Cohort Reflections

Cityscapes

December 20, 2019

City Adventures

For session   number four, people were divided in to teams to explore assigned cities within the county. As we ventured out in the day, we reunited in Camarillo where we got to meet Dr. David El Fattal, Acting Chancellor and Vice Chancellor Business and Administrative Services for the County Community College District. He spoke about his responsibilities and one thing that stood out was how he shared that every day was different. He could be going to Wall Street one day and the next, learning about what is the best chemicals to clean the campuses restrooms.

We also had the opportunity to learn about Coffee with a Black Guy. James Joyce III, from Cohort XVII shared about how his company came to be.   What I enjoyed was how he shared personal experiences, answered tough questions and brought a sense of hope for the future as long as we continue to have a conversation.

Highlights from the groups consisted of the following:

  • Thousand Oaks – The group visited the Parks and Recreation department, where we learned it was a special district and called Conejo Valley Parks and Recreation Department. Not only did they make sure their newest park was ADA accessible, they created special trails for walking, biking, and a lot space to be able to play disc golf.
  • Oxnard – We learned how Oxnard College is struggling financially and that 90% of their students are first generation attending college.
  • Fillmore – Two highlights we learned were that 50% of the city’s income comes from Hollywood making movies in their city and the Fire Department is the only one of its kind as having only volunteers running the department.
  • Ojai – Is the oldest city in the county and one-third of the populations are older adults.
  • Moorpark – The group visited Moorpark College and we learned it was the second college in the nation that had a class/subject on how to train exotic animals.
  • Camarillo – The team decided to visit Ventura County Community Foundation. We learned it had one million in assets and has several scholarship programs and is a wish granter for the Make a Wish foundation.
  • Port Hueneme – This team had the opportunity to meet with the Chief of Police. We learned that the city was the first to adopt legalizing marijuana. While some may think that crime increased, the Chief stated that the city had not seen any negative effects. What I found interesting that the city had no freeways, no high schools, and no bars.
  • Ventura – The team had a fun time at the Poinsettia Awards where the Ventura Chamber of Commerce hosts to celebrate the best of the best. Ranging from the best in their community, to recognizing the community leaders. We also learned that the city only promotes the city by running ads in Texas, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, England, Germany, and Canada.
  • Santa Paula – A shout out was given to Elena for helping the team plan out their fun day. This group went to the Agricultural and California museums where they learned about a bee colony to their day being filled with a lot of people named Bob.
  • Simi Valley – This group shared how the Ronald Reagan Library gets half a million visitors a year to sharing about all their open space. The open space is used for hiking as the city have 50 parks and 2 RV parks.

  Jessica Ruiz, HR Manager, County of Ventura