[0:18] I would like to call this meeting of the Camrio City Council and Camaro Sanitary

[0:24] District of April 8th, 2026 to order. Would our city clerk please call the

[0:30] role? >> Council member Santangelo

[0:33] » here. >> Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo

[0:35] » here. >> Council member Kildy

[0:37] » here. Council member Trembley >> here.

[0:40] » Mayor Tennyson >> here. We have a close session item and

[0:44] if the city attorney would read the item,

[0:46] » I would be appreciative. >> Uh, thank you, mayor and council. We

[0:49] have one item on close session, the OPV Coalition versus Fox Canyon Groundwater

[0:54] Management, pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9D1.

[1:00] And if there's any reportable action, I'll make that report.

[1:03] » Thank you. And with that, we will we we will recess to close session and be back

[1:07] at 5:00 him.

[32:19] We will reconvene the Camrio City Council meeting, Camrio Sanitary

[32:24] District meeting of April 8th, 2026. And I would like the record to reflect

[32:31] that all council members are still present. None of them ran away.

[32:37] Um, I'm going to ask Mr. Trembley to lead us in the pledge.

[32:43] » Would you please join me in the >> Pledge of Allegiance to the flag?

[32:46] » I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic

[32:52] for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[32:58] justice for all.

[33:05] » Thank you, Mr. Mr. Trembley, are there any changes to this evening's

[33:10] agenda? Seeing none, we will move on. We have a

[33:16] presentation tonight from the CEO of the Museum of Ventura County, Elena Brokaw.

[33:22] But before she steps up and talks, I'd also like to recognize board members

[33:27] from the Museum of Ventura County, Mr. Jim Scanland. Welcome. Uh, Mr. David

[33:33] Fukatomi, a member of a longtime Fukatomi family here in Camrio and his

[33:39] eminence, the president ameritus of California State University, Channel

[33:45] Islands, Dr. Richard Rush. So, welcome Elena. Please come forward. The time is

[33:50] yours.

[33:53] » Thank you so much, Mayor, Vice Mayor,

[33:59] » uh, >> No, there it is. Mayor, Vice Mayor, all

[34:03] council members, city manager, city staff, everybody at home. Thank you so

[34:06] much for allowing us to come here to present tonight. As the mayor said, my

[34:10] name is Elena Broka. I'm the Barbara Barnard Smith CEO of the Museum of

[34:14] Ventura County, and I'm here to share a little bit of uh what we do with you.

[34:19] So, for those of you who don't know, we are an art, history, and culture museum.

[34:23] We were founded over a hundred years ago. We have uh four sites, two in

[34:28] downtown Ventura, one in Santa Paula, and newly an office suite here in Camaro

[34:33] about a mile, mile and a half from here. We are guided by the wisdom of our

[34:40] incredible board of directors. Thank you, mayor, for introducing the three

[34:44] Camaro Rio residents who are here tonight. Uh Dr. Rush, uh David Fukatomi,

[34:49] and Jim Scanlin. We also have over a hundred voluntary adviserss. These

[34:54] people are from all over the county and they are the ones who guide the museum

[34:58] and all that it does. So that's who we are. Here's what we do. We collect our

[35:04] artifacts and archives in order to guard the

[35:09] unique identity of our region, the region of Ventura County.

[35:15] Um for uh our goal here is to make everything as available as possible. I

[35:19] just want to point out this. This is a site on our library and archives where

[35:23] you can go and look up digitized files. Seven years ago, we had zero things

[35:27] digitized. Now we have over 8,000. We use those collections to create exhibits

[35:33] in our six galleries that we have across the county. We have rotating exhibits

[35:38] there. Um we our goal is to bring as many people as possible and to that end

[35:44] we have made the museum entirely free. We're able to do that through

[35:47] sponsorships, which is almost quadrupled our attendance at all of our sites. And

[35:52] this is who comes to the museum. We have about twothirds of our attendance from

[35:56] Ventura County and then about 25% from other places in the state and 8% from

[36:01] outside of the state, including international visitors. We're an

[36:05] educational institution. Education is very important to what we do. We provide

[36:10] school tours free for all Title One schools for second and third graders. We

[36:15] have bus subsidies. We've realized that that is one of the biggest barriers to

[36:19] getting kids to our site. So, with a recent grant, we are now able to provide

[36:24] free busing for every Title One school who wants to come. Um, we're very, very

[36:29] thankful to a grant that we got a few years ago, which created a paid

[36:33] internship program starting with students here from Cal State University,

[36:38] Channel Islands. Many thanks to the president, Emmeritus, for helping us

[36:42] with that. All of those interns are paid a living wage, which right now is $204

[36:47] an hour. Our goal is to get students who have to work in to do something that's

[36:52] going to be a career pathway for them. And this is where we are doing our

[36:59] education and engagement. This represents where we have tours, where we

[37:02] have interns coming from, where we have scholarships, and as you can see, it's

[37:05] all over the county. So these collections uh exhibits programs and

[37:09] education all serve the museum's foundational principles which are these.

[37:16] Our mission is to engage participants in meaningful experiences and our vision is

[37:22] to build community and connection. And one of the ways that we build that

[37:27] connection is to highlight our shared history. And to that end, tonight I

[37:32] would like to use our collections to help all of us understand the city of

[37:36] Camaro, how who it was, and why it came to be the way that it is today. So

[37:42] before we begin with my little history lesson, I'd like to say that everything

[37:46] that I'm sharing with you comes from the museum's archives, the library, and the

[37:49] publications. All the photos are from our collection. So I'm going to start

[37:54] with a little short history. This will be really quick. Um, we all learned this

[37:59] like in fourth grade, but I don't know about you, that was a while ago for me,

[38:02] so I think we need a refresher. Since pre-recorded history, this has been the

[38:06] home to indigenous uh people. Here it's the Chumash. There were at least three

[38:10] Chumash villages here in what is now Camaro. In 1542, a sailor named Cababrio

[38:17] came here, visited the coastline, coastline. Yeah. coastline and took this

[38:22] whole region including Mexico and all of California up into Oregon and further

[38:26] east as a part a new colony of Spain. In 1769

[38:33] the missions began to be erected here in California and Spain began to colonize

[38:37] this area. In 1824, the Mexican people revolted against

[38:44] Spain and miraculously they won just like the revolution over on the other

[38:49] side of the country. It was incredible. So from 1824 until 1848 where we are

[38:55] standing right now, we were in the country of Mexico. In 1848 there was

[39:00] another war with the United States. The United States won that time. We became

[39:04] part of the United States which we remain today. And in 1850, we became a

[39:08] state. Okay, no test on that, but that's a little bit of history to kind of There

[39:13] you go. Mayor's got it. To kind of establish where we are in time.

[39:18] So when Mexico had governance of this area, they were very e eager to populate

[39:24] the region because they didn't want it to be taken from them. There were

[39:27] English, there were French, there were Russians, all who wanted this territory.

[39:31] And one of the ways that they did that, they lured people to come here is they

[39:36] provided ranchos, these large land grants. So the Mexican governor,

[39:40] California governor rather, who was uh appointed by the president of Mexico,

[39:44] would award land grants to people. They could be soldiers who'd done something

[39:49] great. They could be, you know, somebody who had married their nephew, whatever,

[39:52] or niece rather it. Yeah. Because there were no women who were rancheros. Sorry,

[39:57] there was one. Uh so 19 ranchos were established in Ventura County and they

[40:02] roughly correspond to the cities that we have today. Can you all see that on your

[40:08] screens? You can probably see it a little bit better, but you can see it

[40:11] there. And most of the Here's the ranchos, the 19 ranchos. They're huge.

[40:15] Most of the cities are much smaller than the original ranchos were. And part of

[40:20] the reason for that is that in the 1860s7s and 80s almost all of the

[40:25] ranchos were sold and almost all of the new owners subdivided them and sold them

[40:30] off into small lots. So you had one ranchera who owned let's say 50,000

[40:35] acres that was all turned into little 100 acre lots and then you had first

[40:39] tens and then scores and then hundreds and then thousands of owners in a spot

[40:43] that had been owned by one person. But that is not the case in one rancho and

[40:48] that rancho is Rancho Kayagus and we're standing right now on what was Rancho

[40:54] Kayagus. In 1837 the California governor granted 10,000 acres to Jose Pedro Ruiz

[41:02] and that was Rancho Cayas and now mo most of that rancho is the city of

[41:08] Camaro as you can see. So what happened here? Why is Camaro actually larger?

[41:13] It's 50% larger than it was when it was Rancho Cayas as opposed to all the other

[41:18] cities. There are a lot of things that led to that, but one critical factor is

[41:22] who bought Rancho Cayas from Jose Pedro Ruiz. And that person was a Mexican

[41:28] immigrant named Juan Camaro. So Juan Camaro had come up from Mexico City in

[41:34] 1834. He was on a specific expedition filled with teachers to educate the new

[41:40] kids that were being born in this newly populated area. When he came up here, he

[41:45] became very wealthy because he did not become a teacher. Spoiler alert. Uh he

[41:50] became a merchant. He had stores in Santa Barbara and in Ventura. And by

[41:54] 1875, he was ready to expand his holdings. And he purchased Rancho Gyas

[42:00] from the family of Don of Jose Pedro Ruiz. That family had used the rancho to

[42:07] raise livestock as almost all the ranchos did. But extreme weather events

[42:12] in the 1860s ended the livestock industry in Ventura County and the

[42:17] rancheros had to sell their property. So in 1875, the Ruiz family sold 10,000

[42:23] acres to Juan Ramirez for $3,000, which by the way is worth about $81,000

[42:31] now. And that was pretty much the going rate that they were going for. Juan Crio

[42:36] did not have long to appreciate his new purchase. He bought it in 1875. He died

[42:40] in 1880, leaving the management to his 16-year-old son, Adulo Camaro.

[42:50] Adulo co-owned, managed, and lived on the rancho from 1880 until his death in

[42:56] 1958, which is almost 80 years. He used it to grow dry crops. He grew wheat,

[43:02] barley, limema beans. Here he is in the middle finding a new artisian well on

[43:08] his property. Uh by 1909, the LA Times wrote that Rancho Kayagus was the

[43:14] largest bean ranch in the world. It was very successful. In 1892, he was able to

[43:20] build what came what has come to be known as the Camrio Ranch House for his

[43:24] growing family. By all accounts, Adulo and his brother Juan were extremely

[43:29] generous and benevolent employers, land owners, etc. They donated hundreds of

[43:35] acres of property, for roads, for schools, for churches, uh for the

[43:42] railroad, and for much more. And their solo ownership of this huge

[43:48] piece of property, 10,000 piece acre piece of property, meant that they

[43:52] controlled who moved there. So people were moving into the land right around

[43:56] it. Like Springville was not part of Rancho Cayas and so homesteaders were

[44:00] moving in there and there were some people around the edges but nobody was

[44:03] moving on to the rancho unless they were employers or family members of Adulo

[44:07] Juan and his family. And you can see they managed all the growth and they

[44:13] liked it like that. So you can see that from this postcard that we have. This is

[44:20] a postcard from Camaro spelled karmo. I just noticed that in 1927.

[44:26] This is downtown Camaro. Now, let's compare this to this photo downtown in

[44:34] 1905. Over 20 years earlier, anybody want to

[44:38] guess what city this is? This teeming metropolis.

[44:42] » Sopa. >> Santa.

[44:43] » Santa Paula. >> Santa Paula.

[44:45] » Santa Paula. There you go. Uh so it was not until Adulo Camaro died

[44:50] in 1958 that the community really grew. Two years after his death, the chamber

[44:55] of commerce formed an incorporation committee and in 19 Well, you know, it's

[44:59] all over, right? In 1964, Camaro was incorporated and then it

[45:04] starts taking off. So I'm going to skip through. I hope to talk a little bit

[45:08] more, but I'm not going to be able to talk about this. This is a population

[45:11] chart starts in 1910 before we have any census data for Camaro, but it shows how

[45:17] the cities grow. And I want you to sort of watch Camaro, which is right here now

[45:22] cuz we're talking to you. See how it goes up and down. And you'll start you

[45:26] see the numbers start to get there in about the mid60s.

[45:30] So Ventura's largest, Oxnard, and then whoop, Santa Paula overtakes Oxnard,

[45:35] which always blows everybody's mind. Oxnard goes up there to the top and

[45:39] stays there. Here we go. Camaro starts growing.

[45:43] Now it goes really fast. I'm going to share this power. You already have the

[45:47] PowerPoint so you can actually watch it on your own. But if you go back and look

[45:51] at it between 1970 and 1980, Camaro grows by 350% that decade. And uh

[45:58] relatively Oxnard less than doubles. So that 1970 1980 just been incorporated.

[46:04] It had not grown at all. That is when everything happens and that is what

[46:07] creates the type of city that you have today. So I want to be very clear that

[46:12] this is only one piece of the puzzle that went into creating this city that

[46:17] you call Camaro. There are other people that established Camaro. I talked about

[46:21] the homesteaders around the country that around the borders of the Rancho

[46:24] Kayagas. There are other events that happen. You're very lucky here in this

[46:28] town. You have other historical associations. They have also collected

[46:33] history. the Pleasant Valley Historical Society, the Camrio Ranch House

[46:36] Foundation, they also have source materials that can tell even more of

[46:41] this story and tell other aspects of this story. Um, I do want to say that we

[46:46] share their goal to protect and preserve these records, these artifacts, um,

[46:51] these uh, archives, and our hope is to complement what they have with what we

[46:56] have. I'm really happy and proud to be able to share that the Camrio Ranch

[47:00] House Foundation and the Museum of Ventura County are in conversations to

[47:05] accession some of their archives in order to protect them and get them into

[47:09] climate controlled environment in order to make sure that they are here in the

[47:13] future. So, in closing, I want to thank you for letting me tell this story, talk

[47:18] about who the museum is, and I do want to say I have an ask.

[47:22] So, I've talked about, you know, the history over a past 175 years. One thing

[47:28] I hope we take away is that it wasn't always this way, and it won't always be

[47:31] this way. It's going to look very different. You were incorporated 60

[47:35] years ago. And our goal is to collect our history now so that 60 years from

[47:39] now, none of us is going to be here. But somebody will be wondering what happened

[47:43] to create the community that we know then. And our goal is to gather that and

[47:48] protect it. So I have a few requests that I would like to make of you which

[47:52] is to help us identify oral history participants to help us identify

[47:57] partners who can both share their history with us and help us expand the

[48:03] storytelling that we are able to do. So this is our ask to you to help us

[48:08] connect the past, present and future. We would love to partner with you formally,

[48:12] informally, whatever it might be to help share the story of our of this city and

[48:18] of our entire region. And that's it. Thank you.

[48:21] » Thank you. >> Thank you, Elena. Before I open it up to

[48:24] council, I just want to congratulate you on being named woman of the year by

[48:31] Senator Monnique Leone. Congratulations. Welld deserved. Now, any council

[48:37] members?

[48:40] Vice Mayor, >> I actually have a question and a

[48:44] comment. The first question is, oh, actually, I'll start with a comment. Uh,

[48:48] thank you so much for you said community and connection. You are building that.

[48:53] That is you as the leader, but also your board and the fact that you're just

[48:59] doing such amazing work. I'm personally so proud of that. And the mayor kind of

[49:03] took the words out of my mouth, too. But I, you know, I'm so proud that you were

[49:08] also uh selected as one of the five women of the year by Senator Prom

[49:13] Monique Leone. And I mentioned that at last at our last council meeting, but

[49:17] I'm glad to share that with you in person as well. Yes. Um the question

[49:21] that I have is have you formed any partnerships with Kitstream Emerging

[49:27] Children's Museum and also with the Pleasant Valley Historical Society? We I

[49:32] meet with Michael fairly reg Michael Shanklin uh the ED of the of Kids

[49:37] Stream. So we are we've taken tours. He's taken tours of ours. We are very

[49:42] » we're very much like whenever you're ready for a partnership let's have a

[49:45] partnership. So and he knows that our resources are there to help him in

[49:48] whatever way and vice versa. So we don't have a specific partnership yet.

[49:53] Pleasant Valley Historical Society. I have gone and done a tour of the program

[49:57] before of the museum before they closed it and I've been in touch with Joy Todd

[50:03] recently just to say let's get together and let's see how we can work together.

[50:08] So nothing specific yet but conversations are open.

[50:11] » Okay. Well, thank you so much and thank you for everything that you do. Truly

[50:14] appreciate it. >> Go ahead Mr. Kildy. Speaking of history

[50:19] » quickly, Mr. K. >> Oh, thank you. Thanks for being here.

[50:24] look forward to working with you really closely. Um, I was able to go, I think

[50:29] it was a major funders you had last year and I had a really good time and I was

[50:33] able to tour the museum and you've done some pretty incredible work there and

[50:38] you have a great board of directors and a lot of support. So, uh, any way we can

[50:43] help you, you know, achieve your goals, of course, we're we're always here to to

[50:47] help in any way, shape, or form. So, and congratulations on your award. Happy for

[50:51] you. >> Thank you.

[50:54] Susan, >> thank you so much for being here

[50:57] tonight. Um, you know, you shared that um you shared your mission with with us

[51:02] and what stood out to me was that um you want to engage in meaningful experiences

[51:07] and so I wanted to thank you for bringing your mission here tonight. um

[51:11] because that was pretty meaningful for me to have a a short little history

[51:15] lesson to go back in time and relive my fourth grade um memories about the

[51:21] missions and and um you know the land that we live in today. So, thank you for

[51:25] the work you do and congratulations on your award.

[51:28] » Thank you, >> Mr. Trembley.

[51:31] » Oh, boy. We have a kind of a tradition on the council that if if uh our

[51:35] colleagues have already said what we were going to say, we don't extend our

[51:39] remarks. we just simply say ditto. Um I that would be uncharacteristic

[51:43] uncharacteristically succinct for me though. I'm going to say one or two

[51:46] things and then say ditto. First of all, I'm really delighted that the museum has

[51:51] offices now in Camaro. Um I am thankful to the museum and to the board of

[51:56] directors for the foresight uh and the work and the efforts uh that you've made

[52:01] in preserving our our local history. Um I think we all know what the importance

[52:07] of the museum is. So whatever we can do I see let's see 1 2 3 4 five six seven I

[52:12] think there are eight bullets here so we should we should talk about all those

[52:16] asks and >> thank you

[52:18] » thank you >> and just to bring it back to Camrio you

[52:22] have office space what do you envision for that just office space or do you

[52:28] guys as a organization and a board have a greater vision for your presence in

[52:33] Camaro >> we have lot this board has lots of

[52:35] vision as you can imagine >> realistic big dreams. Um, our goal, so

[52:39] we are out of space to collect, which is one of the reasons we're focusing on

[52:43] oral histories because they are digital, right? They don't need physical space.

[52:47] They need cloud space. Um, and we have to expand our collections. So, right

[52:52] now, we are exploring expanding our entire collections here into Camaro and

[52:59] moving what we would call our research center. So, all of our collections, our

[53:03] reading room, our archives, everything is centrally located. We're really close

[53:08] to two institution, three if you can Oxard College institutions of higher

[53:12] learning. Um we feel like we can really expand our mission if we are located

[53:16] here. So that's our big dream. >> And what's the size of your footprint

[53:20] right now in Camrio? >> Right now we're in 45 4,000 square feet

[53:24] of office space and we are looking at 18,000 square feet of office space.

[53:28] » Great. >> Or space, excuse me, space.

[53:31] » Space. Yeah. Well, thank you very much, Elena, and thank you to your board

[53:35] members that took out of their busy schedule instead of going to Ralph

[53:40] shopping. Uh, Dr. Rush is here. Um, I appreciate that. Have a wonderful

[53:45] evening. >> Thank you.

[53:47] » Thank you, Elena.

[53:54] » You're allowed to leave now, Dr. Rush, if you'd like.

[54:00] » Thank you, Mr.

[54:05] Madame clerk, do we have any speakers on any items not on the agenda?

[54:12] » Yes, there are six requests to speak under general comments. If you'd like to

[54:16] speak but haven't submitted your name, please see clerk staff in the foyer.

[54:20] Each speaker is limited to three minutes. The city council will receive

[54:24] general public comment for an initial period of 20 minutes. Speakers who sign

[54:28] up during the initial 20 minute public comment period but are not heard within

[54:32] that time will be given an opportunity to speak following the completion of

[54:37] action on all other agenda items. Your time will be displayed with the video on

[54:42] the displays. When your time is up, the microphone will be muted and we will

[54:46] move on to the next speaker. When I call your name, please come up to the podium.

[54:51] The first speaker is Spencer Richie followed by Diana Bradley.

[55:14] Welcome, Spencer. >> Hello.

[55:18] All right. Fine. Hi, I am Spencer Richie. Um good evening to you all. Um

[55:30] few few different things. Um one tiny little correction to the the

[55:36] presentation. Um as lovely as it was. Um, so in reality,

[55:44] um, Ranchic Kayagus' western border was actually

[55:50] basically just west of what of an of what is now um, Lewis.

[56:00] Um, what we are standing in now is actually

[56:07] um, it's called the Gore. it it's often called the gore after like a cut of

[56:11] fabric, but basically where Springville and was and where most of Camrio is now,

[56:17] including us, that was in the um basically that triangle just to Rancho

[56:23] Cayas's west that ended up the the reason that was open to homesteaders was

[56:30] because that ended up not making it into um any of the land grants that were

[56:38] registered by first the Mexican government and then the US government.

[56:43] Um anyway, so on to the the meat and potatoes of

[56:49] but again, thank you for the Ventura County Museum and I could not be happier

[56:54] that it plans to one day move its research center to Cam Rio because

[56:58] getting to downtown Ventures is hard for me as someone who can't drive especially

[57:02] because our public transit is lacking. All right, now to my main concern. So,

[57:08] as of 9:20 a.m. on April 6th, so 2 days ago, Monday, um, ICE has so far, again,

[57:17] as of 9:20 a.m. on Monday, April 6th, 2 days ago, ICE has kidnapped

[57:24] from the 805 area code 1,824

[57:29] people. ICE has kidnapped 889 people from Ventura County so far. And from

[57:37] Camaro alone, it has kidnapped 471 people. Um, again, these are neighbors,

[57:46] these are students, these are workers and these are our tax base. Um,

[57:55] you know, since you know, you like people paying taxes and stuff. Um, so

[58:01] again, you know, not even scolding VCSO for picking up people who have just been

[58:08] released from our jails, like no, letting ICE do that. And also, like not

[58:16] even tolerating people just observing ICE, that's not great. Please do better.

[58:21] Thank you. Have a nice day. >> Thank you, Spencer.

[58:25] » Welcome. The next speaker is Diana Bradley,

[58:29] followed by Jordan Blake.

[58:34] » Welcome, Diana. >> Thank you. Which one do I use? This one.

[58:39] » Either one. >> Okay. Hello. Oh, good. Um, hi. Um, I

[58:46] attended your council meeting uh two weeks ago, March 25th, hoping to

[58:53] see the Camaro mobile home rent stabilization ordinance passed. That did

[58:59] not happen. Council members Santangelo and Martinez Bravo are the committee

[59:06] members pursuing this ordinance to help us mobile home mobile home owners who

[59:13] are subject to unfair land lease raises by park owners.

[59:20] Their committee has done extensive research over the last year. They

[59:25] provided verified statistics that IPG is gouging their tenants.

[59:32] The land rent chart that was displayed by the committee. Really all you need to

[59:38] know about the park owner IPG. They raise their land rents without a care

[59:44] about their senior tenants, which I am one, and their lower income and family

[59:50] tenants. I personally know of two senior tenants in the past three years who had

[59:56] to just walk away from their homes. One is now living in his car.

[1:00:02] Uh the two female council members voted in favor and all three of the male

[1:00:06] members opposed, noting that they wanted changes to the draft ordinance,

[1:00:12] primarily, it's my understanding, to the vacancy control, which is the ability

[1:00:17] for park owners to raise land leases substantially to potential buyers.

[1:00:24] Ventura County Parks limit vacancy increases to 15%

[1:00:30] once every four years and Ventura city parks do not allow increases to a new

[1:00:36] tenant. The mobile homeowners want to protect

[1:00:40] their home equity. This ordinance can protect the equity of 500 homeowners

[1:00:47] that have built in Camaro's mobile home parks. The loss of our home equity, I

[1:00:53] think, is directly tied to the vacancy control. We're asking you to pass this

[1:00:59] ordinance, protect our equity by limiting park owners raising land rents

[1:01:05] exorbitantly to potential buyers during sales and transitions.

[1:01:10] Controlling vacancy increases is a priority for mobile home owners.

[1:01:17] Homeowners need monthly rent stabilization as well to protect our

[1:01:22] seniors living on fixed income. We mobile homeowners and tenants

[1:01:27] respectfully ask the city council to pass this rent stabilization ordinance.

[1:01:34] Thank you. >> Thank you,

[1:01:42] » Jordan Blake followed by Shirley Edwards.

[1:01:51] Welcome, Jordan. >> Oh, thank you. Hello. Thank you very

[1:01:54] much for taking the time to listen to the issue regarding the rent control and

[1:01:59] vacancy rate. Um, I guess I'll read a little and speak a little. Um, Camaro

[1:02:05] prides itself on taking care of the senior community. However,

[1:02:08] unfortunately, without ordinances, the rent control and vacancy rates uh has

[1:02:14] directly affected the senior community and mobile home parks are traditionally

[1:02:20] fixed income communities. They are crucial for affordable housing and

[1:02:24] should be a lowerc cost path to home ownership for lowincome residents and

[1:02:28] seniors. So, the lack of ordinance in the city's law has allowed landlords to

[1:02:33] take advantage of the v vulnerable lowincome and senior communities because

[1:02:38] there's no rent control or vacancy measures in place. The rents have

[1:02:41] skyrocketed as you know. And uh if the city adopts uh like a 6 or

[1:02:50] 10% uh vacancy rate like you were talking about at the last meeting, the

[1:02:55] new new rents, the landlords will most certainly increase to the maximum. Um

[1:03:00] because the rents are already higher than the LA City and Thousand Oaks

[1:03:05] areas, adding six or 10% to the vacancy rate would be ultimately a much higher

[1:03:10] rent than the other 55 and older senior parks. and also just other mobile home

[1:03:15] parks in general of all ages. Um, so I propose that we do some type of sliding

[1:03:22] scale where maybe the first or second year is at 0% and then you go years two

[1:03:29] and three to 2% and then 4% ultimately ending up around 7%. And I think that

[1:03:36] this graduated increase, you know, would no longer allow the rents to be

[1:03:41] increased 20 to 50% when a home sells, which is what's happening now. You know,

[1:03:46] you you're paying a,000 and then the rent is 260 to the new prospective buyer

[1:03:52] plus three times, you know, income for a senior. Uh, and I think that's it. What

[1:03:59] I want to say to what the prior um person had spoken about is that the

[1:04:05] vacancy rate is directly affecting the sales. um the comparables if you pull

[1:04:11] for the last five years in like Camaro Mobile Estates versus Casadel Norte

[1:04:16] which is far less and also uh Rancho Adulo which has 11 landown uh I mean our

[1:04:23] park-owned spaces that they rent and their rent there is only $15.95 in

[1:04:28] Rancho Adulo including the homeowners and all of those sell for much higher uh

[1:04:34] the average for Camaro Mobile estates I think was like 97,000 000. Kasa del

[1:04:39] Norte was like 137,000. Lamp lighter was like 237. But I think that's because

[1:04:46] it's, you know, all ages and uh, you know, they have two incomes versus

[1:04:50] Camaro Mobile Home Estates, which is for, you know, seniors and elderly.

[1:04:55] Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Jordan.

[1:05:00] » Shirley Edwards, followed by Sid Hearth Medra.

[1:05:08] Welcome, ma'am. >> Hello. I'm Shirley Edwards. I live in

[1:05:10] the Mobile Home Park here in Camaro. And I rise in support of the rent ordinance,

[1:05:16] stabilization ordinance, including vacancy control. And I urge all council

[1:05:21] members to vote positive on this when it comes up for the next uh voting process.

[1:05:26] I say ditto to the last two speakers because I agree with everything they

[1:05:31] said. um an an owner in a mobile home park

[1:05:36] like me for instance on a fixed income. If I wanted to sell my home, I uh may

[1:05:42] have to devalue it in order to be able to sell because new owners are very

[1:05:46] turned off by the high land rent. My place will probably go very much higher

[1:05:52] a month than it is now. My lease expires at the end of the month and I'm at the

[1:05:57] end of this year, I'm sorry. And I'm very concerned about what the price is

[1:06:01] going to be. Am I going to be able to pay it? What are my options going to be?

[1:06:06] Sell hopefully or walk away. Those are the options. So, I strongly request that

[1:06:11] you vote for the rent stabilization ordinance with vacancy control to help

[1:06:17] protect those of us who live in the city and devote a lot of volunteer time to

[1:06:21] the city of Camaro. Thank you very much. >> Thank you.

[1:06:28] Sidarth Medroa followed by DVO Brown.

[1:06:41] » Welcome,

[1:06:44] » council. Fellow citizens, I believe the speakers before me have

[1:06:50] spoken most wisely of all. I add my voice to theirs to all their remarks and

[1:06:56] I add this also. Council, we are coming to you for protection.

[1:07:01] Protection from being turned out of house and home in some cases.

[1:07:06] Protection from being attacked, abducted, bullied, beaten, carried away

[1:07:12] to a face it worse than death in the other. Protection in a third case from

[1:07:19] pollution and the excessive heat. it is imposing on this city as well.

[1:07:25] These things these things are the largest troubles

[1:07:29] our nation faces and our city as well. We come to you asking for your aid in

[1:07:36] putting an end to them. Above all, perhaps most urgently, all

[1:07:42] three of these must be done. But most urgently,

[1:07:46] ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as they call themselves,

[1:07:50] the occupying force invading and threatening us.

[1:07:55] The invading force imprisoning people merely for looking at them, as Spencer

[1:07:59] pointed out, why they must stop and they must go.

[1:08:04] They must stop all they are doing and they must go from this city, from this

[1:08:09] county, from this state never to return.

[1:08:14] That is the bare minimum. The bare minimum any city must offer its

[1:08:20] people the safety

[1:08:24] and the confidence of a place to call home. If these threats of high rent

[1:08:29] occupying armies and and pollution continue, we shall have none of these.

[1:08:34] We shall not even have a city, the the borders of this land have been,

[1:08:39] as our executive of the museum pointed out, been drawn and redrawn many times

[1:08:44] over the years, and they may be redrawn again. But

[1:08:48] there's no cause to mistreat our own people on those grounds. whether those

[1:08:52] borders are drawn by nations or landlords.

[1:08:58] When I have said that, I have said everything.

[1:09:03] Pollution and and high rent and and customs

[1:09:09] enforcement as they call it must stop and must go. That is all.

[1:09:14] » Thank you, >> DVO Brown.

[1:09:26] Welcome, sir. >> Thank you, sir, very much. Uh, Mr.

[1:09:29] Mayor, I appreciate it. Vice Mayor, council members,

[1:09:34] Mr. Ramirez, city manager, and all the amazing city staff. Um, I don't say

[1:09:39] those terms lightly. It's not uh just a gentle colloquialism. It's a truly an

[1:09:43] expression of my opinion of everyone on this das. I appreciate it. Um, I'm of

[1:09:49] course talking to you what I always talk to you about. So far the last several

[1:09:52] times we've spoken. Um, but I have a couple of new thoughts. I'm not going to

[1:09:55] beat you with uh figures and and those sorts of things.

[1:10:01] It's just Well, I'm going to give you a couple just a couple. Um, the main

[1:10:06] figure that I was thinking of is um

[1:10:11] well, it really has to do with with vacancy control. And I think that's

[1:10:17] what we were discussing. The three non uh ad hoc members of the council were

[1:10:22] really really drilling down on last time at the last meeting.

[1:10:27] The thing that I didn't hear any of you mention, I heard all of you mention

[1:10:31] return on investment for the park owner many times and I noticed in the uh

[1:10:37] agenda report it's mentioned 17 times return on investment. I also understand

[1:10:41] that it's a state law that it has to be there and I find that your due diligence

[1:10:46] is refreshing because that tells me your due diligence on things that we don't

[1:10:49] discuss is probably just as high and I appreciate that. So when I say thank you

[1:10:52] for your service, I'm thanking you for that attention to detail as well. The

[1:10:56] one detail that wasn't attended to that I haven't heard yet, it's not in the

[1:11:01] it's not in the the ordinance itself, which by the way does mention return on

[1:11:04] investment for the park owner 12 times was return on investment for the

[1:11:09] homeowners. In this particular place, in this

[1:11:12] particular situation, there are two owners for every every parcel, if you

[1:11:18] will. There's the land owner and then there's the homeowner. Now, a standard

[1:11:22] stick and mortar home, it's one owner. the one owner owns both the home and the

[1:11:28] land. In this instance, there's two. Now, I don't know if you know this or

[1:11:31] not, but I I like to I don't know if you know any American Sign Language, but

[1:11:35] there's a symbol for fair because fair return is the the term that's used quite

[1:11:40] a bit. The term fair in American Sign Language is this.

[1:11:44] Okay, it's um sign language is kind of a visual anamapia, anamanopia, but um what

[1:11:50] that means is there's two entities and they meet at a level ground. And so far

[1:11:55] what I've noticed is the uh the particular inside of this that has the

[1:12:01] most money gets the most fair. They get the most mention of the term fair. And

[1:12:06] the ones that have the least amount of money, the individual homeowners aren't

[1:12:10] getting the term fair toward our return at all. It hasn't been mentioned. I'm

[1:12:15] hoping it's being considered after I speak to you today. That's the least I

[1:12:20] can tell you. Um, that's really all I wanted to mention is that I feel like

[1:12:24] we're being left out. Um, collectively the homeowners in the city.

[1:12:30] I'm out of time. Thanks for letting me share.

[1:12:32] » Thank you very much.

[1:12:38] » There are no more speakers. >> Thank you very much. We will move on to

[1:12:42] council staff and intergovernmental reports.

[1:12:45] And I would like to write um welcome Mr. Gerardo Gonzalez

[1:12:51] with Interface 211. Welcome.

[1:12:56] » Uh, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council members, and city manager. Thank

[1:13:00] you for excuse me, having me here today. I'm Hero Gonzalez, community information

[1:13:06] associate director with interface 211. And I'm here to share how uh 211 has

[1:13:12] been supporting Camrio residents throughout this past year.

[1:13:17] For those who may be unfamiliar with our services, uh 211 Ventura County operates

[1:13:23] under interface children and family services based out of uh Camaro. Uh we

[1:13:27] serve as a countywide information and referral hub linking residents to more

[1:13:33] than 2,000 health and human service resources uh throughout the region. Uh

[1:13:38] last year in 2025, we received over 18,000 calls and texts, and our website

[1:13:44] welcomed more than 25,000 visitors. Uh each of these interactions represents

[1:13:48] someone funding their way to the services and the help that they need. Uh

[1:13:52] in 2026, we celebrate over 20 years of providing uh 21 services to the

[1:13:58] community. Uh 211 represents just one part of

[1:14:02] Interface's broader mission. Interface runs 30 distinct programs across six

[1:14:07] core departments. Uh domestic violence and child abuse prevention, human

[1:14:12] trafficking prevention and intervention, uh justice services, mental health and

[1:14:16] trauma treatment, and youth crisis and homeless uh services.

[1:14:23] This broader network allows us to be able to direct refer to our interface

[1:14:29] programs for uh individuals who uh can benefit from our services.

[1:14:37] Uh 211 stands as the county's most extensive and comprehensive information

[1:14:43] and referral resource for residents seeking help. Our team assists callers

[1:14:48] in locating and accessing uh the service that the services that they require from

[1:14:54] housing to food programs, mental health support to legal aid. We're available

[1:14:59] 247 every day of the year, understanding that urgent needs don't wait for

[1:15:04] convenient hours.

[1:15:07] Accessibility is central to our mission. Residents can connect with us in three

[1:15:12] simple methods, and that's by dialing 211, texting. their zip code 2898211

[1:15:18] or visiting our website at 211ventura.org.

[1:15:22] Regardless of how someone uh connects with us, they'll be connected to a

[1:15:26] trained community information navigator. Uh now I'd like to share some specific

[1:15:31] data about how we served uh Camrio residents in 2025. So we took 1,59

[1:15:39] calls uh from Camrio residents throughout the year. Uh let me give you

[1:15:43] some context around this figure. uh a significant number of our Camaro callers

[1:15:48] reach out to us more than once. So the actual count of unique individuals is

[1:15:53] lower than the 1,59. Uh what this shows us is that residents

[1:15:59] trust 211 enough to come back when they need additional uh support. Someone

[1:16:04] might contact us initially about finding housing and then give us a call back a

[1:16:09] few weeks later when they need mental health services or perhaps give us a

[1:16:12] call a third time when they need uh food assistance. Uh we collect demographic

[1:16:18] information from every caller to help us understand community needs and trends

[1:16:23] which is why you're seeing the total call volume rather than a count of

[1:16:27] unique individuals.

[1:16:35] Uh looking at the demographics of those that we served, uh 457 were first-time

[1:16:40] callers to 211. 105 were families with children under 5 years old. 22 callers

[1:16:46] indicated the person in need was pregnant. 100 calls pertained to someone

[1:16:51] who reported they were at risk of becoming homeless. And 142 calls pertain

[1:16:56] to someone who reported that they were currently homeless. Uh you know these

[1:17:00] numbers give us a snapshot of some of the challenges facing some of our Camaro

[1:17:04] neighbors within the context of 211 um particularly around housing stability

[1:17:09] and the need for comprehensive family support.

[1:17:14] Behind each of these calls is a real person uh navigating a difficult

[1:17:18] situation. Uh let me share an example with you. A few months ago, we received

[1:17:23] a call from a Camaro resident, uh, let's call her Sarah, uh, facing a crisis that

[1:17:28] was affecting her entire family. Her 15-year-old son had been refusing to go

[1:17:33] to to go to school, uh, becoming verbally abusive at home and showing

[1:17:37] signs of serious uh, mental health struggles. Sarah had contacted the

[1:17:42] school and they referred her to a mental health provider. but she was overwhelmed

[1:17:46] trying to navigate the mental health system while also managing her own

[1:17:50] stress and anxiety about her son's well-being.

[1:17:56] Uh when Sarah called 211, our navigator recognized that this wasn't just about

[1:18:02] finding a mental health provider. It was also about supporting an entire family

[1:18:07] in need. Uh we connected her to mental health services that accept medical uh

[1:18:11] for her son, linked her to family therapy resources so the whole family

[1:18:16] could work through this together and provided information about support

[1:18:20] groups for uh parents dealing with similar challenges. Uh when one family

[1:18:26] member struggles with mental health, uh the entire family often needs support as

[1:18:31] well, not just the individual in crisis. 211 is here to help uh families access

[1:18:37] the comprehensive services they need to be able to heal together.

[1:18:43] Uh when we look at the top categories of needs expressed by Camrio callers in

[1:18:47] 2025, housing ranked number one uh no surprise there. Second was individual

[1:18:52] family and community support encompassing services like the area

[1:18:56] agency on aging case management and programs like holiday gifts and toys. Uh

[1:19:02] third was mental health and substance use services. Uh ref reflecting the

[1:19:07] significant need for uh behavioral health support.

[1:19:12] Uh this slide here shows how Camrio compares to other cities in the county.

[1:19:17] As you can see, housing is the top need across every community. This is a

[1:19:22] countywide challenge, not unique uh to Camaro. What we see in Camaro is that

[1:19:27] mental health and substance use services rank as the third highest need. Uh this

[1:19:32] reflects a pattern we're seeing in several communities across the county

[1:19:36] where uh behavioral health support is becoming an increasingly prominent need

[1:19:40] alongside housing and family services. And lastly uh to wrap up, in addition to

[1:19:49] uh linking residents to existing resources, we operate uh several

[1:19:52] specialized programs delivering direct services over the phone uh to residents

[1:19:58] through VITA, our volunteer income tax assistance program. Uh we offer

[1:20:01] appointments for no cost tax preparation uh to qualifying community members,

[1:20:06] helping them claim maximum refunds and access tax credits that they're entitled

[1:20:11] to. Our PSPS initiative supports the access and functional needs population

[1:20:17] in advance of public safety power shut offs via case management and delivers

[1:20:22] real time help during actual uh shut offs uh covering things like lodging,

[1:20:27] meals, transportation, portable backup batteries, all at no cost to residents

[1:20:32] for the duration of the PSPS events. And this is made possible through our

[1:20:37] partnership with Southern California Edison. Ventura versus Hate uh assists

[1:20:42] those who've experienced hate incidents in filing reports and accessing

[1:20:47] appropriate uh support services through ECM, our enhanced care management

[1:20:52] program. Our team delivers comprehensive case management to eligible Gold Coast

[1:20:57] Health Plan members, helping them address both their health needs and

[1:21:01] basic needs through coordinated care. Uh these initiatives allow us to offer

[1:21:06] hands-on assistance to some of our most vulnerable residents in our communities.

[1:21:12] I appreciate your time this evening and thank you uh so much for your continued

[1:21:16] support of the work that we do here in 21 I'm sorry in Camaro through 211. Uh

[1:21:22] if you or anyone you know ever needs assistance, please remember that we're

[1:21:25] here uh 247. Again, you can reach us by calling 211, texting your zip code

[1:21:30] 2898211, or visiting our website at 21venter.org.

[1:21:34] Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Herardo. Herardo,

[1:21:38] I said it right this time. You said it right. Yes. Any comments or questions? I

[1:21:42] know the vice mayor will have something. >> Uh, thank you, Mayor uh, Herardo. Thank

[1:21:47] you so much for your presentation and more than anything, thank you to 211 for

[1:21:52] the critical work that is being offered to our community members. Um, I know you

[1:21:58] mentioned that housing is the top need and mental health is, I believe, number

[1:22:04] three. Um, and I would probably assume that when people are asking for mental

[1:22:11] health support is when they're already acknowledging that they need that

[1:22:14] support. But unfortunately, if people are facing housing insecurity, they're

[1:22:19] probably already in need of some mental health services. Um, when people are

[1:22:24] seeking housing services, are you able to make that connection to any mental

[1:22:29] health support as well? >> Yeah. Yeah, we are. So, um, our approach

[1:22:34] is to be as comprehens comprehensive as possible. So, when someone calls, um, we

[1:22:39] make sure to assess their situation. What we want to do is of course

[1:22:43] acknowledge the stated need but also look out for unstated needs, right? So

[1:22:49] often times we're able to provide additional resources to try to uh again

[1:22:55] uh kind of make sure that they're they're

[1:22:59] taken care of in every aspect. And depending um you know depending if

[1:23:04] they're able to take all of that information at the time uh we're able to

[1:23:08] share uh the resources that they that they need and if not then we'll follow

[1:23:13] up with them or they'll know that we're here 24/7 so they can they can connect

[1:23:17] with us again. >> Okay. Thank you so much. And other than

[1:23:21] that, my comment is just that I'm very proud that the city of Camaro is a

[1:23:25] partner and supporter, financial supporter of 211 because it is through

[1:23:30] that work that we're able to offer these services to our community members who

[1:23:35] need it right then and there. So, thank you.

[1:23:38] » Thank you. >> Any other comments, Susan?

[1:23:43] » Oh, you're leaving. >> Herardo, we're not done.

[1:23:47] » Apologize. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> Thank you for being No, that you're

[1:23:50] fine. I'm just teasing you. I'm really happy you're here tonight. Um, you know,

[1:23:55] my day job is a psychiatric nurse and so I have patients that um use 211 and in

[1:24:02] the same sense that I refer them to. So, I'm really happy that we have that

[1:24:06] resource and I am um not happy but it's really um rewarding that I get to see it

[1:24:12] in use daily. So, thank you. >> Thank you,

[1:24:16] » gentlemen. Mr. KD Jardo just kind of uh quickly if you would um housing are most

[1:24:23] of the calls with the housing related are they in a financial

[1:24:28] rent assistance what what's the number one would you say with the housing call

[1:24:33] » so the composition of that top need is about 50% uh affordable subsidized

[1:24:39] housing so individuals that are looking for low-income subsidized housing and

[1:24:43] about 20% of that is individuals who are seeking emergency housing because

[1:24:47] they're either homeless or uh they're at risk. And then the remainder of that is

[1:24:52] individuals who yes are uh going through some type of financial hardship and

[1:24:57] they're looking for rent payment assistance or help with their with their

[1:25:00] bills. So oftent times what we what we want to do is uh assess their situation

[1:25:05] and um make sure you know are they taking advantage of any entitlement

[1:25:10] benefits. You know are you enrolled in Calresh, Cal Works? Um if they're

[1:25:14] disabled, you know, do you have social security income? So, we try to explore

[1:25:18] those avenues uh combined with the actual resources for rent payment

[1:25:22] assistance or low-income subsidized housing. Uh right now, uh there's a

[1:25:27] variety of weight lists that are available uh through many mansions and

[1:25:31] other low-income housing providers. So, we're excited that on daily we're able

[1:25:36] to connect individuals to those uh housing weight lists. And there's even a

[1:25:40] couple lists that are actually open right now where they're accepting

[1:25:43] applications for consideration of housing. So that's kind of a relief

[1:25:47] there that over these last few months there's actually some good viable

[1:25:51] options for for people to consider. Oftent time people are frustrated

[1:25:54] because they need they need a they need housing in a month or two but you know

[1:25:59] time will pass. We still encourage them to get on the wait list because the time

[1:26:02] will come eventually. Um so that's kind of like a

[1:26:06] like you know kind of what that looks like.

[1:26:10] » Thank you. That's helpful. >> Mr. Trembley.

[1:26:13] » Thanks Mr. Mayor Hera. Thank you for being here. um the the depth and the

[1:26:17] breadth of 211's expertise in all these different areas is is instrumental for

[1:26:21] our community. So, I really appreciate you being here. Ditto to what my uh

[1:26:25] colleagues have already said and I want to especially note and compliment um you

[1:26:30] on the power uh shut off safety services uh and that partnership I guess

[1:26:36] partnership with with Edison because I know it's of value uh during those

[1:26:41] times. So, thanks for being here. >> Thank you.

[1:26:44] Thank you very much, Ditto, what my colleagues have said and now you are

[1:26:48] free to leave. >> Thank you so much for your time. I

[1:26:50] appreciate it. >> Have a good evening.

[1:26:52] » Good evening.

[1:26:57] » Next up, we will have a presentation from Commander Tennyson on the uniform

[1:27:02] crime statistics for the city of Camaro. >> Good evening, mayor, council, and staff.

[1:27:08] Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk about crime in

[1:27:11] Camaro last year. I can tell you as a resident who lives here and as someone

[1:27:17] who is very familiar with the crimes that happen, Camaro remains a very safe

[1:27:22] place to live and to work and to raise families. Uh the first couple of slides

[1:27:27] are going to be things that you've all heard before, but it's worth reminding

[1:27:30] for those who are watching or listening for the first time. The sheriff's office

[1:27:34] fully transitioned away from uniform crime reporting uh in 2024 and we went

[1:27:39] over to the new national incidentbased reporting system. So we now have two

[1:27:44] years worth of data so we can look and compare apples to apples from 24 and 25

[1:27:50] to get an idea of how we're doing from crime. There's a lot of different things

[1:27:53] that came through neighbors but the bottom line is we have a lot more data

[1:27:58] that we now are required to collect and report to the FBI. But that extra data

[1:28:03] also gives us more data points to analyze and to help us develop good

[1:28:07] strategies in fighting crime. Our categories within NYERS are crimes

[1:28:13] against persons, crimes against property, and crimes against society.

[1:28:17] And I'll talk a little bit about each of those and what they look like

[1:28:21] year-over-year from 24 to 25. Before I talk about that though, I do

[1:28:26] want to remind uh everybody watching and remind council here that crime rates are

[1:28:31] affected by many many things and we have a tendency to want to look at our city

[1:28:36] and compare them to our neighboring cities, but there are so many factors

[1:28:39] that make Camaro different from our neighboring cities that we have to be

[1:28:44] really careful when we do that. Uh we do report on a per 1,000 resident basis,

[1:28:49] but what we also understand is that our daytime population isn't just based on

[1:28:54] our 70,700 residents. We have a lot of businesses

[1:28:58] here that employ people that bring them in. We have the outlets that bring in a

[1:29:02] lot of people. So, our population is very different during the day than it is

[1:29:06] at night. And there are many, many factors that influence crime. We did see

[1:29:11] a few uh positive and negative crime trends this year. Uh this last year,

[1:29:16] they include increases in assaults, and I'll talk about those a little bit

[1:29:19] later. We saw a significant decrease in motor vehicle thefts, and as you might

[1:29:24] imagine, we see continued organized retail theft activities, primarily along

[1:29:28] the theft corridor of Ventura Boulevard. One of the first things I want to talk

[1:29:32] about is looking at a six-year snapshot of our calls for service. We did have an

[1:29:38] uptick last year from 14,000 up to 14,500,

[1:29:43] but we still remain lower than we have in the last six years. These calls for

[1:29:47] service are not just when somebody calls for a deputy. It also includes um

[1:29:53] traffic collisions. What it doesn't include though is self-initiated,

[1:29:57] proactive policing and self-initiated activity. And our deputies do a lot of

[1:30:01] that because that proactive policing is really what goes a long way to making us

[1:30:05] safe. So these here are just the calls for service where somebody calls needing

[1:30:10] a police officer to respond. Now the first category I want to look at

[1:30:16] is crimes against persons. And a couple of things stand out to me is that are,

[1:30:21] you know, we had the same amount of homicides we had last year. I'm grateful

[1:30:25] that we only had one, but one is one too many. um in in Camaro in 2025 on New

[1:30:32] Year's uh I think it was the day after New Year's was a murder suicide between

[1:30:36] an elderly couple where there had been a terminal illness diagnosis

[1:30:40] uh and it was tragic and we work to ensure that we don't have any in Camaro

[1:30:46] but sometimes we can't control all of those things that happen behind closed

[1:30:50] doors. We did have 20 consensual sex offenses down from 35 the year before.

[1:30:56] Nine of those consensual sex offenses were rapes. I reviewed each one of those

[1:31:00] rapes. Uh they were all uh not that it makes it any better, but just some of

[1:31:04] the demographics on it was known offenders uh to victims. So we didn't

[1:31:08] have stranger rapes. Those are something that would uh really cause us a lot of

[1:31:12] concern if we had something like that. Uh we did not have that and we didn't

[1:31:16] discover any trends with the ones that we did have or with any of the sex

[1:31:19] offenses that we did have. The assaults are where we saw a significant increase.

[1:31:25] We went from 452 assaults in 2024 up to 496 assaults last year. They were driven

[1:31:33] primarily in assaults related to domestic violence cases, but we also saw

[1:31:39] assaults related to child abuse go up. Those are not primary arrests. What we

[1:31:43] saw is secondary arrests. So, for example, if our deputies are out

[1:31:47] conducting proactive policing and we arrest a drunk driver, if they have a

[1:31:51] child in the car, we are moving aggressively to add an arrest charge to

[1:31:56] whoever is driving the car if there's a child in the car. And we did see those

[1:32:00] numbers go up quite a bit last year. Uh we also saw an increase in resisting,

[1:32:04] obstructing, and delaying peace officers. And pretty much those three

[1:32:08] categories, the domestic violence, the child abuse, and resisting police

[1:32:12] officers, uh, made up the majority of the increases that we see in crimes

[1:32:16] against persons. I want to highlight for you really quick

[1:32:21] a case involving crimes against persons. Uh, this investigation happened at the

[1:32:25] beginning of last year and our detectives started investigating a an

[1:32:29] assault with a deadly weapon. This was between a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Uh

[1:32:34] when they learned of that domestic violence case, they came to understand

[1:32:38] that the girlfriend pointed what the victim believed to be an AR-15 rifle at

[1:32:43] the victim. Our special enforcement unit team, which is our plane closed unit,

[1:32:48] got involved and they were able to author a search warrant and get that

[1:32:51] search warrant approved by a local judge. They ended up serving that search

[1:32:56] warrant at a residence and they followed up at a storage facility. They located

[1:33:01] 42 firearms, including a 50 caliber rifle and thousands of rounds of

[1:33:06] ammunition. Uh, the girlfriend was arrested, but it turns out that the

[1:33:09] boyfriend, who was initially the victim of the assault with a deadly weapon, was

[1:33:12] a convicted felon, and he was not allowed to be in possession of or around

[1:33:17] ammunition or weapons, and he was knowingly, so he got arrested as well.

[1:33:21] But this picture shows those 42 uh firearms and thousands of rounds of

[1:33:27] ammunition. and it was a great case um by our detectives and by our special

[1:33:32] enforcement unit. The next category we look at is crimes

[1:33:36] against property. And you can see we're pretty static across the board in all of

[1:33:41] our crimes against property. Um this is an area crimes against property where

[1:33:45] proactive policing really can have a positive impact and I'll talk about that

[1:33:49] in a moment. The most the most notable improvement was in the area of thefts of

[1:33:54] motor vehicles. You can see we had 72 vehicles stolen in 2024 and 45 stolen in

[1:34:01] 2025. And much of that decline we attribute to identifying the right

[1:34:06] crooks who we know have backgrounds in stealing vehicles and targeting them

[1:34:11] aggressively for probation searches and targeting them for stays in custody

[1:34:16] because when they are in jail, they're not able to be out on the streets

[1:34:19] stealing cars and victimizing residents. You can also notice on here that one

[1:34:23] area um you know when we have 800 crimes or 700 crimes that we're measuring, it

[1:34:28] looks like just a little blip on the radar, but it is one worth talking

[1:34:30] about. Arson, we had four arson in 2025. We had none in 2024. Uh in three of

[1:34:38] those arsonants, we discovered that transients were using fires either to

[1:34:42] cook or to keep warm. And they were inser observed by passerbys who reported

[1:34:47] it to us. And we were able to go out and make contact. And we did make some

[1:34:50] arrests. One of the arson was a person who was suffering from a serious mental

[1:34:55] breakdown and who burned uh started a fire in the home where she was living.

[1:34:59] Arrests were made in all four cases of the arson that happened.

[1:35:05] Organized retail theft. This is one that we always talk about in Camaro because

[1:35:08] we have the Camrio Premium Outlets. We have the Camrio Town Center with um

[1:35:12] Target and with Home Depot. um they are still and likely always will be the most

[1:35:18] prominent crime in Camaro and a lot of that does revolve around organized

[1:35:23] retail theft. It's not just shoplifts. In 2025, we did have 370 shoplifts

[1:35:29] between just between the Cameo Premium Outlets and the Cameo Town Center, which

[1:35:33] is Target and Home Depot. 177 of those shoplifts were organized

[1:35:37] retail theft in nature. What does that mean to you? When we talk about ORT,

[1:35:42] we're talking about groups working in concert to commit the thefts. They move

[1:35:46] from store to store. They even move from city to city or region to region. We've

[1:35:50] had people from Northern California who make their way down the coast committing

[1:35:54] organized retail theft. Some of these groups create distractions in order to

[1:36:00] commit their thefts, while others are less strategic uh about their thefts and

[1:36:04] more bold. They just go in and they uh take armfuls of property. Um, some of

[1:36:08] them take advantage of their knowledge that a lot of loss prevention uh

[1:36:13] employees from some of these corporations, they have to call their

[1:36:18] headquarters before they can report it to police. And so, a lot of the crooks

[1:36:21] know that and they take advantage of that. It also gives us a disadvantage at

[1:36:25] times when we're trying to identify and take people into custody. Our community

[1:36:30] resource unit works uh handinhand though with the outlet mall security and are

[1:36:35] constantly building good relationships with the loss prevention to try and

[1:36:38] minimize that time delay between the crime occurring and the crime being

[1:36:42] reported to us. And we've seen a lot of success in that area. Uh most often in

[1:36:46] organized retail theft, the crooks are looking for specific merchandise like

[1:36:51] laundry detergent or beauty supplies. Other items they look for are cell

[1:36:55] phones, clothing, purses, and even high-end alcohol.

[1:37:00] We still do have the organized retail theft task force that's operating on a

[1:37:04] grant run by the sheriff's office and we do see them operating in Camaro

[1:37:09] proactively at our outlets. Um when I talked about proactive policing having

[1:37:14] an impact on property crimes, this is that one area that I'm talking about.

[1:37:19] Uh, our two-person directed enforcement unit also works proactively at the

[1:37:23] outlets and within the community to build relationships and with outlet

[1:37:28] security and individual stores loss prevention again to help reduce that

[1:37:32] time delay between crimes occurring and us coming unseen. Uh, the organized

[1:37:37] retail theft task force, they're instrumental in helping us fight crime.

[1:37:42] Um, we also are looking to build a reputation at the outlets. We want it to

[1:37:46] be known throughout this region that the Camrio Police Department doesn't mess

[1:37:49] around and that the Ventura County Sheriff's Office doesn't mess around.

[1:37:52] That word gets out when crews come up from Los Angeles. And when they think

[1:37:57] they're going to get off with a ticket because they've kept their theft under

[1:38:01] felony levels, but we use other crimes like conspiracy when people work in

[1:38:06] concert together to say, "No, that's a felony in Ventura County and you're all

[1:38:09] going to jail over that. You're not going to get the ticket that you get

[1:38:11] elsewhere." So, our organized retail theft, our directed enforcement unit

[1:38:15] really help us to develop that reputation and I do know that that

[1:38:18] reputation makes its way out into the public. Um, from the OT task force last

[1:38:23] year, they conducted a number of proactive blitz operations uh at the

[1:38:27] outlets working with our team and outlet security. They've done proactive patrol

[1:38:31] on a random basis and they conduct investigations into some of the crews

[1:38:34] that come into our area. And their efforts last year resulted in 54 uh

[1:38:39] separate arrests out at the outlets. I also want to highlight a cargo theft

[1:38:45] investigation that our detectives did. We had a spree of stolen vehicles last

[1:38:49] year. Happened around the end of uh 2024 and up to New Year's Eve where several

[1:38:55] vehicles were stolen um from various locations in Camaro, but also even in

[1:39:02] neighboring cities. Uh they broke into businesses at some locations with box

[1:39:07] trucks and stole some of the merchandise. In one instance, they stole

[1:39:10] a big rig here in Camaro, and they drove over to one of our large uh warehouse

[1:39:15] stores, hooked up to one of their trailers, their tractor trailers full of

[1:39:20] merchandise, and made off with that tractor trailer full of merchandise. In

[1:39:24] those few days, the total losses that we saw here was over $500,000 in

[1:39:29] merchandise. Our detectives started investigating and through the use of

[1:39:32] quite a few investigative techniques, including license plate readers, we

[1:39:37] identified where the suspects were dropping the merchandise off. We did

[1:39:41] some other search warrants and they identified several suspects who were

[1:39:44] involved uh and we were able to track them from the various locations that

[1:39:49] they operated in in Southern California. We worked with our organized retail

[1:39:52] theft task force, the California Highway Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement

[1:39:56] Administration uh agency, and we exited executed search warrants at several

[1:40:00] locations throughout Southern California. Uh we made arrests and we

[1:40:05] seized approximately $1.5 million in stolen property. So, not just the

[1:40:09] property from our thefts up here, but we discovered that there were stolen

[1:40:14] property from other nationwide organizations like Amazon, Samsung, TJ

[1:40:18] Maxx, Converse, and others. and we intercepted these goods as they were

[1:40:23] being sent uh to Tijana for resale. The picture you see here is one of our

[1:40:28] trucks, our stake bed truck, and all of those boxes are Samsung TVs that were

[1:40:32] stolen off of a trailer, not here in Camaro, but but other uh other

[1:40:36] locations. And this case is just a testament to the tenacity and skill

[1:40:40] level of our detectives and to the great relationships that they build with our

[1:40:44] local, state, and federal partners uh that allow us to bring these crooks to

[1:40:48] justice.

[1:40:51] Crimes against society is an interesting category. In all of our other crime

[1:40:55] rate, our crime uh categories, we look for crime rates to be going down. Um

[1:41:00] that's a sign of a safe community. Crimes against society actually is

[1:41:05] different because this is really a measure of proactive policing. This is a

[1:41:09] new category that we never did before underi uh uniform crime reporting. And

[1:41:13] so this is drug and narcotics violations that our deputies makes, equipment

[1:41:16] violations and weapon law violations. And so again, this is a measure of

[1:41:21] proactive policing. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this presentation,

[1:41:25] we've got some areas where we're we've identified some really good trends and

[1:41:28] some areas where we've identified some negative trends. And this is an area

[1:41:33] where for me um because of one thing I've learned in 27 years of of policing

[1:41:38] tells me about the impact that drugs and drug use has on crime in our

[1:41:43] communities. Our biggest crime category is lararseny theft and over the years I

[1:41:49] have personally experienced that drug users commit a disproportionate amount

[1:41:53] of theft related crime in our community. So for me this is a category where I

[1:41:58] want to see the numbers go up not down. I want our deputies out making proactive

[1:42:03] uh traffic enforcement stops, looking for those drug users who would be intent

[1:42:08] on stealing from our community members and for folks who have went out and

[1:42:13] earned their property on their own. So, this is an area we're going to focus on

[1:42:17] this year. Uh I'm I'm already seeing an increase so far in the first three

[1:42:22] months of this year. We're up about 8% in arrests and I want to see that trend

[1:42:25] continue as we move forward. So, what does a crime against uh society look

[1:42:30] like? This photograph right here in this description is what it looks like. We

[1:42:35] received a tip uh from a uh an anonymous person, Cam Rio, that there was an uh an

[1:42:41] Oxnard resident who was selling drugs in our city. We did enough investigative

[1:42:45] words work to obtain a search warrant, a residential search warrant u signed by a

[1:42:49] superior court judge. Our Camrio police uh detectives, our sheriff's office

[1:42:54] narcotics unit conducted a search warrant at uh the residence. They loaded

[1:42:58] located 236 grams of cocaine, 35 grams of methamphetamine, psilocybin

[1:43:03] mushrooms, and nearly $75,000 in cash proceeds from the narcotic sales. So,

[1:43:09] this is the kind of thing that proactive policing gets you. It prevents drugs

[1:43:13] from getting on the street and getting in the hands of people who shouldn't

[1:43:16] have it. uh and it sends a message to people that we won't tolerate this in

[1:43:20] Camaro. One of the other important things for me

[1:43:25] to share with this council was our response times. You can see that late uh

[1:43:32] 2018 1920 we were looking really good and then we saw a very noticeable

[1:43:38] increase in response times. Well, last year we saw a very significant decrease.

[1:43:43] And the reason why I wanted to share this and and point it out to this

[1:43:46] council was because 2025 in in fall of 2024, you all approved the addition of a

[1:43:53] cover sergeant car and of a cover car for our patrol deputies, particularly to

[1:43:58] provide coverage out on the east end of town. And you did that because um the

[1:44:03] data showed us that our deputies workload was not balanced. And we

[1:44:07] believe that if we had additional resources, we could bring down the

[1:44:11] response times. So 2025 was the first year that we had both of those cars

[1:44:16] fully staffed for the entire year. And you see the results. It's a significant

[1:44:20] decline. Now, these 20 seconds to some people might not seem to a lot. might

[1:44:26] not seem to be a lot, but when you're that person and you're on the phone with

[1:44:30] 911 and you need a police officer at your house immediately because something

[1:44:34] is happening, that 22nd makes a big difference. And so I I thank council for

[1:44:39] listening to us and for supporting us in this because it is having an impact on

[1:44:44] safety in our community. Uh, one of the uh getting near the end,

[1:44:49] one of the topics I want to talk to you about, again, an area where we need to

[1:44:52] see improvement is in traffic collisions. You can see we've got four

[1:44:56] years in a row of increases in traffic collisions. Uh significantly actually

[1:45:02] over the four years we're up to 754 traffic collisions. So what we've done

[1:45:06] is we know that our traffic collisions primarily happen at our intersections.

[1:45:10] And so we looked at our top five intersections. We assigned a traffic

[1:45:14] investigator to look at each one of those intersections. They go out

[1:45:17] personally, make observations to see what kind of violations they're seeing

[1:45:21] out there, to look at the engineering around it, to look at the environment,

[1:45:25] to see if there's anything we can do. They look at the data. Each traffic

[1:45:29] collision that we investigate in Camaro, we determine what the primary collision

[1:45:33] factor is. So, we look at that primary collision factor from the perspective of

[1:45:37] that intersection. Um, we make calls to our traffic engineers, our partners over

[1:45:41] here in Cam Rio at the city, and if we have suggestions, maybe we need to

[1:45:46] lengthen the time that a light stays yellow because we're seeing some issues

[1:45:49] with that. Um, maybe we need to have signage there because we have a lot of

[1:45:53] pedestrians walking and we need to highlight that we have crosswalks. We're

[1:45:56] working on all five of those intersections and we've come up with

[1:45:59] some suggestions. We've come up with some enforcement uh changes that we're

[1:46:03] making to address those to bring those traffic collisions down. One of those

[1:46:07] things is quite frankly we need to write more tickets. We have our third year in

[1:46:11] a row where our ticket writing for hazardous violations is down

[1:46:15] significantly. I don't think it's an accident that our traffic collisions are

[1:46:19] up significantly. Study after study after study shows the direct correlation

[1:46:23] between those two. So, we are looking to write more traffic citations. Um it

[1:46:28] doesn't necessarily make our residents happy, but safety is something that's of

[1:46:32] paramount important. Roadway safety is of paramount importance. So, we're going

[1:46:35] to be looking to do that. Uh, we will be looking to transition two of our four

[1:46:41] traffic cars. They drive around in patrol Taho

[1:46:44] motorcycles. We already have two motorcycle units in Cam Rio. We're

[1:46:48] looking to add two more. Um, we've we've made the purchase of those bikes

[1:46:53] already. And we know that being on motorcycles allows them to be more

[1:46:58] nimble. It allows them to catch up to violators much quicker than those patrol

[1:47:02] Taho. It allows them to sit in places where they're not quite as noticeable.

[1:47:06] Um, you've heard of the saying black and white fever. A lot of times when people

[1:47:10] see a police car, those Taho are giant. They're marked. People are on their best

[1:47:15] behavior. We like that, but we can't be in every place all the time. And so, we

[1:47:19] will be transitioning two of our patrol Taho into patrol motorcycles to help us

[1:47:24] uh write additional hazardous violation citation and help bring these collision

[1:47:28] numbers down once and for all. Uh just a snapshot, we did issue 3,700

[1:47:35] total uh citations last year for speed, distracted driving, and other hazardous

[1:47:40] be behavior. We did three grant-f funed DUI checkpoints. I'm happy to say that

[1:47:44] we only made three arrests for DUI and 15 citations. We would love for our

[1:47:51] community to stop driving drunk so that we saw zero arrests at those DUI

[1:47:54] checkpoints. Uh I'm not unhappy when I see no arrests after uh you know a

[1:47:59] Friday night with five or six hours. I'm really happy because we screen thousands

[1:48:04] of call cars coming through those and if we can get those cars coming through

[1:48:07] there and people are not driving drunk that's a win for us. That's a positive.

[1:48:12] Uh we did focus on DUI collisions and arrests last year and we made 206 DUI

[1:48:16] arrests. One area you um may have already heard that we're focusing on and

[1:48:21] that you will see us continue to focus on is ebike safety. We did presentations

[1:48:26] to over 1500 students. We have started a very aggressive enforcement campaign the

[1:48:31] last three weeks uh four weeks uh where we are targeting certain schools, the

[1:48:36] high schools in particular and the middle schools where we're seeing the

[1:48:39] most egregious activity and we are taking a zero tolerance approach to any

[1:48:43] violations with kids on bicycles. Um, the information has been put out to

[1:48:48] parents over and over and over through press releases through our school

[1:48:51] district, both Pleasant Valley and Oxnard Union. They've been great

[1:48:54] partners in getting information out and we still haven't seen a correction in

[1:48:57] behavior. And so over the last few weeks, we have towed some unlawful

[1:49:02] ebikes. We will continue to do that. We will continue to issue citations uh

[1:49:07] because we need to change the behavior to make this uh our kids ride those

[1:49:11] bicycles much more safely throughout our community.

[1:49:16] I'll give you some time to read this while I talk. Uh, but this is one area

[1:49:20] where I am most proud of the work that our deputy sheriffs do. Uh, community

[1:49:25] engagement is critical for us to continue to maintain trust in our

[1:49:30] community, to continue to maintain the positive relationships that we have, and

[1:49:35] to continue to build upon those relationships. This list is not

[1:49:38] comprehensive, but it's a snapshot of just some of the things that we could

[1:49:42] do. And it's all I could honestly fit in two columns on one slide. Um, but I

[1:49:47] could add a whole another slide with two more columns of things that we do. Uh,

[1:49:52] it doesn't matter who you are in this community community, what your status

[1:49:56] is, whether you live here, whether you go to school here, whether you work

[1:50:00] here, or whether you're just visiting. Our deputies are everywhere in this

[1:50:03] community engaging people in a positive way. And I'm telling you because I've

[1:50:08] personally been out doing it. I've been at schools. I've been at churches. I

[1:50:12] coach youth sports. And I've I've been able to do that in uniform. And I think

[1:50:16] it's a great way to build relationships between parents and kids. Uh the

[1:50:21] positive relationships that we build uh and the diversity of our outreach is

[1:50:26] second to none. I don't think anybody does it the way Camrio Police Department

[1:50:30] does. And I think it pays off every single day when we continue to be

[1:50:34] deliberate about building positive relationships and providing

[1:50:37] opportunities for people to come and meet us and for us to be meeting people

[1:50:41] as well. And this is just a little picture of

[1:50:45] some of the things we've done. Uh we really focus heavily on engaging with

[1:50:50] kids. We adults sometimes have our minds made up and it's hard to change our

[1:50:55] minds, but kids uh kids are they're open-minded and we have a great time

[1:51:03] reading to kids, going to coffee with the cops at their schools, letting them

[1:51:07] jump on our motorcycles, play with our canines, and just overall building great

[1:51:11] relationships with the kids. So, moving forward, what are some of the

[1:51:15] challenges for law enforcement? Obviously, recruitment, retention, and

[1:51:18] wellness is is going to be a a problem for us. It's going to be a challenge for

[1:51:23] us all the time. Um, we do work hard to recruit only the best at the Ventura

[1:51:29] County Sheriff's Office. We've got a great track record of that. The process

[1:51:32] is rigorous. It's incredibly difficult to become a deputy sheriff. Only one out

[1:51:37] of every hundred applicant ever becomes a deputy sheriff, and those numbers are

[1:51:41] pretty incredible. Um, wellness is a new focus for our agency. Uh let's be

[1:51:47] honest, this is a difficult job. There's a tremendous amount of stress that goes

[1:51:51] along with it. It's not just stress on the deputy sheriff's, it's stress on our

[1:51:55] professional staff members and perhaps more importantly, it's stress on our

[1:51:58] family members at home. And so we've made a big push focusing on wellness,

[1:52:03] offering up opportunities to hear other people who have made mistakes and hear

[1:52:08] how they've dug out from under those mistakes that they've made. we make

[1:52:11] those opportunities available for family members as well and I think we've done a

[1:52:15] great job on that and we will continue to focus on that moving forward. Uh

[1:52:19] technology AI and their ethical and transparent use are critical to

[1:52:22] providing enhanced public safety here. We've talked about LPRs in the last few

[1:52:26] months and we continue to see uh incredible benefit they provide. I'm I I

[1:52:32] think I would be remiss in not reporting to this council that last week we had a

[1:52:36] homicide uh in Oldtown Camaro. And within a very short time, our

[1:52:42] license plate reader is what identified the suspect in that homicide. That guy

[1:52:47] was in custody before we all woke up and went to work the next morning. They're

[1:52:51] an incredible tool. They're a valuable tool when used ethically and when used

[1:52:55] transparently. And we do that at the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

[1:52:59] Um all of uh all of the things we talked about here today go towards public trust

[1:53:04] and transparency. Uh the police throughout our country operate in highly

[1:53:09] polarized environments and us ensuring transparency is critical for us to

[1:53:14] maintain and build trust. We communicate to the c to the public in as close to

[1:53:18] real time as possible to ensure they have up-to-date information on critical

[1:53:23] incidents as they happen in Camaro. We are voluntarily cooperative and

[1:53:28] transparent when things don't go right, as evidenced by our previous discussion

[1:53:31] on license plate reader data. The work we do is available for all to see

[1:53:36] through our public transparency dashboards on the sheriff's website,

[1:53:39] capturing data on arrests, contacts, use of force incidents, and much much more.

[1:53:45] Uh we have cameras that capture every single one of our interactions with the

[1:53:48] public, both worn on our deputies chest and in our patrol cars. Nearly every

[1:53:54] single move our deputy sheriffs make is recorded on camera. We open our doors to

[1:53:59] members of the public through two two citizenmies every year. I think we

[1:54:03] graduated about 50 plus people in our citizens academy last year. And we have

[1:54:08] we open up to ride alongs. We have dozens of ride alongs by members of the

[1:54:12] public as long as you can pass the small background check that we do. Uh all of

[1:54:16] this pays off with a community that's incredibly supportive of the work our

[1:54:20] women and men do. and we will not take that support for granted. We will

[1:54:25] continue to be present for the public in very meaningful ways that continues to

[1:54:29] build trust and legitimacy in our community. Uh with that, I want to

[1:54:34] reiterate that we have some of the most compassionate, hardworking, and

[1:54:38] professional women and men working at the Camrial Police Department. From our

[1:54:42] professional staff working behind the scenes to keep the PD running to our

[1:54:45] uniform deputies on the streets operating as the face of law

[1:54:48] enforcement, our team is committed to the high level of service that our

[1:54:52] community has come to expect from us. I thank the council. I thank the city

[1:54:56] manager and assistant city manager and the rest of the staff at city hall uh

[1:55:00] for the support they've shown the sheriff's office and the Camero Police

[1:55:03] Department over the years. And I'd be very happy to answer any questions you

[1:55:07] all might have. >> Thank you. I'm going to call on Mr.

[1:55:11] killed D first because I saw him writing nonstop.

[1:55:16] » Um, just briefly, um, Eric, I have to say that, well, first of all, laundry

[1:55:24] detergent, that was kind of interesting. I I would have never guessed that.

[1:55:28] That's kind of kind of interesting. Um, I was here when we approved the funding

[1:55:33] for the cover car. I'm pleased to see that um, it's effective. I thought it

[1:55:39] would be and I was uh uh you know very pleased that uh we look at this an

[1:55:45] investment in public safety and I think that's uh that's worked out as as such.

[1:55:51] Um I also um our way of giving back to our uh police department here. We try to

[1:55:58] give way give back in many separate ways but not the least of it and one of the

[1:56:04] things that I'm so so happy that we've been able to do is the L day dinner and

[1:56:09] I believe we're one if not the only city that still uh provides this and it's uh

[1:56:18] um a thankfulness and a thank thanking our

[1:56:22] officers and all of the folks that work at the police department sworn sworn or

[1:56:28] nonsworn uh to let them know that they matter,

[1:56:33] that they care. We care for them. We look at them as family even though it's

[1:56:39] a contract from the Ventura County. We look at them as our own born and bred

[1:56:46] public servants of Camaro. And I'm really happy that uh this council and

[1:56:51] previous councils are able to afford that that honor and privilege to those

[1:56:56] folks that are able to uh to attend that. So um always look forward to this.

[1:57:01] Thank you for your stellar performance here and your eloquence. Uh you make a

[1:57:07] very complicated subject for me relatively easy and I commend you that.

[1:57:12] And if you would commend all your staff there at the uh Cambria Police

[1:57:16] Department that uh they matter, they care and we're going to do our best to

[1:57:21] support them to the best of our ability. >> Thank you, Council Member Kildy. And I I

[1:57:26] would like to add that um one of our uh most expectant days is the law law night

[1:57:32] dinner. Our people look forward to it all year long. We've been planning it

[1:57:36] now for the last month and a half. We're uh very excited about it. I also like to

[1:57:40] add that a lot of the deputy sheriffs who work out of Camrio uh police

[1:57:43] department live here in Cam Rio and when they leave for promotion or other

[1:57:47] assignments, they all want to come back here. Um they feel the support that we

[1:57:52] have from city hall and they feel the support that we have

[1:57:56] » uh from our residents in this city. It's I've worked in every contract city. It's

[1:58:00] unlike uh what we have here and we appreciate that.

[1:58:04] » Thank you, >> Council Member Santangelo.

[1:58:08] » Thank you. Just a couple comments. Um I was really happy to see the decrease in

[1:58:13] the response times because I know um we had quite a few presentations on it from

[1:58:18] you if I remember correctly. Um and I think it was a really important addition

[1:58:24] to the police force in our city and it made sense and I'm um really glad to see

[1:58:29] that it panned out the way we thought it would and that it's really um brought

[1:58:33] down those response times. Um, I also just found it really interesting that

[1:58:38] the more tickets you give, the less collisions. So, that's just just found

[1:58:42] that really interesting. Um, and my question to you is, is there anything

[1:58:46] that the city can do to better support you and your efforts?

[1:58:49] » Um, like I've said, Council Member Santangelo, we do feel very well

[1:58:53] supported. Um, but we are coming up on budget season, so um, be careful what

[1:58:58] you wish for because, you know, I may have I may have a request for you all

[1:59:02] coming up. Thanks for that.

[1:59:06] » Just so you know, Mr. City Manager, that's your job to vet the requests. Mr.

[1:59:11] Trembley. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Eric, wonderful

[1:59:16] presentation. Um the three most important things that hit home to me is

[1:59:20] number one on the response times and being able to take uh a 7.13

[1:59:27] uh minute response time and bring it down to 6.76 and have it equate to what

[1:59:32] was occurring even precoid is a success. um echo what Susan and Kevin said in

[1:59:39] their eloquent comments about the importance of the response times. And

[1:59:44] you can actually see it in the statistics because if I wrote this down

[1:59:47] correctly, 370 shoplifts at the outlets and the and the um target center um 177

[1:59:57] OT related, the top 26 suspects arrested responsible for 251 shoplifts. So what

[2:00:04] happens when that occurs? deputies are all going over to that area town and I'm

[2:00:08] privileged to be elected from the area town where there wasn't the east side

[2:00:12] where there wasn't as good coverage. Uh and I think that has been uh that has

[2:00:17] been rectified and from a contextual standpoint it also shows I think the

[2:00:22] public the importance this city spends in excess of $20 million per year in

[2:00:28] public safety. It is the most it is it is the the highest level of spending uh

[2:00:34] in our general fund revenue on on any matter. I think it uh makes a real

[2:00:39] statement as to this council's and if it's okay I'm going to be collective

[2:00:43] collective commitment to public safety because I know all of my colleagues are

[2:00:47] really focused on our on our public safety standings. So and that's about

[2:00:52] onethird of our general fund revenues each year. So that over that that that

[2:00:57] states the importance uh on traffic collisions. I like the fact that you're

[2:01:01] transitioning two Taho officers. And I do want to note I think

[2:01:06] in 2024 um I know you had at least one

[2:01:09] motorcycle officer who was out for an extended period of time uh and you had

[2:01:14] issues trying to fill that. So hopefully 2025 it just got a little bit better in

[2:01:19] terms of coverage and and going from there. And then finally on community

[2:01:23] engagement, um, you know, we had one PowerPoint

[2:01:27] slide and I think Eric kind of cut it short. I mean, he had both columns

[2:01:32] filled. I'm not aware of any other law

[2:01:35] enforcement agency and I know quite a few that has the

[2:01:40] extent of outreach that VCSO has and Camaro Police Department. So, I really

[2:01:46] want to compliment you. Uh compliment uh commend your deputies, all of your

[2:01:51] staff, everybody uh at the sheriff's office, everybody at Camaro PD. Uh thank

[2:01:56] you because this council I know puts, if it's okay to say it, collect know that I

[2:02:02] know that this council puts a real premium on public safety. It's like our

[2:02:06] number one issue. So, thanks for a a very interesting uh educational report.

[2:02:11] Keep making progress. >> Thank you, Council Member Treble. And if

[2:02:14] I can add one thing, I did not talk about it uh in the presentation, but I

[2:02:18] know it is in there. Those 26 arrestes who committed over who created over 250

[2:02:24] victims uh at our outlets in Camrio Town Center, all were from outside the city

[2:02:29] of Camrio. Every one of them, >> Madame Vice Mayor,

[2:02:34] » uh thank you. Thank you, Chief Jennison, for your very thorough presentation and

[2:02:39] also for the very noble service that you and your team provide to our

[2:02:45] constituents here in the city of Camaro. Um, I will share a personal story. When

[2:02:51] I was a little girl, I would often spend my summers out in Wilmington, San Pedro,

[2:02:59] that area. And uh it it was quite often sadly that we can

[2:03:07] hear gunshots um or that we could hear neighbors being

[2:03:12] very violent. And I remember experiencing some of that

[2:03:17] and and as a little girl being like seven or eight years old thinking, "Oh

[2:03:21] my gosh, we need to call the police." and family members,

[2:03:26] grandparents and my theos who I lived with, they would almost say like, "Well,

[2:03:30] the police are not really going to come. We can try calling, but they're not

[2:03:34] going to come." And many times and and actually now I do have um some family

[2:03:40] members who went into policing um who lived in in those areas. Um, and many

[2:03:45] times I know that I will be criticized for being quote too pro police. And my

[2:03:52] answer is, what is the alternative? Because I've seen the alternative

[2:03:58] and I think Sheriff Fryhoff put it best when I recently saw him and he said,

[2:04:03] "Public safety is for everyone." And so I think that is uh the continued goal. I

[2:04:10] am very proud of the work that you're doing um that your team is doing. Of

[2:04:15] course, I think with everything there's always room for for improvement and I'm

[2:04:18] glad that you've always been open to that.

[2:04:21] A question that I do have is regard and I think you answered a little bit of

[2:04:26] that uh but in terms of the different crimes.

[2:04:30] Do we have any data on who is from Camrio and who folks are not

[2:04:36] regarding the crimes against property people and society or are we able to

[2:04:42] search for that data? >> We can search for that data. I can tell

[2:04:45] you um from the outlets and the theft related perspective uh the the

[2:04:51] overwhelming majority are coming from outside the city. Uh even many from

[2:04:55] outside the county. Los Angeles imports a lot of crime here. I've said it

[2:05:00] before, our outlets are a great destination for shopping

[2:05:04] » for good guys and bad guys. And so we do import a lot of crime because of the

[2:05:08] outlets. Um, but they've shown a a real willingness to partner with us to try

[2:05:14] and make it the best and safest experience for people to come there uh

[2:05:18] and shop. Um, I can tell you, you know, I talked about the increase in domestic

[2:05:23] violence related crimes and arrests. The domestic violence are generally local.

[2:05:28] There are people who are already living here. Um, a lot of the DUI arrests are

[2:05:33] people who are driving from a local establishment home. So, it's kind of

[2:05:37] crime dependent. >> Okay. So some of those crimes we do see

[2:05:39] a lot of people who are residents here who live here who are the suspects in

[2:05:43] those crimes and who are arrested and in other crime categories we see people who

[2:05:47] are from outside the city who are arrested for those crimes. So we do we

[2:05:51] do know and it kind of depends upon crime.

[2:05:53] » Okay. Thank you so much. And my other question is I think I'm I'm trying to

[2:05:58] understand this. So, at the Camaro outlets, you said that if there is

[2:06:05] um if if they're stealing um something, they need to call the loss prevention

[2:06:10] before calling the police. That sounds really odd to me.

[2:06:12] » Yeah, it is really odd. Sounds odd to us, too. And we work with them all the

[2:06:15] time uh on figuring out ways we can do that better. But, you know, each one of

[2:06:18] those stores is owned by the individual corporation, and they all have their own

[2:06:23] corporate policies. Uh some of the corporations, they're really aggressive.

[2:06:27] I will tell you, Target has incredible loss prevention officers and they are

[2:06:32] very quick to call us and that's why our number one arrest location is Target.

[2:06:36] Other ones have to call a corporation wherever that might be, explain what the

[2:06:40] problem is and then get permission before they call us. We're working with

[2:06:44] them with them on that to try and find solutions and workarounds to that. But,

[2:06:48] you know, it is uh at times a hindrance. >> Okay. Thank you so much. That's all that

[2:06:53] I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, quick question,

[2:06:56] Commander. You're going to add two motor officers,

[2:07:00] but it's not going to cost the city any more money, right?

[2:07:03] » That's correct. It's actually going to save us money in the long run. Uh, a

[2:07:06] patrol Tahoe is a more expensive vehicle to purchase and to upfit. We get about

[2:07:12] 100,000 miles out of a patrol Tahoe. Our motorcycles, we don't get as many miles

[2:07:17] out of them, but it takes longer to to mile them out, and they cost about half

[2:07:21] the price of a patrol Tahoe. So, we'll probably get four to six years driving a

[2:07:26] motorcycle at about half the cost of a of a Tahoe.

[2:07:30] » And we're not adding any staffing. You're just moving two traffic

[2:07:34] enforcement officers out of the Tahoe onto motorcycles.

[2:07:37] » That's correct. >> Hopefully, they get good training.

[2:07:40] » They will. >> Um, I appreciate the community outreach.

[2:07:43] Um, I'm aware of it because I have a daughter involved in the education field

[2:07:49] in Camaro and I know the frequency of your school resource officers and other

[2:07:55] activities, the coffee with the cops that you do at all the schools and it

[2:07:59] mirrors something that I thought a long long time ago is we can influence our

[2:08:05] young people and create the relationships instead of like if you see

[2:08:10] that police officer over there and you do that again, I'm going to tell him.

[2:08:14] And I'm glad that's no longer a common theme amongst most parents. It was a

[2:08:19] common theme with my mother at one time, but um you may have experienced that. Um

[2:08:25] I also think that what my other council members said, I don't think there's

[2:08:31] another police department in this county or probably just about anywhere that has

[2:08:36] the community outreach efforts that the Camrio Police Department does for this

[2:08:40] city. And I know that it's a common theme that we're a third of the cost of

[2:08:46] the city's general fund, but if you went to a fullervice city, it'd be 50% of

[2:08:51] your cost of your general fund. So, I think we're getting good bang for the

[2:08:56] buck. And I do have to thank you publicly for not sharing crime stats

[2:09:02] from 1999 to 2004 to compare them to today. And this is the first time you

[2:09:08] haven't done that. And I appreciate it. All of my council members I've had the

[2:09:12] opportunity to serve with on the public safety and emergency preparedness

[2:09:17] committee and I am proud to say from firsthand experience, there has been

[2:09:21] nothing but whole who wholesale support from this entire council when you've

[2:09:26] brought requests to the council. There has been no there's been a lot of

[2:09:29] questions um and it dealt with educating about what a 24-hour car was or an

[2:09:35] overlap car, but there has never been any hesitation on the part of any of my

[2:09:39] colleagues up here in the last three years to listen, to make the decision,

[2:09:44] and to do what we could to support the police department to provide a safe

[2:09:50] community for the residents of Camaro. And thank you for that.

[2:09:55] » Thank you. Next, we will move to the consent

[2:09:59] calendar items E through G. Madame clerk, are there any public comments on

[2:10:04] consent? >> There's one uh speaker Spencer Richie,

[2:10:10] » I just noted the council comments. Did we do those?

[2:10:13] » Oh, I'm sorry. >> You can get her, but she's got about 10

[2:10:17] minutes. Um, council comments. I did I checked it off. Maybe it was

[2:10:23] wishful thinking. Um, Mr. Trembley, how about you go first?

[2:10:28] » Sure. Uh, meetings attended since March 25, uh, the March 26, uh, meeting of the

[2:10:34] policy committee with council member Santangelo on an April 3 VCTC. And

[2:10:39] that's it for me, Mr. Kild. >> Yes. Um, meetings attended April 2nd, we

[2:10:46] had a VRSD uh, meeting. I'd like to thank Eric Zets uh, for last council

[2:10:52] meeting uh, being here. And if any council members uh would like to take a

[2:10:57] tour of our landfill, let me know. We can certainly set it up. And that's all

[2:11:01] I have. >> Council member Santangelo.

[2:11:06] » Thank you. On March 26th with Council Member Trembley, I went to the policy

[2:11:11] committee on April 2nd, I had Clean Power Alliance board of directors. And

[2:11:16] earlier today, April 8th, was the mobile home rent stabilization ordinance ad hoc

[2:11:22] committee with Dr. Martinez Bravo. And that's all I have.

[2:11:25] » Vice Mayor, >> thank you. April 1st, I met with mobile

[2:11:29] home constituents to hear their concerns. And then April 8th, I today

[2:11:35] was the mobile home ad hoc uh committee or meeting with council member

[2:11:39] Santangelo. And I just wanted to thank all of the home residents who have

[2:11:44] voiced their concerns either via email or who were here earlier. Um, just

[2:11:49] wanted to say that I hear you and please know that I remain committed to uh

[2:11:53] supporting our community and working in the best interest of of our Camrio

[2:11:58] residents. Um, and actually I would also like to take this opportunity to proudly

[2:12:04] congratulate Camrio's very own Gabriella Hakis and the entire UCLA uh women's

[2:12:10] basketball team on their incredible championship victory. Super proud of

[2:12:14] them. Thank you. Thank you. On April 2nd, I had an RDP

[2:12:20] meeting. I've had several meetings, nonreportable. I do want to talk about a

[2:12:25] business visit. One of the things that's enjoyable this year is going out with

[2:12:30] our manager of economic development, um the city manager, and Bradley, our

[2:12:36] director of community development, and visiting some of the high- techch

[2:12:40] companies that I wasn't always aware of. I've lived here since 1979 and have

[2:12:46] driven by a number of these buildings a 100 million times and never realized

[2:12:51] what was there. And this past week along with uh Mr. Ramirez and George Winkler

[2:12:56] and Bradley, we visited a local company, Lucix Corporation, which was founded by

[2:13:02] a husband and wife in Camaro on their dining room table or their kitchen

[2:13:08] countertop. And it's a high-tech communication industry that has their

[2:13:13] devices on satellites, etc. And they employ 105 people in Camaro. And they

[2:13:20] expect to have fairly significant growth over the next five years. And the people

[2:13:25] they're employing are engineers. They're highpaying

[2:13:30] um jobs and they're trying to recruit people. In fact, we met some young

[2:13:35] people from was it Georgia Tech? um which made our director of community

[2:13:41] development happy. It's his alma mater. But um another company we visited

[2:13:47] recently has 300 employees and there are again many engineers and high-paying

[2:13:52] jobs. So we have a lot of opportunity in Camaro and I look forward to opportunity

[2:13:58] moving forward. Um I just have a question for the city manager. Um, when

[2:14:04] does the emergency ordinance on the rent stabilization expire and when can we

[2:14:09] expect to see this matter on the agenda so we can address it?

[2:14:15] Uh, we we are working on it diligently. I think we're going to put the places on

[2:14:19] the next next uh council meetings agenda. As far as expiration, I'd have

[2:14:23] to defer to the city clerk city attorney on that.

[2:14:26] » I believe it's April 20th or 21st. So, right before the next meeting. Yeah,

[2:14:35] » thank you. And did Spencer come back? She did not.

[2:14:41] So, we will move on to item H. But before we take up

[2:14:47] Oh, I'm sorry. Let's go back to the consent calendar.

[2:14:51] » Madame Clerk, other than Spencer, any speakers on the consent calendar?

[2:14:56] » No other speakers. >> Hearing none. Any questions from

[2:14:59] council? Move. >> I'll second.

[2:15:02] » We have a motion in a second. Roll call, please.

[2:15:05] » Council member Santangelo, >> yes.

[2:15:07] » Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo, >> yes.

[2:15:09] » Council member Kildy, >> yes.

[2:15:11] » Council member Trembley, >> yes.

[2:15:13] » Mayor Tennyson, >> yes.

[2:15:15] » And with that, we will take Thank you. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[2:15:18] » That passes unanimously. >> I I got a note that asked for a break.

[2:15:21] So, with that, we will take a 10-minute recess before we go on to item H on the

[2:15:27] agenda.

[2:15:31] 6:45 and 30 seconds.

[2:24:01] I see all of my fellow council members are back. So, we will reconvene the

[2:24:06] meeting of the Camrio City Council and the Camrio Sanitary District one minute

[2:24:11] early. Next is item H, the Camrio Sanitary District Water Reclamation

[2:24:17] Plant Upgrades Program and Manager Services. And I believe Mr. Clutzel,

[2:24:23] this is yours. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you, mayor and

[2:24:27] city council. Also acting as the Camrio Sanitary District Board of Directors.

[2:24:32] This item is to consider awarding an agreement for professional owners

[2:24:36] advisor services for the water reclamation plant upgrades project.

[2:24:42] First, we'll cover some brief background information. The water reclamation plant

[2:24:47] or WRP treatment capacity is rated at 7.25

[2:24:52] million gallons a day and the current flow and treatment is at about 3.5

[2:24:58] million gallons a day uh which is treated to tertiary standards with the

[2:25:03] effluent reused for agriculture and landscape irrigation. Original

[2:25:08] construction is nearly 70 years old with various expansions and upgrades over the

[2:25:13] years. The plant's been wellmaintained, but now needs significant upgrades.

[2:25:20] A wastewater master plan completed by WSC in 2022 provided planning level

[2:25:24] analysis and initial condition assessment of the plant to focus more

[2:25:29] specifically on what upgrades upgrades are needed and develop alternatives to

[2:25:33] accomplish those upgrades. Hazen and Sawyer was then hired and

[2:25:38] built further on the master plan analysis, meeting on site with plan

[2:25:42] operations staff and preparing numerous detailed technical reports to develop

[2:25:46] off-site and on-site alternatives for the upgrades, including initial design

[2:25:50] and budgetary considerations. Additionally, Fuelman Rolap and

[2:25:56] Associates has been hired to develop a long range financial plan to determine

[2:26:00] the district's funding capacity for the project and to lay out a financial

[2:26:04] roadmap to fund the needed upgrades.

[2:26:09] As for the location, the WRP is at the end of Howard Road on an approximately

[2:26:14] 20 acres along Kaneo Creek and there's room on those 20 acres to accommodate

[2:26:21] upgrades on site by rehabilitating existing facilities and/or constructing

[2:26:26] replacement facilities. The district also owns 50 acres

[2:26:31] immediately to the west, which allows the opportunity to fully explore all

[2:26:35] options for upgrading a plant, including possible use of a portion of the 50 acre

[2:26:40] site.

[2:26:44] The WRP upgrades project is a generational investment into critical

[2:26:48] infrastructure, the largest capital project in the city and district's

[2:26:52] history. The sheer size and complexity of the project along with significant

[2:26:56] funding requirements call for an independent owner's adviser to represent

[2:27:01] the city's interest throughout the entire project.

[2:27:06] The key characteristics that an owner adviser brings to the project include

[2:27:11] technical expertise and overall project management.

[2:27:16] The owner advisor is an independent element uh which is independent from uh

[2:27:22] contractors and vendors involved in the project

[2:27:26] and it provides a bridging of the gap between complex technical requirements

[2:27:32] and decision milestones. The owner's adviser also uh is acting in

[2:27:39] the interest to of the city to protect those interests many varied interests

[2:27:43] and ensures the project success. More specifically, an owner's adviser is

[2:27:50] needed for this WRP upgrades project to provide technical expert assistance to

[2:27:56] navigate the very large complex multi-year project through completion

[2:28:02] and also to explore feasibility of opportunities to maximize the WRP

[2:28:06] effluent reuse and also achieve affordability and

[2:28:10] regulatory compliance throughout the entire project.

[2:28:14] The owner's adviserss needed to identify and coordinate the preferred procurement

[2:28:19] method for the upgrades and then we'll provide continued

[2:28:24] collaboration of all stakeholders involved including WRP operations staff

[2:28:31] to take the steps forward toward hiring an owner's adviser. staff formed a

[2:28:36] project governance team or gov team made up of staff from multiple departments

[2:28:40] including city manager's office, finance, facilities, fleet and

[2:28:44] technology, public communications, public works, capital projects and

[2:28:49] sanitary district operations. The gov team has collaborated very

[2:28:54] closely every step of the way thus far and will continue to guide the project

[2:28:58] through to completion. The process to select and hire an

[2:29:03] owner's adviser included the gov team developing and advertising a request for

[2:29:07] proposals to provide a specific scope of services.

[2:29:11] Five five proposals were received from Jacobs, Corollo, Parsons, MKN, and M&S.

[2:29:21] An ad hoc committee made up of the mayor and council member Trembley and three

[2:29:25] gov team members thoroughly reviewed all five proposals, conducted interviews,

[2:29:31] and selected Jacobs based on their approach to the project, their

[2:29:35] qualifications, and direct experience providing the same services for similar

[2:29:40] projects.

[2:29:44] Staff worked very closely with Jacobs to refine the scope of work, which provides

[2:29:48] a holistic evaluation of the WRP upgrades program sequenced in phases to

[2:29:54] reduce risk and maintain rateayer affordability.

[2:30:00] Phase 1A is a onewater affordability and technical analysis producing a

[2:30:06] recommended WRP upgrades and procurement method.

[2:30:11] Then phase 1B will provide detailed design and procurement documents for the

[2:30:17] WRP upgrades followed by phase 2 which will provide

[2:30:21] technical support and construction management of WRP upgrades.

[2:30:29] Staff is recommending award of the phase one scope of work to Jacobs which will

[2:30:34] be will be performed over the next 20 months or so. The scope of work for

[2:30:39] phases 1B and phase 2 will be finalized as phase 1A is completed with award of

[2:30:45] those phases at that later time. Task one covers program management

[2:30:52] including many things uh along in including uh regular project meetings.

[2:30:58] Task two is technical studies and program definition.

[2:31:03] Task three covers environmental and regulatory compliance.

[2:31:07] Task four is for financial and economic support.

[2:31:12] Task five is identifying and moving towards a selection of the project

[2:31:17] delivery method. And task six includes targeted technical studies. Uh there's

[2:31:23] very many details and and that make up each of these tasks that are further

[2:31:28] defined in the scope of work that's attached to the uh proposed agreement.

[2:31:33] Uh this task six includes numerous in-depth technical studies targeted at

[2:31:38] specific items including optimization of plant operations, alternatives for

[2:31:42] preliminary treatment, disinfection and odor control, automation of process

[2:31:47] controls, flooding impacts, energy use, and exploring all potential

[2:31:52] opportunities for cost-effective reuse of the treated effluent.

[2:31:58] Taken in total, the phase 1A scope of work is structured to complete a

[2:32:02] onewaterbased affordability and technical analysis resulting in a

[2:32:07] recommended WRP upgrade program and procurement method for CSD board

[2:32:12] consideration. The one water approach is focused on

[2:32:16] maximizing the use of all local water supplies in the most cost-effective way

[2:32:21] to secure a reliable portfolio of water for the city well into the future while

[2:32:27] minimizing impacts to water and wastewater rate payers.

[2:32:32] The initial next steps would be a project kickoff workshop workshop with

[2:32:37] the CSD board along with governance and chartering efforts to get things moving

[2:32:44] uh amongst the various tasks that are listed here.

[2:32:49] Another important element of this project going forward is uh continuous

[2:32:54] effort related to the funding for the program. This effort will be coordinated

[2:32:59] between Jacobs providing the technical and cost estimated information um in

[2:33:04] lockep with Felman looking at the financing options and then our rate

[2:33:09] consultant Rafelis um uh folding in their rateayer impacts

[2:33:15] to that uh funding u process. So with that brings us to the

[2:33:23] recommendation before you to authorize the execution of a professional services

[2:33:27] agreement with Jacob's project management company for owners advisor

[2:33:31] and program manager services for the WRP upgrades project. That concludes my

[2:33:37] report and be happy to answer questions. >> Thank you Mr. Clatzel. I'm going to open

[2:33:41] up with Council Member Trembley because of his No,

[2:33:45] » I have comments. I don't have questions. >> Oh, no questions. Oh wow. Okay, Mr. Kild

[2:33:50] questions. >> Yeah. Um

[2:33:54] David, um I I' I've been here a while and I can remember when

[2:34:02] we had um attempted to do an upgrade there and the results were less than

[2:34:10] favorable to what we had hoped uh for. So my question here is

[2:34:19] what if we don't do this? In other words, if we don't do this, does it hold

[2:34:26] us more um in a situation where what we're

[2:34:31] trying to do here, and keep in mind it's the most expensive project the city's

[2:34:35] ever attempted. And if we don't do this, our

[2:34:42] predictability of being successful in what we're trying to do, does it go down

[2:34:46] exponentially? And if it does, um, how would that affect us and how

[2:34:54] we're trying to do not only in a quality,

[2:34:58] uh, situation, but a coste effective, uh, situation and providing, as we all

[2:35:04] know, this necessary service to, um, our rateayers,

[2:35:09] » right? Um yeah, the the approach that is is being proposed here with this

[2:35:15] extensive scope is to do exactly that is to is to reduce minimize if not remove

[2:35:21] the risk that we end up with a similar situation as the past. Um what this is

[2:35:27] structured to do is uh very holistic uh analysis of all elements that need to

[2:35:36] be considered uh with the extensive uh need for upgrading uh pretty well the

[2:35:42] entire operations of our of our reclamation plant. So, um that's where

[2:35:49] uh the gov team and along with um working through this scope to refine it

[2:35:54] with Jacobs to um identify what really does need to be done to reduce that risk

[2:36:01] and and put us on a path towards success for the for the best cost-effective

[2:36:07] um solution for the upgrades that are needed.

[2:36:11] » Thank you. That's all I have, your honor. Vice Mayor.

[2:36:15] » Uh, Mr. Clottel, thank you very much for the presentation. I have a a quick

[2:36:20] question. Owner's advisor, is that the same thing as an owner's representative?

[2:36:27] » Uh, similar, right? Um, in in that we use advisor in that um the technical

[2:36:34] expertise element that is is needed um is more than just a representative. Um

[2:36:40] it it's uh it it's an adviser that represents the city uh represents uh the

[2:36:46] city's interests um in in all aspects of of the uh project of the analysis that

[2:36:54] we'll be looking at. So, um I guess that's the best way to describe it is

[2:36:58] it's uh and and Jacobs is a firm that brings an incredible uh breadth and span

[2:37:05] of technical expertise in uh all areas uh that that will be needed here. Uh so

[2:37:12] it's that it's that technical advisor uh element to be that representative uh for

[2:37:18] the for the city for the district moving forward.

[2:37:21] » Okay. Thank you. I was doing some research on my own trying to figure that

[2:37:24] out. Um, and also for clarification, the recommendation from today's actions,

[2:37:32] that would be just to uh focus on the phase one, that first part.

[2:37:38] » That's correct. The phase 1 A, correct? >> 1 A. Okay.

[2:37:41] » Yes. >> Okay. Thank you so much. I have no

[2:37:43] further questions. >> Council member Santangelo? None. Um, I

[2:37:47] want to follow up on Mr. Kild's question and and the way I understood it is in

[2:37:52] the past we didn't have the results we wanted when there were upgrades to the

[2:37:56] WRP but I think part of it was a risk side of things if we do nothing it's my

[2:38:02] understanding that a lot of our facilities and equipment are at or near

[2:38:07] the end of their life cycle. So if we did nothing

[2:38:11] from this moment forward what would the risks be to the city?

[2:38:15] » Right. Uh the risk would be um several items but um having failure of

[2:38:22] our infrastructure out there then that would not um treat our wastewater as it

[2:38:28] needs to be treated on a continuous basis 247 uh putting us in jeopardy of

[2:38:34] um complying with the regulatory requirements that we are under.

[2:38:40] You also um said when you made the recommendation of Jacobs in your

[2:38:44] presentation that they had done similar projects of this scope and scale for

[2:38:51] other um entities. Do you have an idea what some of those other entities are?

[2:38:56] » That's correct. >> Yes. Um and and specifically this owner

[2:39:00] advisors uh um element of providing those services. Uh most recently one

[2:39:06] very very closely similar project is for Los Virgin's water district and in their

[2:39:12] um uh I'm not sure if I'm using the exact right term one water um uh uh

[2:39:18] project very extensive water treatment um uh process that they're going through

[2:39:25] multi-million dollar project and and Jacobs has successfully led them through

[2:39:29] that owners advisors uh process. Thank you,

[2:39:35] madame clerk. Any public comments? >> Yes, I have two people that want to

[2:39:40] speak. First, Doug Boyce, followed by Spencer Richie.

[2:39:49] » Welcome, Mr. Boyce.

[2:39:54] » Good evening, Mayor Tennyson and rest of the council

[2:39:59] and staff. Um I real quickly uh before I get started on this um you mentioned in

[2:40:07] your report please Chief Eric that it was a 20 second improvement in response

[2:40:12] time. It's actually 36 seconds. That's huge as several of the council members

[2:40:18] also pointed out. So and uh as Dr. Martinez Bravo mentioned, I think we

[2:40:25] have a lot to celebrate with uh one of our lady uh basketball players leading

[2:40:30] the Bruins to their first national championship. She was the top scorer in

[2:40:35] that game. That's huge. I I'm not I'm come here tonight not as a a a hater or

[2:40:40] a complainer, but as somebody that wants full transparency in this this is a

[2:40:45] massive U project. And so my first question that I jotted down was very

[2:40:51] similar to Dr. Martinez Bravo. Is this $4 million contract just for phase 1A?

[2:40:58] And if that's true, then then I suspect that there's going to be a lot more for

[2:41:03] the rest of the phases. But I think that is that true? Anyway, that's my question

[2:41:08] um confirmation. And then the second that I had real briefly is at this stage

[2:41:13] I would think that there's already some sort of an engineer's estimate for the

[2:41:17] total cost of the project. Uh for full transparency I would like the public to

[2:41:23] be aware of that. Thank you. >> Thank you

[2:41:31] » Spencer Richie.

[2:41:43] All right. Hello. Um, first off, my apologies for um not

[2:41:53] showing up the public comment earlier when I was called. Um,

[2:41:58] I had to use the restroom. Um two, um

[2:42:05] I you know whatever the the you know the city goes with for

[2:42:10] um for upgrading and keeping in repair our um our reclamation

[2:42:20] plant on Howard. Um that is something that you don't want to

[2:42:26] skimp on. Um definitely like make sure you are getting just a good job of it in

[2:42:33] general because that is that's literally life-saving infrastructure. like, you

[2:42:39] know, between the fact that again, as climate chaos

[2:42:46] ramps up, obviously um

[2:42:51] um we're going like because that's going to cause our water income to be to grow

[2:42:58] more and more inconsistent. And then also especially in light of the whole

[2:43:03] like Iran um started horm limiting you know how much fertilizer can get out to

[2:43:09] the world um that and like you know the poop ponds at Caly Channel Islands those

[2:43:16] will be more and more important sources of local fertilizer as well. So in

[2:43:20] general yes we should absolutely you know like

[2:43:27] make sure we are getting the best of the best for our um

[2:43:33] you know our facilities like our water reclamromation plants and stuff. Um, I

[2:43:38] think that is a very good use of our taxpayer funds and what our taxpayer

[2:43:45] funds should absolutely be spent on. What and you know if there's any

[2:43:50] questions about oh my gosh where are we going to get the money for that because

[2:43:54] you know like there often is you know with this city because again fiscal

[2:43:59] responsibility is like it's pretty much always been a huge you know city

[2:44:04] government value. Um I don't

[2:44:11] a you know a way you could probably free up more money is by getting rid of the

[2:44:17] contract with flock. Um again that is that's blowing us a lot of city money.

[2:44:24] Um, we never asked for it and again that is just we know that ICE and outofstate

[2:44:32] law enforcement has access to that material. We again that is serving

[2:44:38] Camearans to ICE on a silver platter. So yeah that thank you. Have a nice day.

[2:44:45] » Thank you Spencer. Now we will

[2:44:51] » Now we will go to council comments and Mr. Trembley.

[2:44:58] » Thanks uh Mr. Mayor. Um I I have several comments but but in light of Mr. Boyce's

[2:45:04] question, let me just pose it to Mr. Clottel and then I've got a number of

[2:45:07] comments. Dave, we've been looking at estimates um for this project uh for the

[2:45:14] last several years. How would you describe where we are at at this point?

[2:45:18] just in terms of general estimates, >> right? The the work performance so far

[2:45:22] has uh produced some uh a range uh bookends if you will of of um options of

[2:45:30] alternatives for upgrades and um budgetary estimates for those. Um so uh

[2:45:37] we don't have anything more certain than that and that's this next step of

[2:45:43] further refining and and identifying a recommended um upgrade alternative uh

[2:45:49] would would produce a more refined cost estimate number.

[2:45:54] » Well, when we were looking when we're looking on the prior studies that have

[2:45:58] been done, we were estimating somewhere in the $200 million range overall.

[2:46:04] Correct. >> Correct. Yes. Um,

[2:46:06] » and that was three years ago, >> right?

[2:46:09] » So, from a contextual standpoint, that's where we are. I I think it's fair to

[2:46:15] say, although it's very difficult to pin that down, especially if we end up

[2:46:20] incrementally approaching this project. >> Correct.

[2:46:22] » Okay. All right. Um, my comments are as follows. Um, the the

[2:46:28] ad hoc committee, uh, as Mr. Clausel reported, uh, has been an integral part

[2:46:33] of this process. The mayor and I have spent many many hours uh in the drafting

[2:46:40] of the requests for proposals, sitting through the interviews, discussing the

[2:46:45] proposals in depth to understand the opportunities uh for us. Um the studies

[2:46:52] that need to be done now in order to assess our water resiliency.

[2:46:58] um and the one water concept. Um there has been a lot of back and forth

[2:47:03] internally as well as with the consultant. Um uh we're trying to put

[2:47:08] ourselves in the best position possible regarding the scope of work and the

[2:47:13] cost. Um

[2:47:17] I have not I've I've practiced law and represented wa public wastewater

[2:47:23] agencies uh for many decades. And you have we received proposals from very

[2:47:32] high quality firms. Jacobs is one of them. In fact, I haven't had the

[2:47:35] privilege of working with Jacobs in the past. Um but I will tell you that they

[2:47:41] are a very high quality firm reputationally and the proposals that we

[2:47:46] received and the interviews that we conducted uh showed a lot of forethought

[2:47:50] in terms of of what consultants wanted to provide to us. The reason that this

[2:47:56] is the right approach and Martito whether you characterize as owner's

[2:48:01] advisor or owner's representative owner's representative at least

[2:48:04] traditionally has been more on the construction project management side

[2:48:09] when there's already been for example a more traditional design bid build

[2:48:13] process here by contrast as an owner's advisor that we're bringing them in

[2:48:20] right upfront because ultimately we may end up doing

[2:48:24] this project based on the decisions we make as a board. We may end up doing

[2:48:29] this project incrementally both from an efficiency as well as a cost standpoint.

[2:48:34] And we've we've got all kinds of work ahead of us, the five of us, to make

[2:48:39] some really difficult decisions about what we do. Um, but some of that may be

[2:48:45] from a procurement standpoint. We may be going to very different procurement

[2:48:49] methods. We may be going to a progressive design build. We may be

[2:48:53] doing in other words, we're doing something here that is very different

[2:48:58] than what entities did 20 years ago or even 10 years ago. What we're doing here

[2:49:04] with an owner's advisor is absolutely the right way to go in these current

[2:49:14] times, current circumstances with with with now having the ability as a public

[2:49:19] entity to do uh have different options on the procurement side other than all

[2:49:24] right, we're going to go out and and hire a design engineering firm for a

[2:49:27] couple million bucks. They're going to design it. Then we're going to put it

[2:49:30] out to bid. then we're going to hire a construction project manager, etc. Those

[2:49:34] all build up too, but we are able to at this point bring in a firm that owes its

[2:49:41] duty to us and us alone.

[2:49:46] It owes Jacobs will owe a duty to the city, not to anybody else. And so that's

[2:49:53] key. There's a lot of money involved in phase

[2:49:57] 1A. Um, and um, uh, I it it's it's a lot of money, but at the same time, it

[2:50:09] stands us in goodstead as we're looking at the options ahead of us. I think Dave

[2:50:14] mentioned a workshop. I think there are going to be multiple workshops and

[2:50:18] multiple hours spent at this. Um, uh, I think the the this is the right

[2:50:27] way to do it. I'm very mindful that this is a lot of money. The way I think of

[2:50:32] this is it's a long, you know, 3.9 million on a phase 1A of a project that

[2:50:37] I suspect is going to cost somewhere well north of $200 million

[2:50:42] to receive the kind of upfront services that we're going to get

[2:50:47] uh now is going to be worth it. And people can make a different value

[2:50:51] judgment on that, but I think the approach that staff is recommending that

[2:50:56] we take and the approach that we're doing is the right way to do this. So,

[2:51:01] it's a lot of money, but I think it's money. I don't like spending

[2:51:08] I don't like spending any money, but anyway, I I don't like spending a lot of

[2:51:11] money, but this is money that's well spent, particularly when you consider

[2:51:14] how important uh this project is. The last speaker talked about the importance

[2:51:19] of of uh the importance of a water reclamation plan. We have to do this

[2:51:24] right. We have to do it right from an environmental standpoint. We have to

[2:51:27] make sure that we comply with our regulatory mandates and provide the best

[2:51:31] services possible for folks. So, I'm in support of the recommendation and happy

[2:51:35] to make a motion when the appropriate time comes. Thank you,

[2:51:39] » Council Member Santangelo. >> Thank you. I won't be too long. Um, I

[2:51:44] really appreciate your comments and your work on the committee. Um,

[2:51:51] this is a big, expensive, important project and so far I'm pleased with how

[2:51:56] we're moving. I think that the owner's advisor model is the right one. I think

[2:52:00] it helps us reduce risk and it will help analyze all elements of the project. Um,

[2:52:06] like I said, I really appreciate the work of staff and of the ad hoc

[2:52:10] committee. I know it takes a lot of work to

[2:52:15] um have evaluated all of these um different

[2:52:21] um bidters. Um

[2:52:26] um and I agree with you, Tony. I think there's a lot more work to come, but um

[2:52:30] I think this this board is up for the task. Um and I think that we've got um

[2:52:36] strong staff behind us to lead us in in the way. And I think that this is a good

[2:52:40] I trust in the committee's choice to choose Jacobs.

[2:52:45] » Vice Mayor >> uh ditto to uh what has been said thus

[2:52:51] far. Uh thank you so much to the committee to both the mayor and to

[2:52:56] council member Trembley. I know there's a lot of work that went on not only at

[2:53:01] the committee but behind the scenes. I think David you probably did some work

[2:53:05] during the holidays. I remember that was like your fun holiday reading. So to to

[2:53:10] both of you and staff truly appreciate all of that work. Uh there is a saying

[2:53:16] in Spanish which is persona prepar like a prepared person counts for two

[2:53:22] and so I do think it is especially important to get this right to have

[2:53:27] planning in advance as that is critical. Um,

[2:53:33] we have said over and over how this is going to probably be the most expensive

[2:53:38] capital improvement project. And I will add that it's probably going to be one

[2:53:43] of the most important uh projects because it is so critical that we are

[2:53:47] all able to flush our toilets and and have access to uh this water as well.

[2:53:54] And so with that, um I know the mayor and I, we've also done a lot of work in

[2:54:01] going to Sacramento and going to Washington DC and making sure that our

[2:54:06] uh legislators are aware as to where we are in this process and trying to get uh

[2:54:12] funding um through that process as well. And so there's a lot of moving parts, a

[2:54:17] lot of work, but I think going through uh an owner's advisor is the right

[2:54:23] pathway. And I think uh we will get there and I'm glad that we're taking

[2:54:29] action now. I know it is expensive, but at the same time it is important to

[2:54:33] invest in our community in this way. >> Thank you, Mr. Kild.

[2:54:39] Yeah, I want to ditto uh what's been said and I especially want to thank my

[2:54:45] colleagues up here for all the hard work, all of us, but particularly

[2:54:52] Mayor Tennenness and and Council Member Trembley. Um, I've been up here a while

[2:54:58] like I said and uh I was here when we were somewhat less successful with one

[2:55:04] of our upgrades here and as was said very eloquently that uh

[2:55:10] this is a new time and a new era and the owner's advisor is is the way to go

[2:55:16] about this. Uh, it's also said that we do not know exactly how much this is

[2:55:21] going to cost, but we do know that it's probably going to be in the hundreds of

[2:55:26] millions of dollars. Um, I'm hoping it'll be in the lesser hundreds of

[2:55:31] millions of dollars, but until we go out to bid, we don't know. So, we're talking

[2:55:36] about $3.9 million here to try to get as accurate information in a very, very

[2:55:44] complex project. When you do a project of this magnitude,

[2:55:50] you're going to have some highs and lows here. And you want to make sure as best

[2:55:54] you can that what you approve works. I'm one of these kind of different people. I

[2:56:01] like to go up to landfills and I like to go to sand plants and I'm really

[2:56:05] enamored on on how they work. And I think it's important for all of us to

[2:56:09] remember too that this has been operational since about 1957,

[2:56:15] a long time ago. And if we can get anywhere close to that on this new

[2:56:19] upgrade, this um build um you know situation, the owner's advisory, I think

[2:56:27] will be money well spent. I look as it as it is kind of too wordy here, a

[2:56:32] three-legged stool here. You've got Jacobs, you've got Feldman for the

[2:56:36] financing, and you've got Rafelis to be able to uh help, you know, our rateayers

[2:56:42] on all that. So the three-legged stool is really really important in this. So

[2:56:47] um I can support this. This is the first leg of a race that's going to be many

[2:56:53] many it's going to be a long race here. But uh we want to do it right and I

[2:56:58] think this is a real step in the direction. So I will support this.

[2:57:03] Thank you. Uh I just want to commend staff. Um, Council Member Trembley and I

[2:57:09] were treated at Christmas time with Christmas wrapped gifts and I thought,

[2:57:14] "Oh, great. Staff's getting us presents." And then when I opened it up

[2:57:18] and saw five proposals about how high, Mr. Trembley, yeah, five proposals and

[2:57:24] one of the city manager staffers said, "You know, you have maybe 10 days to

[2:57:29] read this." And then he called back later and said, "Hey, can we do it two

[2:57:32] days early?" So my Christmas was spent reading all these proposals. Very

[2:57:37] informative. Uh staff did tremendous work in putting together the RFP. Um we

[2:57:44] met the ad hoc committee with the gov team and winnowed it down from five

[2:57:49] proposals to three and we did interviews with those three proposers proposers and

[2:57:56] uh I feel very confident that the gov team and Mr. Trembley and I made the

[2:58:01] correct decision in selecting Jacobs. Um, as

[2:58:07] Mr. Mr. Kild said, we do have a three-legged stool with our rate study,

[2:58:14] with Jacobs, and with our fieldman to help us with the financing on this. As

[2:58:19] Vice Mayor Bravo, Martinez Bravo said, we've planted the seed in Sacramento.

[2:58:25] We've planted the seed with our federal legislators in Washington DC and also

[2:58:30] with a couple of federal agencies in Washington DC on the importance of this,

[2:58:35] not just from the standpoint of being able to have an effective and efficient

[2:58:40] water reclamation plant, but focusing on the environment and our potential reuse

[2:58:46] of this water to give us a longer term, more sustainable water source for the

[2:58:51] residents of Camaro. Um, the thing to keep in mind, this is phase 1A and it's

[2:58:58] going to be 20 months. Uh, Mr. Clatzel said we'll have a workshop. I'm sure we

[2:59:02] will have multiple and typically when we do workshops, they are publicly noticed

[2:59:07] and the public will be invited to these and you'll be able to see what we see

[2:59:13] when we see it. Um, and as more and more information comes out, then I'm sure we

[2:59:18] will share that information on the public portals for the city. We really

[2:59:22] won't know the cost until Jacobs comes back at the end of this initial phase 1A

[2:59:29] on what they're recommended and what this board is comfortable with. I see

[2:59:33] this as a long-term phased approach. I don't think we're I personally don't

[2:59:38] think we're going to take one big bite out of this and be done. Um I see it as

[2:59:42] a phased approach. Um and that's what I'm hoping to see going forward. But

[2:59:47] stay tuned and obviously I will support this and Mr. Trembly, I believe you had

[2:59:52] something to say. >> No, I'll happy to make the uh recommend

[2:59:57] a motion. >> I'm happy to second it.

[2:59:59] » We have a motion in a second. Madame clerk, roll call, please.

[3:00:03] » Council member Santangelo, >> yes.

[3:00:05] » Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo, >> yes.

[3:00:07] » Council member Kildy, >> yes.

[3:00:09] » Council member Trembley, >> yes.

[3:00:11] » Mayor Tennyson, >> yes.

[3:00:13] » That passes unanimously. And now I will ask our esteemable city

[3:00:18] attorney if there's any report on our closed session.

[3:00:22] » Uh no, there was one item and there was no reportable action.

[3:00:26] » Thank you very much. Have a good evening. We are adjourned.

City Council Meeting April 8, 2026

Transcript