Several years ago the Ventura City Council voted unanimously 6-0 (with then Mayor LaVere recusing himself) to remove the Father Serra statue in front of City Hall and temporarily have it stored. At the time the City Council also approved the removal of the wooden statue of Father Serra from inside City Hall that was the basis for the statue. The council voted on July 15, 2020, to remove the statue.

Critics felt the statue should be taken down because Serra committed atrocities against Native Americans, including the Chumash, while establishing California’s Catholic mission system in the 18th century.

Less than a week later the Coalition for Historical Integrity filed a lawsuit against the city in Ventura County Superior Court. The coalition, a grassroots group of current and former Ventura residents, also filed for a temporary restraining order to stop the removal, but the request was denied in court.

A state appeals court has ruled Ventura acted within its legal rights when removing the statue. The Second District Court of Appeal, Division 6, upheld a previous ruling on the city’s removal of the statue.

Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert wrote “This case illustrates the obvious; attitudes and values change. The city of San Buenaventura removed a statue of Father Junípero Serra because it is now offensive to significant members of the community. We do not judge the wisdom or the action of the city’s legislative enactments. We affirm because the city acted within its legislative prerogative.”

Ventura City Attorney Andy Heglund said the city is “pleased to see the merits” of the City Council’s decision upheld by the appeals court. In 2020, the statue was peacefully and collaboratively relocated to a non-public location, reflecting the city’s commitment to listen to the voices of the community through a public process,”

The wooden statue previously located at City Hall has been relocated to the Padre Serra Parish in Camarillo. The bronze statue is secured safely in storage until it can be relocated and installed at a permanent location.

On June 26, at 6:30pm, the Ventura County Fire Communication Center received multiple calls of a residential structure fire in the 1300 block of Rugby Ave.. Firefighters arrived on scene within minutes of the initial call and found a single-story single-family structure with smoke coming from an attached garage.

Firefighters knocked down and extinguished the fire within 25 minutes of the initial 911.

Rains have resulted in heavy damage but robust growth of all plants.

Ventura Land Trust (VLT) has been awarded a $1.3 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for fuel load reduction and erosion mitigation in Harmon Canyon Preserve. The funded proposal is designed to mitigate wildfire risk between Harmon Canyon Preserve and the residential neighborhood of Clearpoint.

While winter rains have resulted in robust growth of waist-high lupine, perennial bunchgrasses, California peony, and coast live oaks, invasive plant species have also had a record year.

VLT has until May 2024 to reduce fuel loads primarily made up of invasive annual grasses, thistles, tumbleweed, and mustards, while minding the structural integrity of erosive slopes and the ecological conservation of the Preserve.

Stewardship Director Dan Hulst says, “Fuel load reduction in Harmon Canyon Preserve is something that VLT tackles every year as a wildfire mitigation strategy. The grant award from FEMA gives us a huge boost in resources to reduce the dense, herbaceous cover and shore up eroded areas.”

VLT has contracted with Wildscape Restoration to line trim key areas of vegetation and manually remove invasive plants around desirable native species. Goats and sheep from Ventura Brush Goats will graze zones dominated by one specific species to both reduce fuel loads and create areas where native plants can take root.

“We have a short period of time to address what are sometimes contradictory variables,” says Conservation Director Laura Pavliscak. “Reducing fuel loads while protecting steep slopes can be challenging.”

“We want to leverage the ecological benefits of this once-in-a-decade native plant growth to support the goal of the project, and that takes a lot of detailed resource monitoring and strategy. We’re focusing on the removal of Mediterranean annual grasses, which are the most dangerous fuels, the least protective against erosion on slopes, and most prohibitive to native biodiversity.”