Breeze:

I have friends that say why don’t we just convert salty ocean water into drinking water? Huntington Beach is building a seawater desalination plant that will provide drinking water to supply 100,000 homes (basically the size of Ventura). The problem is the cost which is about $1billion. A bit more than Ventura can afford.

Thanks
Sam Goodall Saticoy

Ventura Breeze

Recent News has published that K-Mart in Santa Paula, and Sears in Ventura will soon be closing, as have K-Mart in Camarillo.

These buildings should be repurposed for housings. One really good thing is there is plenty of parking, which is always a major concern in new builds.

Please don’t allow these buildings to be shuttered and become an eyesore. As a citizen, I would encourage and challenge these cities to partner with developers to immediately construct affordable housing; and, don’t forget green spaces.

Judith A. Beay Ventura

Readers:

I just renewed my driver’s license with the DMV on Market in Ventura. (is anything worse then sitting there for many many hours with a lot of depressed people?). Very strange to me is that they made me read the letters by covering one eye. How many of us drive with one eye closed? I did like the machine testing that gives immediate results of pass-fail of the questions. So glad that is over for another 5-years.

Sally Lowe Ojai

Venturan’s

I think a wonderful Christmas present is to give blood and help the American Red Cross ensure a sufficient supply is available during the holiday season.

You can make an appointment by calling 1-800-733-2767.

In Ventura you can give at the following locations which makes it easy.

• 12/5/2019: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., El Camino High School, 61 Day Rd
• 12/17/2019: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Knights of Columbus, 36 S. Figueroa St.
• 12/30/2019: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Wells Fargo, 2704 E Thompson Blvd
• 12/31/2019: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Knights of Columbus, 36 S. Figueroa St.

Thanks

Helen Gordon

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.
~ Albert Einstein

To [email protected]

Previously I wrote saying that Ventura has a bias against seniors. I should have said bias against seniors in senior mobile home parks Ventura has a lot of programs that can keep seniors busy.

The problem is in the senior parks that are owned by greedy companies. I have lived in Lemonwood mobile home park for 2 years and in that time my rent has gone up about $100 a month. Add to that $46.50 per month in capital expenses that we are billed for. They have billed us about $700,000 I capital expenses Including interest-yes we pay interest also, The name of the company that purchased this park is Sun Communities. We have no recourse as we get to help from the council person in our ward, no response from rent review board and nothing from the City Council.

My name is Ralph Trigo and I am a member of the VMRC which is the Ventura Mobil Residents Council hoping someone will listen.

Thank you

Breeze:
I’m an avid reader of the Breeze, and really appreciate the role you play in our community, especially in keeping government accountable.  I hope you can help my community do that, and seek your advice for the best way the Breeze may help.

I’m the President of the Padre Place Homeowners Association, a community of 13 homeowners that live across the street from city-owned property on Ferro Drive at Grant Park.  This hillside burned during the Thomas Fire, and yet remains thick with brush and dead/burned Eucalyptus trees.  To give you perspective, standing in Old Town, on Main Street and looking up, we live just below the huge crop of Eucalyptus trees on the hill (on city property), above the Mission. It’s an obvious fire danger to us and Old Town.

This situation creates a fire hazard for our community. We have called the city fire prevention department 8 times over the past several months, with no action or even a callback. We have also called the public works department and, when they did not return our call, we emailed the director. Nothing. We are very concerned and find it ironic (and dangerous) that the city is issuing safety guidelines for brush removal that they themselves are not enforcing, putting our homes (and lives) in danger.  We seek to make the city take our fears seriously and respond to our concerns.

Perhaps this is a letter to the editor, or other means of communication?  I really appreciate any advice or support you can provide.

And by the way, my dog Gracie (now deceased) was featured on your pet page last year (she was pictured in her dog stroller downtown). I really love that section!  We still keep that Breeze clip on our refrigerator, and of course miss her dearly.

Cheers,
Ed

Ed: Perhaps printing this will be a good start. I know what you mean with Gracie, I miss Scamp everyday.
Sheldon

Subject: Trump Supporters

I am sad, incredulous, stunned at those fellow citizens who continue to support Trump! He lies nonstop, denigrates career military and civil servant employees and accuses everyone else of lying while fabricating conspiracy theories. Any innocent person would willingly want their supporters to testify, show requested evidence, including tax filings, etc.

I am especially saddened by the 98% of Evangelicals’ who are staunchly supporting him when his policies and actions are so against their Biblical teachings!

Trump and GOP are not upholding the Constitution, only their party. They also ran on “draining the swamp”; under Trump and the GOP, the “swamp” has grown tremendously; just look at his inner circle and how many are in prison, indicted, committing perjury and refusing to appear when subpoenaed.

If a President lands in prison, would taxpayers still have to pay for 24/7 Secret Service protection?

Judith A. Beay

What say ye Trump supporters? Is being a kind of movie star enough for you? Let’s hear from you!

Sheldon:

Thank you, Sheldon, for running that Walk with a Doc article. I have heard from many readers who saw it and were tickled to be in a “newsworthy” program.

You do a great service for this community. A trusted resource.

Thank you again.

Warmly,
Rosanne Facone

Rosanne:

Thank you for presenting Walk with a Doc also a great service for the community.

Breeze:

When an ex-city council person says at a meeting ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet” when referring to the future increases of water bills for city residents you should take notice, but maybe its too late already.

Instead of fighting a law suit against the city brought by the “California Water Impact Network” the city decided to just pass on the $200,000,000 cost of a “toilet to water” project to the residents. This doesn’t include the $3-$6,000,000,000 per year operating cost (bound to exceed the estimates I’m sure).

Meanwhile the city water dept is being sued by a county supervisor for not coming clean on the cities failure during the Thomas Fire, and not releasing  to the public the report on why the failure occurred and why we had no water. Is there another massive project being hidden from the public lurching in the background?
Why don’t we know what happened? The residents are still suffering and deserve to know the truth.

To cement our plunge into third world status, the power company threatens weekly to shut down the power if the wind is blowing !

So our future in Ventura is to sit in our powerless homes, drinking water that a few weeks before came from our toilet, wondering if we can someday get enough power to charge our electric car. However, we are secure in the knowledge that California is on the leading edge into the future. From Governor to city council we need a change to individuals who are for the people.

Regards
Robert W Coshland

Dear Sheldon Brown,

As a Pierpont Beach resident, I recently received a notice that Anastasi Development has proposed a mixed-use project at Harbor and Seaward.

They tried to develop this area in 2006 or 7, and after attempting to work with the city and neighborhood, ultimately abandoned it. In that time, this is what has changed:

The housing crisis has become more acute. Hundreds of acres of Ventura’s farmland, the most fertile land in the world, has been built on. Housing costs have skyrocketed. Wildfires have displaced families throughout Ventura County.

It seems to me that it is time to stop saying “we love Ventura and don’t want it to change”, because everything changes. It either gets better or it gets worse, and a lot of things have gotten worse. New condominiums would bring people who have chosen to live near the beach, and they would support the marginal restaurants and shops in the area, most of which are deserted in the off-season. Empty lots, like broken windows, are signs of stagnant areas and decay, besides being just plain ugly.

I hope that the community will work with Anastasi to help this project happen, because even though yes, it will put more cars on our streets, it will add greatly to the area through additional retail and restaurants and support of the existing ones. And on an environmental note, it is far less costly and disruptive to bring water, power and sewer lines as infill in developed areas than to bring them to outlying farmland – and that goes for traffic, also.  The farther out the homes are, the bigger the commute and the more total miles on the road.

We love Ventura, and want to keep most of what brought us to the area 40 years ago, but things change, and we need to change too.

Carolyn Hiller Ventura

Dear Editor:

Trump must have been nursing this competition for years. At last, he can nya nya his victory, being more important, than getting Osama bin Laden.

What kind of a “leader’ spends so much time planning a “coup” for years, just so he can prove he is as good as Obama.

No matter what Trump does, or kills, or brags about, he will never match our previous president. Obama is intense, intelligent, focused on being a leader. Obama never wasted breath or energy on “one upsmanship” Obama, and his entire family, were models. They are moral, and kind, and made the United States of America, trustworthy and reliable. The reputation of the U.S.A. was upheld, and enhanced, during the Obama administration.

How sad, this current, “me, me, me” president’ is so focused on himself, he has no time, no space, no understanding of how to lead.

Can’t wait for the next election. I can’t believe, the voting population of the U.S. of A., will repeat the last mistake. 

Trump is focused on Trump. The Trump trumpet never ceases to blast noise.

Impatiently, Esther Cole, Ventura

Breezy:

Thank you and Sheldon for the *shout outs.  They are paying off.  Each clinic we are able to do up to 32 cats and dogs and that is three times a month, plus the call ins for local vets.

Valerie

*Thursday, October 31st at SPAN Thrift Store parking lot 110 N. Olive St. (behind Vons on Main), and a second at Albert H. Soliz Library – El Rio, 2820 Jourdan St., Oxnard, 93036 on Wednesday, November 6th. Please call to schedule an appointment (805) 584-3823.

Men are wise in proportion not to their experience, but in their capacity for experience.
~ George Bernard Shaw

Folks:

We Californians are in for it once these intense winds blow through the dried up mountains and foothills, potentially knocking down high tension power lines and starting fires. Now we begin to see some notice of the need for “Microgrids” that service communities with local power without the need for PG&E or SCE supplying power over hundreds of miles of dangerous landscapes. Check out this Newsletter from “Microgrid Knowledge”: https://microgridknowledge.com/

Robert Chianese

Breeze:

Every day I observe dangerous situations on the streets of Ventura. Bicycle riders not observing the traffic laws, riding the wrong way on the street, flying through stop signs and red lights. Night riders without lights or reflectors while wearing dark clothing and some without helmets. It’s crazy.

I was twelve years old back in 1953, living in the beach city of Lynn, Massachusetts just north-east of Boston. I worked part-time for my uncle for fifty cents an hour and saved up enough to buy a brand-new bicycle from The Firestone Store for $ 62.50. The bike was equipped with a battery-operated front light, a push-button horn and a red reflector on the back fender. The salesman sent me directly to the police station to register the bike where I purchased a license plate good for a year. It costs one dollar. I was presented with a bicycle road safety booklet.

In those days anyone caught breaking the traffic laws were in deep trouble, especially youngsters. An officer would pull you over, confiscate your bike and give you a ticket. This meant that you had to bring one of your parents to the police station to retrieve your bike. The first ticket was just a warning; after that you paid a fine. I never got a ticket!

Stay safe out there. Always use the bike lanes where possible, signal when changing lanes, do not cover your ears and remember, pedestrians have the right-of-way.

Go online for all important California Bicycle laws.

Skateboards; don’t get me started.

James Francis Gray

Sheldon

Love your coverage and commitment to the community!

I agree and regret the loss of Yolanda Bundy as so many other department heads!   The cost of employee turnover is significant, but how to measure.  Also, any sense of our history

Mike Merewether

Ventura Breeze

I am writing in response to the Article Pension Funds are under funded by Venturans for Responsible and Efficient Gov’t (VREG)

This article is of course another attack on government pensions, and I would like to respond to some of the inaccurate statements that the author made in this article.

He stated that Public Employees can get generous pensions at age 50 to 55. The only public employees that can retire and receive a pension at these ages are safety personnel. You know, those guys and gals that risk their lives as policeman or fireman. All other public employees have to wait until the normal retirement age to receive a pension.

He claims that all proposals to modify the public pension system for new employees have been rejected. This is also a misleading statement. Before he left office Governor Brown signed new legislation that modified public pensions and changed the funding so that the employees pay more into the system. There were other significant changes. I suggest that the author of this article read up on the changes to the public pension system.

I have often heard that the public pension system is like a mortgage it is an obligation that is not all due all at once and is paid overtime. So this “panic” about the unfunded liability is not the crises that is going to bankrupt the State or the city of Ventura in the forcible future.

Respectfully
Jim R. Crow

PS:Yes, I am receiving a pension from a governmental agency

Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.
~ Lewis Carroll

Breeze:

My Opinion on gas prices and taxes is that we are getting screwed…again, and the roads are not getting any better. Folks should pay better attention during midterm elections and not bow down to the promise of road and highway fixes and hope for the best, the last gas tax vote was a huge sham and now we as voters don’t have any recourse, they can now raise the price anytime they want without any say or vote from the consumer. Never mind the refineries. which we have the most of many states. Anytime one has an incident whether in our state or not gas prices go up, troubles in the mideast or just the hint of it sends the price soaring high yet we are the largest exporter? This stupidity is our reality……my opinion of the day.

John Murchison

Editor;

As I stagger through the twilight years of my life, one of my few remaining pleasures was the cornmeal hotcake available exclusively through the Vagabond Coffee Shop here in Ventura. Imagine my shock and horror when I found out they were closing! “Fear not, grumpy old dude,” I was told. “They’ll be back in no time and better than ever.”

Ten months later and…nothing.

As Ventura’s only actual and true local newspaper, I expect the Breeze to get to the bottom of this travesty.

Hungrily,
Alfred J. Lewis

Alfred: Hey, you work for the Breeze you go find out why and inform our readers.
Editor Sheldon

Dear Editor:

How much more direct evidence do we need to accept the facts?

Trump thinks the miscounting of votes, and interference of a foreign power, into our last election, giving him the presidency by mistake, means that he, Trump, has been awarded the United States of America as a gift. One, he can run, and rule, to please himself, and contribute to the wealth, and welfare, of his immediate family.

 It’s like Putin owning Russia. It’s like Saudi Arabia having a house of royalty. Trump counted the votes and decided he had won the lottery. The ownership of the United States.

If other dictators can own countries, then he, Trump, being the best dictator of all, should have control of the U.S. of A.

I’m convinced he believes all this. He is royalty. He is a dictator. He need ask no one, for permission to do anything he wants to do, and no one can challenge his authority.

And his sycophantic followers are letting him get away with all this malarkey.

When does this country wake up and say “enough?” When do we stop letting this nightmare rule the country?

When do we revive our Constitution, and make it work like the founders wrote it?  When do we put down this bratty temper tantrum, and send him to bed without the pacifier he thinks belongs to him.

When?

Es Cole
Ventura, Ca.

The demise of language and manners

Over the last decade or so, there has been a noticeable decline in the use of the English language. It seems that we, as a whole, have gotten lazier, using more slang than appropriate words, and much more language that should not be used in public.

Recently I was at a local restaurant for a quick meal. In the booth between me and a family with two children were two late-teen young men. Throughout the meal their discussion was peppered with impolite language. Not one sentence was uttered that did not contain the F-word or S-word, or both. So unnecessary.

Across the restaurant was a group of six young people who were so loud they were a public nuisance. Half of them were carrying on conversations on their phones in addition, raising their voices to be heard. Not a relaxing meal. I am all for people enjoying each other’s company, but when behavior impacts the entire restaurant, it is simply rude and uncalled for. Everyone deserves the right to enjoy their meal, not just a few.

Maybe it’s just me, but I believe telephone conversations should be in private, not public. Pay attention to those around you and act appropriately. Say please and thank you. Leave the colorful language at home. We all have our issues. We don’t need to add yours.

Whatever happened to polite manners and appropriate language? Apparently, these skills aren’t being made a focus of early learning. Why do we have to accept the sheer laziness and rudeness of others? Don’t they realize it makes them look uneducated and trashy? As much as I fear our present course as a country, I fear our future more, knowing that these young people will someday be our leaders.

Shirley Lorraine
Shirley: Like our President saying B- – -S- – -?

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
~ Alan Wilson Watts

Dear Editor:

Listen to all the voices. Hundreds of voices squealing about

impeachment. Everyone on TV news is parsing that word.

Do we or don’t we? Do we call it impeach? Do we call it an investigation? Does what we call this matter?

Every commentator has advice for the Democrats. Enough already!

Every commentator is so boring. Every commentator makes my fingers itch to change channels. Every channel has a talking head about the wishy, washy Democrats, and the obedient Republicans. Every commentator is irritated that the politicians are not listening to the commentator’s advice.

TV has never been so boring. I used to play games in the street when I was young. I miss those days. I think I’ll go play In the street. If  I’m  limber enough to avoid being hit by a car, that will be way more exciting than listening to dull, carping news commentators.

Your Scamp column is far more informative, and interesting, and entertaining, than those boring talking heads on TV.

I’m going outside; gonna  play tag with moving cars.

E. D. Coleski

E.D. Woof woof

Dear Sheldon, your heartfelt honesty is much needed, you are truly one of Ventura’s gems.
Sincerely
Jay Berkowitz (*no relationship to Avi).
Downtown Ventura.

Thanks Jay but some readers don’t think I’m a gem but a clump of coal.

*Avraham Berkowitz is an American attorney and political adviser, who currently serves as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Advisor to the Senior Advisor in President Donald Trump’s White House.

Editor,

Today I rode my bike down to Mission Park for the Climate Strike event that was happening there. I wore my March for Science t-shirt, took some pictures, and talked to a lot of people before I realized something: I am sick of all of this.

I was involved in what we hippies in Phoenix thought was the first Earth Day. There was no internet (or PC’s or Smart Phones, etc.) so the word was spread by people calling people then people telling people about the day. We called it word-of-mouth communication. There was no formal organization, no central authority. We just showed up one morning at Encanto Park and started picking up trash and putting it in the proper receptacles.

In the past fifty years, I have been a member of the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, Green Peace, and VLT. Fifty years and nothing has changed except that the planet has gotten hotter and more polluted. That is why I am sick of all of this.

I tried to tell a few people that things will continue as they are now if we don’t have the right politicians in place to make changes, politicians who care more about the Earth then Big Energy’s cash, but it was like shouting into the wind. They had their t-shirts, their clever signs, and their righteous indignation and they were sure that this would “save” the planet. I was tempted to clue them in on the fact that man will never destroy the Earth, it will go on no matter what we do; only mankind will be destroyed and, sadly, some of the beautiful animals who share this planet with us.

But maybe that is what is needed, maybe a species reset should happen so maybe a new class of man will arise that will respect our natural resources and work to protect them.

I know that I won’t live to see this or any other end of mankind however it happens, but I still care enough to do the thing now that will help the most: I will vote for candidates who have PROVEN that they give a damn about the planet.

Regards,

John Darling

Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.
~ Robert L. Peters

Sheldon,

What a great idea for our Councilmembers to host quarterly townhall meetings. With the new district election process, it gives our representatives an opportunity to have a local focus balanced with a citywide understanding.

As a fan of CAPS TV Council coverage, I’m wondering if a Councilmember or two will use this forum to hear their constituents’ concerns or simply use it as another platform to hear their own pontification.

It will be interesting to see if the idea gets traction. And the details – how it is communicated, how input for the agenda is solicited, convenient times/locations, etc. how many will actually attend.

I’m wagering that my Councilmember will be on board. During the last campaign, while Erik was canvasing my neighborhood door-to-door, he took 20 minutes to simply stand on the sidewalk and share his thoughts about our district and the city and listen to mine.

If one or two start this practice, I’m sure peer pressure will ‘encourage’ participation. I look forward to your updates on the process and outcome!

Clark K. Galbreath

Dear Breeze

As the former administrator of the Gary J. Channer, DDS Pediatric Dental practice I am delighted to celebrate three generations of Pediatric Dentistry in Ventura.

All this began when my husband Gary Channer, D.D.S. and I came to Ventura 42 years ago and met Dr. David Ashrow, who was the first Pediatric Dentist in Ventura and was one of the first of eight in the United States. Dr. Channer inherited the practice from Dr. Ashrow in 1977 and cared for thousands of children in Ventura County until his retirement in 2004.

Dr. Sunil Ilapogu associated with Dr. Channer in 2004 after having completed his specialty training in pediatric dentistry at Loma Linda Dental School.

Known as Dr. Sunny, the practice is celebrating 15 years of service to the children of Ventura County.

One of Sunny Smiles staff, Anita is celebrating 36 years with the office, Kathy celebrating 20 years, and Dr. John Khalaf , their Pediatric Dental Anesthesiologist has been with the practice for 20 years.

Patti Channer

Dear Editor:

When has Donald Trump asked for permission to do anything he feels like doing, or taking, or spending. He does it, and all his enablers fall in line.

This behavior is so much like the Nazi’s who fell in line behind Hitler. Hitler yelled, and the population said, “Heil. Hitler.”

The German people at that time might have had a good reason — they had been starved, and their country ravaged by the time Hitler showed up to make the trains run on time.

Trumps enablers, have no such live and death excuses.

They all are wanna be Trumps. Wanna be rich. Wanna live in penthouse suites. Wanna play golf 7 days a week.

Wanna make up our own golf scores.

Whatever you wanna do, if The Donald does it, it must be OK to follow suit.

I was under the impression that the people of the United States of American were independent, patriotic, generous, and even, at times, intelligent.

Where have all these remarkable Americans been these last couple of years?

If those were the Good Old Days, then I’m ready to go back.

I’d prefer, however, to go forward. Forward under our own collective ability to be democratic, generous, and wise.

Sincerely yours,
Esther Cole, Ventura

When I was young, people used to say to me: Wait until you’re fifty, you’ll see.
I am fifty. I haven’t seen anything.
~ Erik Satie

Breeze:

Eight new people found us (Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group) because of you and that beautiful spot you had us on page 11 in the July-Aug edition of the fabulous Ventura Breeze, and we had over 60 attend!! You knocked it out of the park for us – thank you so much again!

Patty Jenkins

Hi Sheldon,

Wonder if anyone else has noticed the following situation?  Perhaps you could bring it to the attention of the appropriate department.

The traffic signal at the intersection of Kimball Road and Blackburn Road causes some confusion.

If you are exiting from the westbound 126, the freeway offramp brings you to this intersection.  For motorists wishing to make a left turn from the westbound 126 offramp onto Kimball Road, when the signal turn green, it is a solid green light (which would normally mean they must yield to oncoming traffic).   There is no indication that the oncoming traffic from Blackburn Road has a red light, so drivers who are unfamiliar with the signal pattern may be hesitant to make the left turn onto northbound Kimball Road.  If there was a green left-turn arrow to indicate that this is a protected left turn (in addition to the solid green light) it would help eliminate uncertainty and improve traffic flow.

CW Ventura

Mayor:

You claim to be looking out for all of Ventura. However, you do not care for the seniors in your area. As a senior in a 55 and older park, I see us getting the shaft on a daily basis from park owners. Do you know some?

You claimed to want to help during your election for mayor-now you are there, you do not want anything to do with us. City Council and rent review board turn us down at every corner.

There seems to be a bias against seniors. We vote and pay taxes like most everyone else. Can you say you care about seniors? It is very obvious you do not care for the elderly. Now you want a promotion to Supervisor?

Ralph Trigo Ventura

Ralph: As usual we try to receive a response from the city regarding letters. This is from the Mayor.

Mr. Trigo,

I am sorry you feel like I don’t care about you and Ventura’s seniors. I think it’s important you know about all of the important steps myself and my colleagues on the Ventura City Council have taken to support seniors.

I personally have spent more than 30 hours meeting with leaders from the various park resident councils, and based on the feedback I received, my city council colleagues and I voted to strengthen our rent control ordinance by adding new disclosures that require Park owners to better inform potential tenants about their rent control rights.

We have also strengthened our rent control oversight board, which now has more frequent meetings than ever before. And lastly, we just invested over $225,000 to develop a senior strategic plan, which the city council hopes to utilize in order to provide the best possible resources to our City’s seniors. To me, it is imperative we support our city’s seniors.

— Mayor Matt LaVere

Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present.
~ George Washington

Dear Sheldon,

It was sad to hear in one of your recent editor’s remarks that you feel that you should (for reasons of appearing ‘non-partisan’) refrain from voicing your opinions about important issues that affect all of us, and about the criminals in our government currently who are kidnapping & caging children (without keeping records, properly caring for the children or caring about reuniting them with their children short of a court order), using our Dept. of Justice to curtail investigations, cut off access to important (Mueller) report information, destroying the effectiveness of our environmental and food-protection agencies (etc.), just because a few Trumpenstein Monsters come at you personally for your comments. 

Your voice (as a producer/editor of local news & opinion) is a very important one. Always remember that trying to ‘kill the messenger’ is about all the game the RedPutinCons have left. They know that they cannot defend themselves (or the RedPutinCons in power currently) so all they have left is to attack Americans who care about the rule of law and decent treatment of children as dangerous ‘Socialists’ or ‘Liberals’, never minding the fact that our Constitution is a liberal document and socialism has been the American economic model for this country since the 1st contract went out to build & fund the 1st fire station, police station and hydro-electric dam. Capitalism is just a term created by corporations & investors to advance their fascist ideology, when in fact without their (corporate welfare) socialist govt. (mostly military) contracts, most of these wonderful ‘capitalist’ corporations would cease to exist. 

So please speak up and speak out against fascism, mistreatment of children & the elderly and of our environment and food & water inspections (etc.) as often as you’d like, and call your detractors what they are; angry RedPutinCons with a political agenda to destroy all opposing opinions in this country. 

If we lose people like you (from speaking out) we lose the game. Period. 

Thanks for speaking your mind,

Sean T. Turner

Sean: If I keep changing my mind about speaking out I could end up with one that doesn’t work. Oh, what to do?
Sheldon

Hi, Sheldon

1) Re: July 31 – August 13

Opinion/Editorial where Britain’s ambassador described Trump, etc. I loved your editorial comment! Not my comment, I would never comment about Trump some readers get upset.

2) I have a number of friends who live in Santa Paula that I bring The Breeze to. They wonder why copies aren’t distributed to Santa Paula locations. Of course, I have no answer.

The answer is too far to pay a delivery person to take there. Do you work cheaply?

3) Re: Shirley Lorraine’s theater reviews; they are awesome. I happened to sit next to her at the Rubicon. She is definitely a “Woman of Many Talents” as printed on her business card.

Judith Beay

Sheldon,

What a great idea for our Councilmembers to host quarterly townhall meetings. With the new district election process, it gives our representatives an opportunity to have a local focus balanced with a citywide understanding.

As a fan of CAPS TV Council coverage, I’m wondering if a Councilmember or two will use this forum to hear their constituents’ concerns or simply use it as another platform to hear their own pontification.

It will be interesting to see if the idea gets traction. And the details – how it is communicated, how input for the agenda is solicited, convenient times/locations, etc. how many will actually attend.

I’m wagering that my Councilmember will be on board. During the last campaign, while Erik was canvasing my neighborhood door-to-door, he took 20 minutes to simply stand on the sidewalk and share his thoughts about our district and the city and listen to mine.

If one or two start this practice, I’m sure peer pressure will ‘encourage’ participation. I look forward to your updates on the process and outcome!

I’m too shy to put my name in the paper.

Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies.
~ Albert Camus

Dear Sheldon Brown, Editor, Ventura Breeze,

Planting trees is the most effective and aesthetic way to restore soil, reduce heat islands and air pollution, and pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. If the VC2040 General Plan sets a goal to plant and maintain a million trees by 2030, what is the goal for the city of Ventura? Ventura City’s Tree Committee can partner with a proposed new Ventura County Tree Committee to assure success and ecological benefits from planting trees. At one point in the 1980’s there were less than two dozen condors. The hatching of the 1000th California Condor chick tells a story, that if we work together—such as planting a million trees this decade—our county will be better for decades to come. 

Patrick Makiri

Breeze

Let Ventura Lead on All-Electric New Homes

The housing shortage is a major priority. With the solution of building more homes is an opportunity to design homes for transition away from natural gas that risks explosions, pollutes air, and accelerates the pace of global climate change. Replacing natural gas with electricity in single family homes can reduce a homeowner’s carbon footprint as much as 90%! Ventura can make sure that no new homes have the added expense of gas connections. New home construction costs are an average $6,000 less with no gas connection. There are efficient all-electric options for heating, water heating, and cooking. Operating and other costs for the new all-electric home owner will be $130 to $540 less per year with better air quality and zero risk of fires or explosions.

Homes with solar, battery storage, and smart circuit breakers can shed load during peak high-priced hours and assure flexible, economical backup power in a black-out. The city can also require new homes to cut water use in half with tankless on-demand water heaters, rain collection and gray water for the garden and various equipment and strategies promoted by the city’s Sustainable Ventura.

We immediately need to ask the County Supervisors to assure that the Ventura County General Plan Update requires zero-emission, all-electric, water conservation design for all new construction. The city doesn’t need to wait for a General Plan Update. Santa Rosa and Berkeley just banned gas connections in new home construction. Make Ventura the first city in the county to accelerate the transition to safe, sustainable, less expensive housing by passing such an ordinance now.

Jan Dietrick

Ventura Breeze

RE: Ventura Moments: We Are So Very (Very) Lucky.

Reading the pretentious, tumid article in the July 3rd issue with passive amusement, I couldn’t help but wonder if the writer, was living in a dream world or, perhaps, referring to Ventura pre-1980.

“It could be argued that our lives are a vacation, with work, chores and errands thrown in.” Non arguable however, is that engaging in these endeavors is severely blemished by the appalling, ever-increasing traffic melee one faces every day of the week.

Ventura’s “Planning” Commission seems specifically focused on lining the coffers with real estate dollars. Have we not noticed the plethora of new condominiums under construction? And when this new housing attracts newcomers to taste of our “kaleidoscopic culture and simple pleasures”, traffic, congestion will’ exponentially, increase. Not to mention straining our critical water supply during drought periods. Ventura’s goal: “If there’s an open piece of ground, build on it!”

“people who want to see Ventura stay the special place it is.” Indeed.

R.J. Quirk
Ventura

Dear Mr. Brown,

Strong pesticide regulation should be part of the Ventura County 2040 General Plan. There has been little effort at the state or federal level to prohibit the use of pesticides such as chlorpyrifos, which has been proven to cause brain damage in children.

There is no reason to expose farm workers, their families, or the public to these dangerous chemicals. The county should take the lead on this issue, since there is a lack of impetus from state and federal agencies.

Farmers can control pests naturally by using biologically integrated pest control methods. Doing so would ensure the safety of our food supply, as well as ensuring the health and safety of farm workers and their families.

Kristen Kessler

It’s hard to lose a mother-in-law. In fact it’s almost impossible.
~ W.C. Fields