Posted by lrgvanman on May 2, 2008 at 6:24 a.m.

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Posted by whatever on May 2, 2008 at 8:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)

lrgvanman, I agree completely. Fillmore isn't a place I would want to live.

Posted by stopit on May 2, 2008 at 8:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

lrgvanman,I think that comment is pretty rude.

Posted by AnnaWhaat on May 2, 2008 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Fillmore is a great place to live. A place where people grew up together as well as thier parents did. A place where you know everyone. GOing to the store and running into people you know all the time and visiting. So dont put it down unless you have lived there.
I dont know what the first comment was but seems like it was uncalled for.

Posted by del on May 2, 2008 at 2:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)

And this growth is only the 'official' count. It would not be too difficult to show the suits the 'unofficial' count.

Posted by catlover on May 2, 2008 at 6:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I love when people talk bad about Fillmore. Why would anyone want to live near the mountains, smell orange blossoms every spring, swim all summer, watch fireworks on July 4th?, not hear sirens all the time, live near quiet people, have nice neighbors, get to the store in five minutes, not have to worry about traffic....why would anyone want that?

Posted by AnnaWhaat on May 3, 2008 at 10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

catlover ,Its beyond me??????

Posted by Nathaniel69 on May 3, 2008 at 7:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)

There's way too much gossip and no privacy in Fillmore. Not to be rude, but the schools are substandard, there's no decent restaurants or places to buy groceries or shop except Vons. Your movie theater plays one movie at night and that's it. Do you people even have any banks? Gym? The best thing Ive seen in your town is Starbucks, now how did that happen? Look at this way, there's much room for improvement.

Posted by AnnaWhaat on May 4, 2008 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Nathaniel69 ,Yes we have a Gym........we have Vons and Super A (which has the best prices of fruits and vegtables around) and anothe grocery store on Central actually two of them.
Banks, We have Wells fargo, Santa Clara Valley Bank, and Santa Barbara Bank and Trust. As for the Schools they are ok. Compared to other schools in other cities I would say about equal.........
Yes we have our theater ,which in a historical monument. If we want to go see another movie then we drive 9 miles to Santa Paula and have a night out.......
Fillmore is not full of gossip, its just when something BIG comes up that the whole town hears about it. People are friendly, we all know our neighbors. And we have great Restaurants in Fillmore also, Vallarta, El Pascador, Margarets (great Food)! Ihop, Carls, tack bell, Burger King, Yanni's ( a great place to eat that serves a variety of things) the Zuchinni is fantastic ! Then many smaller family owned eating places. Schools are close enough to walk home. What else to we need????????? We have everything we want.

Posted by smeza2 on May 5, 2008 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Listen, Fillmore is a great place to grow up in. It is a FANTASTIC place to grow up in when compared to other cities like Los Angeles (any city in Los Angeles County). How would I know? I grew up in Fillmore and now live in a suburb located in Los Angeles County. Yes, my neighborhood is nice; I live in an upper middle class neighborhood. Yet, people are completely rude. I purchased my home over 5 yrs. ago and my neighbors still don't say hi. No one watches out for their neighbor...here, I'm on my own. Currently, I'm trying to "work" my way back to Fillmore.

Fillmore is a quiet place where every one goes to one particular grocery store; and, one knows he/she will surely run into an old classmate. Fillmore is a place where you attend one particular public school and more than likely your child's teacher is an old classmate. Fillmore is a place where you go to the historic movie theater to watch the movie of the week and know that you are sitting in an authentic 1900's movie theater and rejoice in that fact. Fillmore is a small town where your neighbor knows you, says hi, congratulates you on your endeavors, and empathizes with your grief when you've lost someone. Fillmore is a place where one lives modestly and knows that it does not have the opulence of Beverly Hills, nor the fake facade of Hollywood.

And, if you are one who doesn't appreciate what Fillmore is and has to offer, then Fillmore is not for you.

P.S.
Before signing off, I would like to comment on the public schooling in Fillmore. Fillmore does not have substandard schools. The low scores epidemic is something that is happening to all public schools all over the country. One major factor is the new demographics that have emerged since the late 90's. Public schools all over the country have seen an influx of recent immigrants. And logically, a recent immigrant, who speaks very little to no English, will not score well on the California Standardized Tests or the CAT6 Tests. Therefore, their score is averaged in with the other scores...thus, ultimately lowering the school's score.

Posted by smeza2 on May 5, 2008 at 10:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I need to add to my previous post. I meant every word used in my previous post; however, I would also add that we are in danger of losing it all. There is an obvious increase of gangs and crime. Granted, compared to other metropolitan cities...Fillmore is completely safe...yet; when compared to the Fillmore 10 years ago...it has changed dramatically; it has dramatically changed for the worse.

Not enough is being done to curb gangs and crime activity; I would also point out that the two work in conjunction. I am a strong believer that when it comes to crime, one can not be a liberal. Fillmore is still in a position to win this one; gangs can be easily eradicated. I know I've mentioned this before but here it goes again. Other counties have passed strong laws and injunctions where known gang members can not be seen with any other known gang members; no one under a particular age can have a bald head nor wear "baggy clothing", and if a known gang member is caught out past curfew they are quickly taken in (state law W&IC 625.5 (c)).

Is Fillmore enforcing the Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act of 1998 (PC 186.22 (b)(1))?

Are parents of gang members being prosecuted and held criminally liable for their child's gang-related activities If the parents fail to exercise reasonable care, supervision and control over their minor child, they can be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor (PC 272). By law, such neglect is punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $2,500. Has any parent in Fillmore ever been held responsible for their gang member child's criminal activity? I haven't heard of this happening. I feel it is imperative that Fillmore officials make a precedent and begin enforcing this California law. I strongly believe that once a precedent is set in Fillmore, parents are going to WANT to know where their child is, who their friends are, and they are going to make it a priority to keep them out of trouble.

Posted by vcsexplorer11 on May 5, 2008 at 11:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

smeza2,
Well said!!
Fillmore is good city but is going the wrong direction now. It is on it's way to becoming a east LA, if the city officials continue on the direction they are going. They should model the city towards small coastal towns like Cambria. The train is it's nitch. Make it a town that not only film makers want to come to, but the stars in the films want to come to. Instead we want to make it a slum. How sad is that?

Posted by mazterdje on May 5, 2008 at 3:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Vcsexplorer11, I live in Fillmore and I happen like the “progressive” direction that the town seems to be taking. I agree with Nathaniel, there is much room for improvement when it comes to schools and places to shop. I’m also a Hispanic and offended in your east LA remark in that I take it that you are somehow prejudice against Hispanics?? I’m like most people in Fillmore in that we could care less about this so called movie train. I hear a lot of good things about the train from people that live outside of town but no benefits for the residents. Forget about Fillmore ever becoming this fantasy white coastal town where the movie stars come to. Hahahaha.!! Who are you kidding? Fillmore has always been mostly Hispanic because of the surrounding agriculture and the type of workforce that it attracts. If you want this town to become “whiter” then start building some mansions like in Cambria and start knocking down all the orange trees, oh and don’t forget to demolish all the Hispanic owned businesses and bakeries.

Posted by stopit on May 5, 2008 at 5:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The only criticism I have of the city is their Idea of "if build houses and businesses will come" Well when I moved here the population was 9,000 Today the population is 15,000 and alot of houses,and no businesses or jobs.Now they want a major employer of Fillmore(Ameron)to leave so they can develop more houses? Then they say they want to bring in upper class people with the The Luxurious Bridges development(in the riverbed)Then they say they want to revitalize Downtown business district to encourage tourists to shop,so then they put a low-income apartments in the middle of town!Come to think of it they put low-income housing units all over the town.With all this development, more housing, more people,BUT NO JOBS (unless your a Sheriff)

Posted by Voter on May 6, 2008 at 7:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Stopit you failed to mention, there were other Business that provided jobs here in Fillmore that are are gone. More houses or housing projects and less jobs.
Carter West, Olga Factory and The Sunkist Packing House.
Lots of jobs lost to Housing Developments.

Posted by AnnaWhaat on May 7, 2008 at 7:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree Fillmore does have a gang problem. Hopefully they are working on that. But nothing like some of the other bigger cities in the county.
I may agree with the bald head law under a certain age if we are talking bald and not just a shaved head during the summer. I always shaved my nephews heads during the summer time. Fillmore does get much hotter then most other cities.

Posted by smeza2 on May 7, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)

mazterdje,
I believe you got the wrong impression; in other words your "reading" is completely wrong. I am a Mexican-American, and I too would NEVER want Fillmore to become anything like east LA. I have a colleague who was born and raised in east LA and now lives in Montebello and she has always said that east LA is a "slum" (these are her words, and we have been friends for 11 years). She hates that the large majority of residents are on government assistance, live in substandard housing, don't initiate the importance of education in their children, do not honor or respect the law. Please note: the large majority of residents in east LA are NOT recent immigrants or illegally in this country. Most were born and raised in California; most are 5th generation Mexican-American or more. My colleague's great, great grandmother was born and raised in California. And, she notes that she is the only member in her family for over 3 generations who has a university degree. Also note: I am in no way saying that individuals from east LA are criminals, or no good. I am saying that a community made up of poor or lower income households begets more poverty and thus crime is sure to follow. Please don't take my word for it; do your own research. You may want to read Blink and The Tipping Point written by Molcolm Gladwell.

I have always thought that Fillmore should also model itself after a coastal community...one like Santa Barbara. The fact that you stated that you don't want Fillmore to become white sounds like something a separatist would say, and that is not what Fillmore is about. We are not separatist. And, if you are then MAYBE Fillmore is not for you.

Have you ever been to Santa Barbara? I lived in Santa Barbara for 5 years. It is great; it a composition of many nationalities. And, it has strong and strict ordinances that help it remain the beautiful city that it is. It is larger than Fillmore and yet it has that small town feel.

Posted by lrgvanman on May 11, 2008 at 10:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

don't forget the mass production

Posted by vcsexplorer11 on May 14, 2008 at 2:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)

smeza2,
Exactly what I was saying and I also know east LA, Gangs and slums.

mazterdje,
Say, like your cohorts, that everyone that doesn't have your "slum future" vision of Fillmore is a racist. I could care less what race is the majority, but I care more that the city doesn't reflect a slum or gang city. Tourism and film are some of the things that help the city financially, not just the orchards. Business and beautification should be priority one. Moorpark used to be worse now it's in the U.S. top 50 palces to live.