Greetings, Sheldon:

I received the issue of the Ventura Breeze, including the piece on San Buenaventura State Beach today! I was so excited that you included two copies! Thank you so much for including this in your local paper and sending the copies to me. This truly made my day….week…..month!

Best to you,

Amannda DeBoef Office of Experiential Learning
UMKC School of Pharmacy

Breeze:

We are appalled by the proposed high-density housing on Johnson Drive from Northbank to Capri.  The GPAC’s to change the zoning along the Johnson corridor from “Commercial” to “Mixed Use 3 and 4 Stories” would allow additional apartments to be built above businesses all along Johnson.  Developers may also ask for an increased height variance by applying for the state’s “Developer Density Bonus” for building out “underutilized” commercial space. 

Johnson Drive is highly sensitive to this density change because it is one of the main arteries to the 101 freeway, government center and the existing communities on the east end. There does not seem to be any plan to proactively develop the infrastructure to support the future impact to traffic on Johnson Drive and the neighboring streets. Beyond Bristol Road, Johnson Drive is only a 2 lane road that does not have the capacity to be expanded to support the amount of traffic the proposed housing will create as there are houses on both sides of the street. 

The new 302 unit Northbank apartments going in across from Motel 6 will have no additional infrastructure improvements to handle the expected 2,700 extra daily trips beyond a new traffic light on Johnson at Motel 6. It is naive to think all these residents will ride a bike or take the bus. There is no apparent prioritization among the city legislators to relieve the congestion all this higher density will bring. The existing residents will have to bear the burden of short-sighted planning on the impact to traffic on Johnson and the neighboring streets.  We will sit in traffic more and we will be expected to conserve our water and other resources even more than we do now.  We are destroying Ventura’s quality of life for all residents.

Chris and Terrie Longo

Breeze:

Cannabis Business Permits

The store I visited last week was very clean and employed a good level of security to include personal governmental identification to pass through a locked wall and door barrier; and including security guards outdoors at the entrance. I hope they do very well because that will fill the cities coffers very quickly.

The above leads directly to my next observation. City street maintenance. I have to agree with Diana White and her comments about our street disrepair. Didn’t Ventura receive a large chunk of funding for our streets a year ago?

Where did all the money go?
Down the storm drains for storm water recovery?

Diana mentioned Spinnaker, the road to our “jewel”, The Ventura Harbor, but this is not the only road in Ventura that is an embarrassment to drive on, try Ralston and many of the roads around Montalvo housing area.

Maybe with all the pot shops opening in Ventura the cities coffers can afford to contract with a road construction company like Granite Construction to repair or replace our crumbling roads.

I realize it is hard for a city to manage its roads and highways when every other month some utility must destroy a once good road to upgrade a wire or pipeline. Could not the city manage this type of work with an announcement to all the utilities and services that use the city rights of ways to bury their products an advance notice of pending construction on specific roads and highways? Then maybe they all could upgrade at the same time.

Michael Gordon

She does not understand the concept of Roman numerals.
She thought we just fought World War Eleven.
~ Joan Rivers

Sheldon Brown thank you so much!! I’m looking forward to continuing to serve the community I love.

Jeffrey Lambert

Breeze:

It will take many more defections from true believers who finally can’t wrap their heads around the number and craziness of Trump’s lies and assaults and his growing threats of violence against judges, jurors, and poll workers conducting his trials and facilitating the 2024 election. Bill Barr, Mike Pence, Chris Christie are already levelling stiff criticism at their former “stable genius” leader, and they can open an off ramp for Trump’s slavish followers to walk away and leave the cult. They shouldn’t be heralded however for coming late to the truth.

We must create a counter energy. We have to step up our financial support for Democratic candidates and most importantly volunteer in efforts to get Democrats and young people and students and workers to the polls. No sitting out this one by making campaign donations or phone calls.

We can join local activist groups pushing progressive agendas and policies. We can support and join local efforts that ultimately impact national events, such as labor strikes, housing development, environmental groups, educational policy in schools and colleges and help them move the most progressive agendas along.

Also, we can attend local Democratic party meetings and become part of their leadership and policy formation and candidate support. In essence, we need to join groups, organizations and local party efforts to push the liberal-progressive agendas that Biden and others have passed or proposed and do the work of publicizing what current Democrats are all about and have accomplished.

Robert Chianese, Ph.D., Emeritus Prof. English, CSU Northridge

to opinions

Here here to the letter regarding no awards for “city until they fix roads”!!! Have you driven around Ventura lately? So many potholes to avoid as well as ruts in roads all over the city. Lots of folks I share this concern with agree that either someone is asleep at the wheel or they are using degraded material. Spinnaker , the road to our “jewel”, Ventura  Harbor, is horrible to drive on. It’s an embarrassment.

Sincerely,
Diana White

My old man always wanted be to be a garbage man.
He thought they only worked on Thursdays.
~ Dennis Hill

Breeze:

Great job Sheldon. As always, thanks for the support!

Darin Schindler Ventura Chief of Police

Mr. Editor:   

Please no awards for city until they fix roads…… worse now than ever…     Nice to see you are a Trojan, I am class of 56…….  and your comments on Community Colleges is right on.

Robert Lombardi

Robert: Even better some community colleges are going to offer bachelor degrees.

Breeze:

I have been reading all the accolades and patting on the back that has occurred since the X Games have come and gone. Perhaps there is much to this fanfare. Perhaps there is a missing element that hasn’t been addressed. Working as a vendor (not a restaurant) in downtown I’m questioning this success. From a small store vendor stand point the Games seemed to have a very negative impact. There wasn’t a huge up tick in shoppers during the regular daytime hours in fact, numbers dropped, considerably. 

What might have caused this? Perhaps because daytime hours coincided with X Game activities and no one ventured up to downtown until afer regular business hours ended?

Perhaps the woes threats and worries about traffic and parking were deterrent to those who weren’t interested in the event?

Perhaps the X Game vendor outreach was only given to restaurants and excluded the other vendor stores?

I do not purport that I speak for all vendors but the word that spreads like small town gossip was how their X Game experience wasn’t a “rousing success”. 

Thought for future: if you want vendor inclusion how about do just that, afford ALL vendors a presence at the event (County Fair included). Perhaps a pop tent set up in a designated Downtown Vendor area. Info, coupons, samples on the ready.

Success should be summed up by all, not just the top tier. 

George Smith

“The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t win’ is you and you don’t have to listen.”
~ Jessica Ennis

Opinions:

I had absolutely nothing to do with the XGames coming to Ventura, but my hat’s off and tons of Kudos for everyone involved from the Fairgrounds, to Visit Ventura, the City, Metrolink and all involved with the planning and execution. What was most fun for me, who is not into skateboarding, BMX or Motocross was to sit in my house less than 5 miles from the arena and watch the awesome coverage on ABC and ESPN. The close ups and camera angles were spectacular and gave me a complete appreciation for the competitors. Ventura, a job well done. The whole world got to see our wonderful town. Hope it can happen again.

Carl Morehouse former Mayor/Councilmember.

Breeze:

I was very inspired by what I saw at the X Games.

The tumultuous traffic jams  (a la Strawberry Festival) seemed to have avoided us.

Congrats for the planning, and to those who showed Ventura in such a magnificent light.

However, I am pretty sure that the millions watching the X-Games, Ventura Style, and suffering from the excruciating heat around the country, are already  making plans to sell their houses…… and move to Ventura!

Oh, dear.

On another point:  I have also been inspired to launch my very own X-Games.

The plan is to  encourage us “seniors” to skateboard and bicycle exactly the way we saw during the X Games.  (I have ruled out Motorbikes–because they are too noisy.)

I would call the event the “O-Games—   as in “Octogenarian.”

And to qualify for the O-Games, competitors must have been the recipient of new knees, hips, or shoulders (and bring a doctor’s letter along to prove it.)

I must confess, I am the recipient of one of those bionic parts–but you should see me leaping over buildings as I roar down the mostly closed Main Street on my bike!

Stay tuned.

Ivor Davis

Ivor: Sounds wonderful but I’m glad to say I still have only my natural parts but I will come out and cheer for you old folks.

Sheldon

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true.
~ James Branch Cabell

Letter to the Editor.

I was at Vons and was surprised to see a woman and her husband and infant son shopping with the mother wearing a bathing suit. Now, the supermarket is close to the beach and it was a warm day but what surprised me was she was wearing a thong, with her cheeks exposed. What was interesting was the fact no one seemed to care or even gave the woman a second look. Now I know what my grandfather must have felt when he encountered a woman in a bikini for the first time in the 1950s. I guess I didn’t get the memo –this is the new normal.

Richard Senate

Richard: I’m afraid it is the new normal like parents with their kids at a restaurant and they are all on their cellphones

Saga of the Exploded Refrigerator

Apparently for two days a fridge was set out on the sidewalk near a small park down the street from us with a “Free” sign on it. The doors were still on it, we are told—dangerous of course.

Then it was blown up a day or so later. Then a huge bomb of some sort went off last night around 10:15 pm inside it. It had a metallic ring to it. It burned half of a grapefruit tree and a nearby shrub.

This morning my wife saw it on her walk and called the police. They looked it over and left. Other neighbors told us that the fire department had been there (a day?) before.

There it sits as a relic of a misbegotten 4th of July celebration or a kinetic postmodern sculpture.

Robert Chianese

Robert: You had more fun than most of us.

Breeze:

This is in response to the latest article in the May 31 to June 13 Ventura Breeze written by the current President, Patrick D.Pothier. This being the 100th Birthday, I’d like to help fill in some important and missing information about the history of civic service and service to the community.

Long before women were included as members in Lions, the Ventura County Star printed an article on September 2, 1937. The Headline was “Lions’ Wives Choose I-Da-Ka As Name For New Club”. I-da-ka (an Indian word meaning “to serve”) was formally chartered in 1937 and continued to serve Ventura County until 2008. Local families raised in Ventura remember all the women behind the men who served and all the assistance they augmented to those in need.

It would be an honor for the 100th President, Maya Zumaya to take up this missing history and congratulated those who helped make the Ventura Downtown Lions Club a success from it’s inception.

I have inherited all of the historical records of the group and would like to make the records available to complete the rich history of civic service to Ventura.

Karen L. Brown, PhD
P.O. Box 3551
Ventura 93006

Dear Breeze:

I can’t imagine Ventura without the Breeze!! I am so grateful for your excellent publication.

Thank you
Cheryl Dunlap

Cheryl: And we are grateful for our wonderful readers (and advertisers) that make it all possible.

If only God would give me some clear sign!
Like making a deposit in my name in a Swiss bank account.
~ Woody Allen

Sheldon:

Thanks for giving my letter all that space. And I appreciated the precise and detailed response from Jennifer Buckley, Senior Community Outreach Specialist (I marvel at the titles they conjure up in local government offices.)

It was part informative and part Orwellian details based on info provided by Parking and Mobility Program analyst Sergio Albarran.

In olden days they might have gone straight to the nitty gritty:  Something like, “because we are deeply in the red as a result of huge loss of all that Main Street parking meter income, it was decided to try and retrieve some of those losses by extending parking meters.”

Thank you.

Ivor Davis

Breeze:

Grandma got run over by an E-bike

Last February grandma was run over by two girls on an E-bike while walking on the State Beach Recreational trail. Witnesses said the girls were “out of control” and traveling 10-15 MPH. Grandma was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. She sustained significant injuries.

E-bikes are relatively new. Current regulations are inadequate. Reasonable regulations are needed.

There are three classes of E-bikes.  Class 1 and 2 go up to 20 MPH and Class three to 28 MPH.

There are four classes of bike lanes. Class 1 paths are exclusively for bicyclists and pedestrians and are away from main roads. The others are integrated with existing streets.

California defines E-bikes as a bicycle. The rules pertaining to E-bikes are similar to those regulating regular bicycles. A license or liability insurance is not required. E-bikes are heavier and faster than regular bicycles and are potentially more dangerous.

California Vehicle Code prohibits Class 3 E-bikes from Class 1 recreational trails. However, it provides an exception for local jurisdictions to allow this.

There are a myriad of different rules pertaining to E-bikes. Ventura has a municipal code that allows class 3 E-bikes to ride on class 1 recreational trails and they may go where regular bicycles can. E-bikes are allowed on the Promenade and the blocked off part of downtown Ventura. The Ventura County rules only allow Class 1 and 2 E-bikes on its class one trails like the Ojai Trail. The California State Park rules allow only class 1 E-bikes on the Class 1 San Buenaventura State Beach trail. The State of California allows class 1 and 2 E-bikes on class 1 trails such as the Rincon Trail.

These conflicting rules are a well kept secret and are largely not followed. Better and more widely known rules would create safer conditions for everyone.

Steve Blum

Editor:

Thank you for bringing this to attention (minors working in industrial plants). There were thirteen Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. that were discovered by the Dept of Labor and were employing minors.

This reminded me of the early 2000’s when the Koch Bros. created America for Prosperity and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), mainly for members of large corporations who sent Republican lobbyists to Congress trying to ‘bend the laws’ of our nation. ALEC’s members are corporations who control about 13 states’ legislatures.

During this time Animal Rights organizations had taken pictures inside a meat packing plant. Those state Republican legislatures passed laws that would make it a felony to take pictures in meat packing plants. Claiming that company patent secrets would be leaked when in fact they were worried that the pictures of how animals were slaughtered would outrage Americans.

I am encouraging Breeze readers to dig a little deeper into the corporations that continually break the laws. Find out which companies they are, what organizations and political parties they represent, and what organizations they are members of. And when you vote for your local, state, and national representatives, think hard on whether your choice will be representative of corporations or people.

Diane Garber

The only one who can tell you “you can’t win” is you and you don’t have to listen.
 ~ Jessica Ennis

editor:

I grew up the daughter of generations of hunters. I was a pretty good shot in my day, deemed best marksman at my summer camp. I named all my dolls “Annie” for Annie Oakley.

Decades later, I join those dismayed by the lack of initiative by responsible leadership in addressing the American epidemic of needless deaths by gun violence. What price are we paying for this distorted concept of “freedom”?

Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. I understand the logic. Let’s counter with a slight variation — same notion, different weapon. Cars don’t kill people, people driving cars do. We require driver ed, testing, licensing and implementation of the best and latest technology in efforts to successfully save lives. My own 19-year-old life was saved by my car’s roll cage and seat belts.

How many precious lives have we failed to save in pandering to gun-rights groups’ irrational insistence that gun ownership, concealed carry privileges and more guns make a safer America? Facts convey increases in gun ownership closely match the rise in gun deaths, along with unprecedented profit to gun and ammunition manufacturers and the paid lobbyists who fund “leaders.”

We’ve come to expect oversight and safety in our water supplies, our food sources, our building codes. Let’s delete that intentionally triggering phrase gun “control”. Let’s call it what it is, responsible weapon-safety oversight. The lives we save may be our own and countless lives of our precious children.

Berry Manter

Sheldon,

I may have missed this subject in a previous paper. Has our City ever considered helping “the elderly” in these Mobil Home Parks by stopping the insane 10% Rental Space increase every year? Most are on fixed SS income and are slowly being pushed out of their homes?

Greg Gardner

We asked the city to respond. 

Greetings from Community Development. I’m the Mobile Home Rent Administrator for the City. As an FYI there are 12 Mobile Home Parks in the City that are covered by our Mobile Home Rental Stabilization Ordinance which caps rent at CPI or 5%.  They can be found on our site here:  https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/713/Mobile-Home-Rent-Review-Board 

While it doesn’t cover every park in town, the majority of our senior manufactured home residents are covered by this ordinance. 

Let me know if you have further questions, 

Regards, 

Lee Sherman
Management Analyst II
Community Development
City of Ventura

Sheldon,

Thank you so much!
But I live in the Magnolia Home Park on the Avenue and considered outside the City.
Yearly rent continues to go up
10% every year – even with inflation.
No one seems to care. Especially the city.

Thank you!
Greg

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Dear Sheldon:
Thanks very much for publishing my dear friend Geoff obit and printing it in your Ventura Breeze.
Peace, Shayne

Sheldon:
A  rude and thoughtless comment in “As I See It” regarding the 41 year old woman having pleaded guilty for murder struck me as out of place for a person who I thought was more sensitive and caring. The lady needs help. You suggested she should be prisoned under 3 Strikes! Those crimes are due to the illness of our society. Rethink that please and follow the path of humanity please.
Bob Reeves Ojai

Bob:
I consider myself to be sensitive and caring. When you say “The lady needs help” are you suggesting that she is mentally ill and not responsible for her actions or do all people who murder need help and not punishment?

Sheldon

The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
~ Stephen Hawking