Camarillo Has a Clear Vision for ’97

For a local government that has endured months of construction at its own headquarters, one main goal for 1997 is completion of the City Hall expansion.

But city officials also are drawing up a list of broader goals and objectives that they hope to achieve as the year unfolds.

Of course, this bedroom community of 60,000 has the usual assortment of issues to confront--crime, traffic, growth and development.

But it also has a proven track record of overcoming such obstacles and city leaders say they have a clear vision of where they are going and what they hope to accomplish over the next 12 months.

“I think we’re going to have a really good year,” said Kevin Kildee, who gave up a seat on the local park district, and last month won a seat on the City Council.

“The economy is strong, the city’s going in the right direction, and we’re doing some good things around the city,” he said. “I think people are going to see a lot of good things happen.”

Still, some of the major issues confronting Camarillo decision makers are outside their immediate control.

The troubled countywide library system is foremost on their minds, as is the ongoing attempt to persuade state officials to follow through on plans to convert Camarillo State Hospital into a public university.

The hospital conversion “is a matter of waiting to see what the governor and the university tell us,” said Councilman Bill Liebmann, who was promoted by voters in November from the city Planning Commission to the council.

“But we have to do what we can to help that become a reality,” he said.

Mayor Stanley J. Daily said maintaining library hours is one of his primary goals for the upcoming year.

“Our library system is going to be a challenge,” he said. “I’m not sure what the answer is, but I don’t think we can do business as usual. There’s going to have to be some changes made.”

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Last March, a majority of Camarillo voters approved a special tax to pay for increased library service.

But the measure required a two-thirds majority to pass, and received just 57% support at the ballot box. Homeowners would have paid an extra $125 over a five-year period to improve local library service.

Instead, the defeat of the library measure left local and county officials scrambling to repair a countywide library system that’s long been short of funds.

Liebmann said that drawing more people to the historic commercial district along Ventura Boulevard should be a council priority.

Although the city has established a Redevelopment Agency, the panel has not yet decided how to invest those new tax dollars.

“We’re going to have to come up with an economic study and a plan for the revitalization of the Ventura Boulevard Old Town area,” Liebmann said.

One of the first redevelopment projects entails purchasing the old fire station on Ventura Boulevard, which the city already has negotiated with Ventura County.

Trouble is, no decision has yet been made about what to do with the property.

Some Ventura Boulevard merchants want to buy the old firehouse and convert it to a small outdoor shopping plaza--a center for upscale boutiques and hard-to-find merchandise that would increase sales taxes and create new jobs.

But the Pleasant Valley Historical Society also wants the building. They want the city to donate the property to the nonprofit group and use it for weekend exhibits.

“Everything is still in the discussion stages,” Kildee said of the dilemma over what to do with the old firehouse.

“I haven’t made up my mind,” he said. “But we do have a lot of choices and whatever we decide to do will be a big benefit for the city and the boulevard.”

As in previous years, council members want to preserve the city’s farmland and protect the existing greenbelt agreement between Camarillo and Oxnard.

They also want to closely scrutinize any developments proposed for open space, including a plan for a sports complex and stadium on property near Camarillo Airport.

“The area around the airport is going to require special handling,” Liebmann said. “The areas that are already planned and zoned for development are going to have to be studied very carefully.”

Public works and city engineering officials continue to plot improvements to the city’s road, water and sewer systems--projects that were not always possible when Camarillo’s sales tax revenues were lower.

But the double-digit increase in the city’s 1996 sales tax base has raised money for a number of projects, including the new Carmen Drive freeway overpass.

Top road projects for 1997 include a new bridge over Calleguas Creek on Mission Oaks Boulevard and a new northbound freeway interchange at Flynn Road.

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“Construction on the interchange will start after the first of the year, and take most of the year,” said Dan Greeley, Camarillo director of engineering.

“It will provide ingress and egress to the industrial areas of Camarillo, and reduce traffic at the Santa Rosa Road interchange,” he said.

The ongoing expansion of the Camarillo City Hall complex is scheduled to be completed this spring, a months-long project that will add thousands of square feet of office space to the 20-year-old building.

For the first time in the city’s 32-year history, council members will have offices of their own, a rare luxury for frugal city officials.

“That’s a microcosm,” Liebmann said.

“It’s a good example of the philosophy the council has adopted in the past. The offices will meet our needs, but they will not be lavish.”