All right. I'd like to call the uh city
council in the Cam Sand district meeting
for May 14th to order. And I will ask
our city clerk to please do a roll call.
Council member Martinez Bravo here.
Council member Santangelo here. Council
member Trembley here, Vice Mayor
Tennyson here, and Mayor Ki
here. All right, so we have a quorum.
So, we're going to go into close
session, I believe, on three items. And
I'm going to have counselor, would you
please read the reasons why we're going
to go into close session, please? Yes.
Thank you, Mayor and Councel. We have a
few items on close session. We have two
under anticipated litigation uh pursuant
to government code section
54956.9D4. We have labor negotiations
pursuant to government code
54957.6. And we have two matters under
existing litigation uh which is the OPV
coalition versus Fox Canyon Groundwater
Management Agency and VCC AMG versus
City and Costco. And if there's any
reportable action, I'll make that
report. Okay. Thank you. So with that,
uh we will go into close session and be
back at 5 o'clock.
All right. Um, I'd like to reconvene
uh the city council meeting, please. And
uh I'd like to do uh city clerk, would
you like to do the roll call, please,
for the city council in the Cameroon
sanitary district, please? Yes. Um,
Council Member Martinez Bravo here,
Council Member Santangelo here, Council
Member Trembbley here, Vice Mayor
Tennyson here, and Mayor Kildy here. And
uh, Mr. Trembly, would you lead us in
the flag salute tonight, please? Yes.
Would you please join me in the pledge
of allegiance?
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for
all. Okay. Are there uh approval agenda?
Are there any changes for the agenda as
submitted? Okay. So, with that, we're
going to get down uh to the
presentations. And the first one, if
you'll meet me over to my right here, is
the older Americans month. We're going
to start off with that. So, if you meet
me over here,
I don't think he wants us older
Americans.
I'm gonna leave this right here for you.
I'm here for you.
All right, everybody. Thank you all for
being here. This is a proclamation
signed by the mayor and all my fellow
council members for the older Americans
Month. And because I'm a member of the
older Americans month too, I'm not going
to read everything's on here, but I'm
going to read just a little bit of it
and then I'm going to turn it over. And
um it says, "While older residents
actively engaged in
volunteering and mentorship and culture
and civic participation generally share
their skills and experience of wisdom.
and our city here uh per capita has more
senior volunteers than any other city in
the county per capita. So, it's a credit
to all of the seniors in our city that
uh we're able to make that. And I um
very proud to present this certificate
uh from the mayor again to the older
Americans month. And I'm going to ask
each of you if you'd like to introduce
yourselves and or make any comments at
this particular time.
Sit down. I will.
Good afternoon. I'm Greg Ericson. I'm
with the Council on Aging here in
Camaro. It's a great opportunity for us
to give back to the older adults in the
community and we have a lot going on and
we're thankful for this chance to be
recognized.
Good afternoon. Sandy Melton. Um I'm
also on the Camo Council on Aging and my
day job is I'm the director of the
School of Nursing and Allied Health at
Ventur College.
Hello, this is uh
Okay, I I'm Joanne Kennedy. I'm the vice
chair for the Council on Aging, and I'm
here to say thank you for all your
support. As a matter of fact, I brought
in my purse a list back and front of all
the services and funding support seniors
put on or supported by the city of
Camaro. This is this is wonderful. So, I
want you to we're here to say thank you
very much for your support. We're
delighted. And one thing I wanted to
point out to you is this is the year
that we're going to be publishing our
bianual
um senior resource book. And this is
particularly important this year because
the county one which is award-winning
called live well for all the services
for seniors will not be publishing. And
so the senior so the Camaro Council on
Aging is picking up the slack and
hopefully it'll be a great information
and referral and advocacy
uh resource for our seniors. So thank
you all the senior citizenry and to the
c to the city council members for your
support.
Thank you everyone for being here.
Before you leave, I'm going to ask if
any of my colleagues want to make any
comments. Uh, Vice Mayor Tennyson,
please.
First off, I want to know, Greg, how you
qualify to be on a council for
aging because you're not um aging. Uh,
secondly, as my dear
colleague Dr. Martina Martinez Bravo
points out, I'm older than her dad. So
I'm one of the people you represent and
I really look forward to your resources
that are come out for us old people so
we can continue to mentor the young and
less experienced people. So thank you
for what you do for the city.
Any other comments from Miss Santangelo,
please? You thanked us for our support,
but it's a pleasure to support programs
like yours. So, thank you for all the
work that you do and thank you to um um
just for for all you do. Thank you.
Thank you very
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I just think
when I look out on the audience and how
many seniors are here tonight, I feel
blessed that we live in this community
with this level of senior participation.
So, I want to thank all of the seniors
here for everything that you do to make
this such a great place to to live.
Thank you. Thank you, Marta.
One of the things that I think makes
this community so great and wonderful is
the diversity in our community and that
extends beyond racial identity. Um, it's
really about the different ages that
make this community who we are. And I'm
very, very thankful, as was said, for
your commitment and your uh, wisdom and
your lived experiences, which, you know,
they're not there if you're not there.
And so, I'm extremely thankful for
everything that you do. And as I always
say, the motto of our city is
Lasad, which the people are the city.
and you definitely represent that. Thank
you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you for being
here.
Got another picture here.
We're a picture taking.
Thank you everyone for being here.
Really appreciate it. Thank you very
much.
All right. So, next we're gonna have the
Adulo Camrio High School California
State Wrestling Champion. We've never
had that in our city. I'm going to ask
Trinity if she'd like to come up here
with me. Yay.
Thank you so much. I'm going to ask if
their parents would like to come up here
or if a coach would like to come up here
as well. Please feel
welcome. All right. And I'm going to
start off. This is certificate of
recognition. Trinity. I've never been
able to present this to a state
champion. And my golly, look at her
jacket. That is awesome. Trinity, can
you turn around in the back? Look at
that. Wow. That is really, really cool.
Love
it. So, uh, it's a historic achievement
as I've said and, uh, you're the first
time that Cam Rail's ever had a state
champion and you've have a list of
accolades. So, I'm going to ask could I
ask the coach if you want to go through
some of her accolades? They're very,
very impressive.
All right. Well, thank you guys for
having us. Uh, on behalf of the Cameo
Wrestling Program, we'd like to thank
the city for taking time to recognize
Trinity and her accomplishments. Um, I
had to make myself a little cheat sheet
just to remember everything she's done.
So, first of all, she's been a four-year
varsity wrestler for our program. On the
mat, she's known as Tren Train of the
Train. Her career record is 108 and 20.
Most of her wins coming by first round
pins. A fourtime Coastal Canyon League
champion. She's also what's considered a
triple crown winner for the year for
2025, which was a CIF southern section
championship, a CIF Southern Section
Masters meet champion, and her CIF state
championship. She's the first wrestler
uh to become a state champion Boyer Girl
in Camo history. also the first female
state champion in the history of the
Oxarn Union High School District. She's
one of six state champions in the county
and she'll be attending Cal Poly St.
Louis Abyspo as a member of their track
and field team. And as her coaches, we
want to remind her that um her legacy is
now cemented in the history of uh this
program and the future wrestlers will
look up to the path she's paved.
Congratulations, Trinity. Would you like
to would you like to say a few words? Uh
sure. speak right into that microphone
if you would.
Um, I want to thank my parents for
always supporting me and driving me far
just to come and watch me compete. I
want to thank coach Montio, coach
Baragon, Coach Mc Victor, Coach Eric,
Coach and Coach Sergio for always
coaching me and believing in me for the
past four
years. Even when I was doubting myself,
uh, Coach Sergio and Coach Baragon
brought my spirits up and I went out and
won my tournaments. And I also want to
thank the mayor for holding this award
and recognizing me for my achievements.
Go Scorps.
Thank you very much. Thank you,
Trinity. I want to present this and I
also want to thank personally and I know
our council too. Uh for all your
coaches, all your friends, all your
family, it takes a whole bunch to be
able to do this. Again, I've never I'm
not aware of anybody in the city that's
ever won a state championship. So, I
want to present this to you, Trinity. I
want to thank all of those that helped
Trinity on her journey. That's very,
very special. And thank you for being
here. Thank you.
Happy.
Thanks for being here.
[Applause]
Okay, we have another certificate of
recognition for Barbara Braetch.
Barbara, do Barb, do you want to come on
up here and meet me up here,
please?
[Applause]
Congratulations.
Anyone else want to join us up here?
Yes.
Yes, Sheriff. Good to see you. Good to
see you. Good to see you. Good to see
you. Okay, so we've got uh Barbuet here.
And again, I'm not going to read all of
this, but I want I want to read some of
it. Uh the city council extends its
heartfelt appreciation for extraordinary
dedication and commitment to the Camrio
community through the Camrio Citizens
Patrol. And you have a lot of your
colleagues uh with you as well. And uh
she has donated over 10,000 hours. That
is awesome. That is amazing. Thank you
so much uh for doing this and more than
21 years of service. That is special.
The least we can do is to present this
to you and we're so proud of you and a
certificate of recognition for all of
your hard work and dedication to the
city of Camero. So I want to present
this to you. I'd like to ask any
comments. We could start with you. Would
you like to make any comments at this
point?
Well, I just want to say that longevity
has a great deal to do with this because
um Commander Tennyson signed my very
first 500 hour certificate and
um Commander Tennyson just signed I'm
sure my $10,000 I thousands yes 10,000
hour certificate. So um I it it's a long
you know it's just being around for a
while. Anyway, I've really really
enjoyed it. I'm very happy that uh thank
you to the council for the recognition
and um and thank you to the police
department for just making uh us able to
be volunteers because we really enjoy
doing it.
Anyone else? Um colleagues, uh would
anybody like to make any comments? Yes.
Vice Mayor Tennyson, please. Our council
member Martinez. Martita. Sure. Um Barb,
thank you so much for your many, many
hours, thousands of hours of
volunteerism to the city of Camaro. Um
we are extremely grateful and we really
show our values through our volunteer
work and you are a part of that and you
must be extremely proud. We're extremely
proud and I know that you deserve a lot
more than a certificate. I'd love to see
you with a crown. You know, you just
amazing. So, thank you so much for that,
for all of your work. Thank you, Vice
Mayor Tennyson. Do you have a comment? I
do. I just want to thank you for your
service. We have always relied upon
volunteers, especially at the police
department, but citywide with citizen
patrol and dart. We had a special
recognition with the Lions Club last
night to honor both of those um
volunteer
organizations. And you didn't have to
point out the 9500 hour differential
before the first Commander Tennyson and
the second, but that got pointed out
last night as well. And I will just say
we owe you an extreme debt of gratitude.
And I'm glad that
9,500 hours ago I didn't scare you away.
Any other comments? Susan, would you
like to make a comment? Barb, thank you
so much for your service. Um um as was
said before, the city doesn't work
without volunteers and neither does the
police department. So, thank you very
much and um good luck to you.
Mr. Trimley, we have a long-standing
tradition on this council that if we
agree wholeheartedly with what our
colleagues have said, we simply say
ditto. So, at the risk of being uncar
uncharacteristically succinct for me,
ditto.
Thank you. I'm going to present this.
We're going to get a picture here.
[Applause]
Thank you everybody. It's a special
evening. Um we're very honored here
tonight uh to have Sheriff Fryhoff with
us uh today. our uh outstanding sheriff
for the uh Ventura County and Camrio is
we know is a contract city with the
county. So sheriff like you to call you
up and uh welcome and uh appreciate you
making your comments and being here
today and taking time out of your busy
schedule. We appreciate that. Well,
thank you very much mayor, vice mayor,
council, and uh city staff and the Cameo
community and certainly our volunteers
from our our police department. I did
get to stop by last night at the awards
ceremony at the uh for the Lions Club
for both our DART volunteer group as
well as our policing volunteer group and
volunteering and helping the police
department out is really special and I
had an opportunity to share earlier
today at a panel discussion that both
commander Tennyson and I were on that
said you we're fully staffed as a count
as a sheriff's office right now. Oh,
congratulations. Unusual in policing
this time, you know, is uh there's a lot
of agencies that are are really
struggling to hire. We don't have that
problem. And that's because of the
wonderful communities that we serve. Our
communities are very pro public safety,
pro law enforcement. And I would like to
believe that's because the way our our
people treat our communities garers that
support. You know, we can't do our job
without our community's help. And uh
you're like you said, the the city is
the people, right? That is your the
motto. And that is true for this whole
county. And I have passed that message
on to all of our staff. We are not at
war with the community we're serving. We
are working together to focus on a very
small number of people causing harm,
many of whom don't come from our county.
And that's the group that we're going to
focus on and with intent try and keep
our community safe. And so, um, I think
volunteerism is a serves a couple of
services. One, it provides us a great
service for free. Um, but also provides
an opportunity for our seniors who are
looking for a second career. In 21
years, Barb's been doing this. That's a
second career that she's been
volunteering for. That allows for our
seniors to have meaning, belonging, and
an opportunity to stay engaged, which is
key to life. And if you able to are able
to stay engaged and do meaningful work,
you're going to live a very long life.
That's why you say longevity. Well, the
longevity is because you're keeping
yourself busy. uh my my dad had injured
himself, you know, earlier than he
should have and he was laid up um and
was not able to move around as much and
unfortunately died much earlier than he
should have. And I told my mom, I said,
"Now, you have to keep moving. There's
not a you to take care of you like you
took care of dad. So, you've got to get
out, walk the dog, and be engaged and be
involved." And so, it's nice that the
city has so many opportunities for our
seniors to be engaged in and pick
something they're really passionate
about to have belonging. So, I just want
to make a point of, you know, trying to
come to our councils, uh, you know, once
or twice a year to get out and just say
hi and thank you. Thank you for allowing
us to provide your police services here
in the city of Camrio. I know Chief
Tennyson is doing a fantastic job and
I'm thrilled with all the work he's
doing and taking great care of the
community here in Camrio. Thank you.
Thanks for being here, Sheriff. I was
going to ask uh, thank you so much. Any
council uh, have any comments or
anything that it's not often we get the
sheriff here, so is there any comments
or anything you'd like to talk about?
Uh,
no.
I've worked for him, too.
Council member Sheriff Fryhoff, uh,
thank you so much for the service that
your entire department provides. We're
extremely lucky to have the Ventura
County Sheriff's here. We just
celebrated law dinner um where we
provide a little bit of of that
celebration to honor such wonderful
service that's being provided to our
community and keeping it safe. Um and I
know that doesn't happen by its own. It
happens due to wonderful leadership. So
I thank you. I also thank Chief Tennyson
who has been absolutely amazing
especially during these times. Um he
just goes above and beyond to truly
reach out to the community. And I'll
give you one example. Uh two days ago as
I was entering SUS Ranch, which is
adjacent to Camrio, there were two teens
that were coming out without bike
helmets. And as a mom and you know, as a
council member, I think the first thing
is like, oh my goodness, these kids are
going to get killed. Um, and so I
immediately reached out to Chief
Tennyson and he's already talked to um a
nonprofit organization to see if we can
get these helmets out to uh not only
those kids but to the other children in
that community. And that really shows
how effective it is to have also a chief
of police who is from this community,
who is connected, and who is willing to
just go above and beyond to make sure
that not only people in Camaro are being
helped, but also those who are our
neighbors and are a part of our
community as well. So, thank you very
much, Chief Tennyson.
Thank you for sharing that, Marta. Thank
you. You're welcome. Anyone else? Uh,
Susan,
thank you so much for being here
tonight. It's really a pleasure for us
to have you here. Um, I know you're a
very busy man. Um, and thank you for
what you said about volunteers. I think
it's so important on both aspects that
you mentioned, the service that they
provide, but also in giving quality to
their lives. Thank you for being here.
Thank you very much, Council
Member. Mr. Trimley, I desperately want
to say
ditto, but I need to add on to that and
that is that I'm privileged, Sheriff
Ryoff, to um uh in the district that I'm
privileged to to be elected from, we
have a number of folks who have just
come recently to Ventura County to live.
And one of the most consistent comments
that I get is
how wonderful it is to live in a
community like this where the where law
enforcement and the public are so
supportive of one another and there is
such a sense of community and that is
directly attributable and I tell them
this it's directly attributable to your
leadership, Commander Tennyson's
leadership, the leadership from the
citizen patrol and dart and just how our
community is structured. So, I want to
thank you and they're very surprised
when I say, you know, we've had we've
have enjoyed our community has enjoyed
wonderful law enforcement services since
the city's incorporation in 1964 from
the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and
we are truly blessed. So, that was way
more than a ditto. So, forgive me, but
thank you and thanks for being here. No,
thank you very much. I'll echo that and
say, you know, I'm standing on the
shoulders of a lot of other great
leaders that have made sure that the
sheriff's office here in Ventura County
provides excellent service to our
community. We are very a community
forward organization. Uh we know we
can't do this alone and we treat our
community accordingly.
Vice Mayor, I can't let everybody else
talk without saying something, but
Sheriff, I will not embarrass you. I
will mer I probably could. I will say
ditto uh I'm proud to have been a member
of the family that you now lead. Um I'm
proud of the service of the Camrio
Police Department under the opaces of
the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. I
think Camrio is one of the most
fortunate cities to have leadership that
recognizes the need for local leaders in
the community when they assign their
captains and commanders to the police
chief job in concert with the city
manager and city council. So, thank you
for what your agency does. Thank you for
all of the wonderful people you assigned
to the Camrio Police Department.
Sheriff, just before you uh go, uh I
want to also state that uh as a city and
our residents, we're so proud that we
still have the L day dinner. We're the
only city in the county that does that.
Unfortunately, we've been able to do
that for 60 years. And my opening
statement was I wanted everybody to know
that I had not attended all 60 of them.
I wanted to squelch that rumor real
quick there, but it's our way of giving
back to the deputies and the personnel
at the Camero Police Department uh with
our commander Tennyson uh Tennyson's uh
here and we're very proud of them. We're
proud of our leadership and your
leadership as well and we're just so
happy and honored that you're with us
tonight. Thank you so much for being
here. Oh, thank you all. I appreciate
you all. Thank you. Thank you.
All right, that gets us down to the
general public comments. Uh, madame
clerk, do we have any speakers on issues
that are not on the agenda tonight?
I do have two speakers under general
public comments. I'm just going to give
a little spiel for that. Um there I'm be
calling your name and if you haven't
already submitted your name for to talk
on something under general public
comments which is something that is not
on the agenda you can work your way to
the clerk desk to submit your name. Each
speaker will have three minutes to
speak. Your time is going to be visible
on the screens behind me. You'll see one
there, one there when they show you on
the film. And we're just asked to um
stick with the three minutes and also to
ensure a respectful and inclusive
environment. We ask that the audience
members to refrain from clapping or
other audible reactions during public
comments. So when I come call your name,
you're going to come up to the public
podium right here and you're going to
state your name and speak directly into
the microphone. So I first person I have
is Debbie Emanuel.
Welcome Debbie. Hello. Thank you so much
for giving me the 3 minutes time. Um the
reason I'm here is because I have
written to all of you. Um I have
called maybe 30 40 times in regards to
an issue behind our house. Um I did not
receive um anything back. Um, but the
issue is is that the city planted five
trees behind our house and it drops uh
yellow flowers, seeds, pods into our
pool and we have to we're on our third
our third um heating pump. Um we've had
to replace everything several times in
the last um handful of years. Um, and
we've asked for help from the city as to
what to do. Um, and although everybody
is very supportive here, very kind, very
nice, and they understand, um, and
they're very sympathetic, uh, nobody's
able to help us. So, our daily routine
um is to go into the backyard and spend
an hour or two cleaning up the city's
mess. Um, every time it's windy, I would
say, you know, months and months a year,
you know, how windy it is here. And so I
feel like my full-time job is cleaning
up after the city. And um, we we did get
our trees trimmed a few years ago and la
this last summer I I called again
several times. I wrote to everyone here
and um they just said that it's not your
year for trimming the trees and that you
know there's nothing that they could do.
And I just feel like after you know
several years of having to clean up this
mess on a daily basis and having to pay
for the damage to our pool that it was
time to come and see if somebody would
be willing to help. Um, so I I I um
implore you and ask you to please look
at your emails. You'll see that I have
emailed you. Um, you'll see that I have
not received a response. Um, I think if
you look back, you'll see how many times
I've called. Uh, I did just put in a
claim for our third heating pump. Um, my
my my brother, my sister, and my parents
have all put in pools the same time I
did. They haven't replaced anything, and
we just keep replacing. We've gone
through three poolmen because they don't
want to do our pool anymore because of
of the damage that this does to our
backyard. So, I'm I'm I'm asking for
help. That's why I'm here. Thank you.
Okay. All right. We have you. Thank you
very much. Thank you.
Next speaker is Jim Manuel.
Mayor, Councilman, my name is Jim
Emanuel. I live at 1774 Po Castile in
Camaro 93010. And Debbie's my wife. I
was coming out of Trader Joe's about
five years ago. And I had a cart and
there's a crosswalk there. And I looked
up and there's a stop sign and a young
girl was driving a car and texting and
she ran through the stop sign and I hard
to get out of the way and she t-boned me
and as I you can see walking up here
I've got a titanium rod in my hip. It
fractured a femur in three places and
I've got a screw about that long holding
my hip together and I use that pool as
part of
my therapy and to allow me to keep
working. And we spend so much time with
these five trees. My next door neighbor
is a well-known p pediatrician. He
doesn't have those same type of file of
trees that I do. My other neighbor on
the other side is a Colombia Law
School's attorney and she has different
trees. But my and I'm the only one that
has a pool and I'm the guy with the bad
luck. It sheds and we spend hours a day
with a blower. And as you can see, I
can't get around with the blower. And
that leaves it on my wife. We can't get
the quiet useful benefit of that pool.
And for the therapy that I need because
they can't seem to do anything about
those trees. It sounds like a simple
problem. I volunteered one time. Let me
put new trees in. Let me do whatever we
can do. I am imploring you to really
look at this and think about that. It's
if it were you with the broken hip and
broken femur, would you like the quiet
use of your pool without having it
continually break down repair costs go
on and have pool men that have said,
"No, you can't fire me. I quit. I don't
want to clean your pool any longer. I
need help." And and I implore you to
think about doing that for us. We've
asked several times, but it's reached
the stage that we need to ask you look
at your look at your correspondence with
us. We've done this over and over and
over and we're crying out for help. I
want to thank you for maybe considering
it and I think Camaro is a wonderful
place to live. I've lived here since
1982. Two of my children live here. We
love this community. I think we can
accomplish this goal for me if we'll
just try. So, thank you very much. Thank
you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. Could I just
ask for his address one more time?
Excuse me.
I'm not a good dancer
anymore.
1774 two words. Po p a s e o cast steel
c a s t i l l e camaro 93010. It's just
south of Locker Park. So, thank you very
much. Thank you. And Mr. Mayor, yes. I
know there's only so much we can say
because of the Brown Act. Um, but I just
want to make sure that staff can follow
up with them um on this topic. Um, it's
the first that I hear, so I'll double
check my emails and my junk email, my
other folder that it sometimes goes to.
Um, but I really would appreciate if
staff can follow up on that and then re
report back to council as well.
No more. Okay. Thank you all for your
comments.
Uh, we are going to get down to council
staff and intergovernment reports and
I'm going to ask who would like to start
off tonight with us with
that. Anybody who wants to jump in there
really quick. Would you like me to start
at the start? Martito, would you like to
start? Thank you. Thank you. Uh, April
19th, I attended the Collab annual
spring fling event. April 24th and 25th,
I attended the Cal City's city leader
summit in Sacramento with council member
Tennyson and staff member Alonzo
Ramirez. We were out there lobbying with
our legislators to try to get funds for
our city. We have multiple uh capital
improvement projects that need funding
and we're we were out there doing that
work. Um and we also had an opportunity
to uh speak with our lobbyist in person.
Uh, April 26th, I attended the Boys and
Girls Club in uh, fundraiser here in
Camrio. And April 28th, I attended the
VCCF and Tur County Community Foundation
speaker event with Jose Negrete, who was
a young man or is a young man who was
raised in Oxnard and La Colonia area and
he is now uh, working for the United
Nations, which is really exciting. Uh,
April 28th, I attended the economic
development and land use committee with
council member Santangelo. And April
30th, I attended the Chick-fil-A ribbon
cutting ceremony with the entire council
and uh staff was also there. And then,
just so council is aware, I went back
and provided a certificate on behalf of
the entire council and they were very,
very happy to receive that as well.
April 30th, I attended the Williams
Homes ribbon cutting uh ceremony. And
May 6th, I attended the 9th annual Take
Five and Read to Kids at Dos Camino. So,
I was able to uh go and and read
bilingual books to our little kiddos at
those Camino's school, uh to the little
preschoolers. May 6th, I attended the L
day dinner celebrating our local uh
Camrio Police Department. And May 8th, I
attended the visit Camrio annual tourism
lunchon um with staff and uh council
member Tennyson and council member
Santangelo were there. uh Vice Mayor
Tennyson and I were honored to present
two awards to two uh wonderful uh
individuals to one to Elaine Kelly who
is the director of the Camaro outlets
and the other one was to Anthony Madern
who is the general manager from Hampton
in and
suites and May 9th I also met with the
executive director of the Santa Barbara
Zoo uh Mr. Charles Hopper, he is working
or the the organization is working on
expanding their mission and focusing on
sustainability and they have an upcoming
uh partnership with Cal State University
of Channel Islands which is really
exciting. And May 9th, I was also
honored to serve as the keynote speaker
for the Latino graduation at Thousand
Oaks High School. So I was honored to be
invited to that. And May 12th, I
attended the California uh CSUCI site
authority uh financial audit entrance
meeting. And that is all that I have to
report. Thank you. You're welcome. To go
U, Vice Mayor Tennyson, some of this
will be repetitive. April 24th and 25th,
I attended the Cal City's leader summit
and legislative visits. On April 26, I
stopped in here to the council chambers
for the public meeting to discuss water
and sewer rates. It was an open house
for all interested residents. April
30th, I got my free chicken sandwich at
Chick-fil-A. Never thought I'd eat a
chicken sandwich for breakfast, but now
I'm open to chicken and waffles for
breakfast after that. April 26th, I had
the honor of attending the Boys and
Girls Club annual Gayla. Um it it was a
nautical theme. Um there were quite a
few interesting costumes there and um
the gayla provided a lot of resources
for our local boys and girls club that
supports well over 400 kids a day after
school in that local facility at
Ponderosa and
Temple. On April 30th through May 2nd
along with city staff member Alonzo
Ramirez um who I kindly refer to as my
babysitter appointed by the city
manager. We attended the Southern
California Association of Governments uh
regional planning um organization
for Santa no
Ventura LA I believe portions of Orange
County and San Bernardino County. It was
an interesting
um meeting conference. It was
their 60th annual conference. I believe
a lot of the focus for SCAg in the next
three years is on
transportation, especially because of
the Olympics coming to Los Angeles in
2028. and transportation isn't just
focusing on LA venues, but venues
outside of Los Angeles because we know
that we're going to have visitors in our
county and our city and they want to do
things to make it efficient for the
visitors to get to the various venues
throughout the
counties. On May 6th, I had the
privilege of attending the annual law
day dinner and as it been stated, Camrio
is the only city in the county that does
this. Um, they've done it for 60 years.
They had one off year because of COVID.
And I know from my past profession that
the people at the Camrial Police
Department appreciate the homage that
the city pays for pays to them by
hosting this event. They have a great
time. Um it's an opportunity for them to
get together with their significant
others, their wives, their husbands, and
have an evening of entertainment, a nice
dinner, and dancing.
Uh I also attended the annual tourism
lunchon at Camrio Grove Park and the
biggest takeaway I got from that out of
our keynote speaker is make work suck
less. So that was the big he was
actually a very entertaining and
informative speaker but that was his
little punchline when he led off. Today
I attended the West Ventura County
Business Alliance lunch series and it
was focused on law enforcement. Sheriff
Jim Fryhoff was there. District Attorney
Eric Nazareno was there. Oxnard Police
Chief Jason Bonitas was there and our
own police chief Commander Tennyson was
there. And it was a very informative
series touching on technology and law
enforcement, community outreach, and the
importance of creating those
relationships in the community so that
law enforcement could respond to needs.
And as the sheriff said earlier, um
we're focusing on a very small
percentage of people that caused the
problem for the residents and they're
policing smarter than they did in the
old days when I was with law
enforcement. So I appreciate that. Thank
you. Thank you. Mango would like to
Okay. On April 28th, I attended the
economic development and land use
committee meeting. On April 29th, I
attended the healthy Camaro ad hoc
committee. On April 30th, I attended the
Chick-fil-A grand opening and then that
afternoon, the Williams Home Palra grand
opening. On May 6, I attended the LD day
dinner with my colleagues.
On May 8th, I attended the visit Camrio
Tourism luncheon and then that evening
the Ventura County Airport Authority. On
May 9th, I attended the Vans gas station
ribbon cutting ceremony and um earlier
today I too was at the West Ventura
County Business Association statement
lunch series with um our chief and
Sheriff Fryhoff and the two others. It
was a really nice lunch today. Thank
you,
Mr. Chambbley, we we have a lot of
guests here. You may not realize that we
are required to report on meetings that
we attend on behalf of the city uh and
um the regional boards that we're on. So
that's why you're hearing this and so
pardon me for being is going to sound
repetitive. On April 25, I had a meeting
of the Metroink board of directors in
Los Angeles. On April 26th, the Boys and
Girls Club dinner. On April 29th,
healthy Camaro, which involves the city,
Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park
District, and the Camaro Healthcare
District. on April 30, uh, the
Chick-fil-A ribbon cutting. Um, also the
needs assessment meeting with Pleasant
Valley Recreation and Park District and
the Williams Homes opening. On May one,
I had an audit meeting uh with Metroink.
On May two, I got to pinch it for my
colleague uh, Council Member Santangelo
for the Clean PL Clean Power Alliance
board of directors, and I was privileged
to sit in on that. On May two, uh,
together with the city manager, I met
with Senator Leone in Santa Barbara at
her office. uh on May 3 uh attended the
St. John's Hospitals dinner on May 6th
the Law Day dinner. On May 8th uh
Ventura County Airport Authority on May
9th uh two meetings Fox Cany and
Groundwater Management Agency board and
the Ventura County Transportation
Commission. And then finally today uh
the West Ventura County Business
Alliance uh lunch series. And that's it.
Thanks. Thank you very much. Um, I also
attended Water and Sewer Rates open
house on April 26th. Uh, the Boys and
Girls Club gala uh and auction. I
attended that as well. The Chick-fil-A
ribbon cutting, if you get a chance to
go there, please go there. It's great.
Uh, Williams Homes ribbon cutting, I
attended that as well. It's beautiful.
If you get a chance to go down there and
see that facility, it's beautiful. Uh,
May 1st, I attended a VRSD meeting. And
uh on May 9th uh I attended the Bonds
Express gas station and grand opening
and ridding ribbon cutting. And uh I
want to thank my colleagues for pitch
hitting for me when I was unable to
attend uh the events. Uh we have a a
very uh busy council here that uh
supports each other and I just want all
of you to know that. I really appreciate
that. Okay. So with that uh that gets us
down the consent calendar. Madam clerk,
do we have any uh cards on consent
calendar? Yes, currently I have um five
individuals signed up. They want to
speak on consent item number O. And so
I'm going to be calling um your names.
When I call you, you're going to come up
to the public podium. You're going to
speak into the microphone. You'll have
three minutes. You'll notice your time
will be up on the screens here. I will
also call the person that'll be right
after you. So when I call the second
person, if you could come up in the
aisle and be ready to go. So our first
person is Ezra Kazab and then next one
will be Diana
Bradley. So if um Ezra could come up.
Thank you. I want to say thank you for
the volunteer. Thank you for city of
Camaro for wonderful city. I just want
to talk about the issue uh about the
mobile home.
Mal people come to live simple
life and they have people that raise
their hand they raise their hand they
raise their hand in a legal way but is a
lot of people have a lot of different
issue and it's very difficult to them to
pay the bill every month
so I know he do it legally but sometime
is humanity is better. People must help
people especially city of Camaro,
beautiful city. They cannot close their
eyes and say this is not my problem.
It's all of us problem because there's a
lot of people suffering every months to
pay the bill. And uh thank you very
much.
Okay. And after Diana Bradley will be
Julie Mohler.
Hello, council members. Um, over 100
California cities and counties have
enacted a form of mobile home rent
stabilization. This shows evidence of
the mobile home owner's unique need for
protection, which many local California
governments recognize.
Experience shows that in Camaro, a rent
ordinance is required if rents are to be
stabilized and homeowners, especially
seniors, protected from economic
eviction, which high rents can
cause. What is rent stabilization? The
rent stabilization ordinance controls
rents by a regulatory act of local
government. The US Supreme Court
affirmed that state and local
governments have broad power to regulate
housing conditions in general and the
landlord tenant relationship in
particular. When a land owner decides to
rent his land to tenants, the government
may place ceilings on the rents the land
owner can
charge. Why is rent stabilization needed
in
Camaro? In Cal Rio mobile home parks, a
monopoly exists due to the high cost of
moving homes and the absence of vacant
spaces in our area. When a rent increase
is sent to a homeowner, they are faced
with either one, paying the increase,
two, incurring a high cost to move the
home, or three, simply abandoning their
home.
There is a high cost for homeowners to
move the home, so this is rarely done.
The California mobile home residency law
states, quote, because of the high cost
of moving mobile homes, which averages
several thousands of dollars, plus
another 10,000 setup in a new space, the
requirements of installing a mobile
home, the cost of landscaping and lot
preparation. It is necessary that the
owners of mobiles be provided with
unique protection from actual or
constructive
eviction. Excessive rent increases in
the absence of regulation are not
theoretical. Many park owners have
increased space rents multiple times
yearly, resulting in mobile homes losing
much of their value becoming
unmarketable. An appraiser's rule of
thumb is that the value of a mobile home
decreases by
$10,000 for every $100 increase in the
monthly
rent. So if our homes are valued at
$150,000 and the rent increases $100
this year, the home is now worth
$140,000. This happens each year. So you
can see why we are so concerned. Today,
Camaro City Council gives park owners
free reign to charge any rent they
choose. The only exception would ask you
to please a local rent control ordinance
in the absence of a mobile home rent
stabilization ordinance experience shows
excessive rent please one more sentence.
Rent stabilization may not be a solution
for all homeowners problems, but it is a
consumer protection necessary to prevent
excessive rent increases and may be the
sole means of ensuring the survival of
Camaro's mobile home lifestyle for
seniors. Thank you very much. Thank you
for your comments. Okay, the next one is
Julie Moore and after Julie will be
Ricardo Hernandez. Um, I'm going to make
a comment. I want to be fair to
everybody. I'm going to stick to the
threeinut rule. It's really important to
hear what you're saying, but please, if
you could keep it to the three minutes,
that would be great. Proceed, please.
Thank you. Thank you for having us here.
We have a great representation of three
mobile home parks that all have the same
problem
of increasing unaffordability to
continue living there, including me. I'm
Julie Moore and I'm representing the
lamp lighter of Camaro. I've been there
for over 10 years. My rent has doubled
in the past 10 years. It's becoming more
and more difficult for me still working
to afford the rent space which increases
5 to 6% a year.
Our lamp lighter has is wonderful in the
sense that it it's a family park. It's
the only family park um one of the very
few in the county and we have many
disabled people living there for just
$1,200 a month is their income and
they're renting a bedroom and they will
be homeless people eventually if our if
they cannot continue to rent there and
their owners of their home have to
vacate or they have to be able to sell
their home because they can't afford to
live there. There was a survey done
approximately 5 years ago comparing all
of the mobile home parks in Ventura
County. We were the second highest
rent of all the mobile home parks in
Ventura County. We had the second
highest rent which shows that it's
becoming
increasingly more difficult for us to
afford rent. The other cities in the
other surrounding areas have rent
ordinance, have rent control and much
lower rent space, not Camaro. We are way
behind in being able to make it
affordable for the average person that's
lives and wants to continue living in
their mobile home here in Camaro. So we
are asking in fairness to the
middleclass people, the disabled people
and also the senior citizens. We want
fairness to have a study and have a
conclusion. There must be rent
ordinance. now in Camaro and there
should not be any more
procrastination done because we have
been up here for many years. This isn't
the first time we've been up here. We've
been up here for many times trying to
explain our situation and be able to
prove our situation in many ways. But we
need your help. We need your committee
to study the situation in depth to show
that what we are complaining about is
valid and what we need is rent ordinance
control as soon as possible just like
the other cities in Camaro. Uh we want
to be included just like the other
mobile homes. Could you wrap it up
please? Thank you. Please. Thank you
very much. I appreciate your comments. I
really do. Uh again, um I'd like
everybody to try to keep to the three
minutes. I'm trying to be fair to
everybody here. So again, I'm going to
make the announcement for the second
time. I don't want to go any further
than this, but if you would please keep
your comments to three minutes, it would
be appreciated.
Okay, Madam Cler, do we have anybody
else? Yes, we have Ricardo Hernandez.
And the last one after Ricardo is
Michelle Bourne.
Thank you for your time. Thank you. Um,
I'm a Vietnam vet and I'm taking a
caretaker for a person who is uh in the
hospital right now with a bad situation,
blood clots and and uh all kinds of
things that are happening to him. But
it's it's uh important that uh people
realize how much this cost is actually
uh affecting people. Our neighbors to
the left uh both of them have passed
away this last year. Another person
people are this is their last stop. This
is where they go to find a place that
they can feel safe in and be able to
afford to stay there.
uh it's costly but it's uh the least
expensive place to go to live. So we
only ask for a fairness for the people
who are staying there who live there who
cherish the place and uh but there
because it's the last stop for them.
Many of them don't have the funds to be
able to continue paying the rent
increases. I ask for your consideration.
Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
Anyone else? Madame clerk.
Michelle Bourne. Michelle. No. Is she
here? Looks like they're withdrawing.
All right. Is there anybody else uh that
want to come up and make a comment?
Please proceed if you would here. Again,
three minutes. If you could keep that to
three minutes, we'd appreciate it. Thank
you. My name is Karen Anselone and I
live in um Del Norte.
And four years ago when I came to
Camaro,
uh the rents were
$1,600 over the one on
Ventura. They weren't They're
$2,50 now. I I would have had to run
from there and lost. Um, one of the
gentlemen last time spoke about um,
equity pre predators and I think we have
that going on. I think they're trying to
steal equity from all these older
people. It broke my heart being here
last time.
These I have family that can help me. A
lot of these people don't have family
that can help them. This is their last
stop and we're making it horrible for
them. Can you imagine paying
$2,50 plus
utilities and then having to um maybe
have a mortgage on your home? These are
all people with 1,200 maybe. Well,
that's what I get from the, you know,
federal government for social security.
So, I still have to work and I have to
work three jobs. So, I'm just really
concerned
about what's happening here. This is an
aging community. It started out that
way. I I've lived my whole life here in
California and I always remember Camaro
was for people aging and it was always
affordable. This is not affordable
anymore and this is getting really
scary. And I
just we can't put old people out on the
street. We just can't do this. And I
drove by that park and there's all these
for sale signs and they're not going to
get sold. These people are going to lose
their equity. They're equity predators
that are coming in and buying these
properties and then they're not taking
care of them properly. And like last
time this one lady was saying, they
stopped at her house and did not do her
sewers which are falling apart in these
streets. And the electric is all in
just, you know, cords in the build, you
know, dug in in dirt and they're not
being taken care of. And you know, we're
supposed to take care of the properties
that we're renting and I do, but you
know, some of these people can't even,
you know, can't take care of it. And I
just think we have something really
morally, really morally responsible to
do for these
people. We have a job to do for
us and we got to protect these people.
It's not just I can still work, but some
of these people can't and we need to
protect them. Thank you. Thank you.
Are there anyone else?
Uh, yes, we have one gentleman. Please
proceed. And again, if you could keep it
to three minutes, it'd be appreciated.
Thank you. My name is Jerry Barnett. I
own a mobile home in Camo Mobile Home
Park. Um, and I just want to express my
appreciation to the council for having
it on the agenda to create the ad hoc
committee and for appointing Dr.
Martinez Bravo and Susan Santangelo. Um,
this will help support seniors such as
Shirley, one of the
Ventura sheriff's volunteers. She's also
a resident of that park. So, I want to
express my appreciation to you. Thank
you. Thank you for your
comments. Anyone else?
Would you like to come up to the podium,
please?
And again, if you could keep it to three
minutes, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
Um, hi, my name is Marlo King. I live in
the Lamplighter Camaro, a mobile home
park and I'm here to represent my family
and just all the families that are
there. That is the only mobile home park
in Camaro in in the surrounding areas
that is familyowned. Um, the rest are
seniors and I I know that seniors need
help. Uh, families need help as well.
And um it just
basically a mobile home for us as as a
family. Um
represents you know uh stability and um
the the raises in in the rent are very
high. Um for us a mobile home was a step
into ownership which is great for any
individual. Um and just these rents have
made it really difficult for us to keep
the plan of maybe saving as a
family and being able to buy a home. But
um the races are just too much. And my
main concern is
that these companies uh we are regulated
as you know homeowners. We're regulated
by the city of Camaro, by the HC, just
by everyone. But who regulates these
companies? We need help from you guys.
Um I don't know the process or anything
like that, how everything works, but I
do hope and I
I ask you to represent the citizens here
in
Camaro, seniors mainly, but also
families who want to improve their lives
and sometimes, you know, work long hours
and have it's incredible to have seniors
work three jobs. It's it's
not u it's crazy,
but to
me being here in the United States is
uh I appreciate and I think the fact
that we're able to come here and be able
to ask you guys for for help. So just
wanted to say that and hope that you
guys guys can hear this part of the
community here in Camaro and thank you
very much. Thank you
comments. Anyone else uh here like to
make a
comment? All right. Uh any questions by
the council at this particular time? Any
council members have any questions?
Yeah. Uh Vice Mayor Tennyson, not a
question, just a quick statement. I
think that city staff and council Oh,
I'm sorry. Can I I'm sorry. Apologize.
Comment. Yes. My name is Could you move
that microphone down, please? This one?
Yeah, either one that you feel
comfortable
there. Yeah, that's good. Thank you.
Okay. Hi, my name is Blanca Masias and I
live in Lamplider Camaro as well. And
since uh December 2023, our life changed
because my son was diagnosed with
cancer and we've been struggled
since he's not able to work so
far and that the rent is increasing
every year and it's been very hard the
last two years for us. So hopefully you
can do something um about it to stop the
increasing for all of us. For all people
who lives there, the older
um our
families life
changes. Can you do something about it
for all of
us? Thank you. Thank you for your
comments. Thank you. Again, I'll ask uh
would anybody else like to make a
comment, public comment on
this? Anybody coming forward? Yes,
there's one,
please. If you'd state your name and if
you could keep it to three minutes, I'd
be appreciative. Thank you. Hi, my name
is Judy Estrada. I'm from the Lamp
Lighter Mobile Home Estates, too. my
home is paid off. You know, my it's my
home. I may have to leave it and move
because they keep raising our rent. They
say 5%. It's over $100 a month every
year that they're raising my rent. And
then you get these notices to fix these
things around your house. Um I can't
afford to fix the things around my
house. So you get these threatens of
evictions there. My house inside, it's a
73 year old house. It's falling apart
inside. I can't fix the inside because I
have to pay the rent. My son moved in
with me to help me pay the rent. For a
40-year-old son to have to live with his
mother again is, you know,
ridiculous. But,
um, this IPG, I hear it's IPG all over.
Something has to be done about this
corporation. I don't know how we do we
go about it. Um, I moved my kids here 30
years ago from Oxnard to to this mobile
home to keep them safe so they didn't
get shot because Camaro is a a really
nice place to live. It was a big
adjustment for us, but it's a really
nice place to live and I don't want to
have to move my my kid or my, you know,
and with them comes grandkids. Sometime
I don't want to have to move them away.
Um, I
just I really, you know, how can we deal
with this IPG? It's a corporation. They
used to raise my rent like it was uh
Deloplane, Mr. Deloplane who owned us.
They used to raise our rent four or five
dollars a month every year. Four or$5
dollars. These people want over
$100 for over 200 mobile homes. and they
have done nothing to increase the value
of my home or to make my life better.
You're we're always being kind of it's
like we have a
warden. Um and she's just following the
rules. I just I' I'd like, you know,
maybe the city can look into IPG because
apparently it's it's something.
Anyway, I may have to I my home is my
home, but I can't sell it because it's
falling apart. But I have may have to
move because I can't afford the space
rent. I may have to just walk away from
all my took a long time to pay for that
home.
Thank you very much. Thank you for your
comments. Anyone else like to make a
comment at this particular
point? Okay, I don't see anybody else
coming up. So, with that, I'll ask
council members any questions or
comments? Uh, Vice Mayor Tennyson, just
a quick comment. Um, I think that city
staff and council has shown that they
took your concerns from a few weeks ago
at the council meeting very seriously.
Hence, the appointment of the of the ad
hoc committee with um two council
members on it. And I'm sure city staff,
if you've reached out to them and
provided emails or addresses, will let
you know as this process goes forward.
So, we heard you. We hear you again
tonight and the ad hoc committee will
look into this and listen even further
to your concerns and maybe give you more
than three minutes. Who knows? Um, but
we heard you and staff heard you and
quickly um met with the mayor to
organize the ad hoc committee. Tonight's
action will be to formalize his
appointment of the two council members
to this ad hoc committee.
Any other comments
or Martito? Thank you, mayor. Uh first
of all, thank you to every single one of
you who are here and who shared just a
very uh brief part of your life in these
three minutes and truly for bringing
yourself and bringing your vulnerability
as well. I really appreciated that.
um ditto to what council member or vice
mayor Tennyson said. Um I think I
consider myself a very empathic person
and also data driven. So I think it is
uh very important that we continue to
study this issue and bring it forward to
our ad hoc committee. Um I did receive
an email before the ad hoc committee was
formed. I am aware that city staff met
with I think about 80 folks or so. So,
thank you so much to to city staff for
doing that and um I I didn't know who I
could so because of the Brown Act, I
always say I don't want to go to council
jail. So, I wanted to make sure who I
can speak with uh about this issue since
it's going to be council member
Santangelo and I uh on the ad hoc
committee. Um now, I can say that yes,
I'm happy to meet with you all. I think
that was a request that came in before
and I'm happy to follow up on those
emails that came through. Um, but other
than that, um, I mean, I'm fine with
moving, uh, item O forward along with,
uh, other items on the agenda. I don't
know if it's time for that as well.
Okay,
there's a motion and there is a
second. Do a roll call, please. Council
member Martinez Bravo. Yes. Council
member Santangelo. Yes. Council member
Trembley. Yes. Vice Mayor Tennyson. Yes.
And Mayor Kildy. Yes. Thank you all for
your comments.
Okay, that's going to get us down to the
if uh if you may. Um that's going to get
us down to the public hearing and it's
item T and U. It's going to be the water
and sewer rates. And I'm going to ask uh
Marky Rebe our finance director and
Kevin Costik. He's from Rafelis, our
consultant, uh, to say if they'd like to
start us off tonight, please.
Thank you, mayor, members of the city
council, members of the sanitary board.
Tonight is the culmination of a rate
setting process that is a joint effort
between the finance department, the
public works department, the city
manager department, and the city's rate
consultants, Rafalis Financial, and it
is a process that began in summer of
2024. So before opening the public
hearing tonight, there will be a joint
presentation starting with Kevin Costik
from Ref Talis, followed by Pam Townsen,
the assistant finance director for the
city. So I'll now turn it over to Kevin
Costik from Rafelis Financial.
Thank you Mark. Uh good evening Mayor
Kildy, council staff and members of the
public. My name is Kevin Costik from
Raft Telus. Kevin, if you could raise
that microphone just a bit. Thank you so
much. Might have to. Thank you.
So we'll start with uh our rate study
timeline. We kicked this off with staff
last fall uh in updating all of our
financial analysis in in the fall. We
held five meetings with the utilities
committee uh through the fall and the
winter. We had three city council
meetings through February and March. We
also held two public open houses with
the community in April. And tonight is
our public
hearing. Rate study process is governed
in California primarily by proposition
218 which sets certain requirements uh
for setting rates including water and
sewer utility rates. Primarily rates
can't exceed the cost of providing
service. So the the utility has to
extend service for simply the cost of
providing that monies cannot be used for
any other purpose for which it was
recovered. So we have to keep uh
revenues within the utility funds. They
can't be spent elsewhere in the city.
And lastly, customers cannot be required
to pay the cost for another group. So we
can't have cross uh customer class
subsidies so that one set of customers
can pay less and another
more. Uh additionally with prop 218 a
bit of history here it was passed by
voters in 1996. In 2006 the state
supreme court held that utility rates
are subject to the requirements of Prop
218. Those that were mentioned on the
prior slide. In addition to those
substantive requirements, there are also
procedural requirements which uh require
that we notice all of our affected
parcels. So, customers of the water
utility in the sanitation district have
to be notified, made aware of the
changes to utility rates. Uh those were
mailed to customers on March 28th in
advance of this public hearing. and
rates are subject to a majority protest
which means if a majority of connections
to the water or sewer systems uh protest
the rates council or the CSD board could
not implement those changes. So let's
talk about what makes up uh
rates. We have uh revenues and expenses.
So revenues are largely from utility
rates from user charges. There's very
little non- rate revenue. So all of the
revenues that come into the utilities
are derived from the charges that
customers pay. On the expense side, uh
we start with cash that's available. So
those are think of your checking in your
savings account and the cash on hand to
be able to meet the city, excuse me, pay
its own bills uh to execute capital
projects uh to respond to emergencies.
We have operational expenses, so
operating and maintaining the water
systems, producing water, treating waste
water. And then we have capital
expenditures. So we have a series of
capital projects and programs over a
long-term horizon that need to be funded
over time. The difference between those
revenues and expenses are differences in
uh proposed
rates. So diving a little bit deeper
into the cost factors affecting the
water utility, we have dwindling cash on
hand, and that's largely because we have
pressures on both revenues and expenses.
We have reduced water demands over the
last several years. We expend we
experienced dry conditions in 2021 and
2022. We had a record uh wet year in
2023. Again, an above average winter in
2024 where in wet years demand is
actually depressed or lower than in dry
years. So we have reduced revenues. We
also have rising operational costs.
Those include purchasing water, uh
producing water, the cost of electricity
and pumping uh to produce water and move
it through the
systems, chemical costs and personnel
costs. So all of those operational costs
are rising. Uh utilities are not immune
to the effects of inflation just like
our own household
budgets. And lastly, as I mentioned, we
have a series of capital projects uh
that the city has planned. We're going
to go into a bit of detail in this next
slide and how the capital projects
actually translate into cost savings on
the operation side over time. So what
this chart is showing is purchase water
from uh the city's water purveyor Kaius
municipal water district. So
historically the purchases have been on
the order of 4 to 5,000 acre feet per
year and that's declined and that's
declined because the dalter has come
online. So the Dalter produces
additional local water to provide to the
city of Camrio service area. Now it's
stabilized at more the 2,000 acre foot
per year mark, but additional capital
projects in the future are going to
reduce the reliance on Kaiagus or
imported water in the future. Primarily
the charter of pump station which will
allow more local water to be served in
more locations of the service area. Uh
well E which is a new groundwater well.
And then after 2031, well F, an
additional new well. So again, these
investments need to be made now in order
to translate into cost savings in the
future and additional local
supply for CSD on the sewer side. Uh
similarly, we have rising operational
costs. Uh no different than the water
side of the house. uh again not immune
to the uh to inflation on all on all
cost
centers but largely it's driven by uh
anticipated capital investments and
really generational investments as it
relates to the water reclamation plant.
So if we think about the rock water
reclamation plant it was originally
constructed from n in 1957. It's been
expanded over the years. Uh first in
1962, then in 1978, again in '92, and
lastly in
2005. So it was last expanded uh or
improved in 2005, but the bones date to
1957, something like 65 years ago.
And those bones are showing signs of age
and
degradation,
corrosion, and the need for upgrades and
replacements.
So, not only do we have uh requirements
there in improving the reclamation plant
facilities, uh we also have flood
concerns, periodic flooding events near
or at the water reclamation plant that
need to be addressed. And uh some of the
capital projects in relation to those
plant upgrades address these flood
requirements.
So when we turn to proposed rates, we're
going to look at uh a combined bill. So
the rates are not shown. The rates are
in the rate study report. They're also
in the ordinance and the resolution that
accompanies the public hearing
tonight. When we think about a typical
customer, we're talking about a single
family residential uh user, a 3/4 inch
water connection using approximately 12
units billing units of water per month.
The bill currently is $136. Under the
proposed rates tonight, that bill would
increase to $163, roughly $27 increase
uh on a monthly
basis. That would put us uh in the
middle of the road among peers in
Ventura County. What's called out at the
bottom here highlighted uh are agencies,
neighboring agencies that are in the
process of conducting their own water
wastewater or both water and wastewater
rate studies. that includes city of
Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Seami
Valley, and Los Virgin's water district.
Thanks, Kevin. Uh, I wanted to take a
quick minute to talk about some of the
public outreach that the city staff and
also our consultant have engaged in uh
over the last few months. So, we've had
a multi-touchpoint engagement plan uh
where we had in-person engagement. Uh we
talked earlier about the twoformational
open houses and I'll touch on that in
just a minute. We've also had five
utility committee meetings. We've had
four um city council meetings or a
hearing. We had the three city council
meetings and then today's hearing. We
also had some print media. So we sent
out save the date postcards alerting
everybody to ourformational open houses
and also letting them know that the Prop
218 notices were coming. Those were sent
out to all parcels. Uh we also sent out
the Prop 218 notices in both English and
Spanish. Uh we sent out utility bill
messages. We had news releases and an
op-ed. We also engaged in some
electronic media. We built a dedicated
web page that had uh frequently asked
questions. We built a couple of
explainer videos in both English and
Spanish. We had the city scene
newsletter and the city e-news and a
couple posts on social media.
I want to talk really quickly about
theformational open houses. Uh we had
two of those. Uh one at the Camaro
Library and one here in council
chambers. Uh that was April 8th and
April 26th. Uh they were well attended.
It was an open discussion. There was a
lot of Q&A. Um and a lot of folks came
out to to
chat. And now I want to switch gears and
talk about uh Proposition 218 and also
AB2257.
So AB2257 uh is relatively new. It
became effective uh January 1st of 2025.
It added a couple sections to the
government code. Um but most
importantly, it allows property owners
to submit written substantive objections
to the proposed water or sewer rates and
it requires local agencies to provide uh
written responses to all of those timely
objections. Uh all objections and the
city's responses have been made part of
the record and they're attached to this
agenda
item. And the tally for that uh the
deadline was Monday uh May 12th at 5:00
p.m. And the city had received two
written objections for sewer, one
written objection for water, and no
written objections for
airport. And now I'll
And now I'll switch gears and talk about
the Proposition 218 tally. So, this is
where we're talking about protests. So,
folks who have written in to express
concern or to protest the response or
protest the rates. Um, this was as of
3:30 today, May 14. Um, we will continue
to update this throughout the public
hearing as um to to give you the most
up-to-date number. Um but as of 3:30 we
had received 211 validated protests for
water, 186
sorry 211 validated protests for sewer,
186 protests for water and zero for the
airport. But we also want to talk pretty
quickly about some other submitts that
were not validated. Uh so we also
received 71 invalid responses for water,
oh my gosh, for sewer and 70 for water.
Uh and there are a couple of reasons why
uh some a submitt might have not been
considered a valid protest. Um those
reasons include the address is not in
the service area. So somebody may have
written in and they actually live in the
Pleasant Valley District or they live uh
in Cam Rosa, but either way, they are
not actually serviced by our water or
sewer. uh or they did not provide an
address or they submitted duplicate uh
submitts for the same uh parcel. So if
two folks living in the same home, if
one person submitted a protest, we
counted the first but not the second. Uh
we did want to just include it here for
transparency because we recognize that
this is a um this is a big increase
we're talking about a lot and we wanted
to make sure that council understands
all of the feedback that we've received
from the community.
So here's a list of our total parcels.
Um on the sewer side we have 15,02
parcels. On the water side we have
13,669 and we have 105 in airport. So
the protest percent down at the bottom
indicates the validated protests over
the number of parcels. Um it would that
number would have to be over 50% in
order for a majority protest to exist in
which the protested the proposed rates
would not be able to be approved based
on the limits of Prop
218. And with that, I'm going to send it
over to the mayor to open the public
hearing.
Okay. Thank you for uh that report. Um
little housekeeping before we uh go any
further here. uh in order to facilitate
uh this discussion uh this joint he
hearing of the city council board um it
may be advantageous uh for uh the
council to uh acknowledge uh the mayor
to serve as both uh chair for the
council and the board. So if that uh is
agreeable I will need a motion to agree
to that and a second. Second. There is a
motion and a second. Any further
discussion? No. Roll call vote, please.
Council member Martinez Bravo, yes.
Council member Santangelo, yes. Council
member Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor
Tennyson, yes. Mayor Ky, yes. And and if
I could just state for the record that
was actually the the sanitary district
that was acquiescing.
Correct. Uh, okay. So, with that, are
there any questions of staff at this
particular point? Any questions before
we get to the opening the public
hearing? Do you have any hearing? None.
Uh hearing none. So, we're going to open
the public hearing. It's a for the city
council. I'm going to open the public
hearing for the proposed citywide water
rates and airport water
rates. I'm going to open that and I'm
going to open up the sanitary district
uh public hearing for the proposed sewer
rates. So, both of those are officially
opened. I do have a comment if we uh can
start uh at this point some housekeeping
and some procedural. Uh we now we will
now receive comments from interested
persons on the proposed water rates, the
airport water rates or the sewer rates.
Please note a verbal comment is not an
official protest. If you have a written
po protest to submit, please hand it to
the city clerk staff at the desk off to
my left. Each speaker will have three
minutes to speak as noted on the screens
above. Then we'll move to the next
person. Now, I'm going to hold everybody
to three minutes. Uh I want to be fair
to everybody. Uh there are times here
when you agree with what's being said,
they kind of raise their hands and they
can do this or you can remain silent,
whatever you uh are comfortable doing.
But uh I'd appreciate it if you keep
your comments to 3 minutes. And uh to uh
ensure a respective and an inclusive
environment and we're going to ask uh
the residents please if you would
refrain from any verbal or clapping. I
want to be fair to both sides uh of this
uh issue. So with that, madame clerk, uh
are there any uh requests to speak on
this particular matter? Yes, I currently
have seven people who have signed up to
speak. I'm going to call the first
person and I'm going to name who will be
the next person. So we ask that you be
ready to come up. So the first person to
speak is Denise. I'm gonna try to
pronounce this
herbar. Okay. And then after you will be
Al Siden
Citizens. So come on up.
Sorry for the outburst earlier. Thank
you. Um but I'm
along with microphone close that'd be
great. Sorry. If you can move that
microphone close that'd be great. Thank
you. Um my name is Denise Reebar. I am a
retired school teacher. Um, I'm
medically retired on a limited income.
My income is raised by Calsters at the
amount of $80 per year. Um, it was said
earlier today that it's older Americans
month. You had all of these people here
from the mobile home parks who are very
concerned about their
rent. What's going to happen when the
sewer
hits? What's going to happen then? and
they were going to have to pay that. My
sewer
bill was, I believe, $52 a month and
then now it's up to 74 and then it's
going be going to be going up to
135, you know, and according to your
information, it's
81%. I don't know anybody who gets an
81% raise over three years. I I most
definitely don't. And you can look at
the people here and the people that were
here
before. We're just normal people, you
know, and it it's really unfair. It's
really unfair to the average person. For
somebody who's making $500,000 a month
or a year, I'm sorry. It's nothing to
them, but when my raise is $80 a year,
it's something to me. Um, and if this
plant really needs to be
built, why are you doing this in
perpetuity? Why not put out an
assessment? You know, if the plant's
going to cost X number of dollars, put
out an assessment for however long it's
going to take to pay it off. Why don't
you do that instead of penalizing
everybody from now till the end of
forever? You know, I mean, I don't know
what to say. And I mean, and you say
this plan
has been here since 1957 and Prop 218
came into effect in 1996 or it was voted
on in
1996. What happened between 1957 and
1996? Why weren't any repairs
done? I mean, that's that's my question.
And it almost feels like if you look at
Next Door, you look at Facebook, you're
going to get a lot of objections. But
people feel like this is a done
deal and they've had this crammed down
their throats and it's really not
fair. And you know it's another thing
you have to remember to is the people
that aren't here what's going to happen
when they get the bill they're going to
vote.
Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
Okay. Al Sudin
Sidens.
Al not here. Okay, we'll move on to
Claire. Claire
Sidens. No. Okay. How about Ken
Hansen? And after Ken Hansen will be
Jeff
Nettleton. Could move that up. Can that
be helpful? Thank you.
Thanks for hearing our input.
Uh I'm surprised that we don't have
pitchforce and
stuff. Uh but people get busy and
they're sometimes complacent and uh that
may be happening here. I hope you don't
interpret the numbers as being, oh well,
we're we're fine with it. Uh this four
years out, this is a pretty high
percentage.
Uh I believe it should be structured
differently. Now I'll read what I
composed. Uh I believe the generational
capital investment should be financed by
bonds repaid through property
taxes which is a traditional way of
accept and an accepted way to finance
long-term capital
investments. Using bonds via property
taxes also avoids unnecessary inflation
of the rate
structure. Property tax assessments
could be
separated into fixed fees per house and
also assessments based on the value of
the house depending on what is seen as
the fair way to allocate the cost.
Capital investments should be financed
by bonds without the return on
investment margin that's normally
provided for
utilities. Only operational costs should
be burdened by the ROI margin in the
water and sewer rates.
Only costs of project supervision by
utility
personnel would are reasonable to be
burdened in the ROI margin, not the
amounts paid to contractors to actually
build the the
project. That concludes my input. Thanks
for listening. Thank you for your
comments.
Okay, now it's Ken. I'm sorry, Jeff
Nettleton. And after Jeff Nettleton will
be Patricia Griffin.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. How
are you today? Good. I'm here because
I've lived in Camrio since
1994 and the water rates and the sewer
rates have gone up exponentially since
that time. And I understand that the
city is growing and but we shouldn't be
penalized because of conservation of
water. Now, I know that the city has a
big plan coming up to have Costco coming
in. At least that's what the the plan is
overall. That sales tax that's going to
be generated from Costco's sale and gas
is going to be more than that the city
needs. And they could subsidize that to
pay for these projects such as the
reclamation plant, the sewer plant, and
for the water rates and for all the the
wells that need to be dug.
Why are we putting it on the back of
people that can't afford it
or or can't or in this case they they
didn't look forward to those kind of
rates over the three and four years that
are projected out which are substantial.
Now, it was brought up that the protests
or turnin, but council members did
attend these, you know, question open
question and answer open houses. And at
those open houses, how many people came
up and said, "Yes, I'm in favor of all
these hikes." I'll bet you didn't get
one. Not one.
And with all that in
mind, wouldn't it be a great idea to
utilize the sales tax monies that you
get from even the outlet mall or some of
these new businesses are coming in
instead of raising the
hikes of water and sewer for the
constituents in the
city. Just an idea. Thank you for your
time. Thank you.
Okay, now it's Patricia Griffin and
after Patricia will be Matt Flood and
that's all that's signed up at this
time. I have to bend it way
down. Thank you for having me. First,
let me say simply because you didn't get
a lot of protests and there's not a lot
of people here, don't take that as a
positive and that everybody's excited
about this. take that as simply a
resignation on most people's part that
they simply feel like they have no power
to change things. So, let me say, I
realize that when you planned this, you
had no idea that come time to ask for
these rate increases that it was going
to be an economic disaster and chaos in
our country. I understand you did not
know that, but it's a reality that
that's what's here and what's facing
people. You heard heartbreaking stories
from the people from the mobile home
parks. Imagine them land lease
increasing and now water and sewer rates
increasing. It's one thing on top of
another for them. And what I notice is
you talk a lot about this year and the
increase. Yes, 24% is how much you're
going to be going up for this first
time, but you're not talking about the
next increase in 2026, which is 18%. And
then 27 it's 12% and in 28 it's 4% and
that's for water. Add that all together
in four years you're getting a
70% increase in your water rates. And
likewise for sewer that is by my
calculation an
81% increase in the sewer rates. So you
give the typical bill which uh was at
this time about
$13625. In four years that typical bill
goes to $2407.
So, no one in this room, including all
of you, none of us will be getting a 70
or an 80% increase in our salaries,
retirements, or whatever benefits you
have. Everything is going up. So, I have
a few thoughts and suggestions. I heard
someone else talking about bonds. So
rather than frontloading these increases
this year with all that's going on
economically, possibly consider
restructuring the percentages over the
next four years so that this year is not
so
impactful. Uh possibly also I did a well
actually I did a Google search. I
thought how else could this be paid for?
And the gentleman that spoke of bonds,
that was certainly one thing. And I know
I talked to someone at an open house and
their problem was with who gets the
service and who doesn't. I think AI can
fix that. I also saw online like state
revolving funds, community development
block grants, water infrastructure
financing and innovation act. If there's
a green portion to the project seems to
be other sources, clean water state
revolving loan fund. And I'm asking the
council to table this today, take a look
at restructuring the
percentages, take a look at other
sources of funding. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your comments. Appreciate
it.
Anyone else? Okay, Matt Flood. And
that's all I have.
Uh, council, I appreciate your time to
kind of speak on this issue. Uh, I'm a
retired Navy veteran. Um, I ended up
here on accident in 2006 because I was
fortunate to marry a woman uh in Hawaii
while stationed there um and asked where
Point Magu was on the list of orders to
choose from and she jumped off her couch
and said, "Choose them or this will be
the shortest marriage you exist in." Uh,
it turns out she attended at Moore Park
and also at Calp Poly Slow and loves the
area. Uh, and now we have raised three
boys here and as I've retired from the
Navy, there was no way we were leaving
here. Um, but that concerns me that we
have minimal protests and I will tell
you that I'm a polygrad. Um, I'm I feel
I'm engaged with the community and I got
word of this on just a sample flyer that
ended up not getting tossed in the junk
mail um on accident. Um, so if I'm
engaged and I'm just barely getting a
glance of it, I do appreciate the graph
that showed all the attempts to reach
out. I'm not saying that the attempts
haven't been made. I'm not even saying
I'm against a rate increase. Um I know
that might shock some folks. Um you
know, but marginal. These are insane
increases. We're talking about plans
that are 10 years down the road and
we're going to do the increases within
four years. Why that can't be stretched
out further? Um I didn't see any um
literature to address that. Um bonds
were mentioned, of course. Um oh, sorry.
I did make to me a point that the first
speaker said that she's a normal person.
I will say that as an educator, I beg to
differ. Uh, she is more than that. Thank
you. Um, sorry. Um, but I I wish the
other folks here earlier had stayed
because we gave out awards and
certificates to recognize the aging in
this community and my mother lives with
me and she's on a fixed income. Um, but
luckily she lives with me and we work
and we are employed and we are able to
maybe take this on possibly. Um, but
those people in those communities are
fixed. Um, and I assure you that their
checks are not going to go up 81% over
the next four years. Um, as rent
increases, as everything increases. Um,
I just think this plan is so
shortsighted. I saw some of the
pictures. I'm in aviation maintenance.
We work on P3 aircrafts from the 1970s
and I have not seen corrosion on those
airframes that I see in those pictures
right there. So, I would beg to differ
and ask who's doing your maintenance.
Um, that could be another question that
needs to be addressed cuz that was
pathetic. Um, and that people are
drinking um from those systems. So, I
agree that upgrades and these equipments
are needed. Um, but it feels like
something else was done and now it's
being put on the back of the people who
are here now to fix it, which again,
there isn't a solution. I just don't
know of a 4-year 81% uh over the top of
things increase is the ultimate answer.
I thank you for your my
view. And if you keep your comments to
three minutes again, I appreciate it.
Thank you. Yeah, I'll be short. My name
is Doug Boyce, uh 10ear resident of the
city. Uh 25 year water sewer contractor,
um registered civil engineer.
uh this is uh not acceptable to have uh
rate increases roughly 10 times the uh
rate higher than the rate of inflation.
Um you have to figure out a different
way to do this to structure it like Ken
Hansen said consider bonds or some other
method of doing this. uh people on on
fixed income, really anybody in the
city. This is this is incredibly uh high
rates and I would ask you to seriously
reconsider your methods of u structuring
the payments for this. Thank you. Thank
you. You know what else? Yeah. Again,
three minutes if you would appreciate
it. Thank you. Sure thing. My name is
Thomas Matsumura and uh about 20 years
ago, I moved to Camaro and I've grown to
love this place. This is unbelievable. A
beautiful city, a safe place to live,
lots of community activities and events.
And I know it's probably because of what
you guys have done. So, first I just
want to say thank you for what you guys
are doing. I really appreciate living in
this wonderful place. Um um but one
thing I do not like is the cost of
living in in this area. California, you
know,
Camaro is is so great, but there's
costs, you know, and as you've heard
tonight and as you well know that there
are a lot of people in Camaro that are
struggling to pay their bills. And I
just wanted to add my voice to uh what
these other folks have said tonight. I
would I would like to say
ditto. This is good stuff that you guys
were sharing. Um, all I want to say is
that um it's hard to pay our bills and
um these in this proposed increases seem
really in the ridiculous range. And um I
just want to ask you, would you consider
what these guys were saying? consider,
you know, bonds or sales tax or or
whatever creative uh means or spreading
out the payments over time um to make it
easier for the residents here like me
who are just just trying to make make a
way through through through each month,
you know. So, I just want to say thank
you for the good work you do and please
consider what these guys were saying.
Thank you. Thank you for your
comments. Anyone else? Uh yes.
Please proceed. Be state your name.
Appreciate it. And three minutes if you
would, please. Thank you. Yes, your
honor. Um, I'm Phyllis Anderson. I've
lived in Camaria since
1962. Um, I live in Oldtown. I'm on a a
fixed income. And I too feel like
um this is kind of out of the blue and I
you've done a beautiful job of keeping
us informed of sending out the hearings,
but it seems like yeah, it's a done
deal. And if you just please reook at
the taxing structure. I know that the
sewers is bad. I know all of that, but
there just seems to have to be we have
to think of a different way of of paying
for this besides on our backs. Thank
you. Thank you.
Yep. Please proceed.
If you would state your name, I'd
appreciate in three minutes if you would
be appreciative. Thank you. Thank you,
Randy Gilbert. And thank you, council
members. Um, first of all, I think uh I
appreciate the little time and effort
that you guys put into this project and
the mailers. I'm only here because of
that mailer. Um, but I will say that
mailer was extremely misleading. Um, and
it was misleading here too in your uh
presentation as you only gave the raise
for this year. You guys are failing to
give uh or make upfront what most of
these people are saying is how large
that raise is over the four years. Uh it
and it is I don't know if it's
coincidental that we're doing this on a
day that we're also uh acknowledging
most of our seniors. So we're
acknowledging seniors and telling that
we care about them, but we're allowing
this company to tell us that we want to
raise rates over four years up to 81%.
Um that that's pretty uh misleading in
my opinion. Um this is the only company
that I know that if you use too much of
their product, they charge you to they
charge you a fee. If you don't use
enough of their product, they charge you
a fee. It's not our job to figure out
more cost-effective ways for you guys to
find out how to store water. That's your
job. If this was a private company, if
we could get a request for proposal for
a new water company to come in, I bet
you they would find better ways to store
water at a cheaper rate.
It's not our job as the consumer to tell
you a cost-effective way to to store
water. The way that we tell you that
you're not doing a good job is we go to
a new company. We don't have that option
here. So, we leave that to the five uh
council members to be our voice to say,
"Hey, this is not going well. You've had
a sewage facility that's been around
since the ' 50s. It's not our problem
that you didn't save enough money to fix
that sewage facility. Now you want to
put it on our backs for the next four
years and that increase. Um I wish this
was a question and answer. I'm sorry
that I missed those question and answers
because that would give you guys the
opportunity to tell me what I don't know
which I know there is a lot of it but
it's not that. Um I will say I don't
know how this gets voted on if uh the
five of you council members are the
people that inevitably decide if this
happens or not. Um, but if it is that
you guys decide if this happens, I do
have a little bit of a rub and I think
that I don't know which council members
actually your constituents are affected
by this raise. I don't know if all of
your constituents are or just a couple
of you, but for those of you like one of
the previous speakers said that are
affected by it, we have some recourse as
your constituents and that we can vote
you out. For those that aren't, your
constituents aren't affected. um we
don't have any recourse there. Uh we
can't say, "Hey, you voted for this and
now uh we would like to vote someone out
because we don't have that option." Um
and I think that there should be
something looked at and potentially like
your voice or your vote shouldn't count
as much as the people that are actually
affected by their constituents. Thank
you.
Keep it three minutes. Thank you.
Hi, good evening. Uh, this is Cheryl
Johnson. I never expected to come
forward. Um, I had submitted a letter
earlier today from my husband and I that
we thought maybe all of us would um that
you would get to read our letters, not
just see how many voted for this because
I put some personal information in there
and if you didn't get a chance to read
it, I really hope you do.
Um, I'm blessed. Um, I've been in your
steps. I've worked in government for
many years. Um, without a on
disability. And so, it's with gratitude
that I'm here because I know the hard
work you did. And,
um, I appreciated in just several months
receiving the information regarding um,
the water, wastewater primarily is what
we looked at. Um, and went to the first
meeting you had. I was one of the ones
that spoke there um said something
similar to some other people here that
said it where I brought up the
PowerPoint and saying what's going to
happen not just this first year but you
know do give us the expenditure part.
Well, we went ahead and kind of
calculated it and I think people have
been very um candid here. Um I went
around to our neighborhood um just
within this past day to bring up
tonight's meeting because we know this
is critical of our city council to vote.
Um, in the letter what we asked was that
you please postpone the proposed
increase until some more discussions,
some more meetings because honestly when
I went to that first meeting and on my
disability I can do only so much. Um,
when I went around to the neighborhood
many of them said we didn't know about
this
tonight. Um, they didn't look at their
mail. There's a lot out there and
there's a lot of older people that are
there. But they said there ought to be
some more to discuss. And that's why I
said the meetings that you had last
month were excellent. It's like why
couldn't they have been extended
instead? It's this whole format here is
it's going right into everything. So we
see that lower percentage amount of how
many of us voted. We want solutions. Um
I was with gratitude that I um heard
some people offer options last month and
I really think um that as much as Yes.
And there were some really good
explanation of like the wastewater
issues that are going on um and what
needs to be done. Can there please be
more discussions and have more meetings
and more brainstorming not just within
your organization and the people who've
been you know showing all the details
but include public more and and um
because that's what we're here for.
we're all here in this together. And it
it was gratitude, too, that some of your
own members had even said at that first
meeting, you know, I'm also impacted by
what's going to happen if we go through,
you know, and have these. And yet, what
are the solutions? Is there anything
else? And so, um, I just Sorry if I'm
running out of time. I am, but I thank
you for listening. Um, there's just real
concerns. Thank you. Thank you for your
comments. Anyone else? Yeah, please
proceed up, please.
That's okay. Sir, I think you already
spoke, did you not? I did. Comment about
Well, it may I'm going to ask Excuse me.
There's some protocol. Apologies.
Okay. Are there anyone else that would
like to make comment? Yes.
Okay.
Again, if you could keep it to three
minutes, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
Yeah. My name is Nancy Jelica and I live
I've been here since 1994 and I concur
with all these people. It is this is the
first one I've been to because I saw
that I went, you've got to be kidding
me. Now, you look at the the homes that
there's not a home under a million
dollars in this with the property taxes
and everything. It is always the same
answer with that with the bureaucrats.
That's why we have this what we're going
through in this country. It is the only
solution is give me more
money. People they're they're at the end
of their ropes, I tell you. Anyway, I
appreciate you listening and thank you
for everything. Thank you for your
comments. Anyone else? Sir, would you
like to come up please? Again, if you
could state your name, I'd appreciate in
three minutes if you would please. Sir,
my name is my name is John Greenwood. I
hate public speaking, but um I was
watching those numbers up there on the
board and the only thing those numbers
show is that your information gathering
process is just completely BS. Um back
in 21 when um Kip Turner was trying to
bring a um commercial airport into this
town, myself and other people stood here
and spoke to you and you agreed to take
a survey and see how the public really
felt. That survey was fairly minimal. I
think the numbers I heard were like 40
50
$60,000. Um, and it because of that
survey, this community is far better off
today. Now, those 1 point something%
really does anybody believe that? Nobody
can believe those numbers are
useful. You can find out better. You can
use a better process to really find out
what the public thinks. Excuse me. Like
I said, I hate public speaking. It's
okay. But
um it it's up to you, but you can do
that. It's a minor expense compared to
what it's going to take from people in
this community, and I think it would be
worth doing. Thank you. Thank you for
your
comments. Anyone else like to talk about
the water rates, airport rates, or sewer
rates? Do I see anybody else coming up
here? Going once, going twice? Anyone
else? Okay. So with that uh we'll start
um with our council deliberation. Are
there any questions that anybody has of
staff at this particular point? Have any
questions?
Would you like to close the public
hearing? I will you or I will later on.
Yes. But that's an important question.
So, any questions
that Vice Mayor Tennyson and we will
have another opportunity for questions
and deliberations as well. Go ahead. I
have several questions, but I'm going to
limit it to three real quick. Three
questions that will hopefully answer
some of the uh suggestions brought up
during the public comment
section. Um, sales tax revenue, Mr.
Yuri, is a general fund revenue. Do we
spend general fund me money on
enterprise funds or special districts?
Uh no, that is correct. Sales tax money
is a general revenue as well as property
tax that goes primarily towards uh law
enforcement services and other general
city services that benefit the entire
community.
Number two, um it was brought up that we
have a property tax assessment to pay
for these capital projects. Is that
possible? And what would that entail?
That would entail I believe it is
possible that would entail a vote um a
ballot measure. Uh I believe the
Metropolitan Water has something similar
in place. It is something that we
explored but at this time would not uh
look to use that as a method. There were
also other methods that were explored.
Bonding was uh examined and is built
into this water rate study. bonds in u
future years have been plugged in, but
the rate
revenues proposed tonight are deemed
sufficient enough to repay those bonds
in future years. And would a property
tax assess assessment take more than a
50% plus one vote?
Yes. Or do it would what percentage of a
vote would we have to have to pass a
property tax? I I believe that's a
twothirds vote.
for special tax it would be 2/3.
And the final question
is people have brought up bonding but
bonding agencies have a requirement on
revenue coming into a agency in order to
qualify for the bonding and what is that
requirement percentage-wise? That is
correct. The bonding requirements
typical bonding requirements are 120 to
125% coverage. Meaning that the revenues
generated by the
system must exceed the expenditures
by 125%.
So revenue coming
in the revenue coming in has to be 25%
more than the cost to the system.
Correct. Not 125%. I'm sorry. Yes.
Correct. 25% more. And um that
stipulation also applies to other
funding sources such as what was
mentioned the the state revolving fund
loans
and WIFIA and WIFIA is another loan
program that does have sometimes more
stringent requirements on the
revenue generation um component.
That's all my questions for right now.
Okay. Anybody else have any other
questions at this particular point?
Martito. Uh, thank you. So, there were
several comments that were made and I'll
ask some questions for a clarification
because it sounds like what I've heard
has been different, but the sanitary
plant was built in 1957 before the city
was even a city. Um, we became uh
established in 1964. Um the comment that
was made was that there have never been
any repairs done to the plant and my
understanding is throughout the years
there have been several repairs. Can uh
staff speak to that?
Yes. Uh I can speak to that. Um Kevin,
if you can bring up that slide showing
the phased uh improvements over time.
It might have been one of the earlier
slides. It's just a good
visual. So, uh, as I was mentioned
earlier, the, um, original construction
was
1957. As the regulations change over
time for water quality and also the a
demand in the amount of uh, sewage going
to the plant, there's a need for
different uh, infrastructure upgrades.
Um, as part of that things things are
maintained. Um and you can see the
series of different upgrades over time.
Uh the main issue here is um the various
concrete structures have a defined life
and a lot of them suffer from a specific
condition that makes them difficult to
rehabilitate. Um and so
um the system is being maintained. Um
there is corrosion. It is a wastewater
treatment plant. It's something that's
constantly battled. um it's just getting
to a point where these major systems um
need an overhaul for uh remaining useful
life situations or or conditions and
also regulatory conditions.
Thank you. Uh there was also a comment
that rates have been significantly
increased over the uh over several
years. My understanding is there has
been pretty minimal increases and I
wanted to ask staff to speak to that as
well. Uh to give a little bit of
perspective, the last time there was a
rate process such as this, it was for a
two-year cycle. And that was for 2023
and 2024. And the rate increases at that
time were 9% on the water side each year
and 12% on the sewer side each year. The
five years prior to that, the average
rate increases per year for water were
about 1.2% and on the sewer side 1.8%.
Okay. Thank you. And I know while this
may seem to the community that we're
just having this discussion now, um my
understanding is through our committee,
our committee has met multiple times. Do
we know how many times? Um I think right
now it's council member uh Trembley and
council member Santalo. You're on this
committee that has attended to this. Uh
no
utilities. Okay. So but we have had a a
utilities committee that has been
attending to this. Do we know about how
many meetings have been had? At least
five. We've been this year almost two
years. Okay. If I if I may add it was
five meetings this year for this
specific study. two years ago, we met, I
believe, seven or eight times as part of
that study. And as it relates to the
water reclamation plan and kind of
embedding that in past studies, um that
would have been three studies ago as
well, roughly in 2021 where we would
have met another four or five times.
Okay. Thank you. And then there was also
and I think uh Vice Mayor Tennyson, you
attended to this question, but it's
regarding bonds. Um if our finance
director can you talked about how this
is already embedded and part of the
plan. Can you speak to that a little bit
more? Yes. Uh the bond component is part
of the financing structure to pay for
some of these large capital
improvements. The bonding requirement I
mentioned is a revenue coverage ratio.
And in order to position the both the
city and the sanitary district in such a
way to be able to issue bonds, we have
to correct the the revenue streams to
cover the expenditures in order to meet
those covenants that are going to be
required by bonds before we can go out
and try to sell bonds on the market.
Okay. Thank you so much.
I have no further questions. Any other
questions at this particular time?
Okay. So, there's some legal stuff that
I've got to do here. And based on the
written objections and responses
proposed by staff, is there any need to
make any clarifications or reductions to
the proposed water rates? Anybody have
any?
No. Okay. So based on the written
objections and the responses presented
by staff, is there a need to make any
clarifications or reduction on the
proposed airport water
rates? How
many? Okay. So based on the written
objections and the responses presented
by staff, is there need to make any
clarifications or reductions on the
proposed sewer
rates? No. Okay. So, I'm going to move
on to the last call to the written
protest. Is there anybody here that
wants to submit a written protest? And
if there is, you can present that to the
city clerk at this particular time. And
mayor, I think that the council's
looking the What is your question, Tony?
Uh, you're concerned. I'm just not
understanding our I'm not understanding
the procedure here. Are we dealing with
water first and then sewer? Um, was it
add serot? Are we dealing with item T
and then item U? That's the my question
to the chair. Well, we took all public
comments together for both and we've
combined the public hearings. So, now
we're uh the question is based on
information that you've received and in
the staff reports, is there anything
that you've heard that uh would change
your recommendation as the as the board
and as the council? And if not, uh then
go down each of those rates. That's what
the mayor's doing. Um and if not then
there will be one more additional call
for protests and then there can be uh
additional discussion time. Thank you.
Okay. So with that I'm going to make
another announcement. Any protests that
want to be submitted if there is please
submit it to the city
clerk.
Okay. Okay. So with that uh the public
hearing to consider the water rates, the
airport rates and the sewer rates will
now be closed. Uh no further written
protests will be accepted and staff is
now going to finalize the count of the
protest and this is the time while staff
is conducting a final count. Is there
any further discussion or comments by
city council? Would anybody like to
start off with any more comments or
questions at this point?
This is your opportunity to deliberate
or or make further comments. Yes,
this is the time. Would anybody like to
start us off? I'm looking for Oh, Mr.
Trembling. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Thank you.
So, I I want to focus my comments on the
wastewater rates. Um I'm not ignoring
the water rate side, but the the
wastewater rates I know are the the
higher ones. And I I want to hire
proposed ones. I I want to thank you to
everyone who spoke. I want to
acknowledge the issues that you've
raised, acknowledge the concerns that
you've raised.
I've received several emails from
residents
uh asserting that the fees are excessive
and a number of you have spoken this
evening uh quite eloquently uh as to
that. Um, among other things,
um, the some of the emails that I've
received are very thoughtful and they
suggest that we go back to the drawing
board and and and work to find credible
alternatives. So, I want to speak to
that for for just a minute. Um, I
acknowledge that the increases are
steep. I acknowledge that they are
painful. I don't like approving fee
increases as a general
rule. That said, there's a necessity
here and it's also there is a
responsibility to put the city in an
appropriate fiscal position and
appropriate environmental position from
an infrastructure standpoint. Remember,
I'm focusing on wastewater principally.
You can extrapolate these comments also
to to water, but I'm focusing on
wastewater. Many of you may not realize,
but the process began several years ago
with a very
detailed a very detailed wastewater
master plan where there was a detailed
condition detailed uh assessment of
conditions uh at the plant uh and its
components. And that plant, you recall,
is nearly 70 years
old. We have spent hours and hours and
meeting after meeting specifically on
the utilities committee. I'll speak only
for myself. Mr. Ky has also been on that
committee analyzing what needs to be
done.
Number one, I think our outreach, I
think our staff's outreach and our
consultants outreach to the public has
been excellent
here. You saw a slide detailing all of
the different forms of outreach uh that
we have had uh to the
public. So, let me just dwell on two
things. Number one, from a project
standpoint, here's the bottom line.
The wastewater treatment plant is a
deteriorated asset and it's rapidly
reaching the end of its useful life.
In fact, one could argue that over the
course of the last 10, perhaps 15
years, the city has and city staff have
squeezed for the benefit of residents,
including those in this room and those
who aren't here tonight, uh, for the
benefit of it residents from both a
rates and an operational standpoint, all
of the plants useful
life. Our city staff in my view has done
a terrific job maintaining and operating
this plant and I give them great kudos
and I speak from personal experience
having been an attorney representing
sanitary districts for almost four
decades and having been involved in many
treatment plant construction
construction of plants and financing of
plants. I think our staff has done an
excellent job and I can't thank them
enough and I know some of them are here
tonight. The only fair
conclusion for this project relative to
the wastewater treatment plant
is there is no alternative.
There is no alternative to either a
replacing the plant in totto with a
brand new plant or a complete
rehabilitation of the existing plant.
Those are the two
alternatives. The do nothing alternative
is not an alternative.
I want you to know that we are
evaluating very
closely those two
options and which option would be better
and among those factors that we're
looking at are the cost behind each
approach and what operations would
result. And
so we also are in a situation with the
existing wastewater treatment plant that
we have a flood issue and we have to pay
attention to that potential flooding
issue. It's not something that's
optional for us. It's something that we
have to
do either way. Either way, it's an
extraordinarily expensive project. It's
going to be the most expensive public
works project in this city's
history. So that's it from a project
standpoint. From a rates standpoint,
here's the bottom line. Financing this
project is going to be a real challenge.
And so what a public entity like this
city faces or what a sanitary district
faces when you have a project of this
scope and of this magnitude is you have
to draw from several buckets in order to
or sources of funds and that includes
rates, it includes loans, it includes
bonds, it includes
grants in order to bring this project to
fruition. And the timing of this project
is by the end of this decade. There were
some really good points made about bonds
and
assessments and I understand those but
there also as a component of this has to
be a rates component as an underlying
component. Why? Because when the city
ultimately I suspect what's going to
happen is is the city is going to borrow
a very large amount of this projected
capital cost which I think was what uh
what about $135 million in 2022
$135 million just for the
plant. The city's going to have to
borrow a lot of those funds. So how do
you borrow? Well a bond is borrowing. an
assessment is borrowing and whenever and
whiff and the wiffia funds on the
federal level borrowing. So whenever an
underwriter
looks at how the borrowing how the
borrower is going to repay the funds
they do it just like anybody else just
like any other situation dealing with an
auto loan or a home loan or elsewhere.
What are the revenues that are going to
be in place to support it?
Well, the revenues that we're talking
about tonight just in this setting are
the rates which I acknowledge are high.
It doesn't I I don't like raising them,
but I ask but on the other hand, we have
a responsibility to do what is the
appropriate thing to do from the city's
standpoint. Our
rates, here's the other bottom line. Our
rates have to be commensurate. They have
to be commensurate with the project's
financial burden or the repayment in the
eyes of underwriters and otherwise all
those who are going to be evaluating our
project in the next couple of years.
Otherwise, otherwise if we don't do
that, then our rateayers in this
enterprise district, including many of
you in this room, would have to pay even
more. I know that sounds
counterintuitive. But, for example, if
I'm an underwriter and I'm and I'm
saying to myself, gosh, the rates here
aren't enough to support an interest
rate of X. I think we need to charge an
interest rate of a higher rate of Y.
So, you want to and rates again are just
a component of this project. So,
um I don't like to approve the
increases, but I think it's the
responsible thing to do. Thank you, Mr.
Mayor. Thank you for your comments.
Anyone
else? Susan.
So, I have something planned that I
wrote, but um I'd like to to thank
Council Member Trembley for a very well
articulated
[Music]
um
speech. Um he really did go over a lot
of the things that that you as a public
have brought up and I appreciate him
explaining that. Um I want to thank all
of you for coming forward and speaking
to us. Um, I actually was surprised
there weren't more protests. So, um, I
know people are busy and sometimes
don't aren't able to register their
protests. Um, so, um, I know these rates
are high. Um, I have to pay them as
well. I don't make a lot of money. I'm a
renter. Um, and so I feel these hikes
just like you do.
Um, and I hate this part of my
job. I went to the open house. I've
listened to you all
tonight. I haven't met a single person
that wants these rake rate
hikes. I feel powerless in a way, too,
because these are right hikes that I
believe must be incurred. Um, these are
things that, as Council Member Trembley
said, we really don't have a choice. Um,
I'm not going to go into the weeds as as
much as he did, and I'm not going to
repeat all of the things that he said,
but I really look at this as a as we
really don't have a choice. Um, we need
to be able to flush our toilets. We need
to be able to have drinking water. We
need to be able to do all of these
things and we need to be able to pay for
it. And we do have a very, very, very,
extremely expensive capital improvement
project coming up with the sewer
treatment plant.
So, I know people are struggling and I
know these are really hard times. Um,
but I I don't feel that I would be doing
my job correctly if I didn't vote for
these rate hikes. And I know that sounds
counterintuitive to intuitive. Um, but I
really take I take
you the reason I'm saying this is
because you said you can speak with your
votes and I you absolutely can. Um, I
think I'm doing the best job for the
community by voting in favor of these
rate hikes. I truly do. I know that they
are going to be hurtful on a lot of
families, but I really do that believe
that this is the right thing to do.
That's all I have. Thank you. Anyone
else? Vice Mayor Tenderson,
I find it deplorable that I'm going to
have to vote to increase any kind of fee
to any resident in the city of Camrio.
Um, as council member Santangelo said, I
have to pay the same rates that each and
every one of you do. Um, I don't like
it. Uh, I also understand that I could
vote no and that would be a cowardly
action on my part just because someone
said, "Remember, we get to vote you
out." I guarantee you, anybody sitting
up here that's met with staff, heard
these presentations over and over and
over again would make the same decision.
These are increases that are absolutely
necessary. Um, I know that I took it for
granted for a long time that I just hit
that little lever on the commode and
everything was rosy and cheerful in my
house. I go out and turn on the kitchen
tap water and water flows. It's even
better now with the dalter with the
blending of wellwater and the dissalter
water. I took that all for granted and I
sat in council meetings for five years
as Camrio's police commander. I never
once paid attention to public works. I
didn't care about the sanitation plant.
I didn't care about how water was
distributed to the rest of the city. My
concern was law enforcement and public
safety. This two years and 5 months I've
been on council have been a major eye
openener. I now am very engaged
especially on the water side of things
and on um the sanitation side of things
with meetings we attend and
organizations we belong to. In fact,
Mayor Trim or uh council member
Trembley, former mayor and I attended an
aqua aqua conference I think last year
in Monterey. There is not a single water
agency in the state of California,
whether it's a municipal, a
publiclyowned, a mutual, that isn't
going through the same rate studies
we're going through now. And there isn't
a single one of them that is not going
to be raising rates to pay for the
infrastructure. The staff report that I
went through with the fine tooth comb
shows that every year we have a 5%
increase in inflationary factor in
electric and we're trying to minimize
that by getting a greener footprint. The
cost the annual CPI is going up 3% a
year. So, right off the top, we have 8%
more necessary than we're already
bringing in in order to maintain both
water and water reclamation. Um, staff
costs go up, materials, chemicals go up,
and we are under constraints from state
regulations on drinking water and
wastewater. We're under constraints from
federal regulations on drinking water,
on waste water. And we have to meet
these. We have to be compliant with
them. And I guarantee no. I I came up
with a solution and the city manager is
going to throw something at me. I said
simple. Let's shut down the water
production one or two days a week and
furlow all the city employees. That's
not reasonable, but that would save
money, wouldn't it? You just wouldn't
have water. Let's do the same thing on
the wastewater side. Shut it down for
two days a week and furlow all the
employees and we'll save the money. But
none of us wants to not be able to flush
our toilets or run our dishwasher or our
wash machines at home. So the only path
we have in order to maintain these
services for the people that use the
services is these fee increases and I
will hold my nose but I will vote in
favor of them.
Pass member. Thank you. So there is a
saying in
Spanish and it
is which is we're between the sword and
the wall. Um it is going to be painful
regardless where you
move. I first wanted to thank staff for
the many many hours that went into
analyzing this.
um also to our analyst as well to our
committee. I know I was on the utilities
committee and I we briefly passed over
this but I know that this has been
studied extensively and there has been a
lot of questions that have been brought
up many of those that were brought up
here you know like what alternatives do
we have? Um, in the beginning of the
council meeting, we talked about our the
different meetings we were at. And one
of those that vice mayor and and myself
that we were at was in Sacramento trying
to lobby for different capital
improvement projects. And one of those
was to attend to this the most expensive
capital improvement project in the
history of the city of Camaro. Um, so do
know that while you may leave this room
probably not very happy with the
decision that will happen, we are doing
the best that we can to look at
different options of funding. And a
question that I always have is what
grants are available, who can we talk
to? I'm also in the nonprofit sector, so
I know what it's like to almost work
with nothing and to try to gain some
access. Um just recently I bumped into
um Julia uh not Julia uh Jackie Irwin
and again it's like okay you know are
there any opportunities uh for funding
so do know that we are doing the best
that we can um and I also feel the same
way that I mean if you were to ask me
and I were to be sitting in your shoes I
don't think anybody would want to vote
for an increase in rates like We're
already going through such a difficult
time in our community. Um, housing is a
crisis in Ventura County. I hear what
you're saying. I was born I was raised
in a very uh low in a low-income
housing. Um, and so I I get some of
those struggles from a personal level. I
have my parents and family members who
are also low-income and and any
significant increase, any type of uh
increase really impacts them
significantly. And that being
said, it's so important to be
responsible. When people ask me why I
wanted to run for city council, I never
thought this the wastewater plant was
something that I was going to have
nightmares about. Um, whenever there is
an earthquake, it's the first thing that
I think about now. I mean, in addition
to my kids, right? It's like, okay, is
the plant okay? Um, and I think
everybody who sits on this council truly
cares about the people and truly cares
about sustaining a
city and there are regulations that also
have to be
met. So with
that, I think I unfortunately
also am going to support the the rate
increases as well as I think it's not
what I want to do, but I think it is the
responsible thing to do. And having said
that, I think we will continue to push
to look at what other funding sources
there are and continue to be moving
forward.
Thank you for your comments. Okay, the
last a lot of already said what I was
going to say, but
um nobody wants to raise a rate. I've
been up here for a while. Nobody wants
to raise a rate, but I can assure the
public that we have looked at almost all
of our options here. You never can say
100% of anything, but we have had
several meetings for several months and
several years on this. Our uh sand plant
is aging. It was built in the 50s. We've
had some updates on it, but it's time.
We're either going to have to rehab that
or we're going to have to build a new
one. and the number in the millions has
been throwing around, but we really
don't know exactly how much that's going
to be, but I can tell you by far and
away it'll be the most expensive project
that the city will have. However, it
goes back to the 50s and with any luck,
it'll last us decades here. What you
don't want to do is get a violation on
that. What you don't want to do is not
have safe water. What you don't want to
do is when people either flush their
toilets or turn their spout for water on
to not have that work. That's what you
don't want to do. So, we've got to do
the best we can uh with this. I'll be
paying the rates, too. I've got family
members. I've been on fixed incomes
before in my life, too. I understand
that uh that uh scenario here. And
believe me, I know it's overused, but we
up here feel your pain. We This is a
last resort that we had. We We really
really tried to do the best we could do
to flatten out the rate increase. I
think it's important too to look at our
other sister cities around. We're still
going to be even with the raise in the
middle. And that's what we've always
tried to do for decades on the council
to somewhere be in the middle with our
rates here. And that still allows us to
do that with grants and other funding.
Our staff and our council work
tirelessly to try to find other sources
of funding with that. Believe me, we've
got a whole wing there that's looking
for that on a daily basis. So, it's a
tough decision. It's not a popular
decision, but I do think it's a
responsible decision to make tonight.
So with that staff, do you want to
report on the uh the counts for the uh
numbers of the written protest? Sure. Uh
the count is being made to determine if
there's a majority protest against the
proposed rates for each rate counted
separately. There's a majority protest
if the number of written protests
exceeds 50% of the total number of
parcels served. Um there have been have
there been any additional uh written
letters? No. Uh well then with that the
city serves
13,669 parcels. The majority protest
would require
6,835 protest votes and the city
received 200 written protests for water.
For airport water rates, the city serves
105 parcels. A majority protest would
require 53 protest votes and the city
received zero written protests. Sewer
rates. For the sewer rates, the district
serves 15,02 parcels. A majority protest
would require
7,52 protest votes, and the district
received 223 written protests. There's
no majority protest for the water rates,
airport water rates, or sewer rates, and
staff recommends the city council and
the board move to consider action on the
proposed rates.
Okay. So, with that, I don't know if
there's any questions that council have.
No, I'm ready to make a motion, Mr.
Mayor. Uh we'll do them separately if
you would please. All right. With
respect to item T, I move uh staff
staff's recommendations with respect to
the water service rates. I can second.
There's a motion in a second. Please do
a roll call vote, please. Council member
Martinez Bravo, yes. Council member
Santangelo, yes. Council member
Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor Tennyson, yes.
And Mayor Kildy, yes. Next will be the
airport rate. I'll make a motion with
respect to item Oh, is there a separate
motion on the airport rate? Yes. I'll
move staff recommendation on the airport
rate. I can second. There's a motion in
a second. Please do a roll call vote,
please. Council Martinez Bravo, yes.
Council member Santangelo, yes. Council
member Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor
Tennyson, yes. Mayor Kildy, yes. And the
next would be the sewer rates. Mr.
Mayor, I'll make a motion to adopt staff
recommendation with respect to item U on
the sewer service rates.
Second. There's a motion in a second. Is
there any further discussion? Please do
a roll call vote. Director Kildy,
yes. Director Martinez Bravo, yes.
Director Santangelo, yes. Secretary
Tennyson, yes. And Chair Trimbley, yes.
Okay. Thank you for this. We've been
going at it for quite a while. The chair
uh mayor is going to call a 20minut
recess and we'll be back with the final
items on the agenda.
All right, I'd like to reconvene the
city council meeting. Item five is uh B
was Camrio Tourism Marketing District
annual report. Mr. Winkler, are you here
tonight? Would you like to start off
with the report, please? Yeah, thank
you. Good evening, Mayor. And is here as
well? Thank you.
Good evening, mayor uh and members of
the city council. It's my pleasure to
introduce Juliana Garcia, executive
director of Camrio Hotel and Tourism
Association. Uh Miss Garcia is here this
evening to present an overview of the
fiscal year
202425 annual report for the Camrio
Tourism Marketing District, which
includes a proposed reallocation of
funding among the BA budget categories.
The reallocation was approved by the
CHTA board and now requires approval by
the city council. Miss Garcia will also
highlight the association's achievements
over the past year and preview upcoming
activities aimed at further
strengthening Camrio's position as a
regional tourism destination. Please
join me in welcoming Miss Yoliana
Garcia.
Thank you, George. Good evening,
honorable Mayor Kildy, members of city
council, and city staff. Uh thank you
for the opportunity to speak with you
tonight on behalf of the Camrio Hotel
and Tourism Association publicly were
known as Visit Camaro. Uh I'd like to
take a moment to provide uh some
additional context on the staff report.
Um, each year we approach our budget
planning with a thoughtful strategy,
ensuring that every dollar we invest
helps strengthen Camereo's mission and
position as a welcoming destination. Uh,
for this fiscal year, we are proposing a
strategic reallocation of resources uh
to more accurately categorize expenses
in line with how these programs function
within our marketing strategy. As
outlined in the report, you'll notice an
8% reallocation. 1% is being shifted
from local marketing to administration
to provide a most a modest operational
cushion which brings administration um
from 22% to 23% and uh 7% of that is
being reallocated to the marketing and
sales category to support our expanded
uh sales and digital efforts. So that
brings us from 55 to 62 uh local
marketing at 14 and then our city
collection cost at 1%. Um, I want to
emphasize that we are not eliminating
any existing programs or services. What
we're doing is ensuring uh that certain
expenses are more accurately reflected
in the correct budget categories. Over
time, as pro programs evolve, some cost
particularly related to staffing and
sales support have been grouped under
broader categories like local marketing.
Uh this adjustment simply moves those
funds into the categories where they
truly belong such as administration and
marketing and sales. Uh this adjustment
allows us to enhance our digital
outreach and support more targeted sales
initiatives efforts that are
increasingly essential to remain
competitive and engage the modern
traveler. This realignment is fully
compliant with the Camrio tourism
marketing district plan. uh the city and
the CHTA board are authorized to adjust
budget category allocations uh by up to
15% as long as the marketing and sales
category remains at or above 55% of the
total annual budget. Um on in addition
uh Visit Cameo has two exciting updates
on the horizon. First, our 2025 2026
visitors guide is set to launch in late
June with the print distribution of
35,000 copies. Uh these guides will be
available throughout the state at
official California welcome centers,
regional airports, local hotels, and
businesses. And they'll also be shared
through online leans and direct
requests. Uh secondly, on the content
development front, we're in the early
stages of producing a new video series
that will spotlight local families,
their deep ties to Camaro and their and
the businesses they operate. This series
will serve as a heartfelt tribute to the
people and stories that make our city so
special.
To close, I'd like to share our annual
our 2024 annual report video, which
highlights the accomplishments of the
past year and offers a glimpse into the
direction we're heading. Um, but before
we play the video, I just I do want to
recognize our hotels for doing a
fantastic job, specifically when it
comes to occupancy. We have uh the
highest occupancy rate in the county.
Um, and you'll see some of those details
in the video. So, uh big big uh
accomplishment for the hotels. Um, thank
you again for your continued support and
for championing Camrio's growth as a
vibrant, welcoming
[Music]
destination. Welcome to the Visit Camrio
2024 annual report. This year, we're
excited to share the incredible impact
of tourism on our community and
celebrate the achievements and
milestones we've reached over the past
year. Our mission as the official
destination marketing organization is to
promote and enhance tourism while
supporting our hospitality industry,
local businesses, and partners. And in
2024, our combined efforts along with
the incredible experiences Camrio has to
offer led to an outstanding year for our
visitor economy. In 2023, Cameo
experienced more than 3 million visits
with more than
316,000 visitors choosing to stay
overnight. These travelers contributed a
total of 179.2 million in visitor
spending, directly benefiting our local
economy. Travel generated tax revenue
reached 15.5 million, 6.9 of which
supported local taxes, while 8.6 million
contributed to state taxes. In addition,
the tourism industry sustained
1,613 local jobs, underscoring its
significant impact on our workforce and
economy. In 2024, Camereo's lodging
sector saw a strong performance. Our
hotels achieved an impressive 78.8
occupancy rate with an average daily
rate of
$142 and revenue per available room at
$112. In addition to these strong
numbers, Camrio's hospitality landscape
is growing. The Mian Plaza and
Conference Center of Camrio is an
exciting 14 acre development introducing
two new Hilton properties. The first,
home to suites by Hilton Camaro, is
nearing completion and will offer 122
all suite rooms designed for both short
and long-term stays. The second, the
full service 155 room embassy suites
will be connected to a 17,500 square f
foot conference center, providing a
premier venue for meetings and
events. Across the way, the Hampton Inn
and Suites Camrio recently completed a
series of upgrades to enhance the guest
experience. These improvements include
refreshed furnishings, an updated
fitness center with new workout
equipment, and a newly refinished pool
deck and jacuzzi. Completing the recent
upgrades, Sinessa Select Camaro has
recently enhanced guest comfort with
brand new mattresses and upgraded every
room with new
TVs. Strategic advertising continues to
play a crucial role in driving tourism.
In 2024, we expanded our highly
successful always in season campaign,
which featured dedicated sub campaigns
focusing on weddings, midweek travel,
and our visitors guide. Our visitors
guide remained a valuable resource for
travelers with 35,000 copies distributed
across welcome centers, regional
airports, local businesses, hotels, and
direct mailers. All of these paid
efforts combined led to an outstanding
30.8 8 million impressions and
255,000 clicks to our website, further
strengthening Camerio's position as a
must- vvisit
destination. Our own media efforts were
key in driving engagement, storytelling,
and brand awareness. In 2024, we saw
over 412,000 website visits, launched 25
new blog post, and grew our newsletter
audience to more than 15,000
subscribers, continually keeping our
visitors informed and
inspired. Across social media, our
content generated an impressive 17.2
million impressions. Through engaging
visuals, compelling storytelling, and
interactive campaigns, we fostered a
strong digital community. Our strategic
use of video content, influencer
marketing, and real-time engagement
helped amplify our message in the
digital
landscape. Our partnerships with Visit
California, the Central Coast Tourism
Council, and Ventura County Coast played
a pivotal role in amplifying Camrio's
message. In partnership with Ventura
County Coast, our team attended over a
dozen trade shows and industry events.
Additionally, we engaged directly with
meeting planners to showcase our hotel
properties and event venues. These
efforts significantly increased
awareness of both Camrio and the greater
region, further solidifying our presence
as a visitor and event
destination. 2024 marked the completion
of a few key initiatives that will leave
a lasting impact. Visi adopted its first
ever strategic plan, a three-year road
map laying the foundation for long-term
growth. We also released our newest
destination video showcasing Camrio's
vibrant landscapes, attractions, and
people. In partnership with the Cameo
Premium Outlets, we unveiled a brand new
mural titled Canvas of Camaro,
celebrating the city's history,
community spirit, and iconic landmarks.
And through countless community
partnerships, we strengthen our
connections with local businesses,
organizations, and residents because
tourism is truly a community effort.
Visit Camaro recognizes the importance
of being engaged with our local
community, and we make it a priority to
support through sponsorship,
participation, and collaboration. 2024
was a monumental year, and we look
forward to continuing that upward trend
in 2025.
Thank you to our incredible tourism
partners, local businesses, and the
support of the community for making
Camaro a great place to visit.
All right. Thanks, Miss Garcia, for that
presentation and for your continued
leadership um promoting Camry as a
destination. Um, at this time I would
like to respectfully request that city
council consider the recommended action
in the staff report which is to approve
the fiscal year
202425 Cameo Tourism Marketing District
annual report which includes the
proposed budget reallocation as
submitted by the Camrio Hotel Tourism
Association.
Are there any uh comments or questions
of staff at this particular point?
Martito. Uh, no questions other than
thank you so much, Juliana, to you and
to Bailey. You are just everywhere.
Everywhere I go, I see you guys and
you're just doing such an amazing job
and we see the data to represent uh the
the great job that you're doing. Um, I'm
very supportive of what you do and the
impact that it brings to our local
economy and thank you to previous
council members for this direction. Um,
I think that this is the right way to go
and I'm happy to move the approval of
the uh staff's recommendation.
Any other I'll second. Okay, there's a
motion and a second. Is there any
further discussion or comments at this
particular point? Mr. Trembley, would
you like to Yeah, I just wanted to
compliment you, Juliana, and um and
Bailey, I you know, first of all, the
the proposed reallocation to me makes
makes sense. Um, but I think like u uh
like my colleague said uh we see you all
over uh the place and your presence is
well felt and and we really appreciate
all the work that you do. So, thank you
so much. So, I think I I'm sensing a
positive vote and you should consider
that just a reaffirmation of everything
that you're doing. We appreciate it. Any
other questions or comments at this
particular? Juliana and George, thank
you for all your work. Um, so we do have
a motion. There's a second. Would you
please do a roll call vote, please?
Council member Martinez Bravo, yes.
Council member Santangelo, yes. Council
member Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor
Tennyson, yes. And Mayor Kildee, yes.
Okay, that gets us down to item W is the
transit operation and maintenance
service agreement. Do we have a staff
report in it? Sean, are you going to
take that one? Is he here? Yes, John,
there you are. Thank you. Good evening,
Mayor Kildy and council members. As part
of as part of this agenda items
presentation, staff is including a
transit service update. The last update
was provided October 23rd,
2024. In tonight's brief report, we'll
cover the following topics: our
ridership, the RideCo app, RTW
management, transit fleet updates, and
tonight's agenda item request concerning
increases in vehicle revenue
hours. I'll begin by discussing
ridership for the current fiscal year.
Our overall ridership for both or for
bus and dialeride service has increased
by 18% year-to- date compared to the
same period in fiscal year 232 24. Our
fixed route services have a combined 15%
increase with a 16% increase for the
trolley ser trolley service and 12% for
fixed route. Our dialeride service has
seen an increase of 20%. Breaking down
this ridership, we have a 53% increase
in of our local senior and ADA services.
Our general dialer ride is up 16%. The
college ride program, which is part of
the general dialeride program, has
increased over
a,000%. 69% of those trips are to and
from CSUCI with the remaining 31% using
the dialeride program for trips here in
town. And our intercity de has decreased
by 3%.
During our last presentation, we
highlighted the deployment of the city's
new dialeride dispatching software
program. Oops, sorry, it's repeating
it. Okay, there we go. Um, during our
last presentation, we highlighted the
deployment of the city's new dialeride
dispatching software program, Rideco,
which went live on August 4th, 2024.
Uh we're continuing to maintain high
on-time performance with 96% on time for
pickups and 97% on time for drop offs.
Our ride ratings also remain high
averaging 4.8 out of five
stars. Same day service uh has
increasing. In August we had 12% of
trips were scheduled on the same day. In
March uh we were up to 28% of trips
scheduled the same day. Before Rideco,
100% of the trips had to be scheduled
using our reservation phone line. During
the first month of the software
implementation, 14% of trips were
scheduled via the app or website. And in
March, we were at 50% of trips scheduled
basically self-scheduled by using the
app or the the website.
and our we're continuing to see
improvements in our no-shows with 6% of
all scheduled trips resulting in a
no-show compared to last year's
11%. Some updates of the city's new
contractor RTW management. Uh Earl
Hawkins has become our permanent general
manager of effective November. Uh Mr.
Hawkins transferred from another RTW
contract in the east coast. He and his
family have moved here to Camaro.
We've had five road calls, which are
instances where a vehicle has required
service while in the field from July
2024 through March 2025. So, fewer than
one a month. Um, so we're doing good
there
statistically. Um, when RTW assumed the
city's contract in July, we they had
hired nine of the previous contractors
drivers and five dispatchers.
Uh currently they have hired or they now
have a total of 19 drivers, five of
which are from still from the original
contract and all five dispatchers remain
with
RTW and maintenance of the city's
transit vehicles have continued to be
performed on schedule and all vehicles
are in good operating order. Speaking of
the city's fleet, in April, we received
a new cutaway uh pictured here, which
will begin service any day now. And we
have again three transit vans that are
expected to be delivered by December of
2025. Upon receipt of the three transit
vans, we will have achieved the vehicle
replacement right sizing plan as
proposed and approved by the city
council in 2023.
um as part of the zero emission bus
plan. The next planned vehicle
replacement will be in 2027 as we start
to convert the city's internal
combustible engine vehicles to zero
emission. So earlier I highlighted the
city's 20% increase in dialeride
passengers which has generated an
overall projected increase of revenue
hours. The RTW's current contract
estimated 21,000 revenue hours for 2425.
However, we're now projecting
27,546. Uh, this is a 31% increase.
Although, I'll note by the end of fiscal
year 2324,
uh, we were already at
21,934 hours, uh, which would make the
projected revenue increase 25.6%.
The agreement with RTW has a total not
to exceed amount of
11,866,219 for four years of service and
includes the fixed monthly rate, the
revenue hour rate for service, fuel and
vehicle parts for maintenance. It did
not include a
contingency. Staff is proposing to add a
contingency of $1.1 million or 9% of the
contract value. The contingency would be
utilized later during the term of the
contract if if it becomes necessary due
to the increase in revenue hours.
So staff's recommendations are to find
the contingency of 1.1 million for the
agreement for transit operations and
maintenance services exempt from review
under the California Environmental
Quality Act pursuant to section
15061B3 and authorize the city manager
to exceed or to execute future
amendments up to the authorized
contingency amount of 1.1 million for
agreement number
2024-28 with RTW Management Incorporated
for transit operations and maintenance
services for the 4-year term for an
amount not to exceed
$12,966,219. Uh, this concludes my
presentation. I'm happy to answer any
questions that city council may have.
Thank you.
Any questions at this time? Yeah,
Martito, thank you. I do have a
question. The there was a pretty
significant increase with students from
CSUCI.
Yes. Uh do we know what prompted that?
Um you like I go back to the slide but
it is a little over a thousand. Um we
don't have a direct answer. One of my
suspicions is that with the utilization
of the app, we've essentially provided
an easier and perhaps more um uh
something that basically the the college
students are more apt to use versus
before they would have required to call
the day before to schedule their trip.
Now they have the ability of one they
can schedule their trip with the click
of a phone and they're finding that it
is easier um to perhaps get same day
service um because now we have with this
this app uh we're now more efficiently
and basically instantaneously able to
make changes to the schedule and so
someone's more likely to be able to find
and get a trip that they that they want
to receive that day. So more spur-of
the- moment trips are being able to be
generated. Got it. That makes sense.
Technology and accessibility correct to
youth. Thank you. Any other questions
from anybody?
No. Any public uh make any comments at
this time?
Okay. What's the will of the council?
Move the staff recommend.
There's a motion in a second. Any
further discussion? Voice will. Voice
vote, please. Council member Martinez
Bravo, yes. Council member Santangelo,
yes. Council member Trembley, yes. Vice
Mayor Tennyson, yes. And Mayor Kild,
yes. Okay, councelor, are there any um
close session reports or anything we
need to make public at all at this time?
Um, we did go into close session. We did
discuss um all of the matters except for
one anticipated litigation matter. There
was no reportable action taken in close
session. I don't know if we're going
to reconvene that last item, what the
council wants to do or if we can we can
also continue that.
Well, let's uh ask the council. Would
you like to continue the last uh item
tonight or would you like to wait to for
a future
meeting? I'm able to do whatever the
majority wants to do here. Future
meeting. Okay.
Okay. All right. So, we will tonight.
But that's okay.
Okay. So, we'll do that at a future
meeting. Um, we're going to adjourn
today in the memory of Daniel Shenwald.
I'm going to ask Vice Mayor Tennyson if
he can make some comments of the life
and times of Daniel Shenwald.
I would be happy to. I think we have a
picture of Daniel that really captures
his personality.
Um, on April
24th, I got a text message and then a
phone call confirming
uh fairly early in the morning. I was
out of town that we had unexpectedly
lost Daniel Shonewald at 71 years of
age. Daniel was a I'll say a quiet
person, only quiet unless he was able to
talk to you oneon-one or at a Rotary
meeting or at a YMC board meeting. But
he was quiet because he did so much
wonderful, thoughtful, and philanthropic
things in our community. But he never
did it for attention or
acclamation. He was an innovator, a
philanthropist, and a storyteller who
lived life to the fullest. He built a
company called Advanced Motion Control,
a local manufacturing company that over
time has shipped over three million
servo systems worldwide. But he was far
more than a brilliant entre
entrepreneur. He was a passionate
motorcyclist and I know several people
on the dis have seen some of his
motorcycle collection at advanced
motorcycle controls. He was a community
leader, a man with an unforgettable
laugh and an even more unforgettable
heart.
I remember these commercials from back
in the early 2000s with the bearded
gentleman that was advertising for
dosekis or something and said I don't
drink beer but when I do I drink
doseekis or whatever it was and they
called him the most interesting man in
the world. I met the real most
interesting man in the world back in
1996 and it was Daniel. He was born in
Venezuela. He lived a global life from
the very start. He lived in Libya,
Singapore, Italy, and Switzerland before
settling down in the foreign country of
Texas. I mean in Texas. Um he graduated
from high school Richardson High School
in 1972 and North Texas State in
1982. His early life travels shaped his
mind filled with wisdom, curiosity, and
a deep compassion for other people.
He and a partner um founded Advanced
Motion Control in
1987. His motto at the time was, "I
didn't want to be the biggest, I just
wanted to be the best." The drive and
his signature humor helped define a
company that remains an industry leader
today. He was a devoted husband to
Felicia, Felicia, and I will not try and
say Felicia's last name. and he has two
wonderful children, Tillia, his
daughter, and Tristan, his son. He had
six grandchildren, and many extended
family members. He and Felicia were very
involved in supporting the
YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club of Camaro,
the Sunrise Rotary Club, the Kids Dream
Museum, and many, many more. One of the
first times I met Daniel was at a
typicop event in Camaro at Wood Ranch
back in
about
989 and he and his wife and his son
Tristan had a meal for three. And to
tell you how times have changed, the
bill was $38 for three people at Wood
Ranch. One of the servers called me over
and said, "This gentleman wants to give
you his check."
Daniel wrote a check out for
$2,538, the largest single tip that
Special Olympics of Ventura County had
gotten in just about forever. And that's
just the way Daniel was. He wanted to
help people that were less successful or
less um able than he was. He had a
motorcycle. He's famed for his
motorcycle collection and he had
hundreds of motorcycles.
Um, the oldest one that I'm aware of was
probably about a probably a 1903
Harley-Davidson and that's the year they
were founded in
1903. He had a 20,000 square foot
showroom in his business at Advanced
Motion Control filled with rare Dicatis,
Triumphs, and more. And it was a
reflection of his love for the road.
"These bikes get ridden," he proudly
towed the Camrio Acorn. And when he
wasn't riding, he was handing over the
keys to friends because to Daniel, joy
was meant to be shared. He handed over
the keys to me once in 2000. But he
failed to tell me that a Norton
motorcycle, a British motorcycle, was
the exact opposite of an American
motorcycle. The brakes and the clutch
are on opposite sides. So I ran the red
light at daily drive and Carman Drive
and almost got t-boned. I never rode a
bike of his again. I got my own. Those
who know Daniel remember his legendary
stories and they were legendary. Um his
laugh out loud shaggy dog tales that he
always told. He had a way of making
everyone around him feel like the most
important person in the rule in the in
the room. Daniel's impact on Cameo and
beyond is immeasurable. His life was a
story of generosity, adventure, and
grace. His memory will live on to
everybody that he touched in his life.
There will be a memorial service for
Daniel later this summer, but in lie of
flowers, the family is asking for
donations to be made to the Daniel
Shonwald Memorial Fund at the Camrio
Sunrise Rotary Foundation. Uh Daniel,
Godspeed and enjoy the ride, my friend,
because I know you're riding a
motorcycle somewhere. Thank you.
Thank you. Very very well said. So with
that we will adjourn in the memory of
Daniel Shaenwald.