IT'S TIME ONCE AGAIN for another shameless plug for my favorite non-profit group, the Ventura Education Partnership. Our biggest fundraiser of the year is coming up Saturday night, the Festival of Talent, which showcases our most talented youth.

In the past year, VEP has given more than $100,000 to Ventura Unified School District classrooms through a teacher granting program. Our Healthy Schools Collaborative has distributed dollars to health and wellness programs and puts on the annual event, SummerFest, which drew more than 4,000 children and families last year for a day of healthy fun.

Our Arts Collaborative is working on an Arts Master Plan for the district and helps bring money into our classrooms for art and music. Our Early Learning Collaborative works with the Ventura Neighborhood for Learning to help children under the age of 6 with school readiness.

We've done great work and have forged wonderful partnerships within the business community and the city. Our volunteers and donors are among the brightest, most motivated people I have ever known. We are united by a common bond: to do what is best for our community's children. It is an honor to be among this group of citizens.

We are always looking for sponsors for the grants we give to our schools and this year the need is more urgent than ever. To find out how you can help, go here.

Come watch a great show Saturday, Feb. 28. The Festival of Talent starts at 7 p.m. in the Ventura High School Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and available for pre-sale at all Ventura school sites. They will be $15 at the door. Come early and join in our Mardi Gras festivities at 6 p.m.

Updated to include new information:

I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR AWHILE that the anti-big box initiative on the ballot this fall is pretty much moot. The unveiling of the final code for the Victoria Corridor Monday night proved it. The city's own zoning for the former K-mart site will prevent any business over 100,000 square feet from being built. A supercenter is typically almost twice that size.

Councilman Neal Andrews attempted and failed to get council members to agree to drop the 100,000-square-foot moratorium, but did succeed in getting language inserted into the plan which would allow certain modifications to non-conforming buildings such as signage, entrances and loading docks. The council will vote on that language and the plan at an upcoming meeting.

Nevertheless, Wal-Mart is free to occupy the existing 84,000-square-foot K-Mart building and has submitted a plan to occupy that building and adjacent stores, for a total of 130,000 square feet, city officials said today.

Wal-Mart representative Matthew Nelson spoke at Monday night's meeting and was clearly displeased with the emerging city plan. The retail giant's current plans exceed the Victoria Corridor Plan's size limit by 30,000 square feet. Wal-Mart had at one time proposed a very large multi-level store in the same location, which was scaled down.

On Monday night, Ventura Chamber of Commerce past Chair Ted Cook spoke in favor of the Victoria Plan, which encourages more walkable areas and movement to Class A office space to encourage high-wage jobs. "We had some complaints a couple of years ago but those seem to have been mostly been addressed," Cook said, referring to a controversial portion of the original plan to reconfigure the street into three express lanes on each side, plus a right-turn only lane on the edges.

Big-box development is discouraged by our General Plan for that area, but could go elsewhere. Wal-Mart, however, seems intent on the K-Mart spot.

Since groceries are not taxable items, a supercenter with an expanded grocery section is not likely to add much more tax revenue to the city's coffers than would a regular store, Council member Carl Morehouse said.

A study done by professors from the University of Tennessee and University of Las Vegas showed that Wal-Mart would only cannibalize existing businesses in Ventura.

Most speakers at Monday night's meeting spoke in favor of the proposed plan for the area.

"Victoria is very car oriented and we are excited as citizens to see a plan that would change that culture," said Katherine Holland of Ventura.

YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON Ventura Mayor Christy Weir to leave an audience feeling good about the world. Despite a grim budget prognosis, Weir filled the latter part of her State of the City presentation tonight with an more upbeat look at the city we all know and love but sort of forgot was there under the pile of budget woes.

It's human nature to dwell on the negative and nobody understands this better than a blog moderator. But I've always been a glass-half-full kind of gal so I appreciated the chance to savor the good stuff.

No, it's not an easy time to be mayor of any city right now. Weir didn't mince words in her opening remarks: "To balance next year's projected $12 million gap will require additional steep cuts in services and staff and closing some city facilities. This level of reduction will impact every citizen."

The city is in the process of formalizing midyear cuts of $6 million. More cuts will be announced after the Budgeting for Outcomes teams report back next month. And a team of citizens will be busy researching whether or not to put a sales tax measure on the ballot, most likely in the fall.

Moving past the gloom, Weir put an emphasis on community involvement, listing the numerous public/private partnerships such as the WAV project which have kicked into high gear since the economy went south. Fundraising efforts for our homeless population, sports fields, and performing arts space were highlighted. City Corps, one of my favorite civic groups, got a big plug as did efforts by the Hillsides Conservancy, Ventura Botanical Garden Inc. and the Serra Cross Conservancy.

On the economic front, Weir said in the next year we will be welcoming Dan Frederickson's  Class A office building on California Street, a Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, a Hyatt Place hotel, Wood Ranch, Urban Outfitters, and discussions are continuing with Best Buy. Upcoming are Embassy Suites near the Fairgrounds, expansions of Community Memorial Hospital and the Ventura County Museum of Art plus the new Anastasi Development project in Pierpont.

Our mayor called for the community to pull together in this difficult time. I agree. Our economic woes call for a rethinking of former positions and another look at how we've conducted public policy over the years. Hopefully we can emerge from the clouds stronger than ever.

  

ONE OF THE THINGS I find most troubling about the blogosphere is it provides a platform for anonymous posters to leave destructive, inaccurate comments and then sneak away giggling in their anonymity, unchallenged and unrepentant. It adds nothing to our community dialogue

Some of these posts remind me of the stuff I used to read scrawled inside the bathroom stalls in junior high, a good analogy for what is going on these days. A fellow writer up at the San Francisco Chronicle recently wrote a column that summed it all up beautifully. Cyber trash is one of my pet peeves and I see it out on the Star's main site comments every day.

I love the free exchange of information and opinion that blogs provide, but please think before you post. I hold myself to the same standards: If I ever post something that you know to be inaccurate, email me right away and I'll fix it. You are welcome to disagree with my opinion, but I ask that you use solid facts to back yourself up.

A QUICK UPDATE: The record-setting 45-and-a-half-hour death match between our State Senators is over and they agreed on a $41-billion package of spending cuts and revenue measures. Yet ... there is still work to be done. Seven ballot measures will soon be in the hands of voters.

Sen. Abel Maldonado provided the swing vote, invoking the name of Ronald Reagan, of course. (Reagan raised taxes as governor). Maldonado claimed he was defending California from his fellow Republicans. But he got his open primary on the ballot in 2010 and managed to insert a dig at State Controller John Chiang in the budget, too.

The proposed additional gas tax is gone, replaced with cuts and offset by federal stimulus dollars.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the budget on Friday, but not before whacking 10 percent from the budgets of the attorney general, treasurer, secretary of state, insurance commisioner, superintendent of public instruction, controller, and Board of Equalization. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi's budget took the biggest hit, going from $2.78 million to $1.04 million, which will force him to lay off staff. The Department of Corrections also got hit with a last-minute cut of $400 million.

It was not an ideal budget for anyone. It provided $700 million in corporate tax cuts yet took away $8.6 billion from our schools. Sound suggestions by our Legislative Analyst's Office to cut special-interest tax breaks were ignored. Other suggestions, such as those by the Consumer Federation of California were abandoned.

"This has been a long, painful journey," Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said.

IT APPEARS QUICK DECISIONS from legislative bodies are difficult to come by these days. After scheduling a special meeting last night and receiving testimony from dozens of city employees questioning the mid-year cuts on the table, the Ventura City Council delayed until March 2 a decision on which city services would fall under the budget axe. Council members said they needed more time to study new information.

Building inspector Kevin Quinn was among many who asked the council to think carefully before making the cuts, despite warnings from City Manager Rick Cole that excessive delays would cost the city an extra half a million dollars. "It's almost like a late-night commercial where if you act now, we'll include an extra set of knives," Quinn said.

THE COUNCIL ALSO PUT OFF a decision to place a sales tax measure on the ballot. On a recommendation from Mayor Christy Weir and a motion made by Council member Bill Fulton, a 15-member citizen's panel will be convened to weigh the city's options and solicit feedback. Their report would be due in April with an eye toward the November ballot.

The motion further recommended the city begin polling to supplement work done in December which solicited feedback on a possible tax measure. Polling indicated a clear majority of Ventura residents are in favor of the idea. The last survey did not question respondents on their reaction to a sales tax measure in conjunction with similar efforts by the state.

Despite a well-publicized agenda for the evening, no anti-tax speakers emerged with comments. The city is looking to make up an estimated $12 million revenue shortfall by the end of the next fiscal year. A second round of cuts to services, estimated to be four times as deep as the mid-year cuts, will be announced in March after the Budgeting for Outcomes teams make their recommendations.

"The easy reductions have long since been done," Cole said.

Nearly all employees have agreed to 5 percent reductions in take-home pay or, in the case of firefighters, the equivalent in pension boost delays. Cole has accepted a 10 percent cut in pay. These cuts were approved by the council in addition to a severance package for employees.

While Weir called the citizen committee "information gathering," Council member Neal Andrews questioned the need for yet another decision-making body.

ON THE STATE FRONT: A late-night coup ousted Sen. Dave Cogdill from power and replaced him with fervent anti-tax crusader Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth. This move signaled the apparent dissatisfaction with Cogdill's closed-door budget negotiations.

Cogdill has been quoted as saying the package was the best deal he could negotiate. While it does include $14.3 billion in tax increases, it also includes $15.1 billion in spending cuts plus a spending cap, tax credits for multinational corporations and the film industry, and other things designed to sweeten the pot for Republicans. The package also includes $11.4 billion in borrowing.

Spurred on by extremist groups like the Americans for Tax Reform, and radio shock jocks John and Ken, the minority party has refused to compromise its no-new-taxes stance even though it would seem to be mathematically impossible to whittle down the $42 billion gap through service cuts alone. 

In the mean time, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued layoff notices to 20,000 workers and is scheduled to stop construction on state infrastructure projects. And Standard & Poor's downgraded the state's bond rating to the lowest of the 50 states.

Note at 4:36 p.m. Wednesday: I will continue to provide updates on this entry as the evening progresses. Right now the Senate Democrats are holding a big press conference. They have firefighters, construction workers and senior citizens lined up chanting "One more vote." Great theater!

6 p.m. The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the Democrats may be caving in to Sen. Abel Maldonado's request for ballot measures to create an open primary system, prohibit legislative pay raises in deficit years and stop legislators from receiving salaries if they do not pass a budget on time. This may give them the vote they need.

9:52 p.m. Senate session moved back to 11 p.m. Assembly called for 10 p.m.

12:47 a.m.: Floor vote for Senate now moved back to 1:30 a.m. Gas tax may be on its way out of the budget.

Update: In this video taken Sunday, a clearly angry Sen. President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg lectures Sen. Sam Aansted over the budget.

"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub,"

-- Grover Norquist in The Nation magazine, 2001.

This astounding quote comes from the president of Americans for Tax Reform, the group which is, as I write this, helping to hold California's budget hostage. It's Norquist's "no tax pledges" that have put fear in the hearts of otherwise reasonable Republicans who might be tempted to -- gasp -- compromise.

Late word comes from Sacramento that just one lone Republican vote in the State Senate is now needed to break this desperate deadlock. Of course it has not escaped me that had Hannah-Beth Jackson been elected, we would've had a budget by now.

And yet it was not to be. In a further ironic twist, it was none other than our former State Sen. Tom McClintock who helped solicit these "no-tax" promises and lit the fuse for this mother of all budget battles, according to the Sacramento Bee.  McClintock's newly elected protege, Tony Strickland, who told voters he was an "independent thinker," has carried on this mission with gusto.

Passing the current budget package requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate and Assembly -- at least three GOP votes in each house. But it's been difficult to get these pledge signers to renege. They fear for their political lives, and with good reason.

"Four GOP assemblymen were denounced as traitors seven years ago when they broke party ranks, in exchange for millions in district incentives, to side with Democrats on a state budget that raised the sales tax by a quarter-cent," the Bee wrote.

LET'S JUST ALL BE HONEST.  There is no fiscally or morally sound way to close the state's $42 billion budget deficit without a tax increase of some kind.

Indeed, the Republicans' own "no tax" version of a budget was resoundingly ridiculed by many for not adding up and pushing even more debt.

"In short, the GOP plan would worsen next year's budget deficit so lawmakers could avoid tough decisions this year. That's not fiscal responsibility. That's not leadership. Nor have GOP leaders been honest about how their plan would work," the Sacramento Bee wrote.

BUT WHO IS BEHIND THIS GROUP, Americans for Tax Reform, which has so powerfully entangled itself in our state's politics? According to the Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW), Norquist's group has been heavily funded by both the alcohol and tobacco industries.

And they further write:

"An examination of Norquist's activities over the past decade shows a pattern: He has maintained a highly visible public persona as a crusader on behalf of the average taxpayer, but his work has also benefited some of his biggest donors who have specific interests."

According to the New York Times, Norquist is also a friend and longtime associate of Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist now serving time for fraud and other crimes.

This group also had a heavy hand in the 2000 election of George W. Bush.

OUR CURRENT STATE BUDGET is like a sore allowed to fester and ooze over time by ignoring both real reforms advocated by Republicans and sound revenue measures advocated by Democrats.

Had we done a few temporary tax increases long ago instead of putting it all on the state MasterCard, the current bundle of increases would not look as oppressive as it does today.

The Vehicle License Fee should have been raised long ago. This is a $6-billion annual state spending program because the state is locked into reimbursing local governments for the revenue they lost when Schwarzenegger cut the VLF the day he got into office.

The Democrats have done their part in compromising with $15.1 billion in expenditure reductions, even if there is more work to be done in the area of reforms. And the money coming to our state from the federal stimulus package may soften the blows all around.

To the brave Republicans they're throwing under the bus to get this budget passed: I will remember you all with a contribution should you run for re-election. You stared into the face of extreme special interests and you took the high road.

To download details of the current budget bill click here:
Asm Budget Floor Report 2008-09.doc

THE FACE OF HOMELESSNESS is looking quite different to Cathy Brudnicki these days.

"We are seeing people who have never needed our services before," the executive director of the Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition told a recent gathering of Ventura leaders. "These are the people who used to be donors who are asking for help."

The soured economy has caused many more to start looking for help, Brudnicki said. Last year's count of the county's homeless population was put at almost 2,000 people but most say the numbers will rise in the latest tally. 

Many people tend to think of those hanging out in Plaza Park Downtown as typical of the homeless population here. But in reality an estimated 85 percent of these folks are hiding or living in their cars out of sight, said Cindy Cantle, who works for Supervisor Steve Bennett and chairs the Homelessness Task Force.

Many more are just one step away from desperation. In the City of Ventura, an estimated 20,000 people are at risk for homelessness because they earn under $25,000 per year, according local homeless advocate Sherry Cash.

But it costs very little to help those on the edge of homelessness.

"Since 2007, 54 families have been kept in their homes through the Ventura Homeless Prevention Fund," Cantle said.

TO BE ELIGIBLE to receive a grant from this fund, an applicant must be a Ventura resident still in housing, but in imminent danger of eviction or otherwise losing their housing. The precipitating cause of the problem must be determined to be a one-time, non-repetitive event or circumstance such as an accident, loss of job, temporary illness, medical bill, or a needed car repair that can be effectively mitigated with short-term corrective action.

Assistance is limited to $1,000 and is available only once per year per family or household. Checks are made payable only to third parties, landlords, mortgage companies, medical providers, auto shops, etc.

The One City, One Weekend, One Fund event this weekend raises money for this very worthy cause and culminates in an event Monday, Feb. 16 at My Florist Wine Café and Bakery at 76 S. Oak Street, Ventura. Donors are being asked to stop by between 1-3 p.m. Entertainment and refreshments are planned.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by. If not, fill out this form and mail it in to the address provided.

The local efforts are part of an established county-wide program to address homelessness, but hard times have made the work much harder for these dedicated volunteers and social workers.

"The 10-year strategy to prevent homelessness is working but the economy is not," said Peter Brown, Community Services Manager for the City of Ventura.

THE FIRST WAVE of budget cuts were announced Thursday at 5 p.m. by City Hall.

Managers proposed 5 percent cuts to every department and on the casualty list are the city's roving fire medic team which has improved emergency response times; the popular Downtown ArtWalks; the children's event "Cowboys, Heroes, and Outlaws"; sidewalk repairs; drainage repairs for the rest of the year and 33 full-time positions including an assistant police chief who will take early retirement. Reductions in services include preventative street maintenance, park maintenance, tree trimming, building inspections, code enforcement, weed clearing, and many other services.

Some of the positions eliminated were vacant posts that had been left open because of the hiring freeze. Eighteen were filled positions.

Setting an example, City Manager Rick Cole agreed to take a 10 percent pay cut and asked the entire staff to do the same. While some negotiations are still in progress, all management has agreed to the slashes in pay.

Our firefighters agreed to put off a planned pension increase for at least a year and the police association agreed to a reduction in leave-time accrual equal to a 5 percent pay cut. Over 80 hours of patrolling will be lost in addition to such areas as records keeping and evidence processing. Two of the vacant positions which were eliminated were patrol positions.

For a complete list of current reductions, go here.

The City Council will be asked to sign off on the proposed reductions with an eye toward the next round of much larger cuts which will be announced in March. The looming budget gap could be as high as $12 million.

Upcoming are "deep cuts in every department, total elimination of many popular services and facilities and significant erosion in the level of almost every other service to our community," Cole wrote in an administrative report. "This alternative also exacts a heavy toll on city staff and the long-term capacity of the organization to provide quality services since it would require significant lay-offs, pay cuts or both."

Needless to say, the mood at City Hall among staff is very somber these days.

ALSO UP FOR Council consideration at a special meeting called for Tuesday at 7 p.m. will be a 1/2-cent sales tax measure which would require just a majority passage. The cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme recently approved such measures. Of 19 California cities who put such measures to the voters last fall, 15 were able to get them passed.

Current polling done by the City of Ventura indicates the majority of residents would likely support such a measure. Respondents were presented with arguments both for and against the measure as well as information about the 911 fee, which was recently rescinded.

"The vast majority of Ventura voters have a high opinion of the city's performance in providing municipal services," the research firm wrote in an accompanying report, "and they consider maintaining the quality of existing services to be among the most important issues facing the community -- substantially more important than avoiding
local tax increases."

What will complicate any sales tax increase proposal will be proposed plans by the state to do the same. The Assembly has scheduled a floor session for 5 p.m. Saturday to vote on the state budget.

WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION of our battling state legislators, you couldn't find a group of people with more divergent opinions than Ventura's View Protection Task Force. Thrown together in one room are representatives from each side of the city's pro- and anti-development factions. Yet the group gets along so well that an observer might jokingly wonder if meeting at the police headquarters has something to do with it.

That's not to say it's not a very opinionated group. This 15-member committee is tasked with the nebulous goal of defining exactly what a viewshed is and how to protect it. A passel of new planning terms have been coined since Venturans started fervently worrying about their views. Viewsheds, solar fences, and skypaving are now in the vernacular.

Our city's General Plan spells out in very loose terms that we value our views and access to sunlight from our homes, yet it wasn't until a group of Midtown residents started making a fuss about proposed multi-story infill development along Thompson Boulevard that it became a real issue. Now, many City Council speaker cards later, the council is serious about it. While a ballot initiative pushed by the Ventura Citizens' Organization for Responsible Development to address the issue is slated for this fall, council members who are attempting to complete an overhaul of city planning decided they couldn't wait that long for this issue to be addressed, so the task force was appointed to get a jump start on it.

To explain further, VCORD is seeking to draw up its own view plan, based on input from its own mostly hand-selected citizen's group, a move that our city attorney has already said violates our City Charter. Legal issues plague this initiative. If the council rejects VCORD's plan, it would go to yet another municipal election.

JUDGING FROM THE differing opinions surrounding the issue the night I visited the Task Force meeting, it is not an easy thing, this protection of views, and the focus that night was clearly on Midtown residents and their views. It was not until the end of the meeting that the east and west sides of the city entered the discussion. But for now, the goal just seems to be to protect views as seen from public areas throughout Ventura.

As it turns out, View Protection Task Force Chair Rob Corley said, the group has found that lowering building heights has little to do with protecting many public views. "A 10-foot building blocks just as many views as a 50-foot building. But taller buildings hugging the sidewalk really do cramp views of the hills and ocean."

Solar access has also been a touchy issue with many residents. The night I visited, Town Architects Torti Gallas and Partners ran their first-ever simulation program of how larger buildings at full build-out, following existing planning guidelines with cut-outs in the back, would impact the sunlight filtering into Midtown homes.

AND GUESS WHAT? Because of the way the sun travels in the sky, solar access in most of the city can be protected with some simple calculations and building guidelines, the models showed. Corley estimated the group will only spend perhaps $30,000 of the $110,000 allotted to them for professional services from Torti Gallas.

It would appear that designing buildings with clear setbacks from the sidewalk and cutouts in the back seems to be optimal for protecting flatland views of the ocean and Two Trees. The Task Force will report back with recommendations for adjustments to current planning guidelines some time next month.

But how this information will get incorporated into VCORD's initiative, should it pass, is still undetermined.

"Anybody who buys a house next to a commercial lot has some impacts," Corley said. "Protecting every inch of every lot in the city is unattainable."

It is clear to me that complicated tasks such as this are best left to planning professionals with appropriate citizen input and I hope VCORD takes the current Task Force's recommendations very seriously. But it is also clear that city officials need to better communicate with neighbors about the guidelines for adjacent projects and work harder to allay fears and mistrust.

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.

DOZENS OF SOGGY protesters made their voices heard during a driving rain out in front of Tony Strickland's state senate offices today. The protest was called by the 12th District PTA Council and they were joined in their efforts by local teachers, students, a district superintendent, several school board members and local Democratic activists.

The uncertainty hanging over everyone's heads was apparent with the number of signs calling for the state budget impasse to end. Others led chants of "What do we want? A budget NOW."

Legislators are still unable to agree on terms, but State Senate President Darrell Steinberg announced today a vote may be coming next week after many weeks of contentious negotiations.

The budget shortfall facing Californians is estimated to be $40 billion through July 2010. It is a certainty public education will be impacted in the fallout.

According to a recent presentation made to the Ventura Unified School Board, our schools could see a 16 percent reduction in their budgets with the plan the governor has offered, which includes a mix of cuts and revenue increases. "It's going to really change the way we do business in Ventura Unified and what we offer," Joe Richards, assistant superintendent of business services, explained during the presentation.

Joining the group today were parents and children who drove up from Lincoln Elementary and elsewhere in Ventura.

A recent report from Education Week gave California a big fat F on school spending. We are near the bottom and will be at the bottom after this round of cuts. They put us at $7,571, compared to the $9,963 national average.

from July 1, 1998, to June 30, 2008, state spending for K-12 schools didn't quite keep up with inflation and population, falling slightly.

A PREVIOUS PLAN put forth by state Republicans and endorsed by both Tony and Audra Strickland -- who have both taken the "no tax pledge" -- calls for much deeper cuts to education spending. A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll says most residents favor closing the budget gap with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases rather than just cuts.

Thank goodness there was no large counter protest mounted today, unlike the last time I covered a protest involving the Stricklands. Assembly member Audra Strickland's chief of staff Joel Angeles is now facing battery charges for his actions at the June 17, 2008 incident outside the Westlake Hyatt.

I spoke awhile with the lone dissenter in the crowd, Cathy Carlson of Thousand Oaks, who told me she didn't think budget cuts to the schools were a very big deal. Flitting around between members of the press, she was obviously trying to manipulate the media message coming out of the event. I listened politely, but sorry, Cathy, I'm just not buying what you're selling.

As for Mr. Strickland and staff, they were nowhere to be seen. Not surprising after Strickland and his wife both bypassed a recent meeting with all the county superintendents. Another meeting is planned soon and both legislators have been invited.

THE STORE BELOVED by Generation X and Y is headed for Downtown Ventura. Urban Outfitters will move in right next door to my favorite coffee and gelato spot, Palermo, at 327 E. Main St.

Kudos go to Mark Hartley, who owns the building and brokered a tough deal with the national clothing retailer to get them to sign on the dotted line. It will be a big boost to our Downtown, which is quickly becoming a favored shopping destination. Hartley, along with business partner Jim Rice, also owns the new Watermark restaurant. Hartley's partner in the Urban Outfitters building is Mike Hernandez of Real Investments. We are very lucky to have citizens like these who have invested heavily in our local economy and have played a large part in the renaissance of our Downtown.

As a big proponent of the "shop local" motto, I must admit that my occasional forays out of town to shop have usually been to the Urban Outfitters in Thousand Oaks and Santa Barbara. My daughter loves their clothing and can poke through the bins and racks of this uniquely merchandized establishment for hours.

Luckily, they have comfy couches for tired moms and silly books to read.

I texted my daughter this morning to let her know the news and I got back an obviously excited "Yessssssssss!"

I think she's happy.

In this down economy, it doesn't take a lot to perk us up.

DO OTHER CITY COUNCILS have 6-hour meetings? Just before midnight, the Ventura City Council put off further discussion on proceeding with a possible sales tax measure until Feb. 17, at a time still to be determined. Those of us who stayed in our seats until the bitter end had long lost feeling in our lower extremities by the time the final decision was ultimately put off.

Because of the worsening revenue situation, department managers were asked to prepare immediate 5 percent reductions. Those cuts will bypass the Budgeting for Outcomes team process, which is now being structured around priority services. The teams will still work on identifying other cuts, which are expected to fall hardest on the Community Services Department.

I decided to make one of my rare attempts at public speaking last night and I shared my thoughts closely along the lines of my preceding blog entry. It is time for all of us to work together and make sacrifices.

Any attempt to pass a sales tax measure will include a town hall meeting first, a suggestion made by Council member Ed Summers which I believe has much merit.

IN LIBRARY NEWS, Council member Bill Fulton reported last night that he is recommending the County Library Commission also put off its decision whether or not to close Wright Library until all input is gathered and alternative options aired. A separate children's library site is also being explored for the Pacific View Mall. The County Library Commission meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Topping Room of the E.P. Foster Library.

I STARTED OFF my day yesterday at 7:30 a.m. at a wonderful presentation put on by the Ventura Social Services Task Force. It was a eye-opening look at our area's homeless issues. I will write more about this in an upcoming entry.

AND FINALLY: City Manager Rick Cole has written in his blog that "Wal-Mart will finally be applying to occupy the vacant K-Mart building they leased on Victoria. Ventura voters will have a chance to vote on banning big box stores that offer groceries in November. But although the initiative would be retroactive, it will be interesting to see how the courts interpret that if Wal-Mart goes ahead and simply occupies the existing empty store."

No word yet on the chain's plans for that site but it would need to comply with the city's codes for that area, which forbid anything over 100,000 square feet from going in there. That would preclude a supercenter, which the ballot initiative slated for the November ballot seeks to prevent. If Wal-Mart simply reoccupies the current 90,000-square-foot space, they would be compliant with the city's codes and the ballot measure would have little impact other than preventing them from adding on.