by Jim Freidman
I am thrilled and honored to have been elected to the Ventura City Council after a 15-year hiatus. Having previously served as mayor and council member from 1995-2003, I can say that this campaign was very different from previous ones where candidates ran for city council seats “at large.” I found that campaigning in a district required a more grass roots approach and resulted in a greater opportunity to meet with voters face-to-face.
My priorities were straight-forward; enhancing public safety, increasing city revenues through economic development (not higher taxes and fees), repairing our crumbling infrastructure and addressing our water and homeless issues. I rang doorbells in over 2,000 homes and spoke to hundreds of people. I was encouraged to find that my priorities we pretty much in line with that of the residents I spoke with. For the most part, people seemed genuinely appreciative that a city council candidate took the time to come to their front door. Sure, there were a few people who were bothered by the interruption, but that was a very small minority of the people I met.
The campaign is behind us and now the hard work begins. My main concern are the fiscal challenges we face as a city. Everything we want and need costs money. Just like your own household, we have to be able to pay our city bills. I do not believe we can tax and fee our city into prosperity, so we had better get very serious about enhanced economic (business) development. I will be pushing this agenda for the next four years and hope that my colleagues on the city council will see the merits of making economic development a top priority.
The benefits of economic development will not happen overnight, so it is possible that we will need to take a serious look at our budget priorities. I believe the city council should look into holding quarterly budget workshops where the council and public can roll up their sleeves and get an intimate understanding of how we are spending our money, and just as important, where our money is coming from. I sincerely hope that our residents will be engaged in this process. The more participation we have from our residents, the better and more transparent the budget process will be.
Campaigns are never easy. They can bring out the best and unfortunately, sometimes the worst in people. Now is the time to set aside our differences and work together to help make the city we love, the very best it can be. It’s not going to be easy but we should start working towards that goal right away. I want to thank all of my friends and supporters and all District 5 residents who took the time to vote in this, our first, district election.
