Retiring 3rd Dist. Supervisor Kathy Long lauded with a long goodbye

December 21, 2016
Santa Paula News

Retiring District 3 Supervisor Kathy Long was lauded at the December 13 board meeting where representatives of Santa Paula were among those that offered a long goodbye to the supervisor credited with leading the effort to reopen Santa Paula Hospital.

The red-haired and often red-hatted Long, the former aide to Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee, succeeded her boss in 1997. She had previous government experience in Detroit, her home state, and Los Angeles County before joining Kildee’s staff.

The 3rd District is the most diverse in the county and covers Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Southeast Oxnard, East Oxnard Plain, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Piru, East Lockwood Valley, and the Eastern Portion of Naval Base Ventura County Port Hueneme.

Jan Marholin, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Clara Valley, flanked by former CEO Sheila Tate and staffer Pearl Galvan, led the moment of inspiration for the meeting.

Marholin noted Long’s longtime involvement and support for the clubs ranging from funding help for a passenger van to transforming an old Fillmore shower room into a teen club that draws double the youth than first envisioned.

“You’re an inspiration to us all and we hope you come back and visit us,” Marholin told Long. 

A proclamation presented by Board President Supervisor Linda Parks noted Long’s tenure included fiscal responsibility, protecting public safety resources, strengthening healthcare, sustainable housing and land-use practices as well as family programs. 

“Her legacy of achievement,” includes Long’s successful efforts to help take Naval Base Ventura County off the government funding chopping block, helping to facilitate CSUCI and establishing the Heritage Valley Tourism Bureau.

Long was also recognized for her leading the effort to purchase and reopen Santa Paula Hospital, and help secure funding for the storm battered Santa Paula Airport where its runway was all but destroyed by flood waters in 2005.

Ojai Mayor John F. Johnson, a former county CEO, said in politics it is often hard to distinguish between “what is popular” and what is the right thing to do, “stand up to tough issues. Without the work she did and her steadfastness there would be no hospital in the Santa Clara River Valley. “At that time,” in 2003 when the community built Santa Paula Memorial Hospital closed and declared bankruptcy, “hospitals were closing everywhere. Santa Paula’s hospital was obsolete and out of date and had basically gone through two closedowns.”

Johnson said Long “Sat us down,” including then Healthcare Agency Director Pierre Durant, “and we were reluctant dragons, but Kathy’s vision for what the need for healthcare was, particularly for those in the Santa Clara River Valley,” was unshakeable. 

Johnson told Long, “Had you not been so steadfast and clear in  your direction Pierre, me and Michael Powers,” the latter now Ventura County’s CEO, “there would have been no Santa Paula Hospital yet today. But truly, that was a gift to all of  Ventura County.”

The hospital successfully reopened in 2006 under the umbrella of the VCHCA and Ventura County Medical Center.

Santa Paula Mayor Jenny Crosswhite thanked the supervisors for the work they do and “I especially want to thank Kathy for all the ways she has been an advocate for Santa Paula. I know there are times when we have felt like we get left out and forgotten, but Kathy has always been present and made sure to remember our community.”

Crosswhite noted that Long’s efforts to revive the hospital were already mentioned, “But some of the little things not mentioned were the times you attended events that other people might not have thought were important. You even attended our Hands Across Santa Paula event where we remember the spirit of kindness and recognize some of those volunteers that don’t get recognized in our community. So, I want to thank you for being present and available to us to make sure we were informed, and I want to lift up the ways that you have recognized the complexity of the city’s issues.”

Crosswhite said she always appreciated Long’s understanding of local issues and how they relate to one another: “It’s easy to say oh well, public safety is a problem because of this and that, but you understand that all of our issues are interconnected and that one issue doesn’t have a simple answer. I appreciate the way you have sought to make sure the complexity of the issues get looked at, so we can get to root causes and look at public safety,” from mentoring youth “and making sure families have access to housing and food and all of the things families need to be thriving. 

“And those are the things that are especially important to us in Santa Paula,” and Crosswhite noted, “I thank you for being an advocate for our community.”

City Manager Jaime Fontes also thanked Long for her “excellent, excellent” service including those local projects that “bear your mark,” as well as her work with the community and city.

“I wish you the best of luck and,” he added, “a beautiful retirement.” 

Rep. Julia Brownley described Long as, “The matriarch of Ventura County” in a video while others from various sectors of the county offered their congratulations and thanks.

Supervisor John Zaragoza noted that Long’s “dedication, your forte has been inspirational, especially to young women,” who admire Long as a political model.

“Crafting good government is an art,” and one that Long excels in, said Supervisor Steve Bennett,

Long’s loyalties were diverse, strong and extended to those areas she represented as well as the county overall, noted Board President Linda Park.

“The style you brought with you really set a wonderful demeanor for the board,” and its professionalism Parks added.

“This job you do, you made it a way of life,” and said Supervisor Peter Foy, “you did it with style.”

CEO Michael Powers told how Long’s caring was evident to him early on and she has been “A boss, a role model and a friend…”

Long was emotional as she talked about her service, noting “I started this path over 20 years ago when I was a Motown girl from Saginaw, Michigan. I didn’t plot the path but enjoyed the adventure.”

She also enjoyed “The challenges, the lessons but most of all the people. My next path is fun and relaxation with family and friends and my favorite husband Randy and we’ll read, golf and goof off. Happiness is not a choice, you make it everyday.”

Long concluded with, “Now, as the picture on the wall will show, I fade to black and white...”





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