Mayor’s State of City Talk Touts Ventura’s Potential

Mayor Tom Buford painted a promising portrait of Ventura on Tuesday, telling more than 200 people gathered at the Harbortown Resort that the city is poised to take advantage of the recent upswing in the economy.

During his 40-minute State of the City address to members of the Greater Ventura Chamber of Commerce, Buford spoke about the city’s attraction to both builders, who have bombarded city planners with ambitious new projects over the last year, and tourists.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be a (tourist) destination,” Buford said at the annual address. “We’ve got a lot to offer.”

But while the speech was praised by many merchants, others complained that there was little detail to the mayor’s comments.

“I didn’t think it was deep enough,” said Sky Heatherton, marketing director for MediTech, a home health-services agency based in Ventura. “I came expecting some meat and substance to it, but I felt it was too touristy and public relations (oriented).”

Buford spent much of his time congratulating city employees for their professionalism and detailing accomplishments of the City Council in the past year.

He said the city has achieved a number of the goals that council members laid out a year ago, including focusing on economic vitality, seeing completion of the state Court of Appeal building downtown and launching the $3.6-million face lift at California and Main streets scheduled to get under way this morning.

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“We’ve had some successes, (but) we didn’t get them all done,” he said, referring to the 1994 goals and objectives. “We don’t have a pier restaurant yet, but we’re on the way.”

The 1995 list of goals includes a number of big-ticket proposals that would require significant public financing, Buford said.

Tops among those projects are:

* A $15-million sports complex proposal, which would include a minor league baseball stadium and swimming center near the Ventura Auto Center.

* A marine study center near Ventura Harbor, a $20-million project that officials said would cost $5 million in city funds.

* Expansion at San Buenaventura Mall, which developers have proposed could be funded by redirecting some sales tax revenues.

* A downtown theater, restaurant and retail complex that would require public financing of a parking structure that could cost $6 million or more.

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“How are we going to fund these things?” Buford asked. “There are a number of new projects that call for expenditures of public money, and that’s a difficulty.”

During the slide show-enhanced address, the mayor also poked fun at himself and other members of the City Council, who have been known to squabble about which direction the city is headed.

“We’ve taken a lot of heat, and we’ve beat up on ourselves,” Buford said, commenting on a slide of all seven elected officials. “People said it couldn’t be done. But we really did get together for a photo--just before the fight.”

Former Councilwoman Nan Drake called Buford’s speech “very upbeat”--despite its relative lack of detail.

“Obviously, he was concentrating on the good things,” Drake said. “There weren’t very many negatives today.”

Bruce N. Hobbs, director of sales and marketing at the Doubletree Hotel in Ventura, said he was pleased to hear Buford stress attracting visitors to the beachfront city as one of his priorities.

“He covered a lot, but the city has realized that tourism is a major industry,” he said. “And they have been making the locals aware, too.”

Richard Hill, who moved his Special Events decorating service to Ventura from Seattle three months ago, said he liked what he heard from Buford.

“We’re new, but we were very impressed,” Hill said of himself and his wife, Heidi. “He kept up with the issues.”

Hill said he looks forward to building his business in Ventura, in part due to some of the pro-business comments made by the mayor Tuesday.

“We think it’s the right community to invest in,” Hill said. “We feel they’re very interested in helping small businesses.”