Endorsements

NOVEMBER 3, 2020 ELECTION INFORMATION IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

Ventura is now headed toward our second election by district. It is complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Venturans are active voters. We encourage voters to vote by mail in the November 3 election. We want all voters’ voices to be heard in the safest way possible. Every registered voter will receive a ballot, and it will be verified by the Ventura County Elections Division before being counted. The signature and address on the outside of the envelope must match the one on file with the CA Secretary of State & Ventura County Elections Division. Register now or check your registration at https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/registration-status/ to be sure it is current.

The League of Women Voters VC urges us to mail our ballot two weeks prior to November 3, to avoid overwhelming the post office or Ventura County Elections Division on the last day. Several secure drop box locations will also be available. No postage is required. Sign-up at https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/ to track your ballot from the mailbox to being counted at the Ventura County Elections Division.

There is no need to wait in line and risk your life when you can study the candidates and the 12 ballot measures in the comfort of your home and safely drop your secret ballot in the mail.

VCHP PROUDLY ENDORSES CANDIDATES CHRISTY WEIR, MIKE JOHNSON, AND JOE SCHROEDER FOR VENTURA CITY COUNCIL

We are listing our endorsements in District number sequence and are including a link to a map so that voters are able to confirm which candidate represents their district of Ventura. This is especially an issue for voters where one side of their street is in one district and the other side in another. https://map.cityofventura.net/java/ccvd/

VCHP urges all our supporters to sign up now on the websites for Christy and Mike. Candidates cannot walk neighborhoods, or have gatherings in homes to meet them in person. By signing up on their websites, you will be invited to zoom meetings to listen to and ask questions of Mike and Christy.

District 2 – Christy Weir

Christy has served Ventura and District 2 with dedication since 2003. Residents who watch City Council meetings knows that she always does her homework and asks pertinent and thoughtful questions to help clarify issues for the participating public.

Christy is deeply committed to environmental issues in our city. She supports the Ventura Land Trust’s efforts to acquire land & provide public access to our open spaces for all to enjoy. She has advocated for the Surfer’s Point Managed Retreat Project, a nationally recognized effort designed to prevent coastal erosion, and led tours of the project area to describe its function to attendees. She also advocates for enhancing our urban forest and improving new projects with the addition of more trees and native vegetation.

She advocated and won the argument for a real Class I bike path along the Olivas Park extension that was subsequently approved by Council. She is a frequent user of the Ventura River Parkway Trail & our other community bike trails. She is sponsoring an EPS (Styrofoam) ban for our city to reduce the occurrence of this damaging product on our beaches and in our community. She stands out as willing to hold the line against unsightly development to send a message to developers that Ventura demands quality.

She is also one of the four council members that supported public health during the COVID-19 pandemic by voting to require masks before the county managed to make the same decision.
VCHP endorses Christy for her commitment to environmental protection, climate adaptation and her insistence on a healthy and high quality community for all Venturans to enjoy. www.christyweir.com

Mike Johnson is an active member of the College Area Community Council and an avid city watcher. His knowledge of the inner workings of the city and the critical decisions facing Ventura is extensive due to his diligence in studying the issues, his consistent attendance at City Council, Commission and Committee meetings driven by his desire to keep improving our community.

As an attendee of the many sub-committees formed to deal with homelessness, he is an active proponent of area-wide collaboration to solve problems like this that span across all county communities. He realizes that regional collaboration is critical to solving this issue, which in turn, if adequately resolved, will lead to environmental gains as people are moved out of our rivers and parks into permanent housing.
He supports Ventura Water’s potable reuse project to honor both the letter and the spirit of the settlement with Wishtoyo and Heal the Bay regarding management of outflow from our sewage plant into the Santa Clara River Estuary. We must remedy some of the environmental damage we’ve done to that estuary. As a plus, this project will reduce the pressure to draw unsustainable amounts of water from the Ventura River.

Mike is a member and supporter of the Ventura Land Trust. He realizes the need for Venturans to have access to the outdoors as our city grows and becomes more dense over time in response to state mandates to produce more housing.

Mike understands the need to address climate change and do as much as we can for our community within the very tight budget constraints that we face, made much more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

VCHP endorses Mike for his commitment to the environment, his support for the Ventura River Parkway and his pragmatic approach to problem solving. https://mikeforventura.com

Joe Schroeder is more than an environmental endorsement for VCHP. Joe has over three decades of senior-level Credit Union management experience as President/CEO at three of southern California’s largest Credit Unions. With this experience he brings a wealth of financial knowledge to a job that will need this expertise to recover from the social and economic hit that the City of Ventura has taken during this COVID pandemic.

He has dedicated his volunteer efforts to feeding the needy and economic justice for minorities and women. As President of the Ventura County Credit Union he supported the Ventura Land Trust by offering its property as a venue for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival after the film event outgrew its prior facility.

Joe is supportive of VCHP’s efforts to promote and expand the Ventura River Parkway. He fully supports the Ventura Land Trust and other nonprofits that are preserving and enhancing our local open space for recreational use.

Joe sees the critical importance of an updated Local Coastal Program and Climate Action Plan to prepare our coastal community for the inevitable impacts yet to come. He sees the importance of our open space, greenbelts, floodplains and agricultural land to assist in our efforts to combat climate change. https://joeschroederforcitycouncil.com

VCHP PROUDLY ENDORSES CANDIDATES CARMEN RAMIREZ FOR BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.

On November 3, 2020, Ventura County voters will cast ballots for County Supervisors.  
 
VCHP believes that it is vitally important for our supervisors to make sound environmental decisions for our county.  After considering the positions of candidates who requested our endorsement, the VCHP Board has endorsed one candidate. We recommend them as the best qualified to embrace our mission. 
 
Please read about our endorsed candidate, vote for the candidate in your district, and recommend our endorsed candidate to your friends District 5.

CARMEN RAMIREZ, District 5
She is the only candidate in District 5 to reject money from big oil in this election.  She is the ONLY candidate to sign the "No Fossil Fuel Money" pledge!  

Carmen is deeply committed to environmental and social justice for her district and all districts in our county that have borne the brunt of legacy industries. 

Carmen has worked as a legal aid attorney and for Ventura County Superior Court in Colonia helping Spanish-speaking residents understand their rights and responsibilities.  She has served on the Oxnard City Council as a council member and Mayor Pro-tem.


Accomplishments:

• Carmen was instrumental in supporting the SOAR 2050 ordinance approved by the voters in the City of Oxnard.

• She supported a moratorium on oil drilling offshore and on the Oxnard plain near residential neighborhoods.

• She supported the county Wildlife Corridor ordinance.

• She supported Ormond Wetlands restoration and preservation.

• Carmen was instrumental in the defeat of a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal right off Ormond beach.

• She has fought a fourth power plant proposed for her already environmentally burdened community and advocated for appropriate economic development for Oxnard.

• She supports removal of Matilija Dam.

Carmen's past and present work aligns well with VCHP’s environmental mission. VCHP endorses Carmen for her commitment to environmental justice for all residents of Ventura County.
For more information see the candidate's website: www.carmen4supervisor.com