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City Council shows concerns for the homeless and residents

Map illustrates where a permitted overnight shelter with daytime services might be allowed and where shelters are currently permitted.

More than 250 people gathered for the City Council’s Community Homeless Workshop at the Derby Club on April 18, 2016. Attendees worked in groups to complete exercises designed to define, understand and help the homeless community.

Several attendees commented that increased coordination between the different agencies, to which would include all private and faith-based organizations, might improve the distribution of homeless services.

One problem with providing Ventura’s homeless with overnight accommodations is that zoning does not allow overnight sheltering and other services at the same location. Time consuming and costly city permits also slow the availability of shelters.

At the conclusion of the Workshop, Mayor Erik Nasarenko made a motion that would allow the city to forgo some of the zoning/permitting process. The motion passed 5-2. City Attorney Gregory Diaz said the motion does not change zoning, but allows the city staff to examine the issue further.

At the City Council meeting held on July 11 – in a victory for advocates of the homeless – the City Council voted 7-0 to take the first step toward allowing homeless facilities in Ventura.

They also agreed to continue to work closely with Ventura County on a coordinated effort to help the homeless.

After the final vote, the large crowd at the council meeting erupted into applause (instead of the usual waiving of hands which is the Council protocol).

The vote was mostly symbolic because city staff will now reach out to Venturans, the business community, police and others as the city develops the required zoning to implement the council’s wishes. They directed staff to return to City Council with an ordinance amendment to allow sheltering and services in a new zone or overlay with a targeted timeline to return to City Council by March 2017.

Councilmember Mike Tracy stated that other cities and the county must be involved in the effort so the burden of serving the area’s homeless population wouldn’t fall only on Ventura.

“We need a regional approach,” he said.

The entire council expressed great concern for both the homeless and Ventura residents and asked important questions of the staff and Community Development Director Jeff Lambert and Community Services Manager Peter Brown.

The Ventura Chamber participated in the council meeting and spoke on behalf of the City staff recommendation to change the zoning to allow emergency shelter and day services in the same area. Earlier this year, the Chamber declared homelessness as one of their four key areas of focus.

City buys Harbor Community Church for $2.3 million

Harbor Church will be leaving this location after one year.

Quoting from a previous article in the Ventura Breeze written by Rebecca Wicks:

“Harbor Community Church has filed a lawsuit against the City of Ventura signaling the start of the next round in the fight over the church’s controversial homeless program. The program, which provides meals, showers and religious worship to a primarily homeless population, has been accused of being the source of a significant uprising in criminal activity in a once quiet residential neighborhood.”

“The City’s Planning Commission denied the church a conditional-use permit citing the program, called Operation Embrace, was not appropriate for its location next to an elementary school, park and day care facility. The City Council deadlocked in a 2-2 vote with Mayor Christy Weir on medical leave and councilmembers Eric Nasarenko and Jim Monahan recusing themselves because of statements they made previously in opposition of the program during their election campaigns for city council. The church needed an overriding vote, leaving the denial of permit intact.”

“On May 14, two days after the City Council meeting, the church closed Operation Embrace. On May 15, temporary City Attorney Juli Scott reported Harbor Church pastor Sam Gallucci sent her an email stating he was going to consult with church elders to decide whether the church would sue. The following day the church filed a lawsuit and restarted its services. “

“The suit argues the church’s First Amendment freedom of religion rights have been violated and also cites the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.”

In a very controversial agreement, the City has agreed to pay $2.3 million to buy the property at 3100 Preble Ave. with Harbor Community Church agreeing to leave Ventura.

Resolving this controversy took almost two years of intense negotiations between the City and the church.

Both parties agreed that the property’s value is only $ 1.6 million but the $2.3 million includes the costs of moving the church.

Harbor Church pastor Sam Gallucci stated that he was pleased with the settlement and agreed to drop the lawsuit against the City..

The agreement won’t settle whether the church was within its legal rights under religious freedom laws to run their homeless program in a residential neighborhood. Many nearby residents complained that the program brought in crime to the neighborhood and to the nearby school and city park.

In the meantime, the church will lease back the property for a year at $3,000 per month while it looks for a new location in a different city. It may continue to hold its church services there.

The money to buy the building is coming from the city’s public liability fund. The city will eventually sell the property to a developer to recoup some of the expense.

“Ladies’ Night” at EP Foster Library Topping Room August 6

“Ladies’ Night” will be at the Topping Room at the EP Foster Library. The event is on Saturday, August 6th from 8-11pm. “Ladies’ Night” will be a night of celebrating femininity in whatever form that takes whether gendered or non-binary. This will be a space for all. These terms, ladies and femininity are completely open to your interpretation. The festivities will include an awesome lineup of female fronted bands, an array of artists who identify as female, sweet treats to keep you going through the night and temporary tattoos designed by local artists. And there will be some face painting.

The Little Mermaid Makes a Splash

Alison Bagli and Lawrence Cummings star in The Little Mermaid.

by Sheli Ellsworth

Once again, the Cabrillo Music Theatre brings brilliance and beauty to the stage with the production of The Little Mermaid. The Hans Christian Anderson story that became a Disney classic is the ultimate undersea adventure. The Broadway musical will be playing at the Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks until Sunday, July 24.

The story of Ariel, a disenchanted mermaid who wants to become human, is set against a sea of blues, greens and purples that move and change with the undulating characters who swim though its depths suspended on wires. The staging for this musical is superb. The music and lighting move in a sublime harmony that actually lulls the audience to a place under the sea. Opening night’s enthusiastic crowd confirmed that director Larry Raben has hit the magic seashell out of the park and gave the production a standing ovation.

Lawrence Cummings as Sebastian the crab brings a fun quirky energy to the part as well as a skilled voice that quickly makes him an audience favorite. Debbie Prutsman as Ursula the undersea witch is convincingly disgusting. When the slimy Ursula starts to wrap her tentacles around Ariel, everyone in the audience scoots back in their seat a little—glancing toward the theatre’s exits.

Alison Bagli has performed the role of Ariel before and was a natural choice for the redheaded mermaid. Bagli’s mermaid moves with grace and her clear voice keeps the part fresh throughout the lengthy performance. Handsome New Yorker, Conor Guzman, who plays Prince Eric, is also a writer and director as well as a convincing prince.

The Cabillo’s Little Mermaid has something for everyone: Flotsam and Jetsam, electrified sea snakes on hover scooters; Chef Louis, a big man in the seafood industry; Flounder in yellow knee-high Converse shoes who has a secret crush; Scuttle the slightly scattered seagull and many other sea creatures, maids and ladies in waiting.

The Little Mermaid runs through Sunday July 24 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Call 800.745.3000 or go to www.cabrillomusictheatre.com for ticket info.

Blessing of the Marriages at Ventura County Fair

For the past 10 years, the Ventura County Fair has promoted an event on Seniors Day (when all seniors 65 and older can get in free) that honors the commitment of spouses who have been married 30 years or longer. Last year the oldest married couple in the County – Jesus and Soledad Hernandez – 78 years married – highlighted the event. Learn the secret of the successes of these couples and enjoy the admiration of those who hope to join this worthy group of partners who take the vow seriously – “Til death do us part.” Family and friends invited. Wedding cake will be served! To be held on August 9, 11:00-noon, sponsored by MarriageWell.

Explore nature with the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy at Family Fun Day

Paul Meehan, gives his kids Claire and John a lift at the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy’s Big Rock Nature Preserve. Photo by Kyle Sparks.

On Saturday, August 6, the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy (VHC) will host Family Fun Day at their Big Rock Nature Preserve from 10 a.m. – 12. This free, family-friendly, open-to-the-public outdoor event will include nature-themed crafts, an environmental scavenger hunt and a biologist-led hike along the banks of the Ventura River.

“It has been several months since our generous volunteers helped us plant the 500 trees that are taking root at our Big Rock Preserve and we are eager to show off our work,” said Derek Poultney, VHC Executive Director.

Family Fun Day is appropriate for people of all ages but children must be accompanied by an adult. Attendees should wear long pants, sturdy closed-toe shoes, sunscreen and bring a water bottle. Please note that the trails at Big Rock Preserve are not stroller friendly. There is no cost to attend but reservations are strongly encouraged. To RSVP, visit www.venturahillsides.org and click on the Events tab.

VHC is seeking support for future outdoor educational programming. For more information, contact VHC Development Director, Adrienne Stephens at 643-8044 or [email protected].

Soil & Succulents with The Landscaping Lady

On Thursday, July 21, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m learn succulent potting from Andrea Fields. It all started with transforming the exterior of her home into a beautiful drought tolerant garden last year. Experiencing a life changing moment, Andrea Fields, aka The Landscaping Lady, will show you how to plant a succulent pots for your home. You won’t believe how simple it is! Everyone in attendance will get to plant their own pot to take home.

You are welcome to bring a friend! At Caregivers,1765 Goodyear Ave.

RSVP is encouraged…Space is limited! 658-8530 .

Safe email practices-part one

by Ken May-Swift Chip

Why? Unsafe computing can corrupt your files, expose the contents of your internal drive to strangers, cause other computers to become compromised, and even allow your computer to be used by spammers to send millions of unsolicited emails.

Using safe email practices helps you:
Protect your inbox
Protect your computer
Protect your privacy
Protect your friends and neighbors

Here are recommendations you should follow to protect yourself when using email.

1.Screen messages before viewing them, and delete anything that appears suspicious. Carefully examine your list of unopened messages.

Do any of them come from people or addresses you don’t recognize? Do the subject lines have words with too many spaces, or long random numbers? Do they seem too good to be true, or somehow odd? If so, it’s probably best to just delete the message along with any attachments.

Wait! Don’t open that email yet…

If a message has attachments don’t open it unless you know the sender and are expecting the attachment. If you’re not sure what it is, contact the sender before opening the message and ask exactly what the message and attachment is.

Don’t be fooled by Dirty Tricks.

Most computer worms (a kind of malicious program) spread themselves via email by spoofing addresses found in the infected computer’s address book and sending copies of itself to other addresses in the address book, so it’s very likely that an infected message can appear to come from someone you know. Many of these messages will use vague or generic subject lines like “Re: ” or “Hi.” Others will try to look like they come from a technical support service, or even from Microsoft. Be careful about opening these.

Always confirm a Wire Transfer.

An extremely common attack we are seeing is for an email to come in that appears to be from a user in the company. If the email address matches exactly, this is called “spoofing.” Also check to see if the domain name is slightly off. For instance, instead of “gmail.com” it says “gmaii.com.” These emails often request a wire transfer, and are targeting accountants and CFOs. Please verify with the person directly.

2. Open your messages, but beware the Next and Previous buttons.

Using the Next and Previous buttons to open and move from message to message is convenient but dangerous, especially if you don’t screen messages thoroughly, or if new messages come in while you’re reading other screened messages.

Vol. 9, No. 21 – July 20 – August 2, 2016 – Senior News Line

Should Medicare Age be raised to 67?
by Matilda Charles

There’s a movement afoot that, if it gains traction and becomes law, could affect many of us. Researchers have once again studied the ramifications of increasing the age of Medicare eligibility to 67. The purpose, of course, would be to save the government money.

Here are a few of the things the study discovered from the records of more than 200,000 seniors:

Overall medical spending dropped by a third when seniors switched to Medicare because the government pays providers less than private insurers.

While the government will save money, actual health-care spending will go up. A previous 2011 study concluded that while the government would save $5.7 billion (in 2014), seniors age 65 and 66 would have increased costs out of pocket of $4.5 billion. The current study agrees.

A Congressional Budget Office looked at the potential government savings in 2013, and concluded that the government could save $19 billion between 2016 and 2023.

Seniors generally would stay with the same health-care providers, who will get less money for the same services, probably 30 percent less. Those providers will continue to see existing patients because they’ll be dealing with volume in the number of patients.

So what does this mean to us? Seniors would need to spend two more years on private insurance. To keep employer-provided insurance, we’d need to stay employed for two more years.

If we were planning to retire and have Social Security as all (or at least part) of our income, we’re not likely to be able to afford the high cost of medical insurance, as it seems to go up each year as we get older.

Bottom line: This topic isn’t going away. It’s one to keep an eye on.

Supporting the well-being of Ventura

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association supports the total well-being of our community. As part of their services, they host free monthly education classes throughout the county which include the following:

Adult Bereavement Support Group Wednesdays, August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 from 6:30-8:00 pm. These groups are open to individuals who have experienced loss and are free of charge.

Newly Bereaved Support Group Thursday, August 11th from 6-7:30 pm. This monthly group is designed for adults who have recently experienced the loss of a loved one and is free. These groups meet every 2nd Thursday of each month.

Tuesday, August 2nd from 1-2:30pm. These meetings are held on 1st Tuesday of each month. General information is provided about Type 2 Diabetes with emphasis on the development of an individualized plan of care that includes diet, medication, exercise and blood sugar monitoring.

Thursday, August 4th from 1:00-2:00pm. You will learn what to expect before, during and after knee or hip replacement surgery and how to be an active participant in your care. These meetings are 1st Thursday of each month

Monday, August 8th for both English and Spanish speaking. English 4:00-5:00 pm and Spanish 5:30-6:30 pm. You will learn what to expect before, during and after knee or hip replacement surgery and how to be an active participant in your care.

All classes given at Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association office, 1996 Eastman Ave., Suite 109. Call 642-0239 for more information or email [email protected].

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