Tempers Soaring Over Parks and Western Plateau Plan

Linda Parks has a degree in urban planning. She has been a Thousand Oaks city planner and has sat on the City Council.

Her avocation seems to be to keep lawyers employed. While issues regarding development of land in the Conejo Valley are being debated she hears nothing, sees nothing and knows nothing. After the decisions are made she insists that they not be implemented. Many times she and her followers seek legal recourse against the city.

The city planners and the City Council do a good job of studying the issues before they approve construction in the city. The Borchard Road extension to Dos Vientos was finally opened in spite of litigation. The Lang Ranch Dam will be built in spite of litigation.

I notice that Parks does not claim that she defeated the placement of a golf course in Hill Canyon. She is honest. The golf course was not built because there was a requirement for a wetlands set aside in order to enlarge the sewer plant.

If Parks had voted for the upgrade of the sewer system the first time it came up before the city there would not have been a sewer spill and subsequent fines. There probably would not have been plans to develop a golf course in the canyon and no subsequent litigation.

I don’t know how many dollars her negativity has cost the city of Thousand Oaks. I hope the County of Ventura has many lawyers and deep pockets. If Parks is elected county supervisor it may need them.

Barbara Durand

Thousand Oaks

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The Thousand Oaks City Council majority, Dan Del Campo, Andy Fox and Dennis Gillette, fired me and Planning Commission Chairman Michael Farris for doing our sworn duty of due diligence.

In a diatribe he sent to the press, Del Campo tried mightily to blame Councilwoman Linda Parks for directing the Planning Commission’s decision to continue the Western Plateau Preservation Plan for a week.

But he fails to address the fact that three independent members voted to allow staff time to provide each commissioner with an accurate land use element map and copies of exhibits relating to Site I and Site C of the plan. Three commissioners wanted adequate time to review those materials and the significant changes made to the plan.

Two commissioners, Farris and I, were removed by the City Council, ostensibly for violating the Brown Act.

Putting aside for the moment that there was no violation of the public meeting law, what is lost in the fury of the council majority’s reaction to the commission’s request for adequate information given in the customary amount of time is that the plan no longer includes the middle school land.

Why was the middle school, Site C in the plan, removed? Because that change would have resulted in the interrelated plan going to a vote of the people. Why? Because in 1996, the Parks Initiative was written by Linda Parks and adopted by the City Council, which protects parkland from being developed without voter ratification.

Richard Francis, co-author of SOAR, has offered his expert opinion that Site I, the equestrian center that will be replaced by homes, should go before the voters. Councilmen like Del Campo should take heed. The underlying anger from thousands of the city’s residents is not, as he states, from a blind support of Parks, rather the sentiment is, “How dare you run against the wishes of the voters?”

Her supporters see that Parks has respect for the electorate and faith in their collective wisdom. I support Parks because of her true commitment to serving the public’s interest. On March 5, please join me in voting for Parks for Ventura County supervisor.

Nora Aidukas

Thousand Oaks

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D.A. Candidates’ Campaign Tactics

On Feb. 21, a news conference was held at which time an elderly community activist, recent grand marshal of the Santa Paula Christmas Parade and Food Share volunteer, was unjustly crucified by the Totten campaign. This character assassination by Greg Totten and his other committee members was unwarranted.

This attack assumes that no one who has committed a crime can ever be rehabilitated. If this were true, there would be no reason to release anyone from jail.

As a former probation officer, I find this assumption to be faulty and far from the truth. Many people who violate the law never re-offend. [Raul] Cervantes appears to be one of those who has paid his dues to society and has made positive contributions to the community.

Approximately 14 years later, Totten’s campaign humiliated this 72-year-old Latino community servant by once again dragging his name and family through the mud. What was his new offense or crime? Was it adding his name to others who have expressed support for Ron Bamieh for district attorney? Wouldn’t we as constituents rather hear about each candidate’s credentials and approaches to issues related to the district attorney’s office?

My recommendation to Bamieh is to stay on the high road and not stoop to the destructive, negative campaign tactics of the Totten committee.

Mike Morgan

Camarillo

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Drugs have long been a killer of our children and a threat to the safety of our communities. Having many decades of law enforcement experience in battling the horrific scourge of illegal drugs, we were amazed to learn that Ron Bamieh sought and then widely advertised the endorsement of a convicted drug dealer in his “no-holds-barred” bid to become district attorney. Even more amazing, however, has been that some would now criticize his opponent, Greg Totten, for having pointed this out.

Let’s be clear on the issue here. The person used in the Bamieh endorsement ads was convicted of a felony drug offense--possession for sale of significant quantities of cocaine (with a street value of $35,000). Whether it was 10 months or 10 years ago does not lessen the significance of candidate Bamieh’s willingness to use this convicted drug dealer in his bid to win Latino votes in his television ads. If Bamieh didn’t know about the man’s record as a drug dealer, he should have. And if he did know, it’s even worse.

Our top law enforcement officers must be above reproach and certainly must not be willing to make alliances of convenience with or use endorsements of convicted felons in an effort to advance their political careers.

Yes, Bamieh and his supporters can try to “spin” this sordid incident to somehow blame Totten for speaking out, but let’s not let this obvious effort to kill the messenger obscure the message: Drugs kill people and destroy families. Our next district attorney must prosecute drug dealers and certainly must not associate with convicted drug dealers for political gain.

Bob Brooks

Ventura County Sheriff

Bob Gonzales

Santa Paula Police Chief

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We are so proud to be supporting Ron Bamieh, a candidate for district attorney who has refrained from character assassination, attack by innuendo, racism, insinuation and guilt by association while slandering innocent citizens. His campaign is a reflection of his integrity and principles.

[Greg] Totten has cited a statement by Bamieh’s father out of context and in a totally misleading fashion. Surely Totten’s people are well aware that when Bamieh’s father was asked if he would help his son’s campaign financially that his answer was highlighted by the use of hyperbole, not meant to be taken literally. Surely, no one thinks it would take $10 million to win any local office in Ventura County. The comment was merely a loving father expressing his support for his son in a dramatic fashion.

We would prefer having a district attorney whose campaign was financially assisted by his father in Northern California than one who has received sizable contributions from local developers as Totten has received from David Murdock.

Attacking supporters of Bamieh in an attempt to besmirch their reputation, and by association, that of the candidate, is the height of intimidation and nastiness. This is not the type of ethical behavior that we want to see in the district attorney of Ventura County. It is disappointing to see Totten indulging in this conduct.

Bamieh has shown courage, tenacity, determination, intelligence and skill in pursuing murderers and spousal abusers. He successfully obtained a conviction in a murder trial when all the other law enforcement people had written the case off. He did so at considerable cost to himself and his family as he was the target of death threats from gangs involved. Bamieh is a man with integrity and principle.

Patricia, Eric, Frank Allison

Ventura

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In a recent article it was said that money donated to the campaign for the district attorney’s office had nearly reached $1 million for [Ron] Bamieh (nearly all coming from his father) and that Greg Totten’s donations were far less. Some say that money is the root of all evil. In this race, money is certainly the root of Bamieh’s search for a political power base. Without such money from his father, Bamieh is no more or less qualified than many other hard-working and dedicated deputy district attorneys in that office. But with such money, Bamieh has paid his professional New York promoters for their help to create false images through massive and deceitful media ads.

This race reminds me of a few years ago when Robert Lagomarsino ran against [Michael] Huffington. Remember when Huffington spent about $3.5 million (donated by himself, to himself) compared with Lagomarsino’s $500,000 which came from numerous donors. The ultimate result was bad for all, particularly those in that congressional district. A long-respected congressman’s career ended and when his opponent, Huffington, could not purchase the next political office, he likewise slipped into political oblivion.

Let’s not repeat that mistake. I plead with the voters to consider what is at stake and to not let money and Bamieh’s New York political machine dictate the outcome in Ventura County. But for whomever you decide, go to the polls and vote.

Richard D. Jimenez

Ventura

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Community College Bond Measure

Ballot Measure S, the bond measure for the Ventura County Community College District, is a bad idea and would create a new, unneeded and unwelcome tax burden on the property owners of Ventura County.

This additional tax burden would go on for 30 years. The new tax that they are trying to impose on us is about $19 per $100,000 of assessed value.

As of November 2001, the median home value in Ventura County was $287,000. Remember that this is not a static tax. If the value of your property increases, and I don’t foresee a real estate market crash any time soon, your tax increases. If the college district needs to raise the money for renovation and new construction, there are other, more equitable ways for it to do so.

First, let’s look at some numbers. The college district claims an enrollment of about 47,000 students. The population of Ventura County is approximately 750,000. Assuming that all of the students are Ventura County residents, which they are not, that would mean that the colleges are utilized by about only 6.3% of the population.

Should this measure pass, the many would be forced to pay for the benefit of the few. Also, since many of the students paying resident tuition are from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties, they would still be using our colleges and not having to pay the increase in the property tax, as this measure affects the property taxes only in Ventura County.

The most equitable way for the college district to raise the needed money would be to increase tuition fees. This way, the people reaping the benefits would be the ones paying for it.

Currently, California resident students pay $11 per unit tuition fee. Students from other states pay $130 and foreign students pay $144. The $130-per-unit fee more accurately reflects the cost of providing the educational services. This means that the taxpayers are already paying more than 90% of the cost of educating the students. And now the colleges want to stick their hands more deeply into our pockets? I think not.

Let’s see how this would work. With 47,000 students, without knowing the breakdown between full and part time, conservatively say they average six units enrollment.

That would be 282,000 units. Increase the enrollment fee by $2 per unit, which is still way less than what it costs to go to a CSU or UC [and] that would bring in $564,000 a semester, well over $1 million a year just from the spring and fall semesters.

Isn’t that much better than increasing our taxes again?

In order to elicit sympathy from the public, the district sent out a newsletter on the ballot measure that had a picture of a “dilapidated 1940s-era Quonset hut.” Since they didn’t mention what it was used for, I would imagine that they were hoping that people would believe that it was an example of the classroom buildings.

What they showed us was a building that’s used for storing gardening and maintenance equipment and is still quite serviceable for that purpose.

We should let them know that we are not going to buy into this sympathy ploy by voting no on Measure S.

We have very little control over the taxes that are imposed on us, as most of them come from Sacramento and Washington. This is one tax that we can control and prevent from happening.

Chris Collier

Ventura

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New Development Near Ormond Beach

Oxnard’s Ormond Beach is slipping away. It is being lost to development one parcel at a time.

There are already many acres of industrial plants and vehicle-processing facilities. This area is covered with parking lots and huge trucks.

It is time to stop and look at the big picture.

In this case, it means looking at the small amount of land that still remains and being good stewards of this land. It means thinking about the legacy that will be left for future generations. Once the land is covered with buildings and paved with concrete, it is gone.

If proper planning is done, Ormond can enrich our lives. The obvious assets are the coastal wetlands and the long stretch of open beach with beautiful sunsets and wonderful views of the Channel Islands.

There are tremendous opportunities for educational study plus environmental and marine research. There can be parkland with elevated walkways, bridges over sensitive areas, viewing towers and beach access for people of all ages to see and appreciate this jewel. Any development must complement these uses.

Piecemeal development proposals that would take away from this potential are before city officials now.

One is 38 acres for another vehicle-processing facility. Cars would be brought into Ormond by train, through residential neighborhoods, and trucked out.

The other is a 50-acre Sysco distribution facility. Sysco is the largest food service distribution organization in North America. Sysco would generate an enormous amount of additional truck traffic.

Neither of these facilities needs to be located by coastal wetlands and beach land. Since all the trucks from these two facilities will be using Highway 101, Rice Avenue near Highway 101 would be an appropriate location.

Visioning and planning must be done. Oxnard City Council, staff and residents must work together so Ormond Beach can be a very special place.

Shirley Godwin

Oxnard