Dear Editor,
As a homeowner in Oxnard, I understand the challenges of maintaining a property while ensuring it remains affordable for renters. Proposition 33 might seem like a quick fix, but in reality, it would create more problems for both renters and homeowners like me.
Expanding rent control to single-family homes would discourage homeowners from renting out their properties, reducing the already limited supply of rental homes. This means higher competition and rising prices for the few homes left available. Additionally, strict rent caps would make it difficult for homeowners to keep up with rising repair, maintenance, and tax costs. If we can’t cover these costs, properties will fall into disrepair, leaving fewer options for renters. We need real solutions that address the housing shortage, not policies that push homeowners out of the rental market
Sincerely,
Janet Sprissler
Building a Safer Ventura Together: An Open Letter from the Deputy Director of Ventura Land Trust”
My name is Daniel Hulst and I am fortunate to serve as Deputy Director for Ventura Land Trust (VLT). I have grown concerned about some misinformation swirling during this year’s local City Council election and wanted to address it directly with facts.
VLT takes annual defensible space clearance very seriously and manages over 1.5 miles of Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) where fuel clearance is required. We work in conjunction with all public fire agencies and quickly remedy any issues that arise. VLT regularly invites Fire Personnel out to the field to confer and brainstorm on best practices to keep our preserves and neighbors safe. In one notable example, multiple fire agencies now have locks on the gates to our properties to provide access whenever needed for safety, something that did not exist in the past.
In addition to our work on annual fuel clearance, VLT has worked to reduce fire risk to adjacent residential neighbors by removing flammable eucalyptus trees and partnering with the Ventura County Fire Department to reinstate and maintain a fire road along a section of the property boundary impacted by the Thomas Fire. VLT has also partnered with fire agencies to graze areas of Harmon Canyon to reduce fire risk and utilized our properties for specialized Fire personnel training.
As an entity with nearly 100 residential neighbors, VLT regularly interacts with neighboring landowners. Any neighboring landowner that reaches out to VLT about fuel clearance receives a prompt response from VLT staff, and frequently, a prompt solution to the fuel clearance issue they have raised. The notion that VLT has not communicated with neighbors, whether about fuel clearance or other plans, is simply not true. We understand that a few members of our community remain unhappy with our plans to open Mariano Rancho Preserve to the public. VLT has hosted five informational community meetings focused on developing plans for Mariano Rancho Preserve. Three of these meetings were recorded and are available on our website. The latest meeting was a roundtable discussion format, in which community members could choose the topics they most wanted to weigh in on, with their input recorded by a facilitator and forms, with feedback provided directly to VLT staff and board. Additionally, VLT has met one-on-one in person and by phone with many of our preserve neighbors.
Ventura Land Trust is here for the long term as owners and stewards of our large properties. VLT is a great neighbor but we also need our community to work together in good faith recognizing that these permanently protected preserves are of benefit to all of us.
For anyone with further questions about our work, I encourage you to visit our website, particularly our Frequently Asked Questions page at www.venturalandtrust.org/mariano-faqs where you can even submit a question. You can connect with me directly at [email protected].
“I’ll stop wearing black when they make a darker color.”
~ Wednesday
