Editorial: Ventura, Moorpark need the public's help

Local governments in Ventura County and elsewhere too often like to do the public’s business in private, whether it’s agreeing to big raises for city employees or deciding to fire a school principal. While not necessarily illegal, such actions send a simple message to constituents: Their opinions don’t matter.

So when a local government goes the extra mile to seek public input and promote transparency, praise always is in order. The cities of Moorpark and Ventura deserve recognition for recent efforts to get their residents involved in an important upcoming decision each one is facing.

For their part, residents who care about their city should not let this opportunity slip by. When government invites us to the party, we need to attend, if for no other reason than to prevent the appearance of public apathy, which is a recipe for future exclusion and even corruption.

Moorpark is looking for public input as it seeks a new city manager to replace Steven Kueny, who will retire in March after more than three decades at the helm of city government there. City councils may make the flashy policy decisions on shopping malls and marijuana dispensaries, but city managers run the show day to day and can be the difference between a responsive, efficient city government and a disorganized, plodding bureaucracy.

Moorpark’s city manager oversees more than 60 full-time workers and an annual budget totaling $62 million. Moorpark also has some specific key goals the next city manager could make or break, such as reducing truck traffic and revitalizing High Street.

Its City Council is expected to begin interviewing applicants in December, hoping to have a new manager on board by March. The job will pay $178,000 to $239,000.

Before then, the council wants to hear from residents and businesses on the types of expertise, character traits and other qualities they think the new city manager should have. The city is encouraging folks to complete an online survey at moorparkca.gov/CityManagerSurvey by Nov. 20. It only takes about 5 minutes, and the results will be given to the council to help with its decision, city officials say.

In Ventura, the City Council wants the public’s help in drawing up election districts for each of its seven members. Under threat of a voting-rights lawsuit and concerns that minorities are underrepresented on the council, the panel last month decided to ditch its at-large elections and move to a system where the city is divided into districts, with each electing one council member who lives in that district.

Two public hearings already have been held, including one Monday night, but it’s not too late to get involved. You can go online at cityofventura.ca.gov/districtelections, watch videos in English or Spanish or read the FAQ to learn more about the process, and even draw up your own district boundaries and submit them to the city for consideration. Interactive elements at the website allow you to consider race, income, education and other demographics as you try to devise seven districts of roughly equal population size. The deadline is Nov. 17.

Following that, the council will hold two more public hearings — on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11 — to consider map proposals, with final decisions set for January.

We editorialized in September that the Ventura council and other boards in our county need to better reflect their minority populations. But the success of district elections in achieving that depends largely on the boundaries themselves. This is an important, complex task, and we encourage Ventura residents to take the time to let their voices be heard.