Fillmore Gazette: Question 7

The best decision that the council made was to provide funding for graffiti removal and becoming more proactive in removing graffiti. There has been improvement in the response to removing graffiti. However, this is a challenge to the city and is still occurring regularly. I urge all residents to be aware and observant in reporting graffiti and suspicious activities. Ultimately, it’s our money paying for this cleanup and we shouldn’t expect the city and police department to take on parental responsibilities.

The biggest misstep the council has made was ignoring the public over the North Fillmore Specific Plan. Speaking out at the public hearings is not easy. The citizens worked hard to convince the council to reconsider the significant impacts of the EIR and to negotiate a more reasonable number of homes in North Fillmore. The council dismissed all of the concerns and accused 1600 citizens who signed the Referendum of being a small and irrelevant part of the community. They chose developer and staff interest over the constituents. If the city is truly interested in building a cohesive and united community in a common effort, this was a missed opportunity for citizen outreach.