would be paid back by the developers. Their advantage would be a lower interest rate. The general fund is money that comes mostly from property taxes and sales taxes and is used to pay for public safety and general government expenses. A failure of any business park development to pay for its share of the loan payment would have to be made up by the Fillmore taxpayer.

Arguments made by council members Hernandez and Conaway in support of the action centered primarily on the opinion that without the City’s involvement in securing the loan the business park would fail. Arguments by Mayor Walker, Mayor Pro-Tem Washburn and council member Brooks opposing the action were that the people of Fillmore should not be exposed to that great a risk, particularly in today’s economic climate.

A short time after the request for the loan was made the same developer hosted a public meeting at the Senior Center reviewing the plans in his portion of the business park and said there was no need for the City’s help. One could reasonably conclude that if the balance on the council was shifted by just one vote the Fillmore taxpayer would be saddled with the burden of an unnecessary $4.9 million loan.

I do not mean "socialism" in a political sense. I mean "socialism" in a social society of the US population. What has become growing since the Viet Nam conflict and seemingly peaking after the Obama election in 2008 is a festering internal hatred and distrust of others in the US. The United States, as I remember it as do so many others of my age group; considered "Baby Boomer's" and others a little younger or older, remember the easy-going, comfortable and cordial atmosphere our social life was at one time. Now, it seems hostility toward everyone is common.

One can see this more clearly if you reside in remote, rural America, or better yet, overseas. I'm connected with retired military personnel who reside overseas in numerable foreign countries and the discussions are frequent as to what this growing hostility in America is becoming. Many "groups" have popped-up promoting their certain type of protesting mostly government action, or inaction, and those within it. There is an intense strain of prejudice and extremist activism in both old-time religions and newly-formed religionists churches. Anti-government "Tea Party"-ist advocates; large-market media influence (mostly radio talk show personalities) promoting fear-mongering; resurgence of the "militia movement"; the "Birther Movement"; and on a large scale, conspiracy theorists exhorting true form government mistakes and decisions and don't forget the "Three Percenters"...in general, the very population of Americans are so frustrated at the manner of which their government is operating - which causes worldwide reprocussions and economical drains, is causing this growing anti-social trending. Americans seem against everything and everyone.

This problem sweeps across America through incivility, fervorous activism - even into public forums such as town meetings to flagrant acts of intimidation and violence in every overt form.

Foreigners, notice especially the hostile atmosphere of the US, and so do Americans living abroad for years now, see it clearly and ever-growing. America has changed and is changing socially and I'm afraid it is not for the better. :zca:

Question: Are you happy with the performace of Mayor Walker. Please say why or why not. And please be civil, just state your opinion, without any attacts on one another.

Helen Thomas resigned recently as the age-old and maxi-professional of White House news correspondency. She was a fixture in the WH for years on end and covered ten Presidents. In a statement she made recently concerning Israel and Palestine, it was quoted by a Rabbi who questioned Helen on her viewpoints on Israeli/Palestinian relations. Helen said in essence, that Israel should get out of Palestine and mind their own business; more was officially said and quoted; Helen was harsh on Israel. Maybe rightly so, I think.

She told what is in the hearts and minds of millions, and whether or not Israel-followers are concerned, they best wake up to the facts what Israel may actually be to the world order. Just as the US advocates Israel, is one large aspect for terrorist acts against the US; for one country. Can Israel do anything it wants to?

When you get to be 90 years old such as Helen Thomas is, like me at 67 years old now, you say what is on your mind because of many reasons - and life's education is one reason. Go ahead and say it...if people are too soft and vulnerable to opinion, that is just too bad...maybe Helen Thomas' thought process works this way.

Too bad and sorry (Helen) for your termination turned to resignation from Hearst or whoever you worked for. We need more of your kind! We need less know-nothing Liberal "US Press Secretaries" to denounce professionalism in journalism no matter if it is spoken or written! ~ J T Jackie King

Thank you to all of those who attended the June 3, 2010 meeting at the Senior Center to hear information about the Fillmore Business Park and to ask questions. The information provided included an independent job analysis prepared by David Taussig and Associates that states at build out the Fillmore Business Park project will be home to 1,681 new employees once the Business Park is fully occupied and the surrounding community will benefit from an additional 898 indirect jobs needed to support the new Business Park project employees, resulting in a total of 2,579 new jobs for the Fillmore community.

In response to that information, a question was raised at the meeting about the 77 jobs projected to be created by one of the businesses in the park, a self-storage facility. Bob Crum stated the credibility of the entire job projection analysis could be in question because of this number and Ray Harper, who made the presentation on the Business Park, agreed that the number for the self-storage facility seemed high. Mr. Harper is the developer of the Perry Ranch site and the Coe Property in the Fillmore Business Park and stated that he was not that familiar with the Self Storage facility site plan, because it was being developed by another developer in the Business Park. I would like to clear up the issue regarding the jobs projected for the Self Storage Facility. In summary, the 77 jobs that are projected for the Self-Storage site are correct.

To clarify, the 77 jobs projected are for the entire Self-Storage site plan and not just for the Self-Storage use itself. This is documented in the Fillmore Business Park EIR. The Self-Storage site plan includes 76,974 sq. ft. of Self-Storage space and 38,200 sq. ft. of Industrial Space (See Table 2.2, page 9 and Figure 2.9 of the Business Park EIR). Based upon the site plan for the Self-Storage facility, Appendix C of the Business Park EIR entitled "Air Quality Noise Modeling Results, TDM Fund Calculations, Employment Generation" projects a total of 92 jobs for the Self Storage Site plan (5 for the Self-Storage and 87 for the Industrial). See page 508 of the Business Park EIR. So the 77 jobs projected by the Taussig Study are more conservative than the 92 jobs analyzed in the Business Park EIR.

Section 6.04.1202.R(12), on Page II-96 of the Fillmore Zoning Ordinance requires any Self-Storage or Warehousing facility that exceeds 45,000 sq. ft. to provide one job per 900 sq. ft. of floor space. That is why the Self-Storage site plan includes the 38,200 sq. ft. of industrial. If you check with Kevin McSweeney you will find that the planning file for the self storage space includes a document verifying that the proper job generation has been met for the Self-Storage site plan to permit the self-storage space.

The whole purpose of the Fillmore Business Park is to create new jobs for the Fillmore community and all of the analysis to date indicates that 2,600 new jobs will be created when the Business Park is completed.