So much news...so little time

Thanks to all the loyal bloggers out there sending me links and articles. Here's a Ventura County Star article from the last election with some information on the "Friends of Fillmore".

Councilwoman pays big price for beliefs
Walker may have lost election over stand on Fillmore project

By Kathleen Wilson, kwilson@VenturaCountyStar.comNovember 14, 2004

In a span of three months Patti Walker has been censured, called "subversive," and apparently beaten in her bid for re-election to the Fillmore City Council.
But she regrets nothing.

She stands behind her appeal for Rep. Elton Gallegly's help in stopping development backed by the City Council. She is comfortable with her decision not to apologize for seeking the congressman's aid, and she's still seeking the Ventura County Board of Supervisors' intervention on the same issue.

"If I felt remorse, if I had felt I had done anything untoward, I would have apologized," she said in a post-election interview last week. "I have no regrets, and I'd do it again."

Walker, 51, hardly fits the profile of a renegade.

The paralegal with strawberry blond hair and blue eyes is low-key and soft-spoken. A devout Christian, she is head of the policy-setting council at Fillmore First Methodist Church. She leads the local Soroptimists Club.

But she has been resolute in her opposition to residential development in the Santa Clara River flood plain, calling it "inherently dangerous."

She argues the construction will speed up flood water, possibly threatening farmers downstream. She also questions whether flood protection measures will work.

Backed by studies

Walker points to numerous studies to prove her point, just as city officials do to prove theirs, but once the City Council made its 4-1 decision to approve a large development near the river called Heritage Valley Parks, her colleagues say she should have accepted it.

"It was frustrating, very frustrating," Mayor Evaristo Barajas said. "She didn't want to let it go."
Walker said she votes her conscience. Quoting a statement by county Supervisor John Flynn, she said, "I won't go along to get along." "That's me in a nutshell," she said. Her position has not come without price. It has not only rankled her colleagues on the City Council but also spurred a well-financed effort to defeat her.

A political committee called Friends of Fillmore backed three of her opponents, raised $30,000 for the race and urged citizens to vote her out of office.

Roger Campbell, a former councilman who is a consultant for the group, said the committee is made up of local residents. However, thousands of dollars came from out-of-town development interests, according to campaign finance statements. A list of dozens of contributions totaling $100 or more shows only one contributor with a Fillmore address.

Campbell declined further comment, referring questions to Committee Chairman John Scoles. The Fillmore attorney was out of town and could not be reached for this article.

A few days before the Nov. 2 election, Friends of Fillmore mailed a flier to residents urging them to "Vote No on Patti Walker," citing the City Council's censure vote over her appeal to Gallegly. The flier said Walker was "trying to work against the will of the people and its city-elected officials."

In a letter to Gallegly last summer, the councilwoman said a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be overturned. FEMA had approved a map changing the location of a disputed flood line, allowing all of Heritage Valley Parks to be built beside the river.

Despite several appeals, FEMA stood by its decision. Gallegly has not intervened. Walker said she believes the flier, issued two months after the censure, might have led to her defeat.

Although she did well enough to win in absentee votes and established east-side neighborhoods, she finished last in areas of town with newly developed homes such as north Fillmore and those near the river.

Douglas Tucker, who lives in the Hometown development in north Fillmore, said the flier could well have swayed voters in those areas who might not have followed the controversy.
The two-page mailer correctly reported she had been censured for violating the city code of ethics, following the city attorney's determination that she should not have mentioned her status as a councilwoman in the letter to Gallegly. However, it did not report that she had written the letter on her personal stationery or her argument that she was merely expressing her personal opinion.

"There's lots of thoughts both ways ranging from that she went against what the City Council had voted in and went behind their backs, but at the same time she was expressing her views as a citizen," Tucker said. "It created a lot of controversy where they weren't sure which way to go."

Friends of Fillmore backed candidates Steve Conaway, Ray Dressler and John Parsons in their first bids for public office. All three support Heritage Valley Parks. Conaway and Dressler won easily. Incumbent M. Cecilia Cuevas, who also supports Heritage Valley Parks, eked into third place in the race for three seats, ahead of Parsons.

Ballots still not counted

With about 1,000 absentee ballots yet to be tallied countywide, a victory by Walker now appears statistically impossible, Assistant Registrar Gene Browning said Friday.

Walker's last-place finish in the council race comes four years after she won election to her first term in the midst of a divisive battle over growth.

She campaigned for a growth-restriction law called Measure J. Although it failed along with an alternative allowing fairly widespread development, the City Council ultimately agreed to a compromise.

Walker considers that compromise one of her finest achievements. She also is proud of making Spanish translation of council meetings available on request, bringing Spanish films to the predominantly Latino town, approving affordable housing projects, and devoting developer fees to a new public library she hopes will be built.

With her apparent defeat, the balance of power on the council won't change because she represented only one vote. She leaves with a record for being smart, hard working and a champion for the town's public library, council members said.

"Patti Walker was very instrumental in a lot of areas," Barajas said. "It's just that her ideas as far as housing in Fillmore were not in line with mine."

Development means money

Barajas and the other council members see Heritage Valley Parks as the town's economic salvation. City Manager Roy Payne has forecast that it could produce a net gain of almost $1 million a year for the town that lacks a public pool, and needs more parks and schools.
However, Walker says residential development will be no panacea, driving demands on public services.

"It impacts everything: your sewer, your water, your schools."

Critics support change

Walker's fiercest critic on the City Council said she lost because she was out of step with Fillmore residents.

"The people in Fillmore basically believe it's time for a change, and they don't necessarily want an obstructionist on the council," said Councilman Ken Smedley. "They realize the benefits smart growth and moderate development can bring to this town."

Smedley led the call for her censure. He called her actions "subversive," an adjective used to describe people seeking to destroy or undermine governments.

"If you want to be an activist, don't get elected," he said. "Don't say you represent the citizens of Fillmore and represent a small minority."

In Walker's view, his comments went beyond their political differences.
"I thought some of those comments he made were definitely personal attacks on my character," she said.

Walker isn't sure where the fast-growing town of 15,000 is headed without her on the council. She still plans to advocate her views just as she has since she moved to Fillmore a decade ago after the Northridge earthquake.

The councilwoman said she is not bitter, but does not believe the reaction to her point of view was merited.

"I wasn't raised to demean, belittle or scold another for their opinions and thoughts just because they differ."