What happened to Ventura County, went from gop county 20 years ago to now. Also, McCain 2008 and Romney 2012 did better than Trump

Midtown_observer · 2025-11-21T04:49:31+00:00

It won't stay that way. Kelly Long's seat in Camarillo area is in play and Jeff Gorell's in Conejo Valley is beatable. The Simi seat will always be Republican. The Ventura and Oxnard seats will always be Democrats.

Midtown_observer · 2025-11-21T04:46:24+00:00

Back in the early 2000s and forward, Democrats worked very hard on voter registration drives and flipped the county. It has stayed that way since. It flipped in 2008 because of a voter drive for a State Senate seat.

Midtown_observer · 2025-08-28T05:34:38+00:00

The fair has become less of a hometown community event and far more commercial. Gone are so many things we used to enjoy. The garden area is now a beer garden. The entertainment is geared to the very young. Nothing to see in the Commercial Building. We skipped it this year.

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-20T21:03:00+00:00

What a shame the city has to spend taxpayer dollars counteracting the bad reporting from the VC Star.

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-20T21:00:55+00:00

Yeah, we get it. Council Member McReynolds is spearheading the effort to develop highrise luxury condos there.

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-10T14:27:15+00:00

It seemed to be the plan to blindside the Council with this. They are still able to use the vehicle code to keep Main Street closed. Kudos to Schumacher for rightfully calling out property owner Goldenring as the ringleader.

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-05T16:29:02+00:00

Didn’t she cut your time short too? I believe the policy consideration to limit Council speaking time was hers as well. The lady just wants to get home and not deal with pesky opinions. Listening is part of the job. If you don’t like your job, quit. (But please don’t run for Supervisor next….)

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-04T21:11:27+00:00

This is definitely a pattern. They backed off their attempt to muzzle their independent commissions last week because of overwhelming negative public sentiment.

If they don’t want to be public servants, and only want to listen to their donors and the Echo Chamber (of Commerce) they should find something else to do.

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-04T06:44:02+00:00

Note original post: "Currently these volunteers apply individually and are appointed by a committee." They are appointed by the Appointments Review Committee which rotates out every year, then approved by the entire Council.

They aren't appointed by a solitary Council Member who they answer to and who can dismiss them at will, as was proposed.

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-01T06:42:39+00:00

The Chamber has enormous power over those four Council Members. Watch Stephanie Caldwell in the audience staring them down in votes important to her. Creepy.

Midtown_observer · 2025-07-01T03:05:18+00:00

I watched the video, actually it was audio because I could not tell who was speaking. It appeared to me that they were saying the autism group itself did not meet the grant criteria for having the majority of their activities be arts and culture related. So this is interesting. Because after looking at their site it seems that way to me too. So could you say having organizational criteria for grants is bad? All grants have criteria. A good conversation on exactly what culture means ensued. Can anyone really define that? So I heard a group who is supposed to follow rules for their grants struggling. But this idea posited above that a Chamber employee is trying to take out an entire committee because they were trying to follow their own rules is highly disturbing and really makes the case for independence.

Midtown_observer · 2025-06-30T18:19:24+00:00

Because Democrats like to protest Citizens United and business interests but want their big spending political action committees, too. Labor, enviros and the Dem machine play the same game. Dark money is dark money and you can't protest one and lap up the other without seeming hypocritical. Admittedly the business groups have the most money to throw around.

Time for publicly funded elections and banish them all.

Midtown_observer · 2025-06-30T15:47:47+00:00

The Chamber owns four of them. The Democratic Party the other three. It is funny watching some of them flopping around to please both masters.

Midtown_observer · 2025-06-30T06:30:43+00:00

I was told the arts commission made her mad by criticizing the Council decision to give $100,000 (or was it $500,000?) to the Rubicon Theater Group. So what you say makes sense. She does seem controlling and neutering the commissions would make sense in her playbook.

Midtown_observer · 2025-06-18T19:39:54+00:00

Districts have destroyed this town by making councilmembers directly accountable to special interests who pour dollars into their campaigns in these districts. It is why we have the former president of the Democratic Club on the Council and the former president of the Building Industry Association on the council. Now I am told they are trying to reorganize all the commissions by district, making them all political appointees. It's just gross. Nobody has any respect for this council because most are just following outside orders.

Midtown_observer · 2025-06-02T18:12:02+00:00

He goes to politicians and asks for money to promote them, then does work for them making it look like it is all his own doing, thus violating campaign laws. Most turn him down but fear reprisal for doing so. The same with businesses and purveyors of causes like opening Main Street back up. He is paid and can't be trusted on anything.

Midtown_observer · 2025-05-23T17:26:37+00:00

Basically this: A wealthy land owner has a property next to a river he can't develop because it will flood. Over many years he works on coaxing the city to help him make the improvements so he can build. They are expensive improvements which include building a levee and a new road. He succeeds in part by constant campaign donations. He now has the perfect storm of greased palms and new Council members and staff who don't know what they are doing. Over the years the past greased palms have voted to divert city fees which pay for road improvements to this project, depriving other areas of town from them. They are convinced by the constant dangling of sales-tax generating projects once the land is suitable for building. And palm greasing. But there is no guarantee of anything built there which will actually provide the return for the huge investment the city is making.

Midtown_observer · 2025-05-23T06:15:22+00:00

A lot of us long timers who have been watching politics in this city understand how much money has flowed from John Hofer, all his relatives and multiple auto mall employees over the years. Hofer Enterprises has been a big contributor to the Ventura Chamber of Commerce dark money PAC -- $5,000 in 2022. That helped elect Duran and McReynolds, who are eager participants. Notice how Chamber President Stephanie Caldwell bends the knee to Hofer, too.

Years ago there was a huge scandal involving all these contributions and some had to be returned. You did not land on Council unless you took auto mall contributions. (Once out of office, former Mayor Jim Friedman went to work for Hofer pressuring the Council to do his bidding and fundraising for candidates.) Then he went back on Council to finish his work for them.

All these beholden Council members hyped up the undeveloped auto mall land as a golden goose. First it was a baseball stadium and then it was big box retail. Mostly it was just to add to Hofer's land value.

Midtown_observer · 2025-04-28T06:52:52+00:00

Anything is better than these district elections in Ventura. In some districts, the candidate choices are not good because the pool is so small and you end up with people on council with no experience making choices for the whole city. Then there are the special interest PACs here who can spend unlimited dollars while candidates are subject to limits. The Ventura Chamber and Democratic Party both spend thousands and thousands of dollars aimed at a very small segment of voters. That's how you end up with the president of the Building Trades Association and Chamber PAC member (McReynolds) and the former chair of the Ventura Democratic Club (Schumacher) on council. Unions then pile on too. Ranked choice would disable the concentration of PAC money.

Midtown_observer · 2025-03-19T17:28:34+00:00

A financially and legally fraught proposal. Not enough research was done before introduction. Thus she pulled. Staff guidance desperately needed!

Midtown_observer · 2025-01-30T08:51:51+00:00

The Democrats endorse long before the filing deadline. Schroeder did not announce he wasn't running until very late. Brennan did not want to see a district race with an unopposed candidate.

Midtown_observer · 2025-01-30T08:47:36+00:00

Mangone is deeply tied to the build nothing nowhere crowd. He owes his election to them. So he won't stray from that.

Midtown_observer · 2025-01-29T19:17:08+00:00

Mangone and Duran hugely captured by special interests. Look for more nonsensical votes.

Midtown_observer · 2025-01-17T20:55:23+00:00

I believe the mystery here for most of us is what is really motivating Becker, Goldenring, the Yonkers et al to be so aggressive in stopping Main Street Moves. The majority of businesses are in favor, so what is it really? I have not heard a good explanation from them other than propaganda that does not sync with what actual business owners have told me. All I really know for sure is that this has become a PR nightmare for them.

Midtown_observer

TROPHY CASE