IT IS AN unimaginably incongruous juxtaposition.

Face north and the sorry spectacle of the former Halaco metal recycling facility at Ormond Beach in South Oxnard makes you wince. Crumbling, toxic, graffiti covered and forlorn, it has to be the biggest eyesore in Southern California.

Face south and you find the restful solace of one of the few remaining coastal wetlands in the state. "We have just 4 1/2 percent of our coastal wetlands left, " said Jean Rountree of the Beacon Foundation. "This is out of thousands and thousands of acres lost to industry and development." She'd like to see the area become a haven for birders and environmental tourists one day.

Yet next to this environmentally sensitive site is a man-made blunder. Highly toxic and abandoned in 2004, the Halaco site will cost between $20-50 million to clean up, Allen Sanders of the Ormond Beach Observers told me. As I talked to Sanders and Paul Felix of Oxnard at the site, a charming little bird flew overhead.

"He probably has three eyes," Felix joked.

But Ormond Beach is no laughing matter. I've read plenty about the Halaco site. But until you've seen it for yourself, it doesn't really hit home. Now listed as a Superfund hazardous cleanup area, it could be eligible for federal stimulus funds.

NEXT TO THE DECAYING building sits a mountainous slag heap filled with toxic material. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a poisonous alphabet soup of elevated levels of aluminum, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, thorium, and zinc is leeching into both underlying groundwater and sediments in the Oxnard Industrial Drain.

Removing it will be an arduous task, Sanders acknowledged. And just where do you move a mountain of toxic sludge to? Sanders shook his head.

In 2007 a warning was issued to residents that elevated levels of radiation were coming from the fenced-off property.

Halaco, which declared bankruptcy in 2002, also lost a civil complaint alleging that it had illegally disposed of used oil by burning it in its smelting furnace or pouring it over scrap metal which made its way into on-site settling ponds.

You have to wonder what the City of Oxnard was thinking about in 1965 when they allowed this to be built.

A little further down the road is the former Edison, now Reliant, facility, which has its own toxic issues. Nearby, a developer has plans to build even more houses.

Despite all this, the National Audubon Society lists Ormond Beach as one of the most important bird areas in California. For a bird lover, it's a treat to look out at the lagoon. The area is home to Least Terns and Snowy Plover. The sand is covered in native vegetation, some in spring flower.

A delight and a disgust, Ormond Beach is testament to the stupidity of mankind and the resiliency of the natural world.



AS I WRITE THIS, all the ballot propositions used to precariously piece together our state budget back in February are going down in flames. And none of us are surprised.

Too complicated for the average voter to understand, two undid the good work of previous propositions and one tinkered with the formula of another. Another enraged partisans on both sides of the aisle, which also doomed its companion measure.

It looks like only Prop.1F has passed, a token measure which keeps electeds from getting pay raises in budget deficit years. This would result in "minor savings," according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.

So it's back to the drawing board with a meeting of the "Big Five" legislative leaders again, which last time produced this ill-fated group of propositions and $10 billion in cuts to public schools. Since that time, though, the Republicans have nearly purged their leadership ranks of anyone reasonable. 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2009-10 May Revision General Fund Proposals contain many ideas to plug the now $21.3 billion gap, including another $2.3 billion cut to schools, which will be partially offset by one-time federal stimulus money in certain categories.

While few will likely miss the Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine if it shuts down, many other proposals have already drawn fire, including one to override the normal regulatory processes and allow the first new offshore oil lease in 40 years off state waters near Santa Barbara and another to sell the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

IS CALIFORNIA REALLY ungovernable? The Economist magazine spells out a perfect storm of a two-thirds budget vote requirement and extreme partisanship nurtured by gerrymanded districts, all complicated by term limits and contrary voter-approved ballot initiatives which lock in funding. But it's nothing those of us who are paying attention didn't already know.

What is mentioned less often is that people whose jobs, livelihoods and power depend on special-interest cash are making the decisions for us. And while innate ideology would account for some of the decisions made in Sacramento, the real fear of being unable to raise enough money and support to be elected often drives politicians nationwide to make decisions they would not normally make if campaigns were publicly financed.

One only has to look at the very reasoned budget alternatives coming from the Legislative Analyst's Office to see that good sense and intellect can prevail in a non-partisan, non-threatening, non-special interest atmosphere.

Redistricting and open primaries, already in the pipeline, could help elect reasonable moderate candidates. There is talk of a constitutional convention. But until we have solid campaign finance reform, California's governing dysfunction will continue to be exacerbated by special-interest pressures.

There are two measures out there right now to address this issue and both deserve our support. The California Fair Elections Act will appear on the June 2010 ballot and another measure making its way through Congress, the Fair Elections Now Act, is already enjoying bipartisan support.

They can't come soon enough for California.

IT HAD ALL THE MAKINGS of one of the Rubicon's best productions: drama, laughter, poignancy and a great song-and-dance number. But the non-profit Ventura theater company's rally and town hall meeting Wednesday night was a real-life drama highlighting the need to raise $1 million in 90 days.

"Major gifts are down from $900,000 last year to $150,000 this year," explained Ken Wesler, Rubicon managing director.

The 200-seat theater, which provides an intimate setting for original productions as well as the tried and true, such as the recent well-received "Fiddler on the Roof," relies on earned income for only about 40 percent of its budget.

So, while the theater brought in $1.4 million in revenue in 2008, $2.2 million came in from contributed income. Of that, $900,000 came in from a few major donors. "These usually come from just a handful of very generous philanthropists," explained Wesler.

Increasing the number of productions or seats would only boost income by about 10 percent, Wesler said. "The intimacy of the theater is part of our strongest selling points."

TO PILE ON EVEN MORE troubles, the City of Ventura usually contributes an average of $25,000 a year to the Rubicon through its competitive cultural grants program, but that money is dwindling with the city's budget cuts. And the theater's youth programs have also taken a hit because of the economy. Families are cutting back, too.

The Rubicon has already trimmed expenses by $114,000. "An overworked staff is working harder and longer," Wesler said.

Rubicon's board ideally wants to keep ticket prices low and offer reduced prices to students, and scholarships to children in the summer programs, board member Doug Halter said. The award-winning theater also brings 40,000-50,000 people a year Downtown, he added. And these folks go out to dinner here and often spend the night in local hotels.

The company has applied for National Endowment for the Arts grants and has raised more than $63,000 so far in its "It Takes a Village" campaign. The goal is to come up with 2,400 gifts of $365. "Almost everybody on the staff gave the $365 right away," said Rubicon Marketing Director Cindy Frankey.

This dynamic theater company and its supporters have been known to pull off fund-raising miracles in the past. Let's hope they can do it again.

Another rally is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. and the theater is opening a new show, "Spit Like a Big Girl." For more information go to http://rubicontheatre.org/