I NOTED WITH GREAT IRONY the large crowd which filled City Council Chambers and an overflow room a week ago to complain about the closing of one of Ventura's three libraries, a number that exceeds what other cities in the county-run system can provide.

"Just wait until you see what else is going away," I thought to myself as I watched the impassioned speakers. As one of the city's Cultural Affairs Commissioners, I had been briefed just a few days before on the possible cuts our city is facing in the coming months.

Over the last few days, city staff have been huddled in rooms listening to more bad news: the latest revenue figures have come in under what was predicted and the cuts will be more extensive than originally feared. At least $4.6 million in midyear cuts will need to be in place by March 1. By July, another estimated $8 million will need to be trimmed. This comes after a $7 million round of cuts made over the last year.

As the city's Budgeting for Outcomes teams go over the list of city services and prioritize, it has been apparent to many that the Community Services Department will bear the brunt of the cuts. Targeted are arts and historic programs including ArtWalks and both street fairs, recreation and arts classes for children and adults, senior services, winter-time operations of the community pool, parks maintenance, and the list goes on. Many of these cuts could be effective as soon as March 1.

Every single department will feel the sting and jobs will be lost all over. City Manager Rick Cole has been busy trying to put a happier spin on this evisceration: "redesigning city government for the 21st century," he calls it and it does bring opportunities to think out of the box.

THESE DIFFICULT TIMES call for all of us to work together for the common good. Our public employee unions -- especially those in public safety who have lobbied for extra compensation and benefits -- must come back to the table and make some concessions. While they certainly earn their pay, givebacks might be necessary to save personnel in their own ranks.

Our citizens, who are used to government taking care of their needs but are unwilling to pay even the slightest increase in fees or taxes, should ask themselves how much they value their community and consider paying just slightly more to keep the services we all depend on.

To the NIMBYs who would like to micromanage all new private infill projects that could bring sales tax revenue and jobs into our city: you are short sighted and cutting yourselves off at the knees. We can balance quality-of-life issues and still generate revenue.

To those community volunteers, like City Corps and San Buenaventura Friends of the Library, you are the best among us. Public/private partnerships will help keep us afloat. My friends in the education community are also looking at enormous cuts. Groups like the Ventura Education Partnership will help bridge those gaps.

Along with redesigning our government, we need to redesign our attitudes, too.

LEGIONS OF LIBRARY FANS told the Ventura City Council Monday night they were more than willing to open their wallets to rescue their beloved H.P. Wright Library from the County Library System chopping block.

Will Thompson, president of the San Buenaventura Friends of the Library announced a fundraising campaign to save the Wright Library from closure and added his voice to two earlier speakers' pleas for some sort of tax measure to keep libraries and other essential services afloat in these tough times.

"Since money is the problem, we need to step in and urge the City Council to place upon the ballot of some upcoming election a tax measure that would somehow provide stable funding for our libraries," Thompson told the packed room. An overflow crowd watched on TV from the adjacent community room.

Ventura County Library Director Jackie Griffin explained the system is now facing a fiscal year 2009-10 deficit of $650,000. Two of Ventura's three libraries, Wright and E.P. Foster, use 40 percent of all extra money available to the county library system, in addition to property tax revenues collected here which are designated for library use. Griffin recommended that Wright be closed and its collection moved to the Downtown Foster Library, saving nearly $300,000 a year. The small Avenue Library is funded through federal block grants and would remain open.

In flusher times, the City of Ventura has been able to step in to rescue library services. With the possibility of $8 million being trimmed from the general fund by next year, coming on the heels of $7 million in cuts made in the last year, the city isn't able to step up this time.

The county is also facing difficult times, Chief Financial Officer Marty Robinson said last week. "This is the worst I've seen it and I have been around 30-35 years in the system."

THE WRIGHT LIBRARY'S FATE ultimately resides with the County Library Commission and not the Ventura City Council. Adding to the complications is the fact that the building is owned by Ventura College and the $1-a-year lease is up in 2015.

"They've made it very clear to us that in 2015 the lease would ... either be ended or be renegotiated much closer to market rate," said Ventura Community Services Director Elena Brokaw. This would put the building, which is in need of repairs, out of reach financially as a library.

Councilman Bill Fulton said he felt it was unlikely that the Wright could remain in its present spot past 2015, but he was willing to give fundraising efforts time to work as a stopgap until a new facility could be built, possibly with state grant funding, in the city's Community Park on Telegraph and Kimball. Camarillo recently constructed a new facility in this manner.

On a unanimous vote, the council directed staff to work with the Friends of the Library on a fundraising plan and ask Griffin to explore how much time the efforts have before a final decision is needed. Councilmen Carl Morehouse and Ed Summers offered to donate their $600 council salaries this month to the effort.

Another part of the motion put discussions for a possible sales tax measure on the agenda for next week. This could provide sustainable funding for a new library and other services. Oxnard and Port Hueneme recently passed general-purpose tax measures, which only require a majority vote.

Venturans will soon find more than their libraries missing in the upcoming budget cuts, said City Manager Rick Cole. "We have a lot of budget challenges and there are going to be a lot more rooms filled with people concerned about things they care about. ..."

ALL OUR LOCAL REPUBLICAN state legislators were no-shows at a meeting held Friday by local educators to talk about the state budget and how it will affect our schools. Absent from the gathering with Ventura County school superintendents were Sen. Tony Strickland, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, and Sen. George Runner.

Yet our local Democratic representatives made time in their busy schedules to attend. Sen. Fran Pavley,  Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, and Assemblyman Pedro Nava were all present and paying attention. "The legislators who were there took copious notes and wanted to understand our concerns. It was a really important meeting," said Ventura Unified School District Superintendent Trudy Arriaga.

The event was set up three weeks ago and all legislators were asked to attend at that time. "Our county superintendents left their districts for this meeting," Arriaga said.

WHERE OH WHERE was Tony instead? At exactly the same time as the 2 p.m. meeting with school officials, he was camped on a rainy day outside the Borders Bookstore in Goleta at an outreach event only noticed to the public the day before. Indeed, the press release sent to the media about the event was dated January 22.

It looks like Tony needed a quick excuse for ducking a meeting with school officials. But why would that be? Perhaps it was because he supports a Republican version of the budget which would cut $10.6 billion from K-12 schools and community colleges. 

According to Education Week's 2009 Quality Counts report, California spends $7,571 per student, compared to $9,963 per student nationally. The report gave California an "F" in the category of school spending and ranked it 47th in the nation in this area.

Everyone agrees that the education community will likely see some cuts when a budget plan is agreed upon, but the degree varies according to ideology. The Stricklands seem far more interested in helping their extremist friends than they in do working for our children, and were part of a recent lawsuit to stop a Democratic budget.

Where was Audra on Friday? Apparently she called just an hour and a half before the meeting and said she had a family emergency. No explanation was given for Runner's absence.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR TONY, he didn't escape the wrath of public education advocates by retreating to Goleta. He was instead peppered with questions by activists who traveled from UCSB and Ventura County to talk to him. "The event was dismally attended," said Katherine Holland, who drove up from Ventura. "His little table and chair with the State Senate sign were empty for about 30 minutes as he was inside Borders with a lone person or two and a camera."

When Holland was finally able to engage Strickland, he told her he was in favor of a "flat tax" plan.

"Strickland's attempts to raise the flat tax as a possible reform only served to reveal the extent to which ideology, rather than common sense, is holding the state budget hostage," said Holland, a political and marketing researcher based in Ventura. "The idea of raising a significant, regressive sales tax to replace the state tax system did not strike Strickland as being at odds with the current economic climate in which consumers are already reducing purchases. And it's doubtless safe to say that with the state about to run out of money in February, now is not the time to be chasing after what amount to hypothetical and whimsical fancies."

Arriaga said the superintendents plan to try again to corral the missing Republican legislators.

"We're going to ask for another meeting and our Democratic legislators said they are happy to return and are going to ask their Republican counterparts to come," she said.

Be sure to look for another last-minute "card table" event coming soon from Tony Strickland

THERE ARE print journalists and bloggers all over the world overflowing with words about what this inauguration day meant to them so I won't bore anyone with one more long, rambling account. But what struck me more than anything today was the jubilant faces I saw everywhere I went. There are great expectations for our new, inspiring president.

Even my son, who had watched the televised inauguration with his class, raced out to the car with a expectant look on his face as I picked him up from school today. "Mom, do you think Barack Obama will help us get new things for our school?" he asked.

The world has put a great deal of faith into the leadership of this young president with the megawatt smile and enormous charisma. And while our world's problems are far too weighty for one man and one administration to solve, it could very well be that he will inspire us to come up with our own solutions, too.

THERE WAS NO DOUBT in my mind that the overflow crowd gathered tonight at MyFlorist Winecafe in Downtown Ventura was inspired and in a celebratory mood. The soiree, put on by the Ventura County Democrats, was the place to be for locals who weren't in Washington, D.C. attending the real thing.

Susan Jordan, director of the California Coastal Protection Network, even had an inspiring announcement of her own: she had filed that day to run for husband Pedro Nava's Assembly seat when he terms out in two years. And Pedro is looking toward a run for state Attorney General.

I'll let the photos I took tonight tell the rest of the tale:

THE DOWNTOWN VENTURA ORGANIZATION has easily sprinted over the first hurdle in its efforts to establish a Property-Based Business Improvement District. According to DVO Director Rob Edwards, more than 50 percent of the Downtown property owners have already returned petitions indicating they are in favor of the idea, the threshold needed to proceed.

As I explained in an earlier entry, a PBID allows a group of property owners to assess themselves a little more through their property tax bills. The money is collected by the county and returned to the non-profit group formed by the stakeholders to oversee expenditures in the district it covers.

It could be put to a myriad of uses such as security, clean-up, street plantings, signage, group marketing efforts or even special events designed to attract more customers Downtown. While the city provided one-time redevelopment agency money to the DVO for start-up costs, an ongoing funding source is needed. Since its inception three years ago, the DVO hired a director and has become a dynamic, nationally-recognized organization. In the past year it has won multiple advertising awards and was named Non-Profit of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce.

Our Downtown has blossomed under these efforts which are helping us gain a reputation as a tourist destination and not just a quick stop between Malibu and Santa Barbara.

Next up are public hearings on the PBID and ratification by the City Council. It then goes through a ballot process and Downtown property owners make the final decision. The PBID sunsets after five years at which time the stakeholders can choose whether or not to renew.

The plan has the full backing of our Chamber of Commerce.

Although it is not a done deal yet, Edwards said the quick and positive response from property owners is a good sign.

AMID ALL THE GLOOMY economic news these days comes a few rays of sunshine directed Ventura's way:

We are one of only nine cities in California to make Fortune Small Business magazine's list of the 100 best places to live and launch a small business. We pulled in at No. 68.

According to the magazine:

"We scoured the country for towns that combine a great business environment with alluring leisure opportunities. ... We built our list by assessing economic conditions, such as local tax rates and startup activity, alongside natural beauty, affordable housing, and easy access to such diversions as museums and hungry gamefish. We also pushed past the statistics and interviewed local entrepreneurs, city officials, and economic experts."

City Council member Ed Summers, chair of the council's Economic Development Committee, attributed the ranking partially to three programs the city has in place to help entrepreneurs: a business incubator program, a small business loan program and the Jobs Investment Fund.

"I think this is excellent recognition for the work that we've been doing," Summers said. "For a national magazine to select Ventura for our programs I think is very exciting."

AND MORE GOOD NEWS: Standard & Poor's has upped the city's credit rating  to AA- from A. You can view the report here:

Ventura credit rating article (2009-01-09).pdf

"The positive rating action reflects our opinion that the city's maintenance of a very strong financial position for a sustained period, coupled with a minimum general fund balance policy, positions it well to weather economic down cycles such as the one it is currently experiencing," the credit analysts wrote.

The report notes that the city's reserves are very strong, and management practices are good, but also pointed to the recent investment loss and the losses of $2.2 million in budgeted income from the rescinded 911 fee. The city's financial future will depend on "how [it] manages its budget in response to potential further revenue pressures," the analysts wrote.

City of Ventura Chief Financial Officer Jay Panzica was happy to report the news at last night's council meeting.

"It means that outsiders totally on their own who do this for a living decided the city is run very well."

THE IDEA OF PARKING METERS Downtown didn't thrill me at first. It brought to mind the time I raced through downtown Monterey dragging two small, cranky children only to find the meter had expired and a ticket was already sitting on my windshield.

But today's high-tech parking meters are a little different. The new WiFi-enabled, solar-powered variety allow you to pay with a credit card for unlimited time or you can remotely put extra time on your parking spot from any meter in the network. Some of them even call your cell phone if your time is expired.

The idea behind the meters Downtown is to allow turnover and provide spaces to people who need to get in and out of the coveted nearby slots quickly.

The idea grew on me the day I needed to get a surfboard worked on at Wet Sand Downtown and had to park nearly in Oxnard because it was so crowded. As I walked blocks and blocks with a longboard, taking down pedestrians in my wake, the idea of being able to find nearby parking seemed quite appealing.

The Downtown Ventura Organization is gung-ho on this idea. Not only will it allow turnover, but any net revenues could go to extra police, maintenance, landscaping, a new parking structure, benches and signs Downtown.

The City Council voted Monday night to officially establish a plan to install the meters on spaces on Main and side streets which are currently 85 percent utilized. Residents would receive special permits. The parking structure and lots would still be free.

Interestingly, the plan is being paid for indirectly by the City of Oxnard. Ventura is paid traffic mitigation fees from the River Park development and a loan will come from this fund.

AND ON ANOTHER FRONT: The council ended the rental housing inspection fee brouhaha quickly last night with a vote to simply shift building inspectors from the city's Construction Permits program into the City's Code Enforcement program with the goal of reducing substandard housing in general. This is a good idea, since building has slowed across town due to the bad economy. Cost recovery for the program would be paid through an already established fine system for rental code violators.

Landlords packed Council chambers in December complaining about several of the alternatives of a plan to regulate one- to three-unit rentals, which are now entirely exempt from taxes. I covered this issue in more detail in a past entry.

City staff acknowledged their lack of finesse in handling this matter, which brought out 47 speakers to a recent meeting, including the usual suspects who this time accused city staff of trying to force senior citizens out of their houses through the proposed program.

I ALWAYS DISLIKE grumbling at a fellow opinion writer because we don't get paid enough for the grief we sometimes have to take from our readers, but I am rather grumpy at my Star comrade Chuck Thomas. I sent him an email taking issue with his column today and I'll share it here:

Dear Chuck,

Even in humor pieces, you need to be accurate in what you write. Suggesting in your column today that the City of Ventura is spending millions of dollars to turn the city into the "New Art City" is reckless.

The last time I checked our city spent less than 1 percent of its General Fund budget on art-related activities and with the recent round of budget cuts, this will likely be reduced. Update: I had somebody inquire about the exact figure. The total amount spent on cultural activities in the General Fund is $1.3 million. We generate $430,000 in revenue from some of these activities, so the net cost to taxpayers is $870,000.

In this less than 1 percent figure, we are charged with taking care of historic sites such as the Olivas Adobe and providing fee-based arts classes for children and adults, among other things.

If you are speaking about the city's Public Art program, it is an actual ordinance allocating 2 percent of eligible Capital Improvement Project (CIP) costs for the commissioning of artist services which tie into a project. Specifically excluded by the Public Art Ordinance are street resurfacing and water and sewer line replacement projects.

Not very many projects are selected for this program. The City Council, if it chooses, could suspend this ordinance. But it is unlikely that redirecting the small amount of money in the CIP budget allocated to this program would allow the city to fix its infrastructure much faster.

It might, however, give uninformed critics less to complain about.

The money comes from specific CIP funds and cannot legally be used to pay for police and fire personnel. But I've explained all this to you once before and you even printed my explanation in your column.

The city's very small investment in the arts, along with the considerable private investment in the arts here, is a significant force in our local economy.

Every dollar invested in non-profit arts brought $14 back into the local economy. Ventura's artists and non-profit arts businesses generate more than $18 million in economic activity annually, according to a 2004 Economic Impact of the Arts in Ventura Report. And it is growing. These expenditures generated $768,000 for local government and $1.5 million for state government. Without a doubt, Ventura's policy of supporting the arts as "California's New Art City" has paid off.

The arts and culture sector creates jobs, too. A new study from the national arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts reports that the City of Ventura has 370 arts-related businesses which employ a total of 1,068 people.

Moreover, cultural tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism sector. In Ventura, cultural tourists on average spend $80.55 per person per day, significantly higher than the average visitor, who spends $62.13 per day. Cultural tourists stay a day longer than the average visitors, too.

We are gaining a reputation as a cultural tourism destination. So much so that the California Cultural & Heritage Tourism Council's 5th Annual Symposium will be held in Ventura from January 14-16. Please join us.

Sincerely,
Marie Lakin, City of Ventura Cultural Affairs Commissioner

FOOTHILL HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER Melissa Wantz knows a thing or two about creativity. The lucky students who have passed through her English classrooms on two Ventura campuses have been encouraged to go beyond the merely expository and work on writing for just the pure joy of it.

Yet in this noble pursuit of stretching and growing young minds and instilling a love for writing, she has often felt thwarted by the constant spector of the standardized test.

"I think at a certain level every human being is a creator and has a deep need to be creative in some way, but when the only mandated method of measuring achievement is through standardized tests, and when so much depends on the outcome of those tests for our schools, the opportunities to practice the creative arts are pushed to the back burner for most teachers, myself included," Wantz said.

So Wantz came up with an idea for a contest to support and showcase the creative work of high school writers, artists and photographers in Ventura County.

The contest will award cash prizes paid for through a Ventura Education Partnership grant and an opportunity to be published in a book compiled by the journalism class at Foothill High.

Both the book and contest take their name from a mythical bird which dies in a fiery death and rises to live once again -- the Phoenix. "Our motto, 'Rising from the Ashes of Standardized Testing,' is taken from this idea of life after death," Wantz writes on her Web site.

TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS across the state will be forced to get creative very shortly when it comes to the budget process. Estimates vary depending on what side of the aisle is doing the cutting, but classrooms statewide could take anywhere from a $4 billion to $10 billion hit this year. So what could go?

If it was up to Ventura Unified Education Association President Steve Blum, it would be all that bubble testing, at least for a year or two. Blum, along with many others, has proposed this idea to state officials.

Chip Fraser, a teacher at Pacific High School in Ventura, seconds the motion. "Not only does it cost money to do the test, but the costs of the materials purchased to help teachers 'teach to the test' are staggering," he said.

How much does testing to support the goals of the unfunded mandate that is the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act cost us? Ventura Unified School District Superintendent Trudy Arriaga estimated it costs $30 million per grade in this state to test students.

BUT BLUM DOESN'T realistically see testing going away any time soon. "The state and the feds are unlikely to go along with this idea because it was their idea to do all this testing. People almost always like their own ideas," he said.

Indeed, today our president is delivering a speech to mark the 7th anniversary of the signing of the NCLB Act, which he sees as one of his successes.

Most would agree that measuring a student's progress on agreed-upon goals is a good idea. But many teachers have told me that the rigors of NCLB go beyond merely stifling creativity. Around the country, programs for gifted students are being shuttled; art, music, drama and physical education have taken a back seat and students and teachers alike are just plain stressed out.

"Having started teaching at the beginning of No Child Left Behind, I've gotten to the point where if I can't see measurable gains in my students' work from week to week, I get really nervous and start increasing the pressure on my students, and that's not right," Wantz said.

And debate continues whether the law is even doing the job it set out to do.

With the dawn of a new presidential adminstration, comes the time to re-examine this testing mania. I hope it becomes a priority for Barack Obama and his new Congress.