Op/ed – By Liz Campos, City Councilmember, District 1 –
As City Council Members, we find ourselves always confronted with questions about the projects and processes of the city we all love. As long as I’ve been on Council, I’ve been confronted with questions and challenges about Main Street Moves (MSM), that closed the traffic area of Main Street that runs from Fir St. to the mural fronting the Mission Basilica to the west. In the five years of the closure, I’ve met and engaged with several hundred people from all walks of life including city and county locals, visitors from other counties, other States and around the world. Very few have expressed negativity to me except for an occasional business owner facing a rent increase or the possibility of reduced sales and the rarely seen property owner. But that is my experience alone. A part of the closed area sits in my Council District, so I feel obligated to ensure the information being shared in the newspapers, on next door and other social media platforms be accurate.
On July 8, 2025, less than an hour before the City Council meeting began, our council was told that the number of Property owners equaling greater than 51% and having frontage in the MSM closure had filed objections to the City using the Pedestrian Mall Law to continue improvements to the main street promenade. According to the P.M. Law when the number of objections exceeds 50%, the process must be stopped. The City must wait one year before restarting the Pedestrian Mall Law process. Since there was an item on the agenda related to Main Street Moves, Council was given the “Objection” information to discuss publicly. We knew, of necessity, that we should stop the Mall Law process. Unfortunately some of our council were inclined to stop the closure permanently before we had any time to review the objections and determine their accuracy.
A motion was made to stop the pedestrian mall process and revert MSM to using the Vehicle code for our closure, at least until all council members had a chance to study the issue and understand our choices. A date to return to the question was set for September 16, 2025. One council member fought hard for the immediate abandonment of MSM and our council deliberations led to an agreement that if at our September 16 meeting we vote to end the Main Street Moves experiment, that the Main Street Promenade will reopen, tentatively, on November 1.
For the edification of everyone who read in another publication that Ventura City Council voted unanimously to reopen Main Street to automobile traffic, that is a wrong statement. On July 8, Ventura City Council voted 7-0 to delay the vote until September 16, 2025. This will give all council members time to review the documents, ask necessary legal questions, and prepare to do what is best for all citizens of Ventura. As Council deliberates these issues of critical importance to our communities and diverse council districts, we may appear to be angry, or argumentative with each other, but please know that while I may appear to be harsh in responding to our mayor, or adamant in disagreeing with Council members Schumacher or Duran, we have to ask each other, and our staff, tough questions in order to reach the best decision for the City of Ventura. I fully support my fellow elected officials in doing the best for each of you.
In these times of widespread social media opinions, both positive and negative, and often unsupported by facts, a divided citizenry, and a sometimes-divided leadership on our council, it is important that we all understand what is at stake. Now, more than ever, journalistic integrity and willingness by our local journalists to get all the facts straight is not only necessary but fundamental to the job of the 4th estate.
https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/2165/Main-Street-Moves-MSM
