Housing is also a challenge: from the 1950s to the 1980s, about 126 houses were built each year; in the 1980s the number dwindled to about 92 units annually, and plunged to 28 dwellings a year in the 1990s. The lack of housing - about 1,700 units less than expected - has led to overcrowding, and the chain stores that have undercut area merchants say that Santa Paula is still too small to support larger retailers who say there “are not enough rooftops” to sustain them.City services have also suffered, said Krause, with the largest revenue - property tax - being pulled from local government by the state. “Santa Paula lost $6.9 million over 12 years” due to state borrowing, a figure that Krause said is only $350,000 more than Simi Valley and half of Camarillo’s loss. Meanwhile, city costs, especially employee benefits, have soared, including a 1,020 percent increase in PERS from $151,000 in 2001 to $1.7 million this year.Santa Paulans have a lower median income and smaller percentage of college graduates, and more opportunities - including educational - are needed to help build the future.Cutting staff and programs to make up for shortfalls “cannot go on indefinitely,” noted Krause, including the need for more firefighters and police officers. Krause has requested a five-year financial plan, “in many ways like planning for a natural disaster.”The summit also included keynote speaker Dr. Bill Watkins, director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project; Ventura City Manager Rick Cole; Hesperia Economic Development Director Steve Lantsberger; Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau Director Jim Luttjohann; Greater Oxnard Economic Development Corporation President Steven Kinney; Alastair Winn of Applied Silicon Corp.; and Elias Valdes, owner of Chino’s Market and Santa Clara Valley Bank director.
Economic Summit: Mayor Krause tells tale of two economies
August 31, 2005
Santa Paula News
About 100 people with an eye on the economic future attended the Santa Paula Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) workshop held Saturday, the first summit centered on revitalizing the local economy.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesAbout 100 people with an eye on the economic future attended the Santa Paula Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) workshop held Saturday, the first summit centered on revitalizing the local economy. Saturday’s panel featured leading economic advisors, tourism specialists and area business owners.Saturday’s workshop was held at the Santa Paula High School cafeteria, also the location for September’s follow-up session. “It’s a good turnout,” about double what he expected, said EDAC Chairman Peter Wright.Moderated by John Chamberlain, he noted that a “vibrant economy is dependent on many components.... It’s like a family, if one component doesn’t work, it hurts overall.”Mayor Mary Ann Krause told a tale of two economies, from Santa Paula’s oil-fused boom times to the 1960s, when oil production - and the middle income jobs it produced - shifted away from the area. Also shifting away was retail with the creation of the Pacific View Mall and Highway 126, which passed by area merchants.The character of agriculture changed about a decade later, with ranchers discontinuing farmworker housing and an influx of workers finding housing in the city. Many Santa Paulans work outside the city, and statistics have shown that people shop close to where they work, noted Krause.