City Council — July 7, 2026

Good evening, I just want to call the meeting to order for the Oxnard City Council for Tuesday July 7th 2026. Madam Clerk may we have a roll call and posting of the agenda please?

Councilmember Perala? Here. Councilwoman Perez? Here. Councilwoman Rodriguez? Present. Mayor Pro Tem Teran?

Here.

Mayor McArthur?

Here

and then just for the record council member Starr is absent for today's meeting the agenda for this meeting was posted in the kiosk at City Hall, the Oxnard Public Library, the city administrative offices and on the city's website on Thursday June 25th thank

you. Thank You Madam Clerk Prior to closed session, we will take public comments on the closed session agenda. Can the City Attorney please provide a statement prior to closed session?

Thank you Mayor. The City Council recessed to a closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 Annual Evaluation of Public Employees, City Manager and City Attorney.

Thank You Mr. Fisher Madam Clerk, do we have any public speakers prior to closed session beyond Mr. Dampanieto?

Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, we have the request from Dan Paneto and we don't have any additional speakers virtually or in person. Thank

you. Thank you, Mr. Panieto if you want to come

up. Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Members. I'm going to keep my hat on. I am here to express my support for Oxnard City Manager Alex Nguyen as you conduct a performance evaluation. As a resident of Oxnard, I believe that it is important too that our city manager is evaluated on His leadership and ability to effectively manage the day-to-day operations of our city, not on political differences or personal agendas.

Serving as city manager is a challenging responsibility. This position often requires making difficult decisions that may not satisfy everyone, but those decisions should be evaluated based on what is best for the city as a whole rather than on priority disagreements or outside pressure. Over the past several years our city has faced many challenges. Through those challenges, the city manager has continued to provide stability to our city during his tenure.

I have seen a leader who remains focused on the present and long-term interests of our city. He is one who works diligently with staff to carry out the policies established by you, the City Council. Like many residents, I want to see our city Council focus on the issues that matter to most of our community. Maintaining safe neighborhoods, improving our infrastructure, supporting local businesses, addressing homelessness, ensuring fiscal stability and providing excellent services.

These priorities require experienced administrative team working in partnership with City Council. I also appreciate that our city manager has remained focused on serving the entire community, while no leader can satisfy every person, every individual or every political viewpoint Effective leadership requires fairness and a commitment to what is best for the City of Oxnard as a whole.

The city manager is responsible for managing city employees, preparing and overseeing the budget, implementing council decisions, and ensuring that essential services are delivered efficiently to Oxnard residents. Continuity in management positions allows important projects to be moved forward and help maintain public confidence in our local government.

But thank you very much. And I'm submitting this,

my letter for the record.

That's correct. Thank you Mr. Figueroa.

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and council members just for the record we did receive a written comment from Steve Nash and copies were distributed and have been posted on the website. Thank you.

Thank You Madam Clerk The City Council will now recess to closed session and we will reconvene for an appointment item probably at 530. Thank you Okay, good evening everyone. We're gonna we're going to get started The council just emerged from closed session And I will ask our city attorney mr.. Fisher if he has any announcements to make

Well thank you mayor, I'm assuming that the Council completed the annual performance evaluation of the city manager and there are no reportable actions out of that type of closed session and I'm also assuming you will re-adjourn following the finish of the open session business to complete the City Attorney's annual performance evaluation. That is

correct. The next item on the agenda...

My apologies Mayor for just bringing this up. I see some communications were received and I know this happened prior to us going into closed session. Are there any, Mr. City Manager? Are there any, excuse me, Mr City Attorney? Do we have any obligation under our new disruption policy to address the technical issues that were encountered prior to closed session that seem to now have been resolved?

I don't believe so, so it was discovered after you went into closed session that there was a glitch with the Zoom meeting and there were two speakers that wished to speak that weren't able to and they have submitted written comments. And my understanding is they do not desire to speak at this point. Okay. Is that correct City

Clerk? That is correct City Attorney.

So the meeting, Zoom accessibility on the meeting has been restored. Okay just as far as a policy for us acknowledging it's been restored and ABCXYZ? Yeah so ironically the one thing you're allowed to do during a disruption is convene to closed session. Thank you very much thank you Mayor.

No problem thanks for that clarification.

I do believe there's a short slide show.

I'm sure we can get that queued up. Diego, if you could queue up that presentation please?

Thank you. I could tell you a little bit about what we've been up to. Lately, while we wait. There's some really, really exciting things that have happened I'm sure you're all very much aware of the groundbreaking at Campus Park, the groundbreaking for the new skate park. We've been working on forming an ad hoc committee for the Park and the meta district which is in the five points neighborhood that does not have a park and it's on the park master plan So just working with the community to find out what they want What would work best in that area? And we've also been working We did some work on park hours and operations Really supporting the recreation department and all their fine works and trying to get them more monies to do more of the wonderful things that they do because We're a very large city.

And I'm here by myself, I feel like I'm on jeopardy.

You're doing good filling in for the time as we queue up this presentation for you. Thank you. So bear with us. In following your presentation chair, why can't we have a proclamation as well? Excellent.

Okay, I will continue on.

Maybe she'd like to introduce her fellow commissioners. I'm not sure if any are here. I don't see them just now but just by name at least? No okay.

That's one of my slides. I only have like five slides, so it shouldn't take that long. No problem. I can ask answer questions though anything that you guys have been dying for us to work on or always looking for another thing that we might be missing in the community so having community input is paramount to our mission and giving you all good recommendations. Oh here we are! Thank you.

Thank you Chair Wieckow for bearing with us go ahead.

for our parks and recreation throughout the city of Oxnard. We have a master plan that was put together about In 2021, that's five years ago. And it gave us a roadmap of things that the people that live in the city would like to see improvement on or expansion of or they're really happy with and would like to see maintained and kept up. And so we take that working plan and we go through it and we tackle an item And try to make a recommendation that the city can actually implement.

The next one, so we do annual goals every year and our 2026 goals you heard me when I was killing time work on some of these but Repurposing the tennis courts for multi-use basketball, futsal and pickleball have been asked for repeatedly from lots of people in the city. And fixing up our courts that are dangerous has been requested multiple times. We'd like to finalize the new landscape standards so that we can have beautiful native spaces and our green spaces are friendly, welcoming and good for not only people but the plants and animals and insects that habitat them.

We're working on the Five Points neighborhood design and expanding youth sports programs And also, we're making recommendations for special populations. We're trying to make sure that special populations have a space for them where they are safe and included and can be accessed at any age group. Recreation does a wonderful job. And then we recommend future access for the Santa Clara River Trail. We don't have hiking trails beyond the beach here in the city limits and accessing that river trail would give our our residents a real place to connect with nature and to see how the water and nature move through our landscape because we've cemented up most of our creeks, you know. Or they're under roads. You don't even know they're there or where they were so having access to those trails I think is very important and to understand how our natural world is with us.

I'm sorry, you guys. Okay so I could read through this list but these are some of the things that we've worked hard on and one that came directly from you was the park bench memorial bench policy that's going to come up to you next week so that if somebody has somebody near and dear to their hearts that has passed they can buy a bench in a park or tree have a memorial space where they can sit back and reflect on the person that they've lost or loved, or someone that they want to celebrate.

And we reviewed a dog park for five points because with all the new homes that have come Please stand by. We went and checked out all the recreational spaces on the south end of Oxnard, and then we did a park tour where we stayed a little closer to the central Oxnard and visited places where they needed improvement or where things were incredibly amazing. And I can report back that the areas that needed replacement improvement, the Parks Department has been working on successfully to bring up Okay, we go over Quimby funds a lot because a lot of our neighborhoods have Quimby funds and our parks department has been reaching out to make sure that those Quimbee funds get spent and that each neighborhood gets what they would like to see done in their park.

And also I think that's it. Move on. So these are ad hoc committees, right? That we had last year and that was the park bench and tree donation, the field allocation policy, the five points met a park district that is continually ongoing and then obviously this report So here's some of the events that we went on and that the city puts on, and they include the tamale festival. They help with the Christmas parade and participate in the Christmas parade, the junior high grad night, and the insect festival. The insect festival was a huge success this year. It was very, very crowded and quite tasty.

We these are accomplishments we went on the tour, we played on the equipment. It works soundly. These are our benches that that we'd like to see people be able to use these are the memorial benches that we recommended there are This is our park standard and that's the plaque. And we recommended a plaque that wouldn't be stolen, it's not going to be made out of bronze or copper or aluminum. It's just gonna look pretty and do what its intended task is without providing an opportunity for the recycling.

That's it but I want to answer questions because I know you have a lot

Thank you, Chair Wacom for that comprehensive presentation. I'll open it up to my colleagues if there are any questions or comments.

Go ahead

Council Member Perez.

Thank you just a quick comment. I did see Foothill as your part of your 2026 goals and just with a lot of conversation in community hoping that there could be some exploration for Footsall opportunities in South Oxnard. A lot of different projects happening at the various parks, including some improvements at South Winds Park. The community there's... Neighbourhood Council is very active there so definitely would open that opportunity to continue conversations and see what could come out of that. So thank you.

I agree. On our parks tour, we went to Garden City Acres. Is that correct? And you have this really interesting road to nowhere that surrounds Garden City Acres. It used to be like a driveway and it's blocked off because it became an encampment Location and so now I don't know if it's closed for fire department, but you have a huge opportunity where you could turn that into a bunch of different types of.

If it's painted flat surface, you could do a lot of... You have a lot of real estate there that's open and already hard that we could explore doing something on a temporary basis to see if it's used and then move forward. Also with the existing courts that we have now, we're looking into what the neighborhoods want. And I'm a huge fan of a multi-purpose court.

I think that any way that we can service multiple populations I was just wondering,

where are you at as far as the field allocations?

And he's not here. None of my fellow commissioners are here to answer that question, but... I

think Rene is here. Oh, Rene is here? Yay!

Good evening Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members. Rene Raikstra, Assistant Director for Culture and Community Services. Can I get that question repeated?

Where are we at with the field allocations policy?

Yes, so internally we're reviewing the fill-out application policy and working with our city management to bring that up to speed. And eventually what will be coming to Council.

Thank you very much. Mayor Pro Tem?

Thank you. I just want to say thank you for the update. I don't know if I ever mentioned it before, but I served in the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission before being on council. I think I mention it every time. But I learned a lot about the city and our rec services and senior services, youth services, and then our public works folks who really have a lot of work ahead of all of them and limited resources at which to do it. And so I thank you and your fellow commissioners for your volunteer service on that A question I have, it was discussed in our priority session for Council regarding park rangers or park ambassadors or some type of program where there would be a specific classification of staff who would address parks-related issues rather than it falling under code, park staff, or police.

And so I just wanted to mention that. I know in the past that's been brought up at the commission but it is something that this council did Agree to add to our five-year priority, so I hope that's something that You all can look at as time goes on here as well

So we did make a recommendation for both a park ambassador program and a Park Ranger program and with funding Allocations on how the Park Ranger program could be funded. That was all in the written recommendation I think it's from two years ago now and It pretty much unanimously was approved for because our city needs a park ranger program. Our bathrooms are closed continually due to vandalism and so as a parent, if you have a child that needs to go to the bathroom they need to go now and they don't care why the bathroom's closed, they just care that it is closed. So it's definitely an issue and a problem that we need to have in having some working solutions on how we can remedy these problems that continue to come up is really important. And a park ranger program could really help with that, especially you've got...

It's not like it's all parks and all bathrooms. You've got definite locations where you can see these are the problems and if we had a park ranger program there could be areas of focus so that these bad actors can be persuaded to behave accordingly And then the park ambassador is always challenged with liability, and I always challenge the city to come up with a way to have a strong volunteer core so that the residents become more connected with the city and help in any way we can. This becomes paramount when we are faced with financial challenges.

Thank you. And we specifically stated park rangers, but some classification as I mentioned so I know that as I mentioned, you all had had that discussion at the commission. So I'm hoping that's something you can revisit knowing that we've added it on this side of the equation too and we can hopefully get some good example or model programs from cities similar to our structure and see what's worked for them and we could learn from that.

Thank you all for your service on this and thank you very much for the report. Some items have been hit and I'd like to appreciate the information that you have. The question about field allocations, I think that's a terrific thing and I appreciate Council Member Basu bringing it up. One of the fields that I have a concern with and I also appreciate you addressing the fact about some bathrooms are heavily vandalized One of my concerns with the Southwest Community Park, when we have organized sports there and the bathroom that is supposed to be provided is not provided. I'm hoping to get that on an agenda in the future.

The issue about the park benches and the donation program, Involved and finding out what's going to happen. They're very interested in that, and I do appreciate you explaining about the precious metals It could be put on the bench that will not be done because unfortunately it's not people from the outside as our own community They're taking the brass fittings of fire hydrants. They've taken the brass fittings in the cemeteries.

It's valuable and people Do what they shouldn't do? The Colonia Park restroom improvements, I'm in total support not just them but any place that needs improvements. But getting a handle on the vandalism which when we fix it on Monday and by Wednesday it's been vandalized we got to look in the mirror if we know something the police department has a great saying if you see something say something and so a camera And people with phones and the ability to take a picture, it makes a big difference in our quality of life. Thank you very much for the information and the presentation.

Go ahead.

I'm sorry. One, two, three, four. The fifth one, the murial for Mr. Efren Gore. Totally support that but I hope that you could possibly because there hasn't been action taken potentially on A park naming, but there should be something for what took place in the history of this city from the Takasuki family and the Carmona family. When one individual's family was put in an internment camp in World War II, and a Carmoni family protected the store and made sure it was in one piece to give it back to the family. I think that's something that the older we get people forget, but that is a big thing in this country and in this city. And it's been nationally with Tom Brokaw and a book, and everything else. Thank you.

I think there is a huge opportunity to do education through murals in the mural program. Unfortunately that's not in the purview of the Parks and Recreation Commission. That goes through the Cultural Arts Commission. So every time we have mural suggestions, we have to kick it over to the other commission, and we're happy to do so. And then we also look at other And we take off one hat and put on another, and look at other opportunities to put murals in other locations that can definitely speak to the history of Oxnard. And the importance of recognizing the work that our residents have done to help bring up residence in the city of Oxnard and to protect our

own. Your voices, your body would be a tremendous help. Thank you.

Thank you Chair Workum. Any other comments or questions? All right, I appreciate it. At this point we'll take public comment. Anyone wishing to speak on the appointment item please come forward and you may fill out a speaker card or if you're joining us virtually please press star 9 to raise your hand to be recognized. Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, we do have a virtual

speaker Virtual speaker, if you can hear me please press star six to unmute and you have three minutes starting now.

Yes good afternoon Council. Hey my suggestion for having each individual neighborhood raise funds I know that the Chano Islands Harbour As like a community association where they raise, I guess they have a non-profit in between this association. Where they personally have a committee where they raise funds for these old housing tracts where they can actually place and you know obviously raise individual funds at the neighborhood and then I guess at the end let's say if our city would host a community event let's say a cultural event These small communities can actually provide funds as well from their small funds and be part of these events so we can make it obviously more prosperable for community and then having families more involved. Because I know that when Carmen was involved, she had different ways of raising funds and pulling in money from different organizations, industries that I would think would be willing to support communities like Southbank parks, you know where a lot of our labor workers need those resources and supports from a lot of non-profits.

You know every neighborhood is selective on what they host or what type of events they have you know and just take advantage and use as the experience that we just had the recent event here at the harbor for 4th of July and it was a pretty productive event you know and obviously to have their own association their own committee and they're pretty productive and they actually did this event on their own So I think it's something that we can look into. And that's my suggestion, thank you

guys. Thank you Mr. Huerta for calling in any other public speakers Madam

Clerk? If there's anybody in the audience or anybody watching us virtually please press star 9 to raise your hand or if there's anybody in the audience that would like to speak and you can please come forward

Good afternoon. Before I start on the subject, I want to say how I was impressed last time I was here and how well she does her job. I've seen her before, and I just was amazed how she keeps this place going. So just wanted to give her credit on that. And I also wanted a compliment. The 250th anniversary was just right on the money. So it goes on my idea that I've been kind of bringing up to you that we should do more for the people.

And I guess I got good bad timing because I kind of wanted to talk to you about what I brought up to in the past. And so one time we traveled to New York and we saw Central Park, a couple friends of mine. And we thought that, well, Oxnard should have like a big park like that. And I think the best thing that Oxnard did was at College Park. That's the one thing that I've always like wow this is just like the perfect part and I spoke to the mayor about creating a new one he said you were doing another one over here. But I think we should have one in every corner of the city. I mean, it's just really, really the best thing that you could do for people.

I also thought about at that time we took a trip to New York. We thought about maybe the Central Park or the Pagodas at City Park. We could do like music on the weekend for people like I spoke to you guys last time. More like into the arts and stuff like that, where we can have four high schools. We have four weeks every month. Maybe we could give them extra credit to have a band come out there Sunday morning or Sunday or Saturday and play classic music. And they get extra credit for their ROTC or whatever.

And it benefits the community. Also, you know, the center, the Guthie Center, whatever it's called right here. I forget the name of it. We can use that to generate more cultural Ideas towards arts and I'm kind of interested in that. I used to be pretty good artist as a kid, and I'd be interested in volunteering for that. Another idea that I had is that we should do something that reminds kids of our history because a lot of us came here because our relatives were braceros and they came here to work.

And we should do some kind of theme park. And I thought about this like in front of Amazon it would be perfect because it would catch tourists coming in through California like we could do Harvest Park like where they know what a tractor looks like and what it is like to work the harvest area in most areas of California people are Honored to say their harvesters in here and this community seems like they're embarrassed of it kids Like I don't want to go working the harvest, you know the agricultural but it's a trade that's a honorable trade And uh, I think the city could do stuff like that with themes to remember our past and you know understand that You know A lot of people sacrifice there life to make the city what it is and to put us where we're at nowadays.

So there's several other ideas that I think could tie everything together that would make it a better city, so maybe down the road I could elaborate a little bit more on it but maybe at least the music park in Central Oxnard Park will be a start. Thank you for your time.

Thank you Juan. Mayor Kirk are there any other speakers?

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members that concludes our speakers in person and virtually. Thank you. Okay.

Thank you Chair Wacom I don't know if you want to come up We have a proclamation So as your I'll just read it. I don't know if anyone was gonna accompany you up here receive it but

There's a lot of people who'd like to receive this proclamation. It's wonderful And I think half of them are sitting

Well, let me read this. We'll go down to you if there's a lot of... Oh, you can come on up here as I'm reading this proclamation that we crafted. Whereas parks and recreation programs are an integral part of communities throughout this country including Oxnard, whereas parks and recreation programs are vital They're vitally important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life in our communities, ensuring the health of all residents and all community members, and contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of a community and region.

And whereas parks and recreation programs build healthy active communities that aid in the prevention of chronic disease Obesity, provide therapeutic recreation services for those who are mentally or physically disabled and improve the mental and emotional health of all residents. And whereas parks and recreation areas are fundamental to the environmental well-being of our community.

And whereas our parks and natural recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of our community and provide a place for children and adults that connect with nature and recreate outdoors And whereas Parks and Recreation Programming and Education activities serve our community through after-school care, youth and adult sports volunteer opportunities in senior programming and nutrition.

And whereas the U.S. House of Representatives has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month. Whereas the City of Oxford recognizes the benefits derived from Parks and Recreation Services Now therefore I, Luis MacArthur, Mayor of the City of Oxnard do hereby proclaim July 2026 as Parks and Recreation Month.

Can everybody hear me okay? Yes. All right, good evening Mayor McArthur, Mayor Pro Tempteron, fellow council members City Manager Nguyen, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Juliette Morales I'm the Recreation Supervisor of Youth and Adult Sports with the Cultural and Community Services Department on behalf of CCS and the Parks Division thank you for celebrating Park and Recreation Month with us this year's National Recreation Park Association theme celebrates the power of parks and recreation and reminds us of the incredible impact parks and recreation have through connection play community nature belonging and well-being Throughout the month of July, we invite our community to experience the power of parks and recreation by participating in our many free and affordable programs.

Beginning July 6th through August 8th, our Youth Sports Summer Basketball League will welcome hundreds of young athletes to our gyms. where they will learn teamwork, sportsmanship, confidence through the power of play. Youth and Adult Sports will also be running Colonia Sports Camps that will be free instructional camps in flag football, volleyball, soccer and basketball helping young athletes build skills friendships and lifelong love of recreation This summer, catch our mobile activity center also known as MAC at local parks which brings arts crafts games and sports directly into neighborhoods across Oxnard.

Also be on the lookout for our community cinema series which transforms local parks into gathering places where families friends and neighbors can come together through the power of community Our summer reading program through the Oxnard Public Library encourages youth and families to discover the joy of reading, while our Arts Academy offers free art classes and camps that inspire creativity and lifelong learning.

Families are also invited to celebrate our annual Kids Fest on July 17th at Oxnard PAL, and our Preschool2U program continues bringing early childhood learning and play directly into neighborhood parks Ensuring that our youngest residents experience the power of belonging at an early age. Our senior services team continues to provide meaningful opportunities for older adults to stay active, connected and engaged throughout this month from fitness classes and wellness programs to technology workshops, arts and crafts, nutritional services. They're busy over there.

The senior centers foster the power of connection, belonging and wellbeing for residents of every age For more information on all of our summer offerings, please follow us on social media at Oxnard Rec or visit our website. Summer program flyers are actually available here in both English and Spanish right next to the City Clerk Lulee and have been shared with Council tonight as well. Thank you for our continued support of Parks & Recreation.

Thank you so much anybody else want to make a comment? Anyone want to speak? Ms. Pinheiro, you want to take a photograph of all

of

us?

So I'm Juliette Morales. I'm the Recreation Supervisor Youth and Adult Sports and Fields.

Matt O'Neill, the Recreation Supervisor for Oxnard City Corps

I'm Pedro Rosales. I work for the arts. I'm the one that kind of helped with all the paintings out here.

Olga Zavala, I work for the Oxnard Scholars Afterschool Program and I'm a recreation analyst.

Angela Whitecomb, chair of the Parks and Recreation Community Services Commission, volunteer, etc., etc. Brenda Mendoza-Alamo, recreation analyst, work with the Oxnard Scholars Afterschool Program

Donnelly Perez, Recreation Supervisor, Youth and Adult Classes and our Oxnard Scholars After School Program.

Hello George Cruz I'm a recreation analyst with Senior Services

Eduardo Chavez, Recreation Analyst with Youth and Adult Sports

Mel Gutierrez, Recreation Specialist with Youth and Adults Sports

Esteban Melchor, Recreation Supervisor overseeing afterschool and MEC.

Olga Fernandez, Preschool Youth and Adult Classes and Camp Serendipity. Jessica Serrano, Recreation Analyst in Senior Services.

Jose Gomez, Recreation Analyst with City Corps.

Lupita Canizares, I'm part of the Cultural Arts and Art Academy.

Steve Hallett, Assistant Public Works Director. I oversee the Parks Division as well as the Parks Recreation and Community Services Commission.

Diana Reyes. I'm here representing Cultural Arts and thank you everyone for your support and we love our team.

For what you do, thank you very much. Ms. Munoz, do you want to get us ready?

Here we go. Ready? 1, 2, 3...

I want to check it out. I gave the flyers home. Okay, I'll go check them out later. Thank you so much! I've seen the banner for years but I've never been there. Yes, you should.

It's a great time.

Thank

you everyone for being with us. At this time, I just want to call the regular council meeting to order for Tuesday, July 7th, 2026.

Thank you, Mayor. We have Mr. Leonel Rojas from Brent's Club and the Boys & Girls Club on 7th Street, their teen center who will be leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Before we do that, Leonel, I think Councillor Perrello wants to make a statement for the moment of silence? Absolutely.

Go ahead Council

Member.

We recently lost a member who had put a tremendous amount of time into this community. His name was Dale Dean. He served Roughly 15 years on the Oxnard Planning Commission. He was first appointed to the seven-member board February of 92. The city council then replaced the commission with a land use advisor panel in 1995, but he was reappointed to the newly formed five member planning commission in April of 96. He served continuously through 2011 frequently serving as chair and vice chair. He was also instrumental in school issues in serving on boards and committees And he's a veteran, a tremendous loss to the neighborhood. Very active in the Cabrillo Neighborhood Council.

Thank

you. I hope you'll take a moment of silence.

Absolutely. Thank you, Councillor Apoello. So when you're ready, if you want to lead us on the Pledge of Allegiance and we'll take a moment of silence okay?

Can we all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? Can we all put our right hands over our hearts and face the flag?

Thank you.

Go ahead, Leonel. It's all yours. Good evening everyone. Good evening council. Thank you for having me here today and for letting me tell a little bit about my story. My name is Leonel Rojas and I'm a member of the HHS Boys & Girls Club Teen Center on 7th Street. There was a time in my life when I had made some bad decisions. I was struggling to find the right path.

I got into trouble here and there I faced challenges that could have defined my future. But instead of letting those struggles hold me back, I found a place that believed in me, the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center. After becoming a member, I joined one of the programs offered at the Boys and Girls Club called Brent's Club. Brent's Club is a drug and alcohol prevention program for teens like myself to make sure that we don't fall into a wrong path of drugs and alcohol addiction When I joined Prince Club, everything started to change. It wasn't just staying away from drugs and alcohol. It was making better decisions, finding the right people. And it was also helping me find myself as a leader for my family, my friends, and my club.

The mentors and friends that I met encouraged me to set goals, take responsibility and become someone others could look up to. Today, I choose a sober life and healthy lifestyle because of the lessons I learned through Brent's Club. They showed me that my past does not determine my future and that every day is a chance to make better decisions. I'm grateful for the Poison Girls Club and everyone who believed in me when I was still learning to believe in myself.

Once again, my name is Lionel and I want to thank you and the City of Oxnard for having me here today. Thank you.

It's amazing Luna, thank you for sharing that. I could see the Boys & Girls Club staff Alexis over there just smiling back just so proud It's wonderful. You want to highlight who's here supporting you, Lionel? If you just want

to

introduce them.

I got Oscar, Carlos here. I got people here for me.

That's wonderful. Yes, this is the best part of our council meetings highlighting young people like yourself and thank you for just giving us an insight into your background and being so energized and so enthusiastic to be here. I know it's not easy to do it, so thank you for coming here. Good.

Thank you Mayor and thank you Lionel for being here and sharing a little bit of your story. You shared with us in just a few minutes what you've experienced over years and years, and so that's not something to take lightly I hope you're very proud of yourself and you continue to be proud of yourself with every positive decision you make to make things better and easier for yourself not harder for yourself right?

Just everything you've shared, there's this theory around resiliency and there's a few components to it. Three of them being that when young people have people in their lives who have high expectations of them, who genuinely care about them and give them opportunities for meaningful involvement, that can help them overcome any challenge, almost any challenge that they face in their life. No matter what language they speak, what their background is, what community they come from, if they have those three things from their peers and other adults in their life, that can help them to succeed. And so it sounds like you found a place where you were able to get that and then you'll find it in other places too whether it be right at home and you see it and it may have been there that you didn't recognize or it changes as you change too or you see in your community, or you see it in the workplace at school wherever it is.