Former top Ventura County official sues county

Former Ventura County Executive Officer Mike Powers has filed a lawsuit against the County of Ventura, claiming that he was forced out of his job without being given the chance to defend himself against a harassment accusation from one of his employees. 

Powers is seeking unspecified damages for invasion of privacy, wrongful termination, and other claims. He is also asking the court to force the county to defend him in the lawsuit brought by his accuser and to pay his legal costs. 

Powers had an employment contract as CEO that allowed the Board of Supervisors to remove him at any time with or without cause. Powers is denying all the allegations of harassment except one.

Camarillo eyes Days Inn for homeless housing

The City of Camarillo is considering using the Days Inn as a site for permanent and temporary housing for individuals who are homeless if the city receives Project Homekey funds. 

The proposed Homekey project involves renovating the building to create 62 units of permanent housing with wraparound services, a 20-bed navigation center for temporary housing and one unit for a resident manager. 

The city plans to submit a joint Homekey application with the County of Ventura and Jamboree Housing Corp., one of California’s largest nonprofit developers of affordable housing. The City Council will consider allocating $5.4 million of city funds toward the development and operation of the site at a future meeting. 

The state is expected to announce Homekey funding recipients in August, and city staff said the housing could open as early as December 2024.

Build-to-rent housing delayed in Santa Maria vote

The Santa Maria Planning Commission has delayed a decision on a build-to-rent, single-family home development that includes accessory dwelling units. 

Canfield Development has proposed a 105 single-family home Blosser Ranch development, including a community center and pool, with detached accessory dwelling units on 96 lots. On-street parking would be banned, but guest spaces would be included. 

After appearing to be evenly divided on whether to approve the project, the planning commissioners voted 3-1 to delay the item pending research on issues related to large rental properties and a specific plan for the broader area. 

Commissioners Esau Blanco, Robert Dickerson, and Yasameen Mohajer agreed to the delay, but chairman Tim Seifert voted against it.

Hastert chosen to lead Santa Barbara Airport

Chris Hastert, the new airport director for the City of Santa Barbara, has outlined his goals and plans for the Santa Barbara Airport in an interview with Noozhawk. 

Hastert discussed a range of issues, including commercial air traffic, noise, facilities expansion, the master plan, and historic structures. He aims to establish and improve relations with the cities of Goleta and Santa Barbara and all residents affected by airport operations. 

Hastert plans to expand the passenger terminal to the south and add new gates and jetways, based on meeting current and future demand. The airport experienced a record commercial air traffic of more than 1.2 million passengers in 2022, but he does not expect that level of growth to continue in the short run. 

Noise from airport operations is a persistent issue, and Hastert is working to analyze the most frequently used departures and the routing of flights to encourage airlines to take different routing for those early morning departures. Source: Noozhawk

DeSantis gaining support; Trump still popular in GOP

While recent public polling suggests that Republican voters in California are increasingly favoring Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as their preferred candidate for the 2024 presidential primary, attendees at the California Republican Party convention this past weekend remain firmly in support of former President Donald Trump. 

Delegates, activists, volunteers, and local officials at the convention in Sacramento made it clear that Trump is still the man to beat, with his name and slogans visible on signs and campaign paraphernalia throughout the event. 

In contrast, DeSantis, who has not yet declared that he is running for president, received much less attention. 

Courts uphold right of rgig companies to classify workers as independent contractors

In a recent ruling, a California appeals court has granted ride-sharing companies Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash the right to classify their drivers as independent contractors, rather than employees.

This decision upholds the results of Proposition 22, which was passed by California voters in 2020 and exempts ride-sharing firms from a law requiring them to classify their drivers as employees. While the ruling provides clarity on the classification of hundreds of thousands of California ride-share drivers, it is a blow to the unions who had hoped for a different outcome.

The ballot initiative saw ride-share companies pour over $224 million into the campaign, making it the most expensive ballot measure in California history at the time. Prop. 22 granted some benefits to drivers, including a partial health care subsidy under certain conditions, but they still don't have access to other workplace benefits, such as minimum wage, sick leave, unemployment benefits, and more.

OP-ED: Ventura County campaign limit change criticized

A state lawmaker and local leader of Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources urged residents to speak out against an intiative by two Ventura County Supervisors to raise political campaign limits.

Assemblyman Steve Bennett​​​​​ and Linda Parks, the Executive Director of SOAR and former Ventura County Supervisor, said in a joint op-ed that:

Ventura County has had a successful campaign reform law in place for the last two decades, which limits campaign contributions to $750 and has strict transparency and accountability requirements to prevent manipulations by big money donors. 

However, Supervisors Jeff Gorell and Janice Parvin are proposing to eliminate the county's campaign finance ordinance, which would increase contribution limits from $750 to the statewide limit of $5,500. This move would drown out the voices of average citizens and give big money donors more direct influence over supervisors.

The supervisors' argument that the local ordinance is no longer necessary because of state limits is unconvincing. In fact, 25 counties in California currently apply both state and local laws simultaneously to decrease the influence of big money in politics. Gorell and Parvin's claim that a new state law prohibiting voting on a project if a donation of more than $250 has been received in the past 12 months is also easily circumvented.