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/

This concept is also the theme of the upcoming One City Family Thanksgiving Celebration this Thursday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Ventura. It's a commingling of people from all walks of life merged in one spot to pass the gravy and share camaraderie and turkey legs.

Designed to put a spotlight on the city's homelessness issues, it is more than the traditional Thanksgiving "soup kitchen" approach where community leaders typically don aprons for the day to serve an underprivileged population.

"We're reaching beyond the local homeless population and into the community as a whole. We sit together. We share a meal. We share a table," said Jesse Giglio, the event's coordinator.

The day is being planned by the Faith Communities Subcommittee of the Ventura Social Services Task Force (VSSTF). Ten different churches have stepped up to help and another 20 are in the network, Giglio said. The VSSTF is a community-based organization with a goal of ending homelessness in the city of Ventura. It's a big task, no doubt, as the economy worsens, jobs are lost and social services are cut and stretched.

The faith-based and greater volunteer community will be called upon to do even more. But finding the dollars and manpower to help is not easy unless the great need is communicated. And this is an effort to do just that, Giglio said. "It's an awareness and education event as well as a celebration event."

IF THE OUTPOURING OF HELP for "One City" is any indication, Venturans are up for the task. "It's spread to the far reaches of the community," Giglio said. In addition to the churches and local temple, many individual businesses and families have contributed money and food. The new Watermark restaurant Downtown is cooking and serving all the side dishes.

Giglio said he and his volunteers are preparing enough food to feed 600 people. The day will also include live music, a communal art project, plus inflatable jumpers and craft activities for children.

It's clear this group intends to make its efforts last beyond just one day of thanks. The group's next event is "One City, One Weekend, One Fund" set for Feb. 14-17. Details will be forthcoming.

Everyone in the city of Ventura is invited to the free first annual One City Family Thanksgiving Celebration as long as the food lasts. It will be held from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 36 Figueroa St. (behind Pierano's/Jonathan's at 100 Main Street). Interested volunteers and other helpers should call Jesse Giglio, Community Life Pastor, Ventura Missionary Church, at 642-0550 ext. 376, or email jessegiglio@gmail.com.

THE PROSPECT FOR CAPTURING more revenue for Ventura's city coffers is looking bleaker these days with a skidding economy sending collection of sales taxes down 10 percent and a faltering housing market setting off alarm bells that property tax revenues will soon be on the decline. City Hall has announced belt-tightening measures that will cut back some city services.

Yet in the middle of this gloom and doom is a bright ray of Ventura sunshine: our Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) collections are up. What does that mean to those of us who don't converse in "Cityspeak"? More and more tourists are coming here and staying in our hotels. They are also eating in our restaurants and shopping in our boutiques. They are going out to visit the Channel Islands, hiking in the nearby mountains and relaxing on our beaches. All this activity brings TOT revenues to the general fund, keeps locals employed and brings in sales tax revenues, too.

According to Jim Luttjohann, director of the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau (VVCB), annual TOT revenues have grown from $3 million in 2003 to $4 million as of December 2007. We've also enjoyed an increase in revenue per available room of 7.9 percent while nearby Oxnard has remained nearly flat, he said. According to a recent study, visitor spending in Ventura was $458,315,800 in 2006.

Unfortunately, the engine helping to drive this mini-economic boom is falling under the budget axe itself. The VVCB's contract is housed within the City of Ventura's Cultural Affairs Division, which is being recommended for an across-the-board 11 percent reduction in funding. Cultural Affairs also supervises other revenue-generating activities like ArtWalk and the Street Fairs.

The VVCB budget will likely see a reduction of $83,000 from current year funding (about $132,000 from anticipated funding based on a contract funded at 2% of collected TOT). The cut will greatly affect the VVCB's ability to reach the tourist market, Luttjohann noted. "For us to shrink right now is potentially devastating."

IS SHRINKING A REVENUE-GENERATING portion of
city government a good idea in bad economic times? Not according to Monterey's City Manager, Fred Meurer. In 2002-04, when Monterey experienced a loss of $8 million in revenue over three years, it actually grew its tourism budget while cutting other services, Meurer said. "One area the City Council wanted to increase was tourism and marketing promotion to help build its coffers," he said.

"When business is down, you should be working on increasing your bottom line."

Bill Watkins of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project also noted an uptick in county tourism in his latest report: "Sectors that we expect to add a significant number of jobs from 2008-2010 include trade and leisure hospitality."

Ventura's VCB has been successful in drawing visitors interested in three major areas, Luttjohann explained: heritage and cultural tourists, gourmet diners or "foodies," and outdoor adventurers. "The foodie tourism market has been great to us," he said.

Two new hotels are also scheduled to be built here within the next few years: an Embassy Suites near the Fairgrounds and a Hyatt Place near Seaward and the 101 Freeway. "It will be very difficult to sell more rooms with fewer dollars," Luttjohann said.

But marketing all these great amenities involves employing a sales force to attend trade shows in addition to placing stories and making expensive ad buys in magazines like Sunset, Westways, Southwest Art, Gourmet and National Geographic Traveler. "We have to be in the really high-profile publications," Luttjohann said. "That's where you're getting your leisure travelers." And a state-of-the-art online presence is essential. "Sixty percent of travel planning is now done online," he said.

AN 11 PERCENT REDUCTION in marketing will certainly mean fewer visitors, Luttjohann said, which could also mean millions in reduced spending. A cut in Colorado's tourism and marketing budget a few years back, he said, caused a decline of 37 percent in overnight stays. And Monterey's Meurer pointed to nearby Pacific Grove, which recently withdrew from a regional cooperative advertising contract only to quickly opt back in the following year.

The bureau is considering taking on additional services for the city in exchange for maintaining its current budget structure, Luttjohann said. "Alternatively, we will have to reduce staffing and media placements and programs like the non-profit marketing grants that help our local organizations reach tourists in marketing they would not otherwise be able to afford."

Is cutting $130,000 from the Visitor's Bureau and then potentially losing millions from tourists a wise budget move?

It's time to visit this again.