As you may have read recently in the VC Star, the Ventura
County Bar Association has been working closely with our local Superior Court
(Presiding Judge O’Neill, Court Exec. Officer Mike Planet) and local officials
(Supervisor Peter Foy, Simi Valley Mayor Bob Huber, former Simi City Manager
Mike Sedell) to try to save the East County Courthouse (in Simi) from being
closed completely.
The proposal is for all the major cities in
Ventura County to make a financial contribution for a temporary 2-year period
to maintain limited services at the East County Courthouse – namely, one
Commissioner sitting 2 days per week to handle small claims, traffic, unlawful
detainer, criminal arraignment and restraining order matters. (Annually, $275,000 is needed to maintain
these services at the East County Courthouse.)
If this courthouse is closed and the 17,000 cases (annually)
are then transferred to Ventura, people can expect delays in access to justice
caused by a backlog of cases, resulting in longer wait times for hearings,
lines at the filing window in Ventura, traffic on the already congested 101
freeway between Thousand Oaks and Ventura, and parking problems at the Ventura
courthouse.
The contribution amount being requested of each city is
based upon their population and the relative impact caused by the court’s
closure. Several cities as well as the
County have already approved this proposal.
We are now waiting for a few key cities such as Thousand Oaks to get
onboard. The breakdown is as follows:
City of Camarillo $15,000
City of Moorpark $25,000
City of Oxnard $30,000
City of Simi Valley $75,000
City of Thousand Oaks $65,000
City of Ventura $15,000
County of Ventura $50,000
__________
$275,000
You can download the official agenda & supplemental packet for next Tuesday's T.O. City Council meeting. We are the first item of business under the
Department Reports (#9A).
However, it
looks like we will be fighting an uphill battle given that the recommendation
is to NOT provide the funding requested.
That’s why YOUR attendance and support at the July 17, 2012 meeting is even more important!
That’s why YOUR attendance and support at the July 17, 2012 meeting is even more important!
Please invite all your
friends and colleagues as well.
