Ventura has many empty tree wells along our city streets. If you have one in your neighborhood, you can contact the City of Ventura Urban Forestry department and request that a street tree be planted. The city crew takes care of 30,000 trees, and new trees need watering for the first two years, so it is very helpful if residents volunteer to water them. Please call 805 652-4541 to request a tree, and help our urban forest canopy grow!

www.venturatreealliance.com

County Assessor Dan Goodwin announced the certification and delivery of Ventura County’s annual assessment roll to Auditor-Controller Jeff Burgh Monday, June 28, on time and includes adjustments for impacts of the pandemic.

“My office has been following the economic impact of the pandemic closely. Restricted access to workplaces and other virus-related effects have taken their financial toll on many business’s property values,” said Dan Goodwin, County Assessor. The office was proactive in reviewing these property declines on commercial and industrial properties and with documented support from these businesses determined the appropriate temporary declines in values. Most residential property did not suffer adverse market value conditions during 2020.

Due to a lower inflation factor about 209,000 properties received a modest increase of 1% instead of the usual 2% increase, which was set by a 1978 ballot measure known as Prop 13.  However, some properties may see a larger increase due to their recent sales history or new construction.

The Local Roll now contains a record $152 billion in assessed value. The County saw a tenth consecutive annual increase in total roll value with this year’s assessment roll increasing 3.6% over last year, which is remarkable given the challenges our community has faced. 

At this time, the Assessor’s Office is preparing to send assessed value notices to about 250,000 taxpayers in Ventura County by late July 2021.  There are several tax savings programs, which were also applied to disabled veterans, hospitals, churches, colleges, museums, and non-profit organizations such as low-income housing. This year, over $4.5 billion was exempted from the roll, an increase of 3.86% over last year.

For questions about the value notice or claims about assessed values that may be more than market value on January 1, 2021, please contact Assessor staff at (805) 654-2181 or visit the website at assessor.countyofventura.org. Assessment Appeal Applications can be filed with the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board between July 2 and September 15 by calling (805) 654-2251 or by visiting ventura.org/cob/aab.

Kids & Families Together (K&FT) along with Heart 2 Heart will be hosting the 11th Annual Backpack Gift~Away Drive-Thru event on Saturday, August 14th, in Ventura for foster/resource, kinship, adopted and bio-families currently working in programs with Kids & Families Together. This will be a fun family event that will provide backpacks filled with age appropriate school supplies, along with other donations for the caregivers. As families leave the event, a box lunch will be provided allowing them the opportunity to enjoy a nice afternoon picnic together at the beach or a local park.

This year’s theme is Pirates & Mermaids! As with prior drive-thru events, dressing in costume or decorating your vehicle is strongly encouraged. Our goal is to serve 150 children, who are currently “in care” at this event and send them back to school with confidence and the supplies they need for a fun and successful school year!

There are many ways to help support this event through financial giving, donations of school supplies or becoming a volunteer!

Ways to Donate:

Visit our Amazon Wishlist to purchase school supplies: https://a.co/hGx10tB

Donations can also be mailed to: Resource Family Support, Kids & Families Together, 864 E. Santa Clara Street – Ventura, 93001.

• Collect backpacks/supplies and schedule a drop-off/pick-up.
• Donate and we will purchase what is needed: igfn.us/form/wU82SQ
• Text to donate: FAM (on 91999)

For more information contact: 805-643-1446 ext. 108/131,
email: [email protected]

by Jill Forman

Ventura Friends of the Library book sale and community event

There will be a giant book sale on Saturday July 31 and Sunday August 1 at the lovely Dudley House Historical Museum, 197 North Ashwood Avenue (corner of Loma Vista.)

Quality used books will be arranged by genre/category and will be displayed in car trunks, on outside tables, and downstairs in the Community Room.

Saturday book sale hours will be 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. In addition, there will be a plant sale, benefiting the Dudley House, Saturday 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the front garden. The Downtown Lions Club will cook up a hot dog lunch 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, to benefit the Lions’ Sight and Hearing projects.

Sunday the book sale continues 12 noon – 3 p.m. As a bonus, Dudley House docents will be offering free tours of this historical treasure on Sunday 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Come one or both days, find that perfect summer read, have lunch, celebrate the season and our community, and support local organizations!

Library events back in person

In the last column I covered the book groups at Foster and Hill Road branches. In case you missed it, here is the information again:

Foster meets the first Saturday of the month 10-12. August’s book is The Roundhouse by Erdrich. Information: [email protected].

Hill Road meets the last Tuesday of the month at 5 p.m. August’s book is I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by McNamara. Information: [email protected].

Ukelele Jam is also back! Mondays 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. at Foster.

The Mobile Library is spreading joy and reading all over the place this summer. Too many appearances to cover here. On the VCLSA website, their schedule is available under the Events tab. Or ask your local librarian.

Summer Reading Challenge

Register: https://vencolibrary.beanstack.org/
Create a profile for each family member.
Log reading minutes or books, complete activities, earn badges, and become eligible for prizes.

Lego Challenge – bilingual program

Pick up a set of bricks and the flyer at your local library. Build something, name it, take a picture and submit it. 50 bricks! Keep them! FUN! Through August 22.

Book donations at Hill Road

We are grateful but overwhelmed. Please limit yourself to one bag of donated books at a time.

Friends of the Library bookstores open for business

Foster store has moved to a larger space on the first floor. Tuesday – Saturday 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Lots more books!

Hill Road book sale shelves are available during library hours. Adults’ and kids’ books, fiction and nonfiction, DVD’s, CD’s and puzzles.

Volunteers needed

The Ventura Friends of the Library is looking for a few good volunteers. They are the heart and soul, not to mention the hands and backs, of our organization. The used book warehouse, the book store, the periodic sales and many other facets of the Friends depend on the good will, and effort, of our volunteers. Plus it’s a lot of fun. If you’d like to join us, contact [email protected].

The CMH Auxiliary is in need of volunteers and there are openings in most departments for those who are looking for an opportunity to serve the community in a volunteer capacity. After the pandemic shut down so many activities, many of us are seeking ways to become more involved and to reconnect with other people. Being a volunteer at CMH not only provides that contact with others that we’ve been missing, but also a chance to perform much-needed service for our health workers. If you are interested in joining the Auxiliary, you may contact the front desk at the hospital, leave a message for the Auxiliary at 805-948-4299, or ask any volunteer wearing the navy and white uniform.

Community Memorial Health System will work to enhance equity and inclusion in healthcare with the help of a $5,000 grant that will fund new workshops about diversity within its Internal Medicine residency program.

“Reducing any kind of bias and building trust with each other and with our patients is critical to ensuring our healthcare system truly meets the needs of all our patients,” said project leader Dr. Michelle Azimov, the Director of Medical Education for CMHS’ Graduate Medical Education Program.

“By discussing different forms of discrimination and bias among various groups of people, we hope to raise awareness of how these issues may be present in our hospitals so we can enhance trust, reduce bias, and create a more inclusive learning environment,” she said.

Grants totaling $287,500 were awarded to 32 medical schools and training programs by five leading physician organizations: the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the ABIM Foundation, the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Grants are for $20,000, $5,000 or $2,500.

CMHS applied for – and received – a $5,000 grant for a two-year-long program. CMHS explained in its application, “As educators, we share a strong commitment to promote public health, safety, and equity. Part of effectively doing so requires acknowledging and addressing structural and institutional racism and other forms of oppression within our clinical learning environment.”

America’s medical community is seeking to reduce bias and discrimination in healthcare, which has slowly eroded trust in the healthcare system and among healthcare providers. The physician organizations hope their grants will help address the root causes of distrust in the medical care system and among clinicians, and improve outcomes for patients in underserved communities.

CMHS seeks to foster trust and a better sense of belonging within its Internal Medicine residency program by raising awareness of bias and by teaching its staff the communication skills to recognize and reduce bias and discrimination.

CMHS will develop and host six educational Dialogues Around Diversity workshops with Internal Medicine residents and faculty, covering the issues of race/ethnicity, the LGBTQ experience, religion, gender, and intersectionality. Specialty speakers will facilitate conversations around bias and discrimination through a vignette based on their personal and/or clinical experience. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Ronda Doonan, will moderate the sessions, which also will examine how racism, sexism and bias against various groups operate in CMHS’ policies, practices, norms, and values.

The sessions’ impact will be evaluated through a participant survey after each, and with follow-up focus groups.

Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (APCD), Ventura County Regional Energy Alliance (VCREA) and their partner, Clean Power Alliance (CPA) are excited to announce the upcoming tri-county regional launch of the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP) on July 27.

The tri-county CALeVIP Project seeks to rapidly expand the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and is funded through a combination of grants from California Energy Commission (CEC) and local partners. The CALeVIP Project is administered by the nonprofit Center for Sustainable Energy.

On December 8, 2020, in an effort to leverage grant funding from CEC, the APCD Board approved investment of $1.5 million over a three-year period towards installation of EV charging stations in Ventura County through CALeVIP. The CPA Board of Directors then approved one year of funding worth $570,000 on May 6, 2021. Due in part to these funding contributions from APCD and CPA, there will be nearly $6 million available to fund an estimated 650 new chargers, including 70 fast chargers in Ventura County, the largest one-time investment yet.

CALeVIP offers rebates for the purchase and installation of both Level 2 and DC fast chargers with increased funding for multi-unit dwellings, disadvantaged communities, and low-income communities. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program launched on July 27.

Because of the high interest regarding the project and expectation that funds may be reserved within hours of program launch, APCD and CPA recommends that all interested parties register and attend the webinar (register here) and begin working with an eligible EV charger vendor.  These vendors will help prepare materials to submit applications at the program launch. More information at https://calevip.org/incentive-project/south-central-coast.