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.

GRANT PARK, HIGH ABOVE Downtown Ventura, has to be one of the most underutilized and picturesque parks in the city. Many people visit the Father Serra Cross area for its scenic views and religious significance, yet there remain vast areas of the park which are undeveloped. The city's plans for Grant Park have languished for years and now in these fiscally conservative times have been put off indefinitely.

But if the volunteers of the Ventura Botanical Garden, Inc. get their wish, Grant Park could be a showplace. The group, which has 200 charter members, has spent the last few years getting their 501 (c) 3 non-profit status together and shopping for a site. They settled on 10 acres of Grant Park just recently, said the group's spokesperson Midge Stork.

"It's going to be a showplace for Ventura if we really get it right," she said.

The project is just in its conceptual infancy, Stork said, but the plan is to lease the land from the city and build it in phases. The garden could eventually include redwoods, native and exotic species, a tram, gift shop, amphitheater and a site for weddings.

"These things aren't going to happen overnight but they are on our dream list," Stork said.

The new botanical garden will tie into the beautification effort already planned by the non-profit Serra Cross Conservancy, which maintains the acre of land surrounding the Cross. An ambitious project is already planned for that spot with a scenic walking and strolling area and a tree-shaded seating area with a fountain.

BOTH PROJECTS WILL NEED eager private benefactors. And both will feature numerous naming opportunities with plaques and other memorials. The next step will be to come up with conceptual drawings and present the plans to the various city commissions and eventually the City Council. Nearby neighbors will also be consulted, Stork said. "It's better to be proactive."

In the mean time, the group has a smaller project in mind: the seeding of an area above City Hall late this month to encourage a carpet of wildflowers in the spring. Donors to that project are being sought.

These public-private partnerships with volunteer elbow grease may be the best way to tackle underfunded civic projects in a down economy. Luckily Ventura has no shortage of enthusiastic volunteers.

Note: If anybody would like to donate to or volunteer for the Botanical Garden effort, send an email to my address at top and I will forward your contact information to the group.

THE CHOICEST PIECE of prime property in Ventura is getting a remake.

Long a spot for weddings, picnics and tourist photos, Serra Cross Park in Ventura's Grant Park is scheduled for a major beautification effort.

That is, if we can raise the money.

In 2003, a group of us, led by now-Mayor Christy Weir and former Historic Preservation Committee Chair Tracy Long, launched an effort to buy the property from the city after it was put up for sale. The city was forced to divest itself of the cross and one acre of land surrounding it because of a pending lawsuit charging that the principle of separation of church and state was being violated by city ownership and maintenance of a cross.

We raised $104,000 and had the winning bid for the property. Our group, the Serra Cross Conservancy, a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, has been managing the property ever since.

Taking care of a popular public park hasn't always been easy. As it is with any public area, there is a certain element who visits and likes to be destructive. Even the Cross itself has been subject to vandalism - and subsequent repairs - over the years. Site maintenance is financed through donations for use of the property for weddings and events.

IT HAS LONG BEEN OUR DREAM, however, to do something more for the people who love visiting this scenic spot. So we enlisted the aid of a wonderful local design firm, Ted Temple and Associates, to design something really special. We are excited by the firm's plans. For an idea of what it will look like, see the watercolor painting above by local artist Norman Kirk.

The upper circular parking area will be turned into a scenic walking and strolling area with a fountain, benches, native plants, sycamores and two levels of trails. The parking lot will be relocated to an adjacent area. The cross platform and cross itself will remain intact, but will be spiffed up. We've already put in new plantings and hope to put in boulders around the base and a new walkway.

"Ventura's Grant Park is one of the most spectacular locations in the county," Weir said. "The goal of the Serra Cross Conservancy is to maintain the historic cross and surrounding one-acre park and enhance the landscaping to make this gem even more beautiful and usable. We depend on donations, so this will be possible only through the generosity of our community."

Weir is doing her part to generate those donations. She was recently asked to participate in the "Salsa with our Local Stars Dance Contest & Charity Fundraiser" at the Oxnard Salsa Festival on Sunday, July 27. So she's working on her dance steps and will donate the proceeds from the fundraiser to the Cross beautification efforts.

With the city's Grant Park Master Plan on hold, this privately funded effort may be the only chance we have for many years of doing something better for this underutilized but beautiful public space.

For more about the dance contest go here. If you would like to learn more about donating to the Serra Cross Conservancy, go here.