Category Archives: City News

City of Ventura accepts the National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation, April 1 – 30

Cities nationwide are participating in a nationwide contest to be named the “Most Water-Wise” city. Over 3,900 cities are expected to compete and Ventura has its eye on the prize!

In 2015, Ventura took second place for the top-ranked city in the 100,000 – 299,999 population standings.

El Niño has not delivered on its anticipated weather swings and little has changed regarding the status quo facing Southern California’s water supply problem. That’s part of the message behind the upcoming Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation, April 1-30, presented nationally by the Wyland Foundation and Toyota.

The campaign, now in its fifth year, kicked off April 1, from the city of San Diego with a clarion call to mayors nationwide to use the power of their post to spread the word about the importance of water conservation.

Ventura Mayor Erik Nasarenko is calling on all Ventura residents to respond.

“I am joining mayors across the country in asking local residents to make a commitment to conserve water,” Nasarenko said. “Ventura is leading the way on water conservation and last year was the runner-up in the nationwide competition, finishing second to the City of Torrance. For the month of April 2016 and beyond, join me Venturans in this challenge, by continuing to reduce water usage and conserving our most precious resource.”

The annual competition rewards residents who take the pledge with a chance to win a Toyota Prius, home irrigation makeovers, environmentally friendly clean products, and hundreds more eco-friendly prizes.

Last year, mayors from 36 states encouraged residents to make over 390,000 pledges to promote drought resiliency, protect watersheds, and ultimately reduce stress on aging water infrastructure.

Ventura residents make their pledges online at www.mywaterpledge.com throughout the month of April. Cities with the highest percentage of residents that make pledges in their population category qualify for over $50,000 in prize drawings.

Answer the call and help Ventura be the most waterwise city in America. Simply go to www.mywaterpledge.com, and pledge either with your Facebook account or email address, and type in Ventura as your city.

For more information visit www.facebook.com/venturawater or www.cityofventura.net/water/mayorschallenge.

City Center brings awareness to domestic violence

Ventura Mayor Erik Nasarenko  holds the ribbon while Alissa and children  cut it.

stuff city center insetOn March 31 a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the City Center located at 837 E. Thompson to celebrate the opening of the Purple Room to house Alissa and her children.

In welcoming the large gathering Board Member Jim Duran, and Lead Pastor of The River Community Church in Ventura stated “In October of last year the City Center brought awareness to Domestic Violence.  Through that event, we were able to raise $10,000 to designate one of our rooms specifically to domestic violence victims and survivors.  The Oxnard Monday Club ponied up $7,500 of the $10,000 raised.  We are thrilled to be  giving the keys to the Purple Room to a mother and her two children that are currently involved in a domestic violence situation. We are moving Alissa and her children, Isaiah and Noah into the City Center in order to keep them safe and get them on the road to recover and self-sufficiency.”

Said Charleen Morla, OMC Board Member “The Oxnard Monday Club is honored and blessed to be part of the City Center’s history in sponsoring The Purple Room, a room in honor of domestic violence survivors. Our members are excited to witness the progress of the lives who come will come into the Purple Room over the years to heal, recover and succeed. Thank you to The City Center staff and board on the amazing job they do in serving these families and to the new family of The Purple Room. Welcome Home”.

Members of the Filipino Community of Ventura County, Inc.(FCVCI) partnered with the Oxnard Monday Club  to paint the Purple Room.

Stephanie Caldwell Ventura Chamber President & CEO stated “As Ventura’s only transitional housing center that does not receive government funding, the City Center is changing lives and making a difference every day.”

“Each resident who walks through the doors of the City Center will be touched in ways that many of us will never understand.  On behalf of our 650 member companies and our 24 member Board of Directors, it is my honor to recognize the leadership of Jim Duran and his team at the City Center for the monumental work that you are doing.”

“Congratulations Jim on the opening of the Purple Room, this newest addition to the incredible wrap-around support and services that you provide for our community, with a specific focus on victims of domestic violence.  We are proud to have you as a part of the Ventura Chamber family and blessed to have you as a part of our community.”

In helping with the cutting Ventura Mayor Erik Nasarenko told the gathering “Last October, The City Center held a fundraiser and public awareness dinner to assist victims of domestic violence.  I, and a number of you in the audience this evening, attended that event, where $10,000 was raised, including a $7,500 donation from the Oxnard Monday Club.  Tonight marks the fulfillment of that collaborative effort as we dedicate “The Purple Room” to domestic violence victims and their families.  As many of you know, the City Center provides hope, opportunity and basic necessities to those in need of housing, with its children and adults staying in this former motel space anywhere between three months and two years.  Upon leaving the City Center, participants go out into the world with a savings account, a job, and a car.  More importantly, they graduate with resolve, strength and dignity.  It is a pleasure to join all of you in the cutting of the ribbon tonight, and my thanks on behalf of the City of Ventura to the City Center for its ongoing and successful efforts to positively transform the lives of Ventura residents.”

Amber Stevens, Director of Aquatics and Youth Programs at the Ventura Family YMCA who presented Isaiah and Noah with Y swimming lessons said “We’re going to make sure the kids are water safe and we’re going to get them free swim lessons.  The Y has also made a promise and that promise is to strengthen communities. And to help you in your next step, in the next chapter of your life, we’re giving you a six month membership to the Y. Where you can come, where the kids can swim, where you can work out, or they can be in the children’s area. And you guys can just have fun with us in our community.”

Also representing the YMCA were Amy Bailey Jurewicz, Executive Director at the Ventura Family YMCA and Alicia Cattoni, Marketing and Communication Director .

 

Vol. 9, No. 14 – April 13 – April 26, 2016 – City of Ventura classes

City of Ventura Imagination classes check out hundreds more on our web-site

Call  658-4726 or 654-7552 to register, if you already have an ACTIVENET account online, visit www.cityofventura.net

Classes/Events held the Barranca Vista Center ~ 7050 Ralston Street in Ventura unless otherwise noted

Art and Architecture using LEGO®  5-10 years
4/16     Saturday           10 am-12 pm   $30      #5730
Explore great works of art and architecture through LEGO® Collaborate in small groups to build grand structures such as the Parthenon in Greece, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the tree houses of Papua New Guinea, and New York’s Empire State Building. Teamwork and creativity take “high culture” to the next level!

Stop Motion Animation Workshop  7-11 years
4/19-5/17         Tuesday           3:45-5:45 pm   $125    #5605
Students work together on an original story using their favorite toys to create fun and original stop motion animations – learning basic concepts such as camera angles, storyboards, scripting elements and theme as well as adding voiceovers and musical scores to their completed project.

Introduction to Video Game Design  13-16 years
4/21-5/19         Thursday          3:45-5:45 pm   $125    #5635
Teen game developers work together to create a side scrolling video game platform adventure. Give your characters gravity and create interesting and original bad guys to challenge you working with design, animation and programming tools. At Bible fellowship Church, 6950 Ralston St Room 206.

Drawing & Painting for Youth  8-18 years
4/21-5/19         Thursday          3:30-4:45 pm   $64      #5520
Explore relevant artists and their styles to create your own acrylic paintings and pencil and charcoal drawings. Instructor Catherine Broger.

Ballet  6-10 years
4/21-5/26         Thursday          4-5 pm                         $70      #5570
Students will learn fundamental ballet techniques, positions and exercises for the development of flexibility, core strength, balance, poise and grace. Girls wear leotard, tights and ballet shoes. Boys wear a white t-shirt, black shorts and black ballet shoes. Instructor Marni King.

My Parent & Me Ballet/Tumble Combo  18 months-3 years
4/22-5/27         Friday               9:45-10:30 am $65      #5596
This is a fun upbeat class for you and your child to dance, tumble, stretch, play with instruments and more! Wear comfortable clothes that you can move in. Instructor Kate Kozacek.

Hip Hop Class  3-5 years
4/22-5/27         Friday               10:30-11:15 am            $70      #5691
Calling all boys and girls for high-energy hip hop dance fun! Dancers develop musicality, creativity, listening skills and coordination. All music and moves are age appropriate. Instructor Kate Kozacek.

 

Former and current Ventura mayors compete in pie eating contest at 150th anniversary party

A pie eating contest featuring former and current Ventura mayors was held at the recent 150th anniversary party at Plaza Park. Jim Monahan, Greg Carson, Jack Tingstrom, Jim Friedman, Sandy Smith, Brian Brennan, Carl Morehouse, Christy Weir, Bill Fulton, Ray DiGulio, Cheryl Heitmann and current mayor Erik Nasarenko were the combatants.

city pie eating inset2

Mayor Erik Nasarenko was the runaway winner while former mayor Cheryl Heitmann looked cute with a mustache she didn’t fair very well.

city pie eating inset

 

 

Apply Now to Serve on Ventura City Council Advisory Boards, Commissions and Committees

Ventura residents can apply for an exciting opportunity to support their community by serving as a volunteer on one of the City Council Advisory Boards, Commissions or Committees that advise the City Council on an array of issues.  There are open positions on 12 multi-member Council Advisory groups that examine issues and help shape Ventura. The semi-annual recruitment process is now open and applications are available online at www.cityofventura.net/involved/advisory or from the City Clerk’s Office, Ventura City Hall, 501 Poli Street, Room 204. The application deadline is 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 9, 2016.

Qualified applicants will undergo interviews with the City Council Appointments Recommendation Committee in May. The recommended appointees will be considered by the City Council and confirmed in June. Volunteers must be willing to serve two to four-year terms; some positions require special qualifications.

Applications are being accepted for vacancies on the following Council Advisory groups:

Cultural Affairs Commission

Design Review Committee

Downtown Parking Advisory Committee

Historic Preservation Committee

Housing Authority Board

Library Advisory Commission

Mobile Home Rent Review Board

Parks and Recreation Commission

Planning Commission

Public Art Commission

Tree Advisory Committee

Ventura Port District

Applications may be submitted by e-mail to [email protected], by fax to the City Clerk’s Office at (805) 641-1046, by mail to the City Clerk’s Office P.O. Box 99, Ventura, CA 93002, or hand-delivered to the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall.

For more information call the City Clerk’s Office at (805) 658-4787.

Vol. 9, No. 13 – March 30 – April 12, 2016 – Ventura City Classes

City of Ventura Dance classes check out hundreds more on our web-site

Call (658-4726 or 654-7552 to register, if you already have an ACTIVENET account online, visit www.cityofventura.net

Classes/Events held the Barranca Vista Center ~ 7050 Ralston Street in Ventura unless otherwise noted

Dancer’s Body Cardio Barre and Sculpt  18 years-Adult
4/5-5/10           Tuesday           12-12:45 pm    $60      #5528
Sculpt muscles, trim fat, tone and lift the entire body with a challenging no-impact strength and flexibility workout using the ballet barre and techniques from Pilates, Yoga Ballet and Lotte Berk. Bring towel & water. Instructor Haley-Nicole Harwood.

Polynesian Dance with Elaine Tavares  5 years-adult
4/6-5/25           Wednesday      5:30-6:15 pm   $60      #5477  5-8 years
4/6-5/25           Wednesday      6:15-7:30 pm   $55      #5478  9 years-adul
Bring a skirt and/or sarong to class and have fun learning songs and steps to Hula, Tahitian, and Poi Balls.

Beginning Tap  12 years-adult
4/6-5/25           Wednesday      7:30-8:30 pm   $80      #5532
Get great exercise and improve your balance while learning the basic steps for tap as well as combinations and routines set to upbeat rhythms and music. Classes are progressive but designed for the beginner dancer. Come to class with tap shoes and wear exercise type dancewear including loose pants and t-shirts. Instructor Elli Busch.

Line Dance with a Twist  18 years-adult
4/6-5/9             M/W    1-2 pm                         $60      #5661
For experienced line dancers: enjoy fun exercise with a twist of salsa, ballroom and jazz. Instructor Jackie Ringhof.

Parent & Me Creative Movement  2-4 years
4/6-5/25           Wednesday      10-10:45 am     $50      #5658
Explore dance together as you move in different directions, levels, tempos and shapes using imaginative play. Wear comfortable clothes for easy movement. Instructor Jenae Kartawidjaja

Pre Ballet I & II with Cassie  3-7 years
4/11-6/6           Monday                        4-4:45 pm        $65      #5652  3-5 years Pre K
4/11-6/6           Monday                        4:45-5:30 pm   $65      #5653  5-7 years Grades K-1
Basic steps, coordination and balance are combined with playful instruction and friendly tunes. Leotard, tights and ballet shoes recommended. Parents may stay for first and last class only. No class 5/30. Instructor Cassie Lawhead.

 

Kellogg Park takes a small step with groundbreaking

City dignitaries from the City Council and Recreation & Parks and other employees and well-wishers  dig Kellogg Park.

On March 12 Kellogg Park held a groundbreaking ceremony that included a Chumash Blessing for the land, music from local middle school DeAnza Academy of Technology and the Arts, Mariachi Los Halcones, brightly colored Aztec Dancers and martial arts and boxing demonstrations.

The event presented by the Westside Community Council, and sponsored by SoCalGas included a traditional groundbreaking ceremony with the flavor of the Historic Westside.

Activities included community booths with activities including a mosaic play-station with Kevin Carman, the artist designing a public art piece for Kellogg Park, seedling planting, button making, carnival games, bubbles, interactive art activities, fish bean bag river toss, walking beams, hula hoops, bracelet making, book crafts, and more.

City council members celebrating Ventura Anniversary

Mayor Erik Nasarenko

When I think about celebrating our 150th birthday as a city, many images come to mind, but perhaps the most prominent is the Ventura pier.

It reminds me of Ventura’s resilience and optimism, for like the city itself, it may go through tough times, likely the result of high surf pounding the wood pilings or funding gaps in the city’s budget, but the setbacks are almost always temporary, because the pier–like Ventura–perseveres towards a better tomorrow, stronger against the next storm and smarter because of its ability to outlast it.

It is the oldest wooden pier in southern California, built only six years after papers were filed in Sacramento in 1866 marking Ventura’s beginning as a municipality.  Back then products such as citrus, wheat, lima beans and crude oil were shipped from the pier, while lumber, bricks and cement were imported to help the city and region grow.  Today, while no longer used for shipping and trading, the pier has become a destination for tourists and residents alike, who take long walks along the wooden planks at sunset or enjoy the structure from the nearby hillsides, gazing down at what has become a primary symbol of our relaxed, unpretentious beach town.

The Ventura pier is our pier–maintained by a combination of city and non-profit funds from groups like Pier Into The Future for the enjoyment of everyone.  Let’s resolve to keep it that way, so that future generations of Venturans can enjoy what we are able to marvel at today.

Cheryl Heitmann

Celebrating Ventura’s 150th anniversary is a chance for our residents to reflect on and feel pride in our city’s past, present and future.   Appreciating what a special place this is to live; our rich cultural history, our diversity, and our community spirit is a part of the celebration.   Learning more about the people who helped shape our city has been both amazing and educational.  .

Chairing the 150th anniversary committee of 60 people, representing different organizations, many of whom were able to incorporate the 150th as a theme in their signature activities, is a reminder of the engaged community we live in. Companies and individuals stepped up to support the celebration, and giving ourselves the gift of a million acts of kindness has been a way for everyone to be involved.

We will leave a tile wall depicting our history to the present time as well as oral histories by descendants of some of our pioneer families for future generations to enjoy and learn from.  And on April 2, we will introduce the community to (12) 5 year olds, who represent the future of Ventura. To me, the celebration is about the people, those before us and those to come and how Ventura will continue to evolve and thrive.

Deputy Mayor Neal Andrews

In most of the rest of the developed world 150 years would not be such a big deal. Even in the U. S. on the east coast or in the old southwest, it’s not so remarkable. The Quaker Meeting House I attended as a child has been in continual operation for over 300 years. So why are we making such a big deal out of our 150 years? Because it offers us a time for most of our citizens to learn something about the city that most came to relatively recently.

Most never knew that our early records were kept in Spanish. Most never knew that we were once part of Santa Barbara County. Most never knew that in the early days our primary agricultural focus was cattle and cattle by-products. Because it gives us the opportunity to celebrate our traditions, relatively new though they may be. Because it provides us an occasion to recognize the great contributions of so many of the early families, the Bards, Jews, Thilles, Borchards, and so many others, to the growth and prosperity of Ventura. Because it gives us the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate the quality of life we have been blessed with merely by having the chance of living here.

Christy Weir

Ventura’s 150th anniversary is an important milestone that the entire city can celebrate. We are one of the oldest cities in California, going back to the founding of the Mission in 1782. Then in 1866, with around 5,000 residents, we were incorporated as the City of San Buenaventura.

One of the most exciting projects to commemorate our anniversary is the historic tile mural that will be built in front of the Mission. The artist, Michael O’Kelly, is designing a pictorial history that will celebrate our heritage in a beautiful and lasting art form.

To find out more about the mural and upcoming festivities, go to www.celebrateventura.org  or Ventura Historic Mural on Facebook.

Carl Morehouse

What a wonderful moment!  A city that has stood the test of time, changed much over 150 years and yet feels so warm, comfortable and unpretentious to this day.  I’m proud and honored to have served on the Council for 16 years and been a part of helping to keep Ventura genuine.  May she thrive for 150 more and beyond.

Mike Tracy

As a lifelong resident of Ventura, it’s great to see the enthusiasm and involvement in this celebration of the founding of our City 150 years ago.  Looking forward, our continued success and vitality will require renewed individual commitment and investment–with time, talent, and resources–in order to meet the many challenges our community faces.  We all agree that this is a wonderful place to live and work, and I truly believe that our best days lie ahead.

 

There are seven members of the Ventura City Council. Each member must be a registered voter in the City and is elected at-large. The Council selects one of its members  to be Mayor. The Mayor serves a term of two years and is the presiding officer of the Council. The Mayor has been delegated the responsibility to act as the City Council’s ceremonial representative at public events and functions. The Deputy Mayor is also selected in the same manner and serves a two-year term.

The Ventura City Council meets at 6:00 pm three Mondays each month.

Councilmembers may be contacted via telephone at 654-7827 or by sending an email to [email protected]

We became a city 150 years ago – how time flies

By Ventura City staff

As we count down to April 2, 2016 – the date we became a city 150 years ago – we as residents can be  proud of the many cultures and peoples who have enriched our city as they made Ventura their home – from the indigenous Chumash Native Americans to the waves of Spanish, Mexican, Chinese, European and new immigrants from other states and nations.

The Chumash provincial capital Shisholop – near the Ventura River mouth – governed a region larger than today’s City of Ventura, from the Rincon and Casitas Pass to the Santa Clara River and Saticoy.

Shisholop – meaning “port on the coast” according to Cruzeño Chumash consultant Fernando Librado Kitsepawit – supervised a lucrative trade with the Channel Islands and other regional mainland provinces, maintained sociopolitical stability among its many communities and directed a calendar of seasonal and cosmological cycles and events. The Chumash were fine artisans and adept traders traveling by tomols or canoes.

European voyagers Juán Rodrigues Cabrillo (1542), Sebastián Viscaíño (1602), Gaspar de Portolá (1769) and Juán Bautista de Anza (1776) briefly visited this influential village by land or sea until Chumash residents became subject to foreign colonization in 1782 with the founding of Mission San Buenaventura.

Saint Serra (1713-1784) founded his ninth and final mission in Ventura, part of a network of 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to Fairfield. The monk was originally called Friar Junipero – his name means “juniper bush” or metaphorically “evergreen.” A philosophy professor from the island of Majorca (Spain) turned missionary, he left a complex and controversial legacy in our state.

The Franciscans named their California missions – and the cities that grew alongside them – after saints from their order in the Roman Catholic Church. Serra named the final mission he lived to see established before his death San Buenaventura or Saint Bonaventure, after a mystic priest who wrote a famous meditative book called Itinerarium Mentis ad Deum or “The Mind’s Road to God.” The city’s official name, deemed too long to write out completely on railroad schedules was shortened by half to become “Ventura” – and this nickname has remained in common use today.

Mission San Buenaventura soon became a thriving hub of orchards and gardens watered by a seven-mile aqueduct and the largest ranching operation in California with 10,000 head of cattle and harvesting 9,000 bushels of grain annually. By the 1860s a town had grown around it and Main Street boasted a boardwalk, four stores and six to eight rum shops and restaurants.

Ventura city and county government began in and above a liquor establishment. When our first mayor, Walter Chaffee, wanted to convene a City Council meeting, he had only to leave his general store, cross the street and climb the stairs above Spears Saloon – where Capriccio’s Restaurant is located today – to the first offices of Ventura City Hall and, in 1873, the first Ventura County Courthouse.

Then as now, the City of San Buenaventura was a bilingual community. Our second mayor – saloonkeeper Angel Escandon – was Latino. Half the sindicos or council members spoke Spanish as their first language and the other half spoke English. The minutes of the first meetings – kept today between leather boards in the archives of the City Clerk’s office – are written in Spanish in the beautiful cursive handwriting of the day.

That first year of government, Ventura’s staff of five spent a budget of $7,465 – for which residents paid an annual tax of one dollar per head. Council actions that first year included building a public well for $50 – for which water users paid 25 cents per month – and paving Main Street – then called Camino Real – to the river.

The City of Ventura charged 24 cents per head to check cattle brands during slaughter to prevent cattle rustling, and an entertainment tax of $2 per billiard table. By fine or 10 days in jail, the City government outlawed cattle driving, horse racing and bull fighting on or near Main Street [$100 fine], limited milking on the main roads to one cow per family [$25 fine] and forbade concealed weapons within city limits [$100 fine].

Our city grew rapidly with the establishment of Ventura County, carved from Santa Barbara County in 1873, after an oil boom and “big agriculture” operations such as the 2,300-acre Dixie Thompson Rancho of lima beans, orchards and cattle. These ventures, along with major businesses such as the Hobson Brothers Meat Packing Company (the site of today’s Patagonia) brought immigrants, wealth, bridges and roadways to the city, transforming our city’s downtown from 1910 to 1930 into an eclectic architectural mix of red brick storefronts, terra cotta “Beaux-Arts” banks, Victorian-style homes, a Moorish-influenced Bard Hospital and Spanish Revival Ventura Theatre – all crowned by a magnificent new Ventura County Courthouse (today’s City Hall) in 1913.