City Council — August 24, 2026

All right, thank you. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Senior Assistant City Attorney Gutierrez can you please state the closed session items?

Thank You Madam Mayor there are no reportable actions for closed session tonight.

Planning Commissioner Mann would you like to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Thank you. Senior city assistant attorney please.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Prior to roll call I would like to make a clear record of this meeting and it should be reflected in the minutes that this City Council meeting is being conducted pursuant to California Government Code section 54953 in that Councilmember Mike Judge is on board a cruise ship Norwegian Bliss and he is participating telephonically. In accordance with the Brown Act, the teleconference location has been identified within the notice and agenda for this meeting. Madam Clerk it would now be appropriate for you to conduct roll call after which I would like to ask the mayor to recognize me in order to confirm specific items for the record.

Senior Assistant City Attorney.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I would like to request that Council Member Judge respond to the following questions. Council Member Judge can you hear me?

Yes, I can.

Were you able to hear our proceedings on this end up until now?

Yes I have been.

Do you have copies of the agenda for this meeting? Have you posted the agenda at the location where you are? They

are posted.

Where did you make such a posting? On

the outside of the Statley door.

Is your location accessible to the public such that any member of the public can participate in this call from your location if they wish to do so?

Yes it is.

Is there any member of the public there with you now who would like to participate in the public comment portion of this meeting or otherwise address any agenda item for this meeting?

Not at this time.

I would like to now ask any member of the City Council to speak up at this time if such councilmember has not been able to clearly hear Council Member Judge. Hearing no comment, the record should reflect that all council members present have indicated that they are able to hear Councilmember Judge Clearley. I would like to now advise the Mayor and Councilmembers and the City Clerk that any votes taken during this meeting must be taken by roll call. Thank you.

Thank You Ms Gutierrez. Agenda review are there any items for agenda review?

There

are none

Madam Mayor.

Thank you

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.

The motion passes unanimously

Thank you. If any member of the City Council 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. Council Member Judge? I

have none.

did tell them baseball is my favorite sport so that helped out. I actually watched your two games on YouTube. The first game oh my gosh it was such a heartbreaker But you guys play great, so very proud of you. Representing Simi Valley in California what a great accomplishment that you've all done and coaches and parents thank you all I know how much time it takes being involved in anything All-Stars or travel and you guys just did a great job and we're just very very proud of you but there's a Dylan Molnar?

Dylan Molnar is it your birthday? Happy Birthday! But they're just a really special group of guys. I enjoyed meeting with you beforehand, was rooting you on the entire time and I'll let your coaches say a little something now. Who wants to start?

Thank you very much for the recognition we really appreciate it. It was truly a magical season. This group is incredible. The coaching staff was incredible. The parents were so supportive. It was truly an honor to represent Our league, Simi Youth Baseball, the city of Simi Valley and Ventura County really. So being out there playing teams from other countries, other states was it's something I know I'll never forget and just being there with these guys I know they'll never forget so the coaches were amazing and thank you again for your recognition.

They're like, he said it all. Okay, let's make some better pictures. Do a double row here? Some of you? You guys are young, you can sit on, you can kneel down. Is there, do you have a captain on the team? No? Okay. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Yeah, hold your, yeah, there you go. You guys are pros at this already. Congrats! Congratulations, you guys. Thank you so much for being here. Really appreciate

it.

And gentlemen, yes, you don't have to stay for the rest of the meeting

But you can if you want.

We're losing our entire audience almost.

Okay. Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is Item 2, Public Statements on Appointments, Special Presentations and Informational Reports. Madam Mayor we have no speakers in person but we do have one speaker online I'll have to find out if it's for this item or for Item 4. Speaker online if you are participating by phone and wish to provide public comment for this Item 2 please raise your hand by pressing star 9 otherwise we will call you for Item Number 4 We will proceed to the next item.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is Item 3C1 Visit Simi Valley Program update by Anthony Angelini, Director of Tourism and Government Affairs.

Welcome Mr. Angelini

Good evening, sorry. Good evening Mayor, members of City Council and city staff. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this update. My name is Anthony Angelini I'm the Director of Tourism and Government Affairs for the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Executive Director of Visit Simi Valley. Councilman Judge, I see you're joining us for The Norwegian Bliss conducting some live tourism research on behalf of the city. And I'd like to thank you for your commitment to the subject matter.

Oh, you're welcome. Tonight's report will cover our budget, our digital footprint and our local occupancy rates. But it all comes down to one big idea that tourism is economic development. Our work is to turn the assets Simi Valley already has into overnight stays at local spending and a stronger community. Before we begin, I'd like to explain a little bit about Simi Valley's Special Tourism Marketing District and what that means for our residents.

The tourism marketing district was first formed in 2014 and it was renewed twice in 2019 and 2024. In 2024, it was renewed with 100% participation from the six hotels in our city and it was renewed for a 10-year period rather than a 5-year period. When a visitor books a room at one of the six lodging businesses, a 2% assessment funds this program. The city collects it, retains a 1% administrative fee and the remainder supports tourism services.

The funds are generated by visitors and dedicated to tourism. This structure keeps the program local focused and accountable. Our marketing reached a significant audience this year. 207,730 website sessions, 2.43 million Facebook impressions, 319,000 Facebook video views and nearly 75,000 Instagram real views. The exposure is important. Expedia found that more than 60% of consumers use social media for travel inspiration, up from 35% just two years ago.

We are actively pivoting and adjusting our methods all the time to accommodate for changes in the industry, user behavior and especially how AI affects search results and booking patterns. Our next step is conversion. Attention becomes valuable when it produces a hotel referral or room night. We built the audience and this year we will give people clearer reasons and easier ways to book.

Visit Simi Valley is more than just marketing for the city, our strategy to fill hotel rooms includes serving as a community partner and supporting events that elevate the total profile of the city. Our goal is to bring hotels, attractions, events, the city and local businesses together around one shared visitor strategy. That gives visitors reasons to love our community not just to stay here.

The current plan includes $89,000 in event partnerships including a $12,000 event growth fund. It can support proven multi-day draws regional events ready to convert visitors and community events with room to grow. This also follows national trends. U.S. travel reports that domestic travel accounts for 87% of travel spending, while cost-conscious travelers are increasingly choosing shorter regional driving trips. Expedia's 2026 research also identifies cultural moments and events as major trip motivators. Simi Valley is well positioned for this. Millions of people live within driving distance and we offer the Reagan Library open space, film history, arts festivals and an easy visitor experience.

The hotel results show why this focus matters. Full year occupancy this year was 70.8%, down 4.4 points, and room revenue declined 10.3%. June was our strongest month where occupancy reached 73.8%. Revenue per available room also increased 5.4% from May. While these numbers are on the decline they are in fact in line with national and regional trends Simi Valley outperformed the national average of 62.3%, the California average of 66.6%, the Los Angeles annual occupancy rate, we got within 0.5% of Agora Hills and most importantly, we beat Thousand Oaks so I can breathe a sigh of relief there.

Some factors affecting occupancy, the statewide decline in international travel. Visit California reported that overseas visitation fell 5% in 2025, Canadian visitation fell more than 20%, and international visitor spending declined 4.4%. International passenger volume at LAX was also down an approximately 2% across our exact fiscal year. Simi Valley participates in that Southern California visitor economy As you may know, we are in our final year of spending down an inherited surplus budget.

We spent $449,920 last year. $132,580 below the authorized ceiling and our actual deficit was $82,423 finishing a hundred thousand dollars better than the adopted plan. This year's plan projects $370,000 in net assessments and $390,000 in expenses with planned reserve use of $20,000 and an estimated ending carryover of $18,315. It's a lean plan, a responsible plan and we will continue our commitment to monitor spending closely with transparency and require every dollar to serve a measurable tourism purpose.

Our priorities are straightforward, convert attention, invest by performance, support hotel demand and report clearly. Together they create a simple operating rule follow the visitor from the first impression to hotel referral to overnight stay and show our partners in the public what happened Simi Valley already has the history, scenery, events and people of a destination. Our job is to connect those pieces so more visitors exit the 118 freeway, stay the night, spend money in our local businesses and leave with a reason to return. Thank you. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you Mr. Angelini Councilmember Rhodes.

Thank you Madam Mayor, thank you that is a fantastic report and in the years I've been on here we haven't had that type of robust information of hey what are we doing to attract visitors and so thank you very much for that. I had a couple questions one on occupancy Thank you for having me.

Most of the cities in Ventura County saw more than 8% occupancy increase last year, which is probably one of the reasons for the decline in the occupancy rate this year. But evacuees, emergency personnel, service members, people they use Simi Valley as a home base for a lot of that, which was responsible for a huge increase and the occupancy rate, but also now this year we don't have that. So now it declined a little

bit. 70% is pretty awesome number no matter how you slice it. The other question I have is forward looking one. We have the Olympics in 28 coming up. What can we as the city be doing in conjunction with your committee to better prepare us for tourism For the Olympics.

Yeah, very excited about the Olympics and there's a lot going on. There is a lot of regional partners and actually the Ventura County has a Regional Olympic Task Force that they're about to launch two and it may even include things like an arts festival or local draws that will bring in some of those people. My focus needs to be on educating them the new market that's coming so as Some as a marketing firm, we need to be able to tell people here's how to get to Simi Valley. Here's what public transportation options you have. Here's what regional hotels you can stay at, here's why you should stay here and build that market that way. We saw during the World Series that we didn't really get a huge bump from that. Now most of it was Eaglewood or pretty far away whereas now we're having The Valley is hosting a lot of skateboarding stuff, and we have the Skateboarding Museum.

So there are regional draws and there's reasons for people to come to Simi Valley. And so we just need to educate the customer and make them come here and tell them why it's such a great place. Awesome. Thank you again for the report.

Mayor Pro Tem Litster. Thank you Mr. Angelini and I want you to know that I saw Mr. Angelini this morning dropping off his kindergarten daughter who did not want to go to school without looking at her dad a hundred

times. She

walked backwards the whole time, I just had to share that so he He cleans up really well, but I want you to know he wears multiple hats. But actually my question is with regards to your... You chatted about or you gave statistics about money that's been allocated or budgeted for support of event partnerships and for basically As I understand it, helping to increase the reason for people to come and stay here at Simi Valley if I'm not mistaken. And I think you gave a statistic of 89,000 you have available for event partnership and then I think an additional 12,000 for growth.

That is built into the 80,000?

That was my first question that's built into the 89,00 okay thank you Is this money allocated because this is part of your pay down the surplus you inherited, or do you anticipate this an ongoing part of the budget?

No. So we're done with the surplus. We are now operating with exactly what we have and the hotels agree that investing in these local events has been good. So we try to pick events that have the ability to grow into regional draws. We try to pick events where At the very least, we're marketing Simi Valley to groups of people who are here in town for an event when they're here. It's important for the hotels but it's important for getting room nights that not only are they coming to Simi Valley but they're having a good time when they're here And then as far as marketing goes, any kind of event that elevates the profile of Simi Valley is important because nobody's coming to Simi Valley to stay at one of our hotels. They're coming to Simi Valley for another reason and they just so happen to be staying at one of our hotels and the hotels know that.

So this is a way of responding to that as well.

I think it's great that that's built into your program. I guess the question I had is if I were starting something which I felt might be a something that would bring in people from all around California or whatever. How do they find you? How do you find them? What's the magic is there magic or just

it's, you know, I'm Anthony at see me chamber dot org is my email address and then call the chamber anytime but I'm happy to look at anything and pass it along to the tourism board as well

Well, and that's my question. Is it just is determined by tourism board or do you have I'm sure you have a lot of discretion and should

there's another category where I can where there's discretion? But there are a few events that happen every year that we're pretty committed to making sure they are successful. The Film Festival, Oktoberfest, the Happy Face Music Festival Roundup. These are things that we know our regional draws already We know that they happen every year so we know we want to keep supporting them.

Thank you. I appreciate your efforts. Thank you. Councilmember Ayala?

Thank you, Councilmember Rhoads brought up the Olympics which is a good one and you mentioned there's a task force. Do you have a seat at that table?

Yes, yes I do. And I'm hoping to chair the arts and culture subcommittee because

I think it's really important that there's someone at the table advocating specifically for Simi Valley so like as Mayor Pro Tem said it's not just so much people having to hear about Part of the development of that message going out to everyone who's looking at the Olympics, so I'm glad that you're there. And then looking forward, you had talked about a lot of plans you have in place, improved conversion rates, event partnerships, things like that.

So if you were to come back a year from now, how would you know that these things work? What would be your measure of success for the plans that you presented tonight? I would

hope to still be beating Thousand Oaks.

That's

my number one goal every year, but I would say 73% to 75% would be amazing occupancy. higher average daily rates per room, because what we're seeing right now is the average daily rate per room is going down. The hotels are getting older. We're filling them but the hotels can't charge as much for them so we're positioning ourselves as a value destination which is great for the local national trends and travel trends and it's great for occupancy rates but as far as revenue goes, it's not so great. Revenue is going down even though occupancy is going up So there's a lot of hope.

I'm very, very excited about the new owners of the Grand Vista. They're going to be doing some renovations right? Yeah they are committing to doing a full renovation you'll see some hotels will say oh we did a soft renovation and maybe it means they switched out the sheets but they're gonna do a full renovation with the carpets and the furniture and making a lot of really positive changes to that place which will mean that they can charge more And user experience will go up too. It'll be better for everybody.

Good,

thank you.

Thank you. I know one of the things we talked about at one of the meetings was packaging items, so visit the Reagan Library and do this and have multiple things. So I know that's what the task force will be working on some of that type of thing too. And we're going to get some higher rates in November from the Reagan Library's new exhibit. So just waiting for that one.

Absolutely. You want to say what it is?

It will be Princess Diana. So that will be a big draw to our community.

It'll be really cool.

It'll be really good, it'll be really good. But thank you for all you're doing Ethel, you're doing a great job we really appreciate it.

Thank You Mayor I appreciate that.

All right thank you oh sorry City Manager would like to say something?

I just wanted to add on the city also does currently work with Supervisor Parvin on the regional task force for the Olympics as well so we do have a seat at the table there.

Perfect thank you your release

Madam Mayor and members of City Council, next on the agenda is Item 4, Public Statements. If you're participating by phone and wish to provide public comment please raise your hand by pressing star 9. While waiting to be recognized please remain on the line and listen to the instructions. Agenda item number four is a time set aside for public statements from individuals who have submitted speaker cards as well as those participating by phone.

Because there are no public hearings scheduled for this evening, all public statements will be heard under this agenda item four. Agenda items four and six are designated for public statements on all matters except public hearings appointments and informational reports. Speakers will be called on in the order their card was submitted and we'll have up to three minutes to address the City Council speakers participating by phone will be recognized after all in-person speakers have been called. When the city clerk recognizes you, you will be prompted to press star six to unmute your phone before addressing the City Council and you will have up to three minutes to speak. The mayor will notify you when you have 30 seconds remaining. Please also mute all other devices before speaking.

Persons addressing the City Council are requested to state their name and community residence for the record before beginning their comments. Madam Mayor unless you have any comments we can begin public statements

Just one thing, the lights come on and when the yellow light comes on that's your 30 second notice. I just wanted to remind people of that so I don't have to interrupt them. Thank you we can move forward.

Ben Davis Michael Shaw and Dale Steinick

Good evening mayor, council members and city staff. My name is Ben Davis, president of Picola Tiny Homes here in Simi Valley. Thank you for your time tonight for the 11th time. I want to use these minutes a little differently. I'm not introducing any new topics. I want to add up the 10 I've already made because the math tells its own story. In the year 2000, someone earning Simi Valley's median income could buy a median-income home after three and a half years of saving their entire income.

Today that same math takes seven years. That's more than double. Meanwhile, a foundation built ADU still costs 250 to $500,000 and takes a year to year-and-a-half longer to build than a movable tiny home. And that is exactly why 51% of our 18 to 24-year-olds are still living in their parents' homes not by choice but by math. And the state isn't waiting for us to catch up. Simi Valley is required to build 2,800 housing units by 2029 and five years into that eight-year clock we've built 1,300.

That means there's 1,500 units we have to build in two and a half years, a pace that does not get us there. As always, I'm not one to present an issue without a solution. Moveable tiny homes can fill this gap. They are a clearly regulated safety inspected third-party certified housing option that other California cities have already proven works. I've shown you the ordinance language. I've shown you the safeguard that keep RVs out and I've shown you the precedent The ordinance is now being worked on and a vote could come before this council within the next few months.

That is wonderful progress, and I'm grateful for it. So let's take a step in the right direction. Let's give the families, seniors, and young adults of Simi Valley an affordable, dignified housing option. Let do what's best for Simi Valley. Thank you for your time and thank you for your service.

Madam Mayor, Council, staff. My name is Michael Shaw. I'm glad to be here. Nice to talk to you. I wore this shirt and I brought my current mentee with me, Josiah Trejo back there. I'd like to introduce him because he's part of this at my house this past weekend. He saw this shirt And he saw the Chivo Canyon and he asked me, what's Chivo Canyon? And I was like amazed. I was like somebody so close to me doesn't know my history with whining and complaining about Chivo Canyon.

And I said well you know Chivo Canyon isn't just about the nasty pollution that is inconvenient for us to deal with What it's really about is the failure of our government to do their one and most important thing, and that is to look out for the health and the welfare of their citizens. And when we let that environmental mess just get worse and worse, it's a perfect example of where we're sidestepping those responsibilities that you guys were elected to serve.

It is no different and it is another prime example of we just had the anniversary. I don't know if any of you guys were aware of this, but August 1st of last year Michael Robinson was beat at the Regal Theater. Beat badly put in the hospital And my question to you guys is what have we done as a body to look out for the health and the well-being of our citizens? So, you guys ignore me a lot. That's okay. I'm a big guy. I can handle it.

But I want you to tell Josiah here when it comes time for comments, tell him how is he any safer today than he would've been a year ago? Have we learned? Have we grown? Have we done anything Towards the goal of what I've been bugging you guys about for the last year now. So that's one topic, now I got to get off that topic. I get all mad. You guys know I'm involved with a lot of charitable organizations and we're always trying to come up with public service events to do well as We know you're not supposed to park within 20 feet of a corner. And so with the city's blessing, I'd like to make some of our public service tasks of painting those corners red, making the streets safer. So before I go down that throwing it out to the Kiwanis or the Rotary I want to say that the city will be on board with, yeah we can paint some curbs red to help out the city to let people know they shouldn't park there.

Okay that's all I got thanks you guys.

Thank you.

Good evening Mayor and City Council. I've been really busy, oh first of all I should say, I'm Dale Steinick Ultimate Locations that's my company. I have been really busy since last city council meeting. I have been busy adding to my signed listings of locations all over Simi Valley. I now have close to 30 listings both private homes and businesses with each client I teach them the process of pre-production production and post-production because I believe education is the first and foremost thing to do when teaching anyone about the film business and locations.

I have been simultaneously contacting production companies and location managers of major TV series, and a few films in the rewriting stages. My thoughts as related to President Kendi, it's not what the country can do for you It's what you can do for the country. So I took the liberty with that statement it's not what Simi Valley can do for you, it's what you can do for Simi Valley.

Simi Valley and the council as we know it wants filming if you have anyone out there if you have received my flyer business card contact me Bringing more filming to Simi Valley could bring in more revenue. Production companies shop at local restaurants, stores, gas stations and sometimes a lot of times thrift stores that's revenue with the work that I'm doing it is not if more production companies will film here it is when for all this to happen the city the citizens of Simi Valley should want to help Simi Valley in any way that they can We live here. Filming can possibly help the Simi Valley economy.

Thank you, I appreciate your time.

Thank you. Jamie Sanchez?

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge continuously that we are gathered on the traditional lands of the Chumash people and honor their enduring connection to this land and pay my respects to their elders past and present. Good evening, my name is Jamie Sanchez It was great seeing some of you this weekend supporting a veteran event. The organizers did an amazing job and it was even better seeing our community come together.

I told myself I have a goal when I turn 50, I'm going to run the LA Marathon. I have eight more years to do that so... I live with chronic pain from a car accident that was over 10 years ago, and some days showing up is hard. But I continue to show up and continue to stand here for those who are unable to. Last year, I spoke about Suicide Prevention Month and the importance of checking in on one another. And I want to mention it again this year because awareness cannot be limited to one month or one speech. For many people, the pain is ongoing, and so is the need for support.

Sometimes showing up means listening reaching out and simply reminding those that they are not alone It's also pain awareness month. Both issues are personal to me, especially as a veteran the struggles carrying home with them But that veterans carry home with them don't always end when their service ends it's also National Hispanic Heritage Month the time to recognize the history can contributions and resilience of Hispanic and Latin American As a veteran, I know everyone's experience is different. Your gender, your religion, job, branch, duty station and experiences after leaving the military can all shape your life.

Imagine being deployed for 10 months on a ship and finding out your father was detained while you're 1,000 miles away. Imagine serving your country and then coming home and not feeling welcome in your own community. These aren't just political issues. These are human issues and that's why I meant something to see people come together this weekend No judgment, no politics just people showing up for one another but I have a have to ask you What about the people in our community who are vulnerable right now? Have you shown up for them? Have you reached out to the families of the 54 constituents from our community who have been detained?

Have you attended a cremes? Do you know what that is? A cremes, I'm not saying it correctly. I'm sorry my Spanish is bad. It's a community gathering where people come together often raising money to support families and people in need. These are the very people I'm asking you to show up for. Families who have loved ones ripped away from them because leadership isn't just about showing up when it's easy, popular or comfortable. It's not a popularity contest or a social media moment. When you're in a position of power, you have a responsibility to show for all of your people. Veterans deserve that. Immigrant families deserve that. Children. Every resident does. You don't have to agree with everyone you serve. You don't have to understand everyone's experience, but you have to show that you care about everyone you serve.