. . . and Points for Consensus

What better time than the closing year of a century and a millennium to close ranks, close the books and bring some closure to rifts that have kept Ventura County from enjoying greater peace, progress and prosperity?

The editorial above describes two key areas in which the battlegrounds of 1998 must become the common ground of 1999.

Here are several others:

* Culture: Appreciation for the importance of museums, theater groups, musical ensembles and other arts institutions must continue to grow. The small reason is because “cultural tourism” might give some visitors an extra reason or two to spend time and money in Ventura County. The big reason is that all these things make this a richer, more interesting, more fulfilling place to live. Our kids deserve that--and so do the rest of us.

* Homelessness: Unpopular actions by the Ventura City Council have put this perennial issue on the front burner. In the new year, Ventura County and all 10 of its cities must work together to identify which members of this diverse and faceless population can be helped and how to do so, fairly and humanely.

* Hospital feud: A state mandate to retrofit hospital facilities may have provided a financial incentive powerful enough to overcome a silly and expensive rivalry between the Ventura County Medical Center and Community Memorial Hospital. However illogical that catalyst, we encourage the county’s medical leadership to take this opportunity to devise a more efficient and effective system of health care delivery for all county residents.

* Juvenile justice: By appointing a steering committee to figure out where to put it and how to pay for it, the Board of Supervisors started actual progress toward building the juvenile justice center Ventura County has long needed. The next few months will be pivotal as this effort gains momentum.

* Libraries: Cooperation among Ventura County and several of its cities has produced a streamlined but revitalized public library system, with increased book budgets, hours of service and Internet access at most locations. The next challenge is to recruit an energetic and visionary county library director to lead the system to new heights, for the education and enjoyment of residents of all ages and income levels.

* Mental health care: Ventura County’s law enforcement leaders are working on a new protocol to guide departments and officers in the tricky matter of dealing with the mentally disturbed. At the same time, county government must try again to redesign its bureaucracy to provide care for both the medical and social needs of the mentally ill in a way that complies with state and federal law.

* Sales tax wars: The dueling lawsuits between Oxnard and Ventura over rival shopping malls have ended at last but the fundamental problem remains: State law pits neighboring cities against one another in competition for sales tax income. That gives each city, large or small, incentive to line its streets with big-box retail stores and to try to sabotage neighboring cities’ efforts to do the same. Until the state Legislature changes this destructive system, the best local officials can do is to create alliances that bring greater benefits from working together than from feuding. Local budgets and quality of life would be better off.

* Transportation: As our streets and highways become more crowded, the obvious thing to do is build more streets and highways. But in many cases the smart thing to do is to improve public transportation systems so people who would just as soon not drive have another option. In addition, efficient and reliable transit systems give independence to the young, the old, the disabled and others who cannot drive. As Ventura County’s population grows--and grows older--the value of all our public transportation efforts will grow.

* University: After 35 years of contentious struggle to bring a state university campus to Ventura County, at last we have one. Now the challenge is to build a curriculum that truly serves the needs, and capitalizes on the unique assets, of this area.

It is gratifying to note the progress made in all of these areas during 1998. The new year holds unlimited potential to continue making Ventura County an even better place to live. That will happen if we work hard, work smart--and work together.