“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 […]
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie…but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.” —John F. Kennedy Mayor Matt LaVere filled his 2019 State-of-the-City address with images of a utopian Ventura. Unfortunately, it lacked specifics on addressing Ventura’s most pressing issues. The mayor laid out his seven goals for 2019-2020. His […]
“If you can’t convince ’em, confuse ’em. It’s an old political trick.” —Harry S. Truman Before discussing water issues in Ventura, we must first dispel a myth. The City of Ventura has plenty of water. We have almost ten times the water we need annually in reserves. So, the City of Ventura’s insistence to […]
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” — George Bernard Shaw In Ventura, the city staff uses the Brown Act to do precisely the opposite of what lawmakers created it to do. The California Brown Act guarantees the public’s right to attend and take part in meetings […]
“Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”— Winston Churchill Last year was a most transformational year in Ventura’s history. Every aspect of life in Ventura was affected. The city was in the national spotlight, twice. Leadership changed but at a high price. Old ways of doing business didn’t change, though. […]