“Good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.” —Albert Camus The 2020 City Council election is this November. The challenges facing Ventura are so crucial that they will shape the city for decades. Who the candidates will be for the Council in this election will likely be unknown until July. […]
“Another Fine Mess You’ve Gotten Us Into, Stanley.” —Laurel & Hardy The 2020-2021 budget presents a challenge to the City Council. This Council must weigh how to close the budget deficit in the coming year. The Coming Problem Today’s Council is still operating on the 2019-2020 budget that shows everything is fine. In six months […]
“Do not suffer your good nature…to say yes when you ought to say no.” —George Washington As the 21st century teeters between the 2010s and the 2020s, it’s a perfect time to take stock of an eventful decade. Over the last ten years, several key events changed Ventura forever. Let’s look at what happened and […]
“And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.” —John Steinbeck, East of Eden For the second time in four years, Ventura Water failed to present scientific findings that challenged […]
“Three groups spend other people’s money: children, thieves and politicians. All three need supervision.” —Dick Armey The cost and benefit of every spending decision by Ventura’s City Council is magnified as the city faces budgetary losses for the next five years. The city is projecting to have a $10-$25 million shortfall during that time, so […]
“It’s not what we don’t know that hurts us, it’s what we know that ain’t so.” —Will Rogers America’s significant retirement pension funds are underfunded by an unfathomable $4.2 Trillion, according to an August 6 Wall Street Journal article. Ventura mirrors this phenomenon. Ventura workers participate in the state pension fund, CalPERS—the largest in the country. CalPERS […]
“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” —Thomas Jefferson Is Ventura Open For Business? When the city needs money, they go to the old trope, “We’ll attract new business.” After all, Ventura is open for […]
When in doubt, don’t. —Benjamin Franklin Thank the Councilmembers Cheryl Heitmann, Christy Weir, Lorrie Brown and Sofia Rubalcava for higher electrical costs, higher water, and wastewater rates. Also thank them for less police protection, fire safety and street paving, all so the City Council can save face and make all residents’ environmental champions. Every citizen […]
“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” —P.J. O’Rourke Ventura faces severe revenue shortfalls in six of the next seven years, the size of those during The Great Recession. Ventura is on pace to lose over $9.07 million over the next six years. You should be […]
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” —Lao Tzu For the most part, nobody noticed the change. Ventura voters paid little attention to the City Council’s revamped process for committees and commissions. That’s too bad because the new process is the first step towards improving the city. Voters elected a new […]