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Valley Express Launch in Santa Paula

By Sheryl Hamlin

To a packed city hall chambers, Council Member and VCTC Commissioner Ginger Gherardi introduced dignitaries from the offices of Congress member Brownley, Ventura County Transit Commission and County Supervisor Long’s office, as well as, the Santa Paula Unified School District, the city of Fillmore and the city of Santa Paula. The inclement weather failed to dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm for the hew Valley Transit fixed-route bus service which launched March 2, 2015 after a multi-year planning effort by transit planners, city official and county staff.

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  With the city’s popular Dial-a-Ride service overloaded and the high volume of ridership from the Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru areas, planners knew the time was ripe to approach the establishment of fixed-route service. According to VCTC Executive Director, Darren Kettle, it was Victor Kamhi from VCTC, whose clever idea to pursue rural funds for transit provided early monies for this project.

Council Member Gherardi introduced former Mayor Ralph Fernandez, whose early involvement brought the project forward. Mr. Fernandez thanked the staff and county for their work.

Council Member Hernandez spoke for Supervisor Long who could not attend saying that Supervisor Long represented the unincorporated area in the Heritage Valley Policy Advisory Committee. From the VCTC, the committee’s purpose is as follows:

The member agencies that make up the Heritage Valley Policy Advisory Committee (HVPAC), including the Cities of Santa Paula and Fillmore and the County of Ventura, fund the service and make recommendations to the Commission regarding the service. In accordance with section 6 of the Cooperative Agreement, VCTC may not approve the contract until the HVPAC “has reviewed the final terms of the contract and made a recommendation to VCTC to act on the contract.”

There is also a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) consisting of Brian Yanez, City of Santa Paula; Rigo Landeros, City of Fillmore; David Fleisch, Ventura County; and Vic Kamhi, VCTC (ex-officio).

David Fleisch spoke saying that transit is an evolving system where problems can be resolved after study and user input.

Sara Martinez, a student at Santa Paula High School, was presented a check for her winning entry to name the system “Valley Express”.

Mayor Procter, who greeted the crowd, thanked Mr. Fernandez and motioned for the commencement of the ribbon cutting ceremony.

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  VCTC provided food, maps and rain ponchos. Canopy tents protected guests while waiting for the bus and socializing. The fun began when attendees were able to board the brand new buses. Starting at 12:21 pm, one bus made its way from City Hall to K-Mart, up Peck to Main, left on Dean, east on Santa Barbara to 10th Street, south to Main, then back via Harvard. The entire trip (Route A) took about 40 minutes. During this time, several residents flagged the bus down for a ride. Locals studying and enjoying the “free ride” were Peggy and Victoria Kelly, Debbie Johnson, Donna Hamer and Steve Blatchley. Mrs. Johnson, a 35 year resident and owner of the Santa Paula Times, was enthusiastic about the prospects of the bus service, as were others on board.

The driver demonstrated the automated ramp which allows wheelchair users to roll up the ramp. The driver explained that the first three seats can be adjusted to strap in the wheel chair. All seats are equipped with seat belts. The bus is built with graffiti proof glass and security cameras which will be monitored by the Santa Paula Police Department.

New street signs appear around the city. Most are “wave only” signs which means you MUST wave to the driver to request a stop; otherwise the bus will continue. Some are permanent, such as the one at City Hall. There are buttons inside to enable riders to request the bus to stop. How many cities have beautiful floral bouquets framing the bus stop! Santa Paula, an America in Bloom winner, presents transit stops in flowers on Main Street.

   * Photo Credits Sheryl Hamlin

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Sheryl Hamlin: With an MS in Industrial Engineering, Sheryl Hamlin spent years in technology with stints at Motorola, Tandem Computers and various startups. She has been on the boards of neighborhood organizations both in San Francisco and Palm Springs where planning issues were her specialty. She now resides in Santa Paula and loves the historic fabric of the city.  Ms. Hamlin’s blog Stealth Fashion  and  technology product ‘ Plug and Play Webmaster’.

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Santa Paula Mid-Year Budget Report

By Sheryl Hamlin

Part Three of 3-Part Series

The last item of business on the February 17, 2015 Santa Paula City Council meeting was billed as the “Fiscal Year 2014-2015 Mid-Year Budget Report”. The following statement occurs on page three of Director Easley’s staff report:

Note that this statement is the only time in the nine page staff report that the citywide budget of approximately $35 million is referenced, nor is this $35 million discussed in the PowerPoint presentation shown to the public.

Director Easley’s staff report and PowerPoint presentation focus only on the $13.7 million General Fund Budget. This means that $21.3 million of other budgeted funds are omitted from the staff report to the council and subsequently to the general public. These omitted funds happen to include the “Enterprise Funds” for water and sewer. Why would a mid-year budget report omit 61% of the citywide budget?

In her June 2, 2014 budget report, Director Easley’s presentation similarly omitted the Enterprise Funds. She showed the citywide total and no breakdown of any of the funds other than the General Fund, thus omitting the water and sewer analyses.

The second sentence in the above statement should be parsed for clarity: “… all ongoing operating expenses were budgeted and funded with ongoing revenues.” Does this refer to all funds within the citywide budget or does it refer only to the General Fund?

No one on the dais questioned the absence of the Enterprise Funds in the report.

The good news, as shown in the next image, is that the budgeted loss in the General Fund is forecast to end the year with a slight surplus. Sales tax, property taxes and rents have increased which contributed to the forecast surplus of $136,031 in the General Fund.

  Discussion ensured about the CIP Draw Down. Mayor Procter asked for this acronym to be explained to the public. It means: Construction In Progress Draw Down. This makes sense from a construction accounting standpoint; however, it would have been more informative to map that back to the actual work so that citizens could see projects funded by the bond proceeds. The staff report indicates these projects are underway: 600 Zone Booster Station, water meter replacement, sidewalk replacements and sewer infrastructure improvements. Additionally a study on the Cross-Town Pipeline was finished for which staff is preparing an RFQ.

The 10th Street Improvement Project is scheduled to be completed this year. Funded by Caltrans, Council Member Gherardi asked about draw downs against this funding. Brian Yanez responded that they drew down these funds for the design process which leaves six months to complete the project and draw down the remaining funds before the funding source ends.

Council Member Gherardi asked about the accounting software upgrade. Director Easley responded by saying the upgrade was estimated at $200,000 and it would take two years to complete the upgrade. However, this item has not yet been approved.

Council Member Gherardi asked about the $750,000 Limoneira grant for fire and safety. Director Easley responded that the 4% increase for police pay was budgeted using these monies. Recall that this grant was $250,000 for three years matched each year by the city for a total of $500,000 per year over three years. Director Easley could not say how much remained to be spent above and beyond these pay raises.

During Public Comments for the budget review, Chris Mann, representing the Firefighters Union, voiced concerns about firefighter staffing, particularly the SAFER grant positions, but also unfilled positions. There are still firefighters out on injury. He said: “Fire Fighter staffing is under stress”.

So the question about the remaining funds after the 4% police pay raise is essential to understanding how these monies can be used to reduce the “stress” on the firefighting staffing levels.

Council Member Tovias noted that he was on the dais when the use of reserves was approved to bridge the ending of the SAFER Grant, but he said it was made clear that this bridge was only temporary. He also inveighed over the loss of the sales tax Measure F saying that with the additional $2 million the budgeting process would be “more pleasant”. He also noted an article about an award received by the “Santa Paula Water Recycling Facility”. The press release was published by PERC Water. Since the plant does not recycle water, it is curious that the designers of the plant continue to mislabel the facility rather than calling it a waste water treatment plant.

Council Member Gherardi had prepared a list of questions which were not addressed. For example, she wanted to know the total of all legal fees across departments, so they could determine if using an in-house legal council would be less expensive than contracting legal expenses by the hour. She said the council needs more clarity on what is available to spend. Council Member Tovias said the staff did not have time to answer questions. Council Member Hernandez suggested Council Member Gherardi meet individually with staff to get her questions answered.

Council Member Gherardi asked about the budgeting process saying she would like input rather than simply be handed a pre-established budget to approve. City Manager Fontes said that the budget process had not been solidified and that they were getting off topic, which was the mid-year budget review.

The motion to approve and file the mid-year budget report was approved leaving many unanswered questions.

For previous parts of this series, click here:

Part One of this Series

Part Two of this Series

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Sheryl Hamlin: With an MS in Industrial Engineering, Sheryl Hamlin spent years in technology with stints at Motorola, Tandem Computers and various startups. She has been on the boards of neighborhood organizations both in San Francisco and Palm Springs where planning issues were her specialty. She now resides in Santa Paula and loves the historic fabric of the city.  Ms. Hamlin’s blog Stealth Fashion  and  technology product ‘ Plug and Play Webmaster’.

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Santa Paula's new City Council gets to work

By Sheryl Hamlin

On Monday, December 1, 2014, the outgoing members of the Santa Paula City council (Cook, Gonzales and Fernandez) turned over their responsibilities to three newly elected council members: John Procter, Ginger Gherardi and Ginny Crosswhite.

Reverend Michael Fincher of St. Paul’s Episcopal & Emmanuel Lutheran Church delivered the invocation which stressed continuity, cooperation and a better future for the city.

Danny Carillo of SEIU 721 was the only speaker in public comments. He indicated that he and his organization look forward to working with the city, particularly in the upcoming contract negotiations where respect has been lacking for several years. He also mentioned the stakeholders of the sales tax increase measure in a nuanced reference to its failure.

Judy Rice, City Clerk, presented plaques to outgoing members Cook, Gonzales and Fernandez. Each spoke parting words. Council member Gonzales congratulated the new council members and acknowledged their commitment to the community. He indicated that his career had spanned eight campaigns in the city of Santa Paula where he has always had “open dialogue” with the public. He indicated that former Mayor Cook had been his friend since childhood. Council Member Fernandez said that it had been an honor to serve Santa Paula in tough economic times. Thanking many people, he also said “things happen on back burner people don’t know about…”. Outgoing Mayor Cook indicated that he had run four years ago for the same reasons people ran today, drought and the economy, saying “the water going up” and “no water to worry about”. He said “we did accomplish some stuff”. As for Measure F, he suggested they “tweak it a bit” and come back noting the commitment of the team. He wished the new council good luck, particularly in January when the budgeting process starts.

Council Member Tobias indicated he was proud to work with the outgoing council members and that it was not as easy to be transparent as the public perceives. Council Member Hernandez thanked the audience and noted that the large crowd is a rarity at regular meetings. He praised the outgoing council members.

The results of the November election were adopted and the oath was given to the new council members Procter, Crosswhite and Gherardi.

Newly elected Council Member Gherardi thanked her supporters saying it was a privilege to serve and that she will work hard to earn the voters’ trust. Council Member Crosswhite said it was an honor to serve and reminded the large audience that it will take all working together to make Santa Paula an even greater place. Council Member Procter thanked everyone saying he was having a déjà vu moment having been on the dais previously and that he was looking forward to moving the city forward and getting to work.

Council Member Hernandez told a story about an old woman working in her garden asking for help, saying he was there to help. Council Member Tobias said it was great to have new faces, new energy and he thanked the crowd for coming out to the meeting.

Following city protocols, the election of mayor started with nominations. Council Member Tobias nominated Council Member Procter. The motion was seconded by Council Member Gherardi. The vote was unanimous. The election of vice mayor started with newly elected Mayor Procter nominating Council Member Hernandez seconded by Council Member Tobias. The vote was unanimous.

Newly elected Mayor Procter presented the Gavel Plaque to outgoing Mayor Cook thanking him for his service. A roll call vote of the newly sworn council was taken. The City Manager Jaime Fontes thanked the outgoing council members for tireless service saying that service is a passion, not a job. Mr. Fontes congratulated the new council , Vice Mayor and Mayor and thanked the public for attending.

The final agenda item focused on future agenda topics. Council Member Gherardi proposed a Special Meeting in workshop format to discuss their goals and priorities. That motion passed. Council Member Crosswhite proposed a briefing from the county about the explosion at Santa Clara Waste Water. That motion passed. Mayor Procter indicated that the County of Ventura was hearing the issue of the explosion at their upcoming December 2 meeting and planned to declare an emergency.

The meeting closed with adjournment memories for three Santa Paula first responders who are still suffering from the explosion and for a local citizen who passed away.

Clearly the incoming council members, as well as the general public, are aware of the challenges and opportunities for improvement:

• the oversized and expensive waste water treatment plant that does not address the chlorides or recycling and which is currently under arbitration • the lack of trust as evidenced by voters’ rejection of all incumbents as well as their plan for a sales tax increase • the disproportionate reliance on property tax versus a flat sales tax (graph below taken from Finance Director’s budget presentation of June 2, 2014) • crumbling city streets and sidewalks for which there is no budget • broken communication between the council and the school board • a struggling downtown with many vacant storefronts • over-reliance on several housing developments that promised riches to the city coffers without imminent materialization • underpaid and understaffed public safety departments

                        With the phrase “get to work” used repeatedly during the meeting, the focus of the new Santa Paula city council was evident.

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Sheryl Hamlin: With an MS in Industrial Engineering, Sheryl Hamlin spent years in technology with stints at Motorola, Tandem Computers and various startups. She has been on the boards of neighborhood organizations both in San Francisco and Palm Springs where planning issues were her specialty. She now resides in Santa Paula and loves the historic fabric of the city.

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