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The Reminder Newsletter
April 21st, 2017
 
 
A familiar presence wo-manned the ship of Rotary state this Friday, in the absence of jefe Bill Gilbreth, who was almost certainly off on a secret mission involving Wikileaks, mobsters and a crate of Chinese surface-to-air missiles. Suzanne Scar, most recent past President, ably filled in - leading some to wonder, "Bill who?”
 
Greeting the chattering throng were two community bankers — Dave Brubaker and Bryant Huber — leading some to wonder, “Who’s minding the store?”
 
Sign-in desk duties were ably covered by Don Reed and Marty Babayco.
 
Pledge: Terry Beckett
Invocation: Matt Clements
 
Visiting Rotarians: the ironically named Newbie Herrick from Ceres.
 
Guests: Larry Mulholland (former member), Greg Webster, Salvador Velez, Mercedes Ortiz, Salvador Velez, Ernesto Velez (our PEP student for April) and Peter Cable, teacher at Mira Monte Elementary School.
 
Announcements
 
• Al West reminded us of Arbor Day next Friday, April 28th at Mira Monte Elementary. He urged club members to show up at 11:45 a.m. to keep the proceedings on pace. Wear your Rotary Shirts! The students have something special planned.
 
• Bob Davis gave us a heartfelt plea for Polio Plus, remembering his trip to Africa in
2001.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• Betsy Watson presented the results of the Community Grants Committee - other members included Nathan Kaehler, Deirdre Daly, Jane McCarthy, Jane Spiller, Frank Finck, Bill Hatch and  Nic Frank. They sorted through dozens of grant applications totaling $90,000, leaving tough choices to disperse the $23,500 allotted to the worthy projects. Among them were the Girl’s Empowerment Workshop, Green Coalition, Ojai CARES, Chaparral Elementary, Ojai Valley Family Shelter. Check out the website for a full list, coming shortly.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• Boy Scout Troop 504 was brought up by Colin Jones, our Vocational Service Chair. The Troop is hosting their main fundraiser, the Pancake Breakfast, at Chaparral Auditorium on Saturday, April 29th, during the Tennis Tournament. Tickets are $7 at the door, $5 in advance.
 
PEP STUDENT
 
 
Dr. Fauvre announced that Ernesto Velez, a third-grader at Mira Monte Elementary, was chosen as the Physical Education Program’s $200 prize (augmented by Bill Hatch, Marc Whitman and Ren Adam). His teacher, Peter Cable, said that he had 90 students from whom to choose, but Ernesto, though quiet, was a natural-born leader. “It was an easy choice,” he said. Beyond his wizardry on the soccer pitch. Ernesto is well-raised and respectful. He said, “Thank you for teaching me and encouraging me to do good in school. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FINING
 
With applause smattering about, Wendy Barker took the podium. But there was such a mood of confessional in the room, she was able to save her fining material for another day.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                          - Colin Jones gave a stirring address on the perils of the anti-short-term-rental advocates, who have shut down several worthy enterprises, including his son Conor’s permaculture school. Swept up in the hysteria has been B.D. Dautch, the famous organic grower, as well as Zhena Muzyka, of tea fame. The idea of Ojai people informing on other residents “isn’t the spirit of this community.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- Bob Davis confessed that his well aquifer had risen 60 feet this year, pumping 1,000 gallons a minute from his three wells.
 
 
 
- Ron Wilson shared a heartwarming (literally) story about Hall of Fame baseball star Rod Carew’s recent heart-and-kidney transplant, in which his son was involved. Go enter “Rod Carew Transplant” on Youtube for the full story.
 
 
 
 
- Tony Thacher thanked the Boy Scouts for their work on the April 8th Centennial Picnic, and urged people to support their April 29th pancake breakfast.
 
 
 
 
- Dave Brubaker announced that Shredding Day at the bank was taking place April 22nd from 9 a.m. to noon.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- Rocky Kemp confessed on behalf of Judy Gabriel that her son, Xander, the skateboard sensation, was starring a big new Volkswagen Jetta commercial.
 
- Kay Bliss reminded us that next Wednesday, at 7:45 a.m. at Nordhoff High School, was our Career Day.
 
- Leslie Bouche was pleased to announce that Pradeep Kapadia has refurbished three old laptops to send to the school in India which she helps sponsor.
 
- PK was also pleased to announce that his wife Susan’s nonprofit, Ojai CARES, was on the receiving end of a Community Grant.
 
- Wendy reminded people that tomorrow was the opening for a new exhibit at the Ojai Museum, the annual Ojai Studio Artists showcase.
 
- Suzanne said that the Taste of Ojai committee was gearing up for 20178, with a celebratory barbecue at Mike Malone’s house on May 6. Anyone interesting in helping out with Taste is encouraged to come.
 
PROGRAM
 
Patricia Anderson introduced Christy Madden, with the Ventura County Community Development agency, who heads up three HUD-related grants. She talked about two program - Pay for Success, a public-private partnership program to curb recidivism among probationers, and the homelessness situation in the county.
 
Pay For Success is a new $2.6 million, five-year program which involves 400 “medium to high-risk” former prisoners. The study is designed to test the effects of various interventions meant to keep parolees from going back to prison. Parolees are randomly assigned to the program, with a control group carefully monitored to track progress. The private agencies participating, such as Interface, are paid $32,000 for every parolee who does not return to prison over the life of the program, and paid $640 for every three months that parole is not violated. Sex offenders are not included in the study. Parolees are given trauma therapy, “moral recognition,” employment services and family reunification aid.
 
The homeless situation, Madden said, has been hopeful, “with a dramatic decrease with families and homelessness,” from 380 homeless families in 2013 and 178 in 2017. The county is committed to finding homes for all veterans. As stubborn as the problem is, Madden said that variety of agencies - where she administers the Ventura County Continuum of Care grant programs - have seen real progress. The most intractable problem, is that the rents in Ventura County exceed the Section H vouchers provided by HUD.
 
After handing over our presenter gift box of citrus, Suzanne gaveled the proceedings to a close.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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