City Council — 2024-09-24

Here we have a quorum. Could we have the roll call please Mr. Chief Deputy City Clerk?

Absolutely

ma'am. Thank you.

Welcome council community

commission reports and we have a commission report from our Arts Commission Chair.

Hi everybody good to be back how do you like your new digs

love them thank you yes

Thanks to Commissioner David Leeds for doing the design that we were able to if I had to add one thing those bifold doors behind you You've seen yourself on camera. They need something wouldn't that be a nice art contest or something for the community design? I'm serious Like maybe a Chumash village or oak trees or something there, you know? So I know it screws up the white balance on the video too. I was told that by the... We're nearing the end of our Arts Commission applications for grants this year and Commissioner Karina Wright is spearheading that. Want to thank Mayor Pro Tem Andy for coming to our meeting last week This year, we're trying to be more transparent and open. So we have a selection committee set of timeline criteria. We voted on all that at our last meeting.

We're using some best practices that we've gotten from both the counties grants program. And I also spoke with the program people at the Simi Valley in the city of Palmdale and the state of California as well And we're right down the middle of best practices in terms of grants awards. They're merit-based published criteria, they'll be closing out at the end of October and encourage the community to get their grants in. It's easy this year you can do it online or on paper. Thank you to the council for what was reported to be a record 40,000 in grants for the community. Our mentor program is being directed by Commissioner Pam Grau.

There's going to be 10 artists and proteges paired up in the upcoming year for young people to partner, job shadow a professional artist in town. We'll also be having, she'll be Leading our educational seminars that we hold at the library for the artists and we look forward to We had great. We averaged about 40 people per Per seminar last year and thank the library for doing that Commissioner Christine Steiner has wants to do that joint meeting with you guys as soon as we can so we can report on the public art assessment That we did last year And so we hope for that joint meeting maybe soon in the new year.

There's a county program doing the economic impact of the creative economy in the county, and we're going to piggyback on that. to try to drill down and actually get the numbers for what the impact is of the creative professionals here in our valley. That's something you can look forward to as well. We're watching with hope and excitement on the RFP that you have out there for Libby Bull, that's a real something we have that we can do better with so I thank Manager Ben and you guys Can

we get the mic back on please? Thank

you. We're trying to work out our kinks with the staff, what timing right? So that we can streamline the implementation of our plan. We look forward to ethics training this week and I just wanted to our sort of announcement of the artists of the month anyways will say Ojai studio artists There's a current exhibit of over 63 artists at the museum and it's sort of a prelude to their artist open house tours, studio tours in the fall. It's over three days, over 60 studios, it's only 20 bucks and even with it only being 20 bucks, it's supporting Nordhoff High School art program. So thank you guys for supporting arts in our community.

Well, thank you chair Smitty sounds like great plans and a very exciting and also Thank you for this beautiful art in here. It makes all the difference so really grateful to you. Thank you All right, we will move on to presentations and we have a one from mr. Assistant City Manager exciting one

Thank you very much Madam Mayor So we're excited to introduce and I wanted to introduce our new hire In the transit realm since it has been an area of discussion and we've been doing an extensive recruitment for both trolley drivers. And a new transit supervisor since our most recent one retired so this last week we're very excited to on board a new transit supervisor Anthony Pallios who formerly served in the United States Marine Corps, and then worked a number of years for FedEx as a manager where he did route planning and logistics. He started with us last Monday Already seeing a lot of great changes getting the routes a little more efficient and Some festive fall decorations on the trolleys that you may have seen. That was all his idea in doing So I'd like to welcome up Anthony to the mic and say a few words, and then we're actually into the oath of office for him tonight

Good afternoon madam mayor council I'm pleased to be here. It's a great opportunity, a role that's different for me going from federal government service and then to local government service this is great serve the community it's gonna be a very exciting thing for me it's a little bit of a passion project for me to see your guys' community grow and also benefit from local transportation and us bettering it forward so this is gonna be a great opportunity for everybody moving forward

Thank You Anthony and welcome and we're so happy you're here

Madam Mayor, Council, staff and community. On behalf of elected City Clerk Cynthia Burrell I will be conducting the Oath of Allegiance for Public Employees and Officers. The execution of this oath is required by Article XX Section 3 of the Constitution of the State of California. Are you ready Mr. Palacios? Yes. All right we'll do a repeat after me.

I,

Anthony Palacios, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Do you solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States?

And the Constitution of the State of California.

And the Constitution of the State of California.

Against all enemies foreign and domestic. Against all enemies foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution And the Constitution of the State of California.

That I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

Welcome, Anthony. It's great to have you here. Thank you. All right, we will move on to public communication. And just a reminder to the public these are items not on the agenda and because they're not on the agenda, we cannot discuss them. We appreciate your viewpoint and participation and we can agendize these items for the future. So I'll begin with the first 10. We take a half an hour and then we go onto consent calendar discussion. Then we'll take any more comments after that. So we'll begin tonight with Michael Estowonick, then Robin Schwartzberg And then Paula Gee.

Good evening, everybody. My name is Michael Lestranik. I'm the founder and board president of the non-profit American Songbook Today which was founded over 25 years ago. Our mission is to celebrate the American Songbook, to preserve this musical treasury and to foster it for future generations through concerts and educational workshops America is known around the world for our songs. Not for our paintings, not for our sculptures, our classical composers, our dancers, our dramas, our literature nor our poetry nor our storytelling.

It's our songs you will hear all over the world. So in my career as a corporate event planner, I've been blessed to travel to 80 countries. So whether in a taxicab in the kingdom of Bhutan where I hear Tony Bennett or in the hotel elevator in Paris where I hear Peter, Paul and Mary. Our mission to preserve these songs is unique not only to the Ojai Valley but to all of California and we think in any other state as well.

But as some of you will recall, last year the Arts Commission Ad Hoc Committee judged us to be unworthy of any funding even though no member of this ad hoc committee nor past or present members of the arts commission had ever attended any of our eight concerts. Only one other arts applicant thought to be unworthy was sharing knowledge, the beautiful bronze statue of two children reading on a bench in front of the Ojai Library designed so that our own children can sit next to them and know that it is okay to read in public.

But thankfully, the Ojai City Council overruled the ad hoc committee's recommendations and decided to split the pie among everybody who applied. So we are very grateful for the amount of $1,775 which was our share of the pie. Recently it has been pointed out that three of the four ad hoc committee members had an obvious conflict of interest and never should have been on that committee deciding which applicants should be awarded money from the City of Ojai.

One example is that A very wonderful member of a much admired group of Ojai artists submitted her group's application and was part of the committee's plan to award per group, a grant of $3,500. That is a conflict of interest. Many of us were shocked to learn at the Arts Commission meeting last Thursday that they had appointed the exact same four members to be on the ad hoc committee Without being vetted once again, we are glad to know that this practice of overlooking conflicts of interest is on your agenda this evening.

This money we got enabled us to continue presenting concerts to over 700... Thank

you Michael. Robin Schwartzberg and Paula Gee and then Damaris Dack

I'm a little nervous. Thank you for having me here and hearing what I have to say. Again, did you start the timer? Because it's at two minutes and 40 seconds already. So it should be starting at zero now. Oh those are second, okay. See this how nervous I am. So I've been teaching art at the Ojai Recreation Department for three years now as a private contractor so there are no whistleblower laws in place for a private contractor. I'm not an employee But what I have been witnessing from the new manager, Matt Davis is that he has created a very toxic work environment for the employees.

It's not so much personally affecting me although I did not I have not really been enjoying my interaction with him. But I feel like if I were just to put my head down, I could get through it but I'm not really seeing that happening for the rest of the staff and what I've been witnessing has been that now the whole staff is sort of like all pitted against each other and turning on each other and it's creating a lot of other Things that are not helpful to the community. And so I just wanted to bring it to your attention that I'm aware that Kayla Graham along with two other long standing employees were fired for not really reasons that were really substantiated and my understanding is that Matt shook his fists at her and yelled at her which you know that's bordering on So that's very serious and I think it needs to be investigated and all of the employees are all freaked out and afraid.

There was a interesting situation where I noticed a lot of tables being put in the dumpster, and I said hey why don't we try to rescue those and give them away instead of them going in landfill which is a pretty serious issue? And they were all freaked out like no just don't rock the boat so Without putting it where it was just posted on unconditional give and take. And gave them to a man I have his information he's willing to substantiate that the tables were all usable and not broken in very good condition. And it's my understanding that he lied and said that they were broken so now he's also lying.

And actually have a lot more to say because there are a lot of things happening but It just needs to be brought to light because I think you might be facing a lot of lawsuits. I personally am fearing retaliation, so...

Thank you Robin. Next we have Paula Gee and then Damaris Stack and then let's see. Oh okay. Well

sir, it's

the mayor's I'm sorry we just have to do one at a time so we'll have Damaris and then Larg Martinez and then Kelly

Swift

Three minutes per person. Thank you

Hello This is too high for me This is Tamara Isaac. You know the story, my daughter has been missing for three months now. I'm not going to share the story because you probably know all about it and it's unfortunate that we are not in the Ojai area or jurisdiction whatever it is and we need to come here because it's the only resource available for us To keep the word out, I don't know where to meet the unincorporated areas because I don't know where the meets are for those. So we were aware of this meeting and here we are.

I have some family members in land that is advocating for us. I just want to say that, even though that I know there is no jurisdiction and you can do a lot for us because. And you can see how frustrating it is. I just wanna ask for your help. Spread the word out. Think if you were in my situation, where would you be doing? I'm not a politician. I don't have resources.

I don't have contacts. I don't know the system. I can barely speak the language. Thank you. And I just want to say that even though there is an isolated situation, that everybody says like it's just one person. This can happen to anyone and you don't have cameras in the back by trail that could be seen here. You don't have lights on the bike trails to light her way.

You don't have signs. of the missing person. The sign that is out there in the road says Missing Person BC Alerts dot org. You need to subscribe to those, otherwise you don't get any notification. So half of the population doesn't know about her. That system doesn't work for all. Thank you.

Thank thank you, Damaris. Next we have Larg Martinez then Kelly Swift and oh, I'm sorry Lang and then Andy Gilman.

Mayor, council members. My name is Mike Martinez. I'm a known homeless advocate and I'm also an advocate under the umbrellas of Children in the Night. Dr. Lois Lee since 1979 has rescued over 12,000 children off the street. Dr Lee is also an attorney and works with such agencies such as the DOJ, Homeland Security, FBI, you name it she was involved in regards to victims of the Epstein case as an expert witness. I am under her umbrella. I am also under NASCA. I'm National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse. I'm under their umbrella, and I'm an ambassador for them. I am not the first person to come out of homelessness or addiction in the county of Ventura.

I am the first person known as far as a homeless advocate. There's been more stuff on me than anybody else for what I do then in the United States that I do look at it as accomplishment because the work I do is about giving back what God has given me. You know before I came here, I talked to my pastor and they said Lang whatever you do don't be Trump I find it hard sometimes because if you are Trump, you get the ego caught up and all about me. And it's not all about me.

It's about Demarius. I am Ziona's advocate. I'm a voice for those that don't have a voice and my voice roars. Some of you might not know who I am. You could Google me, my reach is all the way from one end of the United States to the other. Some of my stuff's been published and translated in different countries. I think I'm in 30 different countries recently. I just interviewed in the UK.

This is a child who has disabilities. Could you imagine? Could you imagine being on that spectrum with the schizophrenia out there? And you and I both know, because certain things that I can't say because I am connected with some form of law enforcement because of Children's Night. We know that this child was abducted. This is the best magic trick ever. This is not a Copperfield. The child is gone.

This child has been abducted and you guys aren't doing anything about it. I have contacted supervisors at V&A Lopez's office, Kelly Long, Jeff Gorel. The one I can't get through to is Matt Levere. Matt Levere seems to have a problem with me. I think the comment was if Lange's involved we're not going to get involved. I have that in writing when my day comes I will present that so if that's a problem for you getting involved I think that's a problem You know, I've looked at your Facebooks and I see things that you guys celebrate. And some of the stuff I look at and I mean some of the posts you put up about helping out nobody's done a damn thing for this mother.

I am asking you, I'm not calling you names. But I'm telling you, I will not stop. I will get to whatever platform I need on this. I will. That's what I do. I am begging you with everything that I have without being disrespectful ma'am, to please reach out and put something together help this family in this pain. The part of not knowing is worse than anything.

I'm begging you. And this is not my style. Not sure y'all know that. I don't do this but I'm begging you.

Thank you, Lang. Next we have Kelly Swift and I thank you for your enthusiasm if you could though please hold your applause thank you next we have Kelly Swift then Andy Gilman and then Tyler Morris

Hi, I'm Kelly Swift. I appreciate this opportunity to get to speak. I work at the Parks and Rec also. I joined up a few years ago in the adult gymnastics class. Dragged in actually and I really didn't think this was something I could ever do and it has Really changed, it changed so much of my life. But my coach Stacy who's been there for many years she asked me to help her out with her summer camp and I said no.

I didn't want to work there. I didn't want to work in the heat with the children everything but she talked me into it and I was hired by the city a couple of years two summers ago I guess it was and everything was fantastic I read to the children. I didn't, I'm not artsy or anything. I said I'll do it if I could just read stories and we established our reading circle They call me Tutu, my grandchildren call me Tutu. And so she was calling it Tutu time.

We wanted to try it out and the children loved it and they were concerned because then I would leave with the books. So we ended up setting a little free library inside the Boyd Center and I had a lot of book donations. But like I told Stacy, I really didn't want to work there. It was just a few hours a week they insisted on paying me so instead you know it wasn't a lot of money so i just poured it back in and I bought rugs for that and when I worked for basketball we bought pom-poms and a lot of stuff like that After summer camp, the children wanted it to continue. So Luis Gomez allowed me to come every week and I volunteered and I would just come and give an hour or two.

That changed when we got the new director and I met Matt the first day he was great. We talked about his living in Camarillo things like that. He's very friendly Never spoke to me again, and I didn't know why. I didn't know what I'd done or anything. I'm just asking if we could get maybe some communication and transparency and fairness? I started coming in, and my books were being tossed out into the garbage. I went to grab my son, and we took the rest of what I had. My friend made a nice cup for me with a tutu on it I had in the kitchen And one of the young men in the office said, oh I'm glad you got it. We were throwing that away. It was brand new and he said no we're told to just get it all out of here where it's not like a daycare or anything like that end.

I just thought a better treatment, especially volunteers that I would hope that we could see some changes there. And again, you know, I send emails. I don't get responses. I'm kind of invisible over there, but I am still an employee. Thank you,

Kelly. Next, we have Andy Gilman and Tyler Morris and then Dewey Martin.

Hello, Council and staff. Andy Gilman, resident of Ojai. Three quick things. One, I would encourage you to reconsider the motorcycle officer for the following reasons. We need traffic enforcement desperately and I'm afraid that the measures proposed such as education won't be able to reach tourists, for example, well enough. The second reason is that what should have been said but was not said was That officer that some people spoke having maybe some problems with was not the officer that would be hired or trained by the sheriff here. So, that's not really an issue and then third as I left the council meeting I was trying to think about the conversations and I thought the experts in the room on traffic enforcement which is Chief Newman and City Manager Harvey are asking for it So I encourage you to think about it again and I think we desperately need it.

The second item, while I'm not in favor of Measure O, I would encourage a revival of the plans to extend the bike path to Soule Park. I think that would be a fantastic idea and I understand some plans have been developed So I'd love to see that come to fruition. And then lastly, I know you approved the agenda already but I would suggest that item nine, the ethics move up because the last item often does get kicked off and that's been something that's been needed for I would say two years and other items have been added for the first time so if you were up for it, I would suggest move the ethics so that you can get to it instead of waiting two weeks. Thank you respectfully.

Thank you, Andy. Next we have Tyler Morris then Dewey Martin and then Bill Lycum.

Hello I'm Tyler Morris. I've been a resident of Ojai for quite some time most of my childhood and stuff. I grew up here and I'm a local contractor as well and actually am the owner of TNT Barbecue and I lease the snack bar at Sarasota Park And I just, I think I've kind of, I've reached out to Ben Harvey and some of the stuff's getting handled. But I just kind of wanted to put a public comment about some of the issues that I've had with the parks and rec manager.

He's just been very distant as you can hear from the other previous comments. He doesn't see he seems to evade any type of interaction. I've personally never met him in person every time I've gone over there, he hasn't been in the area or in his office. I'm not saying that he's not at his office all the time but we haven't had a need to go over there. I think it was a week or two after we got shut down from the health department because the city didn't have the proper permits to rent to us.

And so, I gave him some leniency but we still don't have permits for our operations there which is in the city's control at this point and we can't do anything about it. And I've only had two interactions with Matt Davis. And the first one was he had told Brianna who was handling, she's a Park and Rec employee that was handling the permit process. He told her that she was not allowed to continue working on the permits, that he was gonna handle it personally. And so I asked if she could have him call me because I'd never had any interaction with this guy. I don't even know his number or nothing.

So, she had him call me and we talked on the phone for about 20 minutes in my entire conversation. He probably pointed out about 15 to 20 different times on separate occasions that he really just wanted me to move the tables that are chained up to the fence out front. And he had already requested that we moved our barbecue that was out front because he said it was an eyesore. And that's why he wanted me to move the tables and he just, he was very adamant about us moving these tables which we had purchased specifically because the parks and rec department had removed picnic tables that used to be out there for the snack bar. And so they had removed them cause they disintegrated and nobody was using the space at the time. So we personally purchased tables and we stack them up nicely and chain them up to the fence there And he really just wanted to move because they were an eyesore.

And then the second time that I had another phone interaction with him was, he called me because I had a lot of people on the 4th of July that were asking us when we're going to be reopening because we'd shut down in February and it had been quite some time now. And I really didn't have an answer for him so I made a social media post to basically tell people to check with the Parks and Rec Department. So he called me and personally told me if I pulled the post down He would personally handle getting the permits for us. And it just hasn't happened yet.

Thank you, Tyler. Next, we have Dewey Martin and then Bill Lycum and then Randy Roth.

Good evening, everyone. And thank you for me for allowing the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Dewey Martin and I'm a manager of a co-ed softball team that plays in the league organized by the Parks and Rec department. First, I want to acknowledge the value that the parks and recreation team brings to our community providing spaces for physical activity and connection through programs like our Softball League.

However, there are some concerns that I have and several others feel the need to be addressed in order to maintain a positive and inclusive environment for everyone involved. One of my primary issues we've encountered is a lack of clear communication. Whether it's reaching out via phone or email, I've often found it difficult to get timely or even clear responses.

This makes it hard for us to plan and resolve issues when they arise. We believe that a more consistent and transparent communication between staff and teams would go a long way in strengthening relationships and ensuring everyone feels heard. Additionally, I'd like to address the behavior of some field supervisors. We've experienced confrontational and at times aggressive attitudes which can make games feel unnecessarily tense.

We understand that overseeing events can be stressful but we hope for an environment where respect and cooperation are prioritized over conflict. Lastly, we feel there is a need for more due process when decisions are made regarding team issues such as suspensions or rule violations. Providing a way for teams to appeal decisions or have their concerns investigated fairly would encourage a more collaborative and flexible approach.

It's important to have processes That are not just about control, but are about serving the needs of the community. I believe these changes can be made with mutual respect and cooperation in that together we can continue to make Ojai sports programs a place where everyone feels welcomed and valued. Thank you.

Thank you Dewey next we have Bill Lycum and then Randy Roth.

Hey, good evening everyone. My name's Bill Leich. I'm a class of 88 Nordhoff grad. I think went to school with this guy right here. Nordhoff grads over there? One! I won't hold that against the rest of you okay. I want to just echo a few things. I was not really aware of how much is going on with Parks and Rec and some of this kind of stuff My big concern was the Parks and Rec committee.

I was trying to find a few things out, the last time you've had a meeting was June of last year. So Parks and Rec has been operating unsupervised for over a year now so I think that's kind of maybe possibly some of the problems these people before me have encountered because it's unchecked Do we mention value? I did some math real quick. They just canceled the fall season because nobody wants to deal with this guy.

That's normally six teams, 375 a team so the city lost over $2,000 Just that alone, residents haven't had a chance to enjoy recreation. I grew up over there at the Boyd Center. Rode my bike, played air hockey pool all that kind of stuff and it's uh...I'm concerned that Sarazote is going to dry up. It's gonna go away and you might make it a Tesla charging station or something.

I'm generally concerned, because arts are now dropping out. Some of the extra activities are dropping out. So what I'd like to do is I ask the council to please make becoming maybe a Parks and Rec Committee, make it more aware, publicize it, make it easier for people like us to join up. Because I tried looking around on the internet and I couldn't find the applications Okay.

I might've been, I am a little tech challenged okay? I drive an old Volkswagen and stuff like that but that's what I'm asking of the City Council to please make joining this committee more apparent, more transparent and maybe look into the person running Parks and Rec. Just a recommendation. Thank you.

Once again, please hold your applause. Thank you very much, Bill. Appreciate it. Mr. City Clerk, could you guide Bill to the application online? It is online, correct?

Yes. Our applications for our commission vacancies are on the city website. If you were to email cityclerk at ohi.ca.gov I'd be happy to direct any member of the public.

Thank you very much. Next we have Randy Roth Okay, then let's take Lisa Graham please.

Good evening, my name is Lisa Graham and I've been also a longtime resident of Ojai. I've been here over 45 years so my husband and I got married here we had kids here we have grandbabies now and I also come here to share some major concerns that I have regarding Some of the problematic and incompetent conduct by some of the new management at the rec department After my husband Jeff and daughter Kayla were unjustly fired within weeks of each other based on a number of false or embellished accusations that Had no there was no credible proof given A number of people started speaking out, people were contacting me as well as my husband with a number of issues of their own which I it's kind of like.

I just thought it was what was going on with our family and it's kind of gone from there. And you know, I'm just the wife and the mom. But as Robin shared, Kayla Graham my daughter has had a number of incidents with Matt and just the problematic behavior it seems like his conduct is disrespectful rude there's no follow up or there's lack of communication Again, some of these are things that I'm hearing from community members, customers of Ojai Rec Department.

That said, my husband put in 24 years with the city slash rec department and my daughter 17 years. And invested a lot of time that's all obviously that's a lot of time investing into our community and only to be ousted based on again false accusations that they didn't want to provide proof. The city manager in the report that they got, it was stated that these new hires had more credibility than my husband and daughter. And so that was their justification despite them being longtime staff.

What happened to them had a ripple effect because of this was stemming from the stuff with Matt Davis on to as Tyler Morris, who's like a son to us and to their operations of TNT Barbecue. And my son, Tyler Graham, he's the other T. So it's T and D. And so again, it just kind of grew from there and you know, again I don't have the time to go over everything which is unfortunate but it is clear that this was singling out whatever you however you want. There was a bias,

Thank you very much, Lisa. Appreciate that. OK, we will take the remainder of public comments after our first agenda item. So let's move on to the consent calendar. We do have one public comment and on Item F Robin Gerber. Robin, are you? Oh, okay. On item nine. Okay, great. Thank you Okay, is there a motion to approve the consent calendar? I'll move to prove it second

Second,

okay all in favor

Okay,

wonderful. Okay. We will move on to our first discussion item. This is item number two To ratify the appointment to one vacant seat and three reappointments to new terms on the Planning Commission Is there a staff report? Yes,

Mayor. Thank you. From the City Clerk's

seat over here. Thank you, Mr. City Clerk.

Madam Mayor, City Council?

Could we have quiet please? Thank you very much.

Yes, Madam Mayor, City Council. We have before you four unanimous nominations from four separate nominating committees for Planning Commissioner appointments. One is a commissioner vacancy And three of them are current commissioners up for reappointment. Before you in the Commission vacancy is Robert Graham and Chair Steve Quillacy is up for reappointment, as well as Commissioner Jamie Bennett and Commissioner John Trent. So we're looking for a ratification of all four. Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you very much. Any questions from Council?

I had a question. It came to our attention that there could be a potential conflict of interest with one of the appointments. I was going to see if the city attorney could speak to that?

There is a potential for a conflict of interest under Government Code Section 1099, which is incompatible offices doctrine. In some, a public official can be precluded from holding two offices that have clashing loyalties or duties or the potential of clashing loyalties or duties if one of the commissioners is reappointed And if they are then elected to the city clerk position, that could create a possibility of an incompatible office finding for two of their public pairing of seats. The third public pairing and that would be City Clerk and Planning Commissioner, the Sanitation Board Director and the Planning Commissioner, that pair also potentially incompatible subject of course to further analysis.

The City Clerk and Sanitary District Board Director is not an incompatible no risk thereof given existing Attorney General opinions on that

Okay, thank you any other questions All right. Let's move on to public comment first we have Bill Miley and then Steve Quillacy

Hello As a lot of you know I quote, have a regular seat at commission meetings. I've been going for years and I support appointment of Robert Graham and reappointing Mr. Trent, Mr. Quillacy, and Mr. Bennett. Thanks. Thank you Bill. Steve

Quillacy please?

Thank you, Mayor and Council and staff. First of all, as I see the city clerk's job and for those that are not acquainted. I am currently running for the position The job entails three major things one making sure that city records are accurate and accessible to the public Second that city processes are legal and transparent to the public And third, there's a whole collection of ceremonial duties creating certificates and swearing people in and stuff like that representing the city.

I was asked by others to run for City Clerk in light of Cynthia Burrell's retirement before I filed I had a Zoom call with Matt Summers, with Taylor Anderson and with Weston Montgomery and asked specifically about conflict of interest and incompatible activities. Uncompatible, excuse me. Mr. Summers with Ms. Taylor concurring told me there was no conflict of interest between the Planning Commission and the City Clerk's job, and that these did not constitute uncompatible activities.

Just to be sure, I asked the same question of the District Council, Mr. Dennis McNulty of A-Z Law in Oxnard. He is the district council for the Sanitary District. I asked him the same questions and he gave me the same answers that Mr. Summers did. No conflict of interest, no uncompatible activities. Now, I have seen the public comment that came in in written form about this reappointment business.

And I would say first of all not all commissioners must have architectural or urban planning training. Second, the City Council has the sole discretion to approve or disapprove the nominations And I urge you to approve the nominations that you have. Each one was done separately by a separate member of the council along with the mayor, and I believe that they've made the right choice. So I urge you to approve this item. Thank you.

Thank You Steve. Any comments online Mr. City Clerk?

No Mayor, but let's extend the opportunity for our Zoom participants to raise their hand on item two. I'll give you a moment here to raise your hand on item two on Zoom. No raised hands Mayor we'll move on.

Okay thank you all right who would like to begin?

So as it stands now Commissioner Quillacy is not the City Clerk It is a complicated issue. In my mind, it requires more understanding. We did receive a memo with some case law attached but it's unclear to me why it was revisited, the degree to which it was revisited and those are questions I would like to know. Also this has been a long arduous painful process. Are we not going to move forward now?

If indeed Commissioner Quillacy is elected at City Clerk, then I would say that is the opportunity to revisit this in depth and really get a sense of what we are talking about here. I also read the public comment and I don't want to say that there is a conflict of interest There but quite honestly the wife of the person who sent that public comment was a candidate Who was not chosen?

and you know, I am also perfectly willing to speak to whether or not we require the The training that is mentioned in the actual ordinance, if that is relevant I'm happy to speak to it. I will speak to it very briefly. I know we need to move on but the way I see it two planning commission meetings a month, that's 24 planning commission meetings let's say four of them they don't you know Christmas holidays whatever that's 20 Planning Commission meetings They're three hours a piece with probably five hours worth of background. They are tutored by the director of the Community Development Department, so if you were to do the math, you would have to say that there's three hours times 20 which is 60 hours, three hours times Five hours times 20 is 100 so basically they're getting an immense amount of training across the board in all of those categories.