Last night, Mayor Bill Fulton delivered his first State of the City Address, two months into his two-year term. Noting that the state of City government is "challenged" like other public, private and non-profit institutions, he asserted that the state of our community is "stronger than ever.""The people of Ventura bring an enormous amount of passion and energy every day to task of sustaining our community as a terrific town," he noted, citing "soccer leagues, little leagues, community organizations, arts and cultural activities, education, music, and businesses that are born and grow and prosper. It is all of you who make our community strong and give us the passion and the energy to deal with hard times."
Fulton reviewed the major accomplishments of the last decade:
- The City's ambitious road repair efforts
- The Community Park
- The revitalization of Downtown
- Fiscal discipline to live within our means
- The adoption of a General Plan, laying the foundation for higher standards, clearer rules and shortened time frames for new development proposals.
Fulton focused on "high wage jobs," citing UC Santa Barbara and Amgen as nearby "institutions that constantly spin off startup businesses in the high-tech and biotech" fields. "In the past two years, Ventura has made a major effort – unlike any other city in this region – to connect with these institutions," he declared, "with startup entrepreneurs, and with venture capitalists, to encourage spin-off businesses to locate and grow here in Ventura. And it’s working. Today - for the first time - we are part of the high-tech/biotech business ecosystem."
Fulton highlighted the success of the "launch party" last week that focused on the ten start-up firms in the Ventura Ventures Technology Center (V2TC) business incubator. The event drew more than 200 "new economy" players to the Crowne Plaza to hear the entrepreneurs behind companies like Lottay and Geodelic outline their prospects -- with both firms actively hiring in a tough economy.
The Mayor went on to cite the expected groundbreaking of a new Community Memorial Hospital in the year ahead, continued focus on Ventura as a unique cultural and outdoor destination, job training for the new green economy and a closer partnership with the Ventura Chamber of Commerce as foundations for "enduring prosperity."
Fulton then turned to the theme of "environmental stewardship":
It’s easy to forget that this is a very fragile place to live. We are reminded only occasionally when we are inundated … as were last week, or when fire threatens to overwhelm us, or when we are cut off temporarily from the outside world. Yet people have made this small piece of land their home – living sustainability with the environment – for many thousands of years. It’s been two and a quarter centuries since the Mission was founded and almost a century and a half since the creation of Ventura as a municipality.
He outlined the City's aggressive efforts to protect the environment, including reducing pollution carried by stormwater into our barrancas, rivers and ocean;
reduce energy use and switch to renewable sources; promote water conservation and recycling; and cope with the threat of sea level rise from global climate change.
Finally, Fulton addressed the necessity of reinventing the way City government delivers services to our community:
In these hard times, we have had to make difficult decisions to cut services. We have lost some of our most cherished businesses and community institutions, and many more are at risk. This in turn has understandably led to tension over how to live within our means today . . . it’s time to think about how to do things differently; reinvent things; ask ourselves questions we’ve never asked before . . . Can we find a way to make sure that everybody has access to library services even if they don’t live near a library? Is there a way for firefighters and police officers and code enforcement officers to work together as they traverse the streets of our community, keeping an eye out for our well-being? Can’t we work with together with nonprofit organizations like the Serra Cross Conservancy, the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy, and the Ventura Botanical Garden to manage Grant Park and actually make it better than it is now, at less cost?
Of course, answering these questions requires analysis and debate -- and actually making such changes requires more hard work, creativity and tenacity. But business as usual is not affordable in these times.
The Mayor concluded on an optimistic note:
This is a time of great change and uncertainty in our society. Old ways of doing things are falling by the wayside quickly and new ways are emerging rapidly. Such times can be frightening, but they are also pregnant with great possibilities. We in Ventura are very determined and well positioned to take advantage of those opportunities in order to reinforce Ventura as a great place to live and work.
The text of the entire speech is on our City's website.
1 comments:
I am encouraged to read Mayor Fulton’s commitment to environmental stewardship. The City of Ventura is attractive to residents, businesses and visitors due to a local economy and quality of life that is centered on a clean and healthy environment including parks, open spaces, creeks, rivers, estuaries and the ocean.
The City is required under state and federal law to implement policies and programs to protect our unique coastal resources and environmentally sensitive habitat (California Coastal Act), reduce the amount of waste generated in the community that goes to landfills (AB939), and prevent storm water runoff from polluting creek, river and ocean waters (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Permit Program and State Municipal Stormwater Permit Program).
Single use plastic bags, styrofoam (EPS) products, and other plastic products often find their way into the local environment. EPS breaks down into smaller pieces, and it is so light it even floats on water. Plastic bags and EPS are easily carried by the wind, even when properly disposed. Numerous studies have documented the prevalence of EPS debris in the local environment, including in storm drains, beaches, creeks, rivers, and the ocean. EPS, plastic bags and disposable plastic negatively impact the marine environment and contribute to the “garbage patches” associated with marine gyres.
EPS can contain potentially harmful constituents such as phalates, bisphenol A, styrene, vinyl chloride and flame-retardants. Research is being conducted to determine whether water leaches these constituents out of plastic products, presenting a threat to humans and wildlife. For example, styrene is a known hazardous substance and a suspected carcinogen and neurotoxin. Medical evidence and the Food and Drug Administration suggest that styrene may penetrate into food and drink stored in polystyrene containers that could potentially threaten the health of humans and wildlife. The recycling of EPS is not currently available in the region.
It is in the City’s interest to establish programs and services that reduce the amount of litter in the environment, in particular beach litter and marine pollution.
I encourage the City of Ventura to utilize management practices established in www.greencitiescalifornia.org. Eliminate the use of EPS food containers over a reasonable period of time, and encourage the use of reusable shopping containers by charging a fee for single use plastic and paper shopping bags.
It is important for our community leaders to set a positive example of environmental stewardship for the future generation, so that they may enjoy the beauty of life we have had growing up in Ventura.
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