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

Dear Sheldon Brown,

As a fellow citizen dedicated to the cause of climate justice and resilience, I hope you will urge your readers to speak out as the County Supervisors decide what to include in the Draft General Plan and Climate Action Plan on August 6 at 1:30.  Many individuals and groups have proposed policies addressing climate change impacts–the increased intensity of droughts, heat waves, floods, and wildfires that scientists have forecast–through development of more local, resilient and secure food, water and energy resources.  Most importantly, the Planning Commission recommended creation of an office of climate action to direct all county agencies as they implement climate action policies.  An outpouring of public support will ensure this recommendation is given the serious consideration it deserves.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Wheeler

Ventura Citizen

At this time the VC Planning Department announced that the General Plan Update will be on the agenda of the regular open session of the Board of Supervisors on August 6 starting at 1:30. Written comment about the Preliminary Draft, available at vc2040.org, can be sent in advance to the Supervisors addressed to [email protected] and copy [email protected]. The August 6 meeting will be a chance to submit comment cards and make public open verbal comment. There may be so many people wanting to comment that the time limit could be one minute (usual maximum is three minutes). 

Location: Board of Supervisors Chamber, Administration Building, VC Government Center, 800 Victoria Ave, Ventura CA 93003. 

Call Susan Curtis planner coordinating development of the General Plan Update. [email protected].   805-654-2497

Ventura Breeze:

President Donald Trump said that a teleprompter mishap led to his much-mocked July 4th flub in which he talked about defending airports during the American Revolution.

“The teleprompter went out,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House . “It just went out – it went kaput.”

During his Independence Day speech paying tribute to the military, Trump began talking about air defenses during the American Revolution, which took place more than a century before the invention of the airplane.

“Our Army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports,” Trump said of the fighting force created by the Continental Congress in 1775.

There was no air travel in 18th Century America.

Larry Etod-Ventura

Larry:

We are shocked at his lack of revolution history. He did not mention that the air-force dropped 2 atom bombs on England which helped bring the conflict to an end.

Editor

Looking at game shows and man-on-the-street TV programs it is painfully apparent that the Citizens of the USA do not know their own history. This is clearly a problem with the educational system and the way American History is  presented to the students. This is a problem that needs to be addressed.  I believe that just pointing out a problem is one thing, but every time you do this, you should also point out solutions, low cost, way to solve the problem.
One idea would be to run a well drawn and researched comic strip  or media cartoon, to tell the story of America. It should be an honest picture of our past that would show both heroes and villains, done in an entertaining way. It would be a “cliff notes” introduction to the story that is America. It should run in the press for one year –to cover from the first landing of Europeans to the present age. It is a sad day  when young people do not know who we fought in World Wars I and II.
This might be a way to solve this education gap with the public.

Richard Senate Ventura

Richard: Swell idea, do you know a cartoonist that would do this for nothing? Maybe the ghost of Paul Conrad?

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs
and returns home to find it.
~ George Moore

Correction:

In our last issue we had an article about the goats clearing the land behind the Golden China. The contacts weren’t quite correct, here they are.
https://www.venturabrushgoats.com/
https://facebook.com/venturabrushgoats/

Dear Editor:

“They got what they deserved.” That’s what I hear, when the anti-immigrant individuals talk about the two innocents, who died, trying to reach the United States.

Where’s the compassion? Where are the heartaches.? Not on this side of the border. These are the people who mimic Trump’s policy of keeping immigrants out of our country. The people who implement Trump’ policies. 

“Sad story, but not our fault. They wanna come here? Sorry, not enough room.”

What would our country be like, without the mix, and talent, and hard work, of all immigrants, from all parts of the world?

Maybe our First Americans would be in charge. Interesting idea.

I know our first Americans had big hearts. Willing to share what they had.

They did not sneer at immigrants.

Esther Cole, Ventura

Dear Editor, 

Bravo to the women on the Ventura City Council for preserving the city’s participation in the Clean Power Alliance for the majority of its electricity accounts. They understand that the Clean Power Alliance offers more value in terms of transparency and local control. The city’s electricity bill payments to Clean Power Alliance stimulate the supply of more clean energy that is increasingly local in comparison with a future in which taxpayers’ money goes to Edison shareholders and long-distance transmission investments that we don’t need, that should be replaced by distributed generation. Leaders who support Clean Power Alliance understand that it is the most aggressive path to lessen the negative impacts of climate change. 

We seriously need that kind of leadership in Congress as well. Bipartisanship is needed to pass such solutions. This month’s relaunch of the Climate Solutions Caucus is a hopeful sign in that Republicans and Democrats can find common ground for solving climate change, making it a bridge issue rather than a wedge issue. Representative Salud Carbajal makes everything a bridge issue, especially climate. He joined the original Climate Solutions Caucus as soon as he arrived in Congress in 2017. Representative Julia Brownley could also join the caucus.  We have many local women leaders who are putting climate as the priority concern and pulling together to quickly arrive at solutions that reduce the risk of climate change.

Jan Dietrick

Letters:

A federal judge recently blocked President Donald Trump from tapping into Defense Department funds to build parts of his US-Mexico border wall.

Judge Haywood Gilliam of the Northern District of California blocked the administration from moving forward with specific projects in Texas and Arizona, saying Trump couldn’t disburse the funds without congressional approval. The lawsuit that prompted the ruling was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the plaintiffs, the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition.

Thank you

Charles Burn Ojai

As long as there is algebra there will be prayer in school.
~ Larry Miller

Dear Editor:

What a waste of time, energy, and insults. Trump hears nothing he doesn’t want to hear. He loves street fights. He loves slinging mud, and other matter, just for the sake of making noise.

The, only, way to make Trump uneasy, is to ignore him. He doesn’t exist. He isn’t worth an iota of attention, or awareness. Trump is a nothing.

One treats nothing by doing nothing, saying nothing.

S. Douglas

S: Wait a minute didn’t you just write about not writing about him by writing about him?

Dear Sheldon,

I disagree with your opinion that gun show should be allowed at the County Fairgrounds. To do so so soon after the recent shootings in Thousand Oaks shows a desensitization and insensitivity to this critical issue of contemporary Society.

Regarding Beay letter to Breeze on June 18, 2019. Excellent and concise. Why are government and religious entities involved in our personal health care decisions?

Lou Vigorita Ventura

Dear Editor:

I am writing to commend a teacher, Sheila Bartsch, who has passionately taken up the torch to teach tolerance and the benefits of diversity to her 2nd grade students. Ms. Bartsch teaches at Pierpont Elementary. She has been an educator in the district for 25 years. It began when Sheila happened upon a book titled, “My Totally Intolerable Blocks.” She was impressed with the book not only because of its message, but also because it was written by sixteen-year-old, first time author, Emily Ford, who was abandoned at birth in a remote village in China because of her sex. This young author wrote the book specifically to teach tolerance and the benefits of diversity to young children using the personification of a child’s block set. (go to www.raisingtolerance.com for more info)

Sheila Bartsch read Emily’s book and immediately recognized utility in the author’s story. Consequently, she decided to use the book as a springboard to discuss bullying behavior and the importance of tolerance to her young students. Ms. Bartsch’s passion for teaching these social values summoned her creative side which was natural given that she also holds a degree in Art History. Since reading the book, Sheila has developed novel methods of how the author’s book can inspire children to appreciate their differences and work together as a team for the common good of everyone.

Sheila Bartsch should be recognized for her efforts, for her passionate teaching, and immense creativity. As a result of Sheila’s enthusiasm, the author donated thirty books to Pierpont Elementary School. By example, Sheila Bartsch has not only encouraged this young author to continue to proclaim her passion for diversity, she also reminds adults that it is the responsibility of every one of us to teach tolerance to our youth. Thank you Sheila Bartsch for going the extra mile. You are to be commended!

April Marano

Sheldon:

Thank you for your great local paper.  You asked a question, “Why are Christian conservatives against abortion?”

The answer is that we Christians/Catholics/Episcopalians believe that life begins at conception and the Mother is carrying her baby boy or baby girl, a son or a daughter, and we do not believe in murder of the innocent children.

A good local pro-life group that saves babies is Life Choices Pregnancy Clinic of the Ojai Valley.  Check out their website.

The movie “Unplanned” at Collection theater was excellent, a true story about a former Planned Parenthood Clinic Director.

Betsey and John Stewart IV.

Ventura Keys

Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can.
~ Elsa Maxwell

Breeze:

When I moved to Ventura five years ago, I played tourist and visited the local landmarks.  I was enchanted by the beauty and serenity of the Olivas Adobe. So I signed up for the training to lead tours and discovered the parallels between the owner of Rancho San Miguel and the State of California. It is a miracle that the Adobe has survived.  I also have a lot of fun and made many friends.

Unfortunately, many of our long time volunteers are no longer able to lead tours.  We really need more people to become docents.  The training is three hour long orientation meeting, reading a book about the adobe and Olivas family, and finally, shadowing a current docent.

We have a meeting once a month.  Our tours are on Saturdays and Sundays, and each tour guide signs up to lead tours one day a month.  If you love history, love to tell stories, and think it might be fun to dress in a costume, we have a fun place for you!  The Olivas Adobe is truly a treasure for Ventura that needs to be shared with the community. For more information, or to volunteer, call Joanne Abing at 805- 644-4586.

Patricia McNeese

Dear Mr. Brown,
In your recent op-ed, you claim that same-sex marriage should be ok, because it does not harm anyone.
The very next paragraph you basically espouse pro-choice, and abortion. You wonder why Christians would be against this. Maybe it’s because we believe it does harm to someone! The pro life Catholic teachings are much more consistent than your pick and choose style. Pro life from conception to death. Try to pick it apart, you can’t,
God bless, sir.
Paul Caron

Paul:
Won’t even try to pick apart. Thanks for your thoughts.

Editor:

Why are we allowing the government and religious entities to be involved in our personal healthcare decisions?

MY decisions about my body are mine alone to make!  As a Unitarian Universalist, I am respectful of other women’s decisions about their healthcare choices.

It is also important to use accurate terminology:  a fertilized ovum is not a baby, a zygote is not a baby; an embryo is not a baby; a fetus is not a baby until it is viable. An acorn is not a tree.

In my opinion, those who call themselves, “Pro-Life” are merely “Pro-Birth”. Their policies often do not support care for these babies.  For example, many women without insurance cannot receive prenatal care.  Food supplement programs are under constant attack, as are childcare and early educational programs.

Bottom line, government and religious entities should not be involved in interfering or controlling women’s bodies or in their healthcare decisions.

Judith A. Beay Ventura

Letter To Editor

Brother John, age 81,lives in the family home in Wilkes-Barre Pa. got word that he was having dizzy spells and admissions to the hospital emergency room.

I flew to Pa to see if I could help . John was okay but the doctor said he should not drive.

On Primary day 5/2119 I drove him the poll so he could vote. At his polling place they had coffee and cookies for the voter. Wow.

The young people outside the poll were eager to talk politics/voting. They told me they were disappointed with elected officials on all levels

There are 200,000 registered voters in John’s County (Luzerne) and generally 20% voted in the primary.

They told me they wanted accountability over the elected officials. It was discussed that the federal debt last year was $800 billion. (More spent than raised in taxes).

On idea brought up was to make Congress (Senators and Representatives) balance the budget by only spending the amount raised in taxes. If that was not done then the pay of the Senators and Representatives would be cut by 10% for the next year. One young girl said that if they did it twice in a row they should be barred from running for office in the next term If you have any thoughts about these ideas send me a note George Benz

P O Box 828 Oxnard, Ca, 93032 or e-mail my brother at JOHN@IAM JOHN
GALT.US or e-mail me at [email protected]

“If people don’t want us outside, then where should we go?”
~ Andy Grabarkiewicz Venice homeless resident

Dear Editor,

Donald Trump wants to celebrate the 4th of July on the steps of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Statue.

Abraham Lincoln, an outstanding president of the United States. His greatest achievement was helping to free the slaves. A terrible, dark, and cruel, part of our past. Free men and women had been abducted from parts of Africa, and brought to the United States and sold into slavery. The additional horror, was our Civil War, killing thousands of Americans.

Donald Trump has done nothing, to make him worthy, of, even, looking up at the carved face of Abraham Lincoln. Donald Trump is responsible for the deaths of children. He is responsible for dividing families seeking a peaceful home, in the United States.

Donald Trump, who was elected, illegally, with the help of a foreign power, is the least worthy president — or, in my opinion, the least worthy human being, to stand,  near a statue of Abraham Lincoln.

Appalled,

Esther Cole, Ventura

Editor:

Hundreds of former federal prosecutors are saying they believe President Trump would have been indicted in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe for obstruction of justice if he weren’t president.

Their statement argues the Justice Department’s policy of not indicting sitting presidents is the reason Trump avoided prosecution.

They stated “Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice.”

Charles Baker Ventura

Ventura City Council:

The correct way to challenge the “Status Quo” is to address the inconsistency of “private sector vs. public sector” employee benefits.

Defined Benefit Plans (DBP) are practically non-existent in private industry. Businesses began eliminating them in the late 1980’s.  Private sector employees are unlikely to have DBPs again. Businesses do not want the risks associated with DBPs. So Private sector employees use 401k plans to fund their own retirement.

For the most part DBPs are only found in the case of government employees. Thus, we have the very unfair situation of private sector employees having to pay taxes to support public employees. Private sector employees cannot afford to pay for a benefit that they do not have.

Elected politicians have lacked courage to terminate DBPs in the public sector. Why? Public Employee Unions have waged campaigns against politicians who have tried to remove or weaken their DBPs.

Since Councilmembers are unlikely to remove the DBP, Councilmembers might consider putting this before the people. The Citizens of Ventura would like the opportunity to vote on a full array of DBP options (including termination, funding, etc., etc.).

Kindest regards,

Charles Spraggins, M.B.A.,

Breeze:

We should praise the three members of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors for approving the Habitat and Wildlife Ordinance (4537) that will protect 163,000 acres of county rural and suburban land from reckless mismanagement and over development (VC Star, May 12, 2019).

Mining interests, developers, and ranchers want to fence off, clear, and also build on areas that are known corridors for wild animal passage between our remaining open space and riparian land that lead into the Los Padres Forest. These passages are ancient, known for ages by many species large and small. We need to carefully regulate these remaining wild zones within our urbanizing county.

The ordinance does not set permanent and fixed protections. Business and development interests (CoLab and CalCIMA) want existing policy to govern them, but that does not assure these sensitive and essential pathways will remain. The new Ordinance requires more detailed and elaborate permits in order to change them.

From mountain lions to condors to snowy plovers, from red-legged frogs to arroyo toads to dozens of plants even our semi-healthy habitats are constraining them. This can draw them closer to our shopping malls and highways and housing tracts, which should not “step out” into open space. These increase the threat to all animals needing undisturbed habitats and unblocked or narrowed paths when they are on the move. New “roads in the woods” only intensify threats to their healthy survival.

I wrote in the national magazine, American Scientist (September-October 2017, “Suburban Stalkers”) about my reservations for building big new expensive causeways over freeways. They might avoid traffic deaths of animals following their instincts but they also bring new animals from the hinterland into suburbia, give reckless people a chance to use them however prohibited– and they cost millions.

By regulating existing open space in the form of corridors, pathways and land around streams and rivers, we provide for the health of local animals at the reasonable cost of requiring development to take it easy. They would have to provide more elaborate plans and studies of their proposed impacts so we can decide how much more of the county we want to give over to our own species. Our near-insatiable grab of natural resources does need stiffer regulation—our own survival depends on it.

Robert Chianese. Ph. D.

The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous
to a control system set-up by the non-dreamers.
~ William S. Burroughs

Breeze:

Now the USA isn’t the only country being led by a comedian. Ukrainians overwhelmingly voted to make a comedian their next president — ushering in a new era of politics in the struggling country.

Volodymyr Zelensky, a famous comedian who portrayed Ukraine’s head of state for years on a popular comedy show, defeated the incumbent president, Petro Poroshenko, who had been in power since 2014.

Zelensky won a staggering 73 percent of the vote. Poroshenko conceded the race not long after polls closed.

William Green Ventura

Breeze

I have been going to VCMC since I retired. I get a yearly check-up and report that I am very healthy, physically and mentally.  My one complaint is when I go to get blood drawn the waiting room’s TV has Fox News on!!!!!

Considering that VCMC is a ‘teaching hospital’ and for them to ‘advertise’ falsehood and lies on the TV viewing is abhorrent.

I would assume that VCMC is a non-partisan organization. Maybe they should be showing a nature show or something of educational value. I wonder who in VCMC would be the contact person that would take my request seriously?

Diane Garber

Diane:

If you keep watching Fox News you may not stay healthy.

Venturans:

I am writing this and sharing it as widely as I can. My hope is to inform as many people about the false claims and faulty planning by the City of Ventura Water Dept staff.

The first claim: there is a water shortage

There is not a water shortage. The city has multiple sources that are and can meet the city demand. The fact is the City Water Dept staff have and are acting in manners that reduces the water availability to our users in a manner that allows them to falsely claim a shortage.

Currently there is a surface flow in the Ventura River, going by within 15 feet of the abandoned surface diversion facility. That is nearly 20 times the current amount of water the city is using daily. This river water is the cheapest and highest quality water available to our users. If it was being produced into the system the use of the much lower quality deep well water that is in distress as a supply could be reduced and everyone would be better off.

The second claim: city is caught up in and forced by legal restraints and settlements

The city allowing and conceding to a legal settlement on the estuary was a total theft of city water resources. The fact is there would not be an estuary if the city didn’t put its’ tertiary treated effluent in there to begin with. Based on the latest costs estimates the City could have easily permitted and built an ocean outfall instead of wasting what will be hundreds of millions of dollars on their WaterPure experiment that has no chance of ever being permitted for potable use.

The amount of water already spent on this boon-doggle could have built multiple reverse osmosis facilities to make currently available groundwater available and of higher quality of any source the city currently is using.

The full story on that issue is being completely hidden from the current population of the city even though those in authority at the City Council and Water Commission are in full knowledge of such legal standing.

Joseph Richardson Production supervisor City of Ventura water 1985-1992

Editor:

As I ride my bike around the City of Ventura, it is a bone-jarring, near rim-busting experience.  When I drive my car around the City of Ventura, it is a near axle-breaking and tire-popping experience.  Trying to dodge all the potholes and ruts may someday get me pulled over by the Ventura Police Department who will surely think I am drunk due to all the weaving around, but after I explain my actions to the officer he or she will let me go because they have to drive on our crumbling and decaying streets, too.

The bottom line is that our streets are an embarrassment.  They look like they belong in a third-world country and not in an ocean side town.  I am sure that their total disrepair has caused more than a few accidents and plenty of undercarriage damage.  So at least the body and repair shops are benefiting from the city’s neglect.

As I go around, I also see no work being done on the streets outside of an occasional pot-hole filling crew which is like putting a band aid on gunshot wound.

When I fill up my car with overpriced gasoline made more expensive by crushing taxes, I wonder where all that tax money is going?  Whose pockets is it lining? Have payoffs have been made?   I have no answers.

All I know now is that it is nt going towards street repairs and everyone who lives here and pays their taxes need to be up in arms about this dereliction of duty by the city politicians and bureaucrats who dole out our tax money.  

Regards,

John Darling

Ventura Breeze

It’s time to resurrect the GOP mantra; “Let’s make him a one-term president”! However, the “him” has changed! Can the Democrats unite to defeat the current president who only represents and has the support of about 40% of Americans?

There are so many qualified Democratic candidates. In my opinion, Joe Biden is the best person to defeat “Him” and make “Him” a one term president. And, once “He” is out of office, the Justice Departments (federal and state) can finally do their job and make “Him”

accountable for obstruction of justice as president and tax/business irregularities.

Let’s support Biden and whichever strong Vice President is selected. I believe the Dems can finally “drain the swamp”, which has doubled under this administration.

Judith A. Beay

No matter how old you get, if you keep the desire to be creative, you’re keeping the man child alive.
~ John Cassavetes