[8:34] All right. I'd like to call the uh city
[8:36] council in the Cam Sand district meeting
[8:38] for May 14th to order. And I will ask
[8:41] our city clerk to please do a roll call.
[8:44] Council member Martinez Bravo here.
[8:46] Council member Santangelo here. Council
[8:49] member Trembley here, Vice Mayor
[8:51] Tennyson here, and Mayor Ki
[8:55] here. All right, so we have a quorum.
[8:57] So, we're going to go into close
[8:59] session, I believe, on three items. And
[9:00] I'm going to have counselor, would you
[9:02] please read the reasons why we're going
[9:03] to go into close session, please? Yes.
[9:05] Thank you, Mayor and Councel. We have a
[9:07] few items on close session. We have two
[9:09] under anticipated litigation uh pursuant
[9:12] to government code section
[9:16] 54956.9D4. We have labor negotiations
[9:18] pursuant to government code
[9:21] 54957.6. And we have two matters under
[9:24] existing litigation uh which is the OPV
[9:27] coalition versus Fox Canyon Groundwater
[9:30] Management Agency and VCC AMG versus
[9:33] City and Costco. And if there's any
[9:35] reportable action, I'll make that
[9:37] report. Okay. Thank you. So with that,
[9:40] uh we will go into close session and be
[9:41] back at 5 o'clock.
[1:41:36] All right. Um, I'd like to reconvene
[1:41:39] uh the city council meeting, please. And
[1:41:43] uh I'd like to do uh city clerk, would
[1:41:46] you like to do the roll call, please,
[1:41:48] for the city council in the Cameroon
[1:41:49] sanitary district, please? Yes. Um,
[1:41:52] Council Member Martinez Bravo here,
[1:41:54] Council Member Santangelo here, Council
[1:41:57] Member Trembbley here, Vice Mayor
[1:41:59] Tennyson here, and Mayor Kildy here. And
[1:42:02] uh, Mr. Trembly, would you lead us in
[1:42:04] the flag salute tonight, please? Yes.
[1:42:06] Would you please join me in the pledge
[1:42:08] of allegiance?
[1:42:11] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[1:42:14] United States of America and to the
[1:42:16] republic for which it stands. One nation
[1:42:19] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[1:42:23] justice for
[1:42:32] all. Okay. Are there uh approval agenda?
[1:42:35] Are there any changes for the agenda as
[1:42:38] submitted? Okay. So, with that, we're
[1:42:40] going to get down uh to the
[1:42:43] presentations. And the first one, if
[1:42:45] you'll meet me over to my right here, is
[1:42:47] the older Americans month. We're going
[1:42:49] to start off with that. So, if you meet
[1:42:51] me over here,
[1:42:56] I don't think he wants us older
[1:42:57] Americans.
[1:43:01] I'm gonna leave this right here for you.
[1:43:04] I'm here for you.
[1:43:17] All right, everybody. Thank you all for
[1:43:18] being here. This is a proclamation
[1:43:20] signed by the mayor and all my fellow
[1:43:22] council members for the older Americans
[1:43:25] Month. And because I'm a member of the
[1:43:27] older Americans month too, I'm not going
[1:43:29] to read everything's on here, but I'm
[1:43:30] going to read just a little bit of it
[1:43:32] and then I'm going to turn it over. And
[1:43:35] um it says, "While older residents
[1:43:37] actively engaged in
[1:43:39] volunteering and mentorship and culture
[1:43:42] and civic participation generally share
[1:43:45] their skills and experience of wisdom.
[1:43:49] and our city here uh per capita has more
[1:43:54] senior volunteers than any other city in
[1:43:57] the county per capita. So, it's a credit
[1:43:59] to all of the seniors in our city that
[1:44:03] uh we're able to make that. And I um
[1:44:05] very proud to present this certificate
[1:44:08] uh from the mayor again to the older
[1:44:10] Americans month. And I'm going to ask
[1:44:12] each of you if you'd like to introduce
[1:44:13] yourselves and or make any comments at
[1:44:15] this particular time.
[1:44:17] Sit down. I will.
[1:44:21] Good afternoon. I'm Greg Ericson. I'm
[1:44:22] with the Council on Aging here in
[1:44:25] Camaro. It's a great opportunity for us
[1:44:27] to give back to the older adults in the
[1:44:30] community and we have a lot going on and
[1:44:32] we're thankful for this chance to be
[1:44:34] recognized.
[1:44:36] Good afternoon. Sandy Melton. Um I'm
[1:44:39] also on the Camo Council on Aging and my
[1:44:43] day job is I'm the director of the
[1:44:45] School of Nursing and Allied Health at
[1:44:46] Ventur College.
[1:44:49] Hello, this is uh
[1:44:52] Okay, I I'm Joanne Kennedy. I'm the vice
[1:44:54] chair for the Council on Aging, and I'm
[1:44:57] here to say thank you for all your
[1:44:59] support. As a matter of fact, I brought
[1:45:02] in my purse a list back and front of all
[1:45:07] the services and funding support seniors
[1:45:10] put on or supported by the city of
[1:45:13] Camaro. This is this is wonderful. So, I
[1:45:16] want you to we're here to say thank you
[1:45:17] very much for your support. We're
[1:45:20] delighted. And one thing I wanted to
[1:45:22] point out to you is this is the year
[1:45:23] that we're going to be publishing our
[1:45:26] bianual
[1:45:28] um senior resource book. And this is
[1:45:31] particularly important this year because
[1:45:34] the county one which is award-winning
[1:45:36] called live well for all the services
[1:45:38] for seniors will not be publishing. And
[1:45:41] so the senior so the Camaro Council on
[1:45:44] Aging is picking up the slack and
[1:45:46] hopefully it'll be a great information
[1:45:49] and referral and advocacy
[1:45:52] uh resource for our seniors. So thank
[1:45:55] you all the senior citizenry and to the
[1:45:58] c to the city council members for your
[1:46:01] support.
[1:46:03] Thank you everyone for being here.
[1:46:05] Before you leave, I'm going to ask if
[1:46:06] any of my colleagues want to make any
[1:46:08] comments. Uh, Vice Mayor Tennyson,
[1:46:10] please.
[1:46:12] First off, I want to know, Greg, how you
[1:46:14] qualify to be on a council for
[1:46:16] aging because you're not um aging. Uh,
[1:46:22] secondly, as my dear
[1:46:24] colleague Dr. Martina Martinez Bravo
[1:46:28] points out, I'm older than her dad. So
[1:46:31] I'm one of the people you represent and
[1:46:33] I really look forward to your resources
[1:46:36] that are come out for us old people so
[1:46:39] we can continue to mentor the young and
[1:46:42] less experienced people. So thank you
[1:46:45] for what you do for the city.
[1:46:47] Any other comments from Miss Santangelo,
[1:46:50] please? You thanked us for our support,
[1:46:53] but it's a pleasure to support programs
[1:46:56] like yours. So, thank you for all the
[1:46:58] work that you do and thank you to um um
[1:47:02] just for for all you do. Thank you.
[1:47:05] Thank you very
[1:47:09] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I just think
[1:47:12] when I look out on the audience and how
[1:47:14] many seniors are here tonight, I feel
[1:47:17] blessed that we live in this community
[1:47:20] with this level of senior participation.
[1:47:22] So, I want to thank all of the seniors
[1:47:25] here for everything that you do to make
[1:47:27] this such a great place to to live.
[1:47:29] Thank you. Thank you, Marta.
[1:47:34] One of the things that I think makes
[1:47:37] this community so great and wonderful is
[1:47:40] the diversity in our community and that
[1:47:43] extends beyond racial identity. Um, it's
[1:47:46] really about the different ages that
[1:47:50] make this community who we are. And I'm
[1:47:53] very, very thankful, as was said, for
[1:47:56] your commitment and your uh, wisdom and
[1:48:01] your lived experiences, which, you know,
[1:48:04] they're not there if you're not there.
[1:48:06] And so, I'm extremely thankful for
[1:48:08] everything that you do. And as I always
[1:48:10] say, the motto of our city is
[1:48:13] Lasad, which the people are the city.
[1:48:15] and you definitely represent that. Thank
[1:48:17] you.
[1:48:20] Thank you.
[1:48:23] Thank you very much. Thank you for being
[1:48:25] here.
[1:48:28] Got another picture here.
[1:48:32] We're a picture taking.
[1:48:38] Thank you everyone for being here.
[1:48:39] Really appreciate it. Thank you very
[1:48:41] much.
[1:48:50] All right. So, next we're gonna have the
[1:48:53] Adulo Camrio High School California
[1:48:57] State Wrestling Champion. We've never
[1:48:59] had that in our city. I'm going to ask
[1:49:01] Trinity if she'd like to come up here
[1:49:04] with me. Yay.
[1:49:13] Thank you so much. I'm going to ask if
[1:49:15] their parents would like to come up here
[1:49:17] or if a coach would like to come up here
[1:49:20] as well. Please feel
[1:49:27] welcome. All right. And I'm going to
[1:49:30] start off. This is certificate of
[1:49:32] recognition. Trinity. I've never been
[1:49:35] able to present this to a state
[1:49:38] champion. And my golly, look at her
[1:49:42] jacket. That is awesome. Trinity, can
[1:49:44] you turn around in the back? Look at
[1:49:46] that. Wow. That is really, really cool.
[1:49:50] Love
[1:49:51] it. So, uh, it's a historic achievement
[1:49:54] as I've said and, uh, you're the first
[1:49:57] time that Cam Rail's ever had a state
[1:50:00] champion and you've have a list of
[1:50:02] accolades. So, I'm going to ask could I
[1:50:04] ask the coach if you want to go through
[1:50:06] some of her accolades? They're very,
[1:50:08] very impressive.
[1:50:11] All right. Well, thank you guys for
[1:50:12] having us. Uh, on behalf of the Cameo
[1:50:14] Wrestling Program, we'd like to thank
[1:50:16] the city for taking time to recognize
[1:50:17] Trinity and her accomplishments. Um, I
[1:50:20] had to make myself a little cheat sheet
[1:50:21] just to remember everything she's done.
[1:50:24] So, first of all, she's been a four-year
[1:50:26] varsity wrestler for our program. On the
[1:50:28] mat, she's known as Tren Train of the
[1:50:31] Train. Her career record is 108 and 20.
[1:50:35] Most of her wins coming by first round
[1:50:37] pins. A fourtime Coastal Canyon League
[1:50:39] champion. She's also what's considered a
[1:50:42] triple crown winner for the year for
[1:50:44] 2025, which was a CIF southern section
[1:50:47] championship, a CIF Southern Section
[1:50:49] Masters meet champion, and her CIF state
[1:50:52] championship. She's the first wrestler
[1:50:54] uh to become a state champion Boyer Girl
[1:50:56] in Camo history. also the first female
[1:50:58] state champion in the history of the
[1:51:00] Oxarn Union High School District. She's
[1:51:02] one of six state champions in the county
[1:51:05] and she'll be attending Cal Poly St.
[1:51:07] Louis Abyspo as a member of their track
[1:51:08] and field team. And as her coaches, we
[1:51:11] want to remind her that um her legacy is
[1:51:13] now cemented in the history of uh this
[1:51:14] program and the future wrestlers will
[1:51:16] look up to the path she's paved.
[1:51:21] Congratulations, Trinity. Would you like
[1:51:24] to would you like to say a few words? Uh
[1:51:26] sure. speak right into that microphone
[1:51:28] if you would.
[1:51:33] Um, I want to thank my parents for
[1:51:35] always supporting me and driving me far
[1:51:38] just to come and watch me compete. I
[1:51:40] want to thank coach Montio, coach
[1:51:42] Baragon, Coach Mc Victor, Coach Eric,
[1:51:45] Coach and Coach Sergio for always
[1:51:47] coaching me and believing in me for the
[1:51:49] past four
[1:51:51] years. Even when I was doubting myself,
[1:51:54] uh, Coach Sergio and Coach Baragon
[1:51:56] brought my spirits up and I went out and
[1:51:59] won my tournaments. And I also want to
[1:52:02] thank the mayor for holding this award
[1:52:03] and recognizing me for my achievements.
[1:52:05] Go Scorps.
[1:52:08] Thank you very much. Thank you,
[1:52:12] Trinity. I want to present this and I
[1:52:14] also want to thank personally and I know
[1:52:16] our council too. Uh for all your
[1:52:19] coaches, all your friends, all your
[1:52:22] family, it takes a whole bunch to be
[1:52:24] able to do this. Again, I've never I'm
[1:52:27] not aware of anybody in the city that's
[1:52:29] ever won a state championship. So, I
[1:52:32] want to present this to you, Trinity. I
[1:52:34] want to thank all of those that helped
[1:52:35] Trinity on her journey. That's very,
[1:52:38] very special. And thank you for being
[1:52:40] here. Thank you.
[1:52:44] Happy.
[1:53:06] Thanks for being here.
[1:53:10] [Applause]
[1:53:20] Okay, we have another certificate of
[1:53:22] recognition for Barbara Braetch.
[1:53:25] Barbara, do Barb, do you want to come on
[1:53:26] up here and meet me up here,
[1:53:30] please?
[1:53:32] [Applause]
[1:53:35] Congratulations.
[1:53:40] Anyone else want to join us up here?
[1:53:42] Yes.
[1:53:45] Yes, Sheriff. Good to see you. Good to
[1:53:48] see you. Good to see you. Good to see
[1:53:50] you. Okay, so we've got uh Barbuet here.
[1:53:54] And again, I'm not going to read all of
[1:53:57] this, but I want I want to read some of
[1:53:59] it. Uh the city council extends its
[1:54:01] heartfelt appreciation for extraordinary
[1:54:04] dedication and commitment to the Camrio
[1:54:07] community through the Camrio Citizens
[1:54:09] Patrol. And you have a lot of your
[1:54:11] colleagues uh with you as well. And uh
[1:54:14] she has donated over 10,000 hours. That
[1:54:20] is awesome. That is amazing. Thank you
[1:54:22] so much uh for doing this and more than
[1:54:25] 21 years of service. That is special.
[1:54:29] The least we can do is to present this
[1:54:31] to you and we're so proud of you and a
[1:54:34] certificate of recognition for all of
[1:54:37] your hard work and dedication to the
[1:54:39] city of Camero. So I want to present
[1:54:41] this to you. I'd like to ask any
[1:54:43] comments. We could start with you. Would
[1:54:46] you like to make any comments at this
[1:54:47] point?
[1:54:49] Well, I just want to say that longevity
[1:54:52] has a great deal to do with this because
[1:54:54] um Commander Tennyson signed my very
[1:54:57] first 500 hour certificate and
[1:55:00] um Commander Tennyson just signed I'm
[1:55:03] sure my $10,000 I thousands yes 10,000
[1:55:07] hour certificate. So um I it it's a long
[1:55:11] you know it's just being around for a
[1:55:13] while. Anyway, I've really really
[1:55:15] enjoyed it. I'm very happy that uh thank
[1:55:18] you to the council for the recognition
[1:55:20] and um and thank you to the police
[1:55:23] department for just making uh us able to
[1:55:26] be volunteers because we really enjoy
[1:55:28] doing it.
[1:55:32] Anyone else? Um colleagues, uh would
[1:55:36] anybody like to make any comments? Yes.
[1:55:37] Vice Mayor Tennyson, please. Our council
[1:55:40] member Martinez. Martita. Sure. Um Barb,
[1:55:44] thank you so much for your many, many
[1:55:47] hours, thousands of hours of
[1:55:48] volunteerism to the city of Camaro. Um
[1:55:51] we are extremely grateful and we really
[1:55:54] show our values through our volunteer
[1:55:57] work and you are a part of that and you
[1:56:00] must be extremely proud. We're extremely
[1:56:02] proud and I know that you deserve a lot
[1:56:04] more than a certificate. I'd love to see
[1:56:06] you with a crown. You know, you just
[1:56:09] amazing. So, thank you so much for that,
[1:56:11] for all of your work. Thank you, Vice
[1:56:13] Mayor Tennyson. Do you have a comment? I
[1:56:15] do. I just want to thank you for your
[1:56:17] service. We have always relied upon
[1:56:19] volunteers, especially at the police
[1:56:21] department, but citywide with citizen
[1:56:23] patrol and dart. We had a special
[1:56:26] recognition with the Lions Club last
[1:56:28] night to honor both of those um
[1:56:31] volunteer
[1:56:32] organizations. And you didn't have to
[1:56:34] point out the 9500 hour differential
[1:56:37] before the first Commander Tennyson and
[1:56:39] the second, but that got pointed out
[1:56:41] last night as well. And I will just say
[1:56:45] we owe you an extreme debt of gratitude.
[1:56:47] And I'm glad that
[1:56:50] 9,500 hours ago I didn't scare you away.
[1:56:54] Any other comments? Susan, would you
[1:56:56] like to make a comment? Barb, thank you
[1:56:58] so much for your service. Um um as was
[1:57:02] said before, the city doesn't work
[1:57:04] without volunteers and neither does the
[1:57:06] police department. So, thank you very
[1:57:08] much and um good luck to you.
[1:57:12] Mr. Trimley, we have a long-standing
[1:57:14] tradition on this council that if we
[1:57:16] agree wholeheartedly with what our
[1:57:18] colleagues have said, we simply say
[1:57:20] ditto. So, at the risk of being uncar
[1:57:22] uncharacteristically succinct for me,
[1:57:25] ditto.
[1:57:26] Thank you. I'm going to present this.
[1:57:28] We're going to get a picture here.
[1:57:46] [Applause]
[1:58:06] Thank you everybody. It's a special
[1:58:08] evening. Um we're very honored here
[1:58:11] tonight uh to have Sheriff Fryhoff with
[1:58:14] us uh today. our uh outstanding sheriff
[1:58:18] for the uh Ventura County and Camrio is
[1:58:22] we know is a contract city with the
[1:58:24] county. So sheriff like you to call you
[1:58:26] up and uh welcome and uh appreciate you
[1:58:29] making your comments and being here
[1:58:31] today and taking time out of your busy
[1:58:32] schedule. We appreciate that. Well,
[1:58:34] thank you very much mayor, vice mayor,
[1:58:36] council, and uh city staff and the Cameo
[1:58:38] community and certainly our volunteers
[1:58:40] from our our police department. I did
[1:58:42] get to stop by last night at the awards
[1:58:44] ceremony at the uh for the Lions Club
[1:58:46] for both our DART volunteer group as
[1:58:49] well as our policing volunteer group and
[1:58:51] volunteering and helping the police
[1:58:53] department out is really special and I
[1:58:55] had an opportunity to share earlier
[1:58:56] today at a panel discussion that both
[1:58:58] commander Tennyson and I were on that
[1:59:00] said you we're fully staffed as a count
[1:59:02] as a sheriff's office right now. Oh,
[1:59:04] congratulations. Unusual in policing
[1:59:06] this time, you know, is uh there's a lot
[1:59:08] of agencies that are are really
[1:59:09] struggling to hire. We don't have that
[1:59:11] problem. And that's because of the
[1:59:13] wonderful communities that we serve. Our
[1:59:15] communities are very pro public safety,
[1:59:17] pro law enforcement. And I would like to
[1:59:19] believe that's because the way our our
[1:59:21] people treat our communities garers that
[1:59:24] support. You know, we can't do our job
[1:59:26] without our community's help. And uh
[1:59:28] you're like you said, the the city is
[1:59:29] the people, right? That is your the
[1:59:31] motto. And that is true for this whole
[1:59:33] county. And I have passed that message
[1:59:35] on to all of our staff. We are not at
[1:59:37] war with the community we're serving. We
[1:59:39] are working together to focus on a very
[1:59:42] small number of people causing harm,
[1:59:44] many of whom don't come from our county.
[1:59:46] And that's the group that we're going to
[1:59:48] focus on and with intent try and keep
[1:59:50] our community safe. And so, um, I think
[1:59:53] volunteerism is a serves a couple of
[1:59:55] services. One, it provides us a great
[1:59:56] service for free. Um, but also provides
[1:59:59] an opportunity for our seniors who are
[2:00:02] looking for a second career. In 21
[2:00:03] years, Barb's been doing this. That's a
[2:00:04] second career that she's been
[2:00:05] volunteering for. That allows for our
[2:00:08] seniors to have meaning, belonging, and
[2:00:11] an opportunity to stay engaged, which is
[2:00:15] key to life. And if you able to are able
[2:00:17] to stay engaged and do meaningful work,
[2:00:20] you're going to live a very long life.
[2:00:21] That's why you say longevity. Well, the
[2:00:22] longevity is because you're keeping
[2:00:24] yourself busy. uh my my dad had injured
[2:00:27] himself, you know, earlier than he
[2:00:29] should have and he was laid up um and
[2:00:31] was not able to move around as much and
[2:00:33] unfortunately died much earlier than he
[2:00:35] should have. And I told my mom, I said,
[2:00:37] "Now, you have to keep moving. There's
[2:00:39] not a you to take care of you like you
[2:00:41] took care of dad. So, you've got to get
[2:00:43] out, walk the dog, and be engaged and be
[2:00:44] involved." And so, it's nice that the
[2:00:46] city has so many opportunities for our
[2:00:48] seniors to be engaged in and pick
[2:00:50] something they're really passionate
[2:00:51] about to have belonging. So, I just want
[2:00:54] to make a point of, you know, trying to
[2:00:55] come to our councils, uh, you know, once
[2:00:56] or twice a year to get out and just say
[2:00:58] hi and thank you. Thank you for allowing
[2:00:59] us to provide your police services here
[2:01:01] in the city of Camrio. I know Chief
[2:01:03] Tennyson is doing a fantastic job and
[2:01:05] I'm thrilled with all the work he's
[2:01:06] doing and taking great care of the
[2:01:07] community here in Camrio. Thank you.
[2:01:09] Thanks for being here, Sheriff. I was
[2:01:11] going to ask uh, thank you so much. Any
[2:01:13] council uh, have any comments or
[2:01:15] anything that it's not often we get the
[2:01:17] sheriff here, so is there any comments
[2:01:19] or anything you'd like to talk about?
[2:01:21] Uh,
[2:01:23] no.
[2:01:25] I've worked for him, too.
[2:01:27] Council member Sheriff Fryhoff, uh,
[2:01:30] thank you so much for the service that
[2:01:33] your entire department provides. We're
[2:01:36] extremely lucky to have the Ventura
[2:01:39] County Sheriff's here. We just
[2:01:41] celebrated law dinner um where we
[2:01:43] provide a little bit of of that
[2:01:45] celebration to honor such wonderful
[2:01:48] service that's being provided to our
[2:01:50] community and keeping it safe. Um and I
[2:01:52] know that doesn't happen by its own. It
[2:01:54] happens due to wonderful leadership. So
[2:01:56] I thank you. I also thank Chief Tennyson
[2:01:59] who has been absolutely amazing
[2:02:02] especially during these times. Um he
[2:02:05] just goes above and beyond to truly
[2:02:08] reach out to the community. And I'll
[2:02:09] give you one example. Uh two days ago as
[2:02:13] I was entering SUS Ranch, which is
[2:02:16] adjacent to Camrio, there were two teens
[2:02:19] that were coming out without bike
[2:02:21] helmets. And as a mom and you know, as a
[2:02:24] council member, I think the first thing
[2:02:26] is like, oh my goodness, these kids are
[2:02:27] going to get killed. Um, and so I
[2:02:30] immediately reached out to Chief
[2:02:31] Tennyson and he's already talked to um a
[2:02:34] nonprofit organization to see if we can
[2:02:37] get these helmets out to uh not only
[2:02:40] those kids but to the other children in
[2:02:42] that community. And that really shows
[2:02:44] how effective it is to have also a chief
[2:02:47] of police who is from this community,
[2:02:49] who is connected, and who is willing to
[2:02:52] just go above and beyond to make sure
[2:02:54] that not only people in Camaro are being
[2:02:57] helped, but also those who are our
[2:02:59] neighbors and are a part of our
[2:03:01] community as well. So, thank you very
[2:03:02] much, Chief Tennyson.
[2:03:05] Thank you for sharing that, Marta. Thank
[2:03:07] you. You're welcome. Anyone else? Uh,
[2:03:10] Susan,
[2:03:11] thank you so much for being here
[2:03:13] tonight. It's really a pleasure for us
[2:03:15] to have you here. Um, I know you're a
[2:03:17] very busy man. Um, and thank you for
[2:03:19] what you said about volunteers. I think
[2:03:21] it's so important on both aspects that
[2:03:23] you mentioned, the service that they
[2:03:25] provide, but also in giving quality to
[2:03:28] their lives. Thank you for being here.
[2:03:30] Thank you very much, Council
[2:03:32] Member. Mr. Trimley, I desperately want
[2:03:35] to say
[2:03:37] ditto, but I need to add on to that and
[2:03:40] that is that I'm privileged, Sheriff
[2:03:42] Ryoff, to um uh in the district that I'm
[2:03:46] privileged to to be elected from, we
[2:03:48] have a number of folks who have just
[2:03:49] come recently to Ventura County to live.
[2:03:52] And one of the most consistent comments
[2:03:53] that I get is
[2:03:56] how wonderful it is to live in a
[2:04:00] community like this where the where law
[2:04:03] enforcement and the public are so
[2:04:06] supportive of one another and there is
[2:04:08] such a sense of community and that is
[2:04:09] directly attributable and I tell them
[2:04:12] this it's directly attributable to your
[2:04:14] leadership, Commander Tennyson's
[2:04:15] leadership, the leadership from the
[2:04:17] citizen patrol and dart and just how our
[2:04:20] community is structured. So, I want to
[2:04:22] thank you and they're very surprised
[2:04:24] when I say, you know, we've had we've
[2:04:26] have enjoyed our community has enjoyed
[2:04:29] wonderful law enforcement services since
[2:04:31] the city's incorporation in 1964 from
[2:04:34] the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and
[2:04:37] we are truly blessed. So, that was way
[2:04:40] more than a ditto. So, forgive me, but
[2:04:42] thank you and thanks for being here. No,
[2:04:44] thank you very much. I'll echo that and
[2:04:46] say, you know, I'm standing on the
[2:04:47] shoulders of a lot of other great
[2:04:48] leaders that have made sure that the
[2:04:50] sheriff's office here in Ventura County
[2:04:52] provides excellent service to our
[2:04:54] community. We are very a community
[2:04:56] forward organization. Uh we know we
[2:04:58] can't do this alone and we treat our
[2:05:00] community accordingly.
[2:05:02] Vice Mayor, I can't let everybody else
[2:05:05] talk without saying something, but
[2:05:06] Sheriff, I will not embarrass you. I
[2:05:10] will mer I probably could. I will say
[2:05:15] ditto uh I'm proud to have been a member
[2:05:18] of the family that you now lead. Um I'm
[2:05:21] proud of the service of the Camrio
[2:05:23] Police Department under the opaces of
[2:05:25] the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. I
[2:05:27] think Camrio is one of the most
[2:05:29] fortunate cities to have leadership that
[2:05:32] recognizes the need for local leaders in
[2:05:35] the community when they assign their
[2:05:37] captains and commanders to the police
[2:05:38] chief job in concert with the city
[2:05:41] manager and city council. So, thank you
[2:05:43] for what your agency does. Thank you for
[2:05:46] all of the wonderful people you assigned
[2:05:47] to the Camrio Police Department.
[2:05:50] Sheriff, just before you uh go, uh I
[2:05:54] want to also state that uh as a city and
[2:05:56] our residents, we're so proud that we
[2:05:58] still have the L day dinner. We're the
[2:06:00] only city in the county that does that.
[2:06:02] Unfortunately, we've been able to do
[2:06:04] that for 60 years. And my opening
[2:06:07] statement was I wanted everybody to know
[2:06:09] that I had not attended all 60 of them.
[2:06:11] I wanted to squelch that rumor real
[2:06:14] quick there, but it's our way of giving
[2:06:16] back to the deputies and the personnel
[2:06:18] at the Camero Police Department uh with
[2:06:21] our commander Tennyson uh Tennyson's uh
[2:06:24] here and we're very proud of them. We're
[2:06:27] proud of our leadership and your
[2:06:29] leadership as well and we're just so
[2:06:31] happy and honored that you're with us
[2:06:32] tonight. Thank you so much for being
[2:06:33] here. Oh, thank you all. I appreciate
[2:06:35] you all. Thank you. Thank you.
[2:06:41] All right, that gets us down to the
[2:06:43] general public comments. Uh, madame
[2:06:45] clerk, do we have any speakers on issues
[2:06:47] that are not on the agenda tonight?
[2:06:51] I do have two speakers under general
[2:06:53] public comments. I'm just going to give
[2:06:55] a little spiel for that. Um there I'm be
[2:06:58] calling your name and if you haven't
[2:07:00] already submitted your name for to talk
[2:07:02] on something under general public
[2:07:04] comments which is something that is not
[2:07:05] on the agenda you can work your way to
[2:07:07] the clerk desk to submit your name. Each
[2:07:09] speaker will have three minutes to
[2:07:11] speak. Your time is going to be visible
[2:07:14] on the screens behind me. You'll see one
[2:07:16] there, one there when they show you on
[2:07:18] the film. And we're just asked to um
[2:07:21] stick with the three minutes and also to
[2:07:23] ensure a respectful and inclusive
[2:07:25] environment. We ask that the audience
[2:07:26] members to refrain from clapping or
[2:07:28] other audible reactions during public
[2:07:31] comments. So when I come call your name,
[2:07:33] you're going to come up to the public
[2:07:34] podium right here and you're going to
[2:07:36] state your name and speak directly into
[2:07:38] the microphone. So I first person I have
[2:07:40] is Debbie Emanuel.
[2:07:50] Welcome Debbie. Hello. Thank you so much
[2:07:53] for giving me the 3 minutes time. Um the
[2:07:57] reason I'm here is because I have
[2:07:59] written to all of you. Um I have
[2:08:03] called maybe 30 40 times in regards to
[2:08:07] an issue behind our house. Um I did not
[2:08:10] receive um anything back. Um, but the
[2:08:15] issue is is that the city planted five
[2:08:18] trees behind our house and it drops uh
[2:08:22] yellow flowers, seeds, pods into our
[2:08:25] pool and we have to we're on our third
[2:08:30] our third um heating pump. Um we've had
[2:08:33] to replace everything several times in
[2:08:35] the last um handful of years. Um, and
[2:08:39] we've asked for help from the city as to
[2:08:42] what to do. Um, and although everybody
[2:08:45] is very supportive here, very kind, very
[2:08:48] nice, and they understand, um, and
[2:08:51] they're very sympathetic, uh, nobody's
[2:08:53] able to help us. So, our daily routine
[2:08:57] um is to go into the backyard and spend
[2:09:01] an hour or two cleaning up the city's
[2:09:03] mess. Um, every time it's windy, I would
[2:09:06] say, you know, months and months a year,
[2:09:09] you know, how windy it is here. And so I
[2:09:11] feel like my full-time job is cleaning
[2:09:14] up after the city. And um, we we did get
[2:09:18] our trees trimmed a few years ago and la
[2:09:20] this last summer I I called again
[2:09:23] several times. I wrote to everyone here
[2:09:26] and um they just said that it's not your
[2:09:29] year for trimming the trees and that you
[2:09:32] know there's nothing that they could do.
[2:09:34] And I just feel like after you know
[2:09:38] several years of having to clean up this
[2:09:40] mess on a daily basis and having to pay
[2:09:43] for the damage to our pool that it was
[2:09:46] time to come and see if somebody would
[2:09:48] be willing to help. Um, so I I I um
[2:09:52] implore you and ask you to please look
[2:09:54] at your emails. You'll see that I have
[2:09:56] emailed you. Um, you'll see that I have
[2:09:58] not received a response. Um, I think if
[2:10:01] you look back, you'll see how many times
[2:10:03] I've called. Uh, I did just put in a
[2:10:07] claim for our third heating pump. Um, my
[2:10:10] my my brother, my sister, and my parents
[2:10:12] have all put in pools the same time I
[2:10:14] did. They haven't replaced anything, and
[2:10:17] we just keep replacing. We've gone
[2:10:19] through three poolmen because they don't
[2:10:21] want to do our pool anymore because of
[2:10:23] of the damage that this does to our
[2:10:25] backyard. So, I'm I'm I'm asking for
[2:10:28] help. That's why I'm here. Thank you.
[2:10:30] Okay. All right. We have you. Thank you
[2:10:32] very much. Thank you.
[2:10:36] Next speaker is Jim Manuel.
[2:10:53] Mayor, Councilman, my name is Jim
[2:10:56] Emanuel. I live at 1774 Po Castile in
[2:11:01] Camaro 93010. And Debbie's my wife. I
[2:11:05] was coming out of Trader Joe's about
[2:11:08] five years ago. And I had a cart and
[2:11:10] there's a crosswalk there. And I looked
[2:11:13] up and there's a stop sign and a young
[2:11:15] girl was driving a car and texting and
[2:11:17] she ran through the stop sign and I hard
[2:11:19] to get out of the way and she t-boned me
[2:11:21] and as I you can see walking up here
[2:11:24] I've got a titanium rod in my hip. It
[2:11:27] fractured a femur in three places and
[2:11:29] I've got a screw about that long holding
[2:11:30] my hip together and I use that pool as
[2:11:34] part of
[2:11:35] my therapy and to allow me to keep
[2:11:40] working. And we spend so much time with
[2:11:43] these five trees. My next door neighbor
[2:11:44] is a well-known p pediatrician. He
[2:11:47] doesn't have those same type of file of
[2:11:49] trees that I do. My other neighbor on
[2:11:51] the other side is a Colombia Law
[2:11:54] School's attorney and she has different
[2:11:57] trees. But my and I'm the only one that
[2:12:00] has a pool and I'm the guy with the bad
[2:12:02] luck. It sheds and we spend hours a day
[2:12:06] with a blower. And as you can see, I
[2:12:08] can't get around with the blower. And
[2:12:09] that leaves it on my wife. We can't get
[2:12:12] the quiet useful benefit of that pool.
[2:12:15] And for the therapy that I need because
[2:12:17] they can't seem to do anything about
[2:12:19] those trees. It sounds like a simple
[2:12:22] problem. I volunteered one time. Let me
[2:12:25] put new trees in. Let me do whatever we
[2:12:27] can do. I am imploring you to really
[2:12:30] look at this and think about that. It's
[2:12:32] if it were you with the broken hip and
[2:12:34] broken femur, would you like the quiet
[2:12:36] use of your pool without having it
[2:12:38] continually break down repair costs go
[2:12:41] on and have pool men that have said,
[2:12:44] "No, you can't fire me. I quit. I don't
[2:12:47] want to clean your pool any longer. I
[2:12:49] need help." And and I implore you to
[2:12:51] think about doing that for us. We've
[2:12:52] asked several times, but it's reached
[2:12:54] the stage that we need to ask you look
[2:12:58] at your look at your correspondence with
[2:13:00] us. We've done this over and over and
[2:13:03] over and we're crying out for help. I
[2:13:06] want to thank you for maybe considering
[2:13:07] it and I think Camaro is a wonderful
[2:13:10] place to live. I've lived here since
[2:13:12] 1982. Two of my children live here. We
[2:13:16] love this community. I think we can
[2:13:18] accomplish this goal for me if we'll
[2:13:20] just try. So, thank you very much. Thank
[2:13:23] you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. Could I just
[2:13:25] ask for his address one more time?
[2:13:27] Excuse me.
[2:13:29] I'm not a good dancer
[2:13:31] anymore.
[2:13:33] 1774 two words. Po p a s e o cast steel
[2:13:37] c a s t i l l e camaro 93010. It's just
[2:13:43] south of Locker Park. So, thank you very
[2:13:46] much. Thank you. And Mr. Mayor, yes. I
[2:13:50] know there's only so much we can say
[2:13:51] because of the Brown Act. Um, but I just
[2:13:55] want to make sure that staff can follow
[2:13:57] up with them um on this topic. Um, it's
[2:14:02] the first that I hear, so I'll double
[2:14:04] check my emails and my junk email, my
[2:14:06] other folder that it sometimes goes to.
[2:14:08] Um, but I really would appreciate if
[2:14:10] staff can follow up on that and then re
[2:14:12] report back to council as well.
[2:14:18] No more. Okay. Thank you all for your
[2:14:21] comments.
[2:14:23] Uh, we are going to get down to council
[2:14:26] staff and intergovernment reports and
[2:14:29] I'm going to ask who would like to start
[2:14:30] off tonight with us with
[2:14:32] that. Anybody who wants to jump in there
[2:14:35] really quick. Would you like me to start
[2:14:36] at the start? Martito, would you like to
[2:14:39] start? Thank you. Thank you. Uh, April
[2:14:43] 19th, I attended the Collab annual
[2:14:45] spring fling event. April 24th and 25th,
[2:14:48] I attended the Cal City's city leader
[2:14:50] summit in Sacramento with council member
[2:14:52] Tennyson and staff member Alonzo
[2:14:55] Ramirez. We were out there lobbying with
[2:14:58] our legislators to try to get funds for
[2:15:00] our city. We have multiple uh capital
[2:15:03] improvement projects that need funding
[2:15:05] and we're we were out there doing that
[2:15:07] work. Um and we also had an opportunity
[2:15:10] to uh speak with our lobbyist in person.
[2:15:13] Uh, April 26th, I attended the Boys and
[2:15:16] Girls Club in uh, fundraiser here in
[2:15:19] Camrio. And April 28th, I attended the
[2:15:22] VCCF and Tur County Community Foundation
[2:15:26] speaker event with Jose Negrete, who was
[2:15:29] a young man or is a young man who was
[2:15:31] raised in Oxnard and La Colonia area and
[2:15:36] he is now uh, working for the United
[2:15:38] Nations, which is really exciting. Uh,
[2:15:40] April 28th, I attended the economic
[2:15:43] development and land use committee with
[2:15:45] council member Santangelo. And April
[2:15:48] 30th, I attended the Chick-fil-A ribbon
[2:15:50] cutting ceremony with the entire council
[2:15:53] and uh staff was also there. And then,
[2:15:56] just so council is aware, I went back
[2:15:59] and provided a certificate on behalf of
[2:16:01] the entire council and they were very,
[2:16:03] very happy to receive that as well.
[2:16:06] April 30th, I attended the Williams
[2:16:08] Homes ribbon cutting uh ceremony. And
[2:16:11] May 6th, I attended the 9th annual Take
[2:16:14] Five and Read to Kids at Dos Camino. So,
[2:16:17] I was able to uh go and and read
[2:16:20] bilingual books to our little kiddos at
[2:16:22] those Camino's school, uh to the little
[2:16:25] preschoolers. May 6th, I attended the L
[2:16:28] day dinner celebrating our local uh
[2:16:31] Camrio Police Department. And May 8th, I
[2:16:34] attended the visit Camrio annual tourism
[2:16:36] lunchon um with staff and uh council
[2:16:41] member Tennyson and council member
[2:16:43] Santangelo were there. uh Vice Mayor
[2:16:45] Tennyson and I were honored to present
[2:16:48] two awards to two uh wonderful uh
[2:16:51] individuals to one to Elaine Kelly who
[2:16:53] is the director of the Camaro outlets
[2:16:56] and the other one was to Anthony Madern
[2:16:59] who is the general manager from Hampton
[2:17:02] in and
[2:17:03] suites and May 9th I also met with the
[2:17:06] executive director of the Santa Barbara
[2:17:09] Zoo uh Mr. Charles Hopper, he is working
[2:17:12] or the the organization is working on
[2:17:15] expanding their mission and focusing on
[2:17:18] sustainability and they have an upcoming
[2:17:21] uh partnership with Cal State University
[2:17:24] of Channel Islands which is really
[2:17:26] exciting. And May 9th, I was also
[2:17:29] honored to serve as the keynote speaker
[2:17:31] for the Latino graduation at Thousand
[2:17:33] Oaks High School. So I was honored to be
[2:17:35] invited to that. And May 12th, I
[2:17:37] attended the California uh CSUCI site
[2:17:41] authority uh financial audit entrance
[2:17:44] meeting. And that is all that I have to
[2:17:46] report. Thank you. You're welcome. To go
[2:17:49] U, Vice Mayor Tennyson, some of this
[2:17:52] will be repetitive. April 24th and 25th,
[2:17:55] I attended the Cal City's leader summit
[2:17:57] and legislative visits. On April 26, I
[2:18:01] stopped in here to the council chambers
[2:18:04] for the public meeting to discuss water
[2:18:06] and sewer rates. It was an open house
[2:18:08] for all interested residents. April
[2:18:10] 30th, I got my free chicken sandwich at
[2:18:13] Chick-fil-A. Never thought I'd eat a
[2:18:15] chicken sandwich for breakfast, but now
[2:18:17] I'm open to chicken and waffles for
[2:18:20] breakfast after that. April 26th, I had
[2:18:24] the honor of attending the Boys and
[2:18:25] Girls Club annual Gayla. Um it it was a
[2:18:30] nautical theme. Um there were quite a
[2:18:33] few interesting costumes there and um
[2:18:36] the gayla provided a lot of resources
[2:18:40] for our local boys and girls club that
[2:18:42] supports well over 400 kids a day after
[2:18:46] school in that local facility at
[2:18:48] Ponderosa and
[2:18:49] Temple. On April 30th through May 2nd
[2:18:54] along with city staff member Alonzo
[2:18:58] Ramirez um who I kindly refer to as my
[2:19:02] babysitter appointed by the city
[2:19:04] manager. We attended the Southern
[2:19:07] California Association of Governments uh
[2:19:10] regional planning um organization
[2:19:14] for Santa no
[2:19:17] Ventura LA I believe portions of Orange
[2:19:21] County and San Bernardino County. It was
[2:19:23] an interesting
[2:19:25] um meeting conference. It was
[2:19:29] their 60th annual conference. I believe
[2:19:32] a lot of the focus for SCAg in the next
[2:19:35] three years is on
[2:19:37] transportation, especially because of
[2:19:40] the Olympics coming to Los Angeles in
[2:19:43] 2028. and transportation isn't just
[2:19:45] focusing on LA venues, but venues
[2:19:47] outside of Los Angeles because we know
[2:19:50] that we're going to have visitors in our
[2:19:52] county and our city and they want to do
[2:19:55] things to make it efficient for the
[2:19:56] visitors to get to the various venues
[2:19:58] throughout the
[2:20:00] counties. On May 6th, I had the
[2:20:04] privilege of attending the annual law
[2:20:06] day dinner and as it been stated, Camrio
[2:20:08] is the only city in the county that does
[2:20:10] this. Um, they've done it for 60 years.
[2:20:13] They had one off year because of COVID.
[2:20:16] And I know from my past profession that
[2:20:18] the people at the Camrial Police
[2:20:20] Department appreciate the homage that
[2:20:22] the city pays for pays to them by
[2:20:25] hosting this event. They have a great
[2:20:27] time. Um it's an opportunity for them to
[2:20:30] get together with their significant
[2:20:32] others, their wives, their husbands, and
[2:20:34] have an evening of entertainment, a nice
[2:20:37] dinner, and dancing.
[2:20:39] Uh I also attended the annual tourism
[2:20:42] lunchon at Camrio Grove Park and the
[2:20:46] biggest takeaway I got from that out of
[2:20:48] our keynote speaker is make work suck
[2:20:53] less. So that was the big he was
[2:20:56] actually a very entertaining and
[2:20:58] informative speaker but that was his
[2:21:00] little punchline when he led off. Today
[2:21:03] I attended the West Ventura County
[2:21:05] Business Alliance lunch series and it
[2:21:08] was focused on law enforcement. Sheriff
[2:21:10] Jim Fryhoff was there. District Attorney
[2:21:13] Eric Nazareno was there. Oxnard Police
[2:21:16] Chief Jason Bonitas was there and our
[2:21:18] own police chief Commander Tennyson was
[2:21:20] there. And it was a very informative
[2:21:22] series touching on technology and law
[2:21:25] enforcement, community outreach, and the
[2:21:28] importance of creating those
[2:21:30] relationships in the community so that
[2:21:33] law enforcement could respond to needs.
[2:21:35] And as the sheriff said earlier, um
[2:21:37] we're focusing on a very small
[2:21:39] percentage of people that caused the
[2:21:41] problem for the residents and they're
[2:21:42] policing smarter than they did in the
[2:21:44] old days when I was with law
[2:21:46] enforcement. So I appreciate that. Thank
[2:21:49] you. Thank you. Mango would like to
[2:21:54] Okay. On April 28th, I attended the
[2:21:56] economic development and land use
[2:21:58] committee meeting. On April 29th, I
[2:22:01] attended the healthy Camaro ad hoc
[2:22:04] committee. On April 30th, I attended the
[2:22:07] Chick-fil-A grand opening and then that
[2:22:09] afternoon, the Williams Home Palra grand
[2:22:12] opening. On May 6, I attended the LD day
[2:22:15] dinner with my colleagues.
[2:22:17] On May 8th, I attended the visit Camrio
[2:22:20] Tourism luncheon and then that evening
[2:22:22] the Ventura County Airport Authority. On
[2:22:25] May 9th, I attended the Vans gas station
[2:22:27] ribbon cutting ceremony and um earlier
[2:22:30] today I too was at the West Ventura
[2:22:33] County Business Association statement
[2:22:35] lunch series with um our chief and
[2:22:39] Sheriff Fryhoff and the two others. It
[2:22:42] was a really nice lunch today. Thank
[2:22:44] you,
[2:22:45] Mr. Chambbley, we we have a lot of
[2:22:47] guests here. You may not realize that we
[2:22:49] are required to report on meetings that
[2:22:51] we attend on behalf of the city uh and
[2:22:54] um the regional boards that we're on. So
[2:22:56] that's why you're hearing this and so
[2:22:58] pardon me for being is going to sound
[2:23:00] repetitive. On April 25, I had a meeting
[2:23:02] of the Metroink board of directors in
[2:23:04] Los Angeles. On April 26th, the Boys and
[2:23:06] Girls Club dinner. On April 29th,
[2:23:09] healthy Camaro, which involves the city,
[2:23:11] Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park
[2:23:12] District, and the Camaro Healthcare
[2:23:14] District. on April 30, uh, the
[2:23:16] Chick-fil-A ribbon cutting. Um, also the
[2:23:19] needs assessment meeting with Pleasant
[2:23:21] Valley Recreation and Park District and
[2:23:22] the Williams Homes opening. On May one,
[2:23:25] I had an audit meeting uh with Metroink.
[2:23:27] On May two, I got to pinch it for my
[2:23:30] colleague uh, Council Member Santangelo
[2:23:32] for the Clean PL Clean Power Alliance
[2:23:34] board of directors, and I was privileged
[2:23:35] to sit in on that. On May two, uh,
[2:23:37] together with the city manager, I met
[2:23:39] with Senator Leone in Santa Barbara at
[2:23:41] her office. uh on May 3 uh attended the
[2:23:45] St. John's Hospitals dinner on May 6th
[2:23:48] the Law Day dinner. On May 8th uh
[2:23:50] Ventura County Airport Authority on May
[2:23:52] 9th uh two meetings Fox Cany and
[2:23:54] Groundwater Management Agency board and
[2:23:56] the Ventura County Transportation
[2:23:58] Commission. And then finally today uh
[2:24:00] the West Ventura County Business
[2:24:02] Alliance uh lunch series. And that's it.
[2:24:04] Thanks. Thank you very much. Um, I also
[2:24:08] attended Water and Sewer Rates open
[2:24:10] house on April 26th. Uh, the Boys and
[2:24:13] Girls Club gala uh and auction. I
[2:24:16] attended that as well. The Chick-fil-A
[2:24:18] ribbon cutting, if you get a chance to
[2:24:20] go there, please go there. It's great.
[2:24:23] Uh, Williams Homes ribbon cutting, I
[2:24:25] attended that as well. It's beautiful.
[2:24:27] If you get a chance to go down there and
[2:24:28] see that facility, it's beautiful. Uh,
[2:24:31] May 1st, I attended a VRSD meeting. And
[2:24:35] uh on May 9th uh I attended the Bonds
[2:24:38] Express gas station and grand opening
[2:24:40] and ridding ribbon cutting. And uh I
[2:24:43] want to thank my colleagues for pitch
[2:24:45] hitting for me when I was unable to
[2:24:47] attend uh the events. Uh we have a a
[2:24:50] very uh busy council here that uh
[2:24:54] supports each other and I just want all
[2:24:55] of you to know that. I really appreciate
[2:24:58] that. Okay. So with that uh that gets us
[2:25:01] down the consent calendar. Madam clerk,
[2:25:03] do we have any uh cards on consent
[2:25:05] calendar? Yes, currently I have um five
[2:25:08] individuals signed up. They want to
[2:25:10] speak on consent item number O. And so
[2:25:13] I'm going to be calling um your names.
[2:25:16] When I call you, you're going to come up
[2:25:17] to the public podium. You're going to
[2:25:19] speak into the microphone. You'll have
[2:25:21] three minutes. You'll notice your time
[2:25:23] will be up on the screens here. I will
[2:25:25] also call the person that'll be right
[2:25:27] after you. So when I call the second
[2:25:29] person, if you could come up in the
[2:25:30] aisle and be ready to go. So our first
[2:25:33] person is Ezra Kazab and then next one
[2:25:37] will be Diana
[2:25:38] Bradley. So if um Ezra could come up.
[2:25:47] Thank you. I want to say thank you for
[2:25:49] the volunteer. Thank you for city of
[2:25:51] Camaro for wonderful city. I just want
[2:25:54] to talk about the issue uh about the
[2:25:57] mobile home.
[2:25:59] Mal people come to live simple
[2:26:02] life and they have people that raise
[2:26:05] their hand they raise their hand they
[2:26:06] raise their hand in a legal way but is a
[2:26:11] lot of people have a lot of different
[2:26:13] issue and it's very difficult to them to
[2:26:19] pay the bill every month
[2:26:23] so I know he do it legally but sometime
[2:26:28] is humanity is better. People must help
[2:26:31] people especially city of Camaro,
[2:26:34] beautiful city. They cannot close their
[2:26:37] eyes and say this is not my problem.
[2:26:40] It's all of us problem because there's a
[2:26:42] lot of people suffering every months to
[2:26:45] pay the bill. And uh thank you very
[2:26:49] much.
[2:26:52] Okay. And after Diana Bradley will be
[2:26:54] Julie Mohler.
[2:26:58] Hello, council members. Um, over 100
[2:27:02] California cities and counties have
[2:27:04] enacted a form of mobile home rent
[2:27:07] stabilization. This shows evidence of
[2:27:10] the mobile home owner's unique need for
[2:27:13] protection, which many local California
[2:27:16] governments recognize.
[2:27:18] Experience shows that in Camaro, a rent
[2:27:21] ordinance is required if rents are to be
[2:27:24] stabilized and homeowners, especially
[2:27:27] seniors, protected from economic
[2:27:29] eviction, which high rents can
[2:27:32] cause. What is rent stabilization? The
[2:27:35] rent stabilization ordinance controls
[2:27:39] rents by a regulatory act of local
[2:27:41] government. The US Supreme Court
[2:27:44] affirmed that state and local
[2:27:46] governments have broad power to regulate
[2:27:49] housing conditions in general and the
[2:27:52] landlord tenant relationship in
[2:27:55] particular. When a land owner decides to
[2:27:58] rent his land to tenants, the government
[2:28:01] may place ceilings on the rents the land
[2:28:05] owner can
[2:28:06] charge. Why is rent stabilization needed
[2:28:09] in
[2:28:10] Camaro? In Cal Rio mobile home parks, a
[2:28:13] monopoly exists due to the high cost of
[2:28:16] moving homes and the absence of vacant
[2:28:19] spaces in our area. When a rent increase
[2:28:22] is sent to a homeowner, they are faced
[2:28:25] with either one, paying the increase,
[2:28:28] two, incurring a high cost to move the
[2:28:31] home, or three, simply abandoning their
[2:28:35] home.
[2:28:36] There is a high cost for homeowners to
[2:28:38] move the home, so this is rarely done.
[2:28:41] The California mobile home residency law
[2:28:44] states, quote, because of the high cost
[2:28:47] of moving mobile homes, which averages
[2:28:49] several thousands of dollars, plus
[2:28:52] another 10,000 setup in a new space, the
[2:28:55] requirements of installing a mobile
[2:28:57] home, the cost of landscaping and lot
[2:28:59] preparation. It is necessary that the
[2:29:02] owners of mobiles be provided with
[2:29:05] unique protection from actual or
[2:29:08] constructive
[2:29:10] eviction. Excessive rent increases in
[2:29:13] the absence of regulation are not
[2:29:15] theoretical. Many park owners have
[2:29:17] increased space rents multiple times
[2:29:21] yearly, resulting in mobile homes losing
[2:29:24] much of their value becoming
[2:29:26] unmarketable. An appraiser's rule of
[2:29:28] thumb is that the value of a mobile home
[2:29:30] decreases by
[2:29:32] $10,000 for every $100 increase in the
[2:29:36] monthly
[2:29:37] rent. So if our homes are valued at
[2:29:41] $150,000 and the rent increases $100
[2:29:44] this year, the home is now worth
[2:29:48] $140,000. This happens each year. So you
[2:29:51] can see why we are so concerned. Today,
[2:29:55] Camaro City Council gives park owners
[2:29:58] free reign to charge any rent they
[2:30:01] choose. The only exception would ask you
[2:30:04] to please a local rent control ordinance
[2:30:08] in the absence of a mobile home rent
[2:30:10] stabilization ordinance experience shows
[2:30:13] excessive rent please one more sentence.
[2:30:16] Rent stabilization may not be a solution
[2:30:18] for all homeowners problems, but it is a
[2:30:21] consumer protection necessary to prevent
[2:30:24] excessive rent increases and may be the
[2:30:26] sole means of ensuring the survival of
[2:30:29] Camaro's mobile home lifestyle for
[2:30:32] seniors. Thank you very much. Thank you
[2:30:34] for your comments. Okay, the next one is
[2:30:37] Julie Moore and after Julie will be
[2:30:39] Ricardo Hernandez. Um, I'm going to make
[2:30:42] a comment. I want to be fair to
[2:30:44] everybody. I'm going to stick to the
[2:30:46] threeinut rule. It's really important to
[2:30:48] hear what you're saying, but please, if
[2:30:50] you could keep it to the three minutes,
[2:30:51] that would be great. Proceed, please.
[2:30:53] Thank you. Thank you for having us here.
[2:30:57] We have a great representation of three
[2:30:59] mobile home parks that all have the same
[2:31:03] problem
[2:31:04] of increasing unaffordability to
[2:31:07] continue living there, including me. I'm
[2:31:10] Julie Moore and I'm representing the
[2:31:13] lamp lighter of Camaro. I've been there
[2:31:15] for over 10 years. My rent has doubled
[2:31:19] in the past 10 years. It's becoming more
[2:31:22] and more difficult for me still working
[2:31:26] to afford the rent space which increases
[2:31:29] 5 to 6% a year.
[2:31:33] Our lamp lighter has is wonderful in the
[2:31:37] sense that it it's a family park. It's
[2:31:40] the only family park um one of the very
[2:31:42] few in the county and we have many
[2:31:45] disabled people living there for just
[2:31:47] $1,200 a month is their income and
[2:31:50] they're renting a bedroom and they will
[2:31:53] be homeless people eventually if our if
[2:31:56] they cannot continue to rent there and
[2:31:59] their owners of their home have to
[2:32:02] vacate or they have to be able to sell
[2:32:06] their home because they can't afford to
[2:32:08] live there. There was a survey done
[2:32:11] approximately 5 years ago comparing all
[2:32:14] of the mobile home parks in Ventura
[2:32:18] County. We were the second highest
[2:32:23] rent of all the mobile home parks in
[2:32:27] Ventura County. We had the second
[2:32:29] highest rent which shows that it's
[2:32:33] becoming
[2:32:35] increasingly more difficult for us to
[2:32:37] afford rent. The other cities in the
[2:32:41] other surrounding areas have rent
[2:32:43] ordinance, have rent control and much
[2:32:46] lower rent space, not Camaro. We are way
[2:32:50] behind in being able to make it
[2:32:53] affordable for the average person that's
[2:32:57] lives and wants to continue living in
[2:32:59] their mobile home here in Camaro. So we
[2:33:03] are asking in fairness to the
[2:33:05] middleclass people, the disabled people
[2:33:09] and also the senior citizens. We want
[2:33:12] fairness to have a study and have a
[2:33:15] conclusion. There must be rent
[2:33:17] ordinance. now in Camaro and there
[2:33:21] should not be any more
[2:33:24] procrastination done because we have
[2:33:26] been up here for many years. This isn't
[2:33:28] the first time we've been up here. We've
[2:33:30] been up here for many times trying to
[2:33:34] explain our situation and be able to
[2:33:38] prove our situation in many ways. But we
[2:33:42] need your help. We need your committee
[2:33:46] to study the situation in depth to show
[2:33:49] that what we are complaining about is
[2:33:52] valid and what we need is rent ordinance
[2:33:57] control as soon as possible just like
[2:33:59] the other cities in Camaro. Uh we want
[2:34:03] to be included just like the other
[2:34:04] mobile homes. Could you wrap it up
[2:34:06] please? Thank you. Please. Thank you
[2:34:08] very much. I appreciate your comments. I
[2:34:10] really do. Uh again, um I'd like
[2:34:13] everybody to try to keep to the three
[2:34:15] minutes. I'm trying to be fair to
[2:34:18] everybody here. So again, I'm going to
[2:34:21] make the announcement for the second
[2:34:23] time. I don't want to go any further
[2:34:25] than this, but if you would please keep
[2:34:27] your comments to three minutes, it would
[2:34:30] be appreciated.
[2:34:32] Okay, Madam Cler, do we have anybody
[2:34:33] else? Yes, we have Ricardo Hernandez.
[2:34:35] And the last one after Ricardo is
[2:34:37] Michelle Bourne.
[2:34:47] Thank you for your time. Thank you. Um,
[2:34:49] I'm a Vietnam vet and I'm taking a
[2:34:52] caretaker for a person who is uh in the
[2:34:56] hospital right now with a bad situation,
[2:34:59] blood clots and and uh all kinds of
[2:35:02] things that are happening to him. But
[2:35:04] it's it's uh important that uh people
[2:35:08] realize how much this cost is actually
[2:35:11] uh affecting people. Our neighbors to
[2:35:14] the left uh both of them have passed
[2:35:16] away this last year. Another person
[2:35:19] people are this is their last stop. This
[2:35:22] is where they go to find a place that
[2:35:25] they can feel safe in and be able to
[2:35:27] afford to stay there.
[2:35:29] uh it's costly but it's uh the least
[2:35:32] expensive place to go to live. So we
[2:35:34] only ask for a fairness for the people
[2:35:37] who are staying there who live there who
[2:35:40] cherish the place and uh but there
[2:35:44] because it's the last stop for them.
[2:35:47] Many of them don't have the funds to be
[2:35:48] able to continue paying the rent
[2:35:51] increases. I ask for your consideration.
[2:35:53] Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
[2:35:58] Anyone else? Madame clerk.
[2:36:07] Michelle Bourne. Michelle. No. Is she
[2:36:11] here? Looks like they're withdrawing.
[2:36:15] All right. Is there anybody else uh that
[2:36:18] want to come up and make a comment?
[2:36:20] Please proceed if you would here. Again,
[2:36:23] three minutes. If you could keep that to
[2:36:24] three minutes, we'd appreciate it. Thank
[2:36:26] you. My name is Karen Anselone and I
[2:36:28] live in um Del Norte.
[2:36:32] And four years ago when I came to
[2:36:35] Camaro,
[2:36:37] uh the rents were
[2:36:39] $1,600 over the one on
[2:36:43] Ventura. They weren't They're
[2:36:46] $2,50 now. I I would have had to run
[2:36:51] from there and lost. Um, one of the
[2:36:54] gentlemen last time spoke about um,
[2:36:57] equity pre predators and I think we have
[2:37:00] that going on. I think they're trying to
[2:37:03] steal equity from all these older
[2:37:05] people. It broke my heart being here
[2:37:07] last time.
[2:37:10] These I have family that can help me. A
[2:37:13] lot of these people don't have family
[2:37:14] that can help them. This is their last
[2:37:16] stop and we're making it horrible for
[2:37:19] them. Can you imagine paying
[2:37:23] $2,50 plus
[2:37:25] utilities and then having to um maybe
[2:37:29] have a mortgage on your home? These are
[2:37:31] all people with 1,200 maybe. Well,
[2:37:33] that's what I get from the, you know,
[2:37:36] federal government for social security.
[2:37:38] So, I still have to work and I have to
[2:37:40] work three jobs. So, I'm just really
[2:37:43] concerned
[2:37:44] about what's happening here. This is an
[2:37:47] aging community. It started out that
[2:37:49] way. I I've lived my whole life here in
[2:37:51] California and I always remember Camaro
[2:37:54] was for people aging and it was always
[2:37:56] affordable. This is not affordable
[2:37:58] anymore and this is getting really
[2:38:01] scary. And I
[2:38:03] just we can't put old people out on the
[2:38:06] street. We just can't do this. And I
[2:38:10] drove by that park and there's all these
[2:38:12] for sale signs and they're not going to
[2:38:13] get sold. These people are going to lose
[2:38:16] their equity. They're equity predators
[2:38:18] that are coming in and buying these
[2:38:20] properties and then they're not taking
[2:38:22] care of them properly. And like last
[2:38:24] time this one lady was saying, they
[2:38:26] stopped at her house and did not do her
[2:38:29] sewers which are falling apart in these
[2:38:31] streets. And the electric is all in
[2:38:33] just, you know, cords in the build, you
[2:38:36] know, dug in in dirt and they're not
[2:38:39] being taken care of. And you know, we're
[2:38:42] supposed to take care of the properties
[2:38:43] that we're renting and I do, but you
[2:38:46] know, some of these people can't even,
[2:38:47] you know, can't take care of it. And I
[2:38:49] just think we have something really
[2:38:51] morally, really morally responsible to
[2:38:55] do for these
[2:38:57] people. We have a job to do for
[2:39:00] us and we got to protect these people.
[2:39:04] It's not just I can still work, but some
[2:39:06] of these people can't and we need to
[2:39:08] protect them. Thank you. Thank you.
[2:39:11] Are there anyone else?
[2:39:13] Uh, yes, we have one gentleman. Please
[2:39:18] proceed. And again, if you could keep it
[2:39:20] to three minutes, it'd be appreciated.
[2:39:22] Thank you. My name is Jerry Barnett. I
[2:39:26] own a mobile home in Camo Mobile Home
[2:39:28] Park. Um, and I just want to express my
[2:39:33] appreciation to the council for having
[2:39:35] it on the agenda to create the ad hoc
[2:39:38] committee and for appointing Dr.
[2:39:41] Martinez Bravo and Susan Santangelo. Um,
[2:39:45] this will help support seniors such as
[2:39:49] Shirley, one of the
[2:39:54] Ventura sheriff's volunteers. She's also
[2:39:58] a resident of that park. So, I want to
[2:40:00] express my appreciation to you. Thank
[2:40:02] you. Thank you for your
[2:40:05] comments. Anyone else?
[2:40:09] Would you like to come up to the podium,
[2:40:11] please?
[2:40:21] And again, if you could keep it to three
[2:40:23] minutes, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
[2:40:25] Um, hi, my name is Marlo King. I live in
[2:40:28] the Lamplighter Camaro, a mobile home
[2:40:31] park and I'm here to represent my family
[2:40:34] and just all the families that are
[2:40:37] there. That is the only mobile home park
[2:40:40] in Camaro in in the surrounding areas
[2:40:43] that is familyowned. Um, the rest are
[2:40:46] seniors and I I know that seniors need
[2:40:50] help. Uh, families need help as well.
[2:40:54] And um it just
[2:40:57] basically a mobile home for us as as a
[2:41:01] family. Um
[2:41:04] represents you know uh stability and um
[2:41:11] the the raises in in the rent are very
[2:41:15] high. Um for us a mobile home was a step
[2:41:21] into ownership which is great for any
[2:41:25] individual. Um and just these rents have
[2:41:29] made it really difficult for us to keep
[2:41:32] the plan of maybe saving as a
[2:41:36] family and being able to buy a home. But
[2:41:41] um the races are just too much. And my
[2:41:44] main concern is
[2:41:47] that these companies uh we are regulated
[2:41:50] as you know homeowners. We're regulated
[2:41:53] by the city of Camaro, by the HC, just
[2:41:57] by everyone. But who regulates these
[2:42:00] companies? We need help from you guys.
[2:42:02] Um I don't know the process or anything
[2:42:04] like that, how everything works, but I
[2:42:07] do hope and I
[2:42:10] I ask you to represent the citizens here
[2:42:13] in
[2:42:15] Camaro, seniors mainly, but also
[2:42:19] families who want to improve their lives
[2:42:23] and sometimes, you know, work long hours
[2:42:26] and have it's incredible to have seniors
[2:42:29] work three jobs. It's it's
[2:42:32] not u it's crazy,
[2:42:35] but to
[2:42:37] me being here in the United States is
[2:42:42] uh I appreciate and I think the fact
[2:42:46] that we're able to come here and be able
[2:42:49] to ask you guys for for help. So just
[2:42:52] wanted to say that and hope that you
[2:42:55] guys guys can hear this part of the
[2:42:58] community here in Camaro and thank you
[2:43:00] very much. Thank you
[2:43:04] comments. Anyone else uh here like to
[2:43:07] make a
[2:43:10] comment? All right. Uh any questions by
[2:43:12] the council at this particular time? Any
[2:43:14] council members have any questions?
[2:43:16] Yeah. Uh Vice Mayor Tennyson, not a
[2:43:19] question, just a quick statement. I
[2:43:21] think that city staff and council Oh,
[2:43:24] I'm sorry. Can I I'm sorry. Apologize.
[2:43:27] Comment. Yes. My name is Could you move
[2:43:29] that microphone down, please? This one?
[2:43:31] Yeah, either one that you feel
[2:43:32] comfortable
[2:43:34] there. Yeah, that's good. Thank you.
[2:43:36] Okay. Hi, my name is Blanca Masias and I
[2:43:39] live in Lamplider Camaro as well. And
[2:43:42] since uh December 2023, our life changed
[2:43:46] because my son was diagnosed with
[2:43:51] cancer and we've been struggled
[2:43:54] since he's not able to work so
[2:43:58] far and that the rent is increasing
[2:44:02] every year and it's been very hard the
[2:44:06] last two years for us. So hopefully you
[2:44:09] can do something um about it to stop the
[2:44:12] increasing for all of us. For all people
[2:44:15] who lives there, the older
[2:44:19] um our
[2:44:22] families life
[2:44:25] changes. Can you do something about it
[2:44:28] for all of
[2:44:30] us? Thank you. Thank you for your
[2:44:33] comments. Thank you. Again, I'll ask uh
[2:44:36] would anybody else like to make a
[2:44:38] comment, public comment on
[2:44:40] this? Anybody coming forward? Yes,
[2:44:43] there's one,
[2:44:50] please. If you'd state your name and if
[2:44:52] you could keep it to three minutes, I'd
[2:44:54] be appreciative. Thank you. Hi, my name
[2:44:57] is Judy Estrada. I'm from the Lamp
[2:44:59] Lighter Mobile Home Estates, too. my
[2:45:01] home is paid off. You know, my it's my
[2:45:05] home. I may have to leave it and move
[2:45:08] because they keep raising our rent. They
[2:45:10] say 5%. It's over $100 a month every
[2:45:13] year that they're raising my rent. And
[2:45:15] then you get these notices to fix these
[2:45:18] things around your house. Um I can't
[2:45:21] afford to fix the things around my
[2:45:22] house. So you get these threatens of
[2:45:25] evictions there. My house inside, it's a
[2:45:28] 73 year old house. It's falling apart
[2:45:31] inside. I can't fix the inside because I
[2:45:34] have to pay the rent. My son moved in
[2:45:37] with me to help me pay the rent. For a
[2:45:40] 40-year-old son to have to live with his
[2:45:41] mother again is, you know,
[2:45:43] ridiculous. But,
[2:45:45] um, this IPG, I hear it's IPG all over.
[2:45:50] Something has to be done about this
[2:45:51] corporation. I don't know how we do we
[2:45:53] go about it. Um, I moved my kids here 30
[2:45:57] years ago from Oxnard to to this mobile
[2:46:00] home to keep them safe so they didn't
[2:46:03] get shot because Camaro is a a really
[2:46:07] nice place to live. It was a big
[2:46:09] adjustment for us, but it's a really
[2:46:10] nice place to live and I don't want to
[2:46:13] have to move my my kid or my, you know,
[2:46:16] and with them comes grandkids. Sometime
[2:46:18] I don't want to have to move them away.
[2:46:23] Um, I
[2:46:25] just I really, you know, how can we deal
[2:46:28] with this IPG? It's a corporation. They
[2:46:31] used to raise my rent like it was uh
[2:46:34] Deloplane, Mr. Deloplane who owned us.
[2:46:37] They used to raise our rent four or five
[2:46:39] dollars a month every year. Four or$5
[2:46:41] dollars. These people want over
[2:46:43] $100 for over 200 mobile homes. and they
[2:46:49] have done nothing to increase the value
[2:46:51] of my home or to make my life better.
[2:46:54] You're we're always being kind of it's
[2:46:58] like we have a
[2:47:00] warden. Um and she's just following the
[2:47:04] rules. I just I' I'd like, you know,
[2:47:07] maybe the city can look into IPG because
[2:47:10] apparently it's it's something.
[2:47:14] Anyway, I may have to I my home is my
[2:47:17] home, but I can't sell it because it's
[2:47:18] falling apart. But I have may have to
[2:47:20] move because I can't afford the space
[2:47:22] rent. I may have to just walk away from
[2:47:24] all my took a long time to pay for that
[2:47:27] home.
[2:47:28] Thank you very much. Thank you for your
[2:47:31] comments. Anyone else like to make a
[2:47:34] comment at this particular
[2:47:39] point? Okay, I don't see anybody else
[2:47:42] coming up. So, with that, I'll ask
[2:47:44] council members any questions or
[2:47:46] comments? Uh, Vice Mayor Tennyson, just
[2:47:48] a quick comment. Um, I think that city
[2:47:51] staff and council has shown that they
[2:47:54] took your concerns from a few weeks ago
[2:47:56] at the council meeting very seriously.
[2:47:59] Hence, the appointment of the of the ad
[2:48:01] hoc committee with um two council
[2:48:04] members on it. And I'm sure city staff,
[2:48:06] if you've reached out to them and
[2:48:08] provided emails or addresses, will let
[2:48:11] you know as this process goes forward.
[2:48:13] So, we heard you. We hear you again
[2:48:15] tonight and the ad hoc committee will
[2:48:18] look into this and listen even further
[2:48:21] to your concerns and maybe give you more
[2:48:23] than three minutes. Who knows? Um, but
[2:48:25] we heard you and staff heard you and
[2:48:28] quickly um met with the mayor to
[2:48:30] organize the ad hoc committee. Tonight's
[2:48:32] action will be to formalize his
[2:48:35] appointment of the two council members
[2:48:37] to this ad hoc committee.
[2:48:40] Any other comments
[2:48:41] or Martito? Thank you, mayor. Uh first
[2:48:45] of all, thank you to every single one of
[2:48:48] you who are here and who shared just a
[2:48:51] very uh brief part of your life in these
[2:48:54] three minutes and truly for bringing
[2:48:56] yourself and bringing your vulnerability
[2:48:58] as well. I really appreciated that.
[2:49:02] um ditto to what council member or vice
[2:49:05] mayor Tennyson said. Um I think I
[2:49:09] consider myself a very empathic person
[2:49:11] and also data driven. So I think it is
[2:49:14] uh very important that we continue to
[2:49:17] study this issue and bring it forward to
[2:49:20] our ad hoc committee. Um I did receive
[2:49:22] an email before the ad hoc committee was
[2:49:25] formed. I am aware that city staff met
[2:49:28] with I think about 80 folks or so. So,
[2:49:31] thank you so much to to city staff for
[2:49:34] doing that and um I I didn't know who I
[2:49:39] could so because of the Brown Act, I
[2:49:40] always say I don't want to go to council
[2:49:42] jail. So, I wanted to make sure who I
[2:49:44] can speak with uh about this issue since
[2:49:47] it's going to be council member
[2:49:48] Santangelo and I uh on the ad hoc
[2:49:51] committee. Um now, I can say that yes,
[2:49:53] I'm happy to meet with you all. I think
[2:49:55] that was a request that came in before
[2:49:57] and I'm happy to follow up on those
[2:49:59] emails that came through. Um, but other
[2:50:01] than that, um, I mean, I'm fine with
[2:50:04] moving, uh, item O forward along with,
[2:50:08] uh, other items on the agenda. I don't
[2:50:10] know if it's time for that as well.
[2:50:14] Okay,
[2:50:17] there's a motion and there is a
[2:50:19] second. Do a roll call, please. Council
[2:50:22] member Martinez Bravo. Yes. Council
[2:50:25] member Santangelo. Yes. Council member
[2:50:27] Trembley. Yes. Vice Mayor Tennyson. Yes.
[2:50:30] And Mayor Kildy. Yes. Thank you all for
[2:50:32] your comments.
[2:50:34] Okay, that's going to get us down to the
[2:50:36] if uh if you may. Um that's going to get
[2:50:40] us down to the public hearing and it's
[2:50:43] item T and U. It's going to be the water
[2:50:45] and sewer rates. And I'm going to ask uh
[2:50:48] Marky Rebe our finance director and
[2:50:51] Kevin Costik. He's from Rafelis, our
[2:50:55] consultant, uh, to say if they'd like to
[2:50:58] start us off tonight, please.
[2:51:06] Thank you, mayor, members of the city
[2:51:07] council, members of the sanitary board.
[2:51:10] Tonight is the culmination of a rate
[2:51:12] setting process that is a joint effort
[2:51:14] between the finance department, the
[2:51:16] public works department, the city
[2:51:18] manager department, and the city's rate
[2:51:20] consultants, Rafalis Financial, and it
[2:51:23] is a process that began in summer of
[2:51:26] 2024. So before opening the public
[2:51:28] hearing tonight, there will be a joint
[2:51:30] presentation starting with Kevin Costik
[2:51:32] from Ref Talis, followed by Pam Townsen,
[2:51:35] the assistant finance director for the
[2:51:36] city. So I'll now turn it over to Kevin
[2:51:39] Costik from Rafelis Financial.
[2:51:42] Thank you Mark. Uh good evening Mayor
[2:51:44] Kildy, council staff and members of the
[2:51:46] public. My name is Kevin Costik from
[2:51:48] Raft Telus. Kevin, if you could raise
[2:51:50] that microphone just a bit. Thank you so
[2:51:51] much. Might have to. Thank you.
[2:51:55] So we'll start with uh our rate study
[2:51:57] timeline. We kicked this off with staff
[2:52:00] last fall uh in updating all of our
[2:52:02] financial analysis in in the fall. We
[2:52:06] held five meetings with the utilities
[2:52:08] committee uh through the fall and the
[2:52:10] winter. We had three city council
[2:52:11] meetings through February and March. We
[2:52:14] also held two public open houses with
[2:52:17] the community in April. And tonight is
[2:52:20] our public
[2:52:21] hearing. Rate study process is governed
[2:52:24] in California primarily by proposition
[2:52:26] 218 which sets certain requirements uh
[2:52:29] for setting rates including water and
[2:52:31] sewer utility rates. Primarily rates
[2:52:34] can't exceed the cost of providing
[2:52:35] service. So the the utility has to
[2:52:38] extend service for simply the cost of
[2:52:40] providing that monies cannot be used for
[2:52:43] any other purpose for which it was
[2:52:45] recovered. So we have to keep uh
[2:52:48] revenues within the utility funds. They
[2:52:50] can't be spent elsewhere in the city.
[2:52:52] And lastly, customers cannot be required
[2:52:54] to pay the cost for another group. So we
[2:52:56] can't have cross uh customer class
[2:52:58] subsidies so that one set of customers
[2:53:01] can pay less and another
[2:53:03] more. Uh additionally with prop 218 a
[2:53:06] bit of history here it was passed by
[2:53:08] voters in 1996. In 2006 the state
[2:53:12] supreme court held that utility rates
[2:53:14] are subject to the requirements of Prop
[2:53:16] 218. Those that were mentioned on the
[2:53:18] prior slide. In addition to those
[2:53:20] substantive requirements, there are also
[2:53:22] procedural requirements which uh require
[2:53:24] that we notice all of our affected
[2:53:26] parcels. So, customers of the water
[2:53:28] utility in the sanitation district have
[2:53:30] to be notified, made aware of the
[2:53:34] changes to utility rates. Uh those were
[2:53:36] mailed to customers on March 28th in
[2:53:39] advance of this public hearing. and
[2:53:41] rates are subject to a majority protest
[2:53:43] which means if a majority of connections
[2:53:45] to the water or sewer systems uh protest
[2:53:48] the rates council or the CSD board could
[2:53:51] not implement those changes. So let's
[2:53:53] talk about what makes up uh
[2:53:56] rates. We have uh revenues and expenses.
[2:54:00] So revenues are largely from utility
[2:54:03] rates from user charges. There's very
[2:54:05] little non- rate revenue. So all of the
[2:54:07] revenues that come into the utilities
[2:54:08] are derived from the charges that
[2:54:10] customers pay. On the expense side, uh
[2:54:14] we start with cash that's available. So
[2:54:16] those are think of your checking in your
[2:54:17] savings account and the cash on hand to
[2:54:19] be able to meet the city, excuse me, pay
[2:54:22] its own bills uh to execute capital
[2:54:25] projects uh to respond to emergencies.
[2:54:28] We have operational expenses, so
[2:54:30] operating and maintaining the water
[2:54:32] systems, producing water, treating waste
[2:54:35] water. And then we have capital
[2:54:36] expenditures. So we have a series of
[2:54:38] capital projects and programs over a
[2:54:40] long-term horizon that need to be funded
[2:54:42] over time. The difference between those
[2:54:44] revenues and expenses are differences in
[2:54:48] uh proposed
[2:54:49] rates. So diving a little bit deeper
[2:54:52] into the cost factors affecting the
[2:54:54] water utility, we have dwindling cash on
[2:54:57] hand, and that's largely because we have
[2:54:59] pressures on both revenues and expenses.
[2:55:02] We have reduced water demands over the
[2:55:04] last several years. We expend we
[2:55:06] experienced dry conditions in 2021 and
[2:55:09] 2022. We had a record uh wet year in
[2:55:12] 2023. Again, an above average winter in
[2:55:16] 2024 where in wet years demand is
[2:55:19] actually depressed or lower than in dry
[2:55:22] years. So we have reduced revenues. We
[2:55:24] also have rising operational costs.
[2:55:27] Those include purchasing water, uh
[2:55:29] producing water, the cost of electricity
[2:55:32] and pumping uh to produce water and move
[2:55:35] it through the
[2:55:36] systems, chemical costs and personnel
[2:55:39] costs. So all of those operational costs
[2:55:40] are rising. Uh utilities are not immune
[2:55:43] to the effects of inflation just like
[2:55:45] our own household
[2:55:47] budgets. And lastly, as I mentioned, we
[2:55:49] have a series of capital projects uh
[2:55:51] that the city has planned. We're going
[2:55:53] to go into a bit of detail in this next
[2:55:55] slide and how the capital projects
[2:55:57] actually translate into cost savings on
[2:55:59] the operation side over time. So what
[2:56:02] this chart is showing is purchase water
[2:56:04] from uh the city's water purveyor Kaius
[2:56:08] municipal water district. So
[2:56:10] historically the purchases have been on
[2:56:12] the order of 4 to 5,000 acre feet per
[2:56:15] year and that's declined and that's
[2:56:17] declined because the dalter has come
[2:56:18] online. So the Dalter produces
[2:56:21] additional local water to provide to the
[2:56:24] city of Camrio service area. Now it's
[2:56:26] stabilized at more the 2,000 acre foot
[2:56:29] per year mark, but additional capital
[2:56:31] projects in the future are going to
[2:56:33] reduce the reliance on Kaiagus or
[2:56:35] imported water in the future. Primarily
[2:56:37] the charter of pump station which will
[2:56:40] allow more local water to be served in
[2:56:42] more locations of the service area. Uh
[2:56:44] well E which is a new groundwater well.
[2:56:47] And then after 2031, well F, an
[2:56:50] additional new well. So again, these
[2:56:52] investments need to be made now in order
[2:56:54] to translate into cost savings in the
[2:56:56] future and additional local
[2:56:59] supply for CSD on the sewer side. Uh
[2:57:03] similarly, we have rising operational
[2:57:04] costs. Uh no different than the water
[2:57:07] side of the house. uh again not immune
[2:57:09] to the uh to inflation on all on all
[2:57:12] cost
[2:57:13] centers but largely it's driven by uh
[2:57:16] anticipated capital investments and
[2:57:18] really generational investments as it
[2:57:20] relates to the water reclamation plant.
[2:57:23] So if we think about the rock water
[2:57:24] reclamation plant it was originally
[2:57:26] constructed from n in 1957. It's been
[2:57:29] expanded over the years. Uh first in
[2:57:32] 1962, then in 1978, again in '92, and
[2:57:36] lastly in
[2:57:37] 2005. So it was last expanded uh or
[2:57:40] improved in 2005, but the bones date to
[2:57:44] 1957, something like 65 years ago.
[2:57:49] And those bones are showing signs of age
[2:57:53] and
[2:57:54] degradation,
[2:57:56] corrosion, and the need for upgrades and
[2:57:59] replacements.
[2:58:04] So, not only do we have uh requirements
[2:58:07] there in improving the reclamation plant
[2:58:10] facilities, uh we also have flood
[2:58:12] concerns, periodic flooding events near
[2:58:16] or at the water reclamation plant that
[2:58:18] need to be addressed. And uh some of the
[2:58:20] capital projects in relation to those
[2:58:22] plant upgrades address these flood
[2:58:24] requirements.
[2:58:32] So when we turn to proposed rates, we're
[2:58:34] going to look at uh a combined bill. So
[2:58:36] the rates are not shown. The rates are
[2:58:38] in the rate study report. They're also
[2:58:40] in the ordinance and the resolution that
[2:58:42] accompanies the public hearing
[2:58:45] tonight. When we think about a typical
[2:58:47] customer, we're talking about a single
[2:58:48] family residential uh user, a 3/4 inch
[2:58:51] water connection using approximately 12
[2:58:54] units billing units of water per month.
[2:58:56] The bill currently is $136. Under the
[2:58:59] proposed rates tonight, that bill would
[2:59:01] increase to $163, roughly $27 increase
[2:59:05] uh on a monthly
[2:59:07] basis. That would put us uh in the
[2:59:09] middle of the road among peers in
[2:59:11] Ventura County. What's called out at the
[2:59:13] bottom here highlighted uh are agencies,
[2:59:15] neighboring agencies that are in the
[2:59:18] process of conducting their own water
[2:59:20] wastewater or both water and wastewater
[2:59:23] rate studies. that includes city of
[2:59:25] Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Seami
[2:59:29] Valley, and Los Virgin's water district.
[2:59:35] Thanks, Kevin. Uh, I wanted to take a
[2:59:37] quick minute to talk about some of the
[2:59:39] public outreach that the city staff and
[2:59:42] also our consultant have engaged in uh
[2:59:44] over the last few months. So, we've had
[2:59:47] a multi-touchpoint engagement plan uh
[2:59:50] where we had in-person engagement. Uh we
[2:59:53] talked earlier about the twoformational
[2:59:54] open houses and I'll touch on that in
[2:59:56] just a minute. We've also had five
[2:59:58] utility committee meetings. We've had
[3:00:00] four um city council meetings or a
[3:00:03] hearing. We had the three city council
[3:00:04] meetings and then today's hearing. We
[3:00:07] also had some print media. So we sent
[3:00:09] out save the date postcards alerting
[3:00:11] everybody to ourformational open houses
[3:00:13] and also letting them know that the Prop
[3:00:15] 218 notices were coming. Those were sent
[3:00:16] out to all parcels. Uh we also sent out
[3:00:19] the Prop 218 notices in both English and
[3:00:21] Spanish. Uh we sent out utility bill
[3:00:24] messages. We had news releases and an
[3:00:26] op-ed. We also engaged in some
[3:00:28] electronic media. We built a dedicated
[3:00:31] web page that had uh frequently asked
[3:00:33] questions. We built a couple of
[3:00:35] explainer videos in both English and
[3:00:37] Spanish. We had the city scene
[3:00:39] newsletter and the city e-news and a
[3:00:41] couple posts on social media.
[3:00:44] I want to talk really quickly about
[3:00:46] theformational open houses. Uh we had
[3:00:48] two of those. Uh one at the Camaro
[3:00:50] Library and one here in council
[3:00:52] chambers. Uh that was April 8th and
[3:00:54] April 26th. Uh they were well attended.
[3:00:57] It was an open discussion. There was a
[3:00:58] lot of Q&A. Um and a lot of folks came
[3:01:01] out to to
[3:01:03] chat. And now I want to switch gears and
[3:01:06] talk about uh Proposition 218 and also
[3:01:09] AB2257.
[3:01:11] So AB2257 uh is relatively new. It
[3:01:14] became effective uh January 1st of 2025.
[3:01:18] It added a couple sections to the
[3:01:20] government code. Um but most
[3:01:22] importantly, it allows property owners
[3:01:24] to submit written substantive objections
[3:01:27] to the proposed water or sewer rates and
[3:01:30] it requires local agencies to provide uh
[3:01:33] written responses to all of those timely
[3:01:35] objections. Uh all objections and the
[3:01:37] city's responses have been made part of
[3:01:39] the record and they're attached to this
[3:01:41] agenda
[3:01:42] item. And the tally for that uh the
[3:01:45] deadline was Monday uh May 12th at 5:00
[3:01:48] p.m. And the city had received two
[3:01:50] written objections for sewer, one
[3:01:52] written objection for water, and no
[3:01:55] written objections for
[3:01:58] airport. And now I'll
[3:02:01] And now I'll switch gears and talk about
[3:02:03] the Proposition 218 tally. So, this is
[3:02:05] where we're talking about protests. So,
[3:02:08] folks who have written in to express
[3:02:10] concern or to protest the response or
[3:02:14] protest the rates. Um, this was as of
[3:02:16] 3:30 today, May 14. Um, we will continue
[3:02:20] to update this throughout the public
[3:02:22] hearing as um to to give you the most
[3:02:25] up-to-date number. Um but as of 3:30 we
[3:02:27] had received 211 validated protests for
[3:02:31] water, 186
[3:02:34] sorry 211 validated protests for sewer,
[3:02:38] 186 protests for water and zero for the
[3:02:41] airport. But we also want to talk pretty
[3:02:44] quickly about some other submitts that
[3:02:46] were not validated. Uh so we also
[3:02:49] received 71 invalid responses for water,
[3:02:53] oh my gosh, for sewer and 70 for water.
[3:02:56] Uh and there are a couple of reasons why
[3:02:59] uh some a submitt might have not been
[3:03:01] considered a valid protest. Um those
[3:03:03] reasons include the address is not in
[3:03:05] the service area. So somebody may have
[3:03:07] written in and they actually live in the
[3:03:09] Pleasant Valley District or they live uh
[3:03:12] in Cam Rosa, but either way, they are
[3:03:14] not actually serviced by our water or
[3:03:16] sewer. uh or they did not provide an
[3:03:19] address or they submitted duplicate uh
[3:03:23] submitts for the same uh parcel. So if
[3:03:25] two folks living in the same home, if
[3:03:28] one person submitted a protest, we
[3:03:29] counted the first but not the second. Uh
[3:03:32] we did want to just include it here for
[3:03:34] transparency because we recognize that
[3:03:36] this is a um this is a big increase
[3:03:38] we're talking about a lot and we wanted
[3:03:39] to make sure that council understands
[3:03:41] all of the feedback that we've received
[3:03:43] from the community.
[3:03:46] So here's a list of our total parcels.
[3:03:48] Um on the sewer side we have 15,02
[3:03:51] parcels. On the water side we have
[3:03:54] 13,669 and we have 105 in airport. So
[3:03:59] the protest percent down at the bottom
[3:04:01] indicates the validated protests over
[3:04:04] the number of parcels. Um it would that
[3:04:07] number would have to be over 50% in
[3:04:09] order for a majority protest to exist in
[3:04:11] which the protested the proposed rates
[3:04:14] would not be able to be approved based
[3:04:16] on the limits of Prop
[3:04:19] 218. And with that, I'm going to send it
[3:04:22] over to the mayor to open the public
[3:04:23] hearing.
[3:04:25] Okay. Thank you for uh that report. Um
[3:04:30] little housekeeping before we uh go any
[3:04:32] further here. uh in order to facilitate
[3:04:35] uh this discussion uh this joint he
[3:04:38] hearing of the city council board um it
[3:04:42] may be advantageous uh for uh the
[3:04:44] council to uh acknowledge uh the mayor
[3:04:49] to serve as both uh chair for the
[3:04:51] council and the board. So if that uh is
[3:04:55] agreeable I will need a motion to agree
[3:04:57] to that and a second. Second. There is a
[3:05:01] motion and a second. Any further
[3:05:02] discussion? No. Roll call vote, please.
[3:05:06] Council member Martinez Bravo, yes.
[3:05:08] Council member Santangelo, yes. Council
[3:05:10] member Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor
[3:05:12] Tennyson, yes. Mayor Ky, yes. And and if
[3:05:15] I could just state for the record that
[3:05:17] was actually the the sanitary district
[3:05:19] that was acquiescing.
[3:05:22] Correct. Uh, okay. So, with that, are
[3:05:24] there any questions of staff at this
[3:05:26] particular point? Any questions before
[3:05:28] we get to the opening the public
[3:05:30] hearing? Do you have any hearing? None.
[3:05:33] Uh hearing none. So, we're going to open
[3:05:36] the public hearing. It's a for the city
[3:05:38] council. I'm going to open the public
[3:05:40] hearing for the proposed citywide water
[3:05:43] rates and airport water
[3:05:45] rates. I'm going to open that and I'm
[3:05:48] going to open up the sanitary district
[3:05:51] uh public hearing for the proposed sewer
[3:05:53] rates. So, both of those are officially
[3:05:56] opened. I do have a comment if we uh can
[3:06:00] start uh at this point some housekeeping
[3:06:02] and some procedural. Uh we now we will
[3:06:05] now receive comments from interested
[3:06:08] persons on the proposed water rates, the
[3:06:11] airport water rates or the sewer rates.
[3:06:15] Please note a verbal comment is not an
[3:06:18] official protest. If you have a written
[3:06:21] po protest to submit, please hand it to
[3:06:25] the city clerk staff at the desk off to
[3:06:28] my left. Each speaker will have three
[3:06:31] minutes to speak as noted on the screens
[3:06:35] above. Then we'll move to the next
[3:06:39] person. Now, I'm going to hold everybody
[3:06:41] to three minutes. Uh I want to be fair
[3:06:44] to everybody. Uh there are times here
[3:06:46] when you agree with what's being said,
[3:06:48] they kind of raise their hands and they
[3:06:50] can do this or you can remain silent,
[3:06:53] whatever you uh are comfortable doing.
[3:06:56] But uh I'd appreciate it if you keep
[3:06:57] your comments to 3 minutes. And uh to uh
[3:07:02] ensure a respective and an inclusive
[3:07:04] environment and we're going to ask uh
[3:07:07] the residents please if you would
[3:07:09] refrain from any verbal or clapping. I
[3:07:13] want to be fair to both sides uh of this
[3:07:16] uh issue. So with that, madame clerk, uh
[3:07:19] are there any uh requests to speak on
[3:07:21] this particular matter? Yes, I currently
[3:07:24] have seven people who have signed up to
[3:07:26] speak. I'm going to call the first
[3:07:28] person and I'm going to name who will be
[3:07:29] the next person. So we ask that you be
[3:07:31] ready to come up. So the first person to
[3:07:33] speak is Denise. I'm gonna try to
[3:07:35] pronounce this
[3:07:37] herbar. Okay. And then after you will be
[3:07:40] Al Siden
[3:07:43] Citizens. So come on up.
[3:07:48] Sorry for the outburst earlier. Thank
[3:07:50] you. Um but I'm
[3:07:53] along with microphone close that'd be
[3:07:55] great. Sorry. If you can move that
[3:07:56] microphone close that'd be great. Thank
[3:07:58] you. Um my name is Denise Reebar. I am a
[3:08:02] retired school teacher. Um, I'm
[3:08:05] medically retired on a limited income.
[3:08:08] My income is raised by Calsters at the
[3:08:12] amount of $80 per year. Um, it was said
[3:08:16] earlier today that it's older Americans
[3:08:19] month. You had all of these people here
[3:08:21] from the mobile home parks who are very
[3:08:26] concerned about their
[3:08:27] rent. What's going to happen when the
[3:08:30] sewer
[3:08:31] hits? What's going to happen then? and
[3:08:33] they were going to have to pay that. My
[3:08:35] sewer
[3:08:37] bill was, I believe, $52 a month and
[3:08:41] then now it's up to 74 and then it's
[3:08:44] going be going to be going up to
[3:08:47] 135, you know, and according to your
[3:08:50] information, it's
[3:08:52] 81%. I don't know anybody who gets an
[3:08:54] 81% raise over three years. I I most
[3:08:58] definitely don't. And you can look at
[3:09:00] the people here and the people that were
[3:09:02] here
[3:09:05] before. We're just normal people, you
[3:09:08] know, and it it's really unfair. It's
[3:09:11] really unfair to the average person. For
[3:09:14] somebody who's making $500,000 a month
[3:09:17] or a year, I'm sorry. It's nothing to
[3:09:20] them, but when my raise is $80 a year,
[3:09:24] it's something to me. Um, and if this
[3:09:28] plant really needs to be
[3:09:30] built, why are you doing this in
[3:09:33] perpetuity? Why not put out an
[3:09:36] assessment? You know, if the plant's
[3:09:38] going to cost X number of dollars, put
[3:09:40] out an assessment for however long it's
[3:09:42] going to take to pay it off. Why don't
[3:09:45] you do that instead of penalizing
[3:09:47] everybody from now till the end of
[3:09:51] forever? You know, I mean, I don't know
[3:09:54] what to say. And I mean, and you say
[3:09:55] this plan
[3:09:57] has been here since 1957 and Prop 218
[3:10:02] came into effect in 1996 or it was voted
[3:10:04] on in
[3:10:06] 1996. What happened between 1957 and
[3:10:09] 1996? Why weren't any repairs
[3:10:13] done? I mean, that's that's my question.
[3:10:16] And it almost feels like if you look at
[3:10:19] Next Door, you look at Facebook, you're
[3:10:21] going to get a lot of objections. But
[3:10:23] people feel like this is a done
[3:10:25] deal and they've had this crammed down
[3:10:28] their throats and it's really not
[3:10:31] fair. And you know it's another thing
[3:10:33] you have to remember to is the people
[3:10:35] that aren't here what's going to happen
[3:10:38] when they get the bill they're going to
[3:10:40] vote.
[3:10:41] Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
[3:10:47] Okay. Al Sudin
[3:10:49] Sidens.
[3:10:51] Al not here. Okay, we'll move on to
[3:10:54] Claire. Claire
[3:10:56] Sidens. No. Okay. How about Ken
[3:11:00] Hansen? And after Ken Hansen will be
[3:11:02] Jeff
[3:11:09] Nettleton. Could move that up. Can that
[3:11:12] be helpful? Thank you.
[3:11:15] Thanks for hearing our input.
[3:11:18] Uh I'm surprised that we don't have
[3:11:21] pitchforce and
[3:11:23] stuff. Uh but people get busy and
[3:11:27] they're sometimes complacent and uh that
[3:11:31] may be happening here. I hope you don't
[3:11:34] interpret the numbers as being, oh well,
[3:11:36] we're we're fine with it. Uh this four
[3:11:41] years out, this is a pretty high
[3:11:42] percentage.
[3:11:45] Uh I believe it should be structured
[3:11:49] differently. Now I'll read what I
[3:11:52] composed. Uh I believe the generational
[3:11:55] capital investment should be financed by
[3:11:58] bonds repaid through property
[3:12:00] taxes which is a traditional way of
[3:12:03] accept and an accepted way to finance
[3:12:05] long-term capital
[3:12:07] investments. Using bonds via property
[3:12:10] taxes also avoids unnecessary inflation
[3:12:15] of the rate
[3:12:17] structure. Property tax assessments
[3:12:19] could be
[3:12:21] separated into fixed fees per house and
[3:12:24] also assessments based on the value of
[3:12:26] the house depending on what is seen as
[3:12:29] the fair way to allocate the cost.
[3:12:36] Capital investments should be financed
[3:12:38] by bonds without the return on
[3:12:42] investment margin that's normally
[3:12:44] provided for
[3:12:46] utilities. Only operational costs should
[3:12:49] be burdened by the ROI margin in the
[3:12:53] water and sewer rates.
[3:12:56] Only costs of project supervision by
[3:12:59] utility
[3:13:01] personnel would are reasonable to be
[3:13:04] burdened in the ROI margin, not the
[3:13:08] amounts paid to contractors to actually
[3:13:12] build the the
[3:13:15] project. That concludes my input. Thanks
[3:13:18] for listening. Thank you for your
[3:13:20] comments.
[3:13:23] Okay, now it's Ken. I'm sorry, Jeff
[3:13:25] Nettleton. And after Jeff Nettleton will
[3:13:27] be Patricia Griffin.
[3:13:31] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. How
[3:13:32] are you today? Good. I'm here because
[3:13:36] I've lived in Camrio since
[3:13:38] 1994 and the water rates and the sewer
[3:13:40] rates have gone up exponentially since
[3:13:43] that time. And I understand that the
[3:13:46] city is growing and but we shouldn't be
[3:13:48] penalized because of conservation of
[3:13:51] water. Now, I know that the city has a
[3:13:55] big plan coming up to have Costco coming
[3:13:57] in. At least that's what the the plan is
[3:14:00] overall. That sales tax that's going to
[3:14:02] be generated from Costco's sale and gas
[3:14:07] is going to be more than that the city
[3:14:09] needs. And they could subsidize that to
[3:14:12] pay for these projects such as the
[3:14:15] reclamation plant, the sewer plant, and
[3:14:18] for the water rates and for all the the
[3:14:20] wells that need to be dug.
[3:14:23] Why are we putting it on the back of
[3:14:25] people that can't afford it
[3:14:28] or or can't or in this case they they
[3:14:33] didn't look forward to those kind of
[3:14:34] rates over the three and four years that
[3:14:36] are projected out which are substantial.
[3:14:42] Now, it was brought up that the protests
[3:14:44] or turnin, but council members did
[3:14:47] attend these, you know, question open
[3:14:50] question and answer open houses. And at
[3:14:53] those open houses, how many people came
[3:14:55] up and said, "Yes, I'm in favor of all
[3:14:57] these hikes." I'll bet you didn't get
[3:15:00] one. Not one.
[3:15:05] And with all that in
[3:15:08] mind, wouldn't it be a great idea to
[3:15:12] utilize the sales tax monies that you
[3:15:15] get from even the outlet mall or some of
[3:15:18] these new businesses are coming in
[3:15:21] instead of raising the
[3:15:22] hikes of water and sewer for the
[3:15:25] constituents in the
[3:15:27] city. Just an idea. Thank you for your
[3:15:30] time. Thank you.
[3:15:34] Okay, now it's Patricia Griffin and
[3:15:36] after Patricia will be Matt Flood and
[3:15:39] that's all that's signed up at this
[3:15:46] time. I have to bend it way
[3:15:49] down. Thank you for having me. First,
[3:15:51] let me say simply because you didn't get
[3:15:53] a lot of protests and there's not a lot
[3:15:55] of people here, don't take that as a
[3:15:57] positive and that everybody's excited
[3:15:59] about this. take that as simply a
[3:16:01] resignation on most people's part that
[3:16:04] they simply feel like they have no power
[3:16:06] to change things. So, let me say, I
[3:16:09] realize that when you planned this, you
[3:16:11] had no idea that come time to ask for
[3:16:14] these rate increases that it was going
[3:16:16] to be an economic disaster and chaos in
[3:16:20] our country. I understand you did not
[3:16:22] know that, but it's a reality that
[3:16:24] that's what's here and what's facing
[3:16:26] people. You heard heartbreaking stories
[3:16:29] from the people from the mobile home
[3:16:31] parks. Imagine them land lease
[3:16:34] increasing and now water and sewer rates
[3:16:37] increasing. It's one thing on top of
[3:16:40] another for them. And what I notice is
[3:16:42] you talk a lot about this year and the
[3:16:44] increase. Yes, 24% is how much you're
[3:16:48] going to be going up for this first
[3:16:50] time, but you're not talking about the
[3:16:52] next increase in 2026, which is 18%. And
[3:16:57] then 27 it's 12% and in 28 it's 4% and
[3:17:03] that's for water. Add that all together
[3:17:06] in four years you're getting a
[3:17:09] 70% increase in your water rates. And
[3:17:13] likewise for sewer that is by my
[3:17:16] calculation an
[3:17:18] 81% increase in the sewer rates. So you
[3:17:22] give the typical bill which uh was at
[3:17:26] this time about
[3:17:28] $13625. In four years that typical bill
[3:17:32] goes to $2407.
[3:17:37] So, no one in this room, including all
[3:17:39] of you, none of us will be getting a 70
[3:17:42] or an 80% increase in our salaries,
[3:17:45] retirements, or whatever benefits you
[3:17:47] have. Everything is going up. So, I have
[3:17:52] a few thoughts and suggestions. I heard
[3:17:54] someone else talking about bonds. So
[3:17:58] rather than frontloading these increases
[3:18:01] this year with all that's going on
[3:18:04] economically, possibly consider
[3:18:07] restructuring the percentages over the
[3:18:10] next four years so that this year is not
[3:18:13] so
[3:18:14] impactful. Uh possibly also I did a well
[3:18:18] actually I did a Google search. I
[3:18:20] thought how else could this be paid for?
[3:18:22] And the gentleman that spoke of bonds,
[3:18:23] that was certainly one thing. And I know
[3:18:25] I talked to someone at an open house and
[3:18:28] their problem was with who gets the
[3:18:30] service and who doesn't. I think AI can
[3:18:32] fix that. I also saw online like state
[3:18:35] revolving funds, community development
[3:18:38] block grants, water infrastructure
[3:18:41] financing and innovation act. If there's
[3:18:43] a green portion to the project seems to
[3:18:46] be other sources, clean water state
[3:18:48] revolving loan fund. And I'm asking the
[3:18:51] council to table this today, take a look
[3:18:54] at restructuring the
[3:18:56] percentages, take a look at other
[3:18:58] sources of funding. Thank you so much.
[3:19:01] Thank you for your comments. Appreciate
[3:19:03] it.
[3:19:05] Anyone else? Okay, Matt Flood. And
[3:19:08] that's all I have.
[3:19:12] Uh, council, I appreciate your time to
[3:19:15] kind of speak on this issue. Uh, I'm a
[3:19:17] retired Navy veteran. Um, I ended up
[3:19:21] here on accident in 2006 because I was
[3:19:23] fortunate to marry a woman uh in Hawaii
[3:19:26] while stationed there um and asked where
[3:19:28] Point Magu was on the list of orders to
[3:19:30] choose from and she jumped off her couch
[3:19:32] and said, "Choose them or this will be
[3:19:33] the shortest marriage you exist in." Uh,
[3:19:35] it turns out she attended at Moore Park
[3:19:37] and also at Calp Poly Slow and loves the
[3:19:40] area. Uh, and now we have raised three
[3:19:42] boys here and as I've retired from the
[3:19:44] Navy, there was no way we were leaving
[3:19:46] here. Um, but that concerns me that we
[3:19:49] have minimal protests and I will tell
[3:19:51] you that I'm a polygrad. Um, I'm I feel
[3:19:54] I'm engaged with the community and I got
[3:19:56] word of this on just a sample flyer that
[3:19:59] ended up not getting tossed in the junk
[3:20:01] mail um on accident. Um, so if I'm
[3:20:06] engaged and I'm just barely getting a
[3:20:08] glance of it, I do appreciate the graph
[3:20:10] that showed all the attempts to reach
[3:20:12] out. I'm not saying that the attempts
[3:20:14] haven't been made. I'm not even saying
[3:20:15] I'm against a rate increase. Um I know
[3:20:17] that might shock some folks. Um you
[3:20:20] know, but marginal. These are insane
[3:20:23] increases. We're talking about plans
[3:20:24] that are 10 years down the road and
[3:20:25] we're going to do the increases within
[3:20:27] four years. Why that can't be stretched
[3:20:29] out further? Um I didn't see any um
[3:20:32] literature to address that. Um bonds
[3:20:36] were mentioned, of course. Um oh, sorry.
[3:20:38] I did make to me a point that the first
[3:20:40] speaker said that she's a normal person.
[3:20:42] I will say that as an educator, I beg to
[3:20:44] differ. Uh, she is more than that. Thank
[3:20:46] you. Um, sorry. Um, but I I wish the
[3:20:51] other folks here earlier had stayed
[3:20:53] because we gave out awards and
[3:20:56] certificates to recognize the aging in
[3:20:58] this community and my mother lives with
[3:21:00] me and she's on a fixed income. Um, but
[3:21:04] luckily she lives with me and we work
[3:21:06] and we are employed and we are able to
[3:21:08] maybe take this on possibly. Um, but
[3:21:11] those people in those communities are
[3:21:13] fixed. Um, and I assure you that their
[3:21:16] checks are not going to go up 81% over
[3:21:18] the next four years. Um, as rent
[3:21:22] increases, as everything increases. Um,
[3:21:25] I just think this plan is so
[3:21:26] shortsighted. I saw some of the
[3:21:28] pictures. I'm in aviation maintenance.
[3:21:30] We work on P3 aircrafts from the 1970s
[3:21:33] and I have not seen corrosion on those
[3:21:36] airframes that I see in those pictures
[3:21:38] right there. So, I would beg to differ
[3:21:39] and ask who's doing your maintenance.
[3:21:41] Um, that could be another question that
[3:21:43] needs to be addressed cuz that was
[3:21:45] pathetic. Um, and that people are
[3:21:48] drinking um from those systems. So, I
[3:21:50] agree that upgrades and these equipments
[3:21:53] are needed. Um, but it feels like
[3:21:56] something else was done and now it's
[3:21:58] being put on the back of the people who
[3:21:59] are here now to fix it, which again,
[3:22:02] there isn't a solution. I just don't
[3:22:03] know of a 4-year 81% uh over the top of
[3:22:07] things increase is the ultimate answer.
[3:22:09] I thank you for your my
[3:22:11] view. And if you keep your comments to
[3:22:13] three minutes again, I appreciate it.
[3:22:15] Thank you. Yeah, I'll be short. My name
[3:22:17] is Doug Boyce, uh 10ear resident of the
[3:22:20] city. Uh 25 year water sewer contractor,
[3:22:24] um registered civil engineer.
[3:22:28] uh this is uh not acceptable to have uh
[3:22:33] rate increases roughly 10 times the uh
[3:22:37] rate higher than the rate of inflation.
[3:22:40] Um you have to figure out a different
[3:22:42] way to do this to structure it like Ken
[3:22:44] Hansen said consider bonds or some other
[3:22:47] method of doing this. uh people on on
[3:22:50] fixed income, really anybody in the
[3:22:53] city. This is this is incredibly uh high
[3:22:56] rates and I would ask you to seriously
[3:22:59] reconsider your methods of u structuring
[3:23:03] the payments for this. Thank you. Thank
[3:23:05] you. You know what else? Yeah. Again,
[3:23:08] three minutes if you would appreciate
[3:23:09] it. Thank you. Sure thing. My name is
[3:23:11] Thomas Matsumura and uh about 20 years
[3:23:14] ago, I moved to Camaro and I've grown to
[3:23:17] love this place. This is unbelievable. A
[3:23:20] beautiful city, a safe place to live,
[3:23:22] lots of community activities and events.
[3:23:25] And I know it's probably because of what
[3:23:28] you guys have done. So, first I just
[3:23:29] want to say thank you for what you guys
[3:23:31] are doing. I really appreciate living in
[3:23:33] this wonderful place. Um um but one
[3:23:37] thing I do not like is the cost of
[3:23:39] living in in this area. California, you
[3:23:43] know,
[3:23:44] Camaro is is so great, but there's
[3:23:46] costs, you know, and as you've heard
[3:23:48] tonight and as you well know that there
[3:23:51] are a lot of people in Camaro that are
[3:23:54] struggling to pay their bills. And I
[3:23:58] just wanted to add my voice to uh what
[3:24:01] these other folks have said tonight. I
[3:24:03] would I would like to say
[3:24:05] ditto. This is good stuff that you guys
[3:24:08] were sharing. Um, all I want to say is
[3:24:11] that um it's hard to pay our bills and
[3:24:15] um these in this proposed increases seem
[3:24:19] really in the ridiculous range. And um I
[3:24:24] just want to ask you, would you consider
[3:24:26] what these guys were saying? consider,
[3:24:28] you know, bonds or sales tax or or
[3:24:31] whatever creative uh means or spreading
[3:24:34] out the payments over time um to make it
[3:24:37] easier for the residents here like me
[3:24:39] who are just just trying to make make a
[3:24:43] way through through through each month,
[3:24:46] you know. So, I just want to say thank
[3:24:48] you for the good work you do and please
[3:24:50] consider what these guys were saying.
[3:24:52] Thank you. Thank you for your
[3:24:54] comments. Anyone else? Uh yes.
[3:24:57] Please proceed. Be state your name.
[3:25:00] Appreciate it. And three minutes if you
[3:25:02] would, please. Thank you. Yes, your
[3:25:04] honor. Um, I'm Phyllis Anderson. I've
[3:25:07] lived in Camaria since
[3:25:09] 1962. Um, I live in Oldtown. I'm on a a
[3:25:15] fixed income. And I too feel like
[3:25:20] um this is kind of out of the blue and I
[3:25:23] you've done a beautiful job of keeping
[3:25:25] us informed of sending out the hearings,
[3:25:28] but it seems like yeah, it's a done
[3:25:31] deal. And if you just please reook at
[3:25:36] the taxing structure. I know that the
[3:25:40] sewers is bad. I know all of that, but
[3:25:44] there just seems to have to be we have
[3:25:46] to think of a different way of of paying
[3:25:50] for this besides on our backs. Thank
[3:25:53] you. Thank you.
[3:25:57] Yep. Please proceed.
[3:26:01] If you would state your name, I'd
[3:26:03] appreciate in three minutes if you would
[3:26:04] be appreciative. Thank you. Thank you,
[3:26:06] Randy Gilbert. And thank you, council
[3:26:08] members. Um, first of all, I think uh I
[3:26:11] appreciate the little time and effort
[3:26:12] that you guys put into this project and
[3:26:14] the mailers. I'm only here because of
[3:26:15] that mailer. Um, but I will say that
[3:26:18] mailer was extremely misleading. Um, and
[3:26:21] it was misleading here too in your uh
[3:26:23] presentation as you only gave the raise
[3:26:26] for this year. You guys are failing to
[3:26:28] give uh or make upfront what most of
[3:26:31] these people are saying is how large
[3:26:33] that raise is over the four years. Uh it
[3:26:36] and it is I don't know if it's
[3:26:37] coincidental that we're doing this on a
[3:26:39] day that we're also uh acknowledging
[3:26:41] most of our seniors. So we're
[3:26:43] acknowledging seniors and telling that
[3:26:44] we care about them, but we're allowing
[3:26:46] this company to tell us that we want to
[3:26:48] raise rates over four years up to 81%.
[3:26:51] Um that that's pretty uh misleading in
[3:26:54] my opinion. Um this is the only company
[3:26:57] that I know that if you use too much of
[3:27:00] their product, they charge you to they
[3:27:02] charge you a fee. If you don't use
[3:27:03] enough of their product, they charge you
[3:27:05] a fee. It's not our job to figure out
[3:27:09] more cost-effective ways for you guys to
[3:27:12] find out how to store water. That's your
[3:27:16] job. If this was a private company, if
[3:27:18] we could get a request for proposal for
[3:27:20] a new water company to come in, I bet
[3:27:23] you they would find better ways to store
[3:27:26] water at a cheaper rate.
[3:27:28] It's not our job as the consumer to tell
[3:27:31] you a cost-effective way to to store
[3:27:33] water. The way that we tell you that
[3:27:35] you're not doing a good job is we go to
[3:27:37] a new company. We don't have that option
[3:27:39] here. So, we leave that to the five uh
[3:27:42] council members to be our voice to say,
[3:27:44] "Hey, this is not going well. You've had
[3:27:47] a sewage facility that's been around
[3:27:48] since the ' 50s. It's not our problem
[3:27:51] that you didn't save enough money to fix
[3:27:53] that sewage facility. Now you want to
[3:27:56] put it on our backs for the next four
[3:27:57] years and that increase. Um I wish this
[3:28:00] was a question and answer. I'm sorry
[3:28:01] that I missed those question and answers
[3:28:03] because that would give you guys the
[3:28:04] opportunity to tell me what I don't know
[3:28:06] which I know there is a lot of it but
[3:28:08] it's not that. Um I will say I don't
[3:28:11] know how this gets voted on if uh the
[3:28:13] five of you council members are the
[3:28:15] people that inevitably decide if this
[3:28:17] happens or not. Um, but if it is that
[3:28:21] you guys decide if this happens, I do
[3:28:23] have a little bit of a rub and I think
[3:28:25] that I don't know which council members
[3:28:28] actually your constituents are affected
[3:28:30] by this raise. I don't know if all of
[3:28:32] your constituents are or just a couple
[3:28:34] of you, but for those of you like one of
[3:28:37] the previous speakers said that are
[3:28:39] affected by it, we have some recourse as
[3:28:41] your constituents and that we can vote
[3:28:44] you out. For those that aren't, your
[3:28:46] constituents aren't affected. um we
[3:28:48] don't have any recourse there. Uh we
[3:28:50] can't say, "Hey, you voted for this and
[3:28:52] now uh we would like to vote someone out
[3:28:55] because we don't have that option." Um
[3:28:57] and I think that there should be
[3:28:58] something looked at and potentially like
[3:29:00] your voice or your vote shouldn't count
[3:29:03] as much as the people that are actually
[3:29:04] affected by their constituents. Thank
[3:29:06] you.
[3:29:15] Keep it three minutes. Thank you.
[3:29:19] Hi, good evening. Uh, this is Cheryl
[3:29:21] Johnson. I never expected to come
[3:29:23] forward. Um, I had submitted a letter
[3:29:27] earlier today from my husband and I that
[3:29:29] we thought maybe all of us would um that
[3:29:32] you would get to read our letters, not
[3:29:34] just see how many voted for this because
[3:29:36] I put some personal information in there
[3:29:38] and if you didn't get a chance to read
[3:29:40] it, I really hope you do.
[3:29:43] Um, I'm blessed. Um, I've been in your
[3:29:47] steps. I've worked in government for
[3:29:49] many years. Um, without a on
[3:29:51] disability. And so, it's with gratitude
[3:29:53] that I'm here because I know the hard
[3:29:55] work you did. And,
[3:29:57] um, I appreciated in just several months
[3:30:01] receiving the information regarding um,
[3:30:04] the water, wastewater primarily is what
[3:30:06] we looked at. Um, and went to the first
[3:30:09] meeting you had. I was one of the ones
[3:30:11] that spoke there um said something
[3:30:13] similar to some other people here that
[3:30:14] said it where I brought up the
[3:30:16] PowerPoint and saying what's going to
[3:30:18] happen not just this first year but you
[3:30:20] know do give us the expenditure part.
[3:30:23] Well, we went ahead and kind of
[3:30:24] calculated it and I think people have
[3:30:26] been very um candid here. Um I went
[3:30:29] around to our neighborhood um just
[3:30:32] within this past day to bring up
[3:30:34] tonight's meeting because we know this
[3:30:36] is critical of our city council to vote.
[3:30:39] Um, in the letter what we asked was that
[3:30:41] you please postpone the proposed
[3:30:44] increase until some more discussions,
[3:30:46] some more meetings because honestly when
[3:30:48] I went to that first meeting and on my
[3:30:50] disability I can do only so much. Um,
[3:30:53] when I went around to the neighborhood
[3:30:55] many of them said we didn't know about
[3:30:58] this
[3:30:59] tonight. Um, they didn't look at their
[3:31:03] mail. There's a lot out there and
[3:31:05] there's a lot of older people that are
[3:31:07] there. But they said there ought to be
[3:31:10] some more to discuss. And that's why I
[3:31:12] said the meetings that you had last
[3:31:14] month were excellent. It's like why
[3:31:16] couldn't they have been extended
[3:31:18] instead? It's this whole format here is
[3:31:21] it's going right into everything. So we
[3:31:23] see that lower percentage amount of how
[3:31:25] many of us voted. We want solutions. Um
[3:31:29] I was with gratitude that I um heard
[3:31:31] some people offer options last month and
[3:31:34] I really think um that as much as Yes.
[3:31:39] And there were some really good
[3:31:41] explanation of like the wastewater
[3:31:43] issues that are going on um and what
[3:31:45] needs to be done. Can there please be
[3:31:47] more discussions and have more meetings
[3:31:49] and more brainstorming not just within
[3:31:52] your organization and the people who've
[3:31:54] been you know showing all the details
[3:31:56] but include public more and and um
[3:31:59] because that's what we're here for.
[3:32:01] we're all here in this together. And it
[3:32:03] it was gratitude, too, that some of your
[3:32:05] own members had even said at that first
[3:32:07] meeting, you know, I'm also impacted by
[3:32:10] what's going to happen if we go through,
[3:32:12] you know, and have these. And yet, what
[3:32:15] are the solutions? Is there anything
[3:32:17] else? And so, um, I just Sorry if I'm
[3:32:20] running out of time. I am, but I thank
[3:32:22] you for listening. Um, there's just real
[3:32:24] concerns. Thank you. Thank you for your
[3:32:26] comments. Anyone else? Yeah, please
[3:32:29] proceed up, please.
[3:32:34] That's okay. Sir, I think you already
[3:32:36] spoke, did you not? I did. Comment about
[3:32:40] Well, it may I'm going to ask Excuse me.
[3:32:44] There's some protocol. Apologies.
[3:32:49] Okay. Are there anyone else that would
[3:32:52] like to make comment? Yes.
[3:32:56] Okay.
[3:32:59] Again, if you could keep it to three
[3:33:01] minutes, I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
[3:33:03] Yeah. My name is Nancy Jelica and I live
[3:33:05] I've been here since 1994 and I concur
[3:33:08] with all these people. It is this is the
[3:33:12] first one I've been to because I saw
[3:33:14] that I went, you've got to be kidding
[3:33:16] me. Now, you look at the the homes that
[3:33:19] there's not a home under a million
[3:33:20] dollars in this with the property taxes
[3:33:23] and everything. It is always the same
[3:33:25] answer with that with the bureaucrats.
[3:33:28] That's why we have this what we're going
[3:33:30] through in this country. It is the only
[3:33:34] solution is give me more
[3:33:37] money. People they're they're at the end
[3:33:39] of their ropes, I tell you. Anyway, I
[3:33:41] appreciate you listening and thank you
[3:33:43] for everything. Thank you for your
[3:33:45] comments. Anyone else? Sir, would you
[3:33:48] like to come up please? Again, if you
[3:33:50] could state your name, I'd appreciate in
[3:33:52] three minutes if you would please. Sir,
[3:33:56] my name is my name is John Greenwood. I
[3:33:58] hate public speaking, but um I was
[3:34:01] watching those numbers up there on the
[3:34:02] board and the only thing those numbers
[3:34:03] show is that your information gathering
[3:34:06] process is just completely BS. Um back
[3:34:09] in 21 when um Kip Turner was trying to
[3:34:12] bring a um commercial airport into this
[3:34:14] town, myself and other people stood here
[3:34:16] and spoke to you and you agreed to take
[3:34:19] a survey and see how the public really
[3:34:21] felt. That survey was fairly minimal. I
[3:34:25] think the numbers I heard were like 40
[3:34:26] 50
[3:34:28] $60,000. Um, and it because of that
[3:34:31] survey, this community is far better off
[3:34:34] today. Now, those 1 point something%
[3:34:37] really does anybody believe that? Nobody
[3:34:40] can believe those numbers are
[3:34:42] useful. You can find out better. You can
[3:34:45] use a better process to really find out
[3:34:46] what the public thinks. Excuse me. Like
[3:34:49] I said, I hate public speaking. It's
[3:34:51] okay. But
[3:34:52] um it it's up to you, but you can do
[3:34:55] that. It's a minor expense compared to
[3:34:56] what it's going to take from people in
[3:34:58] this community, and I think it would be
[3:35:00] worth doing. Thank you. Thank you for
[3:35:02] your
[3:35:04] comments. Anyone else like to talk about
[3:35:06] the water rates, airport rates, or sewer
[3:35:09] rates? Do I see anybody else coming up
[3:35:11] here? Going once, going twice? Anyone
[3:35:16] else? Okay. So with that uh we'll start
[3:35:21] um with our council deliberation. Are
[3:35:23] there any questions that anybody has of
[3:35:26] staff at this particular point? Have any
[3:35:29] questions?
[3:35:31] Would you like to close the public
[3:35:34] hearing? I will you or I will later on.
[3:35:37] Yes. But that's an important question.
[3:35:42] So, any questions
[3:35:44] that Vice Mayor Tennyson and we will
[3:35:47] have another opportunity for questions
[3:35:49] and deliberations as well. Go ahead. I
[3:35:51] have several questions, but I'm going to
[3:35:53] limit it to three real quick. Three
[3:35:55] questions that will hopefully answer
[3:35:58] some of the uh suggestions brought up
[3:36:00] during the public comment
[3:36:02] section. Um, sales tax revenue, Mr.
[3:36:06] Yuri, is a general fund revenue. Do we
[3:36:09] spend general fund me money on
[3:36:11] enterprise funds or special districts?
[3:36:14] Uh no, that is correct. Sales tax money
[3:36:16] is a general revenue as well as property
[3:36:18] tax that goes primarily towards uh law
[3:36:21] enforcement services and other general
[3:36:22] city services that benefit the entire
[3:36:25] community.
[3:36:27] Number two, um it was brought up that we
[3:36:30] have a property tax assessment to pay
[3:36:33] for these capital projects. Is that
[3:36:36] possible? And what would that entail?
[3:36:42] That would entail I believe it is
[3:36:45] possible that would entail a vote um a
[3:36:48] ballot measure. Uh I believe the
[3:36:50] Metropolitan Water has something similar
[3:36:52] in place. It is something that we
[3:36:55] explored but at this time would not uh
[3:36:58] look to use that as a method. There were
[3:37:00] also other methods that were explored.
[3:37:02] Bonding was uh examined and is built
[3:37:06] into this water rate study. bonds in u
[3:37:09] future years have been plugged in, but
[3:37:11] the rate
[3:37:13] revenues proposed tonight are deemed
[3:37:18] sufficient enough to repay those bonds
[3:37:20] in future years. And would a property
[3:37:23] tax assess assessment take more than a
[3:37:25] 50% plus one vote?
[3:37:29] Yes. Or do it would what percentage of a
[3:37:31] vote would we have to have to pass a
[3:37:34] property tax? I I believe that's a
[3:37:35] twothirds vote.
[3:37:39] for special tax it would be 2/3.
[3:37:42] And the final question
[3:37:44] is people have brought up bonding but
[3:37:46] bonding agencies have a requirement on
[3:37:49] revenue coming into a agency in order to
[3:37:52] qualify for the bonding and what is that
[3:37:55] requirement percentage-wise? That is
[3:37:57] correct. The bonding requirements
[3:37:59] typical bonding requirements are 120 to
[3:38:02] 125% coverage. Meaning that the revenues
[3:38:05] generated by the
[3:38:07] system must exceed the expenditures
[3:38:11] by 125%.
[3:38:13] So revenue coming
[3:38:15] in the revenue coming in has to be 25%
[3:38:20] more than the cost to the system.
[3:38:23] Correct. Not 125%. I'm sorry. Yes.
[3:38:26] Correct. 25% more. And um that
[3:38:29] stipulation also applies to other
[3:38:31] funding sources such as what was
[3:38:32] mentioned the the state revolving fund
[3:38:35] loans
[3:38:36] and WIFIA and WIFIA is another loan
[3:38:39] program that does have sometimes more
[3:38:43] stringent requirements on the
[3:38:45] revenue generation um component.
[3:38:50] That's all my questions for right now.
[3:38:52] Okay. Anybody else have any other
[3:38:54] questions at this particular point?
[3:38:56] Martito. Uh, thank you. So, there were
[3:39:00] several comments that were made and I'll
[3:39:02] ask some questions for a clarification
[3:39:05] because it sounds like what I've heard
[3:39:06] has been different, but the sanitary
[3:39:09] plant was built in 1957 before the city
[3:39:14] was even a city. Um, we became uh
[3:39:18] established in 1964. Um the comment that
[3:39:22] was made was that there have never been
[3:39:24] any repairs done to the plant and my
[3:39:27] understanding is throughout the years
[3:39:29] there have been several repairs. Can uh
[3:39:32] staff speak to that?
[3:39:39] Yes. Uh I can speak to that. Um Kevin,
[3:39:42] if you can bring up that slide showing
[3:39:44] the phased uh improvements over time.
[3:39:51] It might have been one of the earlier
[3:39:52] slides. It's just a good
[3:39:54] visual. So, uh, as I was mentioned
[3:39:56] earlier, the, um, original construction
[3:39:58] was
[3:40:00] 1957. As the regulations change over
[3:40:03] time for water quality and also the a
[3:40:06] demand in the amount of uh, sewage going
[3:40:08] to the plant, there's a need for
[3:40:10] different uh, infrastructure upgrades.
[3:40:13] Um, as part of that things things are
[3:40:15] maintained. Um and you can see the
[3:40:18] series of different upgrades over time.
[3:40:20] Uh the main issue here is um the various
[3:40:23] concrete structures have a defined life
[3:40:27] and a lot of them suffer from a specific
[3:40:29] condition that makes them difficult to
[3:40:32] rehabilitate. Um and so
[3:40:35] um the system is being maintained. Um
[3:40:39] there is corrosion. It is a wastewater
[3:40:41] treatment plant. It's something that's
[3:40:42] constantly battled. um it's just getting
[3:40:44] to a point where these major systems um
[3:40:47] need an overhaul for uh remaining useful
[3:40:50] life situations or or conditions and
[3:40:53] also regulatory conditions.
[3:40:58] Thank you. Uh there was also a comment
[3:41:01] that rates have been significantly
[3:41:04] increased over the uh over several
[3:41:07] years. My understanding is there has
[3:41:10] been pretty minimal increases and I
[3:41:12] wanted to ask staff to speak to that as
[3:41:16] well. Uh to give a little bit of
[3:41:18] perspective, the last time there was a
[3:41:20] rate process such as this, it was for a
[3:41:23] two-year cycle. And that was for 2023
[3:41:26] and 2024. And the rate increases at that
[3:41:29] time were 9% on the water side each year
[3:41:32] and 12% on the sewer side each year. The
[3:41:35] five years prior to that, the average
[3:41:38] rate increases per year for water were
[3:41:40] about 1.2% and on the sewer side 1.8%.
[3:41:46] Okay. Thank you. And I know while this
[3:41:49] may seem to the community that we're
[3:41:53] just having this discussion now, um my
[3:41:56] understanding is through our committee,
[3:42:00] our committee has met multiple times. Do
[3:42:02] we know how many times? Um I think right
[3:42:05] now it's council member uh Trembley and
[3:42:08] council member Santalo. You're on this
[3:42:10] committee that has attended to this. Uh
[3:42:12] no
[3:42:13] utilities. Okay. So but we have had a a
[3:42:17] utilities committee that has been
[3:42:18] attending to this. Do we know about how
[3:42:20] many meetings have been had? At least
[3:42:23] five. We've been this year almost two
[3:42:25] years. Okay. If I if I may add it was
[3:42:29] five meetings this year for this
[3:42:32] specific study. two years ago, we met, I
[3:42:35] believe, seven or eight times as part of
[3:42:36] that study. And as it relates to the
[3:42:39] water reclamation plan and kind of
[3:42:41] embedding that in past studies, um that
[3:42:43] would have been three studies ago as
[3:42:45] well, roughly in 2021 where we would
[3:42:47] have met another four or five times.
[3:42:49] Okay. Thank you. And then there was also
[3:42:52] and I think uh Vice Mayor Tennyson, you
[3:42:55] attended to this question, but it's
[3:42:57] regarding bonds. Um if our finance
[3:43:00] director can you talked about how this
[3:43:03] is already embedded and part of the
[3:43:05] plan. Can you speak to that a little bit
[3:43:09] more? Yes. Uh the bond component is part
[3:43:13] of the financing structure to pay for
[3:43:15] some of these large capital
[3:43:17] improvements. The bonding requirement I
[3:43:20] mentioned is a revenue coverage ratio.
[3:43:24] And in order to position the both the
[3:43:27] city and the sanitary district in such a
[3:43:29] way to be able to issue bonds, we have
[3:43:31] to correct the the revenue streams to
[3:43:33] cover the expenditures in order to meet
[3:43:35] those covenants that are going to be
[3:43:37] required by bonds before we can go out
[3:43:39] and try to sell bonds on the market.
[3:43:42] Okay. Thank you so much.
[3:43:47] I have no further questions. Any other
[3:43:49] questions at this particular time?
[3:43:54] Okay. So, there's some legal stuff that
[3:43:56] I've got to do here. And based on the
[3:43:59] written objections and responses
[3:44:01] proposed by staff, is there any need to
[3:44:03] make any clarifications or reductions to
[3:44:06] the proposed water rates? Anybody have
[3:44:10] any?
[3:44:12] No. Okay. So based on the written
[3:44:15] objections and the responses presented
[3:44:17] by staff, is there a need to make any
[3:44:19] clarifications or reduction on the
[3:44:21] proposed airport water
[3:44:24] rates? How
[3:44:26] many? Okay. So based on the written
[3:44:29] objections and the responses presented
[3:44:31] by staff, is there need to make any
[3:44:34] clarifications or reductions on the
[3:44:36] proposed sewer
[3:44:39] rates? No. Okay. So, I'm going to move
[3:44:43] on to the last call to the written
[3:44:46] protest. Is there anybody here that
[3:44:48] wants to submit a written protest? And
[3:44:51] if there is, you can present that to the
[3:44:53] city clerk at this particular time. And
[3:44:55] mayor, I think that the council's
[3:44:56] looking the What is your question, Tony?
[3:44:59] Uh, you're concerned. I'm just not
[3:45:01] understanding our I'm not understanding
[3:45:03] the procedure here. Are we dealing with
[3:45:04] water first and then sewer? Um, was it
[3:45:08] add serot? Are we dealing with item T
[3:45:10] and then item U? That's the my question
[3:45:12] to the chair. Well, we took all public
[3:45:14] comments together for both and we've
[3:45:16] combined the public hearings. So, now
[3:45:18] we're uh the question is based on
[3:45:21] information that you've received and in
[3:45:24] the staff reports, is there anything
[3:45:25] that you've heard that uh would change
[3:45:27] your recommendation as the as the board
[3:45:30] and as the council? And if not, uh then
[3:45:33] go down each of those rates. That's what
[3:45:36] the mayor's doing. Um and if not then
[3:45:39] there will be one more additional call
[3:45:40] for protests and then there can be uh
[3:45:43] additional discussion time. Thank you.
[3:45:46] Okay. So with that I'm going to make
[3:45:49] another announcement. Any protests that
[3:45:51] want to be submitted if there is please
[3:45:53] submit it to the city
[3:45:56] clerk.
[3:45:58] Okay. Okay. So with that uh the public
[3:46:01] hearing to consider the water rates, the
[3:46:04] airport rates and the sewer rates will
[3:46:06] now be closed. Uh no further written
[3:46:09] protests will be accepted and staff is
[3:46:12] now going to finalize the count of the
[3:46:14] protest and this is the time while staff
[3:46:17] is conducting a final count. Is there
[3:46:20] any further discussion or comments by
[3:46:22] city council? Would anybody like to
[3:46:24] start off with any more comments or
[3:46:27] questions at this point?
[3:46:31] This is your opportunity to deliberate
[3:46:33] or or make further comments. Yes,
[3:46:36] this is the time. Would anybody like to
[3:46:38] start us off? I'm looking for Oh, Mr.
[3:46:42] Trembling. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Thank you.
[3:46:44] So, I I want to focus my comments on the
[3:46:47] wastewater rates. Um I'm not ignoring
[3:46:51] the water rate side, but the the
[3:46:53] wastewater rates I know are the the
[3:46:56] higher ones. And I I want to hire
[3:46:58] proposed ones. I I want to thank you to
[3:47:01] everyone who spoke. I want to
[3:47:04] acknowledge the issues that you've
[3:47:07] raised, acknowledge the concerns that
[3:47:09] you've raised.
[3:47:11] I've received several emails from
[3:47:14] residents
[3:47:16] uh asserting that the fees are excessive
[3:47:20] and a number of you have spoken this
[3:47:23] evening uh quite eloquently uh as to
[3:47:26] that. Um, among other things,
[3:47:29] um, the some of the emails that I've
[3:47:33] received are very thoughtful and they
[3:47:35] suggest that we go back to the drawing
[3:47:38] board and and and work to find credible
[3:47:40] alternatives. So, I want to speak to
[3:47:42] that for for just a minute. Um, I
[3:47:46] acknowledge that the increases are
[3:47:48] steep. I acknowledge that they are
[3:47:50] painful. I don't like approving fee
[3:47:54] increases as a general
[3:47:57] rule. That said, there's a necessity
[3:48:01] here and it's also there is a
[3:48:04] responsibility to put the city in an
[3:48:08] appropriate fiscal position and
[3:48:10] appropriate environmental position from
[3:48:13] an infrastructure standpoint. Remember,
[3:48:15] I'm focusing on wastewater principally.
[3:48:17] You can extrapolate these comments also
[3:48:20] to to water, but I'm focusing on
[3:48:23] wastewater. Many of you may not realize,
[3:48:25] but the process began several years ago
[3:48:28] with a very
[3:48:29] detailed a very detailed wastewater
[3:48:33] master plan where there was a detailed
[3:48:37] condition detailed uh assessment of
[3:48:40] conditions uh at the plant uh and its
[3:48:44] components. And that plant, you recall,
[3:48:47] is nearly 70 years
[3:48:50] old. We have spent hours and hours and
[3:48:56] meeting after meeting specifically on
[3:48:58] the utilities committee. I'll speak only
[3:49:00] for myself. Mr. Ky has also been on that
[3:49:02] committee analyzing what needs to be
[3:49:05] done.
[3:49:07] Number one, I think our outreach, I
[3:49:09] think our staff's outreach and our
[3:49:11] consultants outreach to the public has
[3:49:13] been excellent
[3:49:16] here. You saw a slide detailing all of
[3:49:20] the different forms of outreach uh that
[3:49:22] we have had uh to the
[3:49:25] public. So, let me just dwell on two
[3:49:28] things. Number one, from a project
[3:49:32] standpoint, here's the bottom line.
[3:49:36] The wastewater treatment plant is a
[3:49:38] deteriorated asset and it's rapidly
[3:49:42] reaching the end of its useful life.
[3:49:46] In fact, one could argue that over the
[3:49:50] course of the last 10, perhaps 15
[3:49:53] years, the city has and city staff have
[3:49:58] squeezed for the benefit of residents,
[3:50:00] including those in this room and those
[3:50:02] who aren't here tonight, uh, for the
[3:50:04] benefit of it residents from both a
[3:50:06] rates and an operational standpoint, all
[3:50:08] of the plants useful
[3:50:10] life. Our city staff in my view has done
[3:50:16] a terrific job maintaining and operating
[3:50:19] this plant and I give them great kudos
[3:50:22] and I speak from personal experience
[3:50:24] having been an attorney representing
[3:50:25] sanitary districts for almost four
[3:50:27] decades and having been involved in many
[3:50:30] treatment plant construction
[3:50:32] construction of plants and financing of
[3:50:34] plants. I think our staff has done an
[3:50:36] excellent job and I can't thank them
[3:50:38] enough and I know some of them are here
[3:50:42] tonight. The only fair
[3:50:45] conclusion for this project relative to
[3:50:48] the wastewater treatment plant
[3:50:51] is there is no alternative.
[3:50:54] There is no alternative to either a
[3:50:57] replacing the plant in totto with a
[3:51:00] brand new plant or a complete
[3:51:04] rehabilitation of the existing plant.
[3:51:07] Those are the two
[3:51:08] alternatives. The do nothing alternative
[3:51:12] is not an alternative.
[3:51:15] I want you to know that we are
[3:51:16] evaluating very
[3:51:18] closely those two
[3:51:21] options and which option would be better
[3:51:25] and among those factors that we're
[3:51:27] looking at are the cost behind each
[3:51:30] approach and what operations would
[3:51:34] result. And
[3:51:36] so we also are in a situation with the
[3:51:39] existing wastewater treatment plant that
[3:51:42] we have a flood issue and we have to pay
[3:51:45] attention to that potential flooding
[3:51:48] issue. It's not something that's
[3:51:50] optional for us. It's something that we
[3:51:52] have to
[3:51:54] do either way. Either way, it's an
[3:51:58] extraordinarily expensive project. It's
[3:52:01] going to be the most expensive public
[3:52:03] works project in this city's
[3:52:07] history. So that's it from a project
[3:52:10] standpoint. From a rates standpoint,
[3:52:13] here's the bottom line. Financing this
[3:52:16] project is going to be a real challenge.
[3:52:20] And so what a public entity like this
[3:52:23] city faces or what a sanitary district
[3:52:26] faces when you have a project of this
[3:52:28] scope and of this magnitude is you have
[3:52:31] to draw from several buckets in order to
[3:52:35] or sources of funds and that includes
[3:52:38] rates, it includes loans, it includes
[3:52:41] bonds, it includes
[3:52:43] grants in order to bring this project to
[3:52:45] fruition. And the timing of this project
[3:52:47] is by the end of this decade. There were
[3:52:50] some really good points made about bonds
[3:52:53] and
[3:52:54] assessments and I understand those but
[3:52:57] there also as a component of this has to
[3:53:01] be a rates component as an underlying
[3:53:04] component. Why? Because when the city
[3:53:08] ultimately I suspect what's going to
[3:53:09] happen is is the city is going to borrow
[3:53:12] a very large amount of this projected
[3:53:16] capital cost which I think was what uh
[3:53:18] what about $135 million in 2022
[3:53:22] $135 million just for the
[3:53:25] plant. The city's going to have to
[3:53:26] borrow a lot of those funds. So how do
[3:53:29] you borrow? Well a bond is borrowing. an
[3:53:32] assessment is borrowing and whenever and
[3:53:35] whiff and the wiffia funds on the
[3:53:36] federal level borrowing. So whenever an
[3:53:38] underwriter
[3:53:40] looks at how the borrowing how the
[3:53:44] borrower is going to repay the funds
[3:53:47] they do it just like anybody else just
[3:53:50] like any other situation dealing with an
[3:53:52] auto loan or a home loan or elsewhere.
[3:53:54] What are the revenues that are going to
[3:53:56] be in place to support it?
[3:53:59] Well, the revenues that we're talking
[3:54:01] about tonight just in this setting are
[3:54:04] the rates which I acknowledge are high.
[3:54:08] It doesn't I I don't like raising them,
[3:54:11] but I ask but on the other hand, we have
[3:54:13] a responsibility to do what is the
[3:54:16] appropriate thing to do from the city's
[3:54:21] standpoint. Our
[3:54:23] rates, here's the other bottom line. Our
[3:54:26] rates have to be commensurate. They have
[3:54:30] to be commensurate with the project's
[3:54:32] financial burden or the repayment in the
[3:54:35] eyes of underwriters and otherwise all
[3:54:38] those who are going to be evaluating our
[3:54:39] project in the next couple of years.
[3:54:41] Otherwise, otherwise if we don't do
[3:54:44] that, then our rateayers in this
[3:54:46] enterprise district, including many of
[3:54:49] you in this room, would have to pay even
[3:54:51] more. I know that sounds
[3:54:55] counterintuitive. But, for example, if
[3:54:57] I'm an underwriter and I'm and I'm
[3:54:59] saying to myself, gosh, the rates here
[3:55:02] aren't enough to support an interest
[3:55:04] rate of X. I think we need to charge an
[3:55:08] interest rate of a higher rate of Y.
[3:55:12] So, you want to and rates again are just
[3:55:15] a component of this project. So,
[3:55:19] um I don't like to approve the
[3:55:22] increases, but I think it's the
[3:55:24] responsible thing to do. Thank you, Mr.
[3:55:27] Mayor. Thank you for your comments.
[3:55:29] Anyone
[3:55:31] else? Susan.
[3:55:35] So, I have something planned that I
[3:55:37] wrote, but um I'd like to to thank
[3:55:40] Council Member Trembley for a very well
[3:55:43] articulated
[3:55:45] [Music]
[3:55:46] um
[3:55:48] speech. Um he really did go over a lot
[3:55:52] of the things that that you as a public
[3:55:54] have brought up and I appreciate him
[3:55:56] explaining that. Um I want to thank all
[3:55:59] of you for coming forward and speaking
[3:56:01] to us. Um, I actually was surprised
[3:56:04] there weren't more protests. So, um, I
[3:56:07] know people are busy and sometimes
[3:56:09] don't aren't able to register their
[3:56:12] protests. Um, so, um, I know these rates
[3:56:16] are high. Um, I have to pay them as
[3:56:19] well. I don't make a lot of money. I'm a
[3:56:23] renter. Um, and so I feel these hikes
[3:56:27] just like you do.
[3:56:29] Um, and I hate this part of my
[3:56:32] job. I went to the open house. I've
[3:56:35] listened to you all
[3:56:37] tonight. I haven't met a single person
[3:56:39] that wants these rake rate
[3:56:43] hikes. I feel powerless in a way, too,
[3:56:46] because these are right hikes that I
[3:56:48] believe must be incurred. Um, these are
[3:56:51] things that, as Council Member Trembley
[3:56:53] said, we really don't have a choice. Um,
[3:56:56] I'm not going to go into the weeds as as
[3:56:58] much as he did, and I'm not going to
[3:57:00] repeat all of the things that he said,
[3:57:02] but I really look at this as a as we
[3:57:05] really don't have a choice. Um, we need
[3:57:08] to be able to flush our toilets. We need
[3:57:10] to be able to have drinking water. We
[3:57:12] need to be able to do all of these
[3:57:13] things and we need to be able to pay for
[3:57:14] it. And we do have a very, very, very,
[3:57:17] extremely expensive capital improvement
[3:57:20] project coming up with the sewer
[3:57:22] treatment plant.
[3:57:24] So, I know people are struggling and I
[3:57:27] know these are really hard times. Um,
[3:57:29] but I I don't feel that I would be doing
[3:57:32] my job correctly if I didn't vote for
[3:57:35] these rate hikes. And I know that sounds
[3:57:37] counterintuitive to intuitive. Um, but I
[3:57:40] really take I take
[3:57:43] you the reason I'm saying this is
[3:57:46] because you said you can speak with your
[3:57:47] votes and I you absolutely can. Um, I
[3:57:52] think I'm doing the best job for the
[3:57:55] community by voting in favor of these
[3:57:57] rate hikes. I truly do. I know that they
[3:58:00] are going to be hurtful on a lot of
[3:58:02] families, but I really do that believe
[3:58:04] that this is the right thing to do.
[3:58:06] That's all I have. Thank you. Anyone
[3:58:09] else? Vice Mayor Tenderson,
[3:58:13] I find it deplorable that I'm going to
[3:58:17] have to vote to increase any kind of fee
[3:58:20] to any resident in the city of Camrio.
[3:58:23] Um, as council member Santangelo said, I
[3:58:26] have to pay the same rates that each and
[3:58:29] every one of you do. Um, I don't like
[3:58:32] it. Uh, I also understand that I could
[3:58:35] vote no and that would be a cowardly
[3:58:39] action on my part just because someone
[3:58:41] said, "Remember, we get to vote you
[3:58:43] out." I guarantee you, anybody sitting
[3:58:47] up here that's met with staff, heard
[3:58:50] these presentations over and over and
[3:58:52] over again would make the same decision.
[3:58:56] These are increases that are absolutely
[3:58:59] necessary. Um, I know that I took it for
[3:59:04] granted for a long time that I just hit
[3:59:08] that little lever on the commode and
[3:59:10] everything was rosy and cheerful in my
[3:59:12] house. I go out and turn on the kitchen
[3:59:15] tap water and water flows. It's even
[3:59:18] better now with the dalter with the
[3:59:20] blending of wellwater and the dissalter
[3:59:23] water. I took that all for granted and I
[3:59:25] sat in council meetings for five years
[3:59:27] as Camrio's police commander. I never
[3:59:31] once paid attention to public works. I
[3:59:33] didn't care about the sanitation plant.
[3:59:36] I didn't care about how water was
[3:59:38] distributed to the rest of the city. My
[3:59:40] concern was law enforcement and public
[3:59:42] safety. This two years and 5 months I've
[3:59:45] been on council have been a major eye
[3:59:48] openener. I now am very engaged
[3:59:51] especially on the water side of things
[3:59:53] and on um the sanitation side of things
[3:59:57] with meetings we attend and
[3:59:58] organizations we belong to. In fact,
[4:00:01] Mayor Trim or uh council member
[4:00:03] Trembley, former mayor and I attended an
[4:00:05] aqua aqua conference I think last year
[4:00:08] in Monterey. There is not a single water
[4:00:12] agency in the state of California,
[4:00:14] whether it's a municipal, a
[4:00:18] publiclyowned, a mutual, that isn't
[4:00:20] going through the same rate studies
[4:00:22] we're going through now. And there isn't
[4:00:24] a single one of them that is not going
[4:00:27] to be raising rates to pay for the
[4:00:30] infrastructure. The staff report that I
[4:00:33] went through with the fine tooth comb
[4:00:36] shows that every year we have a 5%
[4:00:38] increase in inflationary factor in
[4:00:41] electric and we're trying to minimize
[4:00:43] that by getting a greener footprint. The
[4:00:47] cost the annual CPI is going up 3% a
[4:00:50] year. So, right off the top, we have 8%
[4:00:53] more necessary than we're already
[4:00:55] bringing in in order to maintain both
[4:00:58] water and water reclamation. Um, staff
[4:01:02] costs go up, materials, chemicals go up,
[4:01:05] and we are under constraints from state
[4:01:08] regulations on drinking water and
[4:01:10] wastewater. We're under constraints from
[4:01:12] federal regulations on drinking water,
[4:01:15] on waste water. And we have to meet
[4:01:18] these. We have to be compliant with
[4:01:19] them. And I guarantee no. I I came up
[4:01:22] with a solution and the city manager is
[4:01:24] going to throw something at me. I said
[4:01:26] simple. Let's shut down the water
[4:01:28] production one or two days a week and
[4:01:30] furlow all the city employees. That's
[4:01:33] not reasonable, but that would save
[4:01:34] money, wouldn't it? You just wouldn't
[4:01:36] have water. Let's do the same thing on
[4:01:37] the wastewater side. Shut it down for
[4:01:39] two days a week and furlow all the
[4:01:42] employees and we'll save the money. But
[4:01:44] none of us wants to not be able to flush
[4:01:46] our toilets or run our dishwasher or our
[4:01:48] wash machines at home. So the only path
[4:01:51] we have in order to maintain these
[4:01:54] services for the people that use the
[4:01:56] services is these fee increases and I
[4:02:00] will hold my nose but I will vote in
[4:02:02] favor of them.
[4:02:06] Pass member. Thank you. So there is a
[4:02:10] saying in
[4:02:12] Spanish and it
[4:02:16] is which is we're between the sword and
[4:02:21] the wall. Um it is going to be painful
[4:02:25] regardless where you
[4:02:27] move. I first wanted to thank staff for
[4:02:33] the many many hours that went into
[4:02:36] analyzing this.
[4:02:38] um also to our analyst as well to our
[4:02:42] committee. I know I was on the utilities
[4:02:45] committee and I we briefly passed over
[4:02:48] this but I know that this has been
[4:02:49] studied extensively and there has been a
[4:02:52] lot of questions that have been brought
[4:02:54] up many of those that were brought up
[4:02:57] here you know like what alternatives do
[4:02:59] we have? Um, in the beginning of the
[4:03:03] council meeting, we talked about our the
[4:03:06] different meetings we were at. And one
[4:03:08] of those that vice mayor and and myself
[4:03:11] that we were at was in Sacramento trying
[4:03:14] to lobby for different capital
[4:03:16] improvement projects. And one of those
[4:03:19] was to attend to this the most expensive
[4:03:22] capital improvement project in the
[4:03:24] history of the city of Camaro. Um, so do
[4:03:28] know that while you may leave this room
[4:03:32] probably not very happy with the
[4:03:34] decision that will happen, we are doing
[4:03:37] the best that we can to look at
[4:03:39] different options of funding. And a
[4:03:42] question that I always have is what
[4:03:44] grants are available, who can we talk
[4:03:45] to? I'm also in the nonprofit sector, so
[4:03:48] I know what it's like to almost work
[4:03:49] with nothing and to try to gain some
[4:03:52] access. Um just recently I bumped into
[4:03:56] um Julia uh not Julia uh Jackie Irwin
[4:04:01] and again it's like okay you know are
[4:04:03] there any opportunities uh for funding
[4:04:07] so do know that we are doing the best
[4:04:09] that we can um and I also feel the same
[4:04:13] way that I mean if you were to ask me
[4:04:16] and I were to be sitting in your shoes I
[4:04:18] don't think anybody would want to vote
[4:04:20] for an increase in rates like We're
[4:04:23] already going through such a difficult
[4:04:25] time in our community. Um, housing is a
[4:04:29] crisis in Ventura County. I hear what
[4:04:31] you're saying. I was born I was raised
[4:04:35] in a very uh low in a low-income
[4:04:39] housing. Um, and so I I get some of
[4:04:42] those struggles from a personal level. I
[4:04:45] have my parents and family members who
[4:04:47] are also low-income and and any
[4:04:50] significant increase, any type of uh
[4:04:53] increase really impacts them
[4:04:55] significantly. And that being
[4:04:58] said, it's so important to be
[4:05:01] responsible. When people ask me why I
[4:05:03] wanted to run for city council, I never
[4:05:06] thought this the wastewater plant was
[4:05:08] something that I was going to have
[4:05:09] nightmares about. Um, whenever there is
[4:05:11] an earthquake, it's the first thing that
[4:05:13] I think about now. I mean, in addition
[4:05:15] to my kids, right? It's like, okay, is
[4:05:17] the plant okay? Um, and I think
[4:05:20] everybody who sits on this council truly
[4:05:23] cares about the people and truly cares
[4:05:26] about sustaining a
[4:05:29] city and there are regulations that also
[4:05:34] have to be
[4:05:35] met. So with
[4:05:37] that, I think I unfortunately
[4:05:41] also am going to support the the rate
[4:05:46] increases as well as I think it's not
[4:05:48] what I want to do, but I think it is the
[4:05:51] responsible thing to do. And having said
[4:05:54] that, I think we will continue to push
[4:05:56] to look at what other funding sources
[4:05:58] there are and continue to be moving
[4:06:01] forward.
[4:06:03] Thank you for your comments. Okay, the
[4:06:06] last a lot of already said what I was
[4:06:08] going to say, but
[4:06:10] um nobody wants to raise a rate. I've
[4:06:14] been up here for a while. Nobody wants
[4:06:16] to raise a rate, but I can assure the
[4:06:19] public that we have looked at almost all
[4:06:23] of our options here. You never can say
[4:06:26] 100% of anything, but we have had
[4:06:29] several meetings for several months and
[4:06:32] several years on this. Our uh sand plant
[4:06:37] is aging. It was built in the 50s. We've
[4:06:40] had some updates on it, but it's time.
[4:06:43] We're either going to have to rehab that
[4:06:45] or we're going to have to build a new
[4:06:47] one. and the number in the millions has
[4:06:50] been throwing around, but we really
[4:06:53] don't know exactly how much that's going
[4:06:56] to be, but I can tell you by far and
[4:06:59] away it'll be the most expensive project
[4:07:02] that the city will have. However, it
[4:07:07] goes back to the 50s and with any luck,
[4:07:10] it'll last us decades here. What you
[4:07:13] don't want to do is get a violation on
[4:07:15] that. What you don't want to do is not
[4:07:17] have safe water. What you don't want to
[4:07:20] do is when people either flush their
[4:07:22] toilets or turn their spout for water on
[4:07:25] to not have that work. That's what you
[4:07:27] don't want to do. So, we've got to do
[4:07:30] the best we can uh with this. I'll be
[4:07:33] paying the rates, too. I've got family
[4:07:36] members. I've been on fixed incomes
[4:07:38] before in my life, too. I understand
[4:07:41] that uh that uh scenario here. And
[4:07:44] believe me, I know it's overused, but we
[4:07:47] up here feel your pain. We This is a
[4:07:50] last resort that we had. We We really
[4:07:53] really tried to do the best we could do
[4:07:55] to flatten out the rate increase. I
[4:07:57] think it's important too to look at our
[4:08:00] other sister cities around. We're still
[4:08:03] going to be even with the raise in the
[4:08:05] middle. And that's what we've always
[4:08:06] tried to do for decades on the council
[4:08:09] to somewhere be in the middle with our
[4:08:11] rates here. And that still allows us to
[4:08:14] do that with grants and other funding.
[4:08:17] Our staff and our council work
[4:08:19] tirelessly to try to find other sources
[4:08:22] of funding with that. Believe me, we've
[4:08:25] got a whole wing there that's looking
[4:08:27] for that on a daily basis. So, it's a
[4:08:30] tough decision. It's not a popular
[4:08:32] decision, but I do think it's a
[4:08:35] responsible decision to make tonight.
[4:08:38] So with that staff, do you want to
[4:08:40] report on the uh the counts for the uh
[4:08:44] numbers of the written protest? Sure. Uh
[4:08:47] the count is being made to determine if
[4:08:49] there's a majority protest against the
[4:08:51] proposed rates for each rate counted
[4:08:53] separately. There's a majority protest
[4:08:55] if the number of written protests
[4:08:57] exceeds 50% of the total number of
[4:08:59] parcels served. Um there have been have
[4:09:01] there been any additional uh written
[4:09:03] letters? No. Uh well then with that the
[4:09:07] city serves
[4:09:09] 13,669 parcels. The majority protest
[4:09:12] would require
[4:09:13] 6,835 protest votes and the city
[4:09:16] received 200 written protests for water.
[4:09:19] For airport water rates, the city serves
[4:09:22] 105 parcels. A majority protest would
[4:09:25] require 53 protest votes and the city
[4:09:28] received zero written protests. Sewer
[4:09:30] rates. For the sewer rates, the district
[4:09:32] serves 15,02 parcels. A majority protest
[4:09:36] would require
[4:09:37] 7,52 protest votes, and the district
[4:09:40] received 223 written protests. There's
[4:09:43] no majority protest for the water rates,
[4:09:46] airport water rates, or sewer rates, and
[4:09:48] staff recommends the city council and
[4:09:50] the board move to consider action on the
[4:09:52] proposed rates.
[4:09:55] Okay. So, with that, I don't know if
[4:09:56] there's any questions that council have.
[4:09:59] No, I'm ready to make a motion, Mr.
[4:10:00] Mayor. Uh we'll do them separately if
[4:10:02] you would please. All right. With
[4:10:03] respect to item T, I move uh staff
[4:10:05] staff's recommendations with respect to
[4:10:07] the water service rates. I can second.
[4:10:10] There's a motion in a second. Please do
[4:10:12] a roll call vote, please. Council member
[4:10:14] Martinez Bravo, yes. Council member
[4:10:17] Santangelo, yes. Council member
[4:10:19] Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor Tennyson, yes.
[4:10:22] And Mayor Kildy, yes. Next will be the
[4:10:24] airport rate. I'll make a motion with
[4:10:26] respect to item Oh, is there a separate
[4:10:29] motion on the airport rate? Yes. I'll
[4:10:31] move staff recommendation on the airport
[4:10:32] rate. I can second. There's a motion in
[4:10:35] a second. Please do a roll call vote,
[4:10:37] please. Council Martinez Bravo, yes.
[4:10:40] Council member Santangelo, yes. Council
[4:10:42] member Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor
[4:10:43] Tennyson, yes. Mayor Kildy, yes. And the
[4:10:47] next would be the sewer rates. Mr.
[4:10:49] Mayor, I'll make a motion to adopt staff
[4:10:51] recommendation with respect to item U on
[4:10:53] the sewer service rates.
[4:10:55] Second. There's a motion in a second. Is
[4:10:58] there any further discussion? Please do
[4:10:59] a roll call vote. Director Kildy,
[4:11:03] yes. Director Martinez Bravo, yes.
[4:11:05] Director Santangelo, yes. Secretary
[4:11:07] Tennyson, yes. And Chair Trimbley, yes.
[4:11:11] Okay. Thank you for this. We've been
[4:11:13] going at it for quite a while. The chair
[4:11:15] uh mayor is going to call a 20minut
[4:11:16] recess and we'll be back with the final
[4:11:18] items on the agenda.
[4:30:13] All right, I'd like to reconvene the
[4:30:15] city council meeting. Item five is uh B
[4:30:18] was Camrio Tourism Marketing District
[4:30:21] annual report. Mr. Winkler, are you here
[4:30:24] tonight? Would you like to start off
[4:30:25] with the report, please? Yeah, thank
[4:30:27] you. Good evening, Mayor. And is here as
[4:30:29] well? Thank you.
[4:30:31] Good evening, mayor uh and members of
[4:30:33] the city council. It's my pleasure to
[4:30:35] introduce Juliana Garcia, executive
[4:30:37] director of Camrio Hotel and Tourism
[4:30:40] Association. Uh Miss Garcia is here this
[4:30:42] evening to present an overview of the
[4:30:44] fiscal year
[4:30:45] 202425 annual report for the Camrio
[4:30:48] Tourism Marketing District, which
[4:30:50] includes a proposed reallocation of
[4:30:52] funding among the BA budget categories.
[4:30:55] The reallocation was approved by the
[4:30:57] CHTA board and now requires approval by
[4:31:00] the city council. Miss Garcia will also
[4:31:02] highlight the association's achievements
[4:31:04] over the past year and preview upcoming
[4:31:06] activities aimed at further
[4:31:08] strengthening Camrio's position as a
[4:31:10] regional tourism destination. Please
[4:31:12] join me in welcoming Miss Yoliana
[4:31:15] Garcia.
[4:31:18] Thank you, George. Good evening,
[4:31:20] honorable Mayor Kildy, members of city
[4:31:22] council, and city staff. Uh thank you
[4:31:25] for the opportunity to speak with you
[4:31:27] tonight on behalf of the Camrio Hotel
[4:31:29] and Tourism Association publicly were
[4:31:31] known as Visit Camaro. Uh I'd like to
[4:31:34] take a moment to provide uh some
[4:31:36] additional context on the staff report.
[4:31:38] Um, each year we approach our budget
[4:31:41] planning with a thoughtful strategy,
[4:31:43] ensuring that every dollar we invest
[4:31:45] helps strengthen Camereo's mission and
[4:31:48] position as a welcoming destination. Uh,
[4:31:50] for this fiscal year, we are proposing a
[4:31:53] strategic reallocation of resources uh
[4:31:55] to more accurately categorize expenses
[4:31:58] in line with how these programs function
[4:32:00] within our marketing strategy. As
[4:32:03] outlined in the report, you'll notice an
[4:32:04] 8% reallocation. 1% is being shifted
[4:32:08] from local marketing to administration
[4:32:09] to provide a most a modest operational
[4:32:12] cushion which brings administration um
[4:32:15] from 22% to 23% and uh 7% of that is
[4:32:19] being reallocated to the marketing and
[4:32:21] sales category to support our expanded
[4:32:23] uh sales and digital efforts. So that
[4:32:25] brings us from 55 to 62 uh local
[4:32:28] marketing at 14 and then our city
[4:32:31] collection cost at 1%. Um, I want to
[4:32:34] emphasize that we are not eliminating
[4:32:36] any existing programs or services. What
[4:32:39] we're doing is ensuring uh that certain
[4:32:41] expenses are more accurately reflected
[4:32:43] in the correct budget categories. Over
[4:32:46] time, as pro programs evolve, some cost
[4:32:49] particularly related to staffing and
[4:32:51] sales support have been grouped under
[4:32:53] broader categories like local marketing.
[4:32:56] Uh this adjustment simply moves those
[4:32:58] funds into the categories where they
[4:32:59] truly belong such as administration and
[4:33:01] marketing and sales. Uh this adjustment
[4:33:04] allows us to enhance our digital
[4:33:06] outreach and support more targeted sales
[4:33:08] initiatives efforts that are
[4:33:10] increasingly essential to remain
[4:33:12] competitive and engage the modern
[4:33:14] traveler. This realignment is fully
[4:33:17] compliant with the Camrio tourism
[4:33:18] marketing district plan. uh the city and
[4:33:21] the CHTA board are authorized to adjust
[4:33:23] budget category allocations uh by up to
[4:33:26] 15% as long as the marketing and sales
[4:33:29] category remains at or above 55% of the
[4:33:32] total annual budget. Um on in addition
[4:33:36] uh Visit Cameo has two exciting updates
[4:33:38] on the horizon. First, our 2025 2026
[4:33:42] visitors guide is set to launch in late
[4:33:44] June with the print distribution of
[4:33:46] 35,000 copies. Uh these guides will be
[4:33:49] available throughout the state at
[4:33:50] official California welcome centers,
[4:33:53] regional airports, local hotels, and
[4:33:56] businesses. And they'll also be shared
[4:33:58] through online leans and direct
[4:33:59] requests. Uh secondly, on the content
[4:34:02] development front, we're in the early
[4:34:04] stages of producing a new video series
[4:34:06] that will spotlight local families,
[4:34:08] their deep ties to Camaro and their and
[4:34:10] the businesses they operate. This series
[4:34:13] will serve as a heartfelt tribute to the
[4:34:15] people and stories that make our city so
[4:34:17] special.
[4:34:19] To close, I'd like to share our annual
[4:34:21] our 2024 annual report video, which
[4:34:23] highlights the accomplishments of the
[4:34:25] past year and offers a glimpse into the
[4:34:27] direction we're heading. Um, but before
[4:34:29] we play the video, I just I do want to
[4:34:31] recognize our hotels for doing a
[4:34:33] fantastic job, specifically when it
[4:34:35] comes to occupancy. We have uh the
[4:34:38] highest occupancy rate in the county.
[4:34:40] Um, and you'll see some of those details
[4:34:42] in the video. So, uh big big uh
[4:34:44] accomplishment for the hotels. Um, thank
[4:34:47] you again for your continued support and
[4:34:49] for championing Camrio's growth as a
[4:34:50] vibrant, welcoming
[4:35:01] [Music]
[4:35:05] destination. Welcome to the Visit Camrio
[4:35:07] 2024 annual report. This year, we're
[4:35:10] excited to share the incredible impact
[4:35:12] of tourism on our community and
[4:35:14] celebrate the achievements and
[4:35:15] milestones we've reached over the past
[4:35:17] year. Our mission as the official
[4:35:20] destination marketing organization is to
[4:35:22] promote and enhance tourism while
[4:35:24] supporting our hospitality industry,
[4:35:27] local businesses, and partners. And in
[4:35:29] 2024, our combined efforts along with
[4:35:32] the incredible experiences Camrio has to
[4:35:35] offer led to an outstanding year for our
[4:35:37] visitor economy. In 2023, Cameo
[4:35:41] experienced more than 3 million visits
[4:35:43] with more than
[4:35:44] 316,000 visitors choosing to stay
[4:35:47] overnight. These travelers contributed a
[4:35:50] total of 179.2 million in visitor
[4:35:54] spending, directly benefiting our local
[4:35:56] economy. Travel generated tax revenue
[4:35:59] reached 15.5 million, 6.9 of which
[4:36:03] supported local taxes, while 8.6 million
[4:36:06] contributed to state taxes. In addition,
[4:36:09] the tourism industry sustained
[4:36:12] 1,613 local jobs, underscoring its
[4:36:15] significant impact on our workforce and
[4:36:17] economy. In 2024, Camereo's lodging
[4:36:20] sector saw a strong performance. Our
[4:36:23] hotels achieved an impressive 78.8
[4:36:26] occupancy rate with an average daily
[4:36:28] rate of
[4:36:29] $142 and revenue per available room at
[4:36:32] $112. In addition to these strong
[4:36:35] numbers, Camrio's hospitality landscape
[4:36:37] is growing. The Mian Plaza and
[4:36:40] Conference Center of Camrio is an
[4:36:42] exciting 14 acre development introducing
[4:36:45] two new Hilton properties. The first,
[4:36:48] home to suites by Hilton Camaro, is
[4:36:50] nearing completion and will offer 122
[4:36:53] all suite rooms designed for both short
[4:36:56] and long-term stays. The second, the
[4:36:59] full service 155 room embassy suites
[4:37:03] will be connected to a 17,500 square f
[4:37:06] foot conference center, providing a
[4:37:08] premier venue for meetings and
[4:37:10] events. Across the way, the Hampton Inn
[4:37:13] and Suites Camrio recently completed a
[4:37:16] series of upgrades to enhance the guest
[4:37:18] experience. These improvements include
[4:37:20] refreshed furnishings, an updated
[4:37:22] fitness center with new workout
[4:37:24] equipment, and a newly refinished pool
[4:37:26] deck and jacuzzi. Completing the recent
[4:37:29] upgrades, Sinessa Select Camaro has
[4:37:32] recently enhanced guest comfort with
[4:37:34] brand new mattresses and upgraded every
[4:37:36] room with new
[4:37:38] TVs. Strategic advertising continues to
[4:37:41] play a crucial role in driving tourism.
[4:37:43] In 2024, we expanded our highly
[4:37:46] successful always in season campaign,
[4:37:49] which featured dedicated sub campaigns
[4:37:51] focusing on weddings, midweek travel,
[4:37:54] and our visitors guide. Our visitors
[4:37:56] guide remained a valuable resource for
[4:37:58] travelers with 35,000 copies distributed
[4:38:01] across welcome centers, regional
[4:38:03] airports, local businesses, hotels, and
[4:38:06] direct mailers. All of these paid
[4:38:08] efforts combined led to an outstanding
[4:38:11] 30.8 8 million impressions and
[4:38:15] 255,000 clicks to our website, further
[4:38:17] strengthening Camerio's position as a
[4:38:20] must- vvisit
[4:38:21] destination. Our own media efforts were
[4:38:23] key in driving engagement, storytelling,
[4:38:26] and brand awareness. In 2024, we saw
[4:38:28] over 412,000 website visits, launched 25
[4:38:33] new blog post, and grew our newsletter
[4:38:35] audience to more than 15,000
[4:38:37] subscribers, continually keeping our
[4:38:39] visitors informed and
[4:38:41] inspired. Across social media, our
[4:38:44] content generated an impressive 17.2
[4:38:47] million impressions. Through engaging
[4:38:49] visuals, compelling storytelling, and
[4:38:52] interactive campaigns, we fostered a
[4:38:55] strong digital community. Our strategic
[4:38:57] use of video content, influencer
[4:39:00] marketing, and real-time engagement
[4:39:02] helped amplify our message in the
[4:39:04] digital
[4:39:05] landscape. Our partnerships with Visit
[4:39:08] California, the Central Coast Tourism
[4:39:10] Council, and Ventura County Coast played
[4:39:13] a pivotal role in amplifying Camrio's
[4:39:15] message. In partnership with Ventura
[4:39:18] County Coast, our team attended over a
[4:39:20] dozen trade shows and industry events.
[4:39:23] Additionally, we engaged directly with
[4:39:25] meeting planners to showcase our hotel
[4:39:27] properties and event venues. These
[4:39:30] efforts significantly increased
[4:39:32] awareness of both Camrio and the greater
[4:39:34] region, further solidifying our presence
[4:39:37] as a visitor and event
[4:39:39] destination. 2024 marked the completion
[4:39:42] of a few key initiatives that will leave
[4:39:44] a lasting impact. Visi adopted its first
[4:39:47] ever strategic plan, a three-year road
[4:39:49] map laying the foundation for long-term
[4:39:52] growth. We also released our newest
[4:39:54] destination video showcasing Camrio's
[4:39:57] vibrant landscapes, attractions, and
[4:39:59] people. In partnership with the Cameo
[4:40:02] Premium Outlets, we unveiled a brand new
[4:40:04] mural titled Canvas of Camaro,
[4:40:07] celebrating the city's history,
[4:40:09] community spirit, and iconic landmarks.
[4:40:13] And through countless community
[4:40:14] partnerships, we strengthen our
[4:40:16] connections with local businesses,
[4:40:18] organizations, and residents because
[4:40:21] tourism is truly a community effort.
[4:40:23] Visit Camaro recognizes the importance
[4:40:26] of being engaged with our local
[4:40:27] community, and we make it a priority to
[4:40:30] support through sponsorship,
[4:40:31] participation, and collaboration. 2024
[4:40:34] was a monumental year, and we look
[4:40:37] forward to continuing that upward trend
[4:40:39] in 2025.
[4:40:41] Thank you to our incredible tourism
[4:40:43] partners, local businesses, and the
[4:40:45] support of the community for making
[4:40:47] Camaro a great place to visit.
[4:40:55] All right. Thanks, Miss Garcia, for that
[4:40:57] presentation and for your continued
[4:40:58] leadership um promoting Camry as a
[4:41:00] destination. Um, at this time I would
[4:41:03] like to respectfully request that city
[4:41:04] council consider the recommended action
[4:41:07] in the staff report which is to approve
[4:41:09] the fiscal year
[4:41:11] 202425 Cameo Tourism Marketing District
[4:41:14] annual report which includes the
[4:41:16] proposed budget reallocation as
[4:41:18] submitted by the Camrio Hotel Tourism
[4:41:20] Association.
[4:41:24] Are there any uh comments or questions
[4:41:27] of staff at this particular point?
[4:41:29] Martito. Uh, no questions other than
[4:41:32] thank you so much, Juliana, to you and
[4:41:34] to Bailey. You are just everywhere.
[4:41:36] Everywhere I go, I see you guys and
[4:41:40] you're just doing such an amazing job
[4:41:42] and we see the data to represent uh the
[4:41:45] the great job that you're doing. Um, I'm
[4:41:47] very supportive of what you do and the
[4:41:50] impact that it brings to our local
[4:41:53] economy and thank you to previous
[4:41:55] council members for this direction. Um,
[4:41:58] I think that this is the right way to go
[4:42:00] and I'm happy to move the approval of
[4:42:03] the uh staff's recommendation.
[4:42:07] Any other I'll second. Okay, there's a
[4:42:09] motion and a second. Is there any
[4:42:10] further discussion or comments at this
[4:42:12] particular point? Mr. Trembley, would
[4:42:13] you like to Yeah, I just wanted to
[4:42:14] compliment you, Juliana, and um and
[4:42:17] Bailey, I you know, first of all, the
[4:42:20] the proposed reallocation to me makes
[4:42:22] makes sense. Um, but I think like u uh
[4:42:26] like my colleague said uh we see you all
[4:42:28] over uh the place and your presence is
[4:42:31] well felt and and we really appreciate
[4:42:32] all the work that you do. So, thank you
[4:42:34] so much. So, I think I I'm sensing a
[4:42:36] positive vote and you should consider
[4:42:38] that just a reaffirmation of everything
[4:42:39] that you're doing. We appreciate it. Any
[4:42:42] other questions or comments at this
[4:42:44] particular? Juliana and George, thank
[4:42:46] you for all your work. Um, so we do have
[4:42:48] a motion. There's a second. Would you
[4:42:50] please do a roll call vote, please?
[4:42:52] Council member Martinez Bravo, yes.
[4:42:54] Council member Santangelo, yes. Council
[4:42:56] member Trembley, yes. Vice Mayor
[4:42:58] Tennyson, yes. And Mayor Kildee, yes.
[4:43:01] Okay, that gets us down to item W is the
[4:43:03] transit operation and maintenance
[4:43:04] service agreement. Do we have a staff
[4:43:06] report in it? Sean, are you going to
[4:43:07] take that one? Is he here? Yes, John,
[4:43:09] there you are. Thank you. Good evening,
[4:43:12] Mayor Kildy and council members. As part
[4:43:14] of as part of this agenda items
[4:43:16] presentation, staff is including a
[4:43:18] transit service update. The last update
[4:43:20] was provided October 23rd,
[4:43:23] 2024. In tonight's brief report, we'll
[4:43:25] cover the following topics: our
[4:43:27] ridership, the RideCo app, RTW
[4:43:30] management, transit fleet updates, and
[4:43:33] tonight's agenda item request concerning
[4:43:35] increases in vehicle revenue
[4:43:38] hours. I'll begin by discussing
[4:43:40] ridership for the current fiscal year.
[4:43:43] Our overall ridership for both or for
[4:43:45] bus and dialeride service has increased
[4:43:48] by 18% year-to- date compared to the
[4:43:50] same period in fiscal year 232 24. Our
[4:43:53] fixed route services have a combined 15%
[4:43:56] increase with a 16% increase for the
[4:43:58] trolley ser trolley service and 12% for
[4:44:01] fixed route. Our dialeride service has
[4:44:03] seen an increase of 20%. Breaking down
[4:44:06] this ridership, we have a 53% increase
[4:44:09] in of our local senior and ADA services.
[4:44:12] Our general dialer ride is up 16%. The
[4:44:16] college ride program, which is part of
[4:44:18] the general dialeride program, has
[4:44:20] increased over
[4:44:21] a,000%. 69% of those trips are to and
[4:44:25] from CSUCI with the remaining 31% using
[4:44:28] the dialeride program for trips here in
[4:44:30] town. And our intercity de has decreased
[4:44:34] by 3%.
[4:44:36] During our last presentation, we
[4:44:38] highlighted the deployment of the city's
[4:44:40] new dialeride dispatching software
[4:44:44] program. Oops, sorry, it's repeating
[4:44:48] it. Okay, there we go. Um, during our
[4:44:51] last presentation, we highlighted the
[4:44:53] deployment of the city's new dialeride
[4:44:54] dispatching software program, Rideco,
[4:44:56] which went live on August 4th, 2024.
[4:45:00] Uh we're continuing to maintain high
[4:45:02] on-time performance with 96% on time for
[4:45:05] pickups and 97% on time for drop offs.
[4:45:09] Our ride ratings also remain high
[4:45:12] averaging 4.8 out of five
[4:45:14] stars. Same day service uh has
[4:45:17] increasing. In August we had 12% of
[4:45:20] trips were scheduled on the same day. In
[4:45:23] March uh we were up to 28% of trips
[4:45:26] scheduled the same day. Before Rideco,
[4:45:29] 100% of the trips had to be scheduled
[4:45:31] using our reservation phone line. During
[4:45:34] the first month of the software
[4:45:35] implementation, 14% of trips were
[4:45:38] scheduled via the app or website. And in
[4:45:41] March, we were at 50% of trips scheduled
[4:45:44] basically self-scheduled by using the
[4:45:46] app or the the website.
[4:45:49] and our we're continuing to see
[4:45:51] improvements in our no-shows with 6% of
[4:45:54] all scheduled trips resulting in a
[4:45:56] no-show compared to last year's
[4:46:00] 11%. Some updates of the city's new
[4:46:03] contractor RTW management. Uh Earl
[4:46:06] Hawkins has become our permanent general
[4:46:08] manager of effective November. Uh Mr.
[4:46:11] Hawkins transferred from another RTW
[4:46:13] contract in the east coast. He and his
[4:46:15] family have moved here to Camaro.
[4:46:18] We've had five road calls, which are
[4:46:20] instances where a vehicle has required
[4:46:22] service while in the field from July
[4:46:24] 2024 through March 2025. So, fewer than
[4:46:27] one a month. Um, so we're doing good
[4:46:29] there
[4:46:30] statistically. Um, when RTW assumed the
[4:46:34] city's contract in July, we they had
[4:46:36] hired nine of the previous contractors
[4:46:39] drivers and five dispatchers.
[4:46:42] Uh currently they have hired or they now
[4:46:44] have a total of 19 drivers, five of
[4:46:47] which are from still from the original
[4:46:49] contract and all five dispatchers remain
[4:46:53] with
[4:46:55] RTW and maintenance of the city's
[4:46:58] transit vehicles have continued to be
[4:46:59] performed on schedule and all vehicles
[4:47:01] are in good operating order. Speaking of
[4:47:04] the city's fleet, in April, we received
[4:47:06] a new cutaway uh pictured here, which
[4:47:09] will begin service any day now. And we
[4:47:11] have again three transit vans that are
[4:47:13] expected to be delivered by December of
[4:47:16] 2025. Upon receipt of the three transit
[4:47:19] vans, we will have achieved the vehicle
[4:47:21] replacement right sizing plan as
[4:47:23] proposed and approved by the city
[4:47:25] council in 2023.
[4:47:28] um as part of the zero emission bus
[4:47:30] plan. The next planned vehicle
[4:47:32] replacement will be in 2027 as we start
[4:47:35] to convert the city's internal
[4:47:36] combustible engine vehicles to zero
[4:47:40] emission. So earlier I highlighted the
[4:47:42] city's 20% increase in dialeride
[4:47:45] passengers which has generated an
[4:47:47] overall projected increase of revenue
[4:47:50] hours. The RTW's current contract
[4:47:53] estimated 21,000 revenue hours for 2425.
[4:47:57] However, we're now projecting
[4:48:00] 27,546. Uh, this is a 31% increase.
[4:48:04] Although, I'll note by the end of fiscal
[4:48:06] year 2324,
[4:48:08] uh, we were already at
[4:48:11] 21,934 hours, uh, which would make the
[4:48:14] projected revenue increase 25.6%.
[4:48:18] The agreement with RTW has a total not
[4:48:21] to exceed amount of
[4:48:25] 11,866,219 for four years of service and
[4:48:28] includes the fixed monthly rate, the
[4:48:30] revenue hour rate for service, fuel and
[4:48:33] vehicle parts for maintenance. It did
[4:48:36] not include a
[4:48:37] contingency. Staff is proposing to add a
[4:48:40] contingency of $1.1 million or 9% of the
[4:48:43] contract value. The contingency would be
[4:48:47] utilized later during the term of the
[4:48:48] contract if if it becomes necessary due
[4:48:51] to the increase in revenue hours.
[4:48:55] So staff's recommendations are to find
[4:48:57] the contingency of 1.1 million for the
[4:49:00] agreement for transit operations and
[4:49:01] maintenance services exempt from review
[4:49:03] under the California Environmental
[4:49:05] Quality Act pursuant to section
[4:49:09] 15061B3 and authorize the city manager
[4:49:12] to exceed or to execute future
[4:49:14] amendments up to the authorized
[4:49:15] contingency amount of 1.1 million for
[4:49:18] agreement number
[4:49:20] 2024-28 with RTW Management Incorporated
[4:49:23] for transit operations and maintenance
[4:49:25] services for the 4-year term for an
[4:49:27] amount not to exceed
[4:49:33] $12,966,219. Uh, this concludes my
[4:49:35] presentation. I'm happy to answer any
[4:49:36] questions that city council may have.
[4:49:38] Thank you.
[4:49:42] Any questions at this time? Yeah,
[4:49:44] Martito, thank you. I do have a
[4:49:45] question. The there was a pretty
[4:49:48] significant increase with students from
[4:49:50] CSUCI.
[4:49:52] Yes. Uh do we know what prompted that?
[4:49:55] Um you like I go back to the slide but
[4:49:58] it is a little over a thousand. Um we
[4:50:02] don't have a direct answer. One of my
[4:50:04] suspicions is that with the utilization
[4:50:07] of the app, we've essentially provided
[4:50:10] an easier and perhaps more um uh
[4:50:16] something that basically the the college
[4:50:18] students are more apt to use versus
[4:50:21] before they would have required to call
[4:50:24] the day before to schedule their trip.
[4:50:27] Now they have the ability of one they
[4:50:29] can schedule their trip with the click
[4:50:30] of a phone and they're finding that it
[4:50:33] is easier um to perhaps get same day
[4:50:36] service um because now we have with this
[4:50:39] this app uh we're now more efficiently
[4:50:41] and basically instantaneously able to
[4:50:44] make changes to the schedule and so
[4:50:47] someone's more likely to be able to find
[4:50:49] and get a trip that they that they want
[4:50:51] to receive that day. So more spur-of
[4:50:53] the- moment trips are being able to be
[4:50:55] generated. Got it. That makes sense.
[4:50:58] Technology and accessibility correct to
[4:51:01] youth. Thank you. Any other questions
[4:51:04] from anybody?
[4:51:07] No. Any public uh make any comments at
[4:51:10] this time?
[4:51:14] Okay. What's the will of the council?
[4:51:17] Move the staff recommend.
[4:51:20] There's a motion in a second. Any
[4:51:21] further discussion? Voice will. Voice
[4:51:24] vote, please. Council member Martinez
[4:51:26] Bravo, yes. Council member Santangelo,
[4:51:29] yes. Council member Trembley, yes. Vice
[4:51:32] Mayor Tennyson, yes. And Mayor Kild,
[4:51:35] yes. Okay, councelor, are there any um
[4:51:40] close session reports or anything we
[4:51:41] need to make public at all at this time?
[4:51:43] Um, we did go into close session. We did
[4:51:45] discuss um all of the matters except for
[4:51:48] one anticipated litigation matter. There
[4:51:50] was no reportable action taken in close
[4:51:52] session. I don't know if we're going
[4:51:55] to reconvene that last item, what the
[4:51:58] council wants to do or if we can we can
[4:52:00] also continue that.
[4:52:02] Well, let's uh ask the council. Would
[4:52:05] you like to continue the last uh item
[4:52:08] tonight or would you like to wait to for
[4:52:10] a future
[4:52:12] meeting? I'm able to do whatever the
[4:52:15] majority wants to do here. Future
[4:52:16] meeting. Okay.
[4:52:19] Okay. All right. So, we will tonight.
[4:52:21] But that's okay.
[4:52:23] Okay. So, we'll do that at a future
[4:52:26] meeting. Um, we're going to adjourn
[4:52:28] today in the memory of Daniel Shenwald.
[4:52:31] I'm going to ask Vice Mayor Tennyson if
[4:52:32] he can make some comments of the life
[4:52:34] and times of Daniel Shenwald.
[4:52:38] I would be happy to. I think we have a
[4:52:41] picture of Daniel that really captures
[4:52:44] his personality.
[4:52:47] Um, on April
[4:52:49] 24th, I got a text message and then a
[4:52:52] phone call confirming
[4:52:55] uh fairly early in the morning. I was
[4:52:56] out of town that we had unexpectedly
[4:52:59] lost Daniel Shonewald at 71 years of
[4:53:03] age. Daniel was a I'll say a quiet
[4:53:06] person, only quiet unless he was able to
[4:53:10] talk to you oneon-one or at a Rotary
[4:53:13] meeting or at a YMC board meeting. But
[4:53:16] he was quiet because he did so much
[4:53:18] wonderful, thoughtful, and philanthropic
[4:53:21] things in our community. But he never
[4:53:24] did it for attention or
[4:53:27] acclamation. He was an innovator, a
[4:53:30] philanthropist, and a storyteller who
[4:53:32] lived life to the fullest. He built a
[4:53:35] company called Advanced Motion Control,
[4:53:37] a local manufacturing company that over
[4:53:40] time has shipped over three million
[4:53:42] servo systems worldwide. But he was far
[4:53:45] more than a brilliant entre
[4:53:47] entrepreneur. He was a passionate
[4:53:48] motorcyclist and I know several people
[4:53:51] on the dis have seen some of his
[4:53:53] motorcycle collection at advanced
[4:53:55] motorcycle controls. He was a community
[4:53:59] leader, a man with an unforgettable
[4:54:01] laugh and an even more unforgettable
[4:54:03] heart.
[4:54:05] I remember these commercials from back
[4:54:07] in the early 2000s with the bearded
[4:54:09] gentleman that was advertising for
[4:54:12] dosekis or something and said I don't
[4:54:14] drink beer but when I do I drink
[4:54:16] doseekis or whatever it was and they
[4:54:18] called him the most interesting man in
[4:54:19] the world. I met the real most
[4:54:21] interesting man in the world back in
[4:54:23] 1996 and it was Daniel. He was born in
[4:54:27] Venezuela. He lived a global life from
[4:54:29] the very start. He lived in Libya,
[4:54:32] Singapore, Italy, and Switzerland before
[4:54:35] settling down in the foreign country of
[4:54:37] Texas. I mean in Texas. Um he graduated
[4:54:40] from high school Richardson High School
[4:54:42] in 1972 and North Texas State in
[4:54:46] 1982. His early life travels shaped his
[4:54:50] mind filled with wisdom, curiosity, and
[4:54:53] a deep compassion for other people.
[4:54:56] He and a partner um founded Advanced
[4:54:59] Motion Control in
[4:55:01] 1987. His motto at the time was, "I
[4:55:04] didn't want to be the biggest, I just
[4:55:06] wanted to be the best." The drive and
[4:55:08] his signature humor helped define a
[4:55:10] company that remains an industry leader
[4:55:13] today. He was a devoted husband to
[4:55:15] Felicia, Felicia, and I will not try and
[4:55:18] say Felicia's last name. and he has two
[4:55:21] wonderful children, Tillia, his
[4:55:24] daughter, and Tristan, his son. He had
[4:55:27] six grandchildren, and many extended
[4:55:30] family members. He and Felicia were very
[4:55:33] involved in supporting the
[4:55:35] YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club of Camaro,
[4:55:38] the Sunrise Rotary Club, the Kids Dream
[4:55:41] Museum, and many, many more. One of the
[4:55:44] first times I met Daniel was at a
[4:55:46] typicop event in Camaro at Wood Ranch
[4:55:48] back in
[4:55:50] about
[4:55:52] 989 and he and his wife and his son
[4:55:55] Tristan had a meal for three. And to
[4:55:58] tell you how times have changed, the
[4:55:59] bill was $38 for three people at Wood
[4:56:03] Ranch. One of the servers called me over
[4:56:05] and said, "This gentleman wants to give
[4:56:07] you his check."
[4:56:09] Daniel wrote a check out for
[4:56:14] $2,538, the largest single tip that
[4:56:18] Special Olympics of Ventura County had
[4:56:20] gotten in just about forever. And that's
[4:56:23] just the way Daniel was. He wanted to
[4:56:25] help people that were less successful or
[4:56:28] less um able than he was. He had a
[4:56:32] motorcycle. He's famed for his
[4:56:34] motorcycle collection and he had
[4:56:36] hundreds of motorcycles.
[4:56:38] Um, the oldest one that I'm aware of was
[4:56:41] probably about a probably a 1903
[4:56:44] Harley-Davidson and that's the year they
[4:56:46] were founded in
[4:56:49] 1903. He had a 20,000 square foot
[4:56:52] showroom in his business at Advanced
[4:56:55] Motion Control filled with rare Dicatis,
[4:56:58] Triumphs, and more. And it was a
[4:57:00] reflection of his love for the road.
[4:57:03] "These bikes get ridden," he proudly
[4:57:05] towed the Camrio Acorn. And when he
[4:57:07] wasn't riding, he was handing over the
[4:57:09] keys to friends because to Daniel, joy
[4:57:12] was meant to be shared. He handed over
[4:57:14] the keys to me once in 2000. But he
[4:57:18] failed to tell me that a Norton
[4:57:20] motorcycle, a British motorcycle, was
[4:57:22] the exact opposite of an American
[4:57:25] motorcycle. The brakes and the clutch
[4:57:27] are on opposite sides. So I ran the red
[4:57:30] light at daily drive and Carman Drive
[4:57:33] and almost got t-boned. I never rode a
[4:57:37] bike of his again. I got my own. Those
[4:57:40] who know Daniel remember his legendary
[4:57:42] stories and they were legendary. Um his
[4:57:46] laugh out loud shaggy dog tales that he
[4:57:49] always told. He had a way of making
[4:57:50] everyone around him feel like the most
[4:57:52] important person in the rule in the in
[4:57:54] the room. Daniel's impact on Cameo and
[4:57:58] beyond is immeasurable. His life was a
[4:58:00] story of generosity, adventure, and
[4:58:03] grace. His memory will live on to
[4:58:07] everybody that he touched in his life.
[4:58:10] There will be a memorial service for
[4:58:12] Daniel later this summer, but in lie of
[4:58:15] flowers, the family is asking for
[4:58:17] donations to be made to the Daniel
[4:58:19] Shonwald Memorial Fund at the Camrio
[4:58:22] Sunrise Rotary Foundation. Uh Daniel,
[4:58:25] Godspeed and enjoy the ride, my friend,
[4:58:28] because I know you're riding a
[4:58:30] motorcycle somewhere. Thank you.
[4:58:33] Thank you. Very very well said. So with
[4:58:35] that we will adjourn in the memory of
[4:58:37] Daniel Shaenwald.