City Council — May 19, 2026

Hi, good evening everyone. Just want to call the meeting to order for the Oxnard City Council and for the Oxnard Housing Authority for Tuesday May 19th 2026. Madam Clerk may we have the roll call and posting of the agenda please?

I have two announcements. Pursuant to Government Code Section 54952.3, each member of the Housing Board of Commissioners present will receive $50 paid for convening this meeting with the exception of Commissioner Starr, who has declined to receive compensation. And then the second announcement is that we are removing agenda item N1 from the agenda. This is the 2025 single audit report and fiscal year 24-25 annual comprehensive financial report and summary presentation. So this item is being removed from the agenda so anybody who was present to speak on this item, this item has been

removed.

Thank you.

Thank you Madam Clerk. Mr. Sonstegaard, Council Member Starr asked if there is any clarifying statement regarding the item we pulled from the agenda?

Sure Mr. Mayor I appreciate that again Eric Sonstegaard Assistant City Manager So, as you know this item was presented at the Finance and Governance Committee last week on May 14th. At the committee meeting Linda Hurley of Macias, Genie & O'Connell made an extended presentation on the 2025 Single Audit Report and Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report After hearing that presentation and asking specific questions of the auditor, the committee voted three to zero to receive and recommend that staff proceed to City Council tonight with this item.

Today approximately eight hours before this city council meeting our elected City Treasurer Philip Molina met with Ms. Hurley at the conclusion of their meeting Molina alleged that the auditors had missed something as part of the audit process but would not provide any further information. Based on the treasurer's comments, our auditors have a professional obligation to pause the audit process to determine what if anything Melina was referring to. Staff will provide the city council with updates regarding this matter in the near future as the process moves forward. Thank you Mr. Mayor.

Go ahead. I don't know if I understood. Mr. Molina would not share information that he had? It's a question I'm, that's correct. Thank you very much.

Madam Clerk call for the

and this motion carries seven to zero thank you

Okay, so we have here a resolution for you. Resolution of the City Council of the city of Oxnard commending Mary Sue Eastlake for over 20 years of exemplary service to the city of Oxnard You ready?

I'm ready.

All right, so whereas Mary Sue Eastlake has devoted over 20 years of exemplary service as an employee of the City of Oxnard and whereas Mary Sue Eastlake began her distinguished career with the City of Oxnard Recreation Division of the Cultural and Community Services Department in 2003 as a recreation coordinator And whereas Mary Sue devoted her career to enhancing the quality of life for seniors in the community through dedicated service and advocacy.

And whereas Mary Sue served as the RSVP director, bringing extensive experience as a writer and program manager to the leadership of volunteer initiatives and senior services And whereas Mary Sue played a pivotal role in securing grant funding for the innovative programs, including the RSVP Bone Builders Program in 2007 and Tai Chi Moving for Better Balance in 2016.

And whereas Mary Sue utilized her talents in writing and photography to effectively promote recreation and cultural arts programs and oversee and enrich social media outreach. Wow. All right. Aren't

I talented?

Yes! Whereas Mary Sue was promoted to Recreation Supervisor where she assumed comprehensive responsibility for senior services programming including Senior Centers, the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program and Seniors in Motion. And whereas Mary Sue has exemplified an unwavering commitment to public service and will be deeply missed by her colleagues participants and volunteers for her dedication and enduring impact Now therefore the City Council of the city of Oxnard does hereby resolve to commend, recognize and extend its gratitude to Mary Sue Eastlake for over 20 years of exemplary service to the city of Oxnard extends best wishes for a well-deserved and fulfilling retirement with family and friends. Congratulations to you.

I'm being a good former employee.

Mayor, mayor pro tem, council members Mary Sue Eastlake's time with the City of Oxnard has been marked by dedication, professionalism and a deep commitment to serving the community. Throughout her tenure she has demonstrated exceptional leadership and a genuine passion for enhancing the quality of life for Oxnard residents. Her thoughtful approach, collaborative spirit and steadfast support of community programs have left a lasting positive impact on both staff and the public.

Mary Sue has been a trusted and respected leader whose work has helped strengthen the city's cultural and community services. Her ability to champion meaningful initiatives has contributed greatly to the success of numerous programs and projects. She leaves behind a legacy of service, integrity and care that will continue to benefit the city of Oxnard and seniors in particular for years to come.

We are grateful for Mary Sue's many contributions and wish her all the best in her next chapter. Her dedication and leadership will be remembered with great appreciation.

Give a girl microphone. The one thing that is always missed when they talk about me is how quirky I am, and I have weird ideas that somehow just work in the kind of like bone builders who thought you could do something with lifting three arm exercises and three leg exercises? And today there's 20 classes of seniors exercising And then Tai Chi, we got a grant for...

Hold on I'll get there. I'm not gonna get there. For a class that we could do with Tai Chi and that's grown to 20 classes as well so I think when I look back on my life and I'm moving to Texas so everybody here is this is my last council meeting this is my last hurrah you know When I look back on my career or my life, I had two great kids. I helped build the skate park in Santa Paula which has my first name on the memorial there and I started Bone Builders, I started Tai Chi. I had Seniors In Motion which is in the park so if you're a senior you don't have to go into a senior center to exercise. So many of us think we're too young to be a senior including me but we all qualify So, and I have to thank my team. I mean the team in the office that knew that I was kind of weird and accepted it and covered the office for me so that I could go out and meet with people and kinda follow my dreams of what I could do for seniors.

To the bosses who kinda did the same thing. They were on me a little bit about my time They were worried I wasn't going to get here tonight on time. And I left more than enough time to get here, and I still just came in screeching. Got to put that in my... One minute early. I got to put that in my will. You know? Just bring me in five minutes after the funeral

starts.

And you know, the supervisors said, and I can't see everybody back there, but you know, I have a supervisor's team. I was a supervisor. We worked together and created great things together. So, I mean thank you. Thank you for...I didn't expect this but thank you for doing it. I appreciate it and I appreciate...I should also say I should appreciate the support of the City Council over the years. I am up here with the City Council but we have had a great amount of support from the City Council over the years. You've supported RSVP 48 years Matt do you remember?

Yeah. I think we've been here for 48 years with RSVP, and that takes city support too. But the amount of effort or the amount of time that the volunteers give to the community is so much greater than the effort or the money that's put into it from the city and the federal government. So anyway, one last thing, seniors are the growing population. They need support. That's Mary Sue on her soapbox.

Thank you.

I see that many from rec came out. Do you guys want to come up? Yeah, come on

up.

We certainly thank you Mary Sue for your time and I know it's hard to separate from our city and you certainly wouldn't have committed 20 years of your life.

Why don't we get your team to squeeze in here? I'll move out of the

way. Come on in, come on in! And it's not your soapbox, it's your five minutes. You earned it, 30 years. Am

I supposed to be holding this? Yes! Want to come closer? That's good.

It's the glare off the glasses that

matter.

Thank you, thank you. Four grandkids. They're all in

Texas?

I have two here but four there and the four there started each floor. Oh my goodness! You're going to have fun. Yes. And I'm already on a non-profit board. I'll keep

you busy so I'll keep you very busy.

This is the last presentation for the evening. It's a presentation of accommodation to Casa de Vida on the occasion of its 21st All right, this is a commendation for the Casa de Vida 21st anniversary.

Whereas for 21 years, Casa de Vida has operated a residential drug and alcohol recovery program in Oxnard providing individuals with support and resources need to overcome addiction. And whereas Casa de Vida was founded in 2005 by Jose and Julie Moreno with the vision of creating a safe structured and faith-based environment where individuals facing addiction could rebuild their lives strengthen their faith and restore family relationships And whereas over the past two decades, Casa de Vida has made a meaningful impact on the lives of hundreds of individuals by fostering long-term recovery, personal responsibility, life skills development, employment readiness and self-sufficiency through compassionate care and strong community partnerships.

And whereas Casa de Vida has remained steadfast in its mission of hope, healing and transformation empowering individuals to overcome addiction Become productive and contributing members of society, strengthening families, collaborate with local organizations and positively enrich the Ventura County community. And now therefore the City Council of the city of Oxnard congratulates Casa de Vida on its 21st anniversary of dedicated service to the Oxnard community and extends its sincere appreciation and best wishes for continued success in all future endeavors. In witness thereof Louis MacArthur, Mayor of the City of Oxnard on behalf of the entire city council has set his hand and caused the great seal of the City of Oxnard to be fixed this 19th day of May 2026.

Congratulations.

Thank you and welcome everybody. It's always been a great pleasure to be of service to the City of Oxnard, and really Ventura County and sometimes beyond. I really wanted to thank all of our supporters. We have a few here and Ventura Missionary Church. We have, we team up with Oxnard Pride. We have Mr. Booth and Judy out there. I actually have a graduate here. I think she's, I'm not even sure if she's about 10 years sober and is a counselor now here in the city of Oxnard. And we're just doing great things for people who need help There is always hope for those who want help, and we are just one of the services that is available for the City of Oxnard. Once again thank you to all of our supporters.

Thank

you.

There's another one over there and over there.

You guys are welcome to come up if you want to come up. You're welcome. Here we go, don't be shy. You can come around, do you want to come on side? All right one two three thank you

In front of me is an Oxnard elementary school teacher. She's retired, and the other one is a school teacher also. One of them is a retired schoolteacher, Jenna. Raise your hand, Jenna? And Marisol is active, still teaching second grade. We were all colleagues for second grade. Thank you everybody. Oh, this is Johnny. I'm sorry. This is Johnny Ordaz and he was a program director and he's been with us for over 18 years.

And again, just congratulations to Julie Moreno and the celebration of the 21st anniversary. It's because of organizations like yourselves and people like you I mean things don't happen by accident it takes leaders like yourself to have a vision and to implement it, and only you know the amount of sacrifices you made to put something like this in all that benefited because of your desire to help.

And so thank you. Yes? Go ahead. If I

could just have a quick moment. Thank you Mayor. And I want to echo what the mayor has said. Thank you for the service you provide for the many participants who go through your program And it's not lost on me that May is also Mental Health Month. And I'm sure in the work that you do, you see absolutely the crossover between folks who have mental health challenges or live with their mental health challenges as well as a crossover with substance use disorders and how those things often go hand-in-hand.

And you can't treat one without treating the other And making sure that the whole person is addressed through that. And I just appreciate the work you do because it is not easy work and you never give up on people and everybody deserves a chance to have someone who puts that hand out for them, we'll give them a hand up so that way they can That may be the chance that they need to turn it all around. And programs like yours is exactly why you exist and why you do the work that you do, so thank you very much for it. It's very important work, so appreciate your services.

Yes, go ahead Council Member.

Yes I'd like to thank all of the people who came up but I cannot let a Memorial Day go by without clarification. A lot of people want to thank the veterans for their service. Memorial Day for the veterans that were as lives were taken, they weren't given, they were taken in very big significant difference. I also want to thank the young lady that retired but Casa De Vida has done a terrific job and we have one individual in the room Mr. Marvin Booz who was a partner to Michael Mercurio with Neighborhood Pride Casa de Vida did a tremendous amount of work with Neighborhood Pride, Marvin Booz in cleaning up various areas of the city of Oxnard. The one that comes to mind is the tremendous job all of us did.

Mayor Pro Tem was involved in that also on the Patterson Avenue cleanup. I want to thank you all and Mr. Booz, Neighborhood Pride, thank you.

And thank you for saying that. I just see Mr. Booz out there and I know I stated it already with Julie Moreno and others I tell you, it's really...I mean, I can't drive this home enough. It's people like yourselves that really enhance the quality of life for all of us. Not too long ago, I was with Julie and she was out there washing dishes to help the homeless population here in our city. You know, somebody like that who doesn't look for any credit in the back but doing it because she feels a need to help and that's what defines, I think, our communities People like that who then really invite others and motivate others to participate and to join in. And so I'm just a heartfelt thank you to you, Julie, and Johnny, and everyone else, the teachers for doing this great work.

And to you Mr. Boos, sometimes these things just... You don't get enough thanks or enough recognition. You just do it because you sincerely want to do better for our community but I just want to acknowledge that we see it though it's not talked about, we see it and we acknowledge it. So a sincere thank you. And with that, we will go to

Yeah.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Good evening. Members of City Council, staff, audience and general public. I was going to speak another item but because Item N was pulled, I'm going to try address some issues on Measure M that was pulled. One of the concerns I have is the fact we have unfunded liabilities. These unfunded liabilities include things like the sports park Money was received, but not built.

Fire station nine funds were received and not built. We have the seawalls that's been promised by the city to repair the seawalls. We have the pool at College Park $5 million received money was spent on development plans but the funds were spent and there's no plans, there are contingency plans to build a swimming pool for 65 million dollars. These are all liabilities, all contingent liabilities, unfunded liabilities, but liabilities nonetheless.

We're on the balance sheet of these unfunded liabilities. I could not find them. Now that could be because they don't see very well and that is a strong possibility. Another possibility is in fact they may not be on the balance sheet so I can't see what isn't there Now along those lines, there were plans of building things and contingency plans for building things and priorities set by the city manager.

The city manager sent out a survey to ask how we want to prioritize things. And he discussed that survey April 30th. I submitted a public record request to see those surveys, and the city manager's office has refused to provide those surveys despite numerous requests. The response back from the city manager's office is that they're still working on the surveys but you put down a report on the surveys April 30th which we got to include Latino community.

Oops, the appeals comprised over 65% of the population in the city. We decided not to include them in a survey. So how come we have prioritized surveys when it excludes 65% of the population? Again I ask you to consider the fact that we don't have contingency liabilities on our balance sheets and I think they should be included. Thank you much for your time.

Thank you Mr. Stein. Senior Pastor Rungin

Good evening, Mayor and Council. He's having fun with me because we had our National Day of Prayer event and he and Councilman Starr and Councilman Rodriguez were there and I want to thank you for that but we went to the police memorial And we have a Spanish church that meets with us. And so the pastor got a chance to meet Mayor MacArthur and kept telling him that I was their senior pastor, and his eyes lit up.

You're just trying to get me back because I joked with you about how you handled Pacifica. I wanted to say though that the National Day of Prayer was a success because of the people that were there, the reason that we were there. But also what made the memorial a success is that is that we are all different people. We don't look alike. We don't talk alike. We don't think alike but we can try to have the same values The same character and the police memorial event. I used to go all the time. I hadn't gone in a few years, and I went this year and there were two things I wanted to share one of them was the police chief got up and I thought gave a very moving and eloquent Explanation of what the bagpipes meant in combination with the song Amazing Grace.

There is a huge story behind Amazing Grace, but what he talked about was when you hear that song played in those bagpipes it helps with the redemption from despair of the soul. And if you think about the world today Many of us exclude the things we don't like, and it feeds the despair of our souls. We look around at all the things we don't like, whether it's a war, whether it's a president, whether it's governor, whether it's whatever, and our soul starts to fill up with this despair and this pain of we need to fight that Instead of finding out what redemption means, what reconciliation means and fighting for that.

That's why the day of prayer was important because we united around something that lifted us up but didn't tear us down. So my hope is that those of you that attended and those of you that didn't will unite around the things that build us up especially as we go forward in the days to come. Thank you.

Madam Clerk,

please play

my video. Thank you.

On April 28th, local contractor Victor Scatoni stood before the Public Works and Transportation Committee and told them that he'd contacted the City of Oxnard 19 times about money it owes him on a job he had already completed. Nineteen times! No meeting, no resolution, no response. There seems to be a clear pattern of abuse in this city that much of the City Council wants to ignore. Just after midnight on Easter Sunday, I emailed the City for information on a special use permit for my historic home. By 6am, Council Member Bur Perrello had forwarded my application to City Manager Alex Nguyen and City Attorney Stephen Fischer and his henchman Kenneth Rozelle who have pending Bar Association complaints against them. Burt Porello also forwarded it to my Wilson neighbor, Angela Whitecomb.

He forwarded it to Planning Commissioner Steve Nash who technically would be one of the people to decide its fate. He forwarded it to Deirdre Frank his attorney girlfriend and cc'd select neighbors of mine that he thought might want to stir up trouble I already reported this to you all and all I got A few hours later, my neighbor former mayor Tim Flynn left me a voicemail saying in part.

Hi Eric good morning and happy Easter actually good afternoon it's Tim Flynn and I actually just read your application to the city of Oxnard and i want to compliment you Eric for the way you put that together was really professionally done if you did that all by yourself you should be uh in a position to be a planner with the city of Oxnard but it's highly one of the best

In each of Burt's forewords, he simply wrote, F-Y-I. Well, FYI, Burt, I'm on to your little gossip train and retaliation tactics. How's that for facts and evidence? A separate public records request revealed that Joe Pearson's correspondence with me was secretly being blind copied to Kenneth Rozell, Jason Zaragoza, and Ashley Golden. Pearson purposely misled me as to who was copied. He made it a point to show that he blind-copied the City Council, but then purposely hid who else was copied. I was starting to feel paranoid so I did a public record request and got the evidence. My every move in the city seems to be being secretly monitored by Kenneth Rozell just like he apparently did to elected treasurer Phil Molina and then tried to railroad him.

It's clear the plans are already underway to thwart my SUP application before I even file it, and I'd lose over $11,000 in filing fees. And in case you think I'm being dramatic, here's Assistant City Manager Eric Sonstagard last month.

If you're going to get the minimally acceptable level of service, you're not going to get a platinum level of service.

This council applauds staff regularly for the great job they're doing. Great job at what exactly? I'm asking all of you, especially you Bert Pirello and Gabriela Basuah. Is this the kind of staff efforts that you want to applaud where contractors aren't paid and residents are monitored like this city has its own KGB? This is clearly the mandate of the City Manager and the Attorney's Offices. They already lost in court over the railroading of Phil Molina. Will they never learn? When this city goes down because of their corruption and paranoia, where will you all be to be held accountable?

On April 28th

Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll go to the next virtual speaker.

Virtual speaker if you can press star 6 to unmute and you have three minutes starting now.

Good evening Mayor McArthur City Council city staff my name is Sarah Wilczewski I'm a volunteer with 805 UndocuPund and a resident of Oxnard. I'm here to update you guys on the latest kidnapping numbers from ICE In the 805 area code, ICE has abducted 1984 people. In Ventura County 944 people in Oxnard 176. These are the numbers from January of 2025 to 10 a.m on May 18th Uh, this week has been. I says continued to Oxnard very hard including we believe for abductions just yesterday or no day before yesterday? Sorry and um.

And they also rated the home of. Homes of several volunteers for VC Defensa and former volunteers. And the one of the VC defenses workplaces. So it's been kind of a tough two weeks, but we continue and I will continue to provide updates because everyone deserves their story to be told. Thank you.

Thank you sir for calling in. Madam Clerk we'll go to the next virtual caller.

Virtual speaker, please press star 610 mute and you have three minutes starting now.

Hello madam clerk before you start the clock there's a video that I want to play however Because I'm calling virtually, there may be a delay in the video and what I have to say. So just wanted to set the stage here so hopefully I don't lose any time. If you could please play the video and then I will speak.

This email indicates it goes to somebody named Alicia.

She's a lady that I asked to be my deputy treasurer and she's accepted that position.

Given that my wife's name has come up several times about this, I want it to be very very clear she has not accepted the position that has been offered to her

She's a lady that I asked to be my deputy treasurer and she's accepted that position.

In other words, it's why what has been presented to us? Okay,

Mr. Perlman. I'm simply saying that she has never applied for the position. She's never accepted the position. She

is a lady that I asked to be my deputy treasurer and she's accepted that position.

Okay, any other questions?

So yes, actually we do have more questions. But first of all my name is Manuel Herrera I am creator of Citizens for a Better Oxnard however I am here exercising my First Amendment right as a public citizen so here's the bottom line the citizens of Oxnard want and deserve a city official they can trust but in this video either Aaron Starr or Phil Molina is lying but which one?

If both of them flat out contradict each other, then which one do we believe? And what makes it even worse is that they both have a public history of misrepresenting the facts. If Aaron Starr is lying about Alicia accepting the position, then he lied to the people of Oxnard and it's on the record. If Molina is lying, then why does Starr continue to support and defend someone who directly lies to the residents of Oxnard?

Oxnard deserves better than Aaron Starr and Phil Molina. Mr Mayor, that concludes my comments.

Thank you Mr Mayor for calling in and for your comments. Madam Clerk does that conclude the virtual speakers?

Mayor and Council Members yes that concludes our speakers in person and virtually for items not on the agenda thank you.

I

have a question, Mayor. Can we possibly get a quick response to the comments that were made in the video presentation about not paying a bill?

You're talking about the very beginning? About the contractor? Yes. So this is not a place where I can get into the details of that but let me just be very Make a very simple statement. Does anyone remember what Kevin Costner said to Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham? Let me paraphrase, I'm not interested in anyone who takes that guy seriously. Thank you.

All right, okay.

Good, Mr. Goldberg? My question goes a little further. If we can't get a quick thing I'd like to get an address and then put this on an agenda one of the committees or better yet all six of us in the City Council to find out. I don't want to work for a city who doesn't pay his bills but I don't want to have somebody claiming a falsehood.

We'll ask for the item to be brought back to council on a future agenda thank you Mr. Sonsicart for making note of that. We will go next to

Okay three quick things tonight so the first we talked about last meeting already it is the Public Works Annual Open House presentation I thought it was called a rodeo I guess they dropped that name So this is occurring tomorrow at Plaza Park, starting at 1 p.m., and it will go until 7 p. m. This is free. All these three events...four events I want to mention are free and open to the public.

So these are great family events. Come and learn about all the interesting things that your folks at Public Works does to serve this community. And I still say that the kids are much more fascinated by some of these vehicles than they are by fire trucks. OK, so that again opened to all families free tomorrow 1 p.m. to 7 p. m., here downtown at Plaza Park. Next one I don't have a slide for but it was mentioned earlier tonight. That's Monday is the annual Memorial Day commemoration. That is also open to the public and free and that is also downtown at Plaza Park and begins sharply at 11 a.m.. Again, that's Monday on Memorial Day.

Next, June is Pride Month. So as we've been doing for many years now, we will have the flag-raising ceremony and that will be at 8.30am on Monday, June 1st right here in front of the City Council Chambers. Again also free and open and inviting the public The Progress Pride Flag Raising Ceremony, Monday June 1st 8.30 a.m., right in front of these City Council Chambers 305 West 3rd Street.

And finally our annual Insect Festival is going to occur on Saturday June 6th also at Plaza Park also free and open to the public this is a tremendous family event So bring everyone. It begins at 10 a.m., and will run until 4 p.m. Plaza Park, right in the middle of downtown. Come and learn and experience all kinds of insects. And this year, the special guests are bees, all things bees. So there will be a special focus on bees.

I'm glad they're still around. Okay, so that's it. Thank you.

Thank you, Alex.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to first start off my report by thanking those who put the food distribution and health fair together at the South Winds Park last Saturday. Simultaneously, I had the opportunity to attend the United Farmworker Foundation's workshop, their team, team provided free services for DACA renewals, citizenship pathways and other related consultation services.

On Sunday I also recognized that the city put together the mural project it got started at the South Oxnard Library So wanted to thank all the staff that made that possible. I know that was something that Council Member Basuah and I strongly advocated for, so it's really looking forward to seeing that mural come to life and wanted again to thank all the folks that made that event possible.

I also had the opportunity to join the Redwood Neighbourhood Council meeting and grateful for all the folks that put that together on Wednesday, May 6th. And on Thursday, May 7th the following day I had the opportunity to attend our Southwinds Neighborhood Council meetings. Highly encourage our community members who want to become active in the community to get involved with how local government works.