This here page will contain back and forths with some of the Gang in the Ivory Tower not on e-mails, or maybe.

The city of San Buenaventura has been living in the dark ages since it's inception, it has always been run by the process known as the "Good Ol' Boys Club".  This is a process whereby the friends of friends are elected to the Council and the Mayor is selected by his "Good Ol' Buddies". 

 This would be a good place to work if there wern't so damn many citizens ...                            

Now back in the 1900drd's, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 this was considered the normal way of running a city.  Now that the general public has been educated this practice has become a antiquated method of trying to control the local population and the citizens are tired of it.

The local elections in the city of Ventura take place on what are called the "Odd Years", that is because all of the national elections take place on "Even Years".  The reasoning behind having local elections on "Odd Years" is because the people residing on the Council Dias know full well that the number of people voting on "Odd Years" is far fewer than on "Even Years" because more people naturally vote during a major election such as for Governor or President.

The Gang on the Dias also know that if there are fewer voters on "Odd Years" and if they can just convince their friends to vote they will have a much better chance of being re-installed on the Council Dias.  This has been working for them for many years, one of the Council members has been on the Dias for over 30 years. 

The idea that the council should select the Mayor every two years also has major drawbacks.  The way it was originally intended was to be done on a rotating basis using time as a council person as the criteria.  That way all councilmembers would have their chance for fame and glory.

Lately however it has not worked so well, one of the older, longer lasting, council members has been "snubbed" for many years.  He is obviously not a favorite amongst the rest of the Gang so they simply vote the newest council member in as Vice Mayor and then move that person to the Mayor slot on the go around.

I have been talking to many of the Council Members in person or by e-mail about the idea of one of them putting an item on the Council Agenda to allow the citizens of Ventura to decide by vote if they do indeed want an Elected Mayor and to move the local elections to coinside with the National Elections.

It would require 1 of 2 things in order to place the issue on the ballot for voting by the public.  One way is for the people that are most interested in bringing Ventura into the 21st Century by changing the cities charter to allow for an elected Mayor and change the voting time is to gather enough signatures for the initiative which would then be placed on the ballot for vote.  This is of course costly and time consuming. 

The other way is much more simple and saves lots of time, money and energy.  That would be for one of the present council members to simply place an item on the council agenda to allow the council members to vote on placing this item on the next General Election and let the people decide if they want to elect their own Mayor and move the local Elections to coinside with the General election, giving more people the chance to vote.

By using the second method of placing an item on the council agenda the council members would be showing the public that they are indeed interested in what they, the public, have to say.

In my wanderings and talking to various council people I have gotten the distinct impression that there are very possibly at least 4 council members that may be interested in seeing this idea come to fruitation.  They are Mr Neal Andrews, Mr Carl Morehouse, Ms Christy Weir, and Mr Jim Monahan. I really haven't had a chance to speak to Mr Brian Brennan, or the 2 newest council members but I am sure thay wouldn't want to appear that they don't care what the public wants.  Mr Bill Fulton, ex-mayor was also interested in these moves however he recently decided not to run for city council again and moved to Washington D. C.  Good luck with that Bill.

All it would take is for one of the seven council members to have enough moxy to step up and place the item on the council agenda, at the very least we would find out exactly which of them are truly interested in the citizens of our city.

1/7/2012

Mr Mike Tracy / ex policeman

Present , Mayor

City of San Buenaventura

“TO SERVE AND PROTECT”, what a great slogan, you were working under that slogan for what,  25/30 years?

Now you have a real chance to protect our citizens from the ravages of the “Good Ol’ Boy” system of government that has been rampant in the city of Ventura since its inception.  You also have a chance to truly serve the citizens of Ventura by giving them a chance to vote on the subject of an elected Mayor and to move our voting time to coincide with the General election.

Man up Mike, place an item on the council agenda to have the rest of the council simply vote on the idea of putting these two important items on the general election to allow the citizens the chance to vote on them.

Rellis Smith

Rellis39@sbcglobal.net

Mr Tracy never did answer my e-mail, which is indicative of the way the entire council conducts themselves.