Letters: The race for county DA; Measures A and B – VC Star

Lucky to have Nasarenko as DA

On June 7 my fellow residents of Ventura County can join me in voting for Erik Nasarenko to continue his work as our District Attorney. Eriks work to advocate for victims and their families is exemplified in the new Family Justice Center, where services for victims of sexual assault, child abuse, and human trafficking are all within the same building, decreasing the additional trauma of telling ones story over and over at multiple locations and departments.

The $2.5 million funding Ventura County recently received from the U.S. Department of Justice will be overwhelmingly spent on examining the 817 untested sexual assault kits, incarcerating these heinous predators, and freeing victims from looking over their shoulder daily fearing their attacker is still in their neighborhood, rather than in prison where they belong.

Eriks approach to using alternatives to jail such as treatment and rehabilitation save room in our county jails and prisons for those offenders who need to be incarcerated. At the recent League of Women Voters forum, Nasarenkos opponent said, We are not social workers. But after 25 years as a public-school educator, I know firsthand what is sometimes needed is a social worker, not a cop, or prison time.

Erik Nasarenko is supported by numerous groups that believe restorative justice and ending the school to prison pipeline are important goals to work toward. It is no surprise Erik is supported by our former Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten, former Oxnard Police Chief Scott Whitney and Santa Paula Chief of Police, Travis Walker, and more than 100 civic and community leaders throughout Ventura County.

All citizens of Ventura County are lucky to have Erik Nasarenko as our District Attorney and I look forward to voting for him to continue and expand these important programs he has put in place.

Cathy Trevino, Oxnard

My grandchildren would like rainbows to come out of my belly button if they squeeze my nose. Unfortunately, I cannot accomplish that. It is interesting to note that the article reporting the $4 million raised by private companies to protect their businesses does not mention the $9 billion redistribution of our tax money proposed by our governor to offset in small part the $6 a gallon we are suffering through because of Measures like A and B.

If Measures A and B would pay for electric cars for the 88% of us who cannot afford Teslas, then I would vote for it. The measures do not reduce pollution. They may increase it as we buy oil and gas from Russia, Venezuela and the Middle East. The measures weaken our local economy, too, as we are becoming a service-oriented economy. Energy is one of the few things we produce in Ventura County. Patagonia, for example, makes most of its stuff in communist China (where most solar panels are still made.)

I am for clean energy but this religious zeal to convert to 100% clean before the technology is ready is dumb and average people are suffering economically. Finally, it does not make sense to me that the proponents of Measures A and B did not just propose to ban all oil and gas businesses in Ventura County. Why do we have to pay for a wasteful expansion of county government by creating a bureaucracy to say no to oil producers over time? Cowardly and wasteful tactic.

Wes Barrow, Thousand Oaks

Oil companies are charging exorbitant gas prices with a record $15.3 billion in combined profits last quarter. In order to do this, they rely on extreme fossil fuel extraction methods referred to as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Some examples of these potentially polluting methods are cyclical steam lift and fracking. Aquifer contamination can and does result from EOR petroleum production.

As climate crisis and resulting long-term droughts continue, both residents and farmers in Ventura County shall become even more dependent upon underground sources of drinking and irrigation water for their livelihoods.

According to the Ventura County Resource Management Agency: Petroleum (oil and gas) has been produced in Ventura County for over a century. Oil and gas production commenced in Ventura County in the late 1860s, following the discovery of the Ojai oil field. Over 12,000 wells have been drilled in the Ventura Basin (including Ventura County and a portion of Los Angeles County). There are currently about 3,800 active wells in Ventura County.

Many older oil fields have been abandoned and improperly plugged wells, representing passageways through which fluids from the EOR reservoir could migrate into aquifers. Records of the locations and conditions of these improperly abandoned wells have not always been kept. We already know that there are over 2,000 idle and abandoned wells in Ventura County that will ultimately need to be dealt with. This is definitely not the time for less oversight of new well permits (based on antiquated 1940s requirements and technologies), but a thorough environmental review using current standards and resources for permitting purposes.

In summary: Yes on Measures A & B will: (1) protect our drinking water, (2) protect our vulnerable neighborhoods, (3) no change at the pump or change in jobs availability, and (4) no change in public services.

Robert Thomas Nast, Oxnard

John Barrick is running for Ventura County District Attorney. The current District Attorney is Erik Nasarenko, who was appointed by his friends on the Board of Supervisors, not elected by the people. In fact, three of those board members have since given Mr. Nasarenko large donations to his political campaign. Isnt this a conflict of interest?

Regardless, I have known Mr. Barrick for 18 months and have heard him speak at various gatherings. I have also heard Mr. Barrick and Mr. Nasarenko debate twice. After these debates, which are available on YouTube for everyone to see, it was quite apparent to me that John Barrick was the only choice for District Attorney.

Mr. Barrick talked about how he will support and protect crime victims and our citizens from violence and the predators who cause violence. Mr. Barrick made it very clear he is not running to be a social worker. This is why Mr. Barrick is supported by law enforcement.

Mr. Nasarenko talked about how he wanted to provide restorative justice programs to criminals. It was quite apparent that his primary focus was not for crime victims, even though he said it was. If that were true, then why don't the police support him? Why is he instead supported by politicians who continue to vote in favor of crime bills that favor criminals?

We need to elect John Barrick to be our Ventura County District Attorney. He is the only one I trust to do the right thing for the right reason.

Richard Moore, Simi Valley

I am a recently retired attorney who has known District Attorney Erik Nasarenko for many years. He is a person of great integrity, a passionate defender of public safety, and a natural leader. He is also a highly skilled attorney.

In recent years, he occupied one of more difficult roles in the DAs office, prosecuting sex offenders. He has tried some 60 jury trials, nearly all resulting in convictions and significant prison terms for perpetrators. Under his watch, the office has continued its policy of aggressive prosecutions.

However, Mr. Nasarenko is not a one-size-fits-all prosecutor. For example, with mental health issues afflicting many perpetrators, to reduce recidivism, Mr. Nasarenko created the first Mental Health Unit in the DAs office to provide treatment and rehabilitation for certain minor offense perpetrators. He is an open and highly accessible public servant who has spent countless hours in community outreach, speaking to groups and organizations, explaining and personalizing the prosecutors role in our county. He has earned the right to be elected for a full term.

I urge you to vote for Erik Nasarenko on June 7.

David Shain, Thousand Oaks

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Letters: The race for county DA; Measures A and B - VC Star