The City of Ventura’s Finance Department was awarded one of the highest accreditation scores by the California Municipal Treasurers Association (CMTA) for its Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Investment Policy. The City Council adopted the updated investment policy in June 2021.

The City received 99 out of 100 points, one of the highest scores awarded by CMTA’s Investment Policy Certification Program. This year marks the first time Ventura has received the CMTA certification for its comprehensive updated investment policy.

“We are honored to receive such high remarks from the CMTA. The score and certification demonstrate our commitment to prudent and efficient investment and overall cash management of taxpayer funds,” said Finance and Technology Director Michael Coon. “The City’s treasury team worked tirelessly to update the City’s investment policy and ensure its full compliance.”

For a policy to be certified, it must adhere to California’s Government Code and be approved by three different reviewers on 18 areas spelled out in the Investment Policy Certification Program. Certification topics include policy, scope, delegation of authority, ethics, and conflicts of interest.

CMTA was founded in 1958 and began the Investment Policy Certification program in 2012 with support from the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission. It’s open to all government agencies within California.

by Phil Nelson, City of Ventura Director of Public Works

The City of Ventura is undertaking a planning process for what is known as active transportation.

Think of it simply as any movement from point A to point B without using a vehicle. The Active Transportation Plan includes the Venturans who walk their dog, bike to a coffee shop, skateboard to class, walk to a carpool, hike Arroyo Verde Park, jog along the Pier for fitness, stroll with family to dinner on Main Street, or take a bus to work. Importantly, it includes every person who exits a car or truck when moving to a destination.

The Active Transportation Plan examines the quality, safety, and connectivity of existing networks for people walking, biking, and taking transit. As we embark on creating this ambitious roadmap, we need the community’s help in prioritizing projects and programs that will make walking, bicycling, and taking transit great choices for all people who live, work, or visit Ventura.

There are so many reasons why the timing is right for Ventura to get moving. Nationwide, many active transportation efforts are underway.

• U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has made it one of his department’s top priorities. A bipartisan infrastructure bill was recently passed by the Senate that provides money to cities to complete street systems for walkers and cyclists, and enhance transportation services.

• The latest U.S. report on greenhouse gasses emphasizes the need for every person to enhance efforts to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide pollution we each create.

• And each year, the American Medical Association reinforces its message that “sitting is the new smoking.” We rely heavily on cars for transportation and waste countless hours a year sitting in vehicles when we could be walking or biking to a local destination.
  

The City wants everyone to get involved. Such planning efforts rely on broad community support and meaningful participation from the public. In support of this effort, we are also working hard to connect with our low-income and minority households, homebound seniors, youth, young parents, and people who are familiar with what it’s like to walk and bike in Ventura.

We want the public to tell us where they like to bike. Tell us where we need more sidewalks. Tell us what intersections are avoided while walking. Tell us what is important as we plan for Ventura’s future walking and biking networks and transportation policies.

Sharing where active transportation improvements are needed will help the City develop a plan and complete projects that enhance public safety, mobility, health, environmental sustainability, and economic vitality. The benefits are endless!

Visit www.ActivePlanVentura.com to get involved, take a community survey, and register for email updates.

On Sunday night, August 29, the City received a call about a downed Brazilian Pepper tree at Mission Park. Upon inspection with our Urban Forestry Team and an independent contractor, the tree failed at the base due to Armillaria root rot. 

What is Armillaria? It’s a fungus that causes disease in many types of trees and shrubs. New infections occur when healthy roots grow close to diseased roots. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for Armillaria root rot. The disease can be managed by the consistent removal of dead trees and infected stumps.

Typically, the trees show signs or symptoms of this disease, which may include honey-colored or brownish-yellow mushrooms in clumps around the base of the tree, shoestring mycelium, mycelial fans, and oozing from the main stem. Unfortunately, there were no visible signs to diagnose with this tree. Staff also found white mycelium inside the center of the stump and roots (see photos). This pathogen can seriously impact the structural integrity of a tree and is what ultimately caused this specific tree to fail.

City staff will continue to monitor this area for the safety of park visitors. For more information, contact the City’s Urban Forestry Division at 805-652-4550 or [email protected].

The City of Ventura continues to focus on providing enhanced City services by delivering an improved and more convenient permit counter experience. This week, the City launched a new way to process permits online for residents and businesses.

Ventura Online Permit Services, also known as Ventura OPS, is a digital public permit counter that allows a customer to submit a permit application, upload plan sets, schedule inspections, and check on the status of an application from the City’s website.

“Our community has been patient with us while we have been earnestly implementing this improvement. The need for better technology has been critical, especially during a pandemic where many services need a virtual option,” said City Manager Alex D. McIntyre. “An online solution like Ventura OPS is paperless, streamlines the permitting process, and makes it easier for the public to apply and track permits in real-time.”

The new online permit services portal allows a customer to create an account quickly and submit a permit application easily without coming into City Hall. Once an application is received, customers can track updates to permits and schedule inspections online. The new digital platform requires that all plans and applications be submitted electronically for ease of routing and review.

“Digitizing the City’s permit services process has been a big lift, especially since the application and review process hadn’t been fully integrated online till now,” said Community Development Director Peter Gilli. “In addition to Ventura OPS’ many public-facing benefits, the online system allows City staff to communicate on an application while providing access to performance metrics related to permits issues, average times for permit issuance, open inspections, and more. While this launch is a significant milestone, there’s a lot of work left to be done in future phases that will further improve the customer experience and permit turnaround times.”

Continued enhancements are planned over the next year and will be shared with the community as new features are introduced. The second phase of Ventura OPS will feature an integrated online payment system, improved forms, and redesigned workflows to expedite permit turnaround times further.

In addition to digital public services, City staff continues to progress on the physical “One-Stop Shop” permit center, which will be the central hub for all permits equipped with hybrid meeting spaces to communicate with applicant teams and staff members in remote locations. The new One-Stop Shop is slated for completion by Fall 2022.

For more information or to explore Ventura OPS, visit www.CityofVentura.ca.gov/Permits. To contact Permit Services, email [email protected] or call (805) 654-7869.

by Ventura City Manager Alex D. McIntyre

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher

Right now, there’s an incredibly important initiative going on in the City of Ventura that will guide our future for the next 25 years or more. The steps that we take right now truly matter.

The Ventura General Plan, themed “Our Vision, Our Future,” is a long-range land use policy document that builds a framework for maintaining Ventura’s unique charm and character. It also identifies opportunities to enhance the community’s quality of life, economic vitality, and sustainability.

Cities are not static; they are constantly changing and evolving. The steps and actions we take through the General Plan will address important community needs like housing, transportation, economic development, climate change and environmental sustainability, public safety, arts, parks, and more.

Since its launch in 2020, the General Plan has collected thousands of ideas and suggestions from community workshops, public meetings, surveys, stakeholder interviews, and various activities. An additional way the City gathers public input is through the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), which meets publicly on the third Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. Chaired by Councilmembers Lorrie Brown and Doug Halter, the 22-member GPAC is comprised of residents, business owners, educators, students, and other Ventura community members.

As part of the General Plan, the City is also actively working on updating other long-term planning efforts, including the:

Climate Action and Resiliency Plan: A Roadmap for how the community will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for climate change impacts, future natural hazards, and increase resiliency.

Active Transportation Plan: Focuses on bicycle and pedestrian mobility and transit use. This effort will develop detailed policies, actions and implementation programs that will support the General Plan effort.

Housing Element: This is a state mandated document that is part of the General Plan and provides an analysis of Ventura’s housing needs and strategies to preserve, improve, and promote housing for all income levels in the community. In 2021, the City will update its Housing Element to meet the State’s deadline and requirements. This element will then be revised in 2022 to be consistent with the remainder of the updated General Plan.

These policy documents are ambitious long-term undertakings that will help our community thrive while maintaining its charm.

Please don’t miss the opportunity to help shape Ventura’s future and what it means to live, work, play, and do business here. Your participation is critical to the process and highly encouraged.

To learn more, visit www.planventura.com to learn about pop-up events, activities, surveys, GPAC meetings, and registering for email updates.

The City of Ventura has long maintained a strong environmental commitment to a healthy, beautiful, and sustainable community. In support of this effort, the City is actively working with stakeholders to enhance recycling efforts and reduce material sent to the Toland landfill.

On July 5, 2021, E.J. Harrison & Sons expanded weekly trash collection service to include all three carts, trash, recycling, and yard waste – every week, at no additional charge. Now, residents don’t need to worry about which bins goes to the curb each week. Additionally, this service upgrade provides more room to recycle and allows more recyclables and organics to be diverted from the landfill.

In the coming months and years to come, City staff and E.J. Harrison & Sons will take additional steps toward reducing landfill-bound waste. This includes the collection and recycling of food waste as well as replacing Ventura’s waste carts with new ones that are uniformly colored statewide for trash, recycling, and organic material. State laws, including California Senate Bill 1383, have mandated food waste and barrel color changes.

Another recent waste management improvement is the City’s ban of expanded polystyrene (EPS) containers used by food and beverage providers. Commonly known as Styrofoam, EPS food containers are a prevalent form of litter found in storm drains, creeks, rivers, beaches, parks, and open spaces. The EPS ban went into effect on July 1, 2021.

Types of banned EPS items include, but are not limited to, cups, plates, bowls, meat trays, clamshells, and coolers that are not wholly encapsulated by another material. Food providers may choose any non-EPS product to replace banned EPS products.

City staff is actively working with local businesses distributing EPS to support the transition away from EPS and providing a one-year exemption for those experiencing financial hardship.

While growing pains are anticipated during the implementation of these changes, these efforts are aimed at cleaning up our waste stream, curbing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting our beaches, improving recycling efforts, and supporting a beautiful community for generations to come.

For more information, contact the City of Ventura’s Environmental Sustainability Division at www.CityofVentura.ca.gog/ES or call 805-652-4525. To reach E.J. Harrison & Sons, call 805-647-1414.