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WEV hosting Empowerment is Priceless

WEV Trailblazer Award recipient Brenda Allison of Coast General Insurance Brokers

Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) is hosting the 15th annual Empowerment is Priceless fundraising event (virtually) on Thursday, October 15th from 9 – 10 a.m. This year’s spotlight is on business owners facing the challenges of COVID-19 and the public is invited to attend the free event by registering online at www.wevonline.org/eip.

“Empowerment is Priceless is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Women’s Small Business Month and the amazing impact women owned businesses have on our communities and our local economy,” said WEV CEO Kathy Odell. “This year more than ever, women and minority business owners need our support to press on through these extraordinarily difficult times.”

At the event each year WEV presents the Trailblazer Award to recognize and honor inspirational businesswomen in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties who have succeeded in challenging gender norms in society through sheer passion, commitment, vision and grit. This year, Brenda Allison, founder of two successful Ventura County insurance agencies and the Chief Executive Officer of Coast General Insurance Brokers, has been selected to receive the Women’s Economic Ventures’ Trailblazer Award.

Trailblazers are active community members and philanthropists whose accomplishments serve as an uplifting example to other women entrepreneurs and Allison definitely meets that criteria. She is a long-standing member of the Rotary Club of Ventura, serves as an executive board member and human resources committee chair for Casa Pacifica, is on the supervisory committee of the Ventura County Credit Union, is the founder and past chairperson of Latinos In Business at the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce, and founder of the Cuban Culture Club of Ventura County.

“Women’s Economic Ventures is delighted to recognize Brenda Allison for her inspiring business and community leadership,” said Odell. “She has been a strong advocate for women in business and we invite the community to join us to see Brenda accept her award virtually.”

Major sponsors of the 2020 Empowerment is Priceless event are LinkedIn, American Riviera Bank, Bank of America, Coast General Insurance Brokers, County of Ventura, JP Morgan Chase & Co., La Arcada Courtyard, Montecito Bank & Trust, Pacific Western Bank, and Ventura County Credit Union. All proceeds raised will directly benefit client programs in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties including financial literacy training, Smart Entrepreneurial Training (SET), individual coaching and business advisory services, WEV en Español and WEV’s Loan Program.

VOTE!!!!

It’s Election Season and as always, CAPS Media is actively engaged. Recently, CAPS crews produced a series of Video Voter 2020 information segments with candidates for the Ventura City Council and the Ventura Unified School District Board. Each candidate was given 2 minutes to present a general statement and then asked to respond to three specific questions from CAPS moderators. Candidates for City District 2 are Doug Halter, Dougie Michie and Christie Weir; District 3 candidates are Barbara Brown, Aaron Gaston, William Cornell and Mike Johnson; District 7 candidates are Heather May Ellinger, Nancy Pedersen, Joe Schroeder and Michael James Nolan. VUSD Area 3 candidates are Jackie Moran and Amy Callahan. The Video Voter series airs on Channel 6 and streams on CAPS Media and on social media thoughout the election season. Broadcast times for City Council candidates include Thursday Oct 8th at noon, Friday at 9am, Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 8pm. VUSD Video Voter statements air Thursday the 8th at 7pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 9:30p and Sunday at 6pm. Check the schedule found on capsmedia.org for more dates and times.

The CAPS team is also collaborating with the League of Women Voters in staging and distributing a series of candidate forums and voter information discussions, all of which are airing and streaming on CAPS Media outlets.

CAPS Media board member Kathy Good is producing and hosting a series of voter information programs for her “In The Women’s Room” radio show which airs on CAPS Radio KPPQ 104.1 at 8am on Mondays and 2pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kathy’s in-depth and informative interviews with officials and experts explore a wide range of issues pertaining to Ventura County elections. Elizabeth Rodeno, CAPS Media program director, stated: “Kathy is absolutely awesome. Her interviews are always engaging, personal and informative. Kathy is a treasure for KPPQ and all of Ventura.”

The remarkable and resourceful ECTV students in the El Camino High School media program at CAPS Media, are producing a series of historic interviews exploring the Chicano activist movements of the past with participants who experienced the awareness-raising, cultural events in the Chicano Moratorium of 1970. Due to the COVID-19 realities, the interviews are recorded in a hybrid-zoom format, in English and Spanish, with guests isolated in the CAPS Media studio and students conducting the interviews from their homes. The programs will air on both Channel 15 and on CAPS Radio KPPQ at 104.1 and streaming on the MyTuner app and hosted on the KPPQ Podcast network.

For Ventura County, CAPS crews continue to cover the weekly COVID-19 updates in English and Spanish. The updates can be viewed on the County website at ventura.org and on the county’s social media pages. In addition CAPS Media is producing a series of voter awareness videos to inform the public on the election process. The key message is that Voting By Mail is safe and secure. In fact, Ventura County has been using Vote By Mail for years – and it has always been safe and secure. Due to COVID-19 precautions, this year every registered voter in the county is receiving a ballot in the mail. Ballots were mailed on Friday, October 2nd and should be arriving in your mailbox by mid-October. If a voter does not receive a ballot, has questions whether or not they are registered to vote, want to know how to return their ballot or have any other questions, they can find all the answers at VenturaVote.org.

Due to the COVID-19 emergency the CAPS Media Center is closed to Members and the public until further notice. CAPS Member/Producers can submit programming via the online portal at capsmedia.org for broadcast and streaming on CAPS public access television Channel 6 and on CAPS Radio KPPQ 104.1FM.

All of us at CAPS Media hope everyone is Staying Safe and Healthy during this challenging time.

Remember – Please Vote! This is your opportunity to share your views and let your voice be heard.

Dean Drive residents implore City to install speed humps to mitigate speeding traffic

Aaron Gaston candidate for City Council in District 3 joined the gathered residents.

by Richard Lieberman

“We are here to make our street safer,” stated John Coffman. Speaking to a crowd of Dean Drive residents who have been concerned about speeding cars, accidents and what they believe to be unsafe conditions on their street.

The residents are looking for the City to install speed humps on a stretch of Dean Drive to slow down passing vehicles. Speed humps are different than the speed bumps we are all accustomed to. Speed humps are about 4 feet wide and gradually raise to impede speeding vehicles.

“We have speeds on this street that range from 40 to 70 miles per hour,” said Coffman. The City has already installed a stop sign and two radar devices that display the speed of an approaching vehicle. To John and supporters, it is not enough to keep motorists from regularly speeding through the neighborhood. They believe that installing the “humps” is the best response to slow drivers down.

Ventura Police Department statistics show that from 2005 to 2015 there were 770 tickets issued for speeding on Dean Drive. “That represents five percent of all tickets issued in the city,” added Coffman. “That is out of 17,700 tickets issued city wide,” he said. Adding Coffman said, “The length of this road is about three quarters of a mile there is about 700 miles of roads in the city, we are about one tenth of one percent,” he added. “We want them (the police) to write more tickets to get the speed down, but enforcement has stopped,” Coffman said.

From May 1st to June 20, fifty-three days that showed about five thousand vehicles traveling at 36 miles per hour or greater, six hundred vehicles were traveling at 40 miles per hour faster and one going seventy-two miles per hour. The data was compiled by city traffic engineer and collected from the radar signs already installed.

“We had a pretty bad accident about four weeks ago and it was a hit and run driver, guy came through here fast and hit a car,” Coffman said. “The police department won’t enforce it any more they have other priorities,” he added. “It would cost the city about $25,000 to install speed humps,” he added.

Aaron Gaston candidate for City Council in District 3 joined the gathered residents “you all need to contact the city manager we really need to get this fixed.” Gaston said.

Attending residents agree they want to see either enhanced enforcement or speed humps installed. Doing both enhanced enforcement and installing speed humps would curtail speeding on the block and achieve the goal bringing traffic safety to the neighborhood.

Celebrating 10 years of producing senior events

Back for its 10th year, Golden Future Expos is going virtual with the All Things Senior Virtual Expo Series! COVID-19 will not stop us from connecting with Ventura County Baby Boomers and Seniors.

This virtual series was created specifically for SoCal Baby Boomers and Seniors to safely from the comfort of their home, explore options and resources available for retirement, learn about new products and services, and connect with others who share the same goal of healthy aging. The series will showcase a vast range of exhibitors from industries such as healthcare, financial services, legal matters, travel and recreation, home and garden, mobility devices, government programs, diet and exercise, Social Security, Medicare, and more! Attendees can also expect live entertainment, health surveys, job and volunteer opportunities, online bingo, raffles, giveaways, meet & greet, and educational seminars from industry experts.

The 2020 ALL Things Senior Virtual Expo schedule is as follows:

Ventura County Edition: October 23rd – October 24th

Los Angeles County Edition: November 6th – November 7th

Orange County Edition: November 20th – November 21st

Inland Empire Edition: December 4th – December 5th

Toyia Moore, Event Director with Golden Future Expos Inc. says, “With no admission fee, these two-day online events feature a who’s who of those who offer goods and services to the 50+ market. The objective is to safely provide Baby Boomers and Seniors with information and resources that they may not be aware of or have access to during this pandemic. Best of all, participants only need Internet Access, and a Computer or Laptop (or their phone) to be a part of this terrific event!” Attendees can go directly to http://www.allthingsseniorvirtualexpo.com to register!

The All Things Senior Virtual Expo Series provides sponsors and exhibitors the opportunity to meet safely from the comfort of their home or office with attendees. In order to reserve your virtual exhibit space, please contact the Sales Team directly at 805-716-3303 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Tortilla Flats Legacy mural vandalism cut short by proactive citizen action and police response

Community volunteers cleaned the mural, so that the restoration work could begin.

by M.B. Hanrahan and Moses Mora; creators the Tortilla Flats mural

Our most recent collaboration, the Tortilla Flats Legacy mural, corner of W. Main St, and S. Ventura Ave. only recently completed 2/2020, was unfortunately recently vandalized. On the night of September 9 someone took chalk, marker pens, and a knife and some bad intentions to the mural. Chalk and marker pen graffiti are relatively easy to remove. Damage done by a knife requires repainting (at another location) and patched into the existing mural. 5 mural panels and several information lettering panels sustained damage-slashed by the knife.

The perpetrators of public art vandalism are rarely caught, but in this case, someone was arrested and charged with felony vandalism. The person arrested is well known to the local police, he’s homeless and has mental health issues. We would prefer that he get help, not punishment.

The vandalism was discovered, and the police were called by a conscientious citizen, Scott Adams, who remained on the scene until the cops arrived. Mr. Adams advocated for the value of this community sponsored public art when the officers were reluctant to press charges in absence of the property owner.

The entire mural would likely have been damaged if not for citizen action, the police taking action, and community public art being perceived as valuable and worth saving.

Grateful as we are, that, for us, is not necessarily cause for celebration. We estimate $2,000.00 worth of restoration work, and are hoping the individual will not strike again.

Barbara Brown, Candidate for City Council District 3

Clear skies, clean water, beautiful beaches, open spaces—that’s the best of Ventura, and I want to maintain that Quality of Life. Living here for over four decades, I am running for City Council because I want to give back to the community that has given me so much. My husband and I raised our son here; enjoying after-school soccer and baseball, scouts, weekend barbeques, and picnics at the beach, embracing that sense of community that living here provides. Well-maintained streets, beautiful parks, and safe sidewalks for moms with strollers, our little ones, and our seniors—these are my priorities.

I started my own business and worked with some great entities including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Patagonia, as well as startups and mid-sized companies. After 25 years, BBM&D Strategic Branding sold in 2019 to a San Francisco-based firm, and now I have the time to pursue my passion, working on behalf of the residents of Ventura. As a business owner, I am especially concerned about our local small businesses and families without a paycheck. I want to engage leaders in problem-solving solutions. There is much we can do—like extending the eviction moratorium for as long as is needed, using motels/hotels for COVID positive essential workers, providing food and transportation, and opening up opportunity spaces for businesses, because a bustling local economy is as important to Ventura as its beaches are.

As a leader for the Ventura Botanical Gardens, I helped build this transformative vision on the hillside. I believe in open spaces for both our mental and physical health. I support the Ventura Land Trust and the Rancho San Buenaventura Conservancy Trust. Maintaining clean air and water, reducing waste, eliminating one-time use plastics, and creating a more bicycle-friendly community are issues that I plan to tackle. Over the last two years, I worked on a bipartisan federal climate change initiative—the carbon fee and dividend legislation, H.R. 763—co-sponsored by Congressman Salud Carbajal, in an effort to address global heating on a national scale.

Resolving our vagrancy issues by engaging state and county governments, non-profits, and faith-based communities is important. I worked for nearly twelve years on the boards of Interface Children and Family Services, Ventura County’s most comprehensive provider of social services, and Goodwill Industries, which focuses on vocational training for economic justice. I understand the challenges the city faces in the area of homelessness and believe we need to be creative and collaborative in mitigating its effects on our community.

I am optimistic about our future and I believe together, we can accomplish anything. I want to maintain and enhance the Quality of Life that defines Ventura, for everyone who calls this city home.
I hope you’ll honor me with your vote on November 3.

BarbaraBrownCityCouncil.com

William “Billy” Cornell Candidate for City Council District 3

My name is William “Billy” Cornell.

I was born in 1971.

I’m a General Contractor specializing in home repair and remodel serving the Ventura County area.

I’m a College Graduate with further education in the Building Trades.

I served a four year term as a Commissioner for the San Buenaventura Housing Authority. I also served on the Ventura Rent Control Board. Both of those were appointed offices. I worked as a Building Inspector for the City of Ojai and the City of Goleta.

Not unlike so many others I recently began a new role, along with my wife, as home school teachers for my son and daughter who are in middle and high school respectively. They are both currently enrolled via Zoom at Ventura Unified.

If I am elected to the Ventura City Council for District 3 the top three items on my agenda would be:

1. To plan for the recovery from this Global Pandemic that we face now and likely will continue to endure for quite some time. And implementing recovery plans.

2. Increasing the tax base for the city in an effort to fund our growing obligations and maintain our beautiful city without going back to the citizens to ask for more from them.

3. Further the support for our Mental Health resources and Law Enforcement Agencies to face the growing homeless population on our streets. This is a multi-faceted issue that will require support from the Housing Authority, Mental Health, many of our Faith Based Charities and special training for our Police who are working on the streets, many times the first responders.

Accomplishment in a Leadership Role:

As a past Commissioner with the Housing Authority I worked with Associate Commissioners as well as staff and City Officials to developed and approve new public/private housing developments and needed neighborhood redevelopment across the city. We began the long process of re-imagining the Westview Village property located at 955 Riverside St. and applied the same public/private assistance to all the properties needing capital investment for deferred maintenance. This process enabled the Authority to provide needed maintenance that wouldn’t have seen funding under the usual public funding allowance.

Castillo Del Sol was one of my favorite projects with the housing Authority. It’s a fully managed, 39 studio apartment facility, with preference given to adults with mental and development disabilities. The facility provides services from the County of Ventura and Tri County Regional Center.

Heather May Ellinger Candidate for City Council District 7

My name is Heather May Ellinger and I am asking for your vote to represent you in District 7 on the Ventura City Council.

As residents of Ventura, we are so fortunate to be surrounded by the great beauty of our coastal shorelines, hillsides and river valleys. I have loved living here and raising my children here for over 25 years. In that time our city has seen a tremendous growth and change.

As a Mortgage Field Inspector for ten years, I interacted with thousands of homeowners and their contractors. Traveling throughout Ventura on a regular basis has given me the unique vantage point of witnessing our city’s strengths and weaknesses from the perspective of residents all around our city.

I am acutely aware of the many challenges before us. Ventura needs:

  • Improved roads
  • Critical water infrastructure
  • The continued support of police and fire services
  • To finally, effectively address the homeless crisis on our streets

To assure these needs are met, we must attract, retain and foster thriving local businesses to generate the necessary funds to meet Ventura’s operational needs. Successful businesses offer greater local opportunities for all residents.

The Community Development Department plays a critical role in whether or not a business will open in our city. These are the responsibilities of the City Council which I believe have not been effectively addressed.

This year has seen an unprecedented reaction to the pandemic. Covid19 restrictions have devastated many of our local businesses. This terrible crisis has not only greatly jeopardized our local businesses’ survival, but also caused many residents to lose jobs or have work opportunities greatly curtailed.

We must advocate on behalf of our residents to the County and State to quickly and safely re-open businesses for full service. There is a balance between protecting public health and protecting people’s livelihoods and wellbeing. The County and City numbers do not support the continued restrictions and mandates.

We need Council members willing to stand up to outside forces in the face of adversity. This is our city, and we determine the direction we want to go.

As your next City Council Member, I will:

  • Focus on bringing new businesses to our city
  • Focus on supporting those devastated by Covid19 lockdowns
  • Efficiently work to bring positive results on critical quality-of-life issues and local concerns

I am open to discussing all matters big and small pertaining to our current situation, short-term strategies, and future aspirations of our city. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you!

Meet me in person at my campaign headquarters every Thursday from 5 to 7 PM at BSF Fitness, 4580 Market Street.

Find me on Facebook: Heather May Ventura City Council District 7.
I am also on Linkedin, Twitter, and Nextdoor.
Email me directly at [email protected]

Vote for Heather May Ellinger November 3rd and tell your friends in District 7 about me.

Let’s make Ventura better together!

Aaron Gaston-Business Owner/Realtor Candidate for City Council District 3

It’s an understatement for me to say I care about Ventura, having been born and raised here. My family’s roots in Ventura start in the 1950s—my parents live in the same Pierpont Beach house where they raised my brother and me. As an alumnus of Pierpont Elementary, Cabrillo Middle, and Ventura High, I even had some of the same teachers and coaches that my parents had. It’s a legacy I’m proud to uphold, having brought up my own daughters in Ventura. My father owned and ran a small business in Ventura, and that entrepreneurial spirit was passed on to my brother and me at a very early age.

After I graduated from UCSB, I returned to Ventura to cofound and run a technology company helping individuals with disabilities, where I worked for nearly 30 years. I’m now a Realtor and business partner with my mother, Grace Gaston, who has been a local Realtor for over 30 years. My brother has owned the largest salon and spa in Ventura, Michael Kelley, for years, and recently, my wife Nicole Gaston founded her own salon, The Ivy Mae, in 2018.

My family continues to grow its roots in Ventura’s soil. With my family’s broad experience as small business owners, supporting small businesses is extremely important to me. It’s one of the main reasons I wanted to run for City Council; investing in small businesses is investing in Venturans. I’m running for Ventura City Council District 3 to address the urgent and immediate issues affecting our City. I am committed to focusing on a robust local economy, supporting small businesses, improving public safety, preserving our environment, and addressing homelessness and housing issues. I am deeply committed to serving my constituents in District 3. It will be a privilege to represent you, and I will work tirelessly to ensure that your voices are heard. I believe in teamwork, not divisiveness, is essential to solving the challenges we are facing in this unprecedented public health and economic crisis. I am honored to have endorsements from Mayor Matt LaVere, former Mayor and Councilmembers Jim Monahan, Brian Brennan, Mike Tracy, and Sandy Smith. VUSD Board of Trustees Velma Lomax and Matt Almarez. Local labor unions IBEW Local 952, UFCW Local 770, Laborers local 585 (LiUNA), UA local 484, IUOE Local 12, Ironworkers Local 433, Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters (Local 805). City of Ventura Firefighters Association and City of Ventura Police Officers Association, and Ventura Chamber of Commerce PAC.

If you want to learn more about me, I welcome a conversation either in person or by phone. I can be reached at 805-242-6348 or [email protected].

Doug Halter Candidate for City Council District 2

The tug of war between maintaining a status quo and accommodating real changes in a city is a clear and present issue in our current city council elections. It has come to my attention that my point of view and values have been distorted in the numerous exchanges on this topic. Neither I nor anyone in Ventura that I know wants our City to resemble anything like the San Fernando Valley or Orange County. I have fought on many fronts for thirty years to preserve and enhance what we love about Ventura and maintain our uniqueness. Change stands all around us, and we must guide and manage it to create the prosperity our community needs.

I have fought hard to revitalize our City, preserve our history and amplify our unique and rich culture. I have also fought hard to preserve at least 80% of our hillsides, spaces owned by long time families who wanted to divest but also wanted to do the best thing for their families and our community. This was far before the establishment of the Ventura Land Trust and the Atmore’s Rancho conservancy.

Responsible development for Ventura must first meet our needs and allow our community to prosper. It’s essential that we save our farmland and reuse our urban fabric. A thriving city needs entry level affordable housing and executive housing; both are needed for a community to be sustainable. We do have a solid base of middle-income housing, but limited opportunities for people to earn that income.

While others restate our community vision, I sat on the 1999 Vision Document committee for two years. I started my own businesses to showcase what was possible in our renewing downtown and midtown, served as chair of the Chamber of Commerce and worked to support the living wage as the first Chamber in the country to do so. I encouraged businesses to not give up and helped them work through an arduous City process to expand a business or stay in business. On an average, it takes fifteen to twenty years for a commercial project to be approved in Ventura. City Hall still can’t answer four easy questions; What can you do with your property, what is the process, what is the timeline, and what will it cost? Why would investors enter that scenario with their lives’ savings?

I invest in the community because of one core understanding. We can leave our world better off with our unique contributions. To that end I’ve not only have participated on numerous boards to improve Ventura, but have founded or helped establish many such as the Downtown Community Council, AIDS Partnership, Social Justice Fund, CAPS broadcasting, the Ventura Music Festival, the Rubicon theater and the Ventura Botanical Gardens.

I am proud to say that my candidacy to represent you on Ventura’s City Council is endorsed by both the Police and Firefighters Associations.

We need change, bold leadership that has proven knowhow, to take ideas through to get results. I will be that leader.

For more information please visit: www.DougHalter.com