Christy Weir
Since her appendix ruptured Jan. 24, it’s been a slow road back to health forVentura City Council member Christy Weir.
With emergency surgery came an infection called peritonitis, although she returned quickly to work, attending the opening of the Chilean biome at the Ventura Botanical Gardens in early February and several council meetings.
Then in mid-March, things took a turn for the worse, after Weir developed Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff.
“The infection devastates your digestion, and basically I was on a liquid diet and bedridden for over a month,” Weir wrote in an email. “Lack of nutrition can be very debilitating, especially on top of major surgery.”
The infection now passed, Weir said she has started gaining strength.
On May 5, the council voted to excuse Weir’s absences through June 15, necessary because the city’s charter says if a member misses four consecutive meetings, his or her position can be forfeited.
Weir said she has every intention of coming back. She just doesn’t know when.
“I am doing everything possible to recover as quickly as possible,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, she stays on top of city business, watching meetings, reading the thick packet of information council members receive for every meeting and communicating through email “within the limits of the Brown Act,” Weir wrote.
Her absence has been noticeable, perhaps at no time so much as Monday, when the council deadlocked 2-2 on whether to give Harbor Community Church a conditional-use permit to operate a homeless program in midtown Ventura. Council members Erik Nasarenko and Jim Monahan had recused themselves from the hearing.
A tie in Ventura means the motion fails, so the Planning Commission’s October decision to deny the conditional-use permit stood. Operation Embrace must close.
Weir agreed with the outcome. “With any land use, compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood is crucial,” she wrote. “The city’s role is to make sure the quality of life and safety of our residents are protected.”
Harbor, however, does provide a “vital service,” Weir said, adding that she is hopeful the sides can work together to find a better location.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2014/may/15/ventura-city-councils-christy-weir-on-mend/#ixzz31phI3QQW
- vcstar.com
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