Council Adopts Business-Friendly Plan to Battle Flat Revenues

VENTURA —  With a revenue stream barely trickling into City Hall, council members unanimously approved a sweeping economic development plan Monday night aimed at expanding and retaining businesses while making money for the city.

The City Council approved the business-friendly program moments before staff members presented a conservative $49.5-million budget for next year that shows revenue lagging behind expenditures by about $1 million.

Although the gap has been closed for next year, officials say it points to a chronic problem facing Ventura: City revenues are flat, the potential for growth is poor and the cost of running the city will likely increase.

“Consequently,” City Manager Donna Landeros told the council in her budget report, “it will be necessary for the city to focus serious attention on stabilizing ongoing expenditures and increasing revenues.”

One way to do that is by developing a blueprint that will guide Ventura’s business policies for the future.

The program presented Monday covers a wide range of goals and ideas that are expected to take two to five years to complete. It is expected to cost about $638,000 over the first two years. The program’s objectives include:

* Establishing a community profile by studying real estate records, retail sales receipts and other statistical information to draw a picture of Ventura’s business community.

* Identifying ways to streamline the city’s fees and permitting process.

* Creating links with other business groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the city’s convention and tourism bureau.

* Identifying local businesses that are at risk of closing and finding ways to keep them open.

* Developing programs geared toward attracting new businesses, and establishing a tracking system that would monitor business license renewals and recruitment of new companies.

“I think it is an ambitious work plan that as it comes together will get us well positioned and ahead of the curve,” said David Kleitsch, the city’s economic development manager.

In coming months, Kleistch and his staff will begin the first phase of the program: studying city demographics to find out why businesses move to Ventura and why others relocate.

“We have to get a handle on the real estate market--why do they leave?” Kleistch asked. “There really isn’t a single source of information . . . it is all scattered.”

Before Monday’s meeting, council members praised the plan and said it would help put Ventura on solid financial footing.

“The Economic Development Work Program is comprehensive and well planned,” Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures said. And, she said, it provides the city with a blueprint for its economic future.

“It’s kind of like the old saying,” Measures said. “If you don’t have a plan for where you are going, you’re not going to know where you end up.”