City Council — January 28, 2026

We will call this special meeting of the January 28th, 2026 City Council to order. Let the record reflect that all council members that were present earlier except for Council Member Tremblay are here and we have a closed session item. Madam City Attorney?

Yes, thank you Mayor and Council. We have one item on the agenda pursuant to government code section 54956.9 D1 and it's the OPV coalition matter versus Fox Canyon and if there's any reportable action I can make that report.

Good evening. I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Camarillo City Council, the Camarillo Sanitation District, the CLB, the SA, the IDA, the EPFA and the CCIC for January 28th, 2026. I'm going to ask council member Santangelo to lead us in the pledge.

Please stand. Hand over heart. Ready? Begin.

Thank you, Susan. Are there any changes to the agenda? I'd like to also comment that all of the members of the council are present except for Mr. Tremblay who is on his way here from another meeting. At this time we will make a presentation to Ventura County Food Share but i'm going to read it from the dais and then invite you up here Last October, the City Council approved a $70,000 allocation to Food Sheriff Ventura County specifically for food assistance to Camarillo residents, CSU Channel Island students, Somos Ranch residents with no distinction made in terms of immigration status.

The City of Camarillo prioritizes collaboration with trusted community partners that deliver measurable local impact. FoodShare of Ventura County is one such partner, with strong connections to local agencies, grocery stores, volunteers and food pantries serving the city of Camarillo and its surrounding areas. Ventura County FoodShare serves more than 250,000 residents each year It works to support approximately 7,800 residents through 13 local pantries here in Camarillo.

Providing food assistance and it reaches people efficiently and with dignity. Food Shares coordinated approach allows resources to be used responsibly and kept focused on local needs. This partnership was demonstrated during the emergency food collection at City Hall this past December When community donations were quickly delivered to residents who needed them most.

On behalf of the City of Camarillo and the entire Council, we would like to thank Food Chair Ventura County for your continued work in supporting our residents and strengthening our community. Now if you'd be so kind as to meet me up here I'd appreciate that. I'm sure Jennifer will have something to say. Can you hear me now? Once again, thank you FoodShare for everything you do not just in Camarillo and the surrounding area but throughout the entire county.

I would urge anyone that has not visited FoodShares facilities to set up a tour it's amazing the number of volunteers they have and the tons of food that get processed probably almost daily so thank you very much and on behalf of the city I know you already got the real check but we'd like to have you Get the fake check, so. Monica, I'll let you have the first question. Oh, I was going to let Jennifer do

it. Thank you Mayor Tennyson this is absolutely incredible council. I just absolutely adore you as a resident of the City of Camarillo this is extra meaningful. As Mayor Tennyson mentioned FoodShare feeds 250,000 Ventura County residents on an annual basis just under 8 000 of those here in the city of Camarillo so this is really meaningful to those residents that we're serving right here in our local community And FoodShare can take the dollar that much further. So for every dollar donated to FoodShare, we can buy $5 worth of food. So this is a significant investment in making sure that Ventura County and the city of Camarillo is fed all year round. On behalf of my CEO, my COO, our board of directors just a huge thank you to the city for making this happen.

Thank you any council member comments? Vice Mayor.

Just a super big thank you. I know how hard you work and especially executive directors, so much work happening behind the scenes all of staff and i've had the opportunity to tour motivating so many volunteers it's amazing just the entire project and the love that goes into doing everything so on behalf of the city we're just I mean I know when when we had that motion come to the city and we expanded the funding that went from 50 to 70, and expanded the service not only to Camarillo but to the residents impacted by immigration enforcement.

Expanding that to Somos Ranch farm workers and to the CSUCI students just I think it was the right move so thank you for providing and doing that hard work really appreciate it.

I'm just gonna add on Councilmember Tremblay is not here but he would say ditto.

Ditto. I want to thank all of your efforts and everybody out here that makes it happen, you know we all know food insecurity is a major issue and it affects all of us in a lot of different ways here so You're one organization that's doing more than your part, if not totally your part in trying to alleviate some of that. And I can reasonably with certainty say that all of the residents in Camarillo are very supportive of what you do and you will continue to do that so I'm really happy we could do a little small part with us and try to make The job tiny, tiny bit easier but keep up the good work. It really it doesn't go unnoticed and is very much needed.

Okay, I'm going to exercise the mayor's prerogative and take something out of order. Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo has a request to adjourn in the memory of a local resident so if you want to start Martita.

Thank You mayor Yes, we typically do this at the end of a meeting but what I am requesting is to adjourn in honor of Hayden Fisher Miller and we're going to learn more about who he was. And Mr David Tennyson actually also served in the military as did Hayden and Hayden's family is actually here today and we wanted to honor him today in this way. So David, if you can begin speaking about him and then I will follow.

that voluntarily put on the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. We have had an all-volunteer force since the early 70s, so that means every young man and every young woman or even some old ones with gray hair that you see wearing a uniform volunteered to put themselves in harm way for all of us. So tremendous respect to the family, tremendous respect to Hayden for his volunteerism by joining the military Hayden is the beloved and beautiful son of Calvin and Laura Racey Miller. He grew up in Camarillo.

He ended up hiking with friends, made films, traveled to Ecuador, the Galapagos, Thailand, Vietnam, Europe. on end yearly trips to Big Bear. He was offered several scholarships and decided to attend Indiana University earned a degree in criminal justice before he joined, and again I say joined not conscripted but joined the United States Army After boot camp, he completed Officer Candidate School then Infantry School at Fort Moore, Georgia becoming a First Lieutenant. He went on to Ranger School and earned the esteemed and coveted Ranger Tab.

During this time he forged a lasting friendship and bond with fellow officer Tom Hurst. They served together at Fort Bragg, Fort Moore and later at Fort Bliss, Texas. Hayden became a platoon leader and also worked logistics.

After completing his Army service, Hayden made the brave choice to support the people of Ukraine in their fight against aggression. On October 9th he gave his life in that service. Hayden was a beautiful soul level-headed, kind, generous and funny. He loved his family deeply. He was a devoted younger brother to Calvin and shared a close bond with his cousins Alex, Becca and Nick who felt like another brother.

He spent summers working at the family business Cal Coast Plumbing where his presence brought joy to every job site Laura will cherish her memories of trips to Wyoming, Montana and Utah with Hayden. CJ will cherish the many fishing trips with Hayden, Grandpa Cal and friends to Alaska, Panama, Mexico and Florida. Hayden loved animals especially dogs and after volunteering at the Camarillo Animal Shelter he adopted his loyal pug Gus.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Camarillo Animal Shelter. We believe this would have made him very happy. Hayden is survived by his parents Calvin Miller and Laura Miller, his brother Calvin Miller, his grandfather Calvin Miller Jr., his grandmother Sharon Meade Rassi, his aunt Lisa Johnston Johnny, his cousins Alexander Smith, Rebecca Smith Scott Cameron, Nick Bounce and Kelly Meade. He was preceded in death by his beloved Papa Charles Rassi.

And I also extend my condolences to the family. I think as a mother The most terrifying thing that I could imagine is losing a child. And unfortunately, the parents are living that terror and that nightmare now. And I share my grief with you. I'm so sorry he's no longer here. Do know that through his relationships and the love that he had for humanity, he continues to live on here in the city and throughout the world.

I thank him for his bravery, for promoting justice in every step of the way, and for even giving up his life for that. May God bless you, every single one of you, the families who is here, and I will continue to keep you in my prayers. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We come to the time for general public comments for items not on the agenda, Madam Clerk?

Yes, currently at this time I show that we have nine speakers and i'm just going to read a little bit about the general public comment rules. Per City Council policy 1.05 each speaker is limited three minutes. The city council received general public comment for a maximum of 20 minutes which typically allows for up to seven speakers Speakers who sign up during the 20-minute public comment period that are not heard within that time will be given an opportunity to speak following the completion of action on all other agenda items.

The City Council may not take action on matters raised during general public comment but may briefly respond, seek clarification or refer matters to staff as permitted by Government Code Section 54954.3 Your time will be displayed with a video on the displays up here And when your time is up, the microphone will be muted and then

Welcome

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Tennyson, Camarillo City Council members. My name is Patti Braga and I have the pleasure of serving as the Executive Director of Ventura County Leadership Academy. VCLA's mission is to connect people and issues to strengthen our county. We do that by bringing together a diverse network of leaders from the business, education, nonprofit, and public sectors.

Over a nine month program, we hear from subject matter experts on the complex issues impacting our community. We build relationships and understanding between cohorts and throughout our vast alumni network, many of them in this room so that we can all work together across all industries in all areas of the county to make our community the best it can be. We are now in our 31st year and we have over 890 alumni I wanted to take a moment and share with you our 23rd Annual Journey to Leadership Award Honorees for 2026.

This year's honorees include our Business Leader of the Year, Nick Deitch, Principal Architect at RRM Design Group. Our educational leader of the year is Dr. Cynthia Herrera, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Effectiveness with the Ventura County Community College District. Our not-for-profit leader of the year is Robin Britt, Executive Director for Community Conscience.

Our public sector leader of the year is Mark Stadler, Senior Program Administrator for the Crisis Intervention Training program with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. And our alumna of the year is Danielle Borgia, President and CEO of the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce. This is your formal invitation to join us at The Luncheon on Thursday April 30th beginning at 1130 hosted right here in Camarillo.

You can learn more by visiting our website or please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay next person is Joseph.

Welcome.

Good evening, my name is Joseph Duszynski Jr., I'm a resident of Camarillo and I spend my mornings outside of Cortez Circle tracking raid activity. I missed y'all last time, I was too busy training over 250 people in Santa Barbara to get involved with this effort because other people can't or won't For statistics, in the 805 Tri-County area 1,534 people at least have been abducted by ICE. 817 of those are from Ventura County and 444 have been taken within Camarillo that's over 50% of the Ventura County total Imagine my surprise this week when I opened up the VC Star and saw an op-ed from Mayor Tennyson saying the same things that we've been saying for months, which is nothing new actually. Ventura County has been experiencing harassment, doxing, instigation, brutality, rammed with cars, flashbang tear gassed, and murder by ICE within our community I guess it took a couple of people being gunned down in Minneapolis to actually start waking up to what's going on.

So, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're seeing that brutality that this lawless administration has started to have and I hope you'll do more as a city council to protect us. The only thing I didn't agree with is why people are having trouble trusting law enforcement with ICE. It's not just ICE's actions that are making it hard to trust because law enforcement has remained neutral while ICE has continued its reign of terror throughout the county, because law enforcement officers won't investigate the many claims that we have brought to city council and county boards within Ventura County Because the sheriff spoke at a memorial for Charlie Kirk who hated immigrants and willingly collaborates with, and the sheriff willingly collaborates with ICE.

And has spent months passing along their lies without investigation while downplaying their actions as just guys doing a job. Because when we report crimes by ICE to local law enforcement they don't actually show up or do any investigation but when ICE reports a crime three units show up to question our volunteers outside of Cortez Circle Because when I provide photographic evidence and precise details of law breaking happening with the county, Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the Camarillo Police Department will not respond. I am still waiting for a call back from Deputy Borden As such, words and opinions without actions are meaningless. And as such I want you to really reconsider the Immigrants' Takeholders Committee we've been trying to get established within Camarillo as part of the City Council here.

The same way Oxnard has, the same way Santa Paula has, the same way Moorpark is now getting going and the same thing that Fillmore after last night's city council meeting is considering. If you don't want to be a part of this discussion in supporting the undocumented community, that's fine. We can't wait for you guys to actually do something or take action outside of food going to FoodShare for everyone not just the undocumented community. So if you don´t wanna be a part of this conversation we're going to start an immigration stakeholders roundtable within Camarillo and we'll work around you guys and we'll figure out how we can support this community because y'all aren't doing it thank you

Okay, our next person is Clea Talley. After Clea will be Spencer Ritchie and after Spencer will be Bev Dransfeldt.

Hello my name's Clea Talley and I'm here today to ask the City Council to vote to terminate the contract with FLOC and cover any cameras currently deployed within the city until they can be removed If the council does not want to discuss further on the issue today, I request an open public hearing be scheduled similar to what was held in Santa Cruz on January 13th which would allow true public commentary and transparency on this taxpayer funded and unapproved liability.

Several flock cameras are easily found online with publicly accessible live feeds with 30 days searchable footage. No login required, these are open IP addresses. These new cameras that have been installed in Camarillo are located next to our public schools and private schools with the playgrounds clearly visible in the camera feed. This is in violation of our privacy laws and exposes our children to the internet in terms of what they can be accessible. Flock cameras pose an unacceptable risk to our community privacy, safety, and civil liberties. Flock cameras and automated license plate readers are used by California police and in cooperation with ICE and federal agents to clearly conduct unconstitutional immigration enforcement activities across state lines in violation of California's privacy laws.

They have been used by law enforcement officers to track people, vulnerable people with health care issues with the idea of charging them with the crime. To track ex-romantic partners and to stalk people for personal reasons. Recent audits of data have confirmed as well as national reporting that have shown that information is not just Accessible by police departments nationwide, but Homeland Security and other agencies. We are quickly becoming a mass surveillance nation. Is this what we really want? Independent research has uncovered dozens of serious security vulnerabilities that have allowed access to live feeds, unencrypted data, no security whatsoever. And by the way, the recent current terms and conditions by Flock Safety have now said that the data in those camera systems belongs to them in perpetuity.

So I would ask these cameras be covered as soon as possible and the contracts terminated, and that you hold a public hearing as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay Spencer, and after Spencer is Bev Dransfeld and then Nicole Radden.

Hello, I'm Spencer Ritchie. I have quite a few things to say. So the first thing is that For some reason on your sign up the public comment thing out in the front there was an option to sign up to public comment on the on the food chairs check presentation I notice and I signed up to do that to comment He skipped public comment on that over so I don't know why that was an option if that was your plan.

And then the second thing, I am seconding the whole you need to get rid of the flock all per cameras because Again, why are you feeding us to ICE police departments across the whole country and bad actors from every single stripe on a silver platter? Because again that's what these Flock Alper cameras do because literally anyone everyone can look at their footage from the past 30 days And then, and also I've noticed you still make a huge point of being physically responsible.

Renting 25, a whopping 25 Alper cameras when Oxnard, a city that is multiple times our size only has 19? That is not physically responsible on your part. And then going into what I actually submitted in my written public comment this afternoon Nobody was pointing at Get Your Heads to rent a whopping 25 Flock Opera Cameras to cover a town that is a fraction of the size of the neighboring city with only 19 Flock Opera Cameras.

Multiple people have told you That you know, you can prove by looking it up online with at, you know, reliable sources that, you know flock all per camera footage is accessible by ice. And it's there. It's a huge, you know the like notably that and your not at least Commissioning studies to look at the possibility of the state switching from contracting with the openly collaboration as VCSO for law enforcement and instead going to its own in-house PD that does not collaborate with ICE. And, you know, not doing even the slightest steps that you can against ICE. That is tacit approval of ICE.

That is tacitly agreeing with what ICE is doing. You are all a bunch of traitors who like ICE. Thank you, have a nice day.

Okay next we have Bev Dransveld and after Bev is Nicole Radden and after Nicole is Bob Garcia

Good evening again council members. I think it's important to express gratitude where gratitude is due so Mayor Tennyson, I do want to thank you for your comments in the op-ed. It's an important stance and it's important for people to hear that from you as well I also want to express gratitude for the funding that did go to FoodShare. And with that being said, I do find it interesting that you know the immigration standpoint is brought up in these statements up here publicly. I don't feel and I can be corrected on this that it's available you know that's not in the press release sort of thing so The reason why this was pushed forward was for advocacy from 805, UndocuFund and many other volunteers that are supporting the immigrant community.

And I bring that up because it's a significant investment in our community And it could have been an even more significant investment. And Mayor Tennyson, Councilmember Tremblay I appreciate you taking the time after one of the meetings to explain to me that with VCCF it was because a policy that it was considered a pass-through I think that is something that could have also been explained to understand that and that's also something that could have been changed prior to if that was such a concern. So even the $50,000 that was originally proposed could have gone even further than the $70,000 to make it $100,000 and as we know every dollar that is spent is five dollars you know so again just when we're talking about fiscal responsibility Again, we're not asking for a million dollars.

All I'm asking for, all we're asking for is an immigration stakeholders meeting. This goes back to some of the goals and objectives that were presented earlier today. When it looks at trust which Vice Mayor Dr. Martinez Bravo brought up that has eroded. And it's happened on every single level of local government, every layer of government from local to national.

So building that trust, we're looking at forums. This is an opportunity again this discussion of three minutes at a time every couple of weeks I do want to touch on the public comment portion now that it's 20 minutes I'm not sure if that's previous policy that wasn't Before, I'm seeing a nod from Mayor Tennyson. Again being very forthcoming about that because right now it seems like it's retaliation of the number of public comments that are coming. I appreciated that former mayor Kildee allowed everyone to speak and I understand if it goes towards afterwards but I know with Oxnard City Council often what they do is move to extend that time so I hope that the council also does that in practice if that

Okay, now we have Nicole Radden and after Nicole Radden is Bob Garcia and Blanca O.

Madam Clerk I'd just like to recognize that Councilmember Tremblay is now present.

For the record thank you Mr. Mayor. I sit on the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency Board of Directors We had a lengthy quasi-adjudicatory hearing this afternoon that concluded at 4.47 p.m., so I apologize for being late, but that's why I'm late. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Tennyson and members of the council. My name is Nicole Radin and I am a Camarillo resident. I've come again today to voice my continued concern about the immigration enforcement that's happening in our community and to ask that City Council take decisive and immediate action. I want to use my voice to remind our leaders that the issue of immigration is still critically important and very urgent.

The people of our city are being deeply affected by this issue. Earlier this week, a friend reached out to me. She and her family live overseas and run a social enterprise business in a developing nation. She reached out to me because she was unsure whether or not it was safe for her family to come home. because she has darker skin than I do. She said, from this side of the world it looks pretty intense. Honestly, I'm a bit scared to come home.

Scared to come home? Home here, to Camarillo. It was difficult to answer her. I tried to answer candidly. Yes, the political climate and immigration enforcement is intense and scary It's not just happening in big cities, but it's happening here as well. The numbers that I have are actually outdated just because I pulled them the other day. It's now over 700 people have been taken from Ventura County and over 440 of those were taken in Camarillo.

But I was also able to share with my friend that there are pockets of hopefulness in community members that are taking action working to protect our neighbors, people stepping up in our city to care for one another People from my church recently banded together. We're able to help provide diapers for a local family where both parents were taken and three toddlers were left behind.

While I was able to share about community members taking action, I did not have much to point to from the leadership of our city. Nothing to point to her that is from the officials in charge that say we as your City Council want you to feel safe. We want we here's what we have to say about what's going on or here's what we're going to do. I do appreciate very much that there is a web page with immigration resources on the city of Camarillo's website, but it's critically out of date and it is very insufficient facing regarding the gravity and the urgency of the ongoing crisis.

I am going to keep on working to make sure that people feel safe at home here, in the small ways that I know how and in my small sphere of influence. And I hope that our council will join me and my friends. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, on the list I have Bob Garcia, Blanca O., and Sidharth is the last one I have signed up.

So three more? Correct. We will complete those three before we go into the regular agenda.

Unfortunately, I'm here to talk about people who've been lost in military service. I wasn't aware of what was happening tonight but that's my topic you all know that I've been here before about this. I believe I came here in October of 2023 and made some requests and in over two-and-a-half years I just now been able to get four more names that I found Vietnam of casualties of war, Camarillo residents that were killed.

Those names should be added I believe in February to the plaques so that will make the total of 40 names of Camarillo residents who died in the service of our country. One of the holds up is every time I try and do something like this they say well it has to go through the American Legion I brought this stuff, this is where I get my information that I've gathered. It doesn't have anything to do with the American Legion. I'm doing it on my own and that's why I'm asking you guys, and I've asked this before, that you establish a Citizens Advisory Committee volunteer for Veterans Affairs and let under your guidance come up with proposals that affect veterans.

And I think that will make things a lot easier because there's a big delay when they say, oh we have to wait for the American Legion. Well they don't know. Information is here not over there. So that's my main proposal is that you establish a Veterans Advisory Committee all made up of volunteers. They don't have to be veterans but that would be helpful Another issue, and I've made several proposals like changing the name of Constitution Park to Veterans Memorial Park.

I went to one committee meeting and two of the council members said they weren't in favor of that. Well there's five of you. Is that how it works? Two guys get to make the decision? I don't know what the policy and procedure is on that. I've made some other proposals about letting veterans buy those memorial bricks like they're doing at the Pleasant Valley Historical Society and put them up around the memorial out here.

That's a no-cost thing for the city as far as I can tell, and the last thing I'm asking from you guys is I'm also dealing with Assemblyman Bennett and Irwin's office, trying to get one of those freeway signs like we have for Deputy Kuchenko here at Lewis Road for Camarillo's only unaccounted-for missing in action service member, Victor Corona who has been missing in action since July 23rd of 1952, Camarillo resident.

And I'm running really into the same kind of roadblocks dealing with the state that As

an

Oxnard native, I just want to point out that we have a beautiful memorial in Plaza Park. So I think it could be done here as well. Let's stop lying to ourselves. This is not about immigration enforcement. If it were, the math would make sense. Minnesota has an estimated 95,000 undocumented residents while Texas has over 2 million and Florida has 1.6 million yet enforcement resources are being funneled into blue states, states that did not vote for Donald Trump. That is not coincidence. That a strategy.

We are told this is about the worst of the worst, but the facts say otherwise. Roughly 93 percent of those detained have no violent criminal record. If cartel leaders were really being arrested, the footage would be everywhere. Instead what we see are ordinary people taken, families shattered and communities terrorized. So let's say the quiet part out loud—this is not public safety. This is political targeting.

And when anyone dares to point that out, they're gaslit. We're told no this is just enforcing the law. Is it? Then why are state police deployments paired with political pressure like demands involving voter rolls? That has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with power. We're also told to take Donald Trump seriously when he tells us who he is. But when someone openly sells and wears Trump 2028 merchandise, when democratic norms are mocked instead of defended at what point do we believe him?

Democracy doesn't disappear overnight it's dismantled piece by piece while people in positions of authority look away. And real people are paying for that silence. Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretty and a small child Liam Canejo Ramos. These are not talking points, these are lies forever altered or lost under policies that treat human beings as collateral damage.

Then we see federal agencies themselves promoting language like one homeland, one people, one heritage. We are not stupid, we know exactly what that language comes from. It is not neutral, it is not accidental and it is a rhetoric of exclusion and white supremacy repackaged and stamped with a government seal. This is not about undocumented people. It is about consolidating power, silencing opposition and testing how far institutions will bend before they break.

So the question before this council is very simple. Will you continue to play neutral while democracy is eroded in real time? Or will you name what is happening and stand on the side of civil rights due process and humanity? It is a pretty good time to start believing your eyes and ears.

Thank you.

OK, our last speaker. Yes?

Mr. Mayor, Council, fellow citizens My name as you seem to have so much trouble with it is Siddharth Mehrotra and by now you know me And by now you know I agree I agree with the family of Hayden Miller No parent should be forced to bury their child I agree with Joseph This matter has gone on too long and our response is too late. I agree with Ms. Talley and Ms. Ricci, we have not done due diligence.

I agree with Bev Drumsfeldt and Blanca in all they have said. I agree with all this and I hope you do too. Indeed, I've come to believe we all must I have come to believe in these things more than, and perhaps, I've ever believed in anything in my adult life. For the past 25 years we have suffered this oppression, this mad search, this tearing of ourselves apart in search of a non-existent threat of a totally fictitious danger to people who stand no danger at all.

The time has come Time has come instead to heal ourselves, to stop what is destroying ourselves and do what will knit us back together. And what will knit us back together has been named already to free the prisoners, disarm those who captured them and streamline the immigration process so people don't have to wait and be punished for it. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, we will move on to Council staff and intergovernmental reports. Our first report is a library update and I know Mandy's here. Mandy the microphone is yours.

Good evening, Mayor David Tennyson and library trustees. I am excited to announce a new modern feature in the library which is a 12 bay laptop dispenser located on the library's second floor. This dispenser allows patrons to check out a laptop to use anywhere inside a library building and provides greater flexibility for library patrons. The dispenser is self-service and patrons can check out a laptop for up to three hours a day.

When the library, when the patrons complete their computer session, the laptop is returned to dispenser where it's charged and prepared for the next patron to use. This service is available for all patrons 18 years and older and have a valid Camarillo Public Library card. In relation to technology, the library will redesign the existing tech lab in the second floor into a new meeting space that we are branding as The Workspace.

The Workspace allows small groups of up to 15 people to book a private meeting space for their business and educational needs. This space will include technology upgrades such as a smart board for virtual meetings and offer modular furniture for room flexibility. We hope to launch The Workspace later this spring and foresee this being a popular service with the public.

Our library staff will market this accordingly once we have all the equipment and furniture in place. The laptop dispenser in the workspace support the City of Camarillo's strategic plan by ensuring the city's technology and facilities promote efficient operations and public engagement. And that concludes my presentation, I'm happy to address any questions.

Any questions for Mandy? Thank you very much.

I harken back, I think it was about 2008-2009 the library was actually constructed and somewhere in that neighborhood. And boy it really looks good and I think it's really great that you're continuing updating it to reflect what you know the consumer and or you know the residents and the people's needs are so if you could pass that along to your staff too. I'm happy to thank you. I really always enjoy going there so well used

Anybody else? Thank you, Mandy. Next I would like to invite Oxnard College Dr. Roberto Gonzalez president to the microphone sir

Good evening buenas noches Mayor Tennyson, Council Members. Thank you for having us. I'm Roberto Gonzalez, President of Oxnard College. Like many of you and many of the families we serve in Camarillo, I am a proud son of immigrant parents who came to this country from Michoacán, Mexico to provide for their families a better life. I am the first in my family to go to college. I started my college career at my local community college And the guidance and support that I received there really helped to set the stage and laid the foundation for my future academic and career success.

My purpose is to help youth and adults in our community, and help them discover their calling just as I was helped define mine. My wife and I are proud to have chosen Camarillo as our home, where we are excited to be raising our two young daughters in the city. From the moment we arrived, we found the city to be very family friendly, just people oriented and so we're so happy to be here.

This evening I'm joined by Mara Malch, Vice President of Business at Admin Services, and James Schuelke, our Director of Outreach & Marketing. This year, Oxnard College is celebrating our 50th anniversary. As you may know the college was established thanks to families of Oxnard and Ventura County advocating for equitable access to higher education and today some 50 years later we are proud to have served generations of Camarillo families from fire departments to city halls schools and businesses to hospitals and clinics laboratories and non-profits Oxnard College graduates are on the front lines serving our communities every day.

We honor our shared past and tonight we hope to give you a sense of where Oxnard College stands today and where we're heading as we forge the next half century of service. In terms of the PowerPoint, Oxnard College is an institution of excellence with recent statewide and national recognition for our work serving students. Oxnard College was recently ranked ninth in the nation among two-year Hispanic serving institutions by the Washington Monthly College Rankings, which prioritizes advancing social mobility equity and student opportunity. Oxnard College was also ranked amongst the top 10 community colleges in California for return on investment by the College Futures Foundation. And both in 2023 and 2025, the prestigious Aspen Institute named us among the nation's top 150 community colleges out of 1200.

Recently, we received a recognition by the Carnegie Foundation for our community engagement work. Only 277 institutions nationwide receive this designation honoring colleges and universities that demonstrate a commitment to working alongside other communities. These distinctions underscore Oxnard College's commitment to providing affordable high quality education that leads directly to economic mobility.

We are proud to offer high quality academic programs. This fall, we launched our first bachelor's degree program in dental hygiene. We also assist students to transfer to four-year universities by offering 36 transfer programs. Our top five transfer degrees are business administration, biology, psychology, anthropology and elementary teacher education. Oxnard College also offers about 20 career education programs. The top five programs are business management, early childhood studies, dental hygiene, computer networking information technology and culinary arts. And next I'd like to introduce our Vice President of Business and Admin Services Mara March to come present.

Good evening. As a resident number person on campus, I got assigned all the number slides so bear with me but we wanted to give you an overview of our demographics in the 2024-25 academic year we saw a reasonable growth of about nine and a half percent serving just over 12,000 students on campus. Our enrollment is a little bit heavier on the female side over the males which is a trend in higher education overall When we look at our ethnicity, our students are predominantly Hispanic with about 72% being Hispanic followed by the next largest group of about 16% white and 6% Asians. And then the remainder being a mix of various ethnicities. So we have a very multicultural campus with a broad representation of the communities that we serve.

Additionally, if you look at the age breakdown of our students, our largest group is that traditional college-bound age. But we do have a strong representation of the 17 or younger with our dual enrollment students and then also strong representation of adult learners from our CTE programs as well as our PACE and our ESL programs which we'll discuss a little bit later.

Again, we have seen a nice growth in our dual enrollment programs at about 6.5%. As a proud Camarillo graduate, Camarillo High graduate, we service Camarillo High School as well as Rancho Campaña and Rio Mesa that service your students here in the city of Camarilo as well as a number of other high schools within our service area. Additionally, we have some targeted programs for non-traditional students and adult learners. Our PACE program which is our Program for Accelerated College Education is focused on working adults to assist them in getting degrees for transfer as well as professional certificates to advance their employment opportunities and improve their income status. And then additionally, we offer ESL programs English learners, and we've seen additional growth in those programs as well.

So with our PACE program growing 9% over the past year and our ESL growing 35% over the prior year. So when we look at those targeted programs, of that 9.5% overall growth, those programs contribute about 6% of our overall growth and so it's important to know that we have diverse programs on campus and that we tailor our services in our programs to meet the needs of the community in which we serve. And with that I'm going to turn it back over to President Gonzales Oh, I forgot this one. I apologize.

We've also had an increase in the completion rate so whether it's our associate degrees for transfer or professional certificates we've seen a modest growth of almost 2% in that area as well from the prior year

Oxnard College also offers excellent student services including specialized support for specific student populations, including our Veterans Resource Center which supports our veteran students. In terms of financial aid we distributed about 32 million dollars in aid last year to help students pay for their education We have many external partners including the United States Navy, Port of Wainimi, County of Ventura and LIUNA.

We partnered with the Navy and the port to create a logistics certificate to help meet industry demand. The Port of Wainimi recently awarded Oxnard College with scholarships funding to support our students in the logistics program and then recently we partnered with LIUNA to offer their laborers training school on campus. The program starting later this year will train community members for jobs in construction.

Oxnard College, the college with the heart is proud of our 50 years of service to our community and our contributions to the workforce and economic vitality of Ventura County. Here's to 50 more years of service thank you so much for your time and attention.

Thank you any comments from Council? I know Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo has her hand up without looking