2007 State of the City Address
City of Ventura
Presented by
Mayor Carl Morehouse, AICP
7 p.m.
City Council Chambers
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you one and all.
Good evening Madam Deputy Mayor, fellow Council members, citizen board, commission and committee members, school board members, Supervisor Bennett, city staff, other assorted dignitaries and fellow citizens. The President of our United States has delivered his State of the Union address. Our Governor has delivered his State of the State address. And, now, I am pleased to present to you my second, and final, State of the City address. Thank you for your attendance.
When I stood before you last year at this time, I told you that I could not declare the state of our city as great or fantastic. Instead, I told you it was good. And while tonight I cannot again tell you that it is great or fantastic, I am pleased to tell you that it is better.
It is better because this Council has stuck to its goal of eliminating the City's fiscal structural deficit. We have done this by aggressively pursuing the implementation of a 3-year budget plan -- a plan that has been a success. We have shaved our expenses by a million and a half dollars a year without seriously impacting services to our residents. And we've aimed to generate $2 million a year in additional revenue from new sources. I'm pleased to report that we are a year ahead of schedule in eliminating the imbalance between what we were spending over what we took in.
This has been achieved in part by the efforts of this Council and our staff to follow the "Budgeting for Outcomes" policy that this Council adopted. We will continue on this course, and throughout, we are going to stay focused our four priorities: Public Safety, Parks, investing in our Infrastructure, and providing competitive compensation to assure that we keep the best and brightest people working for us.
Additionally, as to why we are better, let me start with three of these key priorities. And I will come back to Public Safety.
Ventura is clearly better because we added the five-acre Thille neighborhood park this past year and, we recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the popular Ventura Community Park with the achievement of our goal of raising more than one million dollars in private gifts that have gone into a success that has far surpassed our expectations. In the first year of the Community Park, alone, over 2,000 children enrolled in swimming lessons, generating over half a million dollars in revenue for the Aquatics Complex. By the way, this new facility hosted 150 teams at the National Jr. Olympic Water Polo Championships and was recently honored with the outstanding new facility award by the Southern California Municipal Athletic Association.
We also expanded our linear park system with more than 2-miles of new bike paths. And I'm pleased to report that our 2006 Citizen Survey found that nearly 90% of our residents have visited a city park within the last year, and over 78% are satisfied with the quality of our parks.
Regarding our investment in our infrastructure; Ventura is clearly better because we have continued our commitment to street improvements under our unified pavement management program. Through that program there were major street improvements in the College and Varsity Neighborhoods, along with the long awaited Foothill Repaving project. We re-paved a total of 31 lane miles throughout the City. And we are better because we have installed 17 much needed new bus shelters and 130 new benches along the bus routes as we continue to encourage the use of mass transit - an effort which resulted in us seeing the highest ridership in history last year!
Additionally, our aging infrastructure saw major enhancements, including 3 major waterline replacements on Poli Street, at Seaward & 101 and in the Harbor-Monmouth area. Our commitment to a safe and reliable water supply was enhanced in 2006 with the near completion of the Avenue Water Treatment Plant, the City's largest capital project at $32 million. And, thankfully, last year, Californians approved Propositions 1A-1E and Proposition 84. From those propositions we will aggressively seek funding to assist us in assuring that our infrastructure remains modernized.
We are better in that we are making progress towards stopping sprawl, preserving our hillsides and agricultural land by promoting infill development. We are also paying closer attention to preserving our historic buildings and character and emphasizing high quality design and architecture in our community. And we are seeing more investment in older areas. We are on track and moving forward with the implementation of our community vision, one neighborhood and one project at a time. The Downtown Specific Plan will go to the Council for final approval in March. The Wells/Saticoy Community Plan, now in draft form, comes to a joint meeting of the Council and Planning Commission tomorrow night.
The Westside/North Ave Community Plan and Code is underway, and the Main Street and Thompson Corridor Guidelines were given preliminary approval last month along with the Victoria Avenue Corridor Plan. The Council also approved the long-debated Sondermann-Ring project at the Harbor with an exciting new design that now goes to the Coastal Commission for final approval.
Ventura is better because of our continued commitment to revitalizing Downtown. In an effort to make "Our Community more Prosperous", the City partnered with downtown businesses to establish the Downtown Ventura Organization (DVO) a non-profit group of merchants, residents, and property owners that have united in partnership with the City to tackle issues such as tenant attraction, marketing coordination, advocacy and promotion for downtown. And, as part of our commitment to the revitalization of downtown, as I said before, the Downtown Specific Plan is nearing completion.
Ventura is better because we have taken the direction outlined in the General Plan and replaced the outdated and competitive RGMP, or Residential Growth Management Program, with the adoption of the Housing Approval Program along with an inclusionary housing program, which now requires that 15% of new housing for those projects of more than 15 units to be priced at levels affordable to families of low and moderate incomes.
Turning to the first of our General Plan strategic visions, protecting our natural environment, I can report that we are better today because in 2006 we launched our "Green Initiative." We are inventorying all of our environmental practices - and we are making real progress. Last year, we planted 300 street trees. We debuted the WaiPuna Truck - a vehicle that uses heated sugar and corn oil for weed control - as part of our effort to reach our goal of having pesticide free parks within 5 years. And we constructed the Surfer's Point runoff diversion project, which will make our ocean and beaches cleaner and safer by diverting storm water runoff into the sewer system.
Ventura is also better because, as part of our commitment to "Our Educated Community", the Program Enrichment for After school Kids, or PEAK as it is known, has now expanded to seven schools, serving 485 students daily. Thirty-three percent of the PEAK students significantly improved their school test scores, proof that the PEAK program is positively contributing to the lives of these children.
Ventura is now better because our progress towards becoming California's "New Arts City" continued with a $1 million grant from the California Cultural and Historic Endowment to help with the Olivas Adobe Restoration Project. Additionally, $600,000 has been raised locally for the WAV live/work space to retain artists in our progressive downtown while providing a much needed transitional living center for our less fortunate individuals.
Finally, let me return to Public Safety. I believe Ventura is better today because we are no longer debating whether or not we need additional police officers and firefighters. The questions we must now answer are when and how. While 62% of the voters supported a modest additional tax to fund a major increase in public safety funding, that fell short of the 2/3rds vote needed. So while it will take longer and be more difficult to solve this problem, we will continue to seek the funding needed to keep Ventura safe. Together, I know we will find a solution to this urgent challenge.
As an example of the fine public safety men and women who serve you daily, I am proud to recognize one member of our own police force, Officer Tank Sears, who was awarded the Governor's Medal of Valor for his heroic actions at La Conchita. Tank, would you please rise and let us show our appreciation to you. Thank you for being here this evening, Tank.
Of course, Ventura is better not only because of the efforts of local government, it is better because of the tremendous civic spirit of our citizens. Ventura is better because volunteerism in our City has increased to 48% this past year, surpassing the state average volunteer rate of 26%. And the Ventura Police volunteering rate, alone, increased 11%, in part due to the highly successful Volunteers in Policing Program. Currently we now have over 300 block captains for our neighborhood watch program throughout the City. Volunteers -- the Council and staff's hats are off to you!
In all of these ways, we are better today than one year ago.
However, in spite of all of these accomplishments, I will offer that the state of our City, while better, is still precarious.
It is precarious because, despite our natural beauty in this setting, we are still vulnerable to fires, mudslides, flooding, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis, and even global warming. And we are precarious because we are still short handed in terms of public safety personnel, facilities and equipment to meet the current and changing population of our community, inclusive of response times.
It is precarious because in an era of Federal restructuring and different priorities, local governments no longer receive many of the funds that they used to receive from the Fed. And keep in mind in the terms of federal tax dollar contributions, California is still a "donor" state, getting only about 90 cents back for every dollar we send to Washington, D.C.
It is precarious because the State revenue structure is still fundamentally flawed. Despite gains made from the difficult to understand "triple flip" for the vehicle tax, sales tax, property tax arrangement, and the success of Prop. 1A in 2005, the state is still failing to capture revenues from many sources and continues to force cities to pit themselves against each other in search of sales tax dollars leading to, sometimes, disastrous land use decisions. Additionally, dependency on sales tax revenues is very volatile given the fickle nature of consumers, and our property tax enhancements are also given to fluctuations in the market.
It is precarious because this community, like our county in general and the greater Central Coast, is still struggling with the lack of affordable housing. As our workforce ages and we seek to replace those retiring workers, it becomes increasingly difficult to attract young beginning workers to our community when housing costs consume the majority of their paycheck.
And it is precarious because our aging population is starting to retire resulting in a diminishing work force, rising health care costs and strains on our budget to cover retirement benefits.
These are not challenges that will be solved overnight, nor solved by government alone. That's why I think it is important to take the long view and talk about how we must work together to achieve sustainability -- sustainability in the truest sense. Not the sustainability term that has been co-opted by the environmental community to simply mean "green" or energy efficient building practices. And not sustainability as co-opted by the business community to mean to keep going at the same rate of growth, much as a locomotive has to sustain power and momentum to keep going.
No, I mean sustainability in the global sense of the word; sustainability as in the term as used by the United Nations -- The term meaning the ability to meet our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. In order to achieve a sustainable world it requires the long-term viability of interconnected social equity, economic and environmental systems; what are known as the "three legs" of the sustainability stool, or the three "Es" as they are commonly called.
You know, we are about to enter into another election cycle for this city and because of that I want to take this opportunity to warn against any radicalism that would take us off the path from becoming truly sustainable. Whether it is from the environmental community, or neighbors hiding under the guise of environmentalism, that keeps us from providing much needed housing or helping to guide the redevelopment of neighborhoods. Whether it is from the business community that believes regulations should be relaxed, fees should be reduced so that the users don't bear the burden of the costs, and that we should not be sensitive to neighborhood concerns or social concerns. Or whether it is from social justice groups who, in their zeal for social equity would thwart the economy to prove a point while denying this community much needed revenue, we must be ever vigilant to not get caught up in any narrow focus. When one leg of the stool gets out of balance it is at the detriment of the other two, no matter what the configuration. And that imbalance will never be good for the true long-term sustainability of this community.
I'd like to point out for you tonight three fine examples of people who are leading the way in assisting to keep this community balanced in the three "Es" and they are doing it somewhat quietly and mindfully of the other legs of the sustainability stool.
It is always gratifying to see new businesses come to life. This is particularly so for those new businesses downtown. And it is even more gratifying when the people or persons involved with that business jump in with both feet into the rest of this community. One such business is Weaver Wines, and one such person is Seana-Marie Weaver. Seana is truly one of those remarkable people who came to Ventura from Santa Barbara with an idea for a business and a sense of commitment to her adopted community. She has jumped in thoroughly with the Ventura Chamber of Commerce and with the Downtown Ventura Organization. But just as importantly, she has jumped into the other issues that consume us, such as housing farmworkers that help keep our agricultural industry alive and promoting good recycling practices. Like so many of our local start up businesses, Seana epitomizes that you can be a successful business person, but also have a social conscious and environmental conscious as well. Would you please stand and be recognized. Thank you Seana for all that you do.
When it comes to the social equity leg of the sustainability model -- a segment that many of us choose to consciously ignore or wish would simply go away or even actively seek to brush aside -- it is nice to have someone working quietly in the trenches to help retain and restore dignity to many who have fallen out of mainstream society for one reason or another. We all see the visible homeless, many who have substance abuse problems or are mentally ill, but there are so many others that we don't see because they are on the edge of society and really would like to get back to gaining self sufficiency. But for some reason or another obstacles get in their way to make it just difficult enough to over come. For those people, they can only give thanks to someone like Kim Devine, who has silently and regularly gone about the work of trying to meet their needs and see that they are not left behind. This community needs to give a big round of thanks to Kim. Thank you for being here tonight.
Besides the business revolution that is going on downtown, there has sprung up another kind of enthusiasm in this city in the past year. Granted it took a national movie of a somewhat controversial nature to turn on this engine, but turn it on it did. And out of that movie and one person's unbridled energy and enthusiasm, certain, what had been heretofore, primarily kind of "hippie-dippie", "green weenie", ideas are being incorporated into mainstream everyday use. When Rachel Morris saw an Inconvenient Truth, she felt like she just had to go "do something". And that urge resulted in a town hall meeting that gave lots of ordinary people from all walks of life an opportunity to learn about ways their City government is currently acting to reduce energy consumption and reduce global warming. It also provided those in attendance with an opportunity to learn what others were doing and what they themselves could do to likewise reduce energy consumption and reduce global warming. This was grass roots activism at it's finest and Rachel, we wish you well in keeping the momentum going. Please stand up. Thank you Rachel for all of your efforts.
It is with living examples like these three individuals, and those who are willing to work in those areas that they are passionate about, yet be willing to weigh their area of concern against the other two legs of the stool without getting too far ahead at the expense of the others that will truly take this city to greatness over the next decade. Tonight, I urge you all to keep in mind as you pursue your passion to remember the other legs of the stool, because balance is how we will truly remain a sustainable community.
We must stay the course with balance. Without it we will surely go adrift. As they say in diving, plan the dive, then, dive the plan. That is the key to success. That is how we will get from good to great.
Thank you all for allowing me the privilege of serving as your Mayor this past year. I look forward to the rest of this year working together with you all. Let's continue the path toward making Ventura the best it can be. Bless you all and God bless the great community of San Buenaventura. Thank you.
Council Advisory Group Application
Interested in being a part of a Council Advisory Group? Download Application
Council Assignments