Effort to Put Poli Street Issue on Ballot Falls 243 Signatures Short : Closure: Whether opening the route at Ventura High will be voted on in November is now up to City Council.

It will be up to Ventura City Council members to decide whether city residents vote this year or next on an initiative aimed at ending the closure of Poli Street during school hours.

Organizers of the initiative to keep Poli open near Ventura High School failed to gather enough signatures to put the measure on November’s ballot, City Clerk Barbara Kam said.

The Concerned Citizens of Ventura, a group made up primarily of hillside residents whose streets have been affected by the closure, failed to collect valid signatures from 15% of the city’s registered voters, as required to put the initiative on this year’s Nov. 8 ballot.

The 8,589 valid names collected fell 243 names short, Kam said.

But since the group did gather more than 10% of voter signatures, the measure automatically will go on the ballot in the next city election, scheduled for Nov. 7, 1995.

That is not soon enough for the organizers, who say they are tired of the inconvenience and congestion caused by the street’s closure.

“What they need there is an overpass, and this has been on the back burner for 45 years,” said Jack Biller, 73, a Ventura resident since 1947. “This is a very emotional issue, and we want a solution to it soon. If (Poli) is closed, it makes things impossible for the people here on the hills.”

The City Council can still put the measure on this year’s ballot, but members have been divided on the issue.

Councilman Jack Tingstrom said he and council members Rosa Lee Measures and Jim Monahan support putting the measure before voters this November.

“They didn’t get the necessary amount, but they’ve got 8,000 signatures,” Tingstrom said. “It’s obviously a big issue for a lot of people. Let’s get this thing before the people as soon as possible.”

Tingstrom, who attended Ventura High School, said he does not see the opening or closure of the road as a solution to the problem. He thinks the debate will not subside until the campus is rearranged or an overpass is built. Other council members could not be reached for comment.

After years of protests from students, parents and teachers, the City Council agreed last August to close the 270-foot section of Poli Street that bisects the Ventura High School campus. City officials said the road was dangerous for students to cross because of traffic and the possibility of drive-by shootings.

The street closure was intended to be a temporary measure until a long-term solution is found, said Joseph Richards, assistant superintendent of business services for the Ventura Unified School District.

Richards said the school board plans to discuss Poli Street on Tuesday, and will continue negotiating with hillside residents.

But for now, board members adamantly oppose opening the road.

“What it would do is open the possibility of an accident waiting to happen,” Richards said. “We hope that the community is interested in the welfare of its students.”