WATER: THE NEVER-ENDING STORY FOR VREG For several months, faithful readers have asked what happened to VREG. Your questions helped prompt this newsletter—thank you for your continued support. For 20 years, VREG has walked a fine line: reporting on the “responsible and efficient” use of Ventura taxpayers’ dollars without becoming overly opinionated. And, while we […]
Credit where credit is due. In mid-July 2024, the Ventura City Council took a bold step to stimulate economic vitality by voting unanimously to repeal the Net Zero fee. What is Net Zero? Net Zero was the city’s policy to ensure that new development does not increase the overall water demand on the local supply. […]
The evidence continues to mount, proving a problem exists with Ventura Water, the Water Commission and VenturaWaterPure. At what point will the City Council stop ignoring the facts and confront the truth about VenturaWaterPure? Looking The Other Way In The Past A committee of concerned citizens went to each Councilmember in 2018 to show them […]
The current Ventura City Council could reverse twelve years of poor financial decisions by Ventura Water based on faulty assumptions. Prior City Councils have been misled and pressured into believing VenturaWaterPure is the only solution to Ventura’s water problem. That is not true now, nor has it ever been confirmed. There are several solutions the […]
The Move To Censure Turns To Tragedy VREG has been silent for six months. City Hall decisions have been hard to reconcile and easy to criticize, so we have held off joining in on the fray. It is difficult not to write about what has been happening with our City government, but as we explain […]
Here we go again. Ventura is hiring its fifth City Manager since 2000. The City Manager is the most influential job in Ventura’s city government. He controls millions of dollars and impacts Ventura for years to come. Unfortunately, he does this with little oversight from a part-time City Council. Neither the City Manager nor the […]
Our federalist system gives us many opportunities to participate in our democracy. Some forms of participation are more common than others. And some citizens participate more than others, but almost everyone has a voice in government. Ventura is a small city. You should feel comfortable contacting any of the 2023 Ventura City Councilmembers to voice […]
December 4, 2022, marks the fifth anniversary of the Thomas Fire, and many issues are still unresolved. What has the City of Ventura learned since the catastrophe? Are we safer? Are we better off? What has changed because of the fire? Did the city government fulfill its commitment to the victims? These are difficult but […]
From the start, VREG does not endorse candidates. Instead, our goal is to keep you informed and to educate you wherever possible. As part of that commitment, we want to outline the critical campaign issues facing City Council candidates in 2022. If you live in Districts 1, 4, 5 or 6, you have a critical […]
“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” —Peter Drucker Ventura Mayor Sofia Rubalcava presented the 2021 State-of-the-City Address (SOTC) in June. Unfortunately, over time, the City Council has lost sight of the purpose of a State of the City address. The speech should aim […]