Citizens Panel Lists Tourism as Ventura Priority

In its final recommendations after two months of study, a citizens committee is suggesting that the city of Ventura concentrate its limited resources on improving the economic climate, upgrading downtown and promoting tourism and the cultural arts.

The 26-member panel was appointed by the City Council to take a hard look at the city’s priorities in anticipation of further budget cuts next year, city officials said. Recommendations for the three- to five-year agenda for the city were broad rather than specific.

The committee, noting that Ventura is most appealing as a small town, opposed development in open space, greenbelts and agricultural land. It also advocated attracting a four-year university to the area and luring technical industries to the city.

None of the ideas are radical or new, Councilman Todd Collart told the panel Tuesday. “It’s an affirmation of what we’ve been doing,” he said.

The panel’s recommendations will make it easier to trim the budget later, because the council will know which programs are most important to residents, City Manager John Baker said.

Last year, the council cut 6% across-the-board to balance a $101.6-million operating budget for 1992-94. About 10 workers were laid off and dozens of city services were scaled back or discarded.

The council is expected to slice more programs and may lay off additional city staff in June when it passes a revised budget, Baker said.

The citizens panel, whose members are from various interest groups, was formed so the council could begin preparing for cuts early, Finance Director Terry Adelman said.

“This is all driven by economics,” Adelman said during the panel’s first meeting. “We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t facing a budget crisis.”

Committee member Marshall Milligan, who is president of Bank of A. Levy, said the citizens group was helpful in telling council members what to concentrate on but did not specify which city services are unimportant.

“We were prioritizing,” Milligan said Wednesday. “The problem the council has is not where to spend the money, but where not to spend the money.”

The council will try to implement the panel’s suggestions, but there is no guarantee that future city councils will adhere to the recommendations, Baker said. A majority of the City Council will be up for reelection next year.

The work will not be wasted if the committee continues to pressure the current council and future city councils to execute their recommendations, Mayor Gregory L. Carson said.

He urged the citizens committee Tuesday to “keep us on the hook that we make these things a reality.”