Church Plans to Develop Site Quickly

With the passage of Measure C, the First Assembly of God Church plans to move quickly to develop athletic fields on its east Ventura property, church officials said Wednesday.

Church staff members have contacted representatives of soccer, baseball and track groups plus local businesses about serving on a committee to oversee the proposed sports fields on a 25-acre parcel at Montgomery Avenue and Bristol Road, Pastor Tony Cervero said.

“We want our advisory board to look like the community, not like the church,” Cervero said. “Our whole purpose is so we can get the best use of these facilities. By best, I mean maximum use for the city. The more people in our community use it the more successful we are.”

In addition to the sports fields, the church plans to construct classrooms and an auditorium on its property. Church officials will speak with an architect and city planners soon about the development, Cervero said.

Measure C, which passed Tuesday by a vote of 9,087 to 7,581, was the first test of Ventura’s SOAR growth-control ordinance, approved by voters in 1995. It put to a public vote the church’s proposal to rezone agricultural land to residential to make way for an auditorium, sports fields and classrooms.

“We are not testing SOAR, we are trying to comply with it,” Cervero said. “Two of the main sponsors of SOAR were supporting our initiative.”

Cervero hopes the community advisory group will reassure residents that not just church members can use the fields.

Meanwhile, city officials welcomed the election victory of Carl Morehouse, a county land-use planner who beat a host of challengers Tuesday night for one of three contested seats on the City Council. Incumbents Jim Friedman and Ray Di Guilio were reelected.

“I think Carl will bring current information on land use to a city that is sensitive about its land,” Di Guilio said. “His background in planning and leading discussions in relationship to what our community ought to look like will likely be his major contribution.”

In the Ventura Unified School District, voters returned incumbent Jim Wells and elected appointee Debbie Golden to the school board.

The two agreed the most urgent challenge facing the district will be construction of a new elementary school on the west end as soon as possible and a magnet high school by next September.

In Santa Paula, residents can look forward to the construction of a new elementary school with the passage of Measure B, a $2.5-million bond initiative. A new school will be built to replace Olivelands School, built in 1914.

VENTURA COUNTY ELECTION RETURNS

Las Virgenes Unified School District

2 Elected

100% Precincts Reporting

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Votes % Bruce T. Kaye 42 35.0 Pat Schulz 31 25.8 Gary Mueller 22 18.3 Terilyn Finders 14 11.7 Gregory Stone 11 9.2

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Ventura Unified School District

2 Elected

100% Precincts Reporting

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Votes % Debbie Golden 10,128 35.6 Jim L. Wells 9,232 32.5 John Gennaro 9,033 31.8

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Ventura City Council

3 Elected

100% Precincts Reporting

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Votes % Jim Friedman 7,549 15.9 Ray Di Guilio 5,988 12.6 Carl Morehouse 5,549 11.7 Bob Ryan 5,235 11.0 Doug Halter 5,053 10.7 Paul W. Thompson 4,621 9.7 Diane Underhill 3,895 8.2 Roger F. Jewett 3,182 6.7 Charlie Gartman 2,193 4.6 Brian Lee Rencher 2,177 4.6 Lynn Doyle Cogdill 1,250 2.6 E.R (Ed) Ryan 671 1.4

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Meiners Oaks County Water Board

2 Elected

100% Precincts Reporting

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Votes % Don Wright 171 41.2 Mark William Davis 122 29.4 Robert J. Rusch 120 28.9

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Measure B: Briggs School District (Bond)

100% Precincts Reporting

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Votes % Yes 225 67.2 No 110 32.8

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Measure C: City of Ventura Initiative

100% Precincts Reporting

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Votes % Yes 9,087 54.5 No 7,581 45.5

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