Our view: Low crime rates belie rationale for ICE raids
There are two good reasons to believe the recent ICE activity in Ventura is not based on any actual plan or strategy to improve public safety.
The first is crime statistics. A look at California’s violent crime data from 2013-2023 concluded that Ventura County is one of the five safest counties in the state, with just 16.8 violent crimes per 100,000 people for the period studied, according to U.S. data analyzed by the Simmrin Law Group.
Ventura County is much safer than many smaller, rural counties in California and it ranked just a few notches behind Orange County, California’s safest. Santa Barbara County, also the subject of raids, was in the top 10 counties for safety, with 59.5 violent crimes per 100,000 people according to the Simmrin analysis.
The second reason is the waffling by the Trump Administration about whether farms, restaurants and hotels do or do not provide essential services that should exempt them from unannounced raids. Twice during the month of June, the administration offered an olive branch to farmers, restaurateurs and hoteliers — only to pull it back. The latest peace offering was issued on social media on June 30. We’ll see how long it lasts.
We continue to believe that dragging Ventura and Santa Barbara counties into the ICE dragnet targeting Los Angeles is arbitrary, capricious and a barrier to economic success.
The threats jeopardize the future of thousands of small businesses and the ability of our farmers to feed the American people.
STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE
Kudos to San Luis Obispo Chamber CEO Jim Dantona for tossing his hat into the ring for an open seat on the SLO County Board of Supervisors.
We’ve known Dantona since his days in East Ventura County and we know him to be supportive of small business, open-minded about social and economic issues and a good manager.
As is our custom, we won’t be endorsing any candidate in this or any other race. But we acknowledge that it takes courage to run for office in these times and we do welcome his decision to run.
The SLO County Board of Supervisors has seen a more-than-usual share of contentiousness in recent years and Dantona could be a steadying influence.
A NEW LEADER IN SLO
Speaking of SLO County, we’d like to welcome Christine Dawson as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County. She joins CF SLOCO from the Community Foundation for Monterey County, where she served as Senior Vice President of Philanthropic Services.
She helped grow the Monterey County foundation from $130M to $420M in assets, and she seems well qualified to grow the relatively young foundation to the next level. Judging from her background, she should fit right in with Jackie Carrera and Vanessa Bechtel, our community foundation CEOs in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties respectively.
Dawson already has put down roots in Atascadero and we look forward to hearing more from her in the near future.
