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League of Women Voters National Immigration Study


 The League of Women Voters of Ventura County participated in the League of Women Voters National Immigration Study. The local League Unit meetings in October and November 2007 were devoted to presentations on this complicated topic, and to reaching consensuses on the the questions presented by the League of Voters. On thirty of the questions the choices were high priority, low priority, disagree or no consensus. On three the choices were consensus or no consensus. The final question gave members an opportunity to express opinions on the design of the questionnaire. A final position reached by the National League is expected in time for action at the June 2008 Convention of the National League.

 

Board Approves Consensus Report for Energy Study


 At our February Board meeting, we approved the report compiled by the Energy Study Committee which reflected the consensus of the units and the Committee on the State Study questions. We also commented on the study and some of its questions. Nell McCombs, who stepped in to chair the Committee after Jeanne Harvey's accident, had prepared the report and forwarded it to the State after Board approval. The next step is for the State Energy Study Committee to compile the consensus reports from all the State Leagues and present it to the State Convention for approval. This consensus will form the basis of a State League position on energy.

In our submission, we observed that the study often asked us to provide simplistic answers to complex questions. Other questions seemed to be leading to a desired answer. Many members felt frustrated and overwhelmed by the complexity of the topic, and on that score the Board very much appreciates your endurance and willingness to basically "do the best we could". We encouraged the State to permit more time in the future for studies of such complex topics having such a steep learning curve.

The Ventura County consensus ranked reasonable rates and reliability of service as top priorities with environmental protection and transparency and efficiency of government a close second; the factor of social equity and environmental justice was ranked also important. We supported diversity of resources and consideration of impacts on greenhouse gases as top priorities for new facilities with second tier priorities being baseload power requirements and availability at times of peak power demand. A third level priority was impacts on the transmission grid.

We felt investor owned and municipal owned utilities should generally adhere to the same standards and that the PUC should regulate rates of non investor owned utilities. Also, we thought the state should treat in state and out of state providers the same, to the extent feasible. As to state energy policy, we agreed land use planning for future infrastructure needs must be included and that a "pre-CEQA" assessment be conducted in that process. However, the type of review was not defined in terms of scope or who would do it, and we suggested "pre-CEQA" needed more definition before becoming part of State policy.

Our comments on the LNG questions reflect our study on the issue: the State should have jurisdiction over facility siting and be responsible for environmental safety, protection from terrorists, and long term planning for needs.

On the water sector and its impact on energy usage, we submitted extensive comments, ranging from support for requiring all water to be measured to treating PR and education on conservation as an ongoing activity. Clearly we feel water can no longer be treated as a "free good" but we are also cognizant of the importance of agriculture, a major user, to the State and the county.

Not surprisingly, our League supported public involvement and government transparency at every level of the process. Specifically, we encouraged public televised meetings, including the PUCs, and extended public comment periods. We suggested the PUC website could be advertised and that statements presented as facts to the PUC should be verifiable and verified. We also encouraged citizen education on conservation and energy costs, along with a strong role for local governments in planning and educating on conservation measures and techniques. On the organization of energy functions at the State level, we were more ambivalent, citing pros and cons of centralization and suggesting other alternatives including the status quo.

-- April 2006

 

Santa Paula "Know Your Community" Booklet
 

The Santa Paula unit of the League of  Women Voters of Ventura County published "Know Your Community, A Study of the Santa Paula Area"  in April 2005. The booklet presents the Santa Paula area in 25 pages with 24 illustrations and the City logo. Paintings, photographs, drawings and text are used to emphasize important features of this "Old Fashioned Town of the Future", a town that is often used as a movie setting.  The booklet was edited by Gladys Bibb, using articles written by all members of the unit.

The city is discussed under the headings of background, water, education, art and museums, and entertainment.  Included in background are the geographical setting, history of oil, agriculture, city organization and community services and events, housing and the hospital. Water includes the water system, recycling and the wastewater plant. Education comprises the city schools, Thomas Aquinas college, Blanchard Library, and the California Oil Museum. Finally, the entertainment category incorporates the Theater Center and Ghost Walk, De Colores and Fandango events, city parks and the railroad, Friday's Cruise Night, and the Far West Recreational Vehicle Park.

The aims of the booklet were to educate ourselves about our city. and to share our pride in it. We have placed copies in the local library and in all schools and made presentations about it to local service organizations.  While copies last, individuals may obtain copies of this booklet by calling 805-933-1140.

-- March 2006
 

Leaguers Visit VCMC
                                                           

November 17, seventeen members of LWVVC revisited portions of the Ventura County Hospital which had been explored by the Health Study committee in 1998.

The tour had been pre-arranged by Nell McCombs and Pam Pecarich through Michael Powers, County Health Care Agency deputy director and hospital administrator. It was a necessary step to updating our League position on health care. Mr. Powers and chief of hospital operations Curtis Ohashi were our guides.

In 1998, loss of accreditation threatened the hospital due to areas of age related obsolescence in the original kitchen and cafeteria facilities, which had been built in 1921. The area, with its uneven floors and sagging ceilings, had to be abandoned in favor of on-site mobile kitchens.

Laboratories were over crowded and in need of updated equipment. The utility tunnels were unsafe. Cost estimates to upgrade the hospital to accreditation standards were staggering.

Yet, to allow the "safety net hospital" in the county health care system, the last resort for the County's uninsured population, and the hospital with the only family physician residency program in the county to be closed was not acceptable to League members.

They took to the streets with pickets and marched to defeat county ballot measure "O", which would have diverted Ventura County's share of California's tobacco settlement money from the county hospital to certain for profit hospitals in the countv.

The November 17 visit to the hospital confirmed the wisdom of the League's decision in the minds of the tour group who praised the cleanliness of the facility, the efficient design of work spaces, the understated, light colors used in decor, the maximum use of natural light. The bright, spacious laboratory gleaming with high tech equipment so enthralled Paula Lite (who had worked a few months in the old lab), that she said she wished she could go back to work.

The Ventura County Medical Center is the safety net hospital for the one-third of Ventura County's population of uninsured or underinsured persons. Eighty percent of patients treated there fit into those categories.

VCMC is an integrated health care facility which includes a network of specialists and a system of primary care clinics.

The hospital's 220 beds includes 180 for acute patients, and 43 beds for mental health inpatients.

While emergency rooms across California are closing due to lack of operating funds, VCMC maintains a 17-bed emergency room to which other area hospitals often refer patients.

VCMC has the only residency program in Ventura County. Affiliated with UCLA, it has a total of 39 residents, 13 per year. A complementary program allows nursing students from Oxnard College to obtain hands on experience at the hospital. Thirty nurses per day staff the hospital - a higher nurse to patient ratio than is common among California hospitals.

An in-patient mental health block accommodates 43 persons.

VCMC has purchased Santa Paula hospital, which closed in December, 2003. VCMC will reopen it as a full service hospital this spring -also as an arm of VCMC.

VCMC has an annual budget of $200M of which Ventura County pays $5M. It also receives $4M annually of the State's tobacco settlement money. Expense reimbursement rate for MediCal patients is 60%; Medicare reimbursement is 15%, and the remainder comes from other insurance and private pay patients.

Ventura County offers HMO coverage as an optional benefit to all County employees, which includes hospital care at VCMC. The added revenue stream helps VCMC meet its budget requirements.

 

Making Democracy Work - 2005 Special Election
 

League Members staffed three precincts in Ventura County: two in Ventura and one in Simi Valley. Pat Murray, Lillian Goldstein, and Nell McCombs acted as supervisors, joined by Betty Sherman, Dixie Adreniran, Bee Ellisman, Susan Hernandez, Ed McCombs, Phyllis Brzozowski, Jean Marshall, Bob and Betty Gips, Ruth and Jerome Schwartz, Betty Black, Sue Kelley, Gwen Brewer, Vern Bullough, Howard Engel, Jack Murray, Robert Lowe, and Mary Ann Lowe, working four hour shifts as clerks. In addition, several non‑League members helped us. These non‑members are willing contributors and supporters of the League. Things went smoothly at all our polls, and Pat Murray was first in line to turn in her ballot box that evening.

This year all three precincts were required to have Spanish speakers which, as you can imagine, is difficult as very few League members are bilingual. If you are, or if you have non‑League friends who are and might be willing to volunteer for the primary in June, 2006, please contact me. Nell's son‑in‑law Tom Maires, Luis Moreno who was recruited by Carmen Hurd, Susan and Lillian worked as our precincts' Spanish speakers. Pat had one Spanish speaker, Denise Guerrero, who fortunately was on duty the one time Spanish was needed.

All poll workers deserve a big thank you. You really helped to "Make Democracy Work."

 

All pages on this site reviewed monthly. This page last edited 30 March 2008 
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