K9 and VPD officer showing their stuff at June 10 event held in the Harbor by the Herman Bennett Foundation to raise funds for our K9 officers.

by the VPD

On Friday, August 18a, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., the Ventura Police Department (VPD) will hold the 6th Annual “Bark Out Loud” Comedy Night benefiting the department’s K9 Unit. The event takes place at the historic Olivas Adobe.

The evening begins with a cocktail hour from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., dinner will be served at 7:00 p.m. and the comedy show will begin at 8:00 p.m. Comedy will be provided by the Ventura Comedy Club.

K9 Teams will be on site conducting demonstrations throughout the evening and also roaming the crowd so individuals can meet the officers and their partners. The evening’s festivities also include a silent auction and raffle.

Tickets are $60 and are available for purchase at: www.venturapdk9.com/bark-out-loud-events/.

On average the cost for a canine is $12,000, with an additional $8,000-$10,000 for training and certification, all of which is paid for through donations to the VPD K9 Unit. All of Ventura Police canines, past and present, have been purchased through community donations and event fundraising. The K9 Unit appreciates the support of the community and the many businesses and organizations that have sponsored the crime fighting team!

The Ventura Police Department currently has three K9 teams and two K9s in the canine academy. K9s are assigned to the Patrol Unit so that a team is on-duty seven days a week, providing around the clock service to the community. We have used K9 teams for over twenty years. Our agency was one of the first law enforcement agencies in Ventura County to use canines. All of our canines are German Shepherds and they live at home with their handler/officer and their families.

Our department, along with other law enforcement agencies from Santa Barbara and Ventura County, train weekly with Dave Inglis, one of the foremost K9 trainers in the United States. Weekly training sessions typically cover such skills as searching, apprehension, drug detection, obedience, agility, and confined searches.

K9 teams are used for a variety of public safety assignments. The two most frequent uses are to locate fleeing suspects and to find illegal drugs. Canines can search an entire warehouse, for example, in much less time than a team of officers could perform the same job. Canines can sniff out hidden suspects thereby making them more effective in this situation than their human counterparts. Using K9 teams allows us to perform a variety of dangerous tasks in a quick and safe manner.

Museum of Ventura County given temporary fix.

On July 10 The Ventura City Council voted to give the Museum of Ventura County $125,000 dependent on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approving additional funding and set other conditions.

The Council specified that funding could last up to five years, assuming the museum meets specific benchmarks and Ventura has the money. The Museum must show how it will one day be able to support itself, start assessing a collection of 181,000 documents and artifacts, begin the process of developing an $8 million endowment and look at ways to turn its programs and offerings to be more appealing to all age groups who will visit often .

The Ventura City Council didn’t specify where the money would come from, instead directing the city staff to return with either potential sources of funding or cuts. City Manager Mark Watkins said the money could come from the general fund reserve which
the council is trying to build up to equal three months’ worth of operating expenses.

They agreed that the new half-cent sales tax should not be used to help fund the Museum.

The approval also stipulated that the Museum provide a detailed budget and plan for how it will change the way it operates, as well as meet fundraising milestones.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors Foy the no vote)a one-time contribution of $125,000 to help fund the Museum’s reorganization plan to stem a five-year trend of deficit spending and create a new business model.

The Museum’s Board Of Directors will meet to set a course to accomplish that the City and County stipulated. In part Elena Brokaw Interim Executive Director, Museum of Ventura County stated “With deep gratitude to our community, I’m delighted to report to you that yesterday the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved a one-time contribution of $125,000 to help fund the Museum of Ventura County’s reorganization plan to stem a five-year trend of deficit spending and create a new business model for the museum.’’

“This giant step forward means the museum will be able to implement an aggressive capital campaign and strategic plan for a sustainable operational mode, all while we continue to deliver fresh programming to the community and visitors.”
Including:
A capital campaign to secure an $8 million endowment within the next five years.

Engage a museum consultant to help develop an improved business model that incorporates the endowment income and reduces dependence on private donations.

Assess, inventory, catalog and properly house the museum’s one-of-a-kind collection of Ventura County history and art, which includes the County of Ventura Historical Collection.

Attract an expanded audience to diversify who the museum serves, where the museum provides programming and how the museum engages its audience in museum activities.

MVC exhibitions tell the story of the County’s past and celebrates the art and artists of our community. It operates two museums, the Main Street Museum and the Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula, as well as the MVC Research Library. In the past five years, MVC has faced significant operating deficits. In an effort to operate the County’s two most important historical museums, MVC board and staff have worked to reduce costs and expand both earned and contributed revenue, and still faced a budget gap.

“With widespread community support and funding from the County and City, we’re optimistic that our reorganization plan will be successful and the Museum will continue to be a major asset to our community’s quality of life,” Brokaw said.

On August 9th the Ventura Planning Commission will consider the provisions of the accessory dwelling unit ordinance.

You may review the Planning Commission Staff Report and Draft Ordinance at

https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-19. While the August 9th hearing has this item as No. 4, the earlier items may move rather quickly.

ADU is Item No. 4 on the agenda. Please note on the first page of the agenda is an informational box that describes how you can participate in the public hearing process and methods to provide input if you cannot attend the hearing on August 9th. The Planning Commission does value your interest. On January 9, 2017, the City Council adopted an Interim Urgency ADU ordinance.

Couple of notes of interest as you review the Staff Report and attachments:

The 11 page staff report highlights the major provisions of the ADU standards and gives rationale and context to the proposed standards. Most attachments are maps and graphics

The Ordinance is Attachment B, contained as Exhibit A of the PC Resolution. While it is about 25 pages, note that the standards are in the first 8 pages; the rest of the pages are all the different zoning regulations across numerous documents (Development Codes) that must be updated with ADU term and then remove old 2nd unit regulations. Therefore if you read through the 8 pages you are informed of the new rules.

“The project proposes the establishment of an Accessory Dwelling Unit (“ADU”)

Ordinance. This proposed ADU Ordinance would replace previous city regulations for

residential second units and carriage houses contained in the City municipal code and

the City’s form based development codes. This proposed ordinance is in response to

recent State Law amending California Government Code Section 65852.2 (“Section

65852.2”), which limits the City’s ability to regulate or limit new ADUs. Effective January

1, 2017, the two bills-Assembly Bill 2299 (“AB 2299”) and Senate Bill 1069 (“SB

1069”)-require cities to either adopt an ordinance that complies with the new

restrictions and specific standards or apply only the specific state standards set forth in

amended Section 65852.2. The draft ordinance is contained in Attachment B and these

proposed ADU regulations are discussed in the Staff Analysis section of this report.”