City Council — July 30, 2026

We're

ready.

Good evening, just want to call the meeting to order for the Oxnard City Council for Thursday July 30th 2026. Madam Clerk may we have the roll call posting of the agenda please?

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 July 16th. Thank you.

Thank You. Prior to closed session I'll ask our City Attorney Mr. Fisher to provide a statement prior to closed session we will also take public comments on the closed session agenda thank you

Thank you, Mayor. The City Council will recess to a closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9 Subdivision D-1 to confer with its attorneys. The matter being discussed is Douglas Partello versus Lourdes Lopez et al. The city council will also recess to a closed session pursuant to government code section 54956.9 subdivision D4 based on existing facts and circumstances to decide whether to initiate litigation in one potential case, and the city council will also recess to a closed session pursuant to government code section 54956.9 subdivision D2 based on existing facts and circumstances there is significant exposure to litigation against the city in one potential case regarding the ballot arguments, ballot labels and other ballot materials related to November 2026 ballot measure E.

Thank you Mr. Fisher. Madam Clerk are there any public speakers or comments for this item?

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and council members yes we have one speaker Alicia Purcell. Miss Purcell

All right, we got to speak over the air here. The reason Aaron's not participating in the first item is pretty obvious based on current circumstances and I'm trying to read tea leaves here it does seem likely that during closed session tonight the city attorney's office will ask the council to authorize litigation related to the ballot arguments filed in opposition to measure of sales tax extension if that is the case They may be asking you to approve an expenditure of city funds to sue, as real parties in interest, three people who intend to be candidates running against the three incumbents who are up for election in November.

Now that's a election season headline there I think. The City Attorney's Office has vaguely informed Mr. Starr that whatever items two and three are about They are circumstances which would create the appearance of possible impropriety because Mr. Starr's objectivity might reasonably be questioned and so he should recuse himself, but under the same rationale if that's the subject and you're asked to spend public funds to sue your challengers in the November election Then three of you that are up for election in November are also in circumstances in which your objectivity might reasonably be questioned and you should recuse yourselves from such a decision.

You know, it applies both ways. So beyond the question of who ought to participate, the city as an entity does not have standing. You can only make decisions for the city as an entity if you're offered some novel theory to try to circumvent that. Some of the possible options I can imagine might put those at who are voting for it at risk of being personally liable for a gift of public funds so There's a reason for concern all around here.

Just remember the City Attorney's Office represents the city as an entity, not you as individuals and they're not your personal attorneys nor am I obviously so if something novel is proposed you might be wise to get independent legal advice about it We don't believe there is good cause, good basis for a lawsuit because we've agreed to all the city clerk's recommendations related to any mistakes on the filings.

And you know, we're willing to use acceptable alternatives to try to avoid unnecessary litigation. We've done that here so we don't think anything should happen. Thank you very much.

Mayor, thank you. Mayor would you ask the speaker is she speaking as a private citizen or legal representation for any of the parties in the lawsuits to clarify that so we get her on the record? A little bit of background noise. I'm

just going to ask our city attorney for some direction now i'm just unsure whether we can ask the speaker for that clarity or defer to you Mr Fisher

Well, that is one of the reasons that Councilman Starr is not here I believe.

Good evening, everyone. The City Council has just emerged from closed session and I'm going to ask Mr. Fisher, our city attorney if there are any statements or announcements to make?

Thank you Mayor. Regarding item c3 on the closed session agenda The City Council by a vote of 6 to 0 with all members present Voting in favor and councilmember councilman star absent has directed the city attorney to defend In action brought Any action that is brought regarding the ballot arguments, ballot labels and other ballot materials related to November 2026 ballot measure E.

Thank you Mr. Fisher.

Wonderful. Thank you so much, I hope you all can hear me. Well thank you council members it's nice to see all of you again. I'm here tonight to give you an update on the state of hunger in Ventura County as well as in the city of Oxnard and give you an update on our project building our new food bank. And I believe we have a presentation because I'm big on pictures

I know

the pictures say a thousand words, right? There it

is.

Perfect. All right, and I believe here we go. So just as a reminder, FoodShare started back in 1978 as a volunteer-run organization that we collected food directly from our wonderful ag community that you can see here are volunteers racing in front of the tractors to be able to collect the food before it was tilled over. The first year, FoodShare's team collected 34,000 pounds of food. This last year, we distributed 23 million pounds of food, so we have definitely grown and we're excited to be able to share with you what the future is going to look like with FoodShare.

As a reminder as well of how FoodShare works, we receive our food from a variety of different sources. Some of it is purchased about $2.5 million on an annual basis. We collect from all of the retail outlets throughout the county. We get the government commodities through the farm bill and we also have gleaning people go in people. We've got volunteers who go in the back peoples' backyards to be able to glean Ojai pixies, avocados, oranges, and everything else.

And then we also have food drives, over 500 a year to be able to have our neighbors help us to be able to feed their neighbors in need. All of that comes into the Food Bank for Ventura County and we provide that to our network. Our network is 200 non-profits throughout Ventura County who are getting food from us from all those sources at no cost whatsoever. They in turn are helping to be able to feed are 250,000 individuals. So looking very high level about hunger in Ventura County I mentioned this 250,000 as you can see we had a huge spike during COVID it went up to 271,000 individuals that's an unduplicated number meaning one in four in Ventura County needed food assistance from FoodShare last year And we really, really believed bless our hearts that it was the need was going to go down after COVID.

But that long tail is taking a very long time to recover with the cost of increased food gas everything has gone up. It's been very difficult for our neighbors to be able to make ends meet and how can they do that? They go to a food share pantry to be able to get fresh food for their neighbors for their family One of the key points on this one is the retail value, that 23 million pounds of food that we distribute. If we were to go to Vons and be able to purchase all of that it would cost us 65 million dollars. Our annual budget is only 10 million dollars so that donated food from all those different sources is incredibly important to us.

Diving a little deeper into the city of Oxnard, last year we distributed 8.2 million pounds right here in the city. That when you put that into meals it's almost 7 million meals. 130,000 individuals again this is an unduplicated number that were served from the city as you know your total population that is about 65% of the population is needing food assistance We're honored to be able to serve all of those neighbors. We work with 63 different pantry partners, agencies, organizations who are helping to get that food out. 24 different retail partners and again that retail value if we had to go purchase it is 26 million pounds, $26 million I apologize.

These are some of our partners that right here in Oxnard from St. Anthony's Church, Grace Bible Church, Oxnard Community, Salvation Army. As you can see there are many of them and we're proud to be able to work with them and get that food to them at no cost. We also have an app so people can find food. And we have found this is the number one way that people are finding food, is they can go on and they can find what is available or what's open within five miles, 10 miles, 15 miles of them right now. We have found that our partners are using this as well because instead of saying hey call FoodShare you can get food there. They can open up the app and find somewhere that is open for someone in need.

Some of the pictures of what we have been working on, some of our programs on getting that food out. As you know, we have a weekly distribution at College Park. We so appreciate the partnership of the City to allow us to be able to do this. We started this during COVID and it is still going on. Every Wednesday nearly 1,000 cars are coming through every single week It's about 1400 boxes, 70 volunteers. I believe many of you have been out there helping us distribute those boxes and we cannot thank you enough. We have found that this is a very appreciated drive-through distribution with everything that is going on our neighbors like to be a little more in control and being in their cars and being able to go should they need. We have not had that need knock on wood but They're appreciative of this and they continue to show up.

We also have kitchen-free bags for our unhoused population, anybody that does not have access to a kitchen can use the kitchen free bag because nothing in there requires a refrigerator or a stove top. And we even put pop tops cans in there and utensils. Our farm workers, we have a specific farm worker program where the food that we purchase, some of that two and half million dollars goes towards farm worker boxes. And we are buying the food that they have specifically requested, masa, oil, hominy, video. And of course, produce. And we have found that some of our farm workers can't make it to our distribution even when we extended the time at the drive-thru so we are going to the fields and working with farm worker agencies that are able to be able to get those farm workers food, produce and sometimes even feminine hygiene products.

Our seniors, so we do have another government program. We're feeding our seniors 3500 every single month they get a box that's provided through the state and the food is good for them. It's low sodium high protein and very appreciated because they also get another box of produce. We have kids programs with title one schools. We have kids kitchens. We have nutrition education But the need continues. And so, the bad news is that we're feeding more people. The good news is we're feeding more people but how we are going to address the need going forward is that we are building as you know a brand new food bank. So our land that we have purchased four years ago 12 acres at 1425 Mariner Drive is well on its way You can see here a picture of a rendering of what that's going to look like.

We have turned in our drawings and our construction drawings to the planning department, and we are awaiting feedback on that very patiently. But we're very excited to be able to move forward with this. One of the good news is that we have launched a community campaign to be able to help us reach the last part of our fundraising. I think my, here it is. So the total project is $50 million and we have raised 45, actually this is even outdated, $45.5 million. The last four and a half million were asking the communities for their support and the paver program. So, the pavers are going to be engraved in that anyone is available, anyone is welcome to be able to purchase a paver and be part of our foundation in helping us pave the way to the future.

Thank you so much for all of your support. We're very excited to be able to stay here in Oxnard and build our brand new facility and be able to better serve our neighbors for generations to come. Thank you so much for the opportunity. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Wonderful. Thank you, Ms. White. Any questions from any council members? Go ahead, Makayla.

First, I just want to start off by thanking you for the presentation. I think that the data is really important for folks to be aware of. I mean 64.60% of our city's population is being served through a variety of capacities I want to thank you for the opportunities- forty five thousand farm workers in Ventura county and I'm sure the number here- in the city of Oxnard is very prominent. And oftentimes I hear from community members that they can't afford the crop that they pick and so just want to thank you for those opportunities- and I know you also share data on what folks over food sometimes, and so I just appreciate that lens because the data speaks more to what stories and experiences folks are navigating in our community. And I wonder if you can share a little bit more just for the public specifically your Circle of Love opportunity at Southwinds Park?

I'd love to hear more about that.

And i'm understanding that's one of our pantry partners is that correct? So 200 pantry partners throughout Ventura County, and I can't speak exactly to that pantry. But I can definitely share that all of our pantries are on a tiered basis because we know how many people each of our pantries are serving. They're all in the same system called Pantry Track. And when people come into the pantry they're only asked three things, their name, their address and how many people in their households we know how much food to give them. And so that data all comes together and that's where we get that 254,000. But it's also very important because it shows us at that pantry how much food do they need on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis? And so we can either tier them up should they have additional people that are coming through or we can tier them down if the good news is they're feeding less people.

Unfortunately, most of the time is we're tiering them up to the next level. And so when they do come to shop or we deliver directly to them at no charge that they are able to take the appropriate amount for the number of people that they're serving. We can't do what the work we do without our network. It is absolutely incredibly important to us. Thank

you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments?

Yes.

Go ahead, Council Member Starr.

So Monica your organization does wonderful work I serve on the Board of Advisors for the Gene Haas Foundation and we regularly give you six digit checks I think every year and one of the reasons why we give money to your organization is because we look at the finances you know the public reports and we see what percentage overhead there is versus what, versus the values that you're providing.

And it's been historically very low and that's a good thing so that means more of the money actually reaches, more of the money actually is used to reach the people that need to be served. So I just wanted to compliment you and take this opportunity to do so.

Well, thank you Council Member Starr. And I would like to be able to say for everybody that 93 cents of every dollar goes towards programs and services. I'd like to say we run lean and nice, we're not mean. So we're able to really stretch our donor dollars because we get so much donated food but we're also very, very good stewards of our donor dollars and especially for the new building too.

Thank you. Thank you. Go ahead Council Member Perlow.

Yes, so Monica thank you so much for your presentation. You were really succinct and to the point so we thank you for that. I have been involved with FoodShare I know through the Oxnard Monday Club because our ladies love volunteering there so I'd like for you to speak a little bit about folks who might want to sign up on your app or just register to volunteer and how they could do so. The other comment I have is that through Oxnard College Research shows that throughout the state of California, about 52% of college students are food insecure and housing insecure. And there's some such great needs. And of course, the default partner has been FoodShare. So thank you for that. It's been years we've had a collaboration where one of the 200 pantries they get to distribute to our students so really appreciative of that if he could speak to the volunteerism then that would be helpful

And thank you for Council Member Rodriguez for saying that because I forgot to talk about our volunteers. We have a staff of 40, but we have 4,500 volunteers on an annual basis and they're providing 45,000 hours. And so we couldn't do it. They pack boxes, they pick up food, they're distributing food, they're out at College Park helping to put them actually in the cars. So that is very, very important. And thank you to the Oxnard Monday Club. We appreciate that.

And you talked about, oh and so when people want to volunteer they can go on our website and it's a real it's very easy to be able to sign up. We have many different types of opportunities to be able to help us. Produce packing is our newest and most exciting one. You actually get to see all the produce that is donated all the produce that is purchased and we're putting them into individual boxes that are going out to College Park and also going to our senior program All of that is on our website. We can use two hours of your time, we can use 500 hours of your time. All of it is very important.

Thank you very much I appreciate that.

Thank You Councilwoman. I just want to certainly you know I volunteered before Ms. White and I was there at your food share event where you talked about the new facility coming here in the City of Oxford and I just want to commend I see some of your staff out here The leadership you can see in your presentation, just the passion behind how you lead FoodShare. So I just want to commend you and praise you for that effort as many of you know I come from a policing background working with the most vulnerable in our community and oftentimes have referred them to food shares and to the various pantries that exist in our city. And we can see that in your presentation, there were the biggest consumers in this city of those vital services.

And one of the things that I remember is just the increased purchasing power that you allow our lowest income earners in our city to have by having the ability to pick up food from the pantries They can stretch their budget dollars just that much more for a family, provide other benefits that they need to use their money for. So I'm just thrilled that FoodShare is here providing for our most vulnerable and the fact that you're looking to or are going to expand and it's gonna happen right here in our city so for that I'm very proud it's happening here in our city. So thank you.

Thank you. And, you know, if more produce that we can get out, that's the most requested item. I mean it's expensive and being able to build our new facility and be able to accept more produce, that is huge. We currently it's 37% of our total poundage. If we can get that up 50%, maybe something like that, it's a win for everyone.

And thank you for your adjustment. I know you talked about the cultural sensitivity, but being able to offer like masa and other things that are vital products to this community. So thank you for that.

We pride ourselves on listening to our neighbors because it's all about them.

Thank you so much. Any other comments or questions? Thank you so much. Thank you so much Ms. White for this wonderful presentation.

Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, just for the record there are no requests to speak in person or virtually for this item. Thank you.

Thank you very much I'll call the meeting order then we'll give five minutes okay Good evening, everyone. Just want to call the meeting to order for the Oxnard City Council for Thursday July 30th 2026. Madam Clerk may we have a roll call posting of the agenda please?

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 July 16th thank you

Thank You before we get to the pledge of allegiance Assistant City Manager Eric Selser, did you want to make an announcement?

Did I and I apologize for being captain obvious for everybody, but we've obviously had a pretty major HVAC issue This week that cascaded into a major power outage in the building. So a couple of things I want to acknowledge the staff that have been working For the last couple days on a variety of issues that they've been working real hard on that appreciate the flexibility of all the council members particularly on Tuesday night when we had to move our committees and Over the library you guys were all very flexible and adaptable. And then to our community members that are here, we appreciate you being here. We apologize that it's probably not the greatest environment this evening but we're gonna power through and I would encourage everybody when you have the opportunity at a microphone to get real close to the microphone because our Zoom and our YouTube capabilities are really good at picking up that background noise behind you so we appreciate all of your understanding, your flexibility.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you Mr. Sonstegaard.

Yes, I wanted to call forward Natalia Cervantes. She's a student... I think she's coming into the hall. She is a student at Oxford Middle College and has been involved with... Oh, here she come! Here they come. Has been involved with the Lakech Cultural Center for a long time so I know that her family has participated in family leadership conferences and much more with future leaders when I was involved then but I am very proud of this young woman how much she has grown up and grown, so I'm gonna call her up to the podium to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Natalia Cervantes.

So... We're just waiting for a few more to come in.

Yeah? I think we have a whole... That was not part of the Pledge of Allegiance! I think that is a presentation happening regardless. All right. So we're going to when we do the Pledge of Allegiance, Natalia will lead us through that.

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance

and remove your hats if you're gonna do the Pledge of Allegiance please.

Put your right hand over your heart I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to a republic for which it stands, one nation over God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Okay, and were you prepared to share a little bit about your journey and being involved in Nilakech?

Yes.

I think they had a special presentation happening anyway.

Let's see what's gonna happen next, yeah. Thank you so much Natalia, thank you and thank you Dr. G. And whenever you're ready Natalia go ahead.

My name is Natalia Cervantes I am 16 years old and a Mexican-American first generation college student. I'm currently a rising junior at Oxnard Middle College High School on the route to obtain two associates degrees in sociology by the end of my senior year For the last 10 years, I have been a part of the Inuktitut Cultural Arts Center under the guidance of my wonderful mentor Dr. Javier Gormez.

Through my entire youth since I was about six years old Mr. G, now Dr. G has helped me flourish and grow under his guidance. Through his courageous actions as a role model and his wise words, I have been able to become the person I am now pursuing my education and helping me grow academically emotionally and musically Through my peers standing beside me and Dr.

G behind me, I have the courage to stand before you guys and speak about my experience at the Inuktitut Cultural Arts Center. The Inukitut Cultural Arts Center serves the entire Ventura County helping youth and people throughout the county take pride in their culture through our mariachi music and our flacorico dancing. In the seventh grade, I joined an organization called Future Leaders of America.

At first, I joined because of my older sister. When I went to the camp simply because I felt I was obligated to. However through the camp, I felt a revelation where I felt inspired the same way Mr. G and Dr. G inspires me. The way the peers beside me inspire me to be a better person every day. Through the camp I was inspired to come back every year as a volunteer, as well as I went from a regular delegate at Flammas to now my second year going into the youth council at the Oxnard Flamma where we are currently running the campaign A through G for All to align the high school requirements to the A through G requirements.

In my freshman year, I joined a medical internship called Westminister Free Clinic where we provide free medical service to people in the community, more majorly Hispanics. We accept any patients regardless of insurance and any information is not disclosed to the public. We have real doctors come in and serve the patients where we as interns conduct the interviews and the logistical paperwork.

At around November, December of last year I joined the Oxnard Police Explorer program as an explorer crew. This summer I went through a rigorous four-week academy that is meant to mirror the six month police academy with advisors and tactical officers being my staff I graduated with the rest of my class, with nine of us. Six from the Oxnard Police Explorer Post and three from the Port Wene'mu Explorer Post.

I am now an explorer of the Oxnard police program and I'm able to go on details. Some details I have gone to are notably the Strawberry Festival, the Wene'mu Beach Festival, and currently the Cowboys Camp held here in Oxnard. We majorly do traffic control for these events. Now as an explorer, I'm able to go on ride-alongs with an officer being on patrol in their car.

I have been able to do all of this volunteer work due to the influence of the Inuktitut Cultural Arts Center. Had I not been able to get out there and get out of my comfort zone through this program, I would not be the person I am now. Thank you for giving me the time today to share my story.

Beautiful gift, beautiful gift. Beautiful love, beautiful love. I'm like a child with a toy and happy and happy. I can't forget you and I want to forget you. Beautiful love that killed you Oh, so good. I am like a child, a new woman. I have to be happy. I don't know how to cry and I want to scream. We have your love that has killed the most.

Okay, we're gonna do one more.

It's our work zone.

Music We are all from this neighborhood, and we come here to say hello. We are all from this neighborhood, and we come here to say hello. The City Council meets with the Mayor of Nogales, Juan Manuel López Obrador We are all from this land and the bridge you will see. I am from a small town called Juanacatlán. We are all from this land and the bridge you will see. I'm from a small town called Juanacatlán. We are from this land

The City

Council meets with the Mayor of Naples.

¶.

We do have one more song if you want to hear it. Again, I'm Dr. Javier Gomez and I thank the City of Oxnard for welcoming me into this city. I came to Oxnard actually 53 1⁄2 years ago to come as a teacher to teach for the Oxnard School District But I was inspired by a great man that inspired me to believe that the future of any community, the future of our society is what we do with our youth. How we inspire them, how we empower them, how we get them to realize their full potential, to realize their dreams. In the future behind me are the great leaders of tomorrow These are the people who are going to represent our city, our state.

In the midst of one in my group you heard just one young lady who has tremendous potential. All these young ladies and young men in here have great potential for greatness. One of them I...in my sleep I see her Standing in the state capitol litigating for the state, fighting for the good cause to represent our state as one of our state attorneys. I want to say her name because I want you to see what the future holds in our community and I'm blessed by the fact that the dreams do become reality and it only happens when there's kind and giving people. We have existed as a free program to our community I've been challenged by people who say, why don't you do it? Why don't you charge? You know Mr. Gomez, you can make some money with like $50 an hour or half an hour and you'll be rich!

Even my father and many of our leaders in our community said, oh you gotta charge Dr. Gomez. And I said, you know, I can't. The day that I do that is when I'm gone. I believe very strongly that our children need to have an opportunity regardless of who they are, if they're from a rich family or poor family and with that mission in our sense... With that in place over the years that I've been running the center, I found people with corazón, hearts And the building where we practice is a gift to me from a parent who said, this is for you Mr. Gomez for our children.

The maestros who come, and right behind me I want to introduce him. His name is Mauricio Guion, who is an inspiring teacher. He's getting his credentials and everything in order but he's a very gifted maestro in mariachi music. And he has helped me fine tune the kids to the next level. You know? I can only take them to a certain level. The next level is to bring in the masters, the real skilled people.

I want you to see him. This is Mauricio Guillon, and if the Oxnard School District can fire somebody this is one of the great ones that we want to keep, okay? And again like I said all my maestros who have been part of our center from En Paz Descanso Don Chava born and raised here in Oxnard was one of our maestro's who taught and he did it for free Mauricio does it for free, and every so often when extra money comes into our center we give it out to our maestros and we help them out. And then we have Maestra Teresa who's been with me for the past 35 years. Mauricio has been with me I guess I would say maybe 20 years too? So they've been with me!

But the center accepts students from the age of two years old until I have to bury you. That means that I take elders who come back to come and sing, so Mr. Perel? If you want to come in and join us and sing a song, we invite you. We invite everybody. We welcome everyone in our community. Whoever wants to join us is there. And now I want to present to you the future state attorney for the State of California who's going to sing to you one of the most beautiful songs. Okay? We have one song please? Yes. Go ahead Mr. G. All right thank you.

Mariachi girl, go ahead. Is that the mariachi girl?

It is, this is the mariachi girl.

Hello. Una vez nada más, en mi huerito brilló la esperanza. La esperanza que alumbra el camino de mi soledad. Una vez nada más, se entrega el alma con la dulce y toncada And when this miracle happens, the province will be my mother. There are bells of parties that sing in the heart ¶ You belong to my heart Now and forever And I love how it starts When I said, I love you every beat of my heart said it too.

Was a moment like this Do you remember? And your eyes threw a kiss When they met mine Now we own all the stars and a million guitars are still playing. Darling, you are the song you'll always belong.

Thank you, thank you so very much. I couldn't stop taking photos and videos up here. I'll tell ya this is the best start of a council meeting I've ever had and I just wanted to memorialize it. So thank you boys and girls, thank you Dr. G. And at this point I wanna bring up Natalia Cervantes and her family. Natalia we have a beautiful certificate up here for you if you wanna come up with your family.

And if I may, I just have to say that when I reached out to Natalia to do the Pledge of Allegiance, I didn't realize that In Lak'ech was going to receive a certificate today. So that was very timely. The concert was just a cherry on top so thank you very much. If her family can come up here because it definitely takes a village. Believe it or not, she claims to be shy.