Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. THE ILLUSION OF FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY Ventura is holding a Budget Workshop on Monday, March 17, 2014. It may be a meaningless exercise, however, unless the City applies integrity and common sense to the process. Otherwise, the process is rife with budget manipulations owing […]
PENSIONS BUST BUDGETS [Grappling with Money and Economic Reality] The City Council race concluded with the reelection of Councilmen Andrews, Monahan and Tracy plus a new councilman, Eric Nasarenko. Our new Councilman was elected as Deputy Mayor at the last Council meeting and will serve in that capacity next year. We congratulate each member of […]
DETROIT – A HAUNTING SPECTRE [The Consequences of Ignoring Economic Reality] Most people are now well aware of the economic news. The City of Detroit filed bankruptcy under a cloud of $18 billion in debt. Crippling problems with corruption, unfunded benefits and pension liabilities, nepotism, and cozy political relationships between public unions and elected officials […]
ELIMINATION OF THE INCLUSIONARY HOUSING ORDINANCE [A PRO-GROWTH PROPOSAL ] The Ventura City Council, at their meeting on Monday, July 15, 2013, will consider the recommendation of our new City Manager, Mark D. Watkins and Community Development Director, Jeffrey Lambert, “to eliminate (cancel) both the Citywide and Downtown Inclusionary Housing Ordinances (IHP)”. This ordinance was […]
PENSION OBLIGATIONS REVISITED On March 11th the City Council was informed that the $12 million reserve that we have had since 1992 isn’t available as we had been led to believe. Although the General Fund has about $28 million, including this $12 million dollar reserve, by the end of the 2012-13 fiscal year had been […]
STATE OF THE CITY TREASURY [TRANSPARENCY THROUGH FOUL AND FILTHY AIR] History continues to remind us that to get to the root of any act of wrongdoing, malfeasance or wrongdoing, you need only follow the money to find the culprit(s). Eventually the truth and they are revealed. That again proved true at the City Council […]
THE WAV CONDOS – A FAILED PIPE DREAM [The Proof is in the Pudding] Our former City Manager, Rick Cole and former Mayor, Bill Fulton, sought to implement their visions for Ventura. They have moved on but they left the citizens of Ventura with financial problems. Each arrived from the LA area with […]
VENTURA CITY COUNCIL– CREATING A BIOSWALE BY THE SEA [WILL SOMEONE GIVE US $400,000,000?] Our City Council has many practical and immediate things with which to be concerned, but with so many planners they are not known to miss an opportunity to “visualize”. The latest project is to direct city staff to prepare a corridor […]
CODE ENFORCEMENT AS A REVENUE STRATEGY FOR VENTURA This edition of Res Publica is not a typical VREG topic on City finances because it pertains to a recently published Grand Jury report; however, since the report addresses the aggressive collection of fees and charges by Code Enforcement, motivated by the need to raise more revenue, […]
VENTURA THE ART CITY, OR IS IT THE GAMBLING CITY? [The $2,000,000 bet on Players Club] The City Council has failed in their last two efforts to increase the taxes of the citizens of this community; however, our City Manager and the Council continue, facing another $2,000,000 shortfall in the next budget, are exploring new […]