CAPS Media was on hand for a preview tour of Ventura County’s first year-round homeless shelter. The tour was conducted by Meredith Hart, Safe and Clean Manager for the City of Ventura. The 24/7 shelter located on Knoll Drive in Ventura, is a collaboration between the City of Ventura, the County and other agencies. The facility, run by Mercy House, will accommodate 55 individuals as well as their pets. Every individual at the shelter must work on their housing plan and be committed to transitioning out of homelessness. To learn more go to cityofventura.ca.gov/HomelessEfforts
Recently Estelle Bussa, Economic Development Manager for the City of Ventura, dropped by the CAPS Media studio to record a series of stories explaining how the City’s economic development department works with existing and potential businesses to expand opportunities in Ventura. Estelle, a fourth generation Ventura native, explained, “We help facilitate interactions between networks of individuals and city departments to help grow or start businesses here in Ventura.” “We have a really great team. It’s really fun, it makes coming to work every day such an enjoyment.” Estelle added, “You really have to look long-term when it comes to economic development, because the impact is everlasting.”
The City stories continued with an in-studio interview with Andrea Palmer, Associate Planner at the City. Andrea, another Ventura native, manages government community development block grants and home investment funds to assist low income areas of the community. “It could be in the form of housing development, community parks, sidewalks, or other infrastructure projects to public services such as supporting the Avenue Library on the west side.” Andrea enjoys her job, her colleagues and especially the people she helps out, “We definitely have a sense of community here, and I hope that that continues as time goes on, and I definitely want to be part of that.”
CAPS Media continued coverage of community council meetings on the east side, college area, mid-town and west side. Recent meetings included informative discussions with law enforcement and other government officials on land use, vaping, homelessness and other topics. CAPS Media coverage of the meetings allows community members throughout the city who are unable to attend the meetings, the opportunity to view the monthly meetings on CAPS channel 6 and streaming online at capsmedia.org. The individual meetings are broadcast the Thursday following the meeting at 8pm on channel 6. Some community council groups post the meetings on social media as well.
As many know, the continuation of CAPS Media funding is expected to be discussed at a city council meeting very soon. At a time when civic engagement and public communication are vital to our community, we believe CAPS provides an extremely valuable resource to everyone in Ventura. If you have a few minutes we encourage you to send a note to a City Councilmember expressing how you feel CAPS enriches the entire Ventura community. Councilmember contact information can be found at cityofventura.ca.gov/712/City-Council. Everyone at CAPS Media thanks all the friends of CAPS who have sent letters to city staff and council members expressing your support.
