California 118 Advisory Measure

* Recently Supervisor Judy Mikels was asked to place an advisory measure on the November’s ballot to determine whether the people of this county wanted the intersection of California 188 and 34 improved to relieve severe congestion. Traffic backs up there three miles every weekday morning and evening.

Yes, Ms. Mikels was asked to do this, and that request didn’t come out of the void. It sprang from a discussion at a meeting of the Highway 118 Safety Task Force, a consortium of citizens, highway patrol officers, elected officials and Caltrans personnel. This was shortly after a Caltrans public forum on the proposed improvements, held at Somis School.

There was much rancor and many a heated exchange during that open debate as to whether the citizens of this county really wanted any improvement at all to the highway. A great deal of accusation was heard, with many pointing to a recent Ventura County Transportation Commission survey. They said the results had been skewed by biased questions and that the consensus favoring improvement to California 118 was therefore tainted. In all innocence, shortly thereafter at the Safety Committee meeting, the suggestion was made to Ms. Mikels to place an advisory measure on the ballot to gage whether the people were, indeed, in favor of Caltrans’ proposal.

All this led to the recent debacle in the Board of Supervisors’ chambers. With all candor, advisory measures are not unheard of; they have appeared on our county ballots before. I agree that protocols should be established to place them there by the board and that these measures should be concise when brought before that governing body. But I take issue with the behavior of some of Ms. Mikels’ constituents at the board meetings. Realizing that we are a free people and have a right to speak our minds, I would hope that we would do so civilly. That was not the case July 25 and certainly was not the case at the Somis School Caltrans forum.

I am not alone out here in Somis or in the county in saying that I appreciate the efforts of Supervisors Mikels, Susan Lacey and Kathy Long, who tried their best to listen to those who elected them. I understand that the people of Somis may not be pleased with Caltrans’ proposal for California 118, but many of us want to see the roadway fixed. We only asked to be heard, and we believed an advisory measure would give a voice to those who live here and must travel 118 every day.

DEBRA TASH

Somis