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iHow this transcript is madeUnGovr transcribes the official recording with automated speech-to-text, separates speakers by voice, and matches voices to the seated roster. Names and attributions are AI estimates and may contain errors.Verify any quote yourself: click anywhere in the transcript and the official video jumps to that exact moment, so you can check any quote against the recording.Scheduled start 6:00 PM · clock-time estimates pending review
0:00 – 0:033 turns
All right, let's do it. Okay, welcome to the Tuesday, May 26th special meeting of the Ojai
Roll call — called by City Clerk
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Thank you. And can I please have an approval of the closed session agenda? I'll move approval. I'll second. Any objections? Wonderful. I have one public comment. Mr. Creasy, please. Thanks.
Well, at West Point, once the cadets graduate and they're newly commissioned officers, the tradition is the first enlisted man who salutes them gets a dollar from the new officer. And I think this dais is newly commissioned, and the first person who salutes it gets a dollar from everybody. So there you go. Anyhow, I want to just lodge a mild question slash Thank you.
And the original recommendation was a COLA of 1.8 percent. That came back in a subsequent session and it was upgraded to 2.4 percent. It was the same time frame that the city manager got his bump that we all recall to take him up to the median of that surveyed city manager level. At the Budget Committee meeting, which a couple of you were at last week, the City Manager revealed that the survey indicates that we are within 5% of median for the employees overall. And the intent, as he mentioned last week, was to not do a COLA at all.
I think it's a mistake to not do a COLA if you're under the median. This year is especially, you know, noteworthy from a cost point of view for normal folks, and so the message of no COLA, combined with a message of, and we're doing this in secret, is not a good look. And I also think that the The evidence is very clear that you, when you pay median salaries, you get good people. And today is the first day of your new accountant, a fellow who I met when I was meeting with Brenda this morning. He seems like a very nice guy. Of course, nice isn't the only measure of quality. He does have a CPA, and he seems happy to be here. And now you're fully staffed in finance, which is great, based on the fact that you moved that salary last February from 9% below median to median.
So it seems to me pretty obvious, number one, that you do need a COLA this year. Number two, this should be discussed in public and not in private. You still have the ability, obviously, to report out and make everything that you discussed in private become public, and I suspect that Bethany might agree that if somebody wanted to go through the routine of Public Records Act requests, they can get copies of the survey and that sort of stuff. So it kind of doesn't, unless there's something else going on, which I don't know, which could always be the case, I think taking it out of the secret zone is a good thing.
0:03 – 0:043 turns
Thank you, Mr. Quilici. Anybody online? No attendees online, Mayor. Okay. Let's adjourn to the closed session, please. Thank you. Okay. Welcome back, everyone. Ms. Burgess, please. City attorneys report out of the closed session.
Yes, council provided direction to staff to bring back additional information at a future closed session to be conducted on June 2nd, 2026, following the public workshop and consideration of other items on the special meeting agenda that evening.
Thank you. And with that, we will end the closed session.