City Council — April 21, 2026

Order. Mr. City Attorney, are there any reports from closed session?

Thank you Madam Mayor nothing to report out of closed session tonight.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor we do have one for item 9A there is a supplemental.

I move that all resolutions and ordinances presented tonight be read in title only, and all further reading be waived. Second.

Call for the vote.

Council Member Ayala?

All votes will be verbal tonight.

Yes.

The motion passes unanimously

Thank you If there is any member of the City Council who may have a conflict of interest or any reason why that member must abstain from consideration of any matter on this agenda, he or she should so declare at this time. Seeing none we may move on.

Safety Telecommunicators Week. And Communications Manager Erin Cooper is here to present this item and accepting the proclamation are Communication Supervisor Brooke Dunbar and Dispatcher Trainee Elsie Montesquieu.

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Tonight I have the honor of recognizing a group of professionals who are absolutely essential to public safety but who often go unseen. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is about acknowledging the people behind the headset, the calm voice on the other end of chaos, the ones who are making critical decisions in seconds, gathering information and getting help where it needs to go fast.

When someone dials 911, it is rarely on their best day. It's fear, panic, uncertainty and on the other end is a dispatcher who shows up steady focused and ready to help every single time While most people are celebrating life's moments – birthdays, holidays, soccer games, family dinners, community events – there is always a dispatcher sitting behind a console. Missing those moments, working through those holidays, answering a call that for someone else may be the worst day of their life. And without hesitation they show up calm, focused and ready to help.

Our dispatchers are not just voices on a phone or radio. They are highly trained professionals who are constantly prioritizing, coordinating and supporting both the public and our officers in the field. They are the link between crisis and response and they carry that responsibility every shift. Here at Simi Valley Police Department our dispatchers serve this community 24 hours a day seven days a week holidays nights the moments that most people don't see they are there And the work they do in those moments truly matters. It saves lives, it protects our community and it makes a difference.

Over the past week April 12th through April 18th we celebrated Public Safety Telecommunicators Week here in the City of Simi Valley It is a time for us to pause and say thank you, to recognize the commitment, the professionalism and the heart that goes into this job. Because their reality is dispatchers are some of the most important people you may never see.

Thank you.

Thank you. Dispatchers, you are first responders and I think sometimes people forget that. And you're so very important to everything that is done. I believe we just celebrated last weekend or this past weekend the dispatchers of the year from every public agency in the community. I think our Rotary Club sponsored it right? Yeah very good. Unfortunately I was out of town on another rotary event Otherwise, I would have loved to be in there. But congratulations and thank you for all that you do. We need you to keep us safe and we appreciate the sacrifices you do on your family and how that is. So thank you for all you do. Would you like to say anything?

Oh, Erin said it all. I do want to say that this is ALCE's first day as a dispatcher trainee

so... Oh, and

you're

up here! Yes. Oh, you're okay. Well, congratulations. Well best of luck to you in your career. All right, thank you. Thank you. Picture?

And while you're taking the picture, it was Jordan Cook who was celebrated as the Simi Valley Dispatcher of the Year at the event.

I know I looked out there and went where did Aaron go? I didn't realize you had moved over to do the presentation. Thank you all very much.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item two public statements on appointments special presentations and informational reports we have no speakers for this item this evening Madam Mayor and members of City Council, next on the agenda is item 3A1. Designation of two city council members to conduct interviews for the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation Board of Directors. And Assistant Community Services Manager Sandy McGee is here to present this item.

Good evening, Mayor Cavanaugh and members of the City Council. The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides endowment and annual financial support for the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. The foundation board is comprised of up to 21 voting members including seven city council appointed public members Due to one City Council appointed member resignation in October 2025 and the expiration of two City Council appointed terms on June 30th, 2026 there are currently three City Council appointed public member vacancies.

The city initiated a recruitment to solicit applications that concluded on March 27th, 2026. A total of four applications were received and staff estimates that approximately one hour will be needed to conduct the interviews. Staff is recommending that the City Council select two City Council members to interview and nominate three candidates to fill the vacancies on the Foundation Board.

Mayor Pro Tem Litzter and Council Member Rhodes served on the Nominating Committee for the Foundation Board in May of 2025. This concludes the report, and staff is available to answer any questions at this time. Anyone

have any questions?

I would just put out there that because Elaine and I serve on the Arts Commission, that being on this panel for interviews would be appropriate. I'd be happy to do it again this year.

So

moved.

I'm happy as well but I don't want to deny one the opportunity but happy to do it.

Okay we have a first. A motion to have a second? I'll second. Thank you. Roll call please.

The motion passes unanimously Madam Mayor and members of City Council next on the agenda is item 3A2 designation of one city council member to serve on a selection committee to interview and nominate prospective Simi Valley Arts Commissioners Assistant Community Services Manager Sandy McGee is presenting this item as well

Good evening again, Mayor Cavanaugh and members of the City Council. On June 30th, 2026, the terms of service for three members of the Simi Valley Arts Commission will conclude. The Arts Commission is responsible for promoting greater public participation in and access to arts and culture, exploring alternate sources of arts and culture funding, planning arts programs and events, developing a master cultural plan, applying for grants, reviewing the annual financial and operational plans for the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center and reinforcing the arts as a vital integral and necessary component of life for all members of the community.

The commission is comprised of eight members, two city council members five City Council appointed public members and one Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation Board of Director. All public members are serve staggered two-year terms of office. Arts Commission members may serve two consecutive terms and may serve additional terms provided 12 months have lapsed between appointments beyond beyond two consecutive terms.

Staff initiated recruitment on February 12, 2026 to fill these upcoming vacancies a total of seven applications were received It is estimated that approximately one and one half hours will be needed to conduct the interviews. Staff is recommending that the City Council designate one city council member to serve on a selection committee with a continuing arts commissioner, to interview and nominate three applicants to serve on the Arts Commission for appointment by the City Council.

Councilmember Rhodes last served in this capacity in April of 2025. This concludes the report and staff is available to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions from the dais?

As the person who did it last year, I want to wholeheartedly volunteer Elaine to do it this year

I'll second. I would be honored to serve in that capacity,

be happy

to

do it.

Thank you we have a first and a second call for the vote please.

The motion passes unanimously Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item 3A3. Designation of city council members to interview and nominate prospective Neighborhood Council Executive Board members. And Community Services Coordinator Kelly Duffy is here presenting this item.

Good evening, Mayor Cavanagh again and members of the City Council. Neighborhood Council Executive Board members are appointed to staggered two-year terms with approximately one third of the seats expiring every eight months. The next term of appointments is scheduled to commence on July 1st, 2026. A general recruitment was conducted March 3rd through April 3rd, 2026 to fill the upcoming 16 vacant positions.

A total of 25 applications were received during the recruitment period. The distribution of applications was as follows, neighborhood council number one received nine applications. Neighborhood council number two received three applications. Neighborhood council number three, three applications and neighborhood council number four received 10 applications. In previous recruitment cycles, the City Council has appointed two subcommittees each consisting of two City Council members. Staff recommends that the City Council appoint two subcommittees each comprised of two City Council members to interview and nominate prospective Neighborhood Council Executive Board members. This concludes my report and staff is available for questions

Mayor Pro Tem Litster. So I do have a question about the process, um, I noticed in the report that it stated that well if I understand correctly there are 13 that serve on the committee And basically, we go through this process three times in two years. Is that kind of accurate? Right, every eight months. Every eight months, okay. So I was just trying to understand why district number three has six vacancies and district number two has only one vacancy.

So unfortunately every now and then we have some people who do not, they drop out And also when I came in, we had an executive board neighborhood council too only had nine members. And so to fill that up which was about two years ago it was they had a large amount and then the next one we only had one.

So for that district they will always unless people drop out will tend to have okay

Well, it depends because some it

does

happen every now and then that

someone moves. Sure. Got

exactly

OK. And I had one other question I noticed for my district number three that basically there is not enough applicants to actually fill the openings And so my question was if I go out and recruit this week, is it too late for them to be part of the process or is it closed? Not that I would do that. I just want to understand the process.

It is closed but I also had that question from my executive board members because and I've looked in the bylaws because of this question. We had a couple executive board members that are terming off that wish to stay on But our bylaws say that there needs to be between each term there needs to be eight months. So then I think we would have to change the bylaws.

We would have if those three are appointed then we will have 10 on the board which would mean we would only need six for quorum and right now we have seven per quorum so it's really only one off

Got it. But that instance I see is a little bit different because the bylaws preclude them returning, but someone never having... Have you done all the trainings for them already? I guess this is my question. I know that's part of the requirement.

The orientations are complete.

Okay got it so in my mind that precludes then.

Got it For like a new member.

Correct for brand-new member okay understood Thank You councilmember Ayala

Yeah, so should we just split it one and two together three and four together? It's about the same amount of applications.

That's what I was going to suggest that you have an equal number.

And then it's different from what we did the previous time as well.

So I need a motion on who is going to do.

The only thing is Didi did you want to be part of the interviewing cycle?

No, I'll let you guys continue to do that. I'll just go visit each one. OK.

So then I will move to designate two subcommittees. Myself, Council Member Ayala and Council Member Judge to interview and nominate for Neighborhood Councils 1 & 2 and Council Member Rhoads and Mayor Pro Tem Litzter to interview and nominate Executive Board Members for Neighborhood Councils 3 & 4.

The motion passes unanimously

Thank you

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item 3B1 informational presentation by Youth Councilmember Elizabeth Rakowski

Good evening Mayor Cavanaugh and distinguished members of the City Council. My name is Elizabeth Rakowski and I am a junior at Royal High School. First, I would like to give my sincerest gratitude to you for your never-ending support of the Simi Valley Youth Council Your continued investment in our program empowers us as leaders, serves our peers and contribute to initiatives that have a positive impact on the youth community.

It is truly an honor to be here today to share updates on our recent events and any upcoming initiatives. The end of March and the first half of April have been filled with meaningful engagement impactful events and ongoing preparation for several major initiatives To begin with, Youth Council members had the opportunity to participate in the Ventura County Office of Education Equity Conference.

During this event our members were able to moderate and sit on panels discussing student engagement. These discussions allowed students to share their perspectives on important topics surrounding equity inclusion and representation. Additionally we planned and led an equity walk where attendees engaged in open and honest discussion about complex and challenging topics.

This experience fostered thoughtful dialogue, and equipped participants to apply what they learned within their communities. On April 11th, 2026 the Youth Council hosted their annual talent show at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center The event featured over 30 acts performing in either the afternoon or evening show, showcasing a wide range of talents from students in the community.

With a total of 180 tickets sold for the event, the event not only highlighted creativity and diversity but brought our community together in a supportive and positive environment. Through the dedication and teamwork of our Youth Council members we raised approximately $8000 to help fund and support future community events for our youth. Additionally, on April 14th the Youth Council held a youth safety workshop in collaboration with Detective King from Missoumi Valley Police Department.

The workshop welcomed over 40 community members and focused on raising awareness about critical issues such as human trafficking. Attendees learned to recognize warning signs, support individuals who may be at risk and better understand the common myths about this topic. This event was especially impactful as it provided practical knowledge that the participants can share within their community.

Looking ahead we are excited to present a workshop at the California School Health and Behavioral Health Conference on April 27th. We were specifically invited by the school district to this event to participate, which reflects the growing recognition of the Youth Council's efforts and the positive impacts we are making beyond our immediate community. Furthermore, we are currently preparing for our upcoming Teen Wellness Night on May 22nd. This event is designed to help students manage their stress particularly from AP exam season. We will be organizing a variety of wellness-focused booths and activities that will help promote relaxation self care and mental health awareness.

Following this event, we will also be hosting a Yogurtland fundraiser providing a way for the community to support our initiatives. Mark this date on your calendars and enjoy a sweet treat while also supporting the Youth Council. On May 30th, we will host our Field Day event which aims to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving through interactive activities and educational components students from across the community will come together to learn connect and engage with this important issue in a meaningful and impactful way In addition, the Youth Council will be presenting to the school board on May 19th further expanding our outreach and strengthening our connection with the broader community.

Lastly, Youth Council applications for the 2026-2027 term are open and due on April 22nd. Students under 15 years old will be required to complete a hard copy application however anyone who prefers a physical copy may complete one and drop it off either here at City Hall or mail it to City Hall address to Youth Council Coordinator Ryan Fowler Students who are 15 years of age or older may complete and submit their application online. We encourage our middle school and high school students to apply in order to build lasting connections, create meaningful experiences, and develop leadership skills while becoming more actively involved in their community I would like to highly encourage everyone to stay connected with the Simi Valley Youth Council by following us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at Simi Valley Youth Council as well on TikTok at SVYC2929.

Once again, I would like to thank Mayor Cavanaugh and the City Council for inviting me to speak this evening and for your continued support of youth initiatives in our community. Your commitment enables us to create meaningful change, and we are truly grateful. I am happy to answer any questions you have and thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Litzter. Elizabeth that was a fabulous presentation thank you very much I do have a couple of questions a couple things that weren't on my radar. You mentioned on the 27th of April a behavior help conference that you are participating in but you're invited by the school district what exactly is that does that entail?

Not specifically Elizabeth she was reporting on it yes we were invited by The school district to apply to this is the California School Health and Behavioral Health Conference. So it is a state conference for school nurses, school counselors, social workers um to talk about too well we were invited to present uh to apply to present a workshop and so we put together a proposal on partnerships talking about our partnership with The school district, especially through their tobacco use and prevention education which we're a big part of Friday Night Live as well as our work with Bright Youth through the Simi Valley Unified School District. And our proposal was accepted so myself and our chair and vice-chair and a representative from Bright Youth as well as the school district will be presenting on Monday at that conference.

And where's that being held?

Universal City.

Wonderful. Very, very good. And Elizabeth, did I hear you correctly? Applications are due April 22nd so to be very clear that's in two days? Yes. Is that right? Okay. So this is so get the word out. You've got two days to make it happen.

Still plenty of time.

Plenty of time. Thank you, Elizabeth. Wonderful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member

Ayala.

Thank you. For the Mr. Fellow, you mentioned $8000 for Elizabeth in your presentation. How does that compare to last year

I believe we raised, off the top of my head, I believe we raised about $6000 last year so definitely better.

Great. It was for those of you who could not attend or did attend, it was a great experience. I'm sure we'll talk about it later in our reports. The other thing the other thing I wanted to mention was that Mr. Fowler mentions this a lot but it's a good thing there's 24 seats I believe on the city on the council. Correct. How many are up for election? Or selection this year is at all 24

No, so that we of our current members like Lizzie over here nine are able to return. So we have 15 open spots

and what's your application counts right now?

We are just about at 50. I'd like to get around to 70 or so would be good, but we're about 50. Last year we had 90 applications.

And I bring that up because one of the other great things I think about this program in terms of the applications is they do not screen the applications and then decide who gets to be interviewed. The interviews are conducted by the members of the Youth Council. So they interview every single applicant That turns in an application. And one of the things that Mr. Fowler mentioned to me the other day, or I overheard him say was they do that too because it allows those students even if they don't get selected to have the practice of actually interviewing and I think that is what's really important as well so thank you for doing that. And to the youth council members who sit through hours and hours of interviews and don't discount anyone

12 hours

to be exact. We would not even do that, but the youth do that so thank you for that. Thank you.

Not all in one day to be clear.

Thank you Elizabeth. I was bragging about our Youth Council at a leadership event, I was just that for high schoolers in fact I was checking people in and one young lady goes aren't you our mayor? She goes I'm on the Youth Council so I thought I just thought that was really cute and Elizabeth thank you for representing my Royal High School also have to do that because councilmember Judge went to see me so we like to tease each other a little bit.

I wasn't confused by the yes but...

I know I was too at first is that for Stanford?

No, it's just a random letter.

Oh okay! At first I'm like oh she's from CMI and then I saw the colors and I went no so well either way Elizabeth you did a great job and thank you for representing our youth council so well and thank you Mr Fowler. Thank you.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item 3C1. Presentation by Adventist Health Program Manager Daniel Warely and Director of Public Health Nursing Salita Dabrowski.

City Council and city staff. I'm Lisa Hemenoy, Director of Community Integration with Adventist Health Simi Valley and co-chair of the Ventura County Community Health Improvement Collaborative Steering Committee. I am pleased to introduce Daniel Worley, Program Manager with Community Lifting Communities and Salida Dabrowski if you can just wave. She's the Director of Public Health Nursing with Ventura County Public Health and also my co-chair for the Steering Committee. Daniel will present highlights from the recently completed Ventura County wide Community Health Needs Assessment. We appreciate the opportunity to share a brief update with you and the community, thank you.

Thank you Mayor and Council Members. There is a

button to raise that up for you on the side so I'm, she'll be more comfortable

Thank you. That's great. Thank you. I'm the shortest one in my family, so thank you for having me here today. As Lisa just said, I'll just be describing some highlights of it but I welcome any questions as well. We're not going to get into all the details about the data. Our 2025 Ventura County Community Health Needs Assessment was run and led by VCHIC, what we call the Ventura County Community Health Improvement Collaborative. It's a long name.

It's a formal cost-sharing partnership made up of major healthcare stakeholders across the county, including Adventist Health here in Simi Valley. Includes hospitals, community clinics, the main public agencies around health, the major health plans. So you can see it's a large continuum and then there are many dozens and dozens of partners helping us with this. And really, we first came together in 2016 and 2018 officially to do this sort of assessment. Really trying to get a sense of what is it that the County of Ventura needs for all of its residents to be healthy and to improve their quality of life? And every three years, we're asked to do this again and again. And every year, we learn more about how to do it well. So I'm going to give you some highlights about what happened in 2025 as we went through this process.

So V-CHIC is really, as I said, a collective organization meant to do collective impact. And really it's about partnerships and building unified action to improve the health of the county. Historically, we have done health needs assessments which as you can imagine is kind of in the name. We're trying to learn more about what the county is doing but not just for the purpose of hearing from residents but really to start doing action planning that makes an impact to improve their health. We know that even though Ventura County is a relatively healthy community that we always can do more to improve the quality of life so this is what we are engaged in doing.

What's the purpose of this kind of a health needs assessment? I think everyone has taken a survey and said, why did I do that survey? What came of it? We hear this from residents all the time. But it does have a purpose and it's not simply to give you a survey. It is really, it's fulfilling regulatory requirements for many of the healthcare agencies including the hospitals and including the public agencies.

It gives us some of those vital community insights about what is really happening on the ground today. It's not just about an anecdote. It' snot a data point. It''s really conversations with community members. And it really serves as then the foundation for collective planning as to what are we going to do to improve their lives? And lastly, we really wanted to achieve certain values. It's not just about cost saving. It's not just about what is it to keep someone out of an emergency room? It really is about values and quality of life.

As we say, it really is the foundation for our data-led community centered process to improve health for all. So just to give you a couple highlights about some of the data and community input that we got last year. Over the first two months of 2025, we conducted surveys online and in person across the county including here in Simi Valley. We got over 6600 completed surveys more than 300 in Simi Valley alone.

And of those you can see this breakdown I'm not going to run through it all. You can see it's primarily in English but we had a bilingual survey and we got a lot of them online but also in person. So it was a wide breadth of the community that we heard from, and we combined that with health data insights that we gathered from the public health department and combine that to come up with that data. And then we combined it with local input. And this is really the important part I would argue. It's not just the data, not just the survey but really talking to people what are the challenges you're facing? What do you need from your county? What do you need from your community to really thrive?

And so you can see we did community focus groups for many communities that really are struggling in particular. It's not that they're the only groups that are struggling, but ones that maybe aren't always reached by a survey. And then we did partner listening sessions. What we really reached out to is who's providing care for the community and how can they really impact what we were talking about, what we know are the most urgent issues? So you can see some of the groups that we talked with, including veterans, folks who are non-English speaking and folks who are unhoused. And then also behavioral health services, those who serve young children, those who serve older adults across the breadth of the county and from east to west, north to south and across the age span.

Then we take all of that, as you can imagine it's a lot of information. We hear a lot particularly in 2025 the community was facing a lot they still are but you can imagine it was a highly dynamic year for people's health needs. There is a lot of fear in the community across Ventura County and beyond so then we had to decide well how do we prioritize what we're hearing?

What we had to basically do is take all this data, look at yes of course data from a perspective of what is impacting the health but also try to filter it through what is strategic for these health partners to make a difference on. It can't be we're doing everything if we're doing everything we're probably not going to do it all well so we have to narrow our scope and really lean into what is it that we can impact? What is urgent and what can the healthcare partners do that maybe some others aren't So for that reason, we landed on these three for our countywide priorities from the next three years. It's not to say that other things aren't important just to clarify housing came up as a high need across the county. But what we decided there's a lot of folks working on housing in Ventura County.

Maybe the health care partners can take a supportive role and we will focus on these older adult health women's health and behavioral health. We also realize in talking to the community members is that across all of those topics, there are certain things that cut across them. There's a challenge for accessing care and services of every kind of health service and every kind of need. There's also the challenge of health navigation. How do you get, if I have a need, how do I actually get that service?

And lastly there's the health equity. Certain communities and certain populations who feel even when they're trying to get ahead they're still struggling. So we're trying to achieve those across all of those crosscutting issues. I'm going to give you just a few of the data points. I'm not gonna talk through all of these for sake of time, but just to give you a sense there is a lot of data points that tell us where some of the struggles are and again we as a health as a county can't maybe do all of this at once but we can focus our efforts to make an appreciable difference in over the next three years so that the community feels that they're healthier So we can see for older adult health, there are a number of ways in which county residents are really struggling.