Our View: County of Ventura owes public an explanation on CEO’s departure
When Ventura County CEO Mike Powers announced his retirement on March 10, the decision came as a complete surprise to the community. Had Powers himself not put out the word that he was retiring “to spend more time with his family,” it is not clear when the public would have known that one of the Read More →
Our View: War abroad sheds new light on energy and infrastructure at home
As a journalism organization it is hard to witness the destruction of cities in Ukraine and the Russian government’s despicable action to threaten jail terms for any publication that uses “war” or “invasion” to describe what’s going on. The war in Ukraine has hit home in California, which, it turns out, is one of the Read More →
Our View: Rebuilding the region’s manufacturing base
After a recent Zoom session on manufacturing hosted by the Economic Development Collaborative, the Ventura County Workforce Investment Board and others, it is clear that things are stirring in this important sector of the economy. For much of the 21st century, the tri-county region ignored manufacturing as it went into a decline. That’s partly because, Read More →
Our View: A wave of common sense washes over California politics
The political aftershocks from the recall of three left-leaning San Francisco school board members continue to spread to Sacramento and beyond. One of them is a rising chorus of outrage over an Alameda County Superior Court decision to allow a cap on enrollment at the University of California’s flagship campus in Berkeley. In the San Read More →
Our View: Don’t let NIMBYs limit California’s best universities
NIMBYism should not be used to destroy the public institutions that are the lifeblood of the California economy. Unfortunately, that is what’s happening in Berkeley, where a court order freezing enrollment at the University of California’s flagship campus may force massive cuts in incoming student admissions and trigger more than $50 million in lost tuition. Read More →
Our View: Remembering a giant of the region’s business community
Patrick James McCarthy, known simply as Pat, did not invent the idea of a tri-county economy. But thanks to a creative mind and a strong work ethic, he built a powerhouse construction firm that specialized in commercial-scale residential projects on a regionwide basis. Irreverent at times, always unflappable and with a keen sense of opportunity, Read More →
