Editorial: Simi Valley sights its economic future
Since the deep recession of the early 1990s triggered by post-Cold War defense cuts, Simi Valley has evolved from industrial center to bedroom community to small-business hub. Now, Mayor Bob Huber wants to reinvent the city as what you might call Simi Valley 4.0, combining the best parts of its past but bringing more of Read More →
As recession financing fallout continues, big bankruptcies emerge
When an economy is shifting gears, strange events are likely to take place. Those words of wisdom came to me decades ago courtesy of Eugene Berman, a bankruptcy attorney in Springfield, Mass. But they seem to ring true as far as a pair of high-profile bankruptcies are concerned. For legendary pinot noir pioneer Richard Sanford, Read More →
Editorial: Ventura County rolls up its sleeves on job creation
Ventura County has taken some first steps toward setting an economic vitality framework into place. A plan presented to the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 7 brings the issue of economic vitality to center stage in a county that’s experienced a very slow recovery from the Great Recession. The plan, presented by the office of Read More →
Editorial: Don’t get your feathers too ruffled over Chick-fil-A kerfuffle
There is a disturbing rush to judgment going on when it comes to Chick-Fil-A. In light of anti-gay-marriage comments by the company’s president, Dan Cathy, protests and counter-protests have sprung up at the fast-food restaurants across the country. In our region, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a public university, is rethinking its vendor contracts in Read More →
Timothy Geithner’s four simple rules for navigating global recovery
LOS ANGELES — He is surprisingly slight of build, unflappably low-key, well-dressed and, of course, there is that full head of wavy brown hair. In short, Timothy Geithner has all of the proper accoutrements for the person he is — the 75th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, a bureaucratic mandarin and President Barack Obama’s go-to Read More →
Editorial: $2.3B is too much change to find in couch
Just how “special” are California’s “special funds”? It turns out they are very special indeed. News reports during late July ripped the mask off these stealth reserves, revealing the fact that millions of dollars in cash are lying around in accounts reserved for recycling, parks and other state-operated activities. Even state organizations that have gone Read More →
Op/ed: A new home for Ventura County’s nonprofit community
By Hugh Ralston on July 27, 2012 As commercial real estate reporter Marlize van Romburgh wrote in the July 20 edition of the Business Times, the Ventura County Community Foundation has a real home for the first time in its nearly 25-year history. I want to take a few words to explain why VCCF purchased Read More →
