City Council — March 25, 2026

I will now call the March 25th, 2026 meeting of the Camarillo City Council and the Sanitary District in Camarillo Library Board to order. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Yes, thank you Mayor and Council. We have three items on closed session. One is existing litigation the OPV coalition versus Fox Canyon matter. We have one anticipated litigation significant exposure of litigation under government code section 54956.92 one matter and real property negotiations subject pursuant to government code section 54956.8 related to 2222 Ventura Boulevard and if there's any reportable action I'll make that report.

City Council, Camarillo Sanitary District and Camarillo Library Board. Let the record reflect that all council members are present and I'm going to ask Mr. Kildee to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance sir.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

And with that, I will ask my fellow council members if there are any changes to the agenda. Seeing none we will move on. We have a presentation this evening or a presentation depending upon where you're from. Tonight we are going to recognize the American Red Cross This presentation will recognize March as American Red Cross Month, a time to honor the dedicated volunteers, donors and staff who provide help and hope to those in need.

I along with the entire council would like to acknowledge the American Red Cross Pacific Coast Chapter for its longstanding service to the communities throughout Ventura County, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Responding to emergencies and ensuring that no one faces a disaster alone. Through services such as disaster relief, support for military members and their families, blood collection and life-saving training like CPR and preparedness education the Red Cross continues to make a meaningful impact every single day.

American Red Cross Month also highlights that this important work is made possible by the individuals who step forward to serve others with compassion and generosity. It is now my honor on behalf of the City Council, to present this proclamation in recognition of the American Red Cross and its ongoing commitment to our communities and the communities they serve. If you'll please join me up on the stage Do I? Yep, I learned how to do it. It's good.

I'd just like to share a couple of thoughts. I've had opportunities over the years in my previous profession with the Sheriff's Office to interact with the Red Cross most notably the first Lock and Cheetah mudslide in the early 1990s and I can tell you it was devastating to the community and without the Red Cross there is essential and committed First responders, because I'll call them first responders. We would not have made it through that. Also several fires during my 32-year career. The Red Cross is always the first one set up to help the victims and also the other first responders with their needs during these things so I appreciate it from my personal experiences and I'll ask any of our council members if they have any comments before I give them their proclamation.

Don't all go at once.

OK, I'll start. Thank you so much. I want to appreciate your work that you do tonight and year round for the communities that you serve. I too have been a witness to the great work with the American Red Cross does and I really appreciate everything you do. Thank you so much.

Ditto to what Council Member Santangelo said but just super, super grateful for truly doing this work with your heart and pouring so much of your time. I saw you were boots on the ground throughout the County of Ventura whether it was here with a mountain fire or with initiatives such as the one with farm workers where you're helping to install smoke alarms in my organization is part of that too when every community has such different needs, and you're able to meet them with such expertise and with such kindness and love. And I've seen your volunteers do the work so super grateful for all of that. Thank you so much.

Yeah just uh ditto that the American Red Cross do a great job and thank you for all you do. It's been an organization for a long, long time and I'm not going to take a lot of time but I want to tell you my first indoctrination was from the American Red Cross who is my mom and my mom's been gone for several decades but During World War II, she grew up on a ranch in Somos, California. So she signed up for the Red Cross thinking that she'd be stationed overseas.

So when the Red Cross came back and stationed her, she was stationed in Santa Barbara, California Not really overseas, but she had a lot of really great things to say even in those days about the Red Cross and your organization has even expanded that. So thank you for what you do.

I think my colleagues have articulated it really well and I'm grateful to them. I'm grateful to you. Thank you. Ditto.

I just want the public to know that when you see a shelter in operations,

90% of the people there are all volunteers, unpaid, not getting a dime. Just goodness of their hearts. Also when you contribute to the Red Cross, $0.90 of every dollar that you contribute goes to providing services that you already have articulated so I won't go through them again. But it's really a pleasure. I've been on the board here, stationed in the, I'm a volunteer too, I don't get paid, in the Camarillo office right here in Camarillo that we cover the Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo region and just wanna thank you for everything you do for us to keep us going.

Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Madam Clerk, are there any speakers on any items not on the agenda?

Yes Mayor. We have three speakers. I'm going to give a little speech here. I received three requests to speak if you'd like to speak but haven't submitted your name please see the clerk staff in the foyer. Each speaker is limited to three minutes. The City Council will receive general public comment for an initial 20 minute This is a public comment period of 20 minutes. Speakers who sign up during the initial 20 minute public comment period but are not heard within that time will be given an opportunity to speak following the completion of action on all other agenda items. Your time will be displayed on the video, on the displays.

When your time is up, the microphone will be muted and we'll move onto the next speaker.

Welcome.

Thank you. Hi, I'm Michael Cordell. I want to talk about the Ventura County Sheriff's Department today. My family has lived in the community for 40 years so we've had interactions with the department professionally and in just casual conversations at things like the concert in the park and even recently at Diznar Park reopening Really have appreciated our relationship with the Sheriff's Department.

Everything that we've ever had to deal with, with the Sheriff's Department has been pleasant. It's been professional. I really appreciate that they care for our community whether it's You know thing responding to a incident in our neighborhood or if it's just casually running into him around round town. It's always been a pleasure and we do view them as our hometown heroes, we know that they put their life their lives on the line for us every day really appreciate that and I really thank you for the wisdom of having that relationship with the sheriff's department keeps to keep camera safe thanks so much.

Thank you

The next speaker is Spencer Ritchie.

Howdy, howdy, howdy, howdy. So good evening I am Spencer Ritchie and I have a few different things that i'm going to comment on this evening the first point is I am not impressed by how still inaccessible it is to access either a Spanish translation or closed captioning of the meeting. I don't think people should have to go to a website, I think There should be those options either like embedded on either, like yeah on the live stream. On the screen in person right here at least as far as closed captioning and English goes and if possible multiple simultaneous broadcasts where you know one would be like the Spanish translation and then the other one would be the English with closed captioning And because as it is right now, it's again the people who like older people who are more likely to need stuff like Spanish translation or closed captioning.

They're not going to be as able to use a website so there's that and then also AI has been known for making mistakes and also centering out certain words So again, get different software or have a human do the captions for better accessibility. And then my second thing is, again, improve the public transit. I should always be able to get a ride home after my shift ends at 445 on a weekday.

And then, oh yes the part that everyone keeps looking forward to. Here are the current numbers for how many people ICE has kidnapped from our area. In the 805 area code, ISIS kidnapped as of March 24th 1,774 people. From Ventura County, ISIS so far kidnapped 870 people and from Camarillo, us, ISIS so far kidnapped 462 people. Once again these are our neighbors, these are our workforce, these are our taxpayers These are our tourists and yeah this we need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot by you know having the flock offer cameras up which we know already. You know ice and other federal agencies and police stations outside the state are seeing despite being told otherwise. And we also Thank you, Spencer.

Thank you so much. Good evening City Council, staff and public. It was nice to see many of you at the Dizdar Park opening. My name is Michelle Sevilla and I am Assembly Member Steve Bennett's Communications Director. And the Assembly Member and the Port of Winemia are co-hosting their second annual Bike Rodeo & Resource Fair. The Bike Rodeo and Resource Fair will be held Saturday, April 11th from 10 a.m to 1 p.m at Oxnard College. And again for those listening online that's April 11th from 10 a m to 1 pm.

This free and family-friendly event is held in partnership with a number of government agencies, Gold Coast Transit District, Oxnard Police, the City of Oxnard and Bike Ventura And it's where everyone, all kids in age and heart can enjoy bike safety courses, helmet fittings, bike inspections, a skills competition. Organizations will be giving away free resources and food distribution.

And all of this ends with a community bike ride where riders put their new skills to the test and practice around the college. So I have a few copies of our flyer here for you, for you all, which I will leave with a clerk and for everyone for your distribution. But everybody is invited. And if you have any questions, our number is 805-485-4745. Thank you very much. Thank you. We have one more speaker

Siddharth Medhotra.

Good evening, Council and people of the city. I am here to agree with Spencer Ritchie with all their remarks and especially with those about immigration and customs enforcement None of us in this city, in this county, in the state perhaps in the nation is safe as long as these I can think of an all politer word mercenaries are on the streets seizing whom they will and carrying them off to a fate worse than death.

None of us is safe while we are afraid of speaking our minds or even going about in our own streets The Department of Homeland Security and all such departments have outlived their usefulness by now. There is now no threat from which they can defend us, they have become the threat themselves and it is time for them at last to disarm and depart. And I am as tired of saying so as you are undoubtedly tired of hearing it but we will not tire of saying it ladies and gentlemen Until we are free of this occupation at last.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, is that it?

That is all.

Thank you. Next we have a presentation from the Ventura Regional Sanitation District Mr. Eric Zetz. Did I say your name correctly?

Mr. Mayor yes you did perfectly. Good evening. There we go, okay perfect. Good evening Mr Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor and members of the City Council my name is Eric Zatz I'm the General Manager for the Ventura Regional Sanitation District. The Ventura Regional Sanitation District i'm going to give you just a brief presentation it's made up of nine of our representative member agencies those member agencies are of course the city of Camarillo I'm going to introduce you to our board members we have 9 Leslie Cornejo, our Vice Chair out of the City of Santa Paula.

Board Director Kim Mang out of the City of Ojai. Board Director Bert Perello out of the City of Oxnard. Board Director Martha McQueen Lejeune out of the City of Port Hueneme. Our former chair David Newman out of t he City of Thousand Oaks And then we have Board Director Kevin Kildee, also known as your esteemed five-time mayor for the city of Camarillo. So this individual I'll let you know we have had nothing but the greatest pleasure of having Camarillo and really Councilmember Kildee be a part of our board.

Much of the history there's a lot of individuals that come in and out Councilmember Kelty has been a part of this organization since 2011. Has spent 15 years on our board and has been very valuable in providing insight, information as we've gone from a district that began as a sanitation concept but then has morphed into really a landfill concept and we'll get into some of that.

Continuing on, we also have Board Director Doug Halter with the City of Ventura. And a picture is coming soon for Mr. James Acosta, Board Director for the Special Districts. So our, the district's organizational chart is made up of the administration, the operations and the finance report to the general manager. The general manager is appointed by the board as well as the city, the legal council So let's get into the services that we offer. So, we offer water supply and wastewater services. This includes services for pipe cleaning and inspection, electrical instrumentation repair Mechanical maintenance and installation, manhole rehabilitation, industrial painting and coating, water system operations, wastewater collection and treatment, environmental monitoring, and technical and administrative services.

The revenues for our wastewater and water make up about $3.6 million with our largest customer being the City of Santa Paula with their wastewater treatment plant And now on to our landfill services and so residents here with the city of Camarillo. We'll recognize that we've got toll road landfill for the Ventura County residents, the district owns 6 landfills 5 of those are close we provide maintenance operations for them and then a 6 landfill which is told will talk a little bit about So here you have a map and this presents the regional issue of landfill in Ventura County.

This map shows you, highlighted with the red star, the Tolland Road Landfill which is right now the only public landfill within Ventura County. Simi Valley Landfill's owned by Waste Management and controlled by a private firm. And late in 2025, Chiquita Landfill closed. And so right now as we're here our board has the big decision before them as to what the future holds for landfill in Ventura County.

Other landfills that there are, there are Republic Services' Sunshine Canyon and LA County's Calabasas. Both landfills present challenges for transportation and fuel for Ventura County residents. And you'll see on the left of the map there a CUP number 3141. That's the conditional use permit that Ventura County holds for the Tolland Road landfill. The Conditional Use Permit number 3141 is managed by Ventura County and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

So if we decide to go forward with any type of permit changes to that site, we must get that approval through the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. The service area of C P 3, 1, 4, one is the Western area. Ventura County from the toll in County Road so if you look back at that map and you see tolling road landfill we can only go West. But we have the ability which must be transported by transfer trucks from solid waste transfer stations or material recycling facilities, except for waste generated in the cities of Santa Paula and Fillmore. So those are our limitations for that landfill right now.

The Tolland Road Landfill brings in 1,300 tons of trash each day. Tolland Road Landfill is open Monday through Friday so this is not a Monday through Saturday operation. This is a Monday through Friday operation With that Monday through Friday operation, the district received about $18.5 million off of that Tolland Road landfill so it is a very lucrative operation.

Some information for the residents of the city of Camarillo. The Tolland Road landfill is located at 3500 Tolland Road in Santa Paula and the phone number for Tolland Road Landfill is 805-658-4685 We also have a website www.vrsd.com. Hours and operations for Camarillo residents, general public and non-commercial vehicles are Monday through Friday 730 to 3 p.m., non-transferable commercial account vehicles Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 330 p. m., and transfer account vehicles Monday through Friday 6 a .m. to 4 p.

Tires, all loads must be inspected. They must be covered and no illegal dumping is permitted on the site. One thing I will note is that we have stopped taking cash at the site so we only take debit cards and credit cards. We don't take checks. So something to plan ahead and in the event that any of the Camarillo residents have an alternative You know, item that they are throwing away. They can check with the City of Camarillo on their household hazardous waste programs to get information there or they can also go to Gold Coast Recycling Center or the Del Norte recycling and transfer station.

That concludes my presentation. This is my information I want to thank the city manager, Greg Ramirez and his staff for being so accommodating to me to allow me to be here today and if anyone would like to contact me that's my information there. Thank you so much.

Thank you any questions for Mr. Zetz?

Go ahead, Mr. Kildee. Thanks for being here, Eric. For those of you who don't know, we hired Eric very recently. He became highly regarded in the industry that we have and we push Eric a lot but we also have high expectations and you've exceeded the expectations that we have. Briefly about the airspace that we have left at our current landfill.

Absolutely. Thank you, Councilmember Kildee. So we have 216 acres at the Tolling Road landfill in that landfill 91 acres of that is for in-place trash and that includes before the new cell was brought on that the board authorized and allowed it used to be 81 acres now it's 91 so we've got that 10 acres that we're running into right now The airspace is the amount of space that you have permitted that the state says you can put trash up to into the sky.

And where you're at today so that that difference is your airspace and by volume buy in place trash, the last update that we had given our board was that we were looking at something between 1214 years 12 is what We're going to talk a little bit about what we've been doing in the last 12 to 14 years. This board is awesome. This board is really a bunch of high-achieving individuals. They have already approved and authorized a feasibility study, and we're working on that to bring that back to the Board here by summer.

So that's a good thing. That feasibility study will tell us what is available, and the Board will then make a decision on whether or not we can go forward or not. In the event that we cannot, the Board will have to make a decision on what to do next.

Thank you. Can I have one follow up? You sure can. Eric, is it feasible for my colleagues here and anyone else to perhaps do a field trip up there and see the operation live?

Absolutely. Be happy to do that.

Thank

you any

other questions vice mayor?

I don't have a question but just a comment. I think this is a subject that we may not necessarily think about every single day although we throw trash out every single day And just wanted to thank you for the services and the good work you're all doing. Thank you, and thank you Councilmember Kildee for serving on the board.

Thank you. No other questions or comments? Thank You Mr. Zetz. We appreciate that. Next up we will have a library activity update with Mandy Welcome Mandy

Good evening, Mayor David Tennyson and library trustees. Every Story Counts is a California state initiative that asks Californians across the state why and how they use our public libraries. Camarillo Public Library participated in this survey and I'm excited to present a few of our highlights. So from January 25th to the 31st, the library participated in this initiative along with 98 other library jurisdictions.

And in that week the library marketed every story counts survey to patrons through our website social media channels email distribution and public desk stations. The survey was available in both English and Spanish and in total the library received 279 responses The library was required to ask four questions from the State Library, but we were able to ask three customized questions of our own.

The first survey question, tell us about your experience at the library. An overwhelming majority of responses told us that they feel welcome in our space. In addition a high number of survey respondents plan to come back and they trust the information from the library. Respondents had the option of writing their own comments and one user expressed that they take out-of-town visitors to the library because they are so proud of it.

Another mentioned that we create a warm space for learning and enjoyment of life. In the second survey question, respondents were asked how they use a library. Close to 90% of people still like to borrow items which include our physical and electronic materials. The other two high responses from the survey included 62% who use a library to attend programs and events while 48% use a library space to read study or work.

I want to highlight a few of the comments that really stood out on how people feel about the library. Multiple comments expressed that they appreciate the care of our facility, from the flowers at the fountain to how clean even our restrooms are. So I think this showcases the hard work of our administrative services staff who oversee the maintenance of our building.

In addition, people made comments that the library helps with their quality of life particularly during a hard economy. For instance one user uses the library for entertainment purposes since they don't have a TV at home. Another user expressed to the library is one of the most important buildings in Camarillo and that we offer a variety of services for everyone.

The majority of our respondents were adults, 18+, that's the orange pie. An older adult, 65+, that's the teal pie with just a very small fraction of teens so hopefully we'll change that in the future. In the fourth question, respondents were welcome to share anything else they felt about the library and here are some things that we are doing well. Community focused programs such as our Sea Library and Community Wisdom Exchange.

Program series like our Camarillo Reads event held in September, creating a happy space for young adults or young audiences and then again having a quiet and safe space to work in between home and office. In our first custom created question, we asked survey respondents to give us ideas on something they would like to see happen at the library. So responses include ideas like events for younger middle-aged demographics, a fix it clinic, how to create a podcast, adding board games to our circulation, more tech help and a job in or resources fair.

I'm evaluating each of these ideas and will work with library staff to start some of these ideas up or enhance existing programs in the future. The second question, we asked what people would like to see more of in our library collection. Responses included suggestions like more graphic novels for kids, staff recommended lists on Libby which is a platform we use for e-books and e-audiobooks, more foreign films, more English as a Second Language books and resources, and more audiobooks on our popular platforms on Libby and Hoopla.

And then in our final custom created question, we asked how people want to find out about new programs and services. And still the majority of people still prefer email with a few asking for text messages, library website, social media and flyers on display. I'm thankful to all of the survey respondents who took the time and were able to provide a big picture view of how and why Californians use their local library.

This local data and stories help us plan, prepare better for the future. So next steps are the California State Library is working on combining the statewide results into a summary report which I will share with you in the future. That concludes my presentation and I'm happy to address any of your questions.

Questions for Mandy? Comments? Hearing none, good work Mandy. Thank you very much.

Thank

you so much.

Thank You

Mandy

Next we will have council comments. Mr. Trembley I'll ask you to go first if you're ready

Sure, thanks Mr. Mayor. Meetings attended since March 11th. On March 12 the Airport Authority on March 16 Utilities Committee on March 18 we had a special meeting at the City Council on March 21 the Dizdar Park grand opening I really want to pay send my appreciation to staff and to our contractors and everyone who helped make that park a reality it is if you have not yet been there please go there And particularly the public art and the firehouse-themed playground, which is incredibly popular with the kids. It's just a wonderful place. Mr. Mayor, you did a good job on the opening.

On the 24th yesterday, the Groundwater Management Agency Fiscal Committee, and then today I've had board meetings for both the California Association of Sanitation Agencies and the Fox Canyon Groundwater management agency. And that's it, thanks.

Meetings attended, I was late but I was able to go to the Super Quiz competition and award ceremony Thursday March 19th. And if you've never been able to do that try to go there next year. We've got some of the best and the brightest students in this city and if they're a reflection of a lot of the students in our city we're in good hands. I want to thank John Light for moderating that for several years and all the volunteers that help them on that.

It's a great event, and I'm real proud to have been a very, very small part of that. I always look forward every year to go there if my schedule permits. Also, honorably, I was able to attend the Dizdar Park Grand Opening celebration last Saturday March 21st. If you haven't been able to go See Dizdar Park, please do it. It took several, several years to get where we were today and are today but I always kind of equate it kind of like making sausage. It's kind of messy but I think the end result tastes pretty good and it's a state-of-the-art park. I encourage everybody to go there I usually don't do this, but I'm going to do a shout out to ex-council member Jan McDonald. It was her idea to do the fire truck there in the park as one of the equipment and playground there and it turned out really well.

I have yet to see kind of a fire truck playground equipment quite like that but I was kind of scratching my head when I first heard that, but the staff was able to pull that off along with a lot of other park equipment there. There's kind of something for everybody there at that park so it's very walkable and I encourage people to go down. Very well used and it's going to a great addition not only to that area but the city in general.

Also today, March Wednesday, March 25th I attended a finance and investment committee along with Councilmember Santancha so that's all i have tonight your honor thank you vice mayor

Thank you. March 12th, I attended the Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limon's 2026 Woman of the Year event and many congratulations to the five women who were selected. It was Melissa Miller from the Ventura County Credit Union and Melissa is a resident of Camarillo so very proud of that. Christine Cardona Threadgill from Friends of Field Workers And Haley Ehlers from Seafrog Climate First Replacing Oil and Gas, Elena Brokaw Museum of Ventura County and Angela Timmons Community Advocacy Coalition. So they represent these multiple organizations and nonprofits. And I was just so honored to be there to celebrate along with them.

March 16th, March 17th and 18th I joined Mayor Tennyson and city staff in Sacramento to advocate for support for city infrastructure projects. March 21st along with my fellow council members we also celebrated And I learned a little bit more about Mr. Distar. He was an immigrant entrepreneur, an immigrant from the region of Yugoslavia and a resident here from Camarillo.

So his full name was Hassan Mike Distar. So it really just truly brought me such great joy to see such an investment in our community and it's really a place where we can all gather and connect I can't wait to go back for a barbecue, I saw the barbecue pits out there So thank you to city staff and the project manager, past and present council members. And all the community members who dedicated themselves to make sure that this project came to life.

If you haven't been there, make sure you stop by. There are so many special features but especially there's some art that is out there it's by a local artist her name is Elisa Torres And her work not only focuses on community engagement, which I really appreciated that piece. And and that was actually you could see that in action with the children who were coloring and doing all their crafts. But it really was able I think our project was really able to connect Camarillo's history to the present. So I appreciated that and I look forward to many more memories there.

March 24th, I attended the Connections Breakfast at Cal State University Channel Islands along with Mayor Tennyson and a big congratulations to the university on the increased enrollment that we're finally getting to see now and also on the continued success of the university. And then March 24th, also I attended the general plan open house at the Camarillo library. There will be another opportunity for community members to come together and provide input as to the vision that you want to see in Camarillo in the future.

And so this open house will be held on Saturday, March 28th from one to three at the ranch house. I believe at the Camarillo Ranch House and Mr. Softy will be there. There will be children activities. There will be something for everyone. So definitely a family friendly event and I look forward to so much more of this engagement. Thank you.

Council Member Santangelo.

Thank you. On March 12th with Councilmember Tremblay, I attended the Airport Authority. On March 19th I attended the CPA Executive Committee meeting. On March 21st, along with my council members I was at the Dizdar Park grand opening and I have had so many comments from residents and community members about that park. So we have a lot to be proud of. I'm so grateful for the work of the staff and the contractors.

I know it exceeded my expectations. The view from the park with the church in the background is just lovely I hope you all get to enjoy it and I hope it becomes an integral part of our community for a long time. And then on March 25th, earlier today the Investment and Finance Committee with Councilmember Tremblay. I mean Kildee as I'm looking at you. And that's all I have.

Thank you. It's already been stated some of the things I did. The only meeting that I will add to that is, I had a VCOG meeting on March 10th. I'd also like to echo the comments on Dizdar Park. It was a great community turnout. Clearly city staff in the pre-planning planning and oversight of the construction phase did an amazing job. I want to give a special shout out to Mr. Peter Cassell.

I probably am mispronouncing his name. He's the one that organized a lot of the activities for Saturday. He kept me well informed for the month leading up to it and scripted my talking points during the early afternoon, and he did a lot of research on Dizdar Park and came up with a lot of information on Mr. Hassan Mike Dizdar. So special thanks to Peter as well as the rest of staff And with that, we will move on to

the consent. Can I make one quick comment? Yes you may. I just want to thank our Mayor David Tennyson for his comments at Dizdar Park. You did a really good job up there and state of the art. You were very eloquent so I want to commend you on that. Thank you. The credit goes

to Peter. With that, we will move on to consent calendar. Madam Clerk any public comments on consent?

No comments.

And any questions from council on items G through O? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. I'm

happy to move consent.

We have a motion and a second. Madam Clerk?

That passes unanimously

Okay, before our next item I've got a request to take a quick break. So we will take an at most 10-minute break but hopefully a five minute break. Okay, thank you to my fellow council members for your timely return.

Thank you very much. With no further ado, so a little bit of background and a reminder for everyone. So residents started most recently voicing concerns in March of 2025 shortly thereafter the council responded by forming an ad hoc committee to explore the issue in May of 2025 Thereafter, in April of 2026 after quite a bit of research and discussion the council adopted a year-long or I'm sorry no an 180 day temporary moratorium on land rent increases above 4.2% and that's expiring April 20th, 2026.

Since the urgency ordinance adoption the ad hoc committee has had four meetings and received feedback on a draft permanent ordinance from both residents and park owners. So, a little bit of analysis and we'll get into some charts but staff has looked at average park land rent data in the city and surrounding area, average move-in rents in response to park owner feedbacks at the temporary moratorium meeting.

Just just average I'm sorry just moving rents were. We're discussed, so we pulled average park land rent data as well. And then we refreshed the data more recently. So jumping right into the charts, there we have average move in land rent data for parks across the county. In blue there you can see parks with a rent stabilization ordinance in place. In yellow you can see other cities, Fillmore and Simi Valley who have parks but they They do not have rent stabilization ordinances. And then in red, you can see the Camarillo parks.

Casa del Norte is a little bit less than the other two. So it's it's a similar pattern with average park rents here we're just looking at rent-stabilized parks versus Camarillo Parks. It's a similar pattern, the gross numbers are overall less though and similarly Casa del Norte is a little bit more in the pack So the ordinance feature is getting into them a little bit. So the ordinance as written would allow for annual ministerial increases between two and six percent, and those would be automatically allowed based on CPI, the Consumer Price Index.

Additional rent increases would be allowed after documentation is provided to homeowners for things like capital improvements, capital replacements and then additionally a sort of separate category for maintenance of a fair rate of return based on the existing net operating income for the parks. So fair rate of return rent increases are intended to ensure the park owners would have a way to maintain their current rate of return through their net operating income.

To continue, a few more features to go through. Rent increases with the exception of those ministerial increases we discussed are subject to a noticing process. 50 plus 1% of the affected homeowners would need to sign to petition or request. Petitions would be reviewed by a city-selected arbitrator And if a petition is filed, rent increases or I'm sorry. If a petition is not filed the rent increases would just go into effect So this is some kind of high-level resident feedback to the ordinance so that base rent and fair rate of return should be set in reference to regional comparable rents and nearby parks That the ordinance should set an absolute rent ceiling tied to area median space rents and that a percentage of the rent should be set aside for common area maintenance.

Those features didn't make it into the ordinance out of concern for kind of the fair rate of return for the park owners. In contrast, the park owner suggested that a 5% interest factor be included as part of the amortization for capital improvement costs, that there should be no vacancy control. The ordinance has written, has a 6% vacancy control baked in And that the ministerial rent increases should be CPI plus 2% to a maximum of 6.5, and that the fair net operating income calculation should be based on CPI plus 2%. So in a similar vein out of concern for the residents those suggestions were not implemented.

As an alternative, the park owners have suggested an MOU as their preferred alternative to an ordinance. They stressed that they don't want an ordinance. They gave us some terms that they would find a good starting place for terms would be a 15-year term annual permissible rent increases between The plan is to establish a minimum of 6.5 based on CPI plus 2% with a minimum 3% threshold and a maximum of 6. 5 and allow pass-throughs of property taxes, increases to insurance capital improvements and capital replacements and vacancy decontrol. Staff's recommendation is That concludes staff's presentation.

Okay, so this is the first time we have a subcommittee that looked at all of this. So I have several questions so i just want everybody to be patient with me while I go down maybe not all the questions right now but several of them. So the first question is that It caps the CIP and correct me if I'm wrong on this, anywhere from 2 to 6 percent depending upon what the CPI has been. So over the years what has the CPI for the most part landed on?

Yeah, we looked at CPI since 2016 and the average has been 3.7% from 2016 to 2025 so that's been the average. And you're correct, the ordinance would as written allow for a minimum of 2%. So if for some reason CPI was less than 2%, it would be rounded up and then a maximum of 6%. Somewhat unusual, but if CPI was above 6%, it would be rounded down to 6%.

And how did they land on the 6% as a maximum? Were the years all added up and divided by the number of years, and that's kind of how they landed on that 6% maximum or was there some data that was shared.

Sure so the six percent maximum was really landed on for one as I mentioned the average is 3.47%, but the six percent maximum was landed because For the ordinance to be effective in stabilizing rents, if the maximum is, this is a ridiculous example but 20% or whatever it would be. If the maximum is too high, the ordinance stops being effective so a kind of sweet spot we found was around 6% for the ordinance to actually do a decent job of stabilizing rents.

Okay, and then if you could brush just a little bit about the anniversary date and the suggestion that they could raise it just one time per year. However I would assume that there's different dates for different renters, that is not... That will be several different months, not everybody's on the same month. Would it not behoove them to perhaps give them some flexibility That they could take that into consideration when they have a proposed rent increase.

You're correct that as written, that the anniversary date would kind of amalgamate everyone's rent increase dates to it to a singular time of the year that the park owners could choose. It is possible for the ordinance to be rewritten to kind of either give a you know, for the first year to rent increases to allow for flexibility in that area or even to can it would make administration a lot more cumbersome but to allow everyone to keep the existing. You know everyone has different different dates of rent increases That would be very cumbersome, but it is possible for the first year to have two rent increases to account for that. But that's not as it's written.