by Shelon Brown
Ventura Councilmember Liz Campos accused a former city executive of bullying her. The City Council voted to accept a city-led investigation that found she wasn’t bullied.
Campos accused former acting City Manager Akbar Alikhan of bullying her during a closed-session meeting in May 2023 when he allegedly didn’t let her leave the room until she took a certain position on an issue.
The City Council voted on April 9 to accept the results of a city-led investigation into Campos’ allegations, which determined she was not harassed or bullied. The probe was headed by a consultant hired by the city and not by the city.
Alikhan, who left Ventura last year and is now the deputy city manager in Thousand Oaks, denies Campos’ accusations. “The results of the investigation clearly shows any such allegations were patently false,” Alikhan said.
The council voted 5-1 to receive and file the report. Councilmember Mike Johnson voted no because he said he wasn’t given the full investigative report and felt the investigation was incomplete and should continue.
•Ventura and Oxnard colleges will each get new presidents in July after Ventura County Community College District trustees unanimously approved contracts for the top roles during a Tuesday night board meeting.
Claudia Lourido-Habib, currently the president of Porterville College will take over as president of the 11,700-student Ventura College from the retiring Kimberly Hoffmans on July 8. She’ll earn $288,660 in salary and $94,610 in benefits annually during a three-year contract.
• “Three years ago, we were a great nation,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan. Biden was president three years ago (ooops).
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Trump said of the upcoming presidential showdown, “If everything’s honest, I’ll gladly accept the results. I don’t change on that. If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country.” If this doesn’t scare you, you just don’t get it.
Trump has claimed that because his jury is 95% Democrats it is just another witch hunt. That means that 11.4 jurists are Democrats and one is 40% Democrat and 60% Republican, so maybe it will be a hung jury.
•Jeff Asher is a New Orleans-based crime data analyst who has worked at the CIA and Department of Defense. As early data showed murders declining nationwide, he wrote that the U.S. was experiencing a major drop in killings.
“Murder plummeted in the United States in 2023, likely at one of the fastest rates of decline ever recorded. The decrease in murders is “potentially historically large,” USA TODAY was told, and it’s not just killings that are declining. Preliminary 2023 FBI data “paint the picture” of a big decrease in overall crime.
•An LA Times survey asked should LeBron James return next season, or should he and the Lakers part ways? The results: Part ways 59.2%. Remain 40.8%.
I’m 100% for him leaving. He is like a petulant spoiled 10-year-old who always needs to get his way. Often on defense the Laker’s only have 4 players because he is still at the other end of the court arguing about not getting a foul call.
He is much more concerned about his huge ego than anything else. And how can he be the GOAT having won just 4 NBA championships in 20-years?
•A TV ad stated that their product has “30-years of clinical research.” Of course, they didn’t say what the researched showed. Truth in advertising “30-years of clinical research showed that our product doesn’t work.”
•I had a tooth extracted and part of the instructions was; “No smoking for the first 24 hours.” So, after 24 hours I started smoking and remembered I never smoked. Very bad instructions.
