The California Association of Public Cemeteries (CAPC) will hold its Annual Education Seminar, Friday, October 9, and Saturday, October 10. The CAPC Education Seminar will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Public Cemetery Trustees, Managers, Secretaries and Employees from all parts of California will be attending. Topics to be presented and discussed include “Employee Relations”, “Public Cemetery Management”, “Harassment Training” and “The California Drought and Its Effect on Public Cemeteries”. Any persons interested in attending this seminar should register with CAPC by calling 888-344-9858. The Crowne Plaza Beach Hotel is located at 450 East Harbor Blvd. The hotel’s phone number for reservations is 652-5119 ask for Christine Smith, when calling identify oneself as an attendee to the CAPC Education Seminar and say you saw this in the Ventura Breeze.
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This is very important times for the historic Ventura Pier
Tasting handcrafted beer and sampling cuisine from over 30 local restaurants is a great evening.
By David Fukutomi, President, Pier into the Future Board of Directors and Jenise Wagar, Executive Director, Pier into the Future
The Board of Directors is proud of the accomplishments of our organization this past year. Since January we have:
Made a presentation to the Ventura City Council on the status of the our efforts and the need for ongoing support from the Council to address deferred maintenance issues.
Deposited $139, 603 into the Ventura County Community Foundation
Pier Fund….money raised from the community!
Purchased 10 new benches to be installed on the Pier.
Participated in the sand art event featuring Andres Amador at the Pier.
In addition with the most recent deposit mentioned above, we have now contributed $1,000,000 into the Pier endowment. Interest accumulated in the fund has been used by the City of Ventura to address operational costs of the pier.
The City has taken an important first step by seeking a study of critical work that has been identified to preserve the pier. We encourage everyone in the community to continue to keep the pier in the forefront of your thoughts and urge the City Council to make a priority of considering it’s on going needs in order that it remain safe, accessible and a most visible treasure.
The fund raising effort has truly been a grass roots effort. Proceeds have been raised in many ways including: selling deeds to planks, memorials on the granite panels and benches, tickets to our events, sales of pier related items and generous support from individuals and businesses in Ventura and the region.
Thank you for your continued support of the Pier. We look forward to continuing to work on your behalf to ensure that the Pier is part of our future and
Don Mills, Board Member, Pier into the Future said “Each year at the annual Pier Under the Stars fundraiser a very unique opportunity awaits guests. The chance to bid on a handcrafted Pier Plank bench. These beautiful benches have been craved by me using wood salvaged from the pier. Each bench is unique in design and size depending on what wood may have been removed during maintenance work on the pier. The common feature of all benches created to date are the hand carved words Ventura Pier Plank.”
Kathy McAden, Vice President, Pier into the Future stated “ It is not often that the community gathers together in one evening under the stars in support of a historical icon but Pier Under the Stars brings together the entire community to raise funds to ensure the historic Ventura Pier remains safe, clean and as beautiful as ever. “
If you would like to get involved in Pier into the Future please email [email protected]. Visit www.pierintothefuture.org to get your tickets today.
City of Ventura’s Laura Pfeifer recognized in National Safety Council’s sixth class of NSC Rising Stars of Safety
On August 27, the National Safety Council announced its sixth class of NSC Rising Stars of Safety – a group of future leaders dedicated to making workplaces safer. The 40 honorees have promoted a cycle of continuous improvement within their organizations and created initiatives focused on measurable outcomes of the NSC’s Journey to Safety Excellence.
The City of Ventura’s Laura Pfeifer, of the Public Works Fleet and Facilities Division was among the national honorees. Public Works Director Rick Raives said, “What an honor it is to have our City of Ventura staff included in this national recognition. Through Laura’s safety program coordination, the Public Works department was injury free for more than one year, which is a commendable achievement.” For information about the National Safety Council Rising Stars of Safety program, visit www.nsc.org.
Is paid parking coming to the Downton parking structure?
Users would be given a 90-minute free period.
Photo by Daniel Ingram
The City of Ventura is proposing to convert the multi-story parking structure on Santa Clara St. to a paid structure, beginning in January 2016.
Automated parking arms and equipment would be installed at the entrance. All users would be given a 90-minute free period, then pay $1 an hour, 7 days a week.
The City is considering parking permits for Downtown employees and nearby residents allowing parking on the upper floors, likely at a small monthly charge.
Free parking could be provided on special event days.
Security improvements to be considered include upgraded lighting, and additional security cameras.
A Parking Ambassador would also be on-site.
The City wants to implement the change now to avoid costly litigation. An existing agreement with the Century 10 Downtown movie would allow the theater to provide free validation to any theater patron.
If approved by the City Council, the purchase of new equipment would be funded by the City’s general fund. Downtown and Parking District budgets would not be affected. The Downtown Parking Advisory Committee has opposed the change.
Your opinions are being sought. Please email comments to [email protected].
Or you can share your comments directly with the City Council and City Manager at [email protected]. Each council member will receive a copy. If you use this email address, copy [email protected].
Vol. 8, No. 26 – September 30 – October 13, 2015 – Mailbox
Breeze:
State Parks is getting dumpsters from Harrison and Son that can’t be dumpster dived. It would be great if the City and Harbor followed suit. Dry up the vagrants source of stolen recyclables and maybe some will go elsewhere. It is a win win…Harrison gets its recyclables, our community gets these vagrants to go elsewhere. Note that most of the revenue from these stolen recyclables goes to buying either booze or drugs. And, of course, it’s legal to drink at the State Parks and State Beach so that where they go to get drunk.
Jorge Bertson-Ventura
Sheldon:
I would love to hear why the city of Ventura has the gall to raise my water bill while their fire department is watering asphalt. I am not sure why they have not one but three fire hoses going at once full bore with no flames in sight.
Joe
Joe: We asked the fire department to respond to your concerns. As you know this is at the fire department training facility off of Allesandro and Seaward.
Mr. Brown:
Thank you for sharing the concern of one of your readers with us. Although the Ventura City Fire Department has made a concerted effort to spread the message and move towards realistic environmental sustainability practices, there are always those situations that arise that beg an explanation. Water purveyors throughout the state have had to call for mandatory water use reductions and have given incentives to homeowners to install drought tolerant gardens. The City of Ventura and its fire department are no different. Within the fire department we have issued two “Operational Standing Orders” over the last two years calling for first a 10% water use reduction, then increasing to a 20% reduction. These reductions are for water use at city fire facilities and include “training practices”. We have worked closely with the City’s Environmental Sustainability division to create and implement water saving practices at fire stations and related to the care and maintenance of equipment. We have installed low flow devices, planted drought resistant landscaping and built rainwater collection systems to name just a few things.
I understand the expressed concern about seeing water apparently being wasted during a “training exercise.” I am confident that our personnel know and understand the situation with water use and the directions I have personally administered. Firefighting is a necessary and at times dangerous occupation that requires personnel to be highly skilled and proficient in all aspects of their job. These skills include the safe operation of a water pump on a fire engine to supply water to a hose line. Without getting into the technical aspect of hydraulic water flow calculations, it isn’t quite as simple as turning on the valve and hoping for the best.
Hydraulic calculations are compounded further while using multiple hose lines. Another skill is the safe and proficient handling of a fire hose while applying water to a fire. Somethings such as feeling the true weight and recoil of a pressurized hose stream can’t be simulated with a dry fire hose. Our desire is to have a dedicated, low impact, environmentally friendly training facility that even recycles water used for training. That hasn’t yet been a realistic possibility within our budget. Our policy dictates that water is not to be flowed longer than necessary to provide effective training for personnel. We also only let the water run into and soak into the ground rather than enter into the storm drain system. This practice is another mandate that we follow preventing domestic chlorinated potable water from reaching the ocean. Finally all water use whether for training or an emergency is logged and reported to Ventura Water on a monthly basis by each unit in the fire department.
We will remain committed to doing our part to conserve all of our valuable natural resources. I will share the observation and concern from your reader with our supervisors and managers in order to make sure the Ventura City Fire Department is presenting best practices always.
Matt Brock – Assistant Fire Chief Ventura City Fire Department
I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
~ Noel Coward
Woodworking show
Featured turning demos by Robert Sorby Co. from England will be available each day.
Woodcraft’s annual woodworking show on Oct. 9 & 10 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm is packed with fun and information: Free demos and free prize giveaways, vendor tool reps to show you the latest innovations in the industry, woodworking games and contests, specialty woods, and opportunities to learn about our wide selection of woodworking classes. They carry over 20,000 woodworking tools and products from all over the world! Almost everything in the store is on sale from 10% – 15% off, too! (Some exclusions apply.) This is the one woodworking event each year you and your family won’t want to miss! Woodcraft is located at 3860 E. Main Street, 658-9663.
Very Ventura Gift Shop & Gallery grand opening party
On September 26 the Very Ventura Gift Shop & Gallery held a grand opening party at their beautiful new location at 540 E. Main in Downtown Ventura. The greatly enlarged location features clothes, jewelry and gifts, music, books, much more and art in their GalleryV. All by local artists, artisans and manufacturers. They open at 11am and the closing hours depend on the day of the week. Call 628-3540 for more information. 
The perfect place to start buying you holiday gifts.
Book Nook
The Panaro Brothers Winery located at 4517 Market Street, 654-1577 features a Book Nook. Stop by, have a cool glass of wine and visit the Book Nook that has books for sale by local Ventura County authors, including James Francis Gray, Sheila Lowe, Sheli Ellsworth, Sheldon Brown, Libby J. Atwater, Karin Lehmann, Robin Sanford, Elaine Clark Aldrete, Ron Fischer and Chuck Engel. The winery features first Friday book readings, so mark your calendars for the next one on Friday, October 2, at 5:30 p.m.
Medicare presentations through-out Ventura County
The County of Ventura Area Agency on Aging’s Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) will be giving a series of Medicare presentations in October.
A few of the topics and One Stop Shops are:
Tuesday, October 6, at Ventura Avenue Adult Center, 550 North Ventura Ave., 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm.
Presentation Topic: “What are the 2016 Medicare Changes & What the Changes Mean to You?”
Wednesday, October 7, at Oxnard Wilson Senior Center, 350 North C St. 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Presentation Topic: “What are the 2016 Medicare Changes & What the Changes Mean to You?”
Thursday, October 8, at Moorpark Active Adult Center, 799 Moorpark Ave., 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm,
Presentation Topic: “What are the 2016 Medicare Changes & What the Changes Mean to You?”
Friday, October 16, 2015, Camarillo Health Care District 3639 E. Las Posas Rd. 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm,
Presentation Topic: “What are the 2016 Medicare Changes & What the Changes Mean to You?”
Friday, October 16, Ventura HICAP, One Stop Shop, 646 County Square Dr. Ventura, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm,
Open Enrollment: One on One counseling appointments, walk-ins and appointments available.
Monday, October 19, 2015, South Oxnard Senior Center, 200 East Bard Rd., Oxnard, Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm,
Open Enrollment: One on One counseling appointments, walk-ins and appointments available.
For further information and locations contact May Lee Berry, HICAP Outreach Coordinator 477-7320 or www.venturacounty.org/vcaaa
FOTM fundraising dinner another huge success
VIP reception sponsors Sandra and Jordan Laby.
Photos by Naancy Heydorn
Four Points by Sheraton was the scene on Friday, September 18 of Focus on the Masters’ annual FUNdraising dinner presented by Cumulus Media. The al fresco VIP pre-dinner reception was generously underwritten by Jordan and Sandra Laby, longtime supporters of FOTM.
The theme of this year’s event was Through A Child’s Eyes. Aimee French, director of FOTM’s highly-praised Learning To See program, led guests through a collage-creating experience based on Ventura Artist Hiroko Yoshimoto’s Biodiversity series. The same hands-on effort is one that Aimee takes to school children, using various scraps of fabric, paper, yarn, and wrapping paper affixed to masonite board with glue sticks and glue gun.
Chris Diaz of Union Bank with Focus on the Masters Founder & Executive Director Donna Granata.
Scott Miles, FOTM Board Member and Brooks Institute faculty member, and his wife noted weaver Regina Vorgang were the lucky winners of the evening’s raffle: a watercolor study made by Hiroko Yoshimoto for her Biodiversity Series.
Volunteers Kim Galbraith and Elisabeth Berg raised funds for arts education by selling mystery Celebration Bags. Each bag sold for $20 but the contents were valued at much more!
Kim Maxwell of Ojai’s Kim Maxwell Studio, was emcee for the evening, lending her special blend of enthusiasm as she led a “pledge auction” that raised money for Learning To See.
Rita Edmond, a jazz singer whose last CD reached the Top 50 on the Jazz Weekly Charts, created a festive atmosphere with her smooth, sultry voice.
The event was truly a Who’s Who of the community’s leading artists who were in attendance.
The evening was organized by FOTM staff, supporters and volunteers, including Chris Beirne, Cherie Brant, Meg Easton, Aimee French, Mary Galbraith, Nancy Heydorn, and Karen Hoffberg.
Focus on the Masters is a non-profit arts education organization and archive that documents and celebrates the lives and works of artists in our community. The FOTM archive contains information on over 2000 artists and arts organizations.
For additional information about Focus on the Masters, please go to www.FocusOnTheMasters.com.