City Council — August 19, 2026

Can I have another?

Is the red

light a go?

The red light's on.

Is that a go, the red light? Looks like it's ready, Jenny.

All right, I will call to order this regular meeting of the Santa Paula City Council for August 19th at 5.30 p.m., and Madam Clerk would you do a roll call? Call the roll please.

this evening

All right, and so far I have received two public comments. If anyone else is still wanting to give a public comment please grab one of these blue pieces of paper and turn it into the city clerk. All right my first public comment is from Gary Ost.

Madam Mayor just to clarify this is a public comment for closed session?

Yes

This is also for item 3 A and so just regular public comment I believe.

3A, 3B and 3C if anyone wants to comment on any of those items.

Wanted to be sure where we're at. We don't have any other regular general. OK.

Mine are on 3A and 3B. It seems to be the same topic of discussion. This has been really hard for the community to follow. What's on the agenda is still discussing Dan's performance evaluation. Is that done yet or are we still working on that? Because apparently, the council has already made a decision And it's unclear whether we're finished with the performance evaluation or not. Now, I understand that employee performance evaluations is clearly closed session.

You just have to do it that way. But changing the direction of the city or now embarking on a search firm and spending taxpayer dollars? That's a different thing. And I don't know if that's being discussed in closed session or what's being discussed in closed session So I'd appreciate some clarification there. The other topic I have is on July 30th, there was a meeting here to discuss the same issue and several members of the community came forward and gave testimony.

And it was unanimously in support of Dan. But if you go on the city website recording at that meeting and those comments are nowhere to be found. So I know this went out on zoom So how is it that public hearing can go out on Zoom and yet it's not a part of the city record? That's my second question. And my third point is we have an election in a little more than 60 days, and I would say that it's premature to engage a search firm Until we have a seated new council and let them handle that process.

I think we're putting the cart before the horse. Thank you. All right,

thank you. And was there anyone else that was wanting to turn in a card? I mean, I have yours but I just didn't know this one said it wanted to go last so I just wanted to make sure if there was anyone else who is wishing to speak before I called yours. Okay Bob Orlando. Usually people are wanting to go first. So

no, thank you. I'm going to address a council of madam vice mayor for singer other department heads Greg addressing items three a and three B on I'm going to be paraphrasing from the city's leadership change letter of July 1st 2006. Marking more than six years of service in the City of Santa Paula, Mr. Singer led the city through a pandemic, established new revenues devoted to city services and the acquisition of the historic Union Oil Building. He has guided the community during this time of exceptional growth which is honorable and commendable.

He pushed through road improvements now taking place throughout the city as well as complete repaving of the Harvard Boulevard. Dan passed Measure R to continue street improvements, cutting the timeline for the projected five-year payment project nearly in half. He also spearheaded the city's wider exposure to social media platforms to encourage citizens to participate more in city government.

Dan was there to launch the construction of the Santa Paula Creek Bridge and getting finances under control. This letter further states the council has trust in Dan's leadership, and he did all this with a short staff and limited funds. Wow! Maybe you should run for governor. Regarding his Dan employment letter, this was not an easy decision for the council as we recognize the unselfish dedication Dan has given to this organization and community.

I think that's total placated fabrication since the council has been predetermined to replace Dan for some time and Councilman Chavez wanted four years ago even before he was on the council, before he worked with Dan. Now there is an open mind that's going to reflect what's happening to Mr. Singer. As you have stated, Dan has accomplished much. He's done a great job, you say, but bye-bye! You're done.

Thank you. Some of us here may not want to push this too hard because we could embarrass Dan. I realize the reply from the dais is not part of the protocol here and I'm not seeking an answer. But I ask Mr. Singer what could the City Council present to embarrass you? I respectfully request, oh so as you saunter off into your clandestine closed session to find ways to justify your prejudice and bias towards Dan. Please remember to focus on what's in the best interest of the city and not in your best interests or agenda. I respectfully request that the City Council extend Dan Singer's city manager contract for three years. Let's keep it moving. Appreciate the time.

All right. Seeing no other, you've received no other cards City Clerk?

No I have none and I have none on line. Okay

all right.

Are we ready to- Yes. Convenience closed session? All right, the City Council now convene into closed session under items 3A through items 3C on the regular agenda. This includes conference or real labor negotiators pursuant to government code section 54957.6. The agency designated representative is Monica Castillo, the city attorney and the unrepresented employee is city manager for 3B. We're going under public employee performance evaluation pursuant to government code Section 54957 for title city manager and last under 3C conference with legal counsel for anticipated litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9D2 concerning significant exposure to litigation with two potential cases. Okay,

and then just so you want to explain the procedure Madam Clerk?

Yes, thank you Vice Mayor. I would like to explain the procedure since this is a little new to everyone on the dais, everyone in the public, everyone on TV we thank you for being part of our community but we want to let you know we do have a new setup for the public to be able to speak online and so currently right now i do have a zoom that is open for the public for this meeting they can still see that Online through the agenda and it is on page 2 of the agenda. Anyone can go in and log onto that if they have any public comments on any items.

And I'm also, I know that council is currently going to recess to closed session. I just wanted everyone to be aware. I'm going to keep the Zoom on now because we do know that you will be returning for the next half of your meeting and during that you'll do your report out on closed session at the regular time. So everyone will be aware. We do have live mics and wanted you to be aware that if you're having any conversations in here we will also continue to record though during the recording time it will probably just show council in recess and then come back on at 630 so if anyone is curious on that.

And just so the public knows, we do have time certain for the 6.30, so we will not be coming and reporting back out before 6. 30. So if you want to grab a bite to eat, you wouldn't miss anything if you were back by 6. All right, it is my honor to reconvene this regular City Council meeting from our closed session. And Madam Clerk would you just redo the... Actually we'll do the invocation first. Do we have someone here to give the invocation?

I'll do, I'll clean this here.

the men and women in uniform. That they return safely to their families. And help us to share the blessings with those in need Help us to see the Lord in the poor and the marginalized, and to respond with love and kindness. And we remind ourselves that we never grow weary of doing what is right. Amen.

Right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance

to the flag

of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

All right, Madam Clerk would you please call the roll?

this evening. All right, thank

you. City Attorney would you please give our closed session report? Oh and okay yeah

Yes, I will do so. This evening

Madam Mayor, can I just say a couple things? Sure. I know the mayor is not here today but I had made the request to the mayor and he's unfortunately not here today but I know he's here with us in spirit and it's important for us to recognize all aspects of our community and so it's great to see so many people here and especially when we see our young people being recognized and surrounded by the love and support that's who Santa Paula is thank you so much

okay

All right. So now that that ceremonial item is done, that does bring us to public comment and at this point members of the public can comment on any item that is not under the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council but that is not on the agenda. We will entertain if you are here to speak on the mobile home item and you would rather speak under general comment.

Now, under general public comment and not wait until the end of the meeting when we do future agenda items. We will consider those. What I'm going to do is I'm going to go through the general public comment first and then I will quickly run through those who are here for the RV item to see if any of them would rather speak under general public comment. City Attorney, is there anything else on that you wanted to add?

No, just that if anybody does address the RV potential agenda item that they can only speak once during public comment and not again at the time. That occurs later in the agenda.

All right, so I will start with general public comment. I did have one question. Judy Rice were you did you have general public comment or were you wanting to speak on the RBI?

Girls rock.

Yeah right before you start though and before the city clerk starts the time just a reminder to everyone because we might have people on all sides of this issue that I am going to ask folks to refrain from audible responses whether it's booze cheers loud claps if you want to show your support thumbs up you know handshaking thumbs down but just so that we can maintain maintain some decorum And if people have differing views, they're able to share their opinions while they're giving public comment.

Yes and that's also a legal reason behind that nobody wants to chill others viewpoints so please proceed. Am I on?

Yes and the city clerk will begin the time everyone will have three minutes

okay I'm gonna wait till next week to speak when it's on the agenda correct I can speak now, but I would rather wait until next week.

So if it's okay with the mayor, I think it's worthy of explaining what is on tonight's agenda. Councilmember Chavez has asked the council to consider placing the matter of the existing RV ordinance in the context of that and maybe a revised ordinance on a future agenda. So you're right, this is a matter that will come back assuming that the majority of the council directs that we do that. It won't be next week. Well first of all, the council doesn't meet next week although they do have an important workshop on mobile home parks next week it would be at whatever opportunity exists based on the priorities of the council so that may be a meeting or two from now or maybe a few months from now. So I think it's worthy of just pointing that out

Okay, well I'd like to see a consensus. Who is here tonight to speak on the RV? Oh, I need to do that? Okay, well sorry but see now you guys have to come back because it's not on the agenda yet so we got all excited and we're always crisis workers Okay,

good to see everybody. I'll come

back.

So just to clarify, the item that will be on the agenda later in relation to the RVs is whether or not the council is scheduling that as a study session. So just to clarify. All right for general public comment I have James Lantine.

He's going to come out from the back.

Okay

Madam Mayor and council people, as well as city staff and the public. I'm actually here on behalf of New Hall Mansion in Piru. As most of you know it's a beautiful historic landmark that really helps shape a lot of what's going on in the valley. It has recently been purchased by Ken and Betty Lou Wiseman about two months ago August 27th at 3 p.m., we are going to do an official ribbon cutting, and I would like to extend an invitation to all of you with a plus one as well as the general public if you'd like to go and be a part of the celebration. We would love to see you there.

So...

All right. Thank you. So our next general public comment is going to be Mike Caulfield followed by Katie Arth

Hello council members. My issue that I want to bring up is basically a beautification or an eyesore that we have in our town and I spoke over a year ago about our post office is in desperate need of landscaping. They've recently, well it's been years ago put in a sprinkler system and some brush and it's all just been taken over by weeds so it's very...it's an eyesore, it's an embarrassment for somebody out-of-town to see our post office like this.

And the other eyesore that I notice is on the corner of I believe it's 8th and Main Street where there used to be Ana Cider The fence that they have around this property is just a bunch of old barrels. And it's just, I don't know how the city can let it be like this because it is an embarrassment to our town to have such a beautiful area and then just to have an eyesore right out in front for everybody to see. So I would hope that the council would consider looking into this.

Thank you. All right

thank you. Katie Arth followed by Gary Ost.

Dear Vice Mayor and City Council members and staff, thank you for taking the moment to hear from me. My name is Katie Arth and I am the co-founder of Ventura County Voters for Animals. We are an all volunteer run organization representing constituents in all of the cities including right here in Santa Paula. We started earlier this year and along with a large coalition of various stakeholders were able to work with the city of Ventura to ban glue traps.

I've been informed that you may consider reviewing animal welfare related policies and legislation in the coming months, and so we are here to offer our support. While we are all volunteers, we're connected with some of the best experts in the nation on all animal welfare issues from sheltering Humane pest control plant based procurement, anything really under the sun. We know who to talk to. And so I came today to mainly make sure that you guys know we can be a resource for you as you explore various policies and for any revisions.

And we've also heard from a number of our Santa Paula supporters that they are very interested in seeing Santa Paula pass a similar glue trap ban which would make it the third city in Ventura County. Thank you so much for your time and I'll be following up with an email so you can have our contacts.

All right, thank you. Gary Ost followed by Richard Redman

Good evening City Council. I'm going to talk on my favorite topic which you've heard me talk about before, about extending Dan's contract for three more years. We continuously hear what the council has not done and I understand how that works in closed session no reportable action because you didn't take any action but since then you have taken action. You've announced that your intention is to replace Dan. You've announced that you're going to be getting a search firm to find a new city manager candidate Those are actions and I don't know if they're being discussed in this particular closed session or not, but I think you need to agendize an item on a future agenda to discuss this new direction you want to go into.

And I would also, it's hard sometimes Santa Paula is constrained by its budget and its tax base And there is no magic wand that any city manager can wave to increase both of those as much as we would love to do it. My own farm has capital issues and we have the delay projects, it's just the nature of the beast. So please don't confuse any issues that Dan hasn't been able to done in a day with budget he's constrained by and the tax base were constrained by I know it gets frustrating at times, and there may be some frustrations on the council that Dan is the problem. But if you gave Dan more budget and we had a bigger tax base, these wouldn't be issues. So I hope that you consider that.

And given the constraints that we have, forward momentum is critical. And a city manager that understands our budget constraints is critical. If we change leadership It's going to cost us money in executive search and there is going to be inefficiencies introduced in a new learning curve, in a budget that's already constrained. So I hope you think this out and give Dan a chance. I think he has done a great job.

And I would delay any action you may be doing on executive search until after the election.

Thank you. Richard Rudman followed by Sitlaly Selgado.

The volume level in the audience is very low.

Can you have the tech please turn up the volume?

Yes, we'll check with the tech and see if he can turn the volume up a little bit higher.

Well that said should I wait or not?

Is that a new role? That's really loud.

James, it's too loud. We're going to

turn that

down

just a

little

bit. It's a little bit too much. Test, test. Testing one two. Can you hear me now? OK, that's good. All right, we'll try that.

Thank you.

OK. All right Mr. Redman. Vice Mayor Crosswhite, Council Members and fellow Santa Paulans. The Aviation Museum of Santa Paula is looking for volunteers with either a background in or just a great interest in aviation to become docents or guides during our first Sunday open house events and other museum activities. We are looking for volunteers over age 18 who would love to join our existing group of docents and guides. To find out more, all you have to do is come to the Santa Paula Airport 800 East Santa Maria Street on our next first Sunday on September 6th. We're open from museum from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. We also have openings for young people 14 to 20 years of age in our aviation Explorer program that is affiliated with Scouts of America Youths enlisting in our Aviation Explorer program can learn about many parts of the aviation industry by receiving basic instructions that can lead to getting a pilot's license, a career in aircraft maintenance and other aviation related opportunities.

If you can't wait until next first Sunday, please Google Aviation Museum of Santa Paula become a volunteer or Aviation Museum of Santa Paula contact. Repeating, that's Aviation Museum of Santa Paula become a volunteer or Aviation Museum of Santa Paula contact. Thank you very much and good evening.

All right thank you. Next we have Sitlali Salgado followed by Amalio Ochoa. Do we have Sitlalli? Okay.

Hello good evening I'm Sitlally, a cause organizer based here in Santa Paula I work with youth and adult committees which each lead their own respective campaigns. But tonight, I want to highlight the importance of language access. The adult committee and a lot of folks we organize with are predominantly Spanish-speaking adults. And in the past year, we've mentioned more so in passing to some staff or city council members the need for more and better equipment and preparation for interpretation because if our Spanish speaking residents cannot reliably hear or understand what is being said They cannot meaningfully participate in decisions that affect their families and communities.

And in the past when we filled these chambers with Spanish-speaking folks, at most only a group of about 15 of 60 would have access to live interpretation due to the limited equipment available Later on when a handful of us came in, I remember the devices were malfunctioning so folks couldn't understand what was happening or what had happened until after the meeting.

And also at the State of the City event this year we really appreciated that the invite was bilingual but we noticed a lot of the materials At the event we're only in English and there wasn't interpretation throughout the presentation. And at the second mobile home ordinance workshop in the spring, consecutive interpretation took substantial time and because of accuracy issues it made it hard for our Spanish-speaking residents to fully understand and participate. So moving forward we are requesting for effective language access Including reliable interpretation equipment, equipment tested before the meeting begins. Simultaneous interpretation when appropriate especially for workshops and presentations.

Qualified interpreters who can accurately interpret the discussion. Spanish language materials when events are advertised to Spanish-speaking residents and a consistent language access practice across City Council meetings, workshops, special events and city hosted meetings. When residents take the time to attend a city meeting but do not have access to interpretation they are physically present but are unfortunately excluded from the conversation which impacts their ability to fully participate We look forward to improvements in this area. Thank you for your time All right.

Thank you Amalia Ochoa.

Buenas tardes, Miembros del Consejo.

James can we have interpretation out front please?

I try to interpretation. I am trying to speak English. Okay yes okay I'm trying thank you very much okay yes. Como les dije buenas tardes miembro del consejo vice mayor Jenny Ross White mi nombre es Amalia Estoy aquí como líder activista comunitaria. Ha sido estresante porque quiero que todos ustedes sepan las necesidades de nuestra comunidad, de Santa Paula.

Quisiera que tuviéramos una buena interpretación para que todo lo que digamos sea bien entendido por todos ustedes en todas las juntas y eventos de la ciudad Good afternoon, members of the City Council. My name is Amalia and as a community activist leader It has been stressful because I want all of you to know the needs of our community, Santa Paula. I would like us to have a good interpretation so that everything we say is fully understood.

by you at all city meetings and events. And also that there are enough headsets in that they make sure they work properly because they never work Properly. And there are never enough of them. Thank you for your good time, for your appreciation for me. For my bad English. Thank you so much.

And then Elizabeth De Los Santos.

Muchas gracias voy a hablar en español. Buenas tardes a todos ustedes miembros del consejo gusto en verlos. Un momento. Yes, thank you.

Okay yeah

My name is Elizabeth De Los Santos. I'm a resident of Santa Paula at 12 years old.

I've been a participant of these reunions of the city where I have confronted the difficulty of the communication and limitation of the equipment, of translation. I've been to a lot of workshops that you've had and presented information towards what we have talked about. It's hard to read and not follow exactly what she is saying, and the agreements.

It's hard to speak with everybody in English.

It's hard to speak with everybody in English. It's hard to do this I don't know if you guys want it consecutive or simultaneous if it's consecutive we need to do note taking as interpreters if itself if it's simultaneous then we need to speak at the same time she is and because of the equipment were not able to do that So I understand what she's saying. So I don't know how you guys want to proceed with this.

It is good this happened right now because there is notice how it's hard to understand and to explain me that the person talking in English only, it's hard waiting for us so we appreciate you take this situation really important for us and for all the community thank you so much

Yeah, we'll let you know if you need to come back out. All right, I know that's an issue that we've looked at before. It looks like it might be time to look at it again. So just so you all can take note.

Mayor, I know you're getting ready to start with the other additional for RV calling for but I do have quite a few people on for speaking by Zoom. Are they

on for general

public comment? I don't know that until I've asked them to raise their hand in the chat and I have not seen that But by speaking I'm hoping someone can raise their hand there. If you're calling in on just a phone, you can press star 9 and then that will let me know that you want to speak on general public comment not on any other item on the agenda. Okay, I don't see anyone doing that. So after the mayor or vice mayor has called upon anyone wanting to speak on the RV item which is the last item on the agenda, I will then again ask if anyone would like to speak on that?

Okay.

Well hold on have you turned in a card? Okay then I'm going to go through all these cards so I will call you. All right. So I'm going to go through these if you want to wait and speak when we get to that item, just, you know, wave at me and I will put your card to the side and we can return to it later. Otherwise,

Good evening, Council and staff. My name is Danny Reisman. I reside at 1148 Fuchsia Lane. This is not just regarding the RV situation. There's a few topics on here. I'd like to know why the construction on 10th and Ojai Road has now taken over a year to complete? I know it's State Route 150. I know it's under control of Caltrans. Still doesn't explain why it's not done and why the work is subpar.

Don't put all the blame on Caltrans. We know how they operate. We all drive roads around the state Perpetual construction with no efficiency. Let's not fall into the same trap. Do whatever it takes, call them every day. Most local cities will find contractors for leaving the ground open like they have for more than just a few days in intersections just like we have going on here in town.

A competent city manager and public works director would've had this handled but here we are. What do we expect though? Our city manager hired a police chief against the advice of a ridiculous amount of people and what happened, exactly what we all expected. He personally told me that he would put his job on the line for that. What did the council do? Extended his contract and gave him a raise.

It's almost comical if it wasn't our money that you guys are pissing away. So let's talk about the money. Where is the return on our investment for buying property here in town? Every election we get to, the city, the school board, somebody wants to pass a new tax, new bond measure. Look at your property tax bill there's like six extra taxes on it. We keep getting taxed to death.

We bought our home in 2016 long after this so-called RV storage ordinance was passed but the realtor still advertised RV storage for our property on the listing that shouldn't be allowed if the city doesn't allow RV storage right? That's an additional, that's an increase to the value of your home. You guys are now taking that away from us. Congratulations. Thank you. It's obvious that the way that this was written, whoever wrote this has no clue about vehicles or RVs.

It says anything over 6,000 pounds can be parked on private property in the city limit. Well, that outlaws every single Three-quarter ton truck and up one ton. Every work truck, no big vans, no RVs of any type or size will fit that requirement not to mention the size limit. That's pretty ridiculous as well. Go to an RV sales lot with a tape measure and somebody to help you because you won't be able to do it by yourself. Measure some basic RVs and tell me if this fits anything that you find except for maybe like a sprinter, a real short one.

Last is the cost of storage. Have you looked at what it costs? Because it's a minimum for anybody, probably 200 to 300 or more a month. That's 24 to $3,600 or more a year. There goes all the money we're saving for vacation. We might as well just sell all of our stuff and get rid of it because we can't afford to go on vacation anymore. You guys are really contributing to our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Congratulations.

Just as a reminder, if we could please refrain from the outbursts because I really do want to get through all of the comments. Tommy Sanchez-Reyes.

Good evening council members and staff my name is Tommy Sanchez-Reyes And I have been a resident of Santa Paula for 75 years. I have been a homeowner for 56 years and I have lived on Santa Paula Street for the past 43 years. For the past 23 years, my husband and I have had our motorhome parked at the residence. During all those years we have never received a notice or been informed that we were required to remove our motorhome from our own property. That is why we were very surprised and concerned to recently receive a notice that we can no longer keep it there.

My husband and I are both retired and have lived on a fixed income, are now living on a fixed income. We have worked hard throughout our lives and we were looking forward to continuing to enjoy our retirement by traveling in our motor home. Now we are being asked to move our RV to a storage facility which would create an additional expense. This is especially difficult because traveling in our motor home have planned and look forward to enjoying during our retirement.

I also want the council to understand that our decision to remain in our home has, in part been because we have the space to accommodate our motorhome. We could've considered moving to a smaller home but many of those homes do not provide RV parking. Having the ability to keep our motorhome at a residence has been important to us for many years. My question to the city council is simple Why, after 23 years of having our motorhome at our residence without receiving a notice or being told that it was a violation are we now being expected to remove it and pay for off-site storage?

I respectfully ask the Council to consider our circumstances and everyone else's. Our long history as residents and homeowners in Santa Paula and the fact that we have maintained our motorhome at our property for more than two decades. We are not trying to disregard the city's rules, we are simply asking for consideration and an opportunity to find a reasonable solution. Thank you for taking the time to hear my concerns.

It just says Laura. And she'll be followed by Vanessa Lowe.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the Council. My name is Laura and my husband and I are longtime residents of Santa Paula and homeowners. We're here to speak tonight about the City's recent enforcement of the ordinance regulating recreational vehicles on residential properties. We understand and support the city's responsibility to maintain attractive neighborhoods and protect property values. We want that too, however the recent enforcement has created significant concerns among many residents As Tommy said, for more than 20 years these regulations were rarely if ever enforced. During that time homeowners purchased properties, invested in their homes, arranged their driveways and yards based on what we reasonably understood would be acceptable.

Many residents are now receiving violation notices, actually multiple violation notices for conditions that have existed for years. This sudden change has created confusion, frustration, unexpected financial hardships for some families. We respectfully ask the council to consider whether the existing regulations still reflect the needs of the City of Santa Paula residents.

Many families responsibly own RVs, trailers, boats and other recreational vehicles. We're also concerned about the consistent and equitable enforcement of the outdated ordinance. Residents see other conditions including inoperable vehicles, shipping containers, excessive outdoor storage that can all affect neighborhood appearance. If enforcement is intended to improve our neighborhoods it should be applied consistently throughout the city Therefore, we respectfully ask the council to place the ordinance on a future City Council agenda.