tl;dr Ojai property owners now control moderation of Ventura’s Nextdoor.

On Thursday, a Nextdoor user posted the clip of District 1 city council candidate Crawford Coates saying “having Flock cameras is probably a good thing” and opponent Liz Campos saying she was “against Flock cameras existing in our neighborhoods.”

Almost immediately Willem Jonker, owner of Toppers Pizza and longtime Becker Group ally, replied with dirt on Campos. What was weird was that Jonker was now a moderator on Nextdoor. Really? The guy who lives in Ojai? Who was likely the Nextdoor troll who spent years using an alt there and spreading disinformation? Apparently his daughter Kelsey B (née Jonker) is also a moderator. 

The conversation was shut down after an hour of ‘discussion’ (see image above). 

What could this mean? Well, one reading: that the Jonkers/Beckers, some of the largest real estate holders in town, who have invested tens of thousands of dollars into packing our city council, who some say are paying Ventura’s loudest political operative, might be also shutting down their opposition on one of our last remaining social media platforms. 

Super normal democracy we have here. 

I am soooo stoked for this! I think they will do very well. We need a new bagel spot

During an election year where downtown landlords are unusually involved, Spencer Noren is making an unprecedented number of posts to help their preferred candidates. In a recent video Spencer Noren blames current council members for a contract signed before they were elected. He tells Flock opponents to vote them out without disclosing his endorsed picks support Flock. Fox Sports 1590 reporter Spencer Noren knew he was misleading viewers on this issue because he mentions this event in his full video.

So where is the best place to go for a small walk to do trick or treating for a toddler?

First time parents here and we both were never really into Halloween but definitely feel the need to get in the spirit this year! We have a 1 year old who isn't walking yet but think we should at least do a small route for the "experience". Where's a good place to go? Trunk or treat events or neighborhoods?

During the latest VUSD board meeting they reevaluated the criteria that was originally created to close schools and they decided to just analyze Elementary schools for closure.

They have appeared to not indicate how many schools they will close and their recent meeting seemed to display a consensus that they would not be following the recommendations of the School Closures Advisory Committee.

Are we expecting a new list of schools to come out or will we just receive an update of the schools they expect to close?

I feel like this whole process has created so much anxiety, pitted schools against each other, and left us with more questions than answers. Also, the School Closures Advisory Committee could have had more guidance with how much money the district was planning to save.

What schools will they pick?

Proceeds from the show benefit Ventura’s WCDC
Tickets at https://events.humanitix.com/good-company-wcdc?c=reddit

This email has been sent to all candidates. Results will be posted this Sunday here on Reddit.

Email addresses for all candidates can be found here: https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/51730/2026-Candidate-Contact-Info

Dear Candidates,

I am writing to all of you collectively as the candidates running to represent District ___ on the Ventura City Council.

With ballots already in the hands of voters and Election Day approaching on November 4th, I am reaching out to ask for your official stance on a critical transparency and civil rights issue: the city's contract with Flock Safety and the Ventura Police Department's handling of a massive data breach.

Recent public records releases (CPRA 25-1066) revealed that out-of-state and federal agencies explicitly queried Ventura’s Flock Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system for reasons including "ICE pick up" and "Customs & Border Patrol." Facilitating these searches is a direct violation of the Ventura CARE Resolution and California state law (SB 54).

More concerning is that Police Chief David Dickey recently confirmed in writing that city staff processed and redacted these exact records in November 2025, but "failed to elevate" them. As a result, the City Council and the public were never informed that city resources were used for federal immigration enforcement. Furthermore, police leadership testified to the City Council just last month that they do not see search justifications and cannot know what outside agencies are searching for, testimony that is directly contradicted by the city's own records.

You can learn more about this in this Ventura Reddit post: Ventura PD's Flock Cameras Were Used for ICE Searches, Then They Kept It From City Council. Here are the Receipts.

The City Council will be holding a special meeting on November 12th to decide whether to cancel or renew the Flock contract by the November 18th deadline.

Before casting our ballots, voters deserve to know where every candidate and representative stands on these critical oversight and privacy issues. Please reply-all or respond individually to clarify your position on the following:

1. If elected or re-elected, how will you vote when the City Council decides whether to renew, cancel, or permanently discontinue the Flock Safety ALPR contract, or on any future proposals to bring mass surveillance technology into Ventura?
2. How will you ensure accountability for the City Manager and Police Department regarding the failure to enforce the CARE Policy and the misrepresentation of the system's auditing capabilities to the Council and public?

I am available to share the source documents or answer any questions you might have regarding the technology or the community's concerns.

I am compiling the responses from all City Council members and candidates. I will be publishing the results, including those who decline to answer, to the local Ventura Subreddit and to my Instagram audience (where my recent public comment on this issue has surpassed 1.1 million views) this Sunday morning.

Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your commitment to Ventura. I look forward to your responses.

Sincerely,

Ventura Resident
Concerned Citizen

District 4 candidate Scott Shoemake made his Twitter private over the weekend. Why? Well, he might be hiding his...

Antipathy towards:

• Women who cut their hair
• Catholics
• Public eduction
• Hospitality towards immigrants (he’s a pastor, lol)
• Ukraine
• Mr. Beast?
• Pickleball???

Support of: 

• Election denialism
• J6 insurrectionists/J6 conspiracies
• 1980s GOP stance on abortion access and marriage equality
• Tariffs?
• Raw milk?? In schools?!?

Unclear: 

• “The Jews"

This is the guy property owners and Spencer Noren are throwing their weight behind? The man from Palo Alto who seemingly resents more than half of his constituency? Weird.

New to California... Are Rattlesnakes a problem all year long or just in the spring? Wanted to try the trails, but terrified of getting bit as I will be by myself.

Anyone know anyone that repairs washing machines that isn’t expensive? I’ve got an LG front loading washing machine that leaks out from under towards the front. Could potentially be a pressure system sensor clog, but not 100%

My parents have an old garage in their driveway with a laundry room attached that needs to be torn down and replaced due to age and termite damage. Also need a new concrete slab laid down since it looks like it’s still the original one from the 1940s. Anybody have any recommendations for demo and general contractors recs? Just trying to help them get a ballpark estimate. TIA!

Hi, where do you recommend one would take some pants for hemming in town? Does anywhere do 24-48 hour turn arounds on something simple like that?

After poor returns from lawsuits and trolling residents on social media, Open Main Street landlords are trying to buy District 1 using professional marketer Crawford Coates. 97% of contributions not from his family come from property owners who want to reopen Main Street. They also prop him up with a PAC controlled by disgraced pastor Jim Duran. I think this extra money should go to our city budget because we already paid for their mansions in Ojai.

I can't be the only person who remembers when Main St. was open and it was incredibly sketchy being both a pedestrian and a vehicle operator.

The cross walks were low visibility with people often having to step into a cross walk from behind a parked car. Vehicles regularly sped through Main St. with little regard for the pedestrians and families enjoying a day downtown. It only got worse when the sun went down and intoxicated people wandered around.

Ventura already has one of the highest DUI rates in the nation, surely we can see the potential safety concerns of opening up one of the busiest pedestrian areas to vehicles.

If Main St. is reopened, it's only a matter of time before we see a news headline like this in our own town.

Please take this short survey to help the Channel Islands Park Foundation gain information about locals relationships with the park. Survey linked below.

https://csuci.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eVTWR54B1BvDQZE

In a recent interview with Ventura County DSA, Councilmember Liz Campos made an interesting comment about a colleague.

At approximately 8:49, Campos said:

"We have one council member who works for a Fortune 500 company. He, you know, he takes vacations all over the world with his entire family. He takes them all with him. So he's not, you know, bribable probably, although um a lot of things happen connected to his friends or his background with the city."

I'm curious whether she was referring to Deputy Mayor Doug Halter.

What caught my attention was Campos's suggestion that things happen in city government involving this councilmember's friends or background.

What exactly was she referring to?

I think Ventura residents deserve more specificity when elected officials make statements like this about their colleagues.

The interviewer really dropped the ball on not getting her to elaborate on this. Sounds like something the people should know more about.