Q & A / VENTURA CITY COUNCIL : Candidates Discuss Vision for Greenbelt Uses

QUESTION: Do you support the greenbelt initiatives and why or why not?

Keith Burns

I very much support the two greenbelt initiatives. Ventura continues to see agricultural land eroded by development: housing, retail outlets, corporate and industrial. I do not want to stop any farmer, agricultural corporation or orchard grower from selling land. But the land itself should remain agricultural. Ventura should not go the way of the Dodo, the San Fernando Valley or Orange County. Quality of life is more than a good job, good schools, good air and good times. Ventura would be better off with more trees and less parking lots; more parks with grass and bike paths and less industrial parks and jammed streets; more quiet and less noise.

noise.

Ray Di Guilio

SOAR is a poor attempt to solve a real concern in our community. No one wants unabated growth. That’s why the City Council went through an extensive process in the ‘80s that culminated in the current Comprehensive Plan. It is an excellent document which SOAR supporters validate by their efforts to lock it in for an additional 15 years beyond 2010. The initiative process continues to be misused by special-interest groups. SOAR invalidates representative government, and replaces it with planning by initiative. A modest 1.5% average growth over [the] last 10 years validates that good planning by city hall works.

Craig Huntington

I do not support the greenbelt initiatives. The City Council has worked very hard on the current Comprehensive Plan. It is a very good document and should not be disposed of. Planning is a very difficult process and there are many issues that need to be considered before a piece of property is rezoned. These initiatives do not look at the big picture; our elected officials do. We should work with our elected officials, not against them.

Christopher T. Staubach

I wholeheartedly support the SOAR initiatives and I believe that anyone who cares about keeping Ventura a great place will also do so, because of economics. Agriculture is the largest business in California and for every dollar produced on a farm, that produces $3.50 throughout our economy. We must preserve our open spaces--not just for environmental but also for economic reasons. The value of property throughout Ventura will drop if we turn our city into a concrete jungle. Finally, can we trust City Council members who have accepted large contributions from developers to do the right thing? No we cannot.

Charles E. (Buster) Davis

No! It puts the cost of the greenbelt on the farmer unfairly. There are those people who really don’t know [the] money it takes to keep these belts green.

James Friedman

I will abide by the November vote on SOAR, but personally, I won’t vote for it. A farm is an investment, a business. Profits generated by farming often must be shared by three or more generations of families. With regulations limiting farmers from pesticide spraying near residences, it will not be financially viable to support families or businesses by farming in the inner-city greenbelt. Farmers will develop farmland between the cities into homes to offset their losses. The result is urban sprawl. We can delay farmland development for 20 years by putting 900 housing units downtown.

John S. Jones

I have signed both of the SOAR initiatives. I had the good fortune to grow up on a farm, back east in rural New York. And today I see the farmlands in Ventura providing jobs and tax dollars to our community. There remains plenty of room for expansion of business in other areas of Ventura. One prime example of this is Ventura Avenue. I am in favor of regrowth, which can reverse the decay of parts of our community.

Jack Tingstrom

I do not support the SOAR initiatives. I do support the Comprehensive Plan! I do support the property rights of our farmers and ranchers. If we want to reserve our ag lands, we must make it profitable for our farmers and ranchers to continue ranching. We must work to remove restrictions (government) so they may continue to keep their land in ag.

Donna De Paola-Peterson

I do support the greenbelt initiatives. I believe that we must protect the environment from urban sprawl. SOAR does not limit the farmer’s right to work the land, but adds a layer of protection that will enable the citizens of Ventura to hold on to the quality of life that we have come to appreciate. There have been over 1,000 acres lost to development in just the past 30 years. This is 50% faster than the state average. I do not want Ventura County to look like San Fernando Valley or Orange County.

Stephen L. Hartmann

Voters around the country have expressed a growing dissatisfaction with government, primarily because elected officials seem distant from the majority of their constituents’ beliefs. Locally, preserving our last remaining open agricultural space has come to symbolize the quality of life most residents desire. Although 6,500 Ventura residents signed the SOAR petition, I’m surprisingly one of only a few candidates who supports the initiatives since I don’t want Ventura to go the way of Los Angeles and turn into a massive sprawl of concrete, neon signs and streets due to poor decisions by four easy-to-persuade City Council members.

Brian Lee Rencher

I do support the “greenbelts,” but not the SOAR ballot initiatives. These initiatives unfairly restrict personal property rights and are poor public planning policies. Agriculture is the most powerful economic engine in the county and should be preserved. However, our population continues to grow and people need homes where they can raise their families. We should use in-fill development and redevelopment to slow the paving over of our farmlands. To do this, we will need thoughtful city leaders that have not been bought and paid for by developers and will look out after the public’s best long-term interests. Vote wisely.

Carroll Dean Williams

Measure I and Measure J are on the ballot for our votes. “Agricultural” land has been termed so in the Comprehensive Plan and is reviewable in the year 2010. Measure I limits the authority of seven elected City Council members, and extends the reviewable year 2010 to the year 2031. “Agricultural” land has been zoned “A” (Agricultural) in the Comprehensive Plan, and the authority of seven elected council members to change said zoning is affected. I trust and believe in the voters at election time. That is based upon no cemetery votes.