Oxnard Neighbors Shoulder Shovels Against Weeds

Armed with shovels, rakes and hoes, Paul Chatman and about 40 of his neighbors started their own little war Saturday--against a row of unsightly weeds.

The weeds, nurtured by heavy spring rains, had taken over a dirt area along Pleasant Valley Road near Beaumont Avenue, forming a mini-jungle behind the residents’ quiet Oxnard neighborhood.

After repeatedly asking the city to clear the weeds, Chatman and friends decided to take the matter into their own hands. Two workers from the city Parks Department agreed to help out with a giant weed cutter.

For much of Saturday, the crew chopped, shoveled and bagged the bothersome foliage into giant garbage bags and a trash bin.

“It was like Panama jungle,” neighbor Ed Washington said.

“The rains did it,” Chatman said. “It was barren here and then along came the weeds. They were in full bloom.”

Lori Beltran, a worker with the Parks Department, said the city normally would clear away the weeds--but with cuts in funding, there wasn’t a large enough staff to do the job.

“We try to clear the weeds,” Beltran said. “But we were one of the departments hardest hit by the budget cuts.”

Chatman, who helped organize the weed war, said he was pleased that so many of his neighbors turned out to clean up the area.

“We decided to do it, or it wouldn’t get done,” Chatman said. “We were all tired of the unsightliness of it.”

“It’s neat to see this much unity in the community,” said neighbor Kitty Merrill. “But it would have been nice if we could get together to work on the extras, instead of the basics.”

Beltran said the Parks Department will spray weed killer on the area every two months to help prevent the weeds from coming back.