A.  Police, Crime Prevention and Gang Suppression 25%

Restoring Police Services: 20%

Keeping Ventura safe remains the primary goal of city government. In order to maintain Ventura as a safe community, the Police Department would restore vital services that have been cut or reduced in the last two years. Responding to emergency calls within 5 minutes 90% of the time and reducing crime and the fear of crime remain the primary goals of the Police Department.

• Restore Police Department sworn staffing to 2007-2008 level, adding 6 officers;
• Maintain Patrol Deployment, improving response time by 7% and reducing the crime index by 3%;
• Restore Patrol Special Response Team, addressing specific quality of life issues and reducing calls for service in identified areas by 15%, including homeless issues downtown;
• Enhanced accountability and an improvement in our ability to develop our personnel; and
• Restore/Enhance support personnel, including communications, detective support and Crime Prevention/Neighborhood Watch.

Enhance Gang and Property Crime Enforcement – 4%

Our ability to address violent gang crime, property crime and narcotics related incidents require additional staffing. Our juvenile prevention programs and School Resource Officers are vital components of that effort.

• Increase staffing of our Special Enforcement Team, continuing our prevention efforts and reducing gang related crime by 15%; and
• Increased staffing of our Street Crimes Unit, reducing property crimes and narcotic related crime by 10%.

Enhance Technological ability: 1%

Improving the technological ability of the Department is essential for maximizing our ability to effectively utilize crime analysis and streamline our reporting system.

• Obtain a lease agreement with Motorola for RMS/Field Based Reporting system, improving records management and reducing Patrol overtime by 10%.

B.  Fire, Emergency Medical Response and Disaster Preparedness: 15%

The effectiveness of fire and emergency medical response is dramatically improved when units arrive within five minutes of 911 dispatch. In the case of fire, 5-minute response helps contain fires from rapidly spreading. In the case of medical emergency, timely on-scene care has been conclusively shown to save lives. In addition to emergency dispatch, adequate staffing, equipment and facilities are vital to protecting the community from wildland fire, earthquakes, toxic spills and other natural and man-made disasters.

• Restore Fire Department sworn staffing to 2007-2008 level, adding three firefighters to improve response times by at least 10%.
• Strategically re-deploy the “roving fire crew” (ME10) to enhance our ability to respond to fires and medical emergencies.
• Improve response times of paramedics to medical emergencies such as heart attacks and car accidents.
• Enhance our ability to respond quickly and effectively to a major wildland fire threatening our City.
• Improve our ability to plan for and respond to a major emergency or natural disaster.
• Enhance our ability to respond to ocean rescue life safety emergencies.
• Enhance accountability and the development of emergency paramedic responders.

A. Street and pothole repair: 30%

Our streets are a key component of our infrastructure to keep our city mobile and accessible for residents and visitors alike. Funding will be used to take care of our streets and repair potholes and broken sidewalks, as well as reduce traffic through restoring cutbacks in public transit.

• Repave local streets, repair potholes and fix broken sidewalks throughout our City to prevent the added cost of more expensive repairs down the road.
• Restore public transit bus service to reduce traffic congestion, strengthen local economy by helping workers get to their jobs, and protect the environment by reducing pollution and green house gas emissions.

B. Park, tree, beach and greenspace maintenance: 5%

This funding will be used to restore maintenance to our public facilities for a cleaner environment and more attractive green infrastructure. This will preserve our parks, urban forest, beachfront areas, medians and wall planters– an important element of Ventura’s quality of life .

• Restore litter pickup throughout Parks and Beach areas from once a week to three times per week.
• Expand water conservation efforts by upgrading irrigation systems at Westpark and Arroyo Verde Park.
• Repair and replace Marina Park playgrounds instead of removing or cordoning off the area.
• Restore our street tree trimming cycle to 4-5 years instead of every 6-7 years to reduce debris and prevent limbs from falling during storms.
• Increase our urban forest by planting 300 more trees per year, which results in cleaner air.
• Ensure that median and wall planters are free of litter, weeds and trash by restoring regular maintenance from monthly to weekly.

Our goal is to protect and restore Ventura’s coastal waters to safeguard human health, sustain a rich diversity of aquatic wildlife, promote the local economy, and preserve a recreational and aesthetic resource for safe enjoyment by current and future generations. We are also required to meet stringent and costly Federal and State environmental regulations to keep pollution and trash out of rivers and the ocean. To protect our environment and comply with the law, funding will be provided to:

• Identify and eliminate sources of water pollution that enter stormdrains.
• Provide year-round testing of our beach waters and the urban runoff that enters our stormdrains to ensure the health and safety of residents.
• Educate businesses, residents, and school children about the causes of local water pollution and how to prevent it. Increase current outreach by 50%.
• Increase inspections of construction sites, businesses and industries by 30% to ensure compliance with regulations that improve stormwater quality.
• Reduce litter that enters Ventura’s coastal waterways by adding 30 additional trash cans at bus stops and sidewalks, installing litter screens in 300 stormdrain inlets, and collecting litter in public areas more frequently.
• Ensure that new developments eliminate polluted water from entering stormdrains that empty onto our local beaches by establishing and implementing standards that provide additional open space with features such as rain gardens and green roofs to restore groundwater and reduce flooding.
• Protect the environment and our primary economic asset by participating in a cooperative effort with local property owners.

Libraries are essential partners in creating educated communities. Providing opportunities for self-education, life-long learning, and self-improvement, Ventura’s County-run libraries serve as community gathering spaces, institutions of learning, and technological centers to all segments of the population. Libraries also serve as a boost to the local economy: the availability and quality of libraries are part of the package that attracts new business to a community. The Wright Library is in danger of imminent closure due to falling property tax revenue. By supplementing County funding (as many other cities in the County do) we can assure Wright and Ventura’s other two libraries stay open for students, seniors and families.

• Save Wright Library from closing.
• Improve the books and periodicals collections and special programs at all Ventura libraries, increasing the number of books circulated per capita by 5%.

Government can’t solve all community problems. Working in partnership with community organizations, charities and neighborhoods is vital to maintain the high quality of life that Ventura citizens desire. Over the years, Ventura has increased its funding to non-profit projects to support the needs of its residents, enrich cultural offerings and enhance the community’s economic climate. In the last year, the City of Ventura reduced all of project funding to local non-profit organizations. These grants have produced cost-effective economic, social, and cultural benefits for our community, by reducing homelessness and joblessness and enhancing cultural and educational opportunities for our youth and citizens.

Funds will be used to:

• Restore Social Services Partnership grants to local non-profits providing services for populations in need;
• Restore funding for the Ten Year Strategy to End Homelessness, providing services to help keep families in their homes;
• Restore Cultural grants to local cultural and educational non-profits; and
• Restore cultural and historic programs and community events like movies in the park and re-opening the Albinger Museum.