AS I WRITE THIS, my husband, the official BIggest Lakers Fan on Earth, is wearing a 2009 Lakers championship T-shirt and protesting noisily behind my head.

But I just have to say it. I don't care if media moguls finally bailed Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa out of his misguided promise to use $1 million in taxpayer dollars for the grand Lakers championship parade today. I don't care if the Lakers are paying for the other half of it.

I'm just in no mood right now for a $2 million parade to honor guys with $135-million contracts for five years of work. Not while we're poised to cut the heart out of our state. Not while Los Angeles Unified is laying off thousands of teachers. Not while we're proposing to dump health insurance for poor children, cut Medi-Cal, close adult day care centers, state parks and cut off college grants.

IT WAS JUST A WEEK AGO, that I was watching a very different kind of parade organized in Oxnard by the dynamic Roberto Juarez of Clinicas Camino del Real. The health care clinics, started in the very poorest part of Santa Paula in 1971, have grown in numbers to nine and serve as the primary medical provider for those who have nowhere else to turn.

"More than 3 million people will be losing their health care benefits," Juarez told the well-organized group of marchers as they walked through the streets of Oxnard behind a truck blaring music. "In just a few days, we will start to see a great deal of pain."

I have often wondered about how we find ourselves so happy to part with our money for entertainment purposes but not to help out those who have so little. Do we value what makes us forget our troubles more highly than rectifying the wrongs which cause them?

If anyone deserves a parade, it's the impassioned inner-city teachers in Los Angeles who just lost their jobs.

That's something I'd pay to see.

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/

ONE OF MY PET PEEVES are the Monday Morning Quarterbackers. The City of Ventura rarely makes a move without extensive feedback, transparency, numerous charettes, community meetings, Eblasts, newspaper articles, blog postings and agenda distribution.

Yet inevitably I hear somebody complain here or elsewhere about the decisions made in these public forums. So you'd think when the opportunity arises, citizens would be knocking down the doors to provide input. Not really.

At every single community meeting I attend, I see the same bunch of folks. Our little band of chronic city volunteers manages to get around. But we are lonely.

Sure there are the one-issue folks who get fired up for their pet causes, but at most city forums the attendance is pretty spartan.

So here's an opportunity for everyone that shouldn't be missed: Tomorrow the City of Ventura, in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce, will be holding an Economic Summit to help chart the future of our community. The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at City Hall, 501 Poli St.

The event is free, and participants are asked to pre-register online at http://www.venturachamber.org or by calling 676-7500.

The culmination of the event will be 90-day, one-year and five-year work plans for the City Council to consider. Workshops will include ways to improve the city's bottom line, fostering smart growth, greening the city's economy, enhancing the local business climate, and retaining and expanding jobs and existing businesses.

It's also a way to get all those one-issue folks talking to the other one-issue folks. Like Wal-Mart? Come talk to those who hate it. Are you pro-growth? Share your thoughts with those who aren't. Do you think arts and cultural tourism are a smart economic investment in our future? Or do you think it's all a waste of money? Come prepared to talk it out. (But if you hate the arts, you might want to avoid me!)

I know it's early on a Saturday morning and you need to mow the lawn and attend your kid's baseball game.

But, to mangle a John Lennon lyric: A city is what happens when you are busy making other plans.

Please join us tomorrow.

AT $26.5 BILLION, California sits at the top of the heap among the first wave of state allocations for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

In a state wrestling with a ballooning budget deficit dependent on a series of unpopular ballot propositions in the May 19 special election, the federal stimulus money is being eyed with great interest.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wasted no time in being one of the first governors to ask for education dollars. Early last week he applied for nearly $1.2 billion in funding for schools with large numbers of poor and disabled students as well as for improvements in lunch program facilities. On Thursday, he applied for $5 billion more which would come with more flexibility. All told, the state is expected to receive $85 billion in federal money over the next two years.

"We've taken steps to protect our schools from the full brunt of our economic situation, and this funding will restore many of the difficult cuts that had to be made to education," the governor said. "I'm committed to passing it directly onto schools as quickly as possible."

This is in contrast to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who recently irritated school officials in her state by declining to accept some stimulus money because she was afraid it would permanently swell the budget.

Locally, Ventura Unified School District Superintendent Trudy Arriaga said she remains hopeful the federal money could help offset a few of the $10 million in cuts the district will need to make in the next two years. "We did not balance our budget on it, but we are absolutely counting on it," she said.

OUR CITIES ARE jockeying for a piece of the pie as well. Last month Ventura Mayor Christy Weir and Council member Neal Andrews joined hundreds of city leaders nationwide in lobbying for funds for key projects during the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference. Our city has secured $4.6 million in ARRA funding and is applying for $30 million more in competitive grants.

"We met with Senators Boxer and Feinstein and Congresswoman Capps and Congressman Gallegly," Weir said. "They or their staff were all willing to listen and take the materials we brought. No promises were made, but they responded positively to the importance of our Surfers' Point renovation project, which was the priority for funding that we brought to their attention."

Money may also be available for the Museum of Ventura County, Weir said. The city also plans on submitting the $10 million U.S. 101/Victoria Ave. northbound offramp project for funding when application details are provided.

Most of the ARRA funding available to cities, Weir said, will be in the areas of public safety (COPS grants could prevent cuts to our police force), transportation (street paving and traffic signals) and energy (weatherization programs, renewable energy systems, etc). Money is also available to buy foreclosed properties to use for affordable housing. "The city will use our money to buy houses and turn them over to the Housing Authority for low-income rentals," Weir said.

Ventura also hopes to receive federal money available through the National Endowment for the Arts to maintain a key position in the Cultural Affairs staff and shore up our arts grants program, which will be cut nearly in half. A grant is also being sought for homeless prevention issues.

Other California cities have also been intent on using these funds in creative ways. Six cities up north are pooling their funds. Still others, like Westlake Village and Agoura Hills, sought to swap funds with other cities until they were told the deals were improper.

This one-time money will not keep any local budgets from bleeding red ink. But a band-aid feels sure good right now.

Yet another 2/3-vote stalemate in Sacramento

WHAT IF SOMEONE asked you to vote to extend the unemployment benefits of nearly 300,000 jobless Californians in a way that wouldn't cost state taxpayers a dime?

Would you do it?

Even with state unemployment figures now running at 10.1 percent, local Assemblywoman Audra Strickland (R-Moorpark) couldn't bring herself to vote for AB 23 3X, which would help unemployed workers for an additional 20 weeks, all with federal stimulus money.

It seems like a no-brainer, but Strickland sat on the sidelines along with 17 of her GOP colleagues, including Cameron Smyth, (R-Santa Clarita) and intentionally failed to vote. Another nine had the nerve to just vote against it.

Just one more vote Monday night and this bill to help our struggling families would have passed. Is it always a fait accompli that we must grovel for one Republican vote every time a 2/3 vote is required?

A GROUP OF UNEMPLOYED local tradesmen who had heard about Monday night's incomprehensible outcome decided to voice their opinions about it today at a press conference outside the Oxnard Employment Development Department.

"This bill's not going to cost California taxpayers one penny," Steve Weiner of the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties Building Trades Council told a group of around 50 unemployed workers. "We're telling them they need to approve this bill. It's time for them to do their job."

Marilyn and Leo Valenzuela told me they were up in Sacramento when the vote occurred and were very angry about it, especially when they attempted to lobby Audra Strickland to get it passed and the meeting didn't go well. They were perplexed that Strickland Chief of Staff Joel Angeles did not seem to know much about it. "He didn't even know how she voted," Marilyn said.

Marilyn, executive secretary-treasurer of the Tri-County Central Labor Council, had been honored on Monday by Assemblyman Pedro Nava as the 35th District's "Woman of the Year." She and her husband decided the Oxnard press conference was too important to miss.

"We got up at 5 a.m. and drove from Sacramento and pulled into the parking lot at 12:30 today," she said.

NEARLY 1.8 MILLION CALIFORNIANS are currently unemployed; about 1 million are receiving unemployment benefits. For 70,000 of those people, benefits will run out in a month. Sacramento Democrats sought to get AB 23 3X passed in time to help these folks. The measure is expected to bring in an estimated $2.5 billion to $3 billion in federal stimulus money for 20 weeks of additional emergency unemployment benefits during 2009.

Later today I talked to 35th District Assembly candidate Susan Jordan, who was also up in Sacramento on Monday. "I was at a dinner listening to Hilda Solis -- probably the most inspiring Labor Secretary we've ever had -- and she was telling us how this administration is helping working families," Jordan said.

"At the same time, two blocks away, the Republicans were refusing to extend unemployment benefits. It was outrageous. I don't know how any of them can justify this."

UPDATE Monday 3/23/09: The Assembly passed the bill today on a 76-0 vote. For more, go here.

FURTHER UPDATE Thursday 3/26/09: The Senate passed the bill today on a 38-0 vote, along with its companion measure which updates unemployment benefits. For more, go here.

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.

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.

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."

"SHOP LOCAL!" The cry goes out every holiday season from chambers of commerce and city officials everywhere. And the reasoning is sound. By spending your money locally you are not only investing in your city's infrastructure through your tax dollars but also keeping your friends and neighbors employed.

It seems like a no brainer to me. But I recently read a letter to the editor which quibbled with that bit of wisdom. "It's a tough economic world out there right now, and while merchants' struggles to compete are hurtful to watch, we are all guarding our money and looking for the best deals," the writer said.

Are we all really that cavalier about our neighbors' business establishments? Is the Mom and Pop becoming an endangered species in a world of big retail chains and Internet discounts? Two local retail fixtures in our town, Adventures for Kids and Bonnie's, have recently called it quits and the owner of at least one of those stores said the Internet and a large chain store contributed to her store's demise.

ON THE OTHER END of the spectrum are the shoppers who don't mind traveling to Thousand Oaks or Santa Barbara for a more upscale and decidedly wallet-thumping experience.

Not long ago, several friends and I went on a road trip to worship on the altar of the new Nordstrom in Thousand Oaks. The opening of that store has generated much excitement among the retail therapy crowd. Nordstrom's shoe department, especially, is spoken about with hushed reverence among some women I know.

It was a good female bonding experience. And while we greatly admired the $495 pair of Burberry shoes, the $1,200 fox-and-cashmere sweater and runway-styled fitting rooms, only I left with a purchase and it was under $75.

I haven't been back.

Many Nordstrom fans wondered why it didn't instead open in Ventura in the space now occupied by the new Target. The issue is demographics, said Alice Love, the mall's marketing manager. High-end stores look at the average incomes of the local residents, she explained. "We just haven't hit their mark."

Target decided to open at Pacific View after seeing the success of the Main Street store, Love said. Both stores are doing well, she added. The Pacific View Target carries more household items and is fashion-oriented. The Main Street store has a garden center.

Long vacant, the north end of the mall is being actively shopped to several retailers, Love and city officials have all confirmed, but they remain tight-lipped on just who. "I can't say until the lease is signed, sealed and delivered," she said.

And how has retail traffic been this holiday season? "Compared to last year, it's been pretty flat," Love said. "But retailers have new strategies to deal with this economy." Shopping local keeps your neighbors employed, Love said. And many franchise businesses at Pacific View are locally owned and operated, she reminded me.

MORE OFTEN THAN NOT I find myself shopping at the unique locally owned boutiques Downtown. On a recent trip my daughter and I found bargains at the new Rag Doll on Main Street, where owner Alisa Hoganson showed us the feathered headbands she makes herself and sells at a fraction of what a pricey teen-age boutique in The Oaks charges. She also designs her own clothing which she soon hopes to feature in her store.

"Locally owned establishments probably make up well over 95 percent of the businesses Downtown," Rob Edwards, director of the Downtown Ventura Organization, told me. "We have just a few chain restaurants and only one nationally known retailer."

The DVO has spent a considerable amount of time and energy sprucing up the neighborhood for the season. Property owners chipped in to buy eight new benches and new holiday banners. They've installed new refuse and recycling bins.

"The streets are repaved after nine long months of construction and the icing on the cake is our new festival lighting -- festive strands of flame-tip bulbs that require very little energy but have a vintage European feel," Edwards said. They will remain on the palm trees year-round.

Shopping Downtown is a civic duty, the always-enthusiastic Edwards maintains. "These business owners live next door to you and donate to our local non-profit charities at a much higher frequency than corporations headquartered out of state," Edwards said. "Ergo, your dollars are recycled back into the community when you purchase your holiday gifts from the locals -- and the service is usually much more attentive in my experience," he added.

Saving local jobs, bargains, one-of-a-kind gifts, and better service to boot. So, to our Scrooge-like letter-to-the-editor writer I ask: Why would you go anywhere else?

Special note: I've been asked by a friend to add that the Christmas tree lot Downtown at California and Thompson is donating part of their proceeds to the Police Activities League, a very worthy cause. Happy holidays!