{"id":7627,"date":"2022-08-01T10:07:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T17:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rjgeib.com\/?p=7627"},"modified":"2022-09-19T08:20:29","modified_gmt":"2022-09-19T15:20:29","slug":"another-year-in-frowsy-ventura-an-action-plan-moving-forward%ef%bf%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rjgeib.com\/another-year-in-frowsy-ventura-an-action-plan-moving-forward%ef%bf%bc\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Year in Frowsy Ventura: An Action Plan Moving Forward for 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So in a few short weeks I will go back to work in my 28th year of teaching. My classroom will be full of new students ready for a new semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it will be my 23rd at my current school. All of them in the same classroom, no less. The same 70′ by 50′ physical space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I sit down this morning to think about where I am, what I am doing, and how I might want to make adjustments. If I don\u2019t take this deep inventory soon, I will be too busy to do it. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here it goes. I apologize in advance for the unavoidable length of this essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I moved out here to Ventura County for work in 2000, and all in all I do not regret that decision. But that was 22 years ago. That is a long time to be doing the same thing in the same place. I looked back at my notes from six years ago and I am seeing some of the same complaints about my life: I am stuck, same ol\u2019 same ol\u2019, etc. Many of my valued co-workers have long since left for greener pastures after a decade or so at our school. There is a time to take a job and a time to leave that job, and they heeded the signs and departed after having thought long and hard about it. I have often wondered if I should have followed my valued co-workers for greener pastures elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
The City of Ventura: So Much Potential, But…<\/center><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Oh, Ventura\u2026 I saw with dismay they made an arrest yesterday in a murder<\/a> which took place in a local neighborhood I often hang out in, and that there was another stabbing last night<\/a> in town. This happens too often here. The City of Ventura has beautiful scenery by the beach here in Southern California, but there is a seedy aspect to it that belies its blue-collar roots. I have never liked this aspect of Ventura since I first came to know the place 23 years ago. The seaside town of Ventura has incredible natural beauty, but it is also kind of dodgy and dirty. Someone should really clean Ventura up if you want it to be mentioned in the same breath as other similar California beach cities like Carlsbad, Dana Point, or Manhattan Beach \u2013 much nicer places to visit and live. There are homeless in all parts of Ventura, and trash is left where they congregate. The parking lot next to the Ventura Pier smells like piss, and you don\u2019t want to be walking around there at night. Serious shootings with serious gangs in the Chicago or Los Angeles manner are still blessedly rare here, but stabbings minor and otherwise among the drug addicted and desperate are common in Ventura. \u201cSketchy\u201d is the word. Especially at night. I\u2019m tired of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Homeless in Ventura: Frustration, Confusion, Ambivalence, Avoidance\u201d<\/strong><\/a>
October 15, 2019 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a multifaceted problem with mental health, drug addiction, and high real estate costs contributing. But the results are plain to see. Small forest fires from homeless encampment bonfires which spread out of control in the river bottoms when it gets windy are commonplace here. Drug abuse, overdoses, and mental illness. Stabbing after stabbing, usually without someone dying. One lady\u2019s murder<\/a> made the news last year, because she talked about her fear for her life beforehand \u2013 take a good look at Ms. Kelsey Dillon, and you will have a face for the homeless misery in Ventura to remember \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n