Council to Focus on Economy in New Year : Ventura: City needs to parlay planning into concrete programs, many say. But the search for common ground may prove daunting.

By CONSTANCE SOMMER

Dec. 31, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Ventura Mayor Tom Buford could paper an office with sheets from city economic reports--so profusely has Ventura studied its fiscal situation.

But after more than a year of the Blueprint for Community Investment studies and thick Economic Vitality Plan binders, many City Council members say they plan more action and less talk in 1995.

Instead of just fretting as the city’s economy sputters, they say, they want to dig in and help it re-energize.

“We have struggled through a year of having a council that is committed to (economic development) but . . . you had people talking about different things and different ways of going about it,” Buford said.

He added, though, that he thinks the coming year will prove more fruitful.

“I think we’ll see the council working much better together.”

With council members still sniping at each other, even as December eases into January, Buford’s prediction remains speculative.

But most of his colleagues agree that improving the economy--through efforts to retain existing businesses and attract new industries--will be at the top of their new year’s resolutions. “Right now, (Ventura) is simply shrinking,” Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures said. “When you have a loss of revenue, that’s a real strong indicator that you need to do something.”

Council members say they hope Donna Landeros, the new city manager coming on board in mid-January, can help them organize themselves and align their diverse perspectives.

She may also help them decide, for example, whether the city should spend $9.5 million in unused bond money on an array of big-ticket projects or simply keep the funds in the bank.

Councilman Gary Tuttle has said he would be very careful about spending the cash when it now earns $500,000 in interest annually for the General Fund.

But Councilman Jim Monahan dreams of constructing a convention center at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Councilman Jack Tingstrom says the money could help fund a minor league baseball stadium near the Ventura Auto Center. And Councilman Gregory L. Carson says the funds might be best invested in a marine educational center at the Ventura Harbor.

Carson, who has spearheaded the campaign to refurbish the city’s aging downtown, says the face lift’s litmus test will also begin in 1995.

After spending millions to redecorate the sidewalks, replant the trees and repaint the parking spaces, Ventura will see if the upgraded district will attract new businesses or founder amid its swaying palms.

“I think we’re really on the cusp here, going into 1995,” Carson said. “We’ll have a new look, a new feel to our downtown and, hopefully, a more tourist-based economy.”

Part of the drive to improve downtown includes an effort to remove the transients who now loiter on the streets and, merchants complain, bother customers as they do their shopping and dining.

Measures has proposed a plan to put homeless people to work through a series of business- and city-sponsored programs. Measures’ proposal also includes housing and a day center, with the intention of moving squatters out of the Ventura River bottom, where up to 200 reside.

The apartments and the center, however, would probably require some city money, and other council members are not sure if they will support such an expenditure.

Water issues will remain on hold in 1995, following the council’s recent decision to indefinitely postpone building a desalination plant. Council members said that instead of pouring millions into a new facility, residents should continue their conservation efforts.

City officials say the budget will persist in a precarious balance. Library fans covet a piece of it next year to keep branches open longer. The Police Department hopes to fund more officers. And if Measures has her way, the city might soon be part-owner of an apartment complex for the river bottom’s homeless people.

But first, some council members say, the panel needs to tackle one overriding problem--the bickering and one-upmanship that have dragged out decision-making in 1994 and prevented them from working effectively together.

“This council’s been one year of who has the strongest will,” complained Tuttle. “I was a good consensus player in the last council, but I’ll tell you, my will can be as strong as anybody’s.”

Tuttle said that issues die or trudge slowly through the decision process because some of his colleagues refuse to work as a team.

“Like Rosa Lee (Measures),” he said. “We get blasted with her personal agendas, and it’s either fight or sink.”

Measures came onto the council last December with a vow to “expedite” her business-oriented agenda through the bureaucratic machinations at City Hall.

Since then, she has so frustrated some residents that they mounted a recall effort against her. Some of her colleagues also grumble that her fierce determination to push her own issues actually hobbles the council’s pace.

Measures says in response that some of her colleagues must be jealous.

“Progressive leadership makes things happen,” she said. “Others usually criticize and watch things happen.”

Her allies on the council agree, saying she has been a stimulating influence. Tingstrom said the issue of dealing with Ventura’s homeless problem would still be gathering dust in committee meetings if not for Measures’ insistence that they move ahead with a proposal.

“Now . . . something’s getting done,” he said. “I think that’s super. I admire her for her tenacity.”

Many on the council do concur that however they feel about each other, they must find common ground, at least on the issue of economic development.

“I would hope it would get better,” Tuttle said, “because things can’t get any worse with this council.”