Opinion

News and views
of the 805 Region

Amigos805.com celebrates first anniversary

Here is a big shout out to Marie Gregorio-Oviedo for that wonderful anniversary photo of the Tres Amigos. We weren't sure what to expect when Marie called us together for the photo shoot in front of the Ventura City Hall. But of course, the results were fantastic. Thank you Marie from your friends at Amigos805.

We also want to thank all our friends and fans for their support during the past year after launched this new kind of multimedia micro journalism project in the 805 region. The response from community nonprofit organizations, community leaders and you, dear reader, has been overwhelming since we started out as a web-only project on May 1, 2009.

We have since expanded to a weekly four-page newsletter, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube project. A young journalists training program and communications
scholarships are some of the ideas we are planning for the future.

And now, with the help of advertising representative Darlene Miller, we have launched our advertising sales effort in May so we can bring you a weekly print newsmagazine covering the vibrant Latino community in the 805 region, and helping to bring cultures together by sharing information.

Please tell your friends about us and encourage the local businesses you patronize to advertise in our publication so we can continue to be a vital source of information in the years ahead. Thank you again for supporting Amigos805.

Your friends

— Frank X. Moraga, Mariana Llamas-Cendon, Carlos J. Licea

Community Voices

Carmen Ramirez: Stop Oxnard's 2030 Plan and send it back for very important upgrade

Now is a once in a lifetime chance to save and fully restore, clean and protect the Ormond Beach Wetlands in Oxnard.
We Need Your Help to Rewrite the Map! Let the Oxnard City Council know that you want Ormond Beach protected!

Oxnard City Council Chambers
305 W. Third Street, Oxnard
Tuesday evening, February 9, 2010
7:00 PM Tuesday evening

For too long, the Oxnard Coast has been allowed to be abused and neglected. Especially, the Ormond Beach wetland area, like many coastal wetlands, has been degraded and diminished by urban and industrial development - including the Halaco facility, which is now a Superfund site. Despite these impacts, the area is still considered a treasure by scientists and nature lovers. The California State Coastal Conservancy is also leading efforts to permanently protect and restore the wetlands. If successful, this could be one of the largest coastal wetland areas in Southern California. The Conservancy's plan also envisions interpretive facilities, a trail network, boardwalks and wildlife overlooks, which would make Ormond Beach a amazing destination for residents and out of town visitors - a benefit to our entire community and our local economy.

However, a decision will be made on February 9 by the City of Oxnard about the Oxnard 2030 General Plan, and it could directly impact whether this restoration plan will be achieved. The 2030 General Plan describes Oxnard's vision of what the City will look like through the year 2030. Unfortunately, Oxnard's vision for Ormond Beach still includes significant industrial land use, including authorizing new industrial development on land still free from urban development. Industrial land use is incompatible with wetland protection, and the General Plan places it directly in the Conservancy's wetland restoration planning area.

Your participation at this hearing is critical. If you can join us, please attend and let the City Council know the 2030 General Plan should not be adopted because:

· You support the State Coastal Conservancy's efforts to acquire, permanently protect and restore Ormond Beach. The City should promote the Conservancy's efforts at Ormond Beach and make any changes to the 2030 General Plan that conflict with the Conservancy's preferred restoration plan (most recently identified as Alternative 2U in the Ormond Beach Wetland Restoration Feasibility Study), including changing to "resource protection" the Gateway Park area, the Halaco foundry site, the Reliant power plant, the Agromin site, and the area south of Hueneme Road between Edison and Arnold Roads.

· You support the current designation of the Halaco slag heap property as "resource protection." The Halaco foundry site, which is still designated "industrial," should also be designated "resource protection." U.S. EPA will consider the 2030 General Plan when it makes its cleanup decisions for the Halaco site, and the City should send an clear message to EPA that it intends Ormond Beach to be free of polluting facilities that threaten human health and the environment.

· You support eliminating the residential development land use designations north of Hueneme Road. Residential development presents significant threats to wetland species. The land should remain designated "open space" to continue to buffer the Ormond Beach wetland area from urban impacts.

Bring every one you can.

If you cannot attend the hearing, please email the City Council members:

Mayor Tom Holden: drtomholden@aol.com

Mayor Pro Tem Andres Herrera: andres.herrera@ci.oxnard.ca.us

Council Member Dean Maulhardt: deancity@yahoo.com

Council Member Dr. Irene Pinkard: irene.pinkard@ci.oxnard.ca.us

Council Member Bryan MacDonald: bryan.macdonald@ci.oxnard.ca.us

Let them know that you care about the future of our city!

For more information contact:

Jim Hensley LULAC Deputy District Director: hensleyjim@roadrunner.com or 805.382.7659

Spanish Language contact Jorge Nopoles: Jnapoles@clunet.edu or 805.754.5968

Guest column: The future of California redistricting is now

California voters passed Proposition 11, the California Voters First Act, in 2008, to establish a redistricting process that is not led by politicians or consultants. Proposition 11 gives community members a major role in the California redistricting process by transferring authority for establishing Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization district boundaries to an independent 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission. The first task of the commission will be to adjust district lines following the 2010 census.

Through work on a grant from the James Irvine Foundation, the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), along with the Center for Equality and Justice (CEJ), is involved in ensuring that the Citizens Redistricting Commission reflects the diversity found throughout the Central Coast region. Forty-seven percent of the residents of Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, Monterey, and Santa Cruz counties are people of color. CAUSE was the impetus and major player in creating the Ventura County Redistricting Task Force, a diverse group of community members that drew the county Board of Supervisor districts following the 2000 census, and CEJ is completing a project that examines the task force’s efforts and results.

The Citizens Redistricting Commission is an opportunity for Central Coast community members to become engaged in redistricting in an effort to make districts more like communities of interest than political party safety valves that are not reflective of and responsible to their community.

The commission will be comprised of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four members who belong to other parties or are Independents, that is, registered as “decline to state.” Commissioners must be qualified citizens who have not changed political party affiliation for a minimum of five years and have voted in at least two of the last three statewide general elections. In addition, there are a number of eligibility limitations in order to prevent conflicts of interest, such as not having served as an elected or appointed member of a political party central committee, nor been appointed or elected to federal or state office. Commissioners are appointed for a term of 10 years; nevertheless, the vast majority of their work will be from January to September 2011. Key qualifications that commission applicants will be judged on include the ability to be impartial, relevant analytical skills, and an appreciation for the state’s diverse demographics and geography.

Now is the time for Central Coast community members to consider applying for the commission and/or identify someone who will. Get involved in one of the most important processes in a democratic political system! This is a particularly opportune time for people of color and working class community members to become involved in the redistricting process, both during the application period and afterwards.

How do you get involved or encourage others to? Applications will be accepted between December 15, 2009 and February 12, 2010. It’s easy to apply. Go to www.WeDrawTheLines.ca.gov for details. Applications will be accepted online. You will also find much more information at www.commoncause.org/redistrictingCA. For assistance, please contact regional outreach partners Maricela Morales, Associate Executive Director, CAUSE at Maricela@coastalalliance.com, 805-658-0810 and Gregory Freeland, Director, CEJ at gkfreeland@yahoo.com, 805-493-3477.

Our Voice

Amigos805 halfway through our first season

Updated web site, more video and interactive links coming up

Launched on May 1, the traditional day in America to honor workers, Amigos805 has now reached another important date — its six-month anniversary on Nov. 1, which also happens to be El Día de los Muertos.

Aligning our anniversary dates with holidays wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but we will take it as Amigos805 prepares for its second-half season.

We want to thank the community for being so supportive of our efforts to be a local information source that also bridges cultures in the 805 region.

As former newspaper journalists, getting into this new media business has been both a challenge and a reward. Creating and refining a web site, shooting videos and coordinating a virtual online office are skills that are being mastered by other former journalists nationwide who are stepping away from traditional print media to launch new community information ventures.

With Amigos partners spread throughout the Western Hemisphere — Mariana Llamas-Cendon in Cuernavaca, Frank Moraga traveling between Arizona and California and Carlos J. Licea holding down the fort in the 805 region — covering the Latino community in the 805 region has provided its share of challenges.

But it has also provided numerous rewards as an increasing number of community organizations, businesses and individuals turn to our web site as a key source of information on events and issues impacting the local Latino community.

If you have been to any recent cultural events in the 805 region, chances are you have seen Carlos capturing images as diverse as the Salsa Festival, the Heritage Square Summer Concert Series, the Olivas Adobe “Under the Stars” concert series, exhibitions at the Museum of Ventura County in Ventura and of course this weekend, Dia de los Muertos events in Camarillo and Ventura.

Mariana has interviewed artists (Veronica Valadez, Xavier Montes), community leaders (members of Las Contemporáneas, Anna Bermúdez and Tim Schiffer, all from the Museum of Ventura County) and others who are working hard to promote cultural activities to the 805 region.

Frank has provided stories ranging from interviews with college administrators (Jaime Casillas at the Ventura County Community College District) to business leaders (Ashley Bautista at the Hispanic Business Council), musicians (classical guitarist Carlos Gonzales) and economic revitalization leaders (Abel Magaña at the Oxnard Downtown Management District).

Community members have also been sending us a growing number of photos and media releases on upcoming events and issues. We look forward to expanding our video links to promote the creative visual side of residents of the 805 region, along with refining our efforts to provide a more interactive web site to complement our current use of Twitter, Facebook and our YouTube video reports.

We are grateful to those businesses that have agreed to advertise on Amigos805, providing us with the opportunity to create a sustained media outlet to serve the community in the region. We look forward to offering potential advertisers a variety of media platforms to reach their target audience.

Finally, we are most honored to be named sponsors of events presented by such organizations as Teatro de las Américas, the United Way of Ventura County’s Latino Action Team and El Concilio del Condado de Ventura.

Thank you very much for supporting Amigos805 and we look forward to the second half of this initial season.

Your friends

Frank… Mariana... Carlos…

Updating our look & links

Change is good ...Even for the Web designer.

Amigos805.com continues to evolve. In just a few short months, we have grown from zero hits to a projected 140,000 hits in November.

Amigos805.com partner Carlos J. Licea has covered a multitude of events in the region, initially with just his digital camera, but now with a video camera as well. Amigos805.com partners Mariana Llamas-Cendon and Frank X. Moraga have also been busy previewing a variety of community entertainment and cultural events in the region.

Since we launched on May 1, 2009, we've added Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and now Flickr to our content platform.

The community has responded with more photos, media releases, event flyers and other information.

As a result, we quietly launched a redesign of the Web site this past weekend. We have been testing some ideas out, adding more photos and links to sections you care about — News, Business, Arts & Culture, Education & Health, Community News/Events and Opinion.

We hope this updated design will help speed you on your way to getting the kind of content you want, quickly and easily.

Please tell us what you think — mail@amigos805.com — and what else we can do to make Amigos805.com your source of information on the vibrant Latino community in the 805 region.

Thank you all very much for your support.

Frank X. Moraga:

Carlos J. Licea:

Carlos opines about that curious
world called politics and the latest issues coming out of Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

Mariana Llamas-Cendon:

Providing individual counseling, group workshops, media distribution and other communications training services.
Amigos805.com © 2009, is presented by Tres Amigos Communications & Marketing © 2009,
a division of Shooting Star Communications. All Rights Reserved.
Contact Tres Amigos: (English) @ 805.218.1824, (español) @ 818.434.8355/805.827.4583

Contact Us: mail@amigos805.com