2017's top stories in Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, Ojai and Fillmore

Ventura

The Star compiled some of the biggest stories that happened in government, education, environment, business and health care in 2017.

Here are some of the top issues we've identified that happened in Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, Ojai and Fillmore.

VENTURA

THOMAS FIRE

Arguably, nothing comes close to the Thomas Fire when it comes to big stories anywhere. The largest fire in state history, the Thomas Fire started Dec. 4 just outside of Santa Paula. It quickly reached Ventura, where more than 500 homes were lost. Nearly a quarter of the city's residents were evacuated, as were thousands in the rest of the county and the Santa Barbara area.

The fires brought out the best in people, as organizations collecting donations ran out of space for water and places to store food, clothes and toys. Friends and families opened their doors to evacuees, and emergency responders worked around the clock battling the wind-driven blaze.

One of them, Cory Iverson, an engineer with the San Diego unit of Cal Fire, died near Fillmore. He left behind his 2-year-old daughter Evie and wife, Ashley, who is expecting the couple's second daughter in the spring.

This undated photo provided by Cal Fire shows Fire Apparatus Engineer Cory Iverson, right, with his wife, Ashley, and their daughter Evie. Iverson, who worked for the department's San Diego Unit as a member of a fire strike team, died while fighting the Thomas Fire north of Fillmore.

Virginia Pesola, 70, also died during the incident, in a traffic accident along the evacuation route. The Santa Paula resident was a former attorney and English teacher.

REDISTRICTING

Ventura turned 151 this year, and by the time it hits 152 the city will have a new system of electing its policymakers. Ventura, and a few weeks later Oxnard, was threatened with a lawsuit if it didn't change its electing ways. Both cities are moving to district council elections to address allegations they were violating the voting rights of underrepresented communities.

Ventura approved its new City Council district boundaries in December.

More:Ventura sets City Council voting districts

The Ventura City Council approved its district boundaries Dec. 18, and Oxnard will do the same early next year. Don't be surprised if other area school districts or cities get hit with similar legal threats in 2018.

OXNARD

MAYOR, COUNCIL RECALL

Minutes after the Oxnard City Council voted 4-1 in May to increase wastewater rates, resident Aaron Starr handed over documents stating his intent to recall the four who voted yes. The vote was the second straight year the city had raised wastewater rates. The higher rates mean the average bill will climb by 75 percent from early 2016, before the first rate hike took effect, to 2021, when the final year increase takes effect.

In November, Starr said he submitted 68,000 signatures in that effort to recall Mayor Tim Flynn and council members Carmen Ramirez, Bert Perello and Oscar Madrigal. He'll need 48,000 valid signatures to make the spring special election happen.

The Ventura County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is currently verifying the signatures.

POWER PLANT

Protestors carry signs outside the Oxnard Performing Arts and Convention Center where the California Energy Commission was holding a hearing Wednesday on the Puente Power Project that NRG Energy Inc. is proposing for a site at Mandalay State Beach in Oxnard. The gas-fired plant would replace two plants already on the site if it is approved.

Environmental and social justice groups scored a major victory when NRG Energy Inc., the company behind the proposal to build a controversial power plant in Oxnard, suspended its application to build a 262-megawatt gas-fired power plant on the beach near Harbor Boulevard and Fifth Street.

Billed as the Puente Power Project, the proposal has been under California Energy Commission scrutiny since the application was first filed in 2015. It generated fierce opposition from those who want to reclaim the coastline and from those who argue against another power plant in a low-income, heavily Latino area.

NRG's request followed an announcement by the two-member energy commission committee stating its intentions to deny the project. According to the committee, the proposed power plant is inconsistent with local laws and would create significant environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated.

PORT HUENEME

CITY COUNCIL TENSIONS

In August, the Port Hueneme City Council voted 4-0 to strip member Jim Hensley of all official duties. The council's resolution reprimanded Hensley for "inappropriate conduct" of several employees, including former Deputy City Manager Carmen Nichols, who filed a claim alleging harassment and against the city after resigning in August. It was the second rebuke for Hensley since being elected in 2014.

From left are Port Hueneme City Council members Jon Sharkey and Jim Hensley and Mayor Tom Figg.

Issues with employee relations led the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority to threaten to drop coverage of insurance that covers insurance claims related to harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination and hiring practices. City officials persuaded the authority to keep coverage but agreed to pay out the first $250,000 of any claim.

In November, Hensley filed a federal lawsuit against the city alleging freedom of speech violations and seeking monetary damages for lost wages and benefits related to being removed from some committees that pay council members for attending.

'POT' HUENEME

Port Hueneme's friendliness toward the cannabis industry has earned it the nickname "Pot Hueneme." City officials are embracing the reputation and are hoping the industry will fill vacant storefronts and bring it much-needed revenue.

As of December, the city had approved three medical dispensaries and others were in the pipeline. The city also approved an ordinance regulating recreational activity. Once it's in place, Port Hueneme will be the first and only city in Ventura County (so far) to allow recreational commercial enterprises.

SANTA PAULA

SALES TAX AND RAISES

Armed with new tax money, the city of Santa Paula approved across-the-board raises for nearly every city employee and hired several new positions. By the end of the three-year contracts, the city — which used a one-cent sales tax and a transfer from water, wastewater and stormwater funds to balance the 2017-18 budget — will be paying more than $2.3 million in ongoing expenses to cover the raises. That doesn't include the resulting increases in pensions, which are based on earnings.

It's not clear how the city will be able to sustain all of its new spending. But in 2018, water, wastewater and stormwater fees will be studied, and an increase in those as well as other city services seems imminent.

The city also continues moving to disband its fire department to get coverage through the costlier Ventura County Fire Protection District. A majority of the council felt the city needed the upgrade in service levels the well-funded department offers.

That move will transfer 79 percent of the city's property taxes to the county and will also cost the city property, equipment and revenue related to building and inspection fees. The cost of the transition has been a moving target. Stay tuned in 2018 as the process continues.

OJAI

SO LONG, TOURISM

In response to some residents upset with too many visitors, the Ojai City Council voted to end its tourism bureau in June. That led the Ojai Tourism Improvement District, a tourism marketing program paid for by local hotels, to close its doors Oct. 31.

A downtown Ojai store that sells olive oil was open Thursday, but air quality remained poor.

Businesses in the area took another hit following the Thomas Fire, which spared the city from much physical damage but nonetheless has driven tourists and locals away. It's unclear what the impact will be in a city that gets more than a third of its budget from transient occupancy taxes, but it could be significant.

Many business and lodging facilities closed at least briefly because of the fire. Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Scott Eicher urged the council at a meeting in December to come up with a new marketing plan. Some businesses and event organizers are "suffering to the point of panic," he said.

GOLDEN STATE WATER BIDS ADIEU

A judge has ruled that Golden State Water must pay the owners of the Ojai Playhouse for damage caused by flooding.

In June, the Casitas Water Municipal District took over operations from Golden State Water Co. after announcing it had reached a deal to buy the Ojai water system for $34.4 million. Residents had spent years working to get out from under the privately owned firm.

In related news, and also in June, a Ventura County Superior Court judge tentatively ruled Golden State was responsible for repairing the Ojai Playhouse. The theater and attached restaurant, The Village Jester, had been closed since a water pipe burst and flooded the premises in 2014.

According to the Ojai Valley News, Ojai Playhouse owner Khaled Al-Awar reached a $3.85 million settlement agreement with Golden State. The owner hopes to have the theater up and running by late summer, OVN reported.

FILLMORE

DRILLING IN TOWN

Oil wells in unincorporated areas of Ventura County.

The city of Fillmore, along with Ventura County environmentalist, continue fighting an oil company’s request for permits to discharge more of its wastewater into the ground a few miles north of the city.

Seneca Resources Corp., the oil and gas exploration and extraction arm of National Fuel Gas Co., has asked the state and federal governments for what’s known as an “aquifer exemption expansion” for its operations in the Sespe Oil Field. Seneca is requesting it be allowed to inject water into additional parts of the aquifer under the Sespe field where it has discovered new oil deposits.

A final decision on the matter should come in 2018.