I HAVE BEEN a big supporter of San Buenaventura Friends of the Library's dogged efforts to save their beloved Wright Library from closure due to cutbacks in the Ventura County Library System. They've done event after event and even invited science fiction legend Ray Bradbury to be the featured speaker at a fundraiser. So far they've raised $92,000.

But there comes a time when even the most devoted volunteers get tired. Volunteer-driven fundraising efforts cannot always be sustained. I've been there, done that myself when in 2003 as part of an equally determined group of moms we raised $84,000 to save the School Resource Officer program in Ventura's middle schools for just one year. We couldn't do it again the next.

So the Friends are pinning their hopes on the passage of Ventura's Measure A, the 1/2-percent sales tax measure on November's ballot. The estimated $8 million raised locally by the measure would stay in Ventura and wouldn't be subject to a raid from Sacramento. The state is taking $4 million from the city's now balanced budget to solve the state's budget crisis -- "borrowing" $2.8 million in property taxes and taking an additional $1.2 million from the city's Redevelopment Agency.

The spending plan for the revenue measure, which sunsets in four years, would do much to restore some of the service cuts our older, full-service city has had to make in the last few years to balance the budget. Supplementing the county's funding for our libraries would keep Wright open and maintain hours at our other library facilities.

Today the Friends and other community leaders and local families officially kicked off the campaign for Measure A in front of the Wright Library. The measure has broad community support if the endorsement list is any indication. On the growing list is the Ventura Auto Center Dealers Association and other local business leaders. 

SBFOL President Will Thompson put an impassioned plea in the group's latest newsletter: "So, it will be up to us voters to save Wright Library. ... We are, in the face of so many voters in previous elections who just said "NO," the voters who now have the opportunity and the privilege to say "YES." We love Ventura and are eager to save our Wright Library!"

THOSE OF US who do private fund-raising for public entities have felt the pressure lately. Faced with state and city budget cuts on a scale we have not seen in decades, we are being asked to shoulder more of the responsibility for arenas which we are only really capable of supplementing.

As co-president and outreach chair of the Ventura Education Partnership, I know I have felt the need to step up publicity and sponsorship efforts for our upcoming Festival of Talent February 28 at Ventura High School. It's the biggest fundraiser of the year for our non-profit which raises money for Ventura schools in the form of grants to teachers and staff.

"Next year those grants could be a lifeline," Ventura Superintendent Trudy Arriaga said at a recent school board meeting.

Tonight the City Council voted to place just a little bit more weight on another group I am involved in, the Serra Cross Conservancy. We are the non-profit group which owns an acre of land in Grant Park which is home to one of our most beloved landmarks, the Father Serra Cross. Per a policy consideration proposed by Council member Ed Summers, our group, the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy, and the new Ventura Botanical Garden, Inc. will work with city staff to make improvements and better manage one of our most underutilized areas, Grant Park, high above City Hall.

"It provides an opportunity to bring together all of the creativity and energy and address an asset that quite frankly the city doesn't have the resources to explore," Summers said.

Long on the city's "to-do list," a master plan for Grant Park, with its grand vistas of the ocean and city, fell victim to budget cuts last year.

I AM POSITIVE that San Buenaventura Friends of the Library volunteers are feeling extra pressure these days. They have been given two months to raise the almost $300,000 necessary to save Wright Library from being closed due to budget cuts in the County Library System. This will keep the doors open for just one year. While they are fundraising, other alternatives are being explored which could include cutting hours at E.P. Foster and Wright libraries to keep them both open.

THE VENTURA SOCIAL SERVICES Task Force is holding its One City, One Weekend, One Fund event February 14-16. You can make a pledge to help our homeless population and attend a gathering at MyFlorist Winecafe in Downtown Ventura on Monday from 1-3 p.m. I'll write more on this soon.

AND FINALLY, City Corps is being asked to shoulder more and more civic projects these days, but is in need of operating funds. Please consider donating to this extremely worthwhile group which simultaneously provides workers for city-wide tasks and helps at-risk youth.

There are dozens of other groups out there which are working to meet the needs of our city. Please give them your support.