Ventura County Public Health has extended the indoor mask order, requiring all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, to wear face coverings when indoors in public settings, with limited exceptions. The order will continue to be in effect until October 19, 2021 or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended by the Health Officer. “Our current case rate of 19.3 is still considered widespread community transmission by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health,” said Public Health Officer Doctor Robert Levin. “We need to see a continued decrease in the case rate and hospitalizations before safely lifting indoor masking requirements to help prevent future surges.”

The order directs that face coverings must be worn over the mouth and nose – regardless of vaccination status – in all indoor public settings, venues, gatherings, and workplaces, including but not limited to offices, retail stores, restaurants and bars, theaters, family entertainment centers, conference and event centers, and government offices serving the public.

Individuals, businesses, venue operators, hosts, and others responsible for the operation of indoor public settings must:

• Require all patrons to wear face coverings for all indoor settings, regardless of their vaccination status; and
• Post clearly visible and easy-to-read signage at all entry points for indoor settings to communicate the masking requirements to all patrons. Signage is provided by Ventura County Public Health at www.vcrecovers.org.

This health order aims to reduce community transmission of COVID-19. Health officials are concerned by the substantial levels of increased community transmission, especially among unvaccinated people. In part, this is due to the widespread COVID-19 Delta variant, which is substantially more transmissible than previous forms of the virus. Recent information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also indicates that even fully vaccinated individuals can in some cases spread the Delta variant to others, and so indoor use of face coverings provides an important added layer of protection.

More information about COVID-19 available at: www.venturacountyrecovers.org.

A makeshift abode is typical of housing for unsheltered people living in the watershed.

by Richard Lieberman

In coming weeks, a collaborative effort to clean up the watershed will begin. The cleanup effort will concentrate on watershed cleanup, removal of homeless encampments, and relocating homeless individuals by connecting them to safe and reasonable shelter and supportive services to help individuals with longer term accommodations.

During the past several years, the population of homeless on the river bottom has increased and clearly demonstrated the need for long term solutions. The increased population of homeless people has made the problem more acute. The large population of homeless poses a real threat to public health, sanitation, and environmental health. At the same time, the on-going pandemic has caused a decrease in the number of shelter beds available, exasperating the current problem. In Ventura a chronic shortage of affordable housing contributes to the dilemma.

The county Board of Supervisors is spearheading the effort, led by the Supervisors of the impacted areas, including Supervisor Matt LaVere, ex-mayor of Ventura. They have embarked on a program that will, in the short-term, cleanup the watershed (river bottom) and address the long-term problem of homelessness.

“Supervisor Carmen Ramirez and I have taken an important first step the past few months focused on an effort to look at the encampments. We saw a significant growth in encampments and increasing crime rates in the neighborhoods around the river bottom. We saw this as a real opportunity to both tackle the cleanup from an environmental perspective and being able to provide services for those at the encampments. This week we specifically focused on the cleanup of abandoned encampments,” he said. “In three days, we removed 188 tons of trash just from the abandoned encampments,” he added.

Project Room key, an effort to lease a motel in Ventura (The Vagabond) had ended but has been extended through January of this year. The motel was able to house over two hundred unsheltered from Ventura and Ventura County. The county established a program “the coordinated entry system countywide homeless management information system” (HMIS) along with 8 one-stop service centers throughout the county that help connect individuals to housing and supportive services, including whole person care, recuperative care, food assistance, rapid housing, emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing, and transitional housing.

“This has to be a multi-pronged effort. First, let’s clean up the trash in the abandoned encampments, and for the remaining active camps we are going to do some focused efforts surveying everyone; finding out who is willing to take health services and possible shelter.” LaVere also notes “Frankly this is life saving for these individuals. If we get a rainstorm, which is going to happen, with climate change we are seeing more and more intense storms. If we get a flow through there, people could drown and die”.

There have been many efforts in the past to cleanup and evacuate unsheltered individuals from the river bottom. Still, the camps remain occupied. Just throwing them off the property will just scatter the occupants into nearby neighborhoods and commercial zones. The city, the county, and the federal government will be placing large sums of money to combat and solve the problem of homelessness in the long term. “It must be done in conjunction with housing and services in order to get a long-term solution,” added LaVere.

Perhaps this time with a major influx of city, county, state and federal financial resources we will be able to make real progress in solving the dilemma of the unsheltered encampments in the river bottom.

by Richard Lieberman

Mothers Against Drunk Driving sponsored an officer appreciation event to present officers from the Tri-Counties area with awards for the most drunk driving arrests in their individual departments. The event drew Law Enforcement from Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Maria CHP and Port Hueneme, among others. A lunch sponsored by Dukes Griddle and Grill restaurant in Ventura was offered to the gathered representatives. It was held on Thursday, August 26, at the Museum of Ventura County in Downtown Ventura.

Opening remarks at the event were given by Georgina Avilez, Program Manager for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). She thanked the officers for their diligence and commitment to get impaired drivers off the road. She emphasized MADD’s commitment to its mission “A nation without drunk and drugged driving.” She also talked about MADD’s mission “to end drunk driving, help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes and prevent underage drinking.”

Following opening remarks by Avilez, Staci Brown, Program Specialist of MADD Tri-Counties, remarked to the gathered attendees, “I want to thank all of the law enforcement attendees for coming to receive awards for the most DUI arrests”. She added “Congratulations and good work to all the award recipients.” Brown also remarked to the attendees “We appreciate all that you do to keep our streets safe.” Brown went on to offer a special thanks to the Museum of Ventura County for hosting the event.

Over forty-five law enforcement officers representing eighteen departments were honored at the event. Each recipient received a certificate and had their photos taken with Staci Brown of MADD.

Ventura Police Chief Darin Schindler also attended the event along with three members of the Ventura Police Department. “I think the MADD event is great, they do this every year; they recognize the public safety officials that are out there taking drunk drivers off the roadway whether it be alcohol impairment, drug impairment and or some other impairment.” Stated Chief Schindler.

“No one knows how many lives are saved by taking these impaired drivers off the road,” It’s great to recognize the officers who are doing this job,” he added. When asked about solutions and police enforcement approaches to solving the dilemma of impaired driving he offered several approaches that are being undertaken now to help get some of these drivers off the road. Drunk driving checkpoints are one approach regularly used by police. “It’s a deterrent in the scope of being proactive about it,”. Another approach Ventura police utilize is a partnership between police and the OTS (California Office of Traffic Safety). They supply police with equipment and additional funding. Another approach is police visiting bars and restaurants on weekend nights and approaching people as they are leaving and asking “how much they have had to drink” “We ask them if they are OK to drive and if they volunteer, we have them blow into a portable breathalyzer to show them their current blood alcohol level,” added Schindler.

Police agencies and MADD agree that one effective solution to the impaired driving epidemic is Sobriety Checkpoints. Checkpoints have reduced fatalities by 20 percent. Checkpoints are mandated to be publicized in advance and signs are posted at the approach to the checkpoints. Another law enforcement approach MADD supports is “Saturation Saturday” which designates the Saturday before Labor Day weekend a day to team up with law enforcement agencies nationwide to amplify the message that if you choose to drive impaired, you will get caught. Yet another method MADD supports comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”. Law enforcement departments have picked dangerous parts of the year, and keep a special eye out for drunk drivers on those days, letting potential impaired drivers know that law enforcement is out there looking for and pulling over impaired drivers.

“But officer I started out in the crosswalk.”

As part of Pedestrian Safety Month, the Ventura Police Department will have additional officers on patrol throughout September specifically looking for California Vehicle Code violations pertaining to drivers and pedestrians.

These violations include right-of-way at crosswalks, illegal turns, and not properly stopping for signs or signals, and speeding.

“A simple safety step can make a big difference. Look out for one another by slowing down when driving and stopping for pedestrians,” said Ventura Police Traffic Sergeant Mike Brown. “If you’re walking, be mindful of vehicle traffic, be predictable, and do not leave a curb or place of safety carelessly.”

Based on data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), 2020 had the largest ever annual increase, 21 percent, in the rate at which drivers struck and killed pedestrians. In California, pedestrian deaths accounted for 27 percent of all traffic-related deaths in 2019.

The Ventura Police Department offers steps community members can take to reduce the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions:

Pedestrians

Be predictable and use crosswalks.

Do not walk or run into the path of a vehicle. No vehicle can stop instantly. At 30 m.p.h., a driver needs at least 108 feet to make a complete stop.

Be visible. Make it easy for drivers to see you by wearing light colors and reflective material, and using flashlights for added visibility at dawn, dusk, or night.

Be extra careful crossing streets or entering crosswalks at night when it is harder to see, or when crossing busier streets with higher speed limits.

Always use the sidewalk when available and avoid walking in the street alongside traffic, especially during morning and evening hours.

Drivers

Do not drive distracted and never drive impaired.

Drive defensively, follow the speed limit, and slow down at intersections.

Avoid blocking crosswalks while waiting to make a right-hand turn.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. To learn more about the Office of Traffic Safety grant at ots.ca.gov.