Bill Fulton Mayor

Bill Fulton
Mayor

Bill Fulton was appointed Mayor in December 2009 and will serve a two-year term.  Bill was first elected to the Ventura City Council in 2003, culminating many years of professional experience and community involvement in local government affairs. He was re-elected to the Council in 2007 and selected by his colleagues to serve as the City's Deputy Mayor.

In his professional life, Bill is a well-known author and urban planning analyst. He is a principal in Design, Community & Environment (DC&E), an urban planning firm with offices in Berkeley, San Diego and Ventura, and publisher of the periodical California Planning & Development Report. He is also the author of four books, including "The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles," which was a Los Angeles Times best-seller, and "Guide to California Planning," the standard textbook on urban planning used in college courses throughout the state. He is frequently quoted on urban planning topics by newspapers and radio and television shows around the nation. He teaches urban planning at the University of Southern California.

As a civic activist, Bill served as the chair of the citizen committee that produced Ventura's "Seize The Future" community vision, and chair of the City's Library Advisory Commission, helping to oversee construction of the new Avenue Library and renovation of E.P. Foster Library. He is also a trombonist.

Bill and his family have lived in Ventura since 1987. His mother, Fran Fulton, was a beloved library volunteer before she passed away in 2004. His daughter, Sara Torf-Fulton, is a student at Sonoma State University. Bill and his family are longtime members of Temple Beth Torah in Ventura.

Bill grew up in Upstate New York and went to St. Bonaventure University, making him (at least as far as he knows) the only graduate of St. Bonaventure who lives in San Buenaventura. He also did graduate work in journalism at The American University in Washington, D.C., and in urban planning at UCLA.