Hi Sheldon,
Great article in your paper today (3-9) about human trafficking!
Smiles, Tammy Morrell
Love-Zoe.com

These binoculars were left in Ventura. If you can tell us where and they are yours let very honest Trevor know at [email protected].

Ventura Wave
Ventura is a mornings journey off the coast.
A wooden pier that navigates out to the islands, As the seagulls return through a Pacific inlet, On arrival with wings, they return our tide.
Their gully horn is a captain’s bellow,
“Leave our shores; we arrive with ocean orders.
As a coastal breeze flutters in from the sea,
Our sandy shores animate Ventura past Dawn.
The seagulls drawl in the perfect wave.
by Jeff Russell

Forecasting is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.
~ Edgar Fiedler

Mr. Editor:

You are too easy on Trump. He is a complete A-hole— amazingly incompetent. Also, your review of guns is insufficient. We need constitutional amendment to really limit guns. No chance of course, but worth the battle, thanks for your little paper.

Robert A. Lombardi an old guy.

Robert:
I can’t argue with a person who agrees with me. Trump fans certainly don’t.
Sheldon
Old guys rule

Ocean Communication

Morning will linger, supposing the Dawn.
It prefers the low tide in search of sunrise,
Where never seen colors tint ocean waters.
Ventura invites us to look for the new day.
So we hold on to the Pacific with an ocean anchor,
The coastal shores have enduring views,
As the evening paints, the colors in dusk,
It carves the crescent moon in sunset blue.
A swell is a modest impression of the ocean,
The open passage of rare sea images,
When tiny creatures are the unexpected visit,
A meaningful way to communicate with the ocean floor.

by Jeff Russell

We use 10% of our brains. Imagine how much we could accomplish if we use the other 60.
~ Ellen DeGeneres

Sheldon:

I don’t know if you remember this, but years ago in your Opinion/Editorial you made a comment, almost a throwaway, about how Council members should speak to every item, but one wasn’t doing that. At the time, I figured you meant xxxxxxxxxx, who had just been elected and seemed hellbent on keeping his mouth shut.

I can tell you, I was at the YMCA, sitting on a couch at the entrance, when I read that. It was a turning point for me in how I saw Council’s role. You were absolutely right, and it was so blindingly obvious, but it wasn’t something I’d ever considered. It played a part in my decision to run, and how to run.

Not a meeting has gone by since — before I ran, and now that I serve on Council — that I haven’t viewed Council’s deliberations through that lens. It hasn’t always endeared me to my colleagues, or to staff, but it has given me a clear purpose.

Every time I open my mouth and speak to an item, no matter the scale or scope, that’s because of you. So thank you.

Mike Johnson Councilmember – District 3

Mike: Wow I never thought I had very much influence. Now the council will get mad at me when you “open your mouth.”

Five out of four people have trouble with fractions.
~ Steven Wright

I’m on a seafood diet. I see food, I eat it.
~ Dolly Parton

Opinions

Let me get this straight Sheldon, if I park somewhere, lock my car, leave some valuables inside, somehow I deserve to have my car broken into? Did you spend some time in the Soviet Union?
Ted Rose

Ted:

I assume your question regarding “I deserve” is rhetorical. You obviously don’t deserve to have your car broken into. In a perfect world you could even leave valuables in your unlocked car, banks could leave their doors open after they close, packages left on front porches wouldn’t get stolen. But, I’m afraid this very very far from being a perfect world. If it was people wouldn’t have stormed the capitol.

No, I have never spent time in the Soviet Union and not sure what that question even means (by the way the Soviet Union hasn’t existed since 1991). My grandparents were Russian Jews does that count?

Sheldon

Breeze:

Ventura Harbor experienced unpredictable currents and damaging surges following a massive undersea volcanic eruption near the Pacific Nation of Tonga on Saturday, January 15, 2022.

Daniel Wall, City Emergency Services Manager shared at the Ventura City Council Meeting of January 24, 2022 that he had received a call at 6:15am from the Office of Emergency Services advising him that Ventura would experience a 20 centimeter increase in water level at the Ventura Harbor and “we should be aware and let people be aware.

The event created a significant amount of damage: 24 residential docs were destroyed, a Harbor Master Patrol boat sank due to the tide and swift moving water. It presented itself as a mild event and turned into a pretty significant event”.

Mr. Wall proclaimed that this was considered a State of Emergency. It was shocking to also learn that Emergency Services found that “the Tsunami Monitor in the Harbor was not working and this will result in that being repaired, whatever that particularly means”.

Needless to say, this brought to mind the events of the Thomas Fire and what did not work during that catastrophic event.

Patti Channer

Are you an amateur cartoonist? Send your cartoon to
[email protected]

I’m tired all this nonsense about beauty being only skin deep.
That’s deep enough. What do you want and adorable pancreas?
~ Jean Kerr

Breeze:

First I would like to say how much I like the Breeze for local information. I moved to Ventura in 2005 and subscribed to the Star for local information and goings on until they kept cutting back on local info. I stopped my subscription when the Star had the same info as the LA Times. But then I found you. I retired here to be in a small town and was interested in everything Ventura. Keep up the good work!

In that vein I would like to offer two suggestions for improvement to your most recent Editorial.  The paragraph on Julia Brownley begs the question if she lost the cities of Ventura and Ojai who is going to represent them?  If it is still to be determined why not say so? And secondly in the paragraph on permits and approvals, if you do not like the huge amount of multi-unit projects on Thompson a sentence or two to say why would be informative.

Keep up your good work. I look forward to each informative edition.

Dennis Watson

Dennis: Regarding Julia Brownley her term here will end in January, 2023 so still with us for a year. At that time Salud Carbajal will take over.

Regarding the proliferation of very expensive condos ($800,000 and up) I’m concerned about the additional cars and the gentrification of Ventura to exclude folks that need to work here but can’t afford to live here and the diversity of our population.

Breeze:
This Covid sickness is like nothing I have ever had before. Lots of body pains (mostly lower back). Coughing and aches. Hard to sleep. I feel weak as a kitten. Last night was the worst. It keeps changing on you. But, I am going to rest as much as I can. Going to let it run its way though me.
Richard Senate

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.
~ John Barton

Dear Sheldon,

Thank you for publishing The Power of Kindness by Visit Ventura in the Dec 29 – Jan 11 issue of the Ventura Breeze. And thank you to the author for the extra light and joy your article brought to my day. It feels like an invitation to choose kindness, something we all can do.

Carrie Calvert

Breeze:

I posted on Next Door my praise for the intense rain we have had in our area after years of severe drought. We got close to 8 inches in two weeks in two bog storms. It has struck a chord with people who also feel elevated by the rain, though it will not end the drought. It has helped lift my mood, maybe yours too.

This rain and wind and cold may be the results of an erratic Atmospheric River streaming over our area. And others want to assure us it’s not a drought buster. OK, I get it.

But do we all get how wonderful this rain is, with gutters and curbs running with water, the barrancas roaring, creeks and rivers flowing, the slick weighted trees bending from the wet, the puddled lawns and gardens and the drenched hillsides and mud-covered roads through them, with the wild animals wet and happy?

This will perk up every living animal and plant, and it perks up me and I hope you too. We will get a spring wildflower bloom, new sprouts of everything, and revived trees and softer ground for the barrage of gophers.

It does not wash away the gloom of 2021, but this river of rain clouds lifted a mood cloud from me, and I am looking out our windows and not worrying that the dry hot winds may never stop.

They have for now, as this uplifting crescendo drowns out the drone of woes, at least for a spell. Hail glorious rain, we welcome you!

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

website: https://islandviewmedia.net

New Year Reflection

Our coastal light that turns crescent,
Gestures, the clouds to daydream on the moon,
The tide gathers to push out the fog,
An evening drizzle leaves a mist on New Years.

Proceeds to create a lunar calendar,
The moon is overshadowed  with damp skies,
Our suns early douse of golden colors,
Rinses it clear on a Ventura Morning.

The ocean reflection is New Years best view.

by Jeff Russell

Are you an amateur cartoonist? Send your cartoon to
[email protected].

You can’t love your country only when you win.
~ President Joe Biden

Sheldon;

I would like to give a shout out to Standard Industries, a recycling center in Saticoy where I have frequented many times to drop off recyclables. As a volunteer for Canine Adoption and Rescue League in Santa Paula, I have started a recycling fundraiser and use the proceeds to do repairs to the kennel and add money to our winterizing fund to get dog heaters to the kennels.  Therefore, I am a frequent customer at this facility and on average go there with my recyclables three times a week.

Every time I am there all the employees are very courteous to all the customers and myself. This includes the employees who bring over the wagons with bins in the parking lot and assist you in unloading your car, the employees who weigh your recyclables, the fork lift operator who is always on the look out for customers coming and going in the parking lot and the cashiers.

Standard Industries has also donated money to CARL in the past as we are a non profit, no kill and all breed dog rescue. It is always a pleasure to interact with the employees and I can now tell you they are my friends as well.  By the way, in the six years I have been taking my recyclables to this facility, I see the same smiling faces so I know the employees are treated well. It is nice to see a company such as this in our community.

Marsha Moreland

Oooooops:

From last issue events:
The Poinsettia Pavilion proudly presents a musical evening of dancing to the Ralph Mathis band (brother of the late Johnny Mathis) from 7pm – 9:30pm. $10 at the door and refreshments will be served. The Poinsettia Pavilion is located at 3451 Foothill Rd. in Ventura. For more information call 805-648-1143 or visit www.poinsettiapavilion.org.

Johnny Mathis is alive and well. Born September 30, 1935 (age 86 years).
Thanks to Ivor Davis for pointing this out.

Nothing is really lost. It’s just where it doesn’t belong.
~ Suzanne Mueller

Sheldon:

Sticks+stones
Maybe we could tag team to raise funds. Take on any haters over 68.
Don’t always agree with you but keep up the good work. Beats the Star for me.
Thanks
Chris Reinhart

Chris: Sometimes I don’t even agree with me but we are having fun aren’t we?

 Breeze:

The Ventura City Council has an important vote on December 6^th that will affect development in our coastal city for years to come. They are set to approve a Streamlining Ordinance which strips power away from our land use boards and turns that power over to one person, the Community Development Director (CDD). The CDD and the City Attorney spent 2021 rewriting the Municipal Code to benefit out of town developers and the City Council appears willing to rubber stamp their proposals. 

Parking, traffic, density and water decisions, sign changes (like the Auto Center enlargement), Conditional Use Permits and building façade issues will be decided by the Development Director, who ironically doesn’t even live here. Projects are not being looked at collectively and therefore infrastructure improvements are not being addressed. Hundreds of units are being added in the downtown area and the city has not prepared an Environmental Impact Report. They closed one of the three main streets through the downtown area, eliminated parking spaces and are approving six story condo and apartment buildings? People still need cars to “live, work and play” in Ventura. 

If you look at the donors and contributors to the election campaigns of our City Council members you can see who is benefitting from all this construction. These new million-dollar condos going up all over town are not going to help current residents. I urge your readers to contact the City Council to stop this over-development and vote “no” on Streamlining. 

Eileen Shaw

Editor: See article on front cover. We received many similar emails.

Breeze:

I hear so many people call Camino Real Park El Camino Real Park. Even though we have a high school named El Camino there is no El in the park name. So get the el out.

Charles Goble

Children on a Beach

Oceans build their shores with stones,
And fortify its walls with children at play,
Control nature’s borders with a swift undertow.
A coastal defense hemmed in by the tide.

When uncertain waters crash onshore,
The storms will produce a sure foundation,
For we consider the night’s arduous horizon.
To reflect on the hope of peaceful seas.

As waters sift through our rocky shores,
They polish the surface to smooth their edges,
Returns in search of precious treasure.
For there made by the hands of little children.

By Jeff Russell

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs,
jolted by every pebble in the road.
~ Henry Ward Beecher

Letters to the Editor

Proposed Logging in the Los Padres Forest is Unacceptable.

As a life-long resident of Ventura County I realize how lucky I am to live between the ocean, two rivers and our majestic mountains in the Los Padres National Forest. Many local residents enjoy recreating in the Los Padres at Pine Mountain, Mount Pinos, and other wild areas.

The US Forest Service is currently proposing the removal of thousands of trees and old growth vegetation at four locations in our backcountry; an area that totals over eight square miles. The Forest Service argues that this project will improve wildland health and improve fire safety for forest-adjacent communities. I object because this plan goes far beyond those goals. 

Forest scientists tell us that removal of trees and native vegetation increases solar access to the forest floor creating drier conditions and increasing the presence of non-native grasses. These grasses dry out earlier in the year and are much more flammable than native chaparral.

We must reject ineffective forest vegetation removal projects that diminish critical carbon storage in our forest and instead invest resources into hardening wildland-adjacent homes to withstand ember casts. There are simple, inexpensive ways that homeowners can prepare their homes for wildfire: clearing combustibles within the first five feet of structures and native plantings. Advanced vent covers are more costly, but worth the investment to prevent embers from invading attics and crawl spaces, the main cause of losses during the Thomas Fire.

The Forest Service should focus their efforts near population centers, not in the middle of the wilderness. We need to work from the home out rather than from the forest in. This has proven to be the best strategy for protecting communities as well as our native ecosystems.

Kathy Bremer

Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time.
~ Norman Ford

Breeze:

I was visiting from Las Vegas and parked in the parking structure by the beach. It is in deplorable condition. Needs painting, cleaning up and repair. This does not give a very good impression of your wonderful city.

Thanks
Larry Dote

Ventura Highway by Jeff Russell

A coastal Dawn is a Pacific view,
The morning breeze that leads home,
Where an ocean highway turns while it drops,
A 101 route is there to survey the tide.
As we cruise north in the right lane,
The charm of four wheels turns heads,
The only car with a nostalgic view,
Is my top-down Mustang ride with you.

A man must have a certain amount of intelligent ignorance to get anywhere.
~ Charles Kettering