The City of Ventura is located on the Southern California coast within Ventura County just one hour north of Los Angeles. With Ventura River at its northern boundary and the Santa Clara River at its southern edge, Ventura is very oriented toward water. It has the feel of a classic California beach town with a temperate Mediterranean climate to match.

There are a myriad of recreational opportunities in Ventura, from miles of beaches, tennis courts, golf courses, and the Los Padres National Forest, to surfing, sailing, scuba diving, camping, and fishing. The Ventura Harbor has marinas, restaurants, shops, galleries and the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center. Its a great place to spend a relaxing afternoon. There is truly something in this area to please almost anyone.

History buffs will love Ventura as well. The city is home to the ninth California mission-Mission San Buenaventura, founded in 1782 by Father Junipero Serra and now beautifully restored. The Ventura County Museum of History's displays on the lives of the Chumash Indians, Spanish explorers and early Ventura settlers is also of interest.

Its warm climate and seaside location makes Ventura a popular tourist spot. The city welcomes well over a million visitors a year and tourism is its major industry. High tech firms are also moving into the area. Ventura manages its growth and so still has acres of orchards and fields, hillsides and clean, clear waves. There is, however, a very active downtown area and many choices of housing- from condominiums to large homes.

Once a multitude of Spanish and Mexican "Ranchos" the populated lands of Ventura County have been transformed into thriving communities. Ventura County has miles of gleaming beaches, thousands of acres of pristine forest, secluded lakes, rolling orchards and friendly towns offering everything from romantic bed-and-breakfasts to gourmet dining, sophisticated entertainment and funky antique stores. Just offshore lies the Channel Islands National Park, a string of stunningly beautiful islands so unspoiled that they host animals and plants found nowhere else in the world.

Nurtured by a warm and mild Mediterranean climate, Ventura County has an agricultural heritage visible today in the colorful arrays of fruits and vegetables available at roadside stands. Oil was discovered here in the 1800s, and many county companies still service the oil industry. The county has two major military bases, Point Mugu Naval Air Station and the Port Hueneme Naval Construction Battalion Center, which provide thousands of jobs. Other major employers include firms in tourism, retail trade, pharmaceuticals, software, multimedia and real estate.

Ventura County covers 1,843 square miles and has 43 miles of coastline. The Pacific Ocean forms its southwestern boundary, with Los Angeles County to the southeast, Kern County to the north and Santa Barbara County to the west. The Los Padres National Forest accounts for the northern half of the county, with residential, agricultural and business uses in the southern portion.

Agriculture remains a major business in Ventura County, which produces almost $1 billion worth of food crops annually. Farmers here grow 125 different crops and often harvest two to three crops from the same piece of land during the year. Lemons, strawberries and celery are the top crops.
About 826,550 (2007) people live in Ventura County, which has 10 incorporated cities: Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Simi Valley, Santa Paula, Thousand Oaks and Ventura, which is the county seat.

Somewhere, far, far way...in a parallel Earth there will be a huge celebration next month in a parallel Oxnard. This parallel (and more enlightened) Oxnard will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the grand opening of Fisherman's Wharf to the public back in May of 1978. There they cherished (or at least performed basic maintenance) on their Fisherman's Wharf and it is still a favorite hangout for locals and visitors alike. Sadly, in our universe, Fisherman's Wharf has not fared so well. More like a ghost town now, Fisherman's Wharf is a nearly abandoned place-deserted and rotting. A testament to the inept county officials entrusted with it's care and management.

Last week I stopped by the Fisherman's Wharf in the morning to take a walk around. I was amazed at how much worse the disrepair and damage was from the last time a visited. These four photos (above) are just a sampling of what I saw.

If I seem a little bitter, it's because Fisherman's Wharf has a special place in my heart. Even before I moved to Oxnard in 1986, I enjoyed Fisherman's Wharf. Always a nice place to take a stroll, enjoy the atmosphere and maybe snack on a little fresh seafood. I've taken many a buyer relocating to Oxnard there for lunch. Every time I bought a new camera (pretty often), I'd visit and and test out my new toy. I took the photo on the right Labor Day weekend in 2002. Restaurants and shops were open and colorful banners adorned the light posts. It was still a bright and cheerful place then, and folks were enjoying the last weekend of summer just as they have done for so many summers before. Little did they know that this was as good as it would ever look again nor did they realize that almost a year would pass before the faded remnants of the banners hanging from the light posts, tattered and shredded would be finally taken down.

It's clear that Fisherman's Wharf's days are numbered. A developer has acquired the lease from the county and has big plans for the site as I learned last week at presentation on the future of the site. (I will discuss that in an upcoming article.) It's obvious that there is so much damage to the buildings that restoring it would require rebuilding major portions of it and is not economically feasible even if there was the will to do so.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Fisherman's Wharf that will be celebrated nowhere except right here, (at least in this universe) please enjoy a few of my favorite photographs of a place that holds many fond memories for me and perhaps you too.

"TWO-EIGHTY-FIVE," screamed the auctioneer from his podium, pointing his gavel towards the man in the third row who had made the next-to-the-last bid. "TWO-EIGHTY-FIVE," he screamed five more times, never taking his eyes off his mark. He paused for a breath and repeated the onslaught three more times. Finally, sensing no further movement from the man, he turned, scanning the audience and his horde of assistants running through the aisles, while he shouted, "Going once. Going twice. Sold for two-eighty." This was a scene repeated over and over that night as around 50 bank-owned homes were auctioned off at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in front of a crowd of 500 or so people, many of them hoping to get a bank-owned / REO property at a bargain price.

I was at the auction, held by the Real Estate Disposition Corporation, because a client of mine was interested in four of the homes located in Thousand Oaks that were to be auctioned off that night. I'd previewed them for him two weeks beforehand, and while he'd decided against participating I went anyway to see what kinds of bargains were to be had. The auction started with a brief explanation of the rules.

• You must be registered and have a cashier's check for $5,000 made out to yourself.
• You must be able to write a check for 5% of your winning bid. (The difference between the $5,000 cashier's check and the 5% deposit.)
• There is a 5% buyer's premium added to all winning bids. (If your winning bid is $300,000, then add $15,000 for a total purchase price of $315,000.)
• The successful bidder will be ushered to a bullpen to be qualified and have his bid confirmed. Once that's done a screen listing that home's auction number turns green. Otherwise, it goes back for a second time (or a third, as happened twice that night.)

So were there any good deals to be had that night? Absolutely. Some homes sold for maybe 15-20% off current market value once the 5% "Buyer's Premium" was added to the price. Most of the homes sold for less than a 10% discount. A few homes sold for market price. I was fascinated to note how many bidders didn't have their bid confirmed and the homes were auctioned off a second or third time. In many cases, the original bidders who came for just that home had already gone home causing the final price to drop $5,000-$20,000 from the first.

This type of auction is not for everyone. There is no safety net. No inspection period. No disclosures of condition. You have to do all of your homework in advance and there is no cooling off period. Is it worth the risk for a 15-20% discount? That depends on your tolerance for the risk you're taking on in exchange for the discount. If you decide to bid at one of these auctions, make a friend of a contractor so you can have him visit the homes you're interested in with you beforehand. Do research on what similar homes are selling for in the neighborhood. Use your favorite Realtor to help since many auctions will pay a Realtor's commission at no cost to you. Most importantly, decide on what your maximum bid will be before you get in the car to go to the auction. The auctioneer is counting on the fact that you will lose your good judgement in the heat of the moment. Remember, there is always another house!

I hate traffic! Actually, everyone does. That's what is so appealing about the title of a new initiative circulating in Oxnard named "The Oxnard Traffic Initiative." Unfortunately, this initiative is really a no growth measure and offers nothing to improve traffic. Last Thursday, Penny Boehm and Nancy Lindholm, both representing "Citizens for a Safe and Prosperous Oxnard", shared with the Local Government Relations Committee of the Ventura County Coastal Association of REALTORS (VCCAR) why they oppose this measure and feel it would create more harm than good.

Before, I go on, let me disclose that this article is not intended to be an impartial analysis. I'm biased and no admirer of Tim Flynn, the Oxnard City Councilman who is a major proponent of this measure. In my opinion, though well-intentioned, Tim's combative style of leadership is divisive and he is quick to resort to bullying and displays of temper to get his way. I have seen him in action more than once. Of course, none of that has any bearing on whether this initiative is good thing for the City of Oxnard. (It's not.)

Here's a video of Tim Flynn talking about the Oxnard Traffic Initiative.

Penny shared with us that the current initiative is the second attempt to get this measure on the ballot. The first time backers were unable to get enough signatures to qualify. The new petition circulating is nearly the same but has some minor changes.

The object of this initiative is to require that no residential project of 5 (or more) homes, or a commercial project of 10,000 feet (or more) could be built if any intersection within 5 miles of the project was or would drop below the letter grade C* even if for only one hour during peak traffic in the preceding year. According to the out-of-date traffic study the supporters are using, nearly the entire city is subject to these restrictions. Any project over these limits would have to be approved by the voters of the city. It would require developers to upgrade those intersections to build even a modest project. The Catch-22 is that if any of the intersections involved a State Highway such as Oxnard Boulevard (State Route 1), Vineyard Avenue (State Route 232), Fifth Street (State Route 34), only the state can upgrade it.

Here are some of the key points "Citizens for a Safe and Prosperous Oxnard" would like us to consider.

The new Oxnard Traffic Initiative is flawed and misleading. It's not the solution to the issues facing Oxnard. Residents put concerns about public safety, access to health-care, educating our youth, open space, quality housing and jobs before traffic. When you consider traffic issue, they are not limited to just intersections. They include competing priorities like quality roadways and they include regional issues such as freeway delays; areas over which the City of Oxnard has limited control.

This initiative does not provide one cent towards making traffic improvements. It is full of double talk designed to hide it real purpose. (No growth.)

The flaws and negative side-effects and the flaws of the proposed initiative are many.

• By requiring a citywide vote on almost every private project over five units or 10,000 square feet it will make it unfeasible for small contractors to build in our city and that will hurt our economy and cost jobs.
• It will make it more difficult to address blighted areas and the need for affordable housing in our community.
• It will be more difficult to fund important services in our community or even have the resources to address traffic needs due to a potential loss of City revenue of over $129 million in one time traffic improvement funds and over $11 million per year in on-going funds.

There is more information at their website: http://www.stoptheoti.com/.

To hear what the supporters have to say, visit: www.oxnardtrafficinitiative.org/. Just don't read the copy of the initiative they have posted on their website. It varies in some significant ways from the actual text submitted to the Oxnard City Clerk. You can see the correct document here.

*Level C is defined in initiative as "Stable and acceptable flow but speed and maneuverability somewhat restricted due to higher volumes. Motorists intermittently wait through more than one signal. Occasional backups behind left turning vehicles.