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This Is Why The Decade Of The 2010s Is Important
"Do not suffer your good nature…to say yes when you ought to say no."
As the 21st century teeters between the 2010s and the 2020s, it's a perfect time to take stock of an eventful decade. Over the last ten years, several key events changed Ventura forever. Let's look at what happened and the effect these incidents had.
How We'll Remember The 2010s
We'll remember the 2010s as a decade that began with the city struggling to get out of a recession, followed by ten years of decisions made with good intentions gone wrong. Bureaucrats and politicians pushed their agendas on the city. And like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill, we kept falling backward.
It's remarkable that the city accomplished anything in the 2010s. We had three City Managers and three Interim City Managers. No one person was in the role for more than three years. Turnover created a leadership vacuum that minimized any chance for meaningful change.
Key Events In The Decade Of The 2010s
The 2010s started as "business as usual." Then the Thomas Fire happened. Citizens quickly became interested in how the Ventura would handle two issues: public safety during and after the fire, and rebuilding. After twelve months of intense interest, citizens have returned to "business as usual."
Here are the key events of the decade: the Thomas Fire, December 2017; the Wishtoyo Consent Decree, 2012; Pension Inflation, 2010-2019; Homelessness, 2010-2019; the Anthony Mele, Jr. murder, April 2018; Brooks Institute's failure, 2016; the WAV Building, 2012; Ventura's Grand Jury Finding against Ventura's building & safety inspectors, 2013; and district elections. Let's look at what happened in each case and how it affects you.
The Thomas Fire
The biggest misfortune in Ventura's history was the Thomas Fire, which began on December 4, 2017. The fire destroyed 535 structures in the city, displacing hundreds of residents and impacting everyone's lives.
During the fire, Ventura's public safety performed admirably. Despite the widespread devastation, police and fire protected the lives of everyone living in the city. Evacuations were orderly, albeit slow. There were many stories of heroic efforts by police and fire going beyond the call of duty.
Other aspects of the city's performance didn't go so well. Several groups pilloried Ventura Water for inadequate water supply to fire hydrants in the affected areas. An investigation is on-going. So are lawsuits.
The City Council added to the misery of the victims in an example of good intentions gone bad. The Council waffled on second-story height restrictions for rebuilding victims' homes. Indecisiveness delayed the rebuilding process for many. They attempted to please fire victims wanting to improve their homes and doing so delayed rebuilding for everyone.
After two years, only 80 families have returned to their rebuilt homes.
The Wishtoyo Consent Decree
The Consent Decree stems from a federal complaint filed by Whistoya Foundation [WISHTOYA VS. CITY OF SAN BUENAVENTURA, CASE NO. CV 10-02072]. The Consent Decree requires Ventura to stop putting 100% of its treated wastewater into the Santa Clara River estuary. The city must divert a percentage of the 7.5 million gallons-per-day starting in 2025. The balance must be redirected by 2030. That decree is silent on how and where Ventura diverts the wastewater.
Ventura Water seized the opportunity to make the city the first to use recycled wastewater for drinking. Ventura Water calls the project VenturaWaterPure. No cities in the world have used recycled water except Windhoek, Namibia and a small town in Texas. Neither place had other water options.
Ventura Water has confused the City Council by combining two different ideas to falsely heighten the urgency to drink wastewater.
VenturaWaterPure will cost $1 billion over 30 years. That's a considerable sum of money for the community to absorb. Expect your water bill to double to pay for VenturaWaterPure's infrastructure alone. Remember, water costs already went up by $220 million with water and wastewater increases in 2012-13.
The Wishtoyo Consent Decree is a fiscal calamity for the city. More cost-effective options exist, but the City Council and Ventura Water fail to consider them. Times change. Circumstances change. Now is the time to reconsider options to be sure we're making the best choice available.
Pension Inflation Throughout The 2010s
Retirement pensions are the city's number one problem. Ventura currently has a $215.1 million unfunded pension liability, and that number continues to grow. CalPERS (the California Public Employees retirement fund) demands rapidly increasing contributions from Ventura. We will have permanent increases of at least $2 million per year for five to six consecutive years.
We respect the work city employees do. There is no denying that fire and police preform a vital job that is both dangerous and requires a high level of training and responsibility. Our concern is not about their work. It's about the structure by which their retirement is accumulated and paid after retirement.
It is undeniable that city employees' retirement pensions are crowding out the city's ability to provide the service itself. Moreover, chronic underfunding of pensions will eventually hit a breaking point jeopardizing the employees' benefits too. Expect your taxes to increase (á la Measure O) and the services the city provides to decrease.
Homelessness In Ventura In The 2010s
You may remember Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Speech when he described the Military-Industrial Complex. Now, we have something new, the Homelessness-Industrial Complex. Today's Homelessness-Industrial Complex shares some of the same characteristics as the Military-Industrial Complex. There is an alliance of special interests. It includes government bureaucracies, homeless advocacy groups operating through nonprofit entities, and large government contractors, especially construction companies and land development firms.
Here's how the process works: Developers accept public money to build projects to house the homeless – either "bridge housing," or "permanent supportive housing." Cities and counties collect building fees and hire bureaucrats for oversight. The projects are then handed off to nonprofits with long term contracts to run them.
Sounds good, right? That is until you see the price tag. Developers don't just build housing projects; they construct ridiculously overpriced, overbuilt housing projects. (Keep in mind Ventura's permitting fees and stringent building codes). Cities and counties create massive bureaucracies. The nonprofits don't just run these projects; they operate vast bureaucratic empires. These fiefdoms have overhead, marketing budgets, and executive salaries that do nothing for the homeless. They do not overpay the workers in the shelter.
Set Up For Failure
Ventura selected Mercy House from Orange County to run its homeless shelter. Larry Haynes, Marcy House's president, said in a speech in Ventura, "Housing is, 'An inalienable right.'"
Mr. Haynes believes a cornerstone to Mercy House's success in Ventura depends on developing affordable housing. Herein lies the rub. If Ventura doesn't build affordable housing, how does that impact Mercy House's performance? Affordable housing isn't something Ventura has been able to do historically. "It makes it harder," he said.
The City of Ventura has 555 homeless people. Of those, 387 are unsheltered. The Homeless Shelter will house 55 people from Ventura, leaving 332 people vulnerable.
Ventura will spend $712,000 each year for its 55 beds in the new homeless shelter. That equates to $12,945 per bed per year. And if what Mr. Haynes says is true, expect the city to pay more and more on homelessness and less on other services.
Anthony Mele, Jr. Murder
Jamal Jackson stabbed Anthony Mele, Jr. to death on Ventura's Promenade in April 2018, thrusting the city into the national news.
Jackson was a repeat offender and was homeless. Many citizens jumbled his criminal act and his impoverished state. Of Ventura's 555 homeless, 85 (32.7%) have mental health problems, and 93 (35.8%) have substance abuse problems.
The crime prompted an immediate reaction by Ventura Police. First, patrols along the promenade increased. At first, two officers patrolled the boardwalk 20 hours per day. Shortly after that, police expanded the patrol radius to include downtown. In July 2018, the City Council approved funds to continue the patrols. Now two officers patrol 12 hours per day. Arrest data increased since the incident. Ventura Police still deal with a significant number of recidivist criminal homeless.
Following the incident, the Police department reviewed its procedures. Chief Ken Corney admitted poor judgment. Substituting video monitoring for an officer responding was not the right choice.
Since then, there have been changes to the security camera monitoring. The changes include:
Extra cameras, active surveillance, more training, changes in monitoring policy, and re-prioritization of Calls for Service response. The review also concluded that the police adequately prioritized the call when it came in.
Public outcry diminished, but the problem of criminal vagrancy continues beyond the 2010s.
Real Estate Blunders Throughout The 2010s
The city mismanages taxpayer money on real estate deal routinely. In the past decade, there have been several notable instances: Brooks Institute, the WAV Building, the Harbor Church and the city parking garage. In each case, the mistakes have cost taxpayers' money.
Brooks Institute
With Brooks Institute, the City Council believed relocating the school downtown would benefit the city. The City Council's good intention went wrong. Brooks Institute was financially insolvent. It pulled out of town contractors and the city money.
The folks at City Hall tried hard to put on a brave and jubilant face in trying to explain why their decision to accept $71,000 to settle a lawsuit against Brooks Institute is a victory. Readers of this letter know better. The settlement does not even cover the rents and security deposit that Brooks was to have paid in the first six months of their lease. Nor does it account for the future lost rents and property damages. By our best estimate, the city lost well over $261,000 in this settlement.
The WAV Building
Ventura completed construction on the WAV (Working Artists of Ventura) Building at the beginning of the decade. The building included 82 low income and subsidized housing units, commercial spaces and 13 condos for sale at market rate.
What did the WAV Building cost? $55 million according to the city. That figure is too low, however. It doesn't consider the cost of the 1.7 acres of city-owned property Ventura sold to the developer for $1. It also doesn't include the $1.5 million in deferred permit fees. A reasonable estimate put this at $65 million.
The city acquired tax money from many sources to pay for construction, but it was not enough. Then city officials did something devious to finance completing construction. They took $1 million from the Ventura Water funds, transferred it to the Public Art Fund, then loaned the money to the project. Even worse, the city subordinated the loan to a $4.5 million mortgage from Chase. Selling the 13 condos for between $725,000 to $850,000 each would repay the city's inter-department loan.
The concept flopped. The condos finally sold in 2018 for a fraction of what the city hoped to get. Buyers paid $413,000-$470,000 for the units. Once the sale completed, the mortgage holder, Chase, was repaid both principal and interest. Ventura Water was left holding the bag, however, for the $1 million "loaned" to the city. The city received only $105,893 from the sale of the condos after paying the Construction Loan, sales commissions, sales expenses, the City Deferred Impact Fee Loan and the developer.
What's more, the city loaned $2 million to the Regional Development Agency (RDA) to build the WAV project. The city expected to be repaid $1 million before the California Assembly eliminated RDAs statewide. Ventura wrote off $1 million when the RDA disappeared. Ventura is pursuing the outstanding principal and interest through the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (ROPS), but has received nothing so far.
All totaled, Ventura lost $1,894,107 on the sale of the condos.
Former Mayor Bill Fulton projected the project would "produce 25,000 visitors a year and would stimulate the local economy, resulting in $75,000,000 in new investments." He also said the city used no local tax dollars to build the WAV Building.
The reality is that most of the money came from Federal and State taxes. But the funds noted above came from the city, plus another $334,176 to offset various construction fees.
As for the $75 million in new investment, we will never know because the estimator, Bill Fulton, left town.
At the time, we noted our elected representatives lack the understanding, the capacity to ask the more profound questions or political will to stop these types of actions.
Harbor Church
The city paid church officials $2.3 million to buy the Harbor Church property in 2016. City Hall and Harbor Church agreed the value of both the land and the church building was $1.6 million. The actual sales price included an extra $700,000 to pay the Church to move. By any measure, Ventura overpaid for the property.
Downtown Parking Garage
And there was a mistake with the city parking garage—the city grants private, reserved parking spaces to select businesses downtown as an incentive to operate. The city approved ten parking spaces to entice Cinemark Theaters to remain downtown. The trouble was when Lure Restaurant opened at 66 California, and the city staff provided them the same ten spots. This may not seem like a big blunder, but it shows that the city is inept at managing real estate, or the staff lacks good leadership to make sure mistakes don't occur.
We've believed the city should get out of the real estate business throughout the 2010s. The litany of poor decisions grows. Ventura owns commercial real estate throughout the city. As these examples demonstrate, the city has not made responsible decisions regarding these properties. At the very least, the city should seek advice from licensed realtors and experts whenever making a real estate decision.
Grand Jury Finding
The 2011-2012 Ventura County Grand Jury opened an inquiry and issued a report condemning the City of Ventura's Code Enforcement practices. The report addresses the aggressive collection of fees by Code Enforcement, motivated by the need to raise more revenue.
City government and Code Enforcement officers serve a valuable and essential service to our community until they start acting like bullies with their use of force, intimidation, abuse of power and excessive punishment of the citizenry.
At the time, the city's response to this report demonstrated their lack of understanding or constituted a brazen and irresponsible attempt to obfuscate the truth when they dismissed the report as vague. It was not.
For much of the 2010s, citizens overlooked or forgot the Grand Jury's report until we had the Thomas Fire. Suddenly, city permitting and inspection of new buildings was of paramount importance. Sadly, stories from the fire's victims indicate nothing has changed at City Hall.
For the first time in Ventura's history, voting districts divide the city. The districting forced Mayor Neal Andrews and Councilmember Mike Tracy to retire. Councilmember Jim Monahan decided to retire after forty years of service. New Councilmembers are bringing fresh perspective and energy to the Council. They also are facing a steep learning curve to be effective.
Governing by districts means inexperienced new Councilmembers will lead the city. Inexperience leads to two possible outcomes. First, existing Councilmembers and city staff may marginalize them until they gain experience and knowledge. Second, the new City Manager and the city staff may take more control without voter accountability. Neither of these is good.
Citizens will now expect their elected officials to represent their district's interests. As a result, concern for the city as a whole may take a backseat to districtwide issues. The loss of a citywide perspective on the Council is distressing.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the first forum for District 1 candidates. Citizens expressed concern for a Westside pool, learning how governing by districts will work, affordable housing and labor force opportunities. Very few of these issues aligned with what the outgoing City Councilmembers thought was most important: 1) growth 2) water 3) homelessness and 4) staff accountability.
We will remember the 2010s as one of the most significant decades in Ventura's history. It was a decade that saw our city leaders allow uninformed good intentions to overrule good governing. As a result, the city finds itself with budget deficits for the next five years. This is due, in part, to a growing pension debt obligation. The city is poised to pass along the most substantial rate increase for water in its history. The money the city spends on homelessness will grow. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the city will have to raise taxes, cut services or a combination of the two.
The groundwork laid by city leaders in the 2010s provides a shaky foundation for the 2020s. The specter of higher taxes and reduced city services looms. Several things must happen to overcome the city's current situation.
First, The City Council must have a cohesive, long-term vision. That vision must focus on the fundamentals of governing: public safety, maintained streets, safe neighborhoods, clean, affordable water, and business growth. In the early 2010s, the Council had a vision, but it didn't concentrate on the fundamentals. As a result, the Council left the city with the Wishtoyo Consent Decree and the WAV Building. From 2013 on, the Council was divided and lacked any vision. The landmark accomplishment of those Councils was to push the Measure O sales tax increase. Yet, if you ask ordinary citizens how the extra money helps them, they'd be hard-pressed to answer.
Second, Ventura must retain a City Manager for more than three years. The City Manager leads the city staff to fulfill the City Council's vision. Constant turnover disrupts that vision. A City Manager needs time to build a team and get them performing at a high level. We hope our current City Manager, Alex McIntyre, will have the opportunity to show the city what he's capable of doing.
Third, voters must get involved. District voting means every vote is more important than it's ever been. Your vote is one in 15,000 potential voters in your district. Your ballot carries more value than it did when we had citywide elections and your vote was one of 64,976. If the city is to overcome the current obstacles, we can't have districts in which only 3,781 voters cast ballots.
Tell City Council, "Don't Repeat The Mistakes Of The 2010s."
http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/Decade-In-Review—WP.jpg 666 1000 VREG Editors http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/vreg-logo-1.jpg VREG Editors2019-12-24 04:01:342020-01-16 14:51:19This Is Why The Decade Of The 2010s Is Important
Why You Should Worry About VenturaWaterPure
"And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way."
—John Steinbeck, East of Eden
For the second time in four years, Ventura Water failed to present scientific findings that challenged its decision on VenturaWaterPure. Either Ventura Water withheld this pertinent information from the Ventura Council, or it is unaware of the reality that Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR) is unhealthy.
IPR presents a danger to humans. The September 2019 study from the University of Southern California (USC) concludes that IPR contaminates water with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Once infected with the bacteria, medical science cannot combat these antibiotic-resistant strains.
Reasons VenturaWaterPure Is Not Ideal
There are several reasons VentuaWaterPure is not an ideal solution. For whatever reason, Gina Dorrington, Ventura Water's Assistant General Manager, neglected to tell the Council about these findings at the October 14th meeting.
It appears that the health of Ventura's citizens is not a priority in these decisions. Furthermore, it begs the question, "What is the motivation for a misguided recommendation?"
VenturaWaterPure project will need an extra 20-27 employees, according to Susan Rungren, Ventura Water's General Manager. Each employee will earn a pension. At a time when rising unfunded pension liabilities threaten the city's finances, the prudence of adding 20%-27% more employees to Ventura Water is questionable.
VenturaWaterPure will cost $1 billion over 30 years. That's a considerable sum of money for the community to absorb. Water bills will double to pay for VenturaWaterPure's infrastructure alone. Operations and maintenance costs will add even more. Remember, water costs already went up by $220 million with water and wastewater increases in 2012-13.
To recommend anything contrary to moving forward on this project would not only jeopardize many jobs, but it would also imply that past City Councils and City Managers were wrong with previous decisions, and we have wasted millions of dollars in the process.
City Council Has Its Motivation To Approve Plan To Spend $1 Billion To Drink Wastewater
The City Council has been rushed by Ventura Water to comply with a Consent Decree Ventura agreed to in 2012. The 2012 Consent Decree with Wishtoyo Foundation contended that Ventura Water was dumping its waste into the Santa Clara River Estuary and harming the Santa Clara estuary. The decree requires Ventura to divert seven million gallons a day beginning in 2025 and concluding no later than 2030. What better way to justify a horrible decision than to convince people that it was for their good? They pointed to drought conditions and offered VenturaWaterPure as the solution.
When anyone is looking to justify a bad or ill-conceived idea, they look for another similar decision to defend their own. A case in point is finding other locations in California that have made bad decisions. Misery (bad choices) enjoys company. Two locations in California, Orange County and Monterrey, use Indirect Portable Reuse (IPR). The real question should be 'Why only two?' It took Monterrey 10 years to get a permit and build it. That alone is not a sound reason to pursue this premature direction to recycle wastewater in drinking water.
By misdirecting attention to drinking water—fundamental to life—it created the misperceived need for VenturaWaterPure. Complying with the Consent Decree is not the same as providing drinking water. Yet Ventura Water has been mingling the two needs since 2011. Separating the two issues helps make decisions more transparent.
Conflating Two Issues To Achieve The Desired Result
Ventura Water has confused the City Council by combining two different ideas to falsely heighten the urgency to drink wastewater. Since 2011, the campaign has been "We are short of water," they say, "and the best way to meet that shortage is to drink wastewater."
Ventura Water was quick to adopt DPR as the solution for an alternative water source. Then-Ventura Water General Manager Shana Epstein had no data to support that assertion, except for the representations of the sales company designing the hardware for VenturaWaterPure. Ms. Epstein repeatedly announced it was good water to drink. She and the other supporting that view were dead wrong.
Dispelling the Myth about Drinking Water
Ventura has enough drinking water for the next 15 years at current consumption rates, according to the 2019 Ventura Water Report (Table 4-3, p. 65). Unlike most cities in California, we are fortunate to be bounded by Ventura and Santa Clara rivers, Lake Casitas, plus groundwater basins.
To add more reserves, in 2018, the City Council approved a project to construct a pipeline to access a new water source—State Water. Besides providing more water to the city, we can mix State Water with our existing water to improve the taste of Eastside water. Ventura has had this option for the last 47 years.
Ventura Water's public objection to State Water as a primary source has been that it is not available in dry years. They contend that State Water is thus "unreliable." However, allocations of State Water over the past five drought years have averaged 55% of the contracted allowance. Ventura Water also conveniently ignores the fact that 75% of Ventura County relies on State water as a primary water resource.
Missing the Consent Decree Deadline
We may not be able to meet the timing of the Consent Decree if we pursue VenturaWaterPure. It took Monterrey ten years to apply for permits, be granted permission from the different agencies and build its IPR plant. Ventura has not applied for a single permit to begin constructing its plant. If it takes ten years from today to complete our plant, we will miss the Consent Decree deadline by five years. There's no reason to believe Ventura will apply for permits and build its plant faster than ten years. VenturaWaterPure is destined to miss its target date.
A Waste of $1 Billion For VenturaWaterPure
IPR is inefficient and will not meet Ventura Water's projections. Orange County and Monterrey use IPR already. IPR shows a net water loss of 23%, based on Orange County's experience. If VentuaWaterPure treats 4.5 million gallons per day of tertiary water, this will yield approximately 3.5 million gallons per day of drinking water, or about 3,900 Acre-Feet per year (AFY). According to the Final Environmental Impact Study, that is 1,500 AFY short of the 5,400 AFY needed to meet Ventura's estimated demand.
The fact is that Ventura reduced its wastewater by 17% from 2009-2018, despite increasing water connections by 3.5% (according to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report). The amount of wastewater sent to VenturaWaterPure is decreasing. We can reduce the affluent further by using more tertiary water for irrigation in the city. Ventura could increase to 1,200 AFY for irrigation from the current level of approximately 500 AFY. The cost to ratepayers is only the cost of a pipeline for the delivery of tertiary water.
Ventura's Imprudent Decisions
This City Council has shown a propensity to pay for the same outcome they could have gotten for less. We saw this when the city placed its high-use electricity accounts in the Clean Power Alliance. We may be witnessing it again with VenturaWaterPure.
The opportunity exists to adhere to the Consent Decree at half the cost to ratepayers compared to VenturaWaterPure. For the price of a pipeline, Oxnard will take Ventura's treated tertiary water. They may even provide Ventura clean water credits. It's unthinkable not to consider Oxnard Advanced Water Treatment Facility (AWTF) as an option.
Every citizen should have serious doubts about the pragmatism of the City Council's decision to fund VenturaWaterPure. It's time to slow down. Some studies show that VenturaWaterPure is unsafe. Ventura Water for six years has continued to announce that it is safe for human consumption. Yet, the fact that there isn't a consensus among scientists should be a warning flag to Councilmembers. Do they want to be remembered as supporting VenturaWaterPure if it's shown to be unsafe, unregulated and unhealthy in the future? Let's hope not.
One billion dollars is a large bet to place with the taxpayer and ratepayer money for a process that is questionable among scientists. There are cost-effective alternatives available, but it's unlikely they've been examined since the initial decision to create VenturaWaterPure was made in 2011. Times change. Circumstances change. Now is the time to reconsider options to be sure we're making the best choice available.
Reverse the decision to proceed with IPR, and certainly DPR, until there is more investigation on its safety. The Council is dealing with public health. The Council reversed its decision on DPR in 2018 when they learned a state expert panel deemed DPR unsafe. The Council should be prudent with IPR and change or pause that decision, too.
Finally, the City Council should more rigorously question Ventura Water on its proposals and actions. Twice, Ventura Water has failed to present scientific findings that challenged its direction with VenturaWaterPure. The Council would do well to keep in mind the adage, "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you."
Tell City Council, "Slow Down On VenturaWaterPure!"
http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/woman-drinking-water—WP.jpg 667 1000 VREG Editors http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/vreg-logo-1.jpg VREG Editors2019-11-26 04:00:262019-12-24 10:35:06Why You Should Worry About VenturaWaterPure
Do You Know The Truth About Ventura's Spending On Conferences?
October 22, 2019 /0 Comments/in Newsletters /by VREG Editors
"Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves and politicians. All three need supervision."
The cost and benefit of every spending decision by Ventura's City Council is magnified as the city faces budgetary losses for the next five years. The city is projecting to have a $10-$25 million shortfall during that time, so the City Council should be more careful how it spends tax dollars. Are we getting our money's worth from our Councilmembers' travel to conferences and seminars?
The City Councilmembers don't think anyone is watching their spending or cares what they do. They believe voters gave them the mandate to be concerned with the details of how and where the city spends money. And, they're right—to a degree. While citizens fret over the large expenditures on pensions, water, public safety, and staffing, it's easy to overlook the spending habits of our elected officials.
Conference Boondoggles
The city publishes the expenditures by each sitting Councilmember quarterly. Here's a summary of the expenses for the past three full fiscal years of the active members of Council:
It's immediately clear that the spending by the active Councilmembers is rising year-over-year. It jumped 32% to $15,964 from $12,039 from Fiscal Year 2016-2017 to Fiscal Year 2017-2018. It increased 76% to $28,098 from $15,964 from Fiscal Year 2017-2018 to Fiscal Year 2018-2019.
Highlighted in yellow is the amount spent each year to attend the National League of Cities (NLC) Conferences. The NLC holds regional conferences and a national conference in Washington, DC.
Where's The Value From The Conferences?
Ventura taxpayers get little information about the benefits the city derives from these conferences. There are no written reports of what the attendees accomplished. Sometimes, there is a verbal report made to the Economic Development Committee of what happened, as we see in the Agenda for the April 2nd meeting.
There are no meeting minutes posted for the public of the Economic Development Committee meetings. Nor are the sessions videotaped. There is no permanent record of what happened. There are no archives to refer to in the future. What's more, the entire City Council doesn't hear about the findings.
If all the value we receive is a report on the "relevant legislative issues from the NLC," do we need to send representatives to Washington, D.C.? Couldn't we get the same information by email or in written form? If we did, there would be a permanent record of the discussions for others to review.
The Value Is In The Connections
The attending City Councilmembers may claim the value of attending these meetings is in the contacts Ventura nurtures with other politicians throughout the country. That's a specious argument. The relationships are personal between our serving Councilmembers and the people they meet. Those relationships break whenever our Councilmember or his/her contact leaves the office. What's more, the value in a relationship with a politician in another city has a small direct impact on Ventura.
The justification may be to learn the "best practices" from other cities attending the conferences. What best practices did we learn on homelessness from representatives from Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle? Homelessness in those cities is worse than it is in Ventura, and it's not improving. Or did we learn something about water from Sacramento? Except, the California River Tunnel isn't working out so well. Or did the reps from Washington, D.C., or Sacramento teach us about budgeting? The fact is, our reps need to convey any best practices we learned at those conferences need to city staff. The staff are the ones to put in place new ideas in City Hall. And without written guidelines, implementing the changes is nearly impossible.
The truth is any networking with others at these conferences is nothing more than socializing. Should we pay the expenses for two Councilmembers to hobnob with politicians? No.
Mayor Matt LaVere, Deputy Mayor Sofia Rubalcava, and Councilmember Brown are attending the National League of Cities Regional Meeting in Long Beach, CA, on October 16-18, 2019. What value will Ventura get from sending three Councilmembers to this meeting?
In the best of times, these conferences may benefit Ventura, but these are not the best of times. The city faces a multimillion-dollar shortfall over the next five years. Frivolous spending of any kind must not happen, regardless of the dollar amount spent. Spending taxpayer money on these seminars and conferences may appear to be harmless at first. Still, scrutinize each trip to decide whether it's a necessity. And if it is determined to be necessary, the value must outweigh the expense.
Tell City Council, "Spend Better On Conferences!"
http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/fraud_magnifying_glass—WP.jpg 666 1000 VREG Editors http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/vreg-logo-1.jpg VREG Editors2019-10-22 04:00:162019-11-19 15:09:23Do You Know The Truth About Ventura's Spending On Conferences?
What You Should Know About Seaward Sushi
"I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
Is Ventura Open For Business?
When the city needs money, they go to the old trope, "We'll attract new business." After all, Ventura is open for business, according to this Council. Actions speak louder than words, however. The recent incident with Seaward Sushi illustrates the confusion and shortsightedness in City Hall.
In June 2019, social media blew up over closing of 40-year old Seaward Sushi. After owner Rachel Woodward closed her doors June 14th, for the final time, her story spread on the internet. Based on what Rachel posted, it would have easy to jump to conclusions. One could conclude that Ventura's permitting and code enforcement's strict policies and slow processing time were the villains in this situation.
After telling her story on social media, it got the attention of several people like Jim Friedman, Stephanie Caldwell at the Chamber and others at City Hall. While we don't know all the facts, only after this story attracted attention on social media, the City of Ventura hastily arranged a meeting on June 24th.
What the Seaward Sushi Situation Revealed
In an interview with Rachel Woodward, she revealed that she kept meticulous notes. She has a complete phone and paper trail of all dates and times that someone spoke to her, and a list of appointments and promises broken from representatives from City Hall. Rachel felt she needed to keep these records. She got the impression that everyone at City Hall was "very defensive," and nobody wanted to be "held responsible" for what had occurred before the June 24th meeting.
The city gave Rachel a temporary permit on June 24th to reopen on June 28th. Without the privilege of knowing what they discussed in that meeting, we do know that Ashley Batista from the city was able to provide a permit to reopen June 28th.
Rachel voluntarily agreed to a hearing on August 6th. At the August 6th hearing, there was zero opposition, and the city granted a permanent permit. She has been in business ever since. Business is still down, but it can only get better.
Rachel further felt that it was also apparent that few, if anyone, was in the community visiting businesses. And, when someone visited a company, there weren't clear directions on how to streamline the process.
The story does not end here, in any case. If it took one meeting to find enough support to justify reopening, how did the original staff fail to reach a similar conclusion in the first place?
From this experience, Rachel learned a few things. She felt that before the June 24th meeting, nobody wanted to take ownership of the situation. It seemed to her that nobody in City Hall knew the specifics, and no one was clear on the process to follow.
If Ventura is open for business, maybe the city staff involved in the process did not get the memo. The city needs to do a post-mortem on the Seaward Sushi approval process to find ways to improve if they are going to claim to be open for business. We recommend changing the current approval process to one that requires two employees to examine and approve exceptions to ordinances or policies.
Insist The City Council Reduces Overregulation For Businesses
http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/Seaward-Sushi—WP.jpg 666 1100 VREG Editors http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/vreg-logo-1.jpg VREG Editors2019-08-29 04:01:002019-09-20 08:32:35What You Should Know About Seaward Sushi
Irresponsible With Your Money On The Clean Power Alliance
When in doubt, don't.
Thank the Councilmembers Cheryl Heitmann, Christy Weir, Lorrie Brown and Sofia Rubalcava for higher electrical costs, higher water, and wastewater rates. Also thank them for less police protection, fire safety and street paving, all so the City Council can save face and make all residents' environmental champions.
Every citizen will now pay far more for electricity than if they stayed with Southern California Edison. The City Council had the option to keep your rates the same, but they didn't. Too bad, because citizens will pay the increase and they will not get a vote.
When Choice Is No Choice At All
The City Council voted to enroll the entire city in the Clean Power Alliance program by a 4-2 vote on February 26th, 2018. During that meeting, our acting City Manager repeatedly advised the Council members they should wait because of financial uncertainties and undetermined costs.
They rejected the City Manager's advice. Only Mayor Andrews and Councilman Tracy agreed with the City Manager's recommendation and voted no. The other four members of the Council (Ms. Heitmann, Ms. Weir, Matt LaVere and Erik Nasarenko) committed the entire community to pay the additional costs for 100% for renewable solar energy.
In October 2018, the same four Council members (Ms. Heitmann, Ms. Weir, Mr. LaVere and Mr. Nasarenko) approved a contract with the Clean Power Alliance (CPA), enrolling every citizen and all city accounts in Ventura into the Clean Power CPA, in place of Southern California Edison. However, you were always free to reverse what the City Council decided if you took steps to opt-out. Otherwise, the change took effect in February 2019.
Remember, at the time the City Council voted to approve the Clean Power Alliance they didn't know what it was going to cost. They committed the entire city to higher energy costs without knowing what those costs were going to be.
Who is the Clean Power Alliance?
The Clean Power Alliance is a 2-year-old electricity provider in Southern California. They claim to bring clean, renewable energy at competitive rates. They compete with Southern California Edison (SCE), which has been around for 111 years and has been continually working on renewable energy for over ten years.
The City Council bought into the Clean Power Alliance's message. You were "automatically enrolled in 100% Green Power which provides 100% renewable energy," allowing all "residents to be environmental champions, leading the way to a greener future."
You're In Unless You Opt-Out
You were in the Clean Power Alliance unless you opted out. To opt-out, you needed to go to cleanpoweralliance.org, or call 888-585-3788. Whichever method you chose required your last utility bill and your SCE account number. Without those, you got nowhere. If you opted-out by telephone, you spent considerable time listening to recordings, ad nauseam, extolling green power's virtues.
Six Months Later, The City Manager Learns The CPA Power Costs Are Greater Than Expected
In June 2019, the circumstances changed with the Clean Power Alliance. The cost of "green energy" went up—a lot. City Manager, Alex McIntyre, requested that the Council opt-out of the CPA program and return to SCE for the "high user accounts" of the city (like the street lights). Residents would remain enrolled in the 100% increased renewable rate with the CPA.
The Clean Power Alliance Weighs Down Homeowner's Bugdets
He recommended returning to SCE for at least a year until more was known. He demonstrated that the costs to large energy use accounts within the city, such as street lighting, water, and wastewater, are 20.8% greater than represented a year earlier. The total increase in costs for these high user accounts could be an additional $571,476.
After a lengthy discussion, filled with rampant confusion, misunderstanding, and punctuated with illogical statements, four members of the Council (Mses. Heitmann, Weir, Brown and Rubalcava) rejected the City Manager's recommendation. These four voted that all of the smaller city accounts would remain in the CPA program at 100% green power. As for the six large City accounts, they voted to opt-out the street lighting account, and reduce the other large accounts to the 36% wind rate.
The result is that City government will be paying $228,086 more for electrical power through the CPA program than they would have paid through SCE. Of that number, water and wastewater account will be paying $157,148. What's more, they didn't know the actual costs when they voted.
As for what residents will pay, the City Council confirmed that they would stay in the program at the 100% rate.
That gives all residents "the opportunity to be environmental champions, leading the way to a greener future."
What Impact Will The Clean Power Alliance Decision Have?
The costs of participating in the Clean Power Alliance are becoming more visible, and it's hurting the city. Southern California Edison increased its rates to the CPA, who is now passing those costs on to Ventura. The timing of the rate increase pressured the City Council into making a rushed, imprudent fiscal decision.
In the 11th hour, our solar power provider was now going to substitute wind power for solar and presented a $228,086 rate increase to power city departments. All of this came on the same evening that the City Council gave final approval to the 2019-2020 budget. Now this $228,086 increase, at a minimum, will shortchange police, fire and street paving, all so the city can have wind power.
Police, Fire and Street Paving Gets Shorted
Councilman Jim Friedman got it right when he voted no. When he expressed that, "The budget is $3.5 million in the red now, and this just makes it worse." By voting to pay more to the CPA—money the city does not have—city services will suffer. Your streets won't get paved. The city doesn't hire a police officer. Your water and wastewater rates increase. The police and fire departments don't respond in time to save a life. If any of these things happen, you only need to look to four members of our City council for their budget decisions. (Mses. Heitmann, Weir, Brown and Rubalcava)
The city staff recommended opting out for one year until Ventura got a clearer understanding of what their fiduciary responsibilities would be. The City Manager recommended the City Council opt-out for one year. Councilmembers Heitmann, Weir, Brown and Rubalcava disregarded the staff's recommendation to protect past votes to join the Clean Power Alliance. They voted to "save face" over the public's interest.
Making Your Decisions for You
The City Council chose your electricity provider for you. In so doing, they shifted the burden of "Green Power" to every homeowner in the city. So, if you did not opt-out, you'll pay higher electricity bills. We should resent the City Council forcing this upon the community. The CPA program should be a decision for each citizen to make. In this case, the government effectively enrolled everyone automatically without any consent from the citizens who will be paying the bill.
Four members of the City Council (Heitmann, Weir, Brown and Rubalcava) were caught up in the "Save the Planet" message and hysteria. They believed that recyclable energy is the better choice, regardless of the cost. The Council should have taken a more cautious approach with an unproven, start-up company offering power whose benefits and costs are unknown. Instead, they let ideology cloud their decision instead of being fiscally prudent with taxpayer money.
Should Ventura be concerned about a City Council that doesn't plan, and spends money they don't have? So far, they act with an attitude that 'we'll find the money somewhere.' Obviously not from their pockets.
The highway to Hell is paved with good intentions. The City Council would do well to remember that. The city's finances can withstand fiscal irresponsibility because of the Council's financial ignorance only for so long. A day of reckoning is coming. Ventura faces six years of negative budgets. Perhaps that day is sooner than the City Council realizes.
As citizens, we must ask, "How long will we live with the Council's bad financial decisions? For how long will we accept Councilmembers with political agendas that disregard city staff recommendations to make a 'statement'?" Should Ventura be concerned about a City Council that doesn't plan and spends money it doesn't have?
Carefully examine your expenses and your beliefs to determine if the Clean Power Alliance is for you. If not, opt-out.
Moreover, when you go to the polls next November, do not reelect Councilmembers who exhibit no fiduciary responsibility with your money.
It's time we examine our City Council's performance and ask why they do the things they do. If we don't diligently watch our money now, there may not be any money to watch in the future.
Demand More Fiscal Responsibility On The Clean Power Alliance
http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/CPA-Is-Irresponnsible—WP.jpg 666 1000 VREG Editors http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/vreg-logo-1.jpg VREG Editors2019-07-30 04:00:492019-08-22 18:57:35Irresponsible With Your Money On The Clean Power Alliance
How The Right Steps In The 2019 Budget Make Your Tomorrow Better
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."
Ventura faces severe revenue shortfalls in six of the next seven years, the size of those during The Great Recession. Ventura is on pace to lose over $9.07 million over the next six years. You should be concerned about the financial conditions in the City of Ventura, and you should also know this budgetary crisis is avoidable if the City Council acts this year.
Ventura's General Fund Financial Outlook For The Next 10 Years
Ventura city staff calculate the city's revenue and expenses for the next ten years [see graphic]. Costs will exceed income for six consecutive years beginning in the fiscal year 2020-2021—that's next year.
Pensions are the main reason for the rise in expenditures. Annual pension costs will climb to $31.48 million from $19.71 million by the fiscal year 2025-2026. That's an $11.63 million increase. The city projects property and sales taxes to increase by only $10.6 million over the same period. Not a rosy outlook.
Next year (the fiscal year 2020-2021), Ventura faces a $2.52 million deficit because of the $2.17 million in rising pension costs.
The city staff estimations are optimistic. They do not factor in a recession, which some believe is imminent. If a recession comes, people will lose jobs. Also, if a recession hits, property and sales tax revenues will suffer and projected losses may be even worse. What's more, the city plans to add no money to reserves in the fiscal year 2019-2020. Current reserve levels for the City of Ventura will keep the city government running for only 45 days.
Wasn't Measure O supposed To Save The Budget?
Measure O passed three years ago and will continue for the next 22 years. It brings in $10.8 million in additional sales tax revenue each year. Still, it isn't enough to cover the projected shortfalls. Why is that?
There are several reasons why Measure O can't save the city's budget. First, there is no consensus among the City Councilmembers about how to use Measure O money. Alex McIntyre, Ventura's new City Manager, asked all seven Councilmembers individually how they would spend it. All seven Councilmembers gave differing opinions on how to use the Measure O taxes. Without clear direction, it's difficult for the City Manager to focus the city staff on what's most important for our city. Confusion over Measure O is one example of how the City Council is dysfunctional on the budget's priorities.
A second problem is how special interest groups lined up to get their share of Measure O. At the May 20th City Council meeting, Councilmembers Lorrie Brown, Jim Friedman and Mayor Matt LaVere tried to move funds from Measure O to the General Fund for Fire Station No. 4. The Star report said the Fire Department union members felt insecure (sic) about Station No. 4 funding coming out of a temporary tax fund. (The tax lasts for 25 years)
In 2016, The City Council sold Measure O to voters with the promise that Fire Station No. 4 would remain open with its funds. Voters agreed to the idea of a temporary 25-year tax. VFD is now trying to persuade the City Council that when Measure O expires, there may not be funding for Fire Station No. 4. They fearmonger that response times to calls will increase, and lives could be lost. A 4-3 vote defeated the motion.
While this City Council takes precious time debating moving funds from one column to another, the growing unfunded pension obligations put pressure on the entire city budget, even with Measure O.
The Canaries In The Coal Mine
Economic disasters are all around us. There is no reason to think that Ventura is immune to them. The City of Oxnard is preparing to lay off hundreds of employees. They also plan to close a fire station and reduce the number of fire personnel available to respond to emergencies. The Oxnard City Manager says, "We are down to bare bones." What's happening in Oxnard is a preview of what could happen in Ventura unless the City Council acts quickly.
Ventura County Medical Center is losing over $40 million per year. That adds more unemployment to our community. With the City of Ventura own forecast of financial shortfalls, the City Council would do well not to ignore the economic disaster warning like 'a canary in a coal mine.'
How Do We Fix The Budget?
The budgetary crisis is entirely avoidable if the City Council acts now. The solutions are simple, but they are not easy. It requires significant political will and resolve.
Improve The Budgeting Process
Currently, the City Council approves the city's annual budget one year at a time. It doesn't consider subsequent years' financial demands. Given that the 10- year forecast shows losses for the next six years' budgets, to ignore the next six years will be pushing the problem "down the road."
Now is the time to change this systemic shortsightedness. City Councilmembers have the opportunity to discuss budgeting on at least a 3-year basis, not one year at a time.
Not Filling All Open Positions In City Hall
To balance the budget over the next six years, the city staff has two potential solutions. They can increase revenue through taxes and fees or reduce expenses. Since it's not easy or popular to raise taxes and fees, the alternative is to cut costs.
The single largest expense category is city employees. Cutting staff is the obvious choice to reduce expenses. To avoid the unpopular cutting of current employees, the City Council can take a less unpleasant path and cut positions in the budget that the city never filled.
There are currently sixty unfilled positions at City Hall. If each vacant position costs the city $100,000 per person (salary, overtime, retirement and benefits), the cost to budget for these open positions adds to the projected deficit (losses).
If the city reduces the unfilled positions to thirty instead of sixty, the savings to Ventura would be $3 million per year. A $3 million reduction in expenses will balance the budgets for the next six years.
This decision puts the City Council on the horns of a dilemma. Should they hire all sixty positions now and later fire employees during the budget shortfalls? Alternatively, should they hire only thirty people knowing they can add personnel if the city's economic situation improves? Eliminating unfilled staff positions is less disruptive to city government than laying people off.
An alternative toward improving the budget is to attract new or expanding businesses to Ventura. Several Councilmembers understand this and agree. More business and local jobs are the best solution for filling the budgetary shortfalls. More jobs generate more sales tax, encourage community spending and increase property values. Higher property values increase property taxes and reduce blight.
Imagine the stimulus to the community of filling the old Star Free-Press building or the Toys-R-Us location would have.
The city has already taken the first step in this direction. City Manager, Alex McIntyre, has moved the Economic Development division under the City Manager from under Community Development. Elevating the reporting of this department to the City Manager signals the increased importance economic development has for the city.
Empower The Economic Development Manager
Another simple step the city could take would be to empower the Economic Development Manager (EDM). The EDM must have readily available an inventory of all commercial locations, complete with square footage, zoning, parking, pricing, and a list of commercial real estate agents and contact information.
The City Council must be ready to provide incentives to new or expanding businesses. The incentives must include fee reductions and process simplification to entice the companies. One such motivator must be a single contact within the city who will guide the relocation process through the bureaucracy.
Finally, the EDM must identify and target new commercial business to locate in Ventura.
Each of these positive steps toward economic development has one drawback. They are long-term solutions. None of them will happen quickly enough to fix a budget by next year.
Streamline the City Hall Experience
The city has started reorganizing boards and commissions that oversee Planning, Design Review, Historic Preservation, and other committees filled by residents appointed by the City Council. While this is a good start, it must go further.
Reducing boards and commissions saves staff time in preparing and attending meetings. The staff attends about 20 meetings a month. Fewer meetings will allow more time for the employees to better supervise operations in planning, design review, code enforcement, etc.
The city must look at other ways to reduce staff time in other duties—especially if the city hires only thirty of the sixty unfilled positions. All staff operations should be scrutinized to end obsolete or redundant activities.
Revamp Ventura Fire Department
Now is a good time to modernize the fire department. Ventura Fire operates in much the same way it did 100 years ago except the needs are far different:
Building codes are stricter making fires less frequent
More buildings have sprinkler systems
Over 75% of calls are for paramedics
Each fire station has paramedics on duty to serve those calls. In addition to Ventura Fire, each medical emergency requires an ambulance from a private company in case a victim needs transporting to the hospital. Rolling a fire truck plus an ambulance seems like duplicated efforts.
Any change to the Fire Department would likely be unpopular with the public. That makes it a subject considered by Councilmembers, to be too controversial to discuss. The fire department union will become protective of their fellow firefighters and will want to preserve the status quo.
As they have in the past, the unions will apply pressure to the Council. Since four of the seven elected Councilmembers received campaign contributions from Ventura Fire in their last election, the politicians will likely concede as they have in the past. Ventura Fire Department needs reorganizing. Now is the ideal time to do it.
The community will not support another tax rate increase. Pension costs already absorbed the entire $10.8 million raised by Measure. Still, citizens ask why the city doesn't repair their streets and sidewalks. We can't hope for an economic miracle to increase revenue, so the city must take steps to curb expenses. Ventura must:
Lower expenses by not filling all open positions at City Hall. Add those costs back into the budget
Design and target new commercial businesses to locate in Ventura
Offer incentives and fee reductions to bring more jobs to Ventura
Streamline the City Hall process and operations to reduce staff time. It will accelerate the processing time for building and licenses
Streamline medical response procedures within Ventura Fire. Find ways to reduce fire department costs for those calls. Dispatching a private ambulance and fire trucks with paramedics every time is expensive
Hold in-depth discussions at the City Council to expand budgeting to a 3-year basis, not one year at a time
INSIST THE CITY COUNCIL MODERNIZES THE BUDGET PROCESS
http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/Colorful-Budget-Image—WP.jpg 666 1000 VREG Editors http://www.vregventura.org/wp-content/uploads/vreg-logo-1.jpg VREG Editors2019-06-18 04:00:252019-07-16 09:56:17How The Right Steps In The 2019 Budget Make Your Tomorrow Better


Sweatshirts come best oversized: they look better, are generally more snug and tend to be slightly more versatile. We saw a lot of copper/dusty pink colours at AW shows this season, so it's nice to invest in these rich shades where appropriate. This ASOS jumper really stands out for tremendous value.


text:
Some of the Rumours super deluxe sets contained the original SH/KG vinyl. Not all, but some. Could be worth checking around for one of those as well. They used to go for reasonable money, like $40-50 used. But i think it has increased quite a bit over time.
marcb likes this.
hobbes4444 said: ↑
By definition, all of the surround mixes are different...
To me, it's an enjoyable surround mix. But if it wasn't "Rumours", nobody would use it as a demo for surround sound.
The DVD-A stereo mastering isn't in the same league as the Hoffman-Gray vinyl. Honestly I think it's closer to the bottom than the top of all of the masterings out there. The best digital version IMO is probably the 2011 hi-rez download (not to be confused with the earlier or later hi-rez masterings).
Interesting, I didn't know this. I assume it's the 33, not the 2LP 45?
RemyM said: ↑
Ah. If so, my apologies, just trying to help out. ☹
I've pinged them an email on the off-chance to see if they can get more, just in case. If I get a positive response, I'll report back.
supermd Forum Resident
What can I look for in the deadwax?
supermd, Sep 1, 2021
Yes, of course, but there is instrumentation heard on the surround mix not present on the stereo mix (NGBA). Or at least that's what i recall.
supermd said: ↑
You're looking for one with 18665 etched in deadwax which i believe corresponds to Pallas and the SH/KPG initials. This version was in my deluxe set... initals.Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (2011, Vinyl)
WhatDoIKnow and supermd like this.
Nope, not mine. Some numbers and then "HL." Thank you for the information.
DeRosa Vinyl Forever
that is the European version, cut by Heino Leja in house at Optimal.
Heino Leja
DeRosa, Sep 1, 2021
DeRosa said: ↑
Oh yeah, I forgot that I bought this from Amazon UK.
CraigVC Senior Member
Probably too distant of a lead at this point, but a few years ago I was in the gift shop of Fleetwood's in Maui (they were displaying/selling a collection of Mick Rock photos, IIRC) and they had many many copies of Rumours LPs in various configurations with the KG/SH mastering in the deadwax. Worth dropping by to see if they still have any, if you happen to be in Lahaina on Front St.
CraigVC, Sep 1, 2021
emailists Forum Resident
The only LP pressing I seem to have is a Nautilus pressing, which I've read is not great. Is there a particular hi res remaster offered I should look to purchase that is considered the best available?
emailists, Sep 1, 2021
emailists said: ↑
Nautilus is hit and miss, I have quite a few. John Lennon's last album…I can't believe I'm forgetting the title….is amazing. Rita Coolidge Anytime, Anywhere is stellar. A few others are good, the rest are just okay.
The Fleetwood Mac is in a category of it's own….Worst Nautilus I've ever heard and miles away from an audiophile experience….steer clear! They butchered it badly. Would love to hear the story behind that as I've heard others say the same. Just muddy and very wonky sounding. Sounds like they ran it through a compressor and didn't know what they were doing. No idea what they used for a master, but I'm glad I was able to dump mine years ago.
Panama Hotel a real place
<caret indicates comment by Mascot (the magic cat)
Steve Hoffman said: ↑
It's very clean sounding, almost mellow
SH, you should run at least one pass of an overdriven, meter-pegged version of "Go Your Own Way", for the educational value of it. Hear what the multitracked guitars of the ending jam sound like in Neil Young "crunch and chomp" mode.
Panama Hotel, Sep 2, 2021
Donfrance Forum Resident
Vesoul, France.
Only a thousand times? Sorry but this album deserves more listens than that.
Donfrance, Jan 7, 2022
gadgetman, Jan 14, 2022 at 11:13 AM
Stefan Forum Resident
The CA on the back is for California, not Canada. I see they also have the EU reissue available on the dropdown. The one you linked looks to be the US reissue, which is likely Steve's version. When it was released, I ordered from Amazon Canada but they ended up sending me the EU version, which is most definitely not Steve's version. It was a a stunning pressing with not even the slightest pope or click but the mastering was dull as could be sounding like a blanket was thrown over the speakers. Steve's sounds natural and organic very similar to an early pressing I own but more dynamic.
Stefan, Jan 14, 2022 at 12:42 PM
audiofool likes this.
Stefan said: ↑
No clearly states Made in CANADA
I ordered from HHV due to the pressed at Pallas sticker but it was not our hosts version unfortunately. I had to order from the US to get a copy and even this was off center. I've given up on ever getting a decent copy of this pressing.
timnor, Jan 14, 2022 at 2:27 PM
timnor said: ↑
Oh interesting did you have the sticker on the front pressed in Pallas also?
Where was it made?
I have no idea what you have.
Sorry @timnor, let me get this straight: you ordered and received a copy with the "pressed at Pallas" sticker and it turned out to be something other than the SH/KG pressing?
WhatDoIKnow, Jan 14, 2022 at 5:31 PM
timnor likes this.
Ok sorry. I thought you meant the picture on the website you linked to. It says Made in the USA in the bottom right corner.
Stefan, Jan 14, 2022 at 8:05 PM

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Starting today, Dec. 4th and until Saturday, dec. 8th, the first installment in the New Age Lamians trilogy by amazing author Didi Oviatt will be on promotion … for free on Amazon.
But before I entice you with the blurb and an excerpt, let me extend Didi a (very late) Congratulations on her (fairly) new contract with creativia Publishers.
Congratulations, Didi, it's very well deserved!
Dr. Brooklyn abruptly stopped at a solid metal door and turned to face me. "Now Jack. I know you're scared but I assure you everything is for the greater good and will turn out just fine in the long run. I'm going to need you to do everything I tell you to without question. You'll be restrained and it's for your own good. Please do not fight it, Jack. That could be a very large and painful mistake on your part." I stared at her wide eyed and cautious. She leaned in and gave me a quick unforgettable kiss on the cheek before shoving the door open.
My eyes wandered from one end of the room to the other. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but I do know that this was not it. The center of the room contained a large see through tank of some clear liquid. Surrounding it was screen after screen of some technology that I was yet to be familiarized with. With a person standing next to each machine. I instantly recognized the fact that they'd been waiting for me. Dr. Brooklyn pointed around the room at all of the people.
As she spoke, two men walked up to me and started stripping me of the comfort of my gray sweatsuit. My muscles clenched and I flinched in embarrassment. No one besides my father had seen me naked, and even when I changed in front of him he would look away. Not since I was a baby being dressed by my mother had I been in the buff around a woman. She passed away when I was 5, God rest her soul. I looked down in shame remembering the warning not to fight. I wanted more than anything to grab my clothes and run, but not before knocking a few of these Company wimps to the ground. I held in the notion and wearily looked back up at Dr. Brooklyn.
She explained to me that I would be lowered into the liquid. She told me to breath just the same once I was emerged as I do on a regular basis. As she gave me instructions, the same two men that had stripped me of my clothes, fastened tight cuffs around my wrists, ankles, and waist. The cuffs were secured to a couple of bars to my sides and above my head by thin yet obviously indestructible cables.
Before I knew it I was being hoisted up into the air. The metal bars were strong, holding me in place with my feet shoulder width apart and my arms extending out to my sides. The doctor no longer made any explanations. She turned her back to me and started spitting out orders to the rest of the room. I watched from above as the distance between myself and the floor exceeded.
I was lowered into the tank feet first. The liquid was a thick, warm gel. I wiggled my toes feeling the slime slip and then mold into place between them. By the time I was waist deep I could no longer move my feet. I became motionless and without feeling as I descended to my fate. Further and further down I was engulfed in the shocking warm fluid. Past my stomach and to my neck. I took in shallow breaths as the gel touched my chin. By leaning my head back I tried to keep my mouth out for as long as I could. The wet warmth engulfed the remainder of my flesh. I held my breath and opened my eyes. Everything was a blur, I could see the silhouette of each body in the room yet I could not tell apart who was man and who was woman.
I peered out of the tank in fear searching for Dr. Brooklyn, but with no success. I remembered her words to breath the liquid as if I was breathing regular air. I was now completely motionless from head to toe. I couldn't feel a thing aside from the weakening pound of my heart. The lack of oxygen was dulling my mind as I continued to hold my breath. After a few more seconds I could no longer take it. I felt as if my chest was going to explode leaving my body dead in this disgusting paralyzing gel.
I couldn't take it any longer. Unable to part my lips I let the air out through my nostrils and took in a giant breath. Rather than air filling my lungs I felt the slime slowly making its way down my nasal cavity and into my chest. Strangely I felt as if I had been breathing it all my life. Oxygen was flowing through my body and into my brain as if I was breathing the natural fresh air I had taken for granted on an otherwise normal day.
No sooner than my body began to relax the pain struck. The first needles were injected into the backs of my knees. I could feel each one, long and sharp as they pushed through my skin and into the joints of my legs. I tried with all my strength to move away from the pain but I was rendered motionless. The molded gel held me in place as the same pain was now being shoved into the insides of my elbows. Followed by my neck and lower back. I tried to move away and escape the torture, but I could not. The mold held me in place as all six needles made their way further and further painfully into my flesh.
The excruciating pain of the serum was then pushed into my body though these burning needle tips. Thick like hardening sap on a pine tree. I felt it burn its way into my veins. Engulfing my body in shock and fire. Every molecule hurt as the fibers attached themselves throughout me. It spread like a slow plague infecting my body with smoldering hot lava. Though motionless on the outside I was screaming and thrashing on the inside. With every beat of my heart the burning pressure was pushed from one end of my body to the other. Reaching my brain last.
I felt as if my head was exploding into a thousand pieces. Like it was being ripped apart by rabid wolves. I screamed at the top of my lungs yet was heard by no one, as the sound was masked by the disgustingly thick gel I was being held in. My mind darkened as it clouded over by a deep gray followed by an ultimate darkness. Welcoming the illumination, my mind slipped into a much needed unconscious state.
Sounds wonderful, Jina, and congrats to Didi!
Thank you so much Jina! And, congrats to you with the recent contract too! What an exciting year for so many of us. May 2019 continue to offer as wonderful of all things bookish for both of us! Cheers, my friend!
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search filter All ContentBy SocietyBulletin of the Seismological Society of America
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Volume 104, Number 1
Research Article| December 24, 2013
The Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia, Earthquake of August 2011 and Aftershock Sequence: Constraints on Earthquake Source Parameters and Fault Geometry
Daniel E. McNamara;
Daniel E. McNamara
MS966, Box 25046
H. M. Benz;
H. M. Benz
R. B. Herrmann;
R. B. Herrmann
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
3642 Lindell Boulevard
E. A. Bergman;
E. A. Bergman
Global Seismological Services
Golden, Colorado 80401
Paul Earle;
Paul Earle
Anne Meltzer;
Anne Meltzer
1 West Packer Avenue
Mitch Withers;
Mitch Withers
Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI)
Martin Chapman
Department of Geosciences
4044 Derring Hall, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2014) 104 (1): 40–54.
Daniel E. McNamara, H. M. Benz, R. B. Herrmann, E. A. Bergman, Paul Earle, Anne Meltzer, Mitch Withers, Martin Chapman; The Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia, Earthquake of August 2011 and Aftershock Sequence: Constraints on Earthquake Source Parameters and Fault Geometry. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America ; 104 (1): 40–54. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0120130058
The Mw 5.8 earthquake of 23 August 2011 (17:51:04 UTC) (moment, M0 5.7×1017 N·m) occurred near Mineral, Virginia, within the central Virginia seismic zone and was felt by more people than any other earthquake in United States history. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) received 148,638 felt reports from 31 states and 4 Canadian provinces. The USGS PAGER system estimates as many as 120,000 people were exposed to shaking intensity levels of IV and greater, with approximately 10,000 exposed to shaking as high as intensity VIII. Both regional and teleseismic moment tensor solutions characterize the earthquake as a northeast‐striking reverse fault that nucleated at a depth of approximately 7±2 km. The distribution of reported macroseismic intensities is roughly ten times the area of a similarly sized earthquake in the western United States (Horton and Williams, 2012). Near‐source and far‐field damage reports, which extend as far away as Washington, D.C., (135 km away) and Baltimore, Maryland, (200 km away) are consistent with an earthquake of this size and depth in the eastern United States (EUS).
Within the first few days following the earthquake, several government and academic institutions installed 36 portable seismograph stations in the epicentral region, making this among the best‐recorded aftershock sequences in the EUS. Based on modeling of these data, we provide a detailed description of the source parameters of the mainshock and analysis of the subsequent aftershock sequence for defining the fault geometry, area of rupture, and observations of the aftershock sequence magnitude–frequency and temporal distribution. The observed slope of the magnitude–frequency curve or b‐value for the aftershock sequence is consistent with previous EUS studies (b=0.75), suggesting that most of the accumulated strain was released by the mainshock. The aftershocks define a rupture that extends between approximately 2–8 km in depth and 8–10 km along the strike of the fault plane. Best‐fit modeling of the geometry of the aftershock sequence defines a rupture plane that strikes N36°E and dips to the east‐southeast at 49.5°. Moment tensor solutions of the mainshock and larger aftershocks are consistent with the distribution of aftershock locations, both indicating reverse slip along a northeast–southwest striking southeast‐dipping fault plane.
Online Material: Tables of regional moment tensor source parameters and aftershock location.
fault planes
Louisa County Virginia
moment tensors
seismic moment
seismicity
Mineral Virginia
Mineral earthquake 2011


Patrick Nixdorf is a System Engineer for Garland Technology in the Frankfurt, Germany office, providing pre and post-sales support, as well as solution design for EMEA and APAC. He has over 10 years of experience in the networking industry, primarily in the TAP business.
For all the concerns over Industrial Ethernet and IIoT security in recent years, there aren't many identified malware families poised to take down critical infrastructure. In fact, since the 2010 Stuxnet attack in Iran, there have only been a handful of unique malware kits in the industrial sector. However, security researchers recently uncovered the latest malware targeting critical infrastructure—TRITON.
In our recent webinar with Palo Alto's Fuel User Group on network connectivity, we went over two main topics, one on Cabling and Connectors, and the other on 100M Copper networks in Industrial Ethernet environments.
Businesses are in a constant battle to balance the benefits of new technology with the risks of increasingly sophisticated data breaches. But things are a bit different for those responsible for critical infrastructure. The pressure to make everything "smart" keeps heating up. However, adopting the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) won't do you much good if "smarter" control machinery doesn't prove reliable.


A Long Beach, California, hospital is accused of leaving an elderly woman with dementia outside a locked care facility in the middle of the night. Surveillance video shared this week shows an elderly woman wearing what appears to be a bathrobe and sandals trying to open a door, then banging on the door as she looks inside. She is then seen walking down an alley, and pacing back. It's unclear how long Savina Genoese Zerbi was stranded outside of the locked Alzheimer's treatment facility, Regency Palms, and how she was able to get into the building, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports.
Heat stroke , also known as sun stroke , is a type of severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than 40.0 °C (104.0 °F) and confusion.
© 2019 Microsoft Meadow Oaks, Roseville, Calif. Gene Rogers lived a large life before dementia began to chip away at it.
Faced with the reality that 81-year-old Kathryn couldn't care for him alone, the family sold the Carlsbad home, banked the proceeds and found a pleasant, $5,540-a-month assisted living facility where Rogers could receive around-the-clock care in a secure environment.
The Justice Department says it will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened at a federal detention center in New York City that lost heat and electricity last week and to ensure there is a backup system to prevent it from happening again.
On Dec. 30, 2017, Rogers went to live at Meadow Oaks of Roseville, a tan stucco facility along Linda Creek that touts itself as offering "well-being and a positive, active lifestyle."
But the Rogers family is far from satisfied with the results of the state's investigation, which they said has left them with numerous questions about what happened to Gene Rogers.
"It was June the 30th, the hottest day of the year so far," his son Jeff said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. "We got a call late in the day and they said, 'Hey, your father's being taken to the hospital to get checked out.' They weren't specific about what happened. They just said, 'We're hoping to have him checked out. Seems like he's OK.' There was no panic in their voice.
The suit called the issues inside the prison a "humanitarian crisis" and accused the Federal Bureau of Prisons of misleading the public.
Heat stroke is caused by a failure of the body's cooling mechanisms (sweating and/or evaporative cooling, for example) when exposed to heat . Some health- care professionals further subdivide heat strokes into exertional and non-exertional, but both have similar symptoms and treatments.
Assisted living and memory care are two fast growing options for long-term senior care . Do you know the difference between them? Find out more about the two types of care , including cost, how to choose a community for your loved one and services offered there. Assisted Living and Long-Term Care .
"Then I got a call from the hospital and they said he came in in critical condition, and I was like, 'What are you talking about?' He was completely unresponsive to anything but pain stimuli, his skin temperature was like 104, they had to bag him in what they refer to as a cooling bag to get his skin temperature down."
An investigation by the state Department of Social Services' community care licensing division found that "staff failed to provide adequate care and supervision" and levied the fine, which was doubled from $500 because "you have been cited for repeating the same violation within 12 months."
State records show that 24 days after Rogers was left on the patio, another resident living at Meadow Oaks with her husband "was able to leave the facility unattended" at 7 p.m. on July 24, 2018. That resident "fell outside on the street while walking and 911 was called," a state facility evaluation report dated Aug. 6, 2018, states.
Demonstrations took place over the weekend to protest reports about a lack of heat and electricity inside the facility.
A Texas lawsuit may be the latest threat to the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and it could go to the Supreme Court. A man fills out an information card during an Affordable Care Act outreach event hosted by Planned Parenthood for the Latino community in Los Angeles, California.
The assistant manager at Petco told the family a groomer accidentally left Colby in one of the drying cages Melody Newman, the daughter of the dog owner, said the family is still in "complete shock" over what happened. Newman said . "Colby was a very playful puppy. He just turned two in February.
Rogers' death has spawned a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of his family by Sacramento attorney Sean Laird, as well as an enhanced review of whether the facility should face a fine of up to $15,000, the most allowed under state law, according to elder care advocate Carole Herman.
The case also has raised questions about the events that led to Rogers' death, with the family and the lawsuit alleging that staff members gave conflicting stories about what happened that day.
Rogers' family said they had high hopes when he was placed at Meadow Oaks, a location they preferred after looking at other options and deciding he was better off near Sacramento rather than the San Diego area, where monthly residential fees could easily top $10,000.
They also said things appeared to be going well for Rogers at the facility, where he enjoyed watching "The Big Bang Theory" on television and playing chess and checkers with a young staffer who had taken a liking to him. Family members visited on Sundays, once bringing along four generations of relatives.
Risk Factors for Heat Stroke . Heat stroke is most likely to affect older people who live in apartments or homes lacking air conditioning or good airflow. Other high-risk groups include people of any age who don't drink enough water, have chronic diseases, or who drink excessive amounts of alcohol.
"This complete neglect led to a variety of harm to (Rogers) at Meadow Oaks, where he was unkept (unkempt), unmonitored and recklessly neglected," according to the family's elder abuse and wrongful death suit, which was filed in Sacramento Superior Court in November. "On multiple occasions family members found (Rogers) unattended in his wheelchair on the patio where he was left for long periods of time, without assistance, and would become groggy and difficult to understand."
The suit says Rogers "could not push himself in his wheelchair, and certainly could not push himself and open the door either to exit or enter the facility by himself."
"Family members, on multiple occasions, instructed the facility not to leave him outside unattended," the suit reads.
Despite that, Rogers ended up on the memory care patio of the facility after breakfast about 9:45 a.m. June 30, the state's report on the incident states.
"On 6/30/18, during a heat storm with temperatures hovering around 103 degrees, Mr. Rogers was left unattended on the patio of this facility for an estimated 3-4 hours and suffered from extreme heat exposure which caused him to suffer a heat stroke," Herman's complaint states.
Medlock said that McCollum's body temperature was above 109 degrees when he arrived at the hospital. Prison officials distributed limited amounts of water to the inmates, but because McCollum had not yet received an identification Medlock said nine inmates died last year from heat -related causes.
The high temperature that day in downtown Sacramento was 103, according to the National Weather Service, and Rogers remained on the patio until at least 11:30 a.m., according to the state's investigation.
Logs kept at the facility show Rogers was checked on hourly, and the facility's executive director told investigators Rogers was given water at 10:30 a.m. One staffer told investigators she gave Rogers "water to avoid dehydration several times," according to the state's report.
That staffer, who is identified as "S2" but not named, went to lunch from 10:35 a.m. to 11:10 a.m., and investigators who interviewed three other staffers who were on duty that day "could not confirm that S2 found a replacement caregiver to cover her lunch break," the state's report states.
At 11:30 a.m., two workers went outside to bring Rogers back inside for lunch and "found him unresponsive," the report says.
"Ambulance records, however, revealed that 911 was called at 12:04 p.m.," the state's report says. "(Rogers) had been sitting outside for 1 hours, 45 minutes or longer when temperatures were increasing and reached 93 degrees by 12 PM when emergency services were called.
"The temperatures were verified by a local city weather graph. When (Rogers) arrived at the hospital, his body temperature was 103.4 (F), he was dehydrated, and had multiple areas of sunburn (basic blister burns)/redness on body."
Find your local Roseville , CA Walmart's hours and driving directions, and learn more about services including. Home Improvement & Patio .
Rogers was admitted to intensive care, but family members said doctors told them there was little hope for him, and that at one point he became unable to swallow. He was moved to hospice care and died July 14. The cause of death was listed as "heat stroke due to prolonged exposure to sun and heat," the state report found.
The report initially was classified as "confidential." But after inquiries by The Bee, social services officials released the report and filed a new copy of it, noting that the original "was inadvertently marked 'confidential' instead of 'public.' "
Placer County coroner's officials listed Rogers' death as "accidental."
"In fact this facility had been cited by the state of California for inadequate staffing based on multiple events in 2017 and 2018," the Rogers lawsuit states.
"I went down there and I said, 'What happened...?' " Jeff Rogers said. "The only person that gave me their story was the director. It was like she was reading from a script: Dad got himself outside like he often did, he was checked on and given water at regular intervals and that's when he got himself back inside.
"Well, someone's handing me a boatload there," Rogers said, insisting that his father could not have wheeled himself out the door and certainly could not have gotten back inside through a door that he said was kept locked. "It seemed like something was being covered up."
Ohio nursing home: A patient 'rotted to death' under nurses' care, attorney general says.
Current and former employees of an Ohio nursing facility are accused of mistreating two patients in their care, including one who died as a result of the nurses' actions, Attorney General Dave Yost said Thursday. A Franklin County grand jury indicted seven people who worked as nurses in 2017 at Whetstone Gardens and Care Center in Columbus, Yost said in a news conference. The defendants face 34 charges, including involuntary manslaughter and patient neglect, Yost's office said.


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ADM Kids
How 8-Year-Olds Learn Best
04/14/2016, 11:45am MDT
By Dave Pond - Special to USA Hockey
Whether it comes after a top-shelf goal, a pass on the tape, or a great save, it's no secret that young hockey players thrive on positive feedback.
But what happens when your child makes a mistake – like allowing an easy goal or turning the puck over? How do you react? More importantly, does your "advice" sink in?
Negative vs. Positive Feedback
In a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, Leiden University researchers explored just that. They took a close look at the brains of 8- and 9-year-olds, and compared what they found to the brains of 11- and 12-year-old kids.
Results showed that the younger an athlete is, the less effective negative feedback is.
"Eight-year-old children have a radically different learning strategy from 12-year-olds," the study reports. "Eight-year-olds learn primarily from positive feedback ('Well done!'), whereas negative feedback ('Got it wrong this time!') scarcely causes any alarm bells to ring."
Dr. Eveline Crone, one of the researchers, said they expected that the brains of 8-year-olds would function in exactly the same way as the brains of 12-year-olds, but maybe not quite so well.
"Children learn the whole time," Crone wrote. "This new knowledge can have major consequences for people wanting to teach children: how can you best relay instructions to 8- and 12-year-olds?'
To find the answer, we asked United States Olympic Committee senior sport psychologist Peter Haberl, Ed. D.
"Negative, critical feedback is hardly conducive to learning," he said. "Just ask yourself – do you do better when you are being yelled at and berated?"
Instead, Haberl said, parents and coaches should be giving proper technical instruction.
"Often, kids already know when they've made a mistake – what they don't know is what to do instead. So, it's better to ask 'What did you learn from it?' or 'What can you do different next time?', rather than shout something along the lines of "You're terrible! I can't believe you did that!"
It's a response that's extremely important within the hockey world, where these young kids are learning one of the world's most skill-intensive sports.
"If they don't make mistakes, they don't learn," Haberl said. "So, it's important for parents and coaches to create an environment in which we give our kids permission to really push the boundaries of their skills – without discouraging them when they make mistakes.
Haberl points to an everyday hockey drill – skating crossovers around the faceoff circle – as a prime example of how to let kids feel the freedom to improve.
"Once they've mastered the basic techniques and begin to increase their speed, we want our kids to push so hard that they're close to wiping out – or do wipe out – as they skate around the circle at full speed," he said. "This teaches them how hard they can push. Rather than yelling or making fun of them, we should encourage our kids to always push their limits."
That, in turn, will help bring forth a growth mindset – a revolutionary approach coined by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck in 2006. Although Dweck's study wasn't focused solely on athletics, her findings can definitely be used to help hockey players succeed.
"In a growth mindset, you believe that your performance is due to your effort," Haberl said. "Talent and abilities can be developed. Athletes with a growth mindset are more persistent in the face of obstacles and setbacks. They look at their mistakes as learning opportunities, rather than as an indictment of their inherent ability, or the lack thereof."
In hockey, having a growth mindset becomes even more significant as young players move up in the ranks. Eventually, your 6-, 7- or 8-year-old will begin to skate against athletes of equal – or better – ability. That's when growth-mindset kids roll up their sleeves and get to work, while fixed-mindset players (those who say, "Either I'm good enough or I'm not.") see the extra effort needed to succeed at a higher level as pointless.
"A good example of a growth-mindset athlete is Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler," Haberl said. "Ryan talks about how his father always stressed 'backcheck' when he was a young kid. So – from our perspective – Ryan's father stressed effort and hard work.
"Ryan persisted through all the trials and tribulations of youth hockey to advance to the highest level because he simply outworked everybody else. He constantly worked on getting better, and he most likely believed that his efforts would lead to getting better."
As parents and coaches, make sure to praise and reward the effort and hard work your kids put in – on and off the ice.
"The next time you catch yourself saying, 'My kid's smart, good at math, or pretty,' take note of it, and switch to, 'My kid worked hard (assuming they did), my kid put forth a ton of effort on that math assignment, and my kid is kind,'" Haberl said.
"We should be intentionally and deliberately creating growth-minded kids. So, begin today. Create an environment where you encourage learning from mistakes – one in which mistakes simply provide feedback of what to do instead, and one where they become stepping stones to success."
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Immanuel Lutheran Communities Names Tammy Miciewicz Resident Care Coordinator of The Lodge at Buffalo Hill
December 21, 2020 / News / Immanuel Lutheran Communities
Rachel Meidinger, Social Media and Communications Marketing Specialist
rmeidinger@ilcorp.org
Tammy Miciewicz, Resident Care Coordinator for The Lodge at Buffalo Hill
Press Contact: Rachel Meidinger, rmeidinger@ilcorp.org
KALISPELL – Immanuel Lutheran Communities Names Tammy Miciewicz Resident Care Coordinator of The Lodge at Buffalo Hill.
Mrs. Miciewicz began her career as a certified nursing assistant at Immanuel Skilled Care Center 36 years ago, but spent much of that time as the recreation coordinator for the Bratsberg Memory Care Service. In 2017, she was called to develop the recreational programming for the new assisted living memory support service, The Lodge at Buffalo Hill, and has been overseeing the program as the recreational coordinator since opening.
"Mrs. Miciewicz brings over 30 years of experience supporting residents with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. As long as I've worked with her, it's clear her focus has always been creating moments of joy for residents, every single day. Immanuel is lucky to have such a compassionate person with a wealth of knowledge and understanding in this field," said Hannah Brown, Director of Resident Services.
"I am very excited to take on this role and continue my journey with memory support at Immanuel Lutheran Communities," said Mrs. Miciewicz.
About Immanuel Lutheran Communities
Immanuel Lutheran Communities is a not-for-profit, Life Plan Community offering residential living, assisted living, memory support, rehabilitation services and skilled nursing care in Kalispell. Operating since 1957, Immanuel Lutheran services nearly 300 older adults and employs nearly 300 employees. Immanuel remains committed to its philosophy of providing a faith-based environment to enrich the lives of older adults. For more information please contact 406-752-9625 or visit our website at www.ilcorp.org/.
Immanuel Lutheran Communities Earns Second Green Restaurant Certification
The Lodge at Buffalo Hill Welcomes a New Resident Care Coordinator
Get in touch to set up a call or tour.
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