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Vol. 15, No. 16 – May 4 – May 17, 2022 – Community Events

Events by Ana Baker

May 8: 11am-3 pm Murals & Roses -Olivas Adobe 4200 Olivas Park Drive-Ventura.
Join us on Mother’s Day for a stroll through the rose garden and historic grounds of the Olivas Adobe where the famous Margarite Hardeman mural paintings will be on display. Free corsages for visiting mothers, tours of the rancho home, gift shop, art exhibit by artists Laura J Jespersen & Lisa Mahony in the small adobe and new this year displays of women’s fashion through the ages. wwwcityofventura.ca.gov/OlivasAdobe.

May 9: Free Dance Lesson 6:30 p.m. Dance Poinsettia Pavillon,3451 Foothill Rd. 7p.m $10, refreshments, Tropic Star Ban.

May 10: Ventura County Writers Club invites aspiring writers to join their bi-annual “Join a Writing Workshop Group” meeting at 1605 Burnley St. in Camarillo at 7 p.m.
“Anyone interested in writing needs to learn the power of a writing workshop,” says VCWC Vice President Pat Caloia. VCWC is a non-profit volunteer society driven by writers for writers. All club activities are intended to expand writers’ creativity and business skills.
For more information, please call Pat Caloia at 805-643-8959.

May 21-27: National Safe Boating Week is an excellent time to refresh on safe and responsible boating and ensure you have all safety measures before heading out. On Saturday, boaters and their families are invited to attend the Safe Boating Open House at U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands. Local organizations and public safety agencies will be onsite to provide information on the latest boating safety.
You can also visit the website HTTPS://www.safeboating.us which includes safety and demonstration videos, including how to use life jackets, fire extinguishers, flares, and more.
The Safe Boating Open House at U.S. Coast Guard Station Channel Islands will take place Saturday from 10-2 p.m. at 4201 S. Victoria Ave. in Oxnard.

May 25: The College Area Community Council in Ventura will be holding a Zoom meeting on Wednesday at 7 p.m.  An invitation and link to the meeting will be sent to everyone on the CACC mailing list.  CACC represents citizens in the area bounded by Mills Road on the west, Hill Road on the east, city limits in the hillsides on the north, and the 126 Freeway on the south.  Visit the College Area Community Council website @ https://caccventura.com  to learn more, add to the mailing list, and access a link to the Zoom meeting.”

May 28: Saturday, the Ventura County Handweavers and Spinners Guild will hold a hybrid in-person / zoom meeting at the Studio Channel Islands Art Center (SCIART) – 2222 Ventura Blvd., Old Town Camarillo, from 9 – Noon. General Meeting will be from 9 – 10:30 a.m. in the Community Room, and the Program will be from 10:30 – Noon. For more information on Programs and Workshops, please visit www.vchsg.org.

Studying the impact of climate change on older adult health and well-being

Could exposure to wildfires affect seniors?

Emerald Nguyen, Social and Behavioral Science Administrator,
Division of Behavioral and Social Research (DBSR).

NIA recognizes that far too many people continue to struggle due to climate change and related weather conditions. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to better understand the science of changing climates and their impact on the health and well-being of older adults. The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change identified older adults as a vulnerable population experiencing excess morbidity and mortality associated with extreme weather, such as alarming heatwaves, widespread wildfires, and violent hurricanes. NIA behavioral and social research program priorities (PDF, 433K) include supporting research to investigate older adults’ health outcomes and their preparedness, adaptation, and resilience to climate change and extreme weather conditions.

Research on older adult health and well-being affected by climate change builds on NIA’s established interest in disaster preparedness, our support for research institutions affected by disasters, and our partnerships with other federal agencies to support older adults in emergencies. NIA recently awarded six grants for projects in response to the Environmental Influences on Aging: Effects of Extreme Weather and Disaster Events on Aging Processes funding opportunity. NIA’s expanding interests in this area of research include but are not limited to:

Impacts of exposure to air pollution, heat, and wildfires, and other extreme weather events on health and well-being in midlife and later life.

The impact of age-related change in affective, social, and cognitive factors on individual responses to extreme weather events.

How individuals initiate and maintain the behavior changes needed for preparedness and adaptation to extreme weather events.

The contribution of extreme weather events and related natural disasters to social structure and social adversity, and their effects on aging processes across the life course in studies of animals in their natural habitats.

Impacts of extreme weather events on individuals with functional limitations or disabilities, persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, as well as caregivers/care partners.

Three studies assess Medicare Advantage quality incentives and spending

by DiversityEconomicsHealth Care Research

Three recent studies, funded in part by NIA, analyzed aspects of the Medicare Advantage program, including quality incentives and the use of hospitalization services and spending. According to a study published in JAMA Health Forum, the Medicare Advantage program reduces the use of hospitalization services and spending for beneficiaries as compared to traditional Medicare. Two other studies published in Health Affairs found that the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program has not improved plan quality or enrollment. Moreover, one of the studies found that the Medicare Advantage double bonus payments create a racial disparity in the distribution of Medicare funds, largely affecting Black Medicare beneficiaries.

Medicare Advantage is a federally funded health insurance program in the United States that provides Medicare benefits through private insurance company plans. Different Medicare Advantage plans, sometimes called “Part C” or “MA Plans,” have their own health care networks, including doctors and care facilities.

In 2012, Medicare introduced the quality bonus program to award financial incentives to Medicare Advantage plans that achieve high-quality ratings. The plans are rated from one to five stars based on more than 40 factors that evaluate how well the plan delivers care, such as preventive services, chronic disease management, and customer service. For highly rated Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare pays a bonus equal to 5% of the amount the plan receives for benefits administration. This bonus doubles to 10% for plans in counties that have a history of high enrollment and low fee-for-service Medicare spending — when the doctor or clinic is paid separately for each service provided to a patient.

To compare the effects of enrolling in a Medicare Advantage plan versus traditional Medicare, a research team from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania analyzed insurance claims data from a single private insurance company. This allowed researchers to evaluate health care use and spending by older adults as they moved from group or individual health insurance plans to Medicare.

During the first year of Medicare coverage, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries had lower hospital use and spending estimated at $95 per beneficiary per month, relative to traditional Medicare. This resulted in 63 fewer stays in the hospital or a nursing facility per 1,000 beneficiaries per year. No significant changes in the use or spending for professional services, such as doctor visits, were found. In comparison to traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage was associated with a 36% overall reduction in total health care spending in the first year of coverage. These findings were published in JAMA Health Forum.

A national study led by a team from the University of Michigan used health insurance claims data to evaluate the effectiveness of the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program on improving plan performance. Claims information from 2009 to 2018 was collected for adults, age 50 to 74 years, enrolled in either a Medicare Advantage plan or a commercial health insurance plan without a quality bonus incentive. The researchers evaluated the data for changes in nine indicators of Medicare health care plan quality in both groups, before and after the start of the bonus program.

Although the bonus program was associated with significant quality improvement for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries on four measures, there were significant declines on four other measures and no significant change in the overall quality performance of the Medicare Advantage plans. These findings, published in Health Affairs, suggest that in contrast to the program’s goal, the quality bonus did not improve the overall quality of the Medicare Advantage plans.

The findings from these studies provide important insights for policymakers to consider when making decisions about future Medicare payment policies. Additional research is needed to help understand quality differences for beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans and the potential impact of the double bonus payments on racial health disparities in Black beneficiaries.

This research was supported in part by NIA grants P01AG032952 and 2P01AG032952-11.

CMH Auxiliary Volunteer Opportunity

Remember a few months ago when you made those New Year resolutions? You had such good intentions! You were going to find something worthwhile to do to get you involved with the community after being isolated because of Covid restrictions. So now time has passed and you still haven’t honored those resolutions.

It’s not too late! The Auxiliary at Community Memorial Hospital needs your help. There are volunteer opportunities in most areas of the hospital, and your assistance is appreciated by both patients and staff. Applications are available at the front desk at the hospital, or call us at 805-948-4299, leave a message, and we’ll get back to you with information and an application. Come join us!

Ventura County Continuum of Care Alliance Meetings

by Carol Leish, MA

“The Ventura County Continuum of Care (VC CoC) Alliance meetings are held quarterly to update our community about new programs, initiatives and/or grant funding opportunities focused on preventing and ending homelessness in Ventura County,” according to Jennifer Harkey, MPA, Program Management Analyst for the Ventura County Executive Office. “The April 21, 2022 meeting was held remotely on Zoom. All of our meeting dates/times/locations/links are posted on the VC CoC website calendar at: www.venturacoc.org.”

“The focus of the April 21, 2022 meeting was on three areas: 1) Rising rent costs in Ventura County; 2) New State grant funding through the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Programs; and, 3) A New State initiative with the Housing & Homelessness Incentive Program (HHIP).”

Maria Navarro, VC Policy Advocate, CAUSE(Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy) : [email protected] discussed, “There is the need for community advocacy in order to put caps on the rising rents within the local jurisdictions by Ventura passing a tenant protection ordinance.” She also recommended that, “Stronger relocation assistance is important. And, having it be permanent is important, too. With the City of Ventura adopting a simple short-term interim ordinance, it would give tenants relief while the City Council has time to deliberate on how best to design long-term protections.”

Alicia Morales-McKinney, LCSW, Management Analyst at the Ventura County Executive Office: [email protected] focused on the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Program Round 3. “The Eligible Activities included: 1) Rapid Rehousing; 2) Operating subsidies; 3) Street outreach; and 4) Services coordination. The remainder of the Eligible Activities included: 4) Delivery of permanent housing; 5) Prevention and shelter diversion; 6) Interim sheltering (new and existing); and, 7) Shelter improvements to lower barriers and increase privacy.” She also asked for public attendees to complete the surveys included in her presentation in order to identify HHAP Round 3 funding priorities and outcome goals.

The Housing and Homeless Incentive Program was the focus of the talk by David Tovar, Senior Policy Analyst at Gold Coast Health Plan (GCHP): [email protected]. He requested partnerships with local service providers in supportive housing, recuperative care programs and street medicine staff to improve health care service to those who are unsheltered. He said that this is possible by “Improving health outcomes and access to whole person care services by addressing housing insecurity & instability as a social determinant of health for the Med-Cal populations. Also, by ensuring that GCHP has the necessary capacity and partnerships to connect members to needed housing services. And, by reducing and preventing homelessness.”

The approach emphasizes, according to Tovar, “Providing rapid rehousing for Medi-Cal families and youth, and interim housing for aging and disabled populations. Improving access to coordinated housing, health and other social services is also important. This will reduce avoidable use of costly health care services. It will improve whole person health for Medi-Cal enrollees, including behavioral health treatment and resources. This will enable implementing solutions that manage information to better identify populations of focus and member needs.”

Harkey summarized by saying, “The VC CoC is working with each of these programs and initiative to improve affordable housing options, increase supportive service, provide emergency shelter, as well as prevent and end homelessness in Ventura County. An April 27th meeting determined the Round 3 funding priority recommendations before reviewing and approving it on May 11, 2022 occurs. Gold Coast Health Plan is working with the State on Implementing the Incentive program in Ventura County this year.”

 

AIDS walk on May 14, starting at Plaza Park in Ventura

Diversity Collective Ventura County is in the trenches fighting to make a positive impact on the ways HIV and AIDS affect us locally. After 2 years of shut down due to COVID19, we will once again walk the walk on May 14, starting at Plaza Park in Ventura.

As you know, there is still no cure for HIV and AIDS, and the incidents of infections is on the rise. Twice as many people tested positive in 2020 than did in 2019, and many of them are youth. Diversity Collective is dedicated to helping our County agencies fill in the gaps of services with our HIV/AIDS Education and Prevention program, funded by our AIDS Walk.

We invite everyone to help us raise awareness and funds for this much needed program! We can only do this work with the generous support of our sponsors, community partners, and those dedicated to making Ventura County a safe and healthy place to live.

For information on participating as a walker or a sponsor, please visit:

https://aidswalkventuracounty2022.funraise.org/

 

The Bookmark

About Libraries and Friends
by Jill Forman

Library Events

Several exciting happenings going on in May!

An Afternoon with George Christie – at the E.P. Foster Library

(press release from the Library) 

Ex-Hells Angels president George Christie will visit Ventura’s E.P. Foster Library to deliver a lecture, slide show, and Q&A at 2:00 pm on Saturday, May 14, in the library’s Topping Room. Christie is the longest serving president in club history and one-time international spokesperson for the club, as well as a rare peacemaker in a brutally violent culture.

George Christie, Jr. was born in 1947 in Ventura to a family of Greek immigrants. He grew up as an only child and from an early age was fascinated by motorcycles and outlaw culture. He became a full-patch Hells Angel in the Los Angeles charter in 1976 and, six months later, became president of that charter before founding the Ventura charter in 1978.

In 2011, he resigned his presidency of the Ventura charter and left the club. He spent a year in a Texas Federal prison as part of a plea deal, and in August of 2014 he was released from custody. Since his release, Christie has starred in the History Channel TV show, Outlaw Chronicles: Hells Angels, and written his memoirs, Exile on Front Street. Christie currently serves as a consultant for defense attorneys and news outlets, and works with first-time offenders helping them navigate the judicial process. He has been in Spain for the last two-and-a-half years working on TV and writing projects, and has returned to Ventura to produce his stage play Outlaw.

A book signing will follow this presentation, with books available for purchase on site.

The E.P. Foster Library is located at 651 East Main Street in Ventura.

Local Author Talk at Hill Road Library – on the subject of Alzheimer’s Disease by someone who knows it on a scientific, legal and personal level

Michele Artiz Smith, J.D. will visit the Hill Road Library on Sunday, May 15th, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. to discuss her book My Husband’s Keeper: A Memoir. 

Smith takes the reader through the early, middle, and late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. After her husband’s diagnosis, she vowed to learn as much as possible about the condition, becoming a State-Certified Ombudsman and gaining a window into the world of dementia and Alzheimer’s through visiting long-term care facilities and meeting with other families that experience this illness. 

More information can be found on her website: myhusbandskeeper.com 

The Hill Road Library is located at 1070 South Hill Road in Ventura.

Rescheduled Music Event

In previous columns we learned about the music presentation “Lyrical Literature, The Songs and Theatre Music of Ross Care,” a concert of original musical settings of well-known poets and excerpts from theater scores performed by an ensemble of singers and instrumentalists.

Originally scheduled for Saturday March 26 at Foster Library it unfortunately had to be cancelled due to a water leak. It has been rescheduled for Saturday May 21 at 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the E.P. Foster Library Topping Room.

All events are free and open to the public.

 

 

 

 

Time to vote!

Official County Ballot Drop Box located at CAPS.

The June Primary Election is closing fast, and CAPS Media is honored to have an official County Ballot Drop Box installed in our parking lot to convenience voters in Ventura. For this year’s election Ventura County will fully implement the California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) which allows voters to choose how, when, and where to cast their ballot.

To start, every registered voter in Ventura County will be sent a vote-by-mail ballot by mid-May. Ballots can be completed and mailed back to the County registrar at no cost to the voter. Or, completed ballots can be dropped off at any of the 38 official ballot boxes throughout the county or delivered to one of the county’s 51 Vote Centers. A list of ballot box drop boxes and Vote Centers can be found at VenturaVote.org.

For those who want to exercise their right to vote in person, the county has you covered. As outlined by Mark Lunn, County-Clerk, Registrar of Voters, “For those who want to vote in person, they can visit one of ten Vote Centers that will open beginning May 28, or one of the 41 additional Vote Centers that will open beginning June 4.” Mr. Lunn added, “Plus no matter how they send in their ballot, voters will be able to track it by registering at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov.”

In addition to providing the official ballot dropbox location, CAPS Media is also assisting the county by producing a series of instructional videos designed to facilitate training of Vote Center workers. In the past the training was conducted in person in large group settings. The new video series will allow Vote Center workers to learn, review and reference all of the important tasks and responsibilities online. The videos include step-by-step instructions and demonstrations on how to set up and operate a Vote Center, as well as explanations of the rules, regulations and procedures required of the vital Vote Center worker.

Out of caution the CAPS Media Center has been closed throughout the pandemic and will remain closed until the staff and board of directors deems it safe to reopen. Despite the closer of the center, the CAPS Media staff has stayed extremely busy throughout the crisis managing, scheduling, broadcasting and streaming programming on CAPS Media Channel 6 and 15, and CAPS Media Radio KPPQ on 104.1fm, capsmedia.org and on myTunerRadio.

CAPS Media productions services have continued nonstop to the City with CAPS facilitating meetings at City Hall, and by producing informative videos for Mayor Sofia Rubalcava, City Police, City Fire and other agencies.

For VUSD and other school districts in the county, CAPS is producing an honoring ceremony for the Ventura County Indian Consortium. In a few weeks CAPS crews will record and live-stream graduation ceremonies for Ventura College on May 19, Ventura High on June 15, Buena High on June 16 and Foothill, Pacific, El Camino and VACE (Ventura Adult and Continuing Education) on June 17.

As mentioned, as a precaution, the CAPS Media Center remains closed to the public. During this time the CAPS Media staff and board of directors are using the break to undertake an internal evaluation to determine the most effective services to provide to the public once we reopen the center and are in full operational mode. The CAPS Media mission remains: To create an engaged and informed community through participation in electronic media.

TREE TOWN

To celebrate Earth Day, the Ventura High School PTSA sponsored a volunteer beautification day. They planted three trees (Arbutus Marina and Western Redbud), many drought-tolerant shrubs, and added mulch to the campus quad area. Students will appreciate the attractive new landscaping. Project leaders were Cherie Egbert, Liz Rose, Kerry Weisel, Sheryl Miller and Mayra Benitez Tadillo.

venturatreealliance.com

Applications opening for vacant Ventura Unified School District Board Seat

Sabrena Rodriguez is once again president of the Ventura Unified School District board of trustees, replacing Matt Almaraz, who resigned April 13.

Almaraz, who had been a board member for three years and was elected president in December 2021, said he had taken a job that could pose a conflict of interest because the company does business with the city of Ventura.

Jerry Dannenberg, a former school administrator and district board member since 2018, was chosen to replace Rodriguez as vice president on a 3-0 vote.

To avoid a special election, the board decided it would have an appointee serve the remainder of Almaraz’s term, which expires Dec. 12. The trustees approved a timeline for selecting a replacement by May 18.

Almaraz’s seat representing Area 5 is up for election in November as are Area 1 and Area 4 seats currently held by Velma Lomax and Dannenberg, respectively.

The Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) has announced that applications are now open to fill a vacancy in Trustee Area 5 on the Board of Education for the next seven months. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, May 10 at 4 pm.

At the Board meeting of April 21, 2022, the Board announced the process to fill the vacancy by a provisional appointment from among qualified applicants. The appointee will hold office through the next regularly scheduled election on November 8, 2022. This provisional appointment shall expire on December 12, 2022. While not required, the appointed person will have the opportunity to run in the November 2022 election if they so choose.

The District requests all those interested in serving on the school board to apply. Once open, the applications will be available on the District website https://www.venturausd.org/about/board-of-education and at the District Office, located at 255 West Stanley Avenue, Suite 100, Ventura, CA 93001. To be eligible to apply for appointment to the Board of Trustees, an individual must be at least 18 years old, be a resident of the Ventura Unified School District in Trustee Area #5, be a registered voter in the State of California, and not be disqualified from holding civil office by the constitution or any law of the State of California.

The Board position vacated by former President Matthew Almaraz, represents Trustee Area 5. Trustee Area 5 is located on the east end of Ventura, in the Montalvo area. The area borders Highway 101, Telephone Rd., the railroad, and Petit Ave. To view an interactive county map that includes the streets in this area, go to https://www.venturausd.org/about/board-of-education for a link to the map and directions on using the map.

“Board members are our elected representatives and a vital link between the school district and the community,” said VUSD Superintendent Dr. Roger Rice. “The Board sets the foundation and vision for the District, directs resources where they are most needed, and ensures accountability to the community by monitoring progress toward goals. Their end goal, of course, is to support and elevate student achievement.”

More information, including a link to the application, is available on the District website, https://www.venturausd.org/about/board-of-education.