City Council — May 19, 2026

Good morning, everyone. Yeah.

you

All right, I will now call this meeting to order. Will the clerk please call the roll?

our special presentation so give me one second.

All right, first I'm going to invite Dorothy Sullivan who's the Vice Chair of COSCA and long-term volunteer of the Conejo Open Space Foundation to join me in this presentation. And before I start would you actually share everything you guys are doing? And then that'll actually give me more context to follow.

Oh awesome! Thank You Mayor. It's an honor to be here for this special presentation. Elaine Hagen, a founding member of the Caneo Open Space Foundation has passed this privilege along to me and I'm excited to talk a little bit about the program and announce the winners of our annual Trails Education Days writing contest. So this past April marked 35 years of COSCA supporting Trails Education Days Supported by funding from the Coneo Open Space Foundation, who also helps manage the program. This program has welcomed over 45,000 CBUSD students over its history.

Students begin their day with a guided nature hike into Wildwood Canyon. Once there, the participants rotate through three very interactive workshops including native animals, park rangers and the essential trail safety and etiquette. This year, 1,000 fourth graders attended alongside their teachers and parent chaperones. A program of this scale really takes a village and we're incredibly grateful to the 65 volunteers who made it possible along with animal actors from Hollywood, park rangers from Costco, MRCA, and the National Park Service, and we had equestrians from Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship and Stepping Stones Riding Program.

Early on, we created the writing contest and I believe Mayor Fox is here and was part of the inception of this writing contest. There were two clear goals. We wanted to discover what the students learned and what they valued most. Secondly, we wanted to be able to provide our hardworking volunteers and staff with some meaningful feedback. So under Sherry Likens' leadership the evaluation process is very thorough. First a dedicated team of volunteers reads every single letter submitted selecting the top 10% from each school Then a small panel of volunteers reviews the finalists to select the five winning letters, focusing on how the students related their trip with us into Wildwood Canyon with what they've been learning in science in school all year.

Did you want to say a few words before I introduce our... Okay, fabulous. Then the five grand prize winners and their teachers receive a cash prize along with additional winners recognized at each school. Tonight we are here to celebrate those exceptional voices so in no particular order our 2026 grand prize winners are Tomjid Ahmed from Westlake Hills Elementary whose teacher is Sandra Rowlett I think we have that if you'll come up please Isla Fox Hudak from Wildwood Elementary whose teacher is Jennifer Bouchard.

Chloe Imel from Wildwood Elementary whose teacher is Jennifer Bouchard. Sorry, Isla's teacher is Joelle Solis. Not present but I do want to say their names are Chelsea Feng from Lang Ranch Elementary, Teacher Renee Millay and Avery McCoy from Lang Ranch Elementary whose teacher is Lisa Kane.

So I just have to share a couple of things. But first, Chloe's dad is actually the city's traffic commissioner so that's a really cool story. Sure, I know Dad's proud about you but that's a cool thing to be proud about Dad and here's where I'm going. Here's the crazy part. This story is unreal. You can't make this stuff up. The judges don't know who the kids are. They read the letters and then they vote on who the winners are.

And 30 years ago? 30 years ago, Andy Fox who's with us six-time mayor a whole building is named after Andy. Andy actually created this program and for the first five years he was the judge that was voting on him and I think the year he launched his daughter was born Right now his granddaughter won the award 30 years later. Talk about a full circle moment, I think that is the coolest thing. I know what proud dad feels like because i have kids seeing what proud grandpa looks like when he told me that story it was the coolest thing so right now we are going to invite the family up and the kids i'm gonna invite my council members up as well and we're gonna take a photo

Okay.

And I'll see you on Thursday. Congratulations. Good job. It's hard to carry it with you.

All right, and for our second presentation of the night I would like to welcome Ian Anderson who is Government Relations Manager for Southern California Edison, the Northern Region. And Ian is here to tell us about Edison scholars and local student Angela Liu of Westlake High School. Come on up.

We're going for sushi! Sushi is an appropriate way to celebrate. Thank you very much for having me here today, Mayor, honorable members of the council. I'm here because every year Southern California Edison's parent company, Edison International honors 30 high school seniors from throughout our service territory which is quite broad from all the way up near Fresno all the way down to the border with San Diego. We serve 5 million accounts and about 15 million people so just to give you an idea of scale here. And so we award 30 high school seniors $50,000 each I would like to technology forward to meet this moment, this moment where we are all experiencing the impacts of a changing climate. Just one city over in Simi Valley right now we're seeing the Sandy Fire burn over 1,000 acres and so it is with such pleasure and pride that I get to be here today to award one very very hard-working student with this scholarship.

And I do want to say a little bit about Angela and then I'm going to invite her up here. Angela Liu is not simply a high school senior at Westlake High School, which is in Thousand Oaks. She's not simply a Westlake Warrior. She was at one point ranked second In the U.S., in her age group for chess, she is the editor and chief contributor to her local chess magazine. She was the co-president and treasurer of The Physics Club where she won the 2025 Certificate of Merit Award from the Society of Women Engineers. She has published research that with the National Minor Planet Center to improve orbital predictions by NASA And in her spare time, what little spare time she manages.

She's an award-winning portrait artist and T-shirt designer. She's an advocate and a member of the Autism Society of Ventura County. Without setting expectations too high, she's going to do amazing things and we certainly see that. We see that in her and so I'd like to welcome her up here to maybe say a few words about what this scholarship means to her and what she's planning to do moving forward.

Wow, thank you so much Ian for that introduction. Thank you so much to Edison International for this generous scholarship. I'd also like to thank everyone who has supported me through all these years especially my mom who's my biggest cheerleader, my amazing school counselor Miss Nelson who is here with us today My Mr. Holloway, my physics teacher of three years and of course all the amazing Westlake teachers and staff that dedicate their time to our education.

I plan on studying physics and engineering at Stanford University and my passion is to build renewable energy systems focused on accessibility Thank you again so much to Edison International and I'm really honored to receive this scholarship.

What a rock star, holy cow! I'm gonna invite my council members up for a photo if mom and everyone here would like to come up with us? All right, next up is our public comments. Will City Clerk please announce public comments?

This is the time and place for public comments. Speakers are requested to state their name and community of residence for the record. Nine individuals have requested to speak in pursuant to council standards. Speakers are allowed three minutes. The yellow light displays when you have one minute remaining.

And we're gonna start tonight with Andy Van Skyver.

Mayor, members of council. Thank you for allowing me to come and present tonight. I wanted to talk a little bit about what's up on their screens, the Rancho Reduction Fuel Project that's coming. Sorry, I'm a little tired right now so if I stumble on a word as I just did my apologies okay? What I do is I like to work through this quickly because I know your time is valuable. So one of the things I want to do is point out our mission and our vision. I think it's important to realize our mission is also to anticipate. That means to plan for the future.

In our vision statement, I want to pull out that we want to work through a team effort. Meaning we want to coordinate and collaborate with members and other agencies in our county. Let's talk a little bit about our fuel reduction project we have proposed for Rancho. My next slide will share the map about it but basically we're working in a partnership with Mountain Recreation Conservation Authority MRCA to improve wildland resilience in the Wildland Urban Interface, awesome called the WUI. The goal is to create strategic fuel reduction zones that help slow wildfires, protect homes and improve wildfire safety. Meaning we're going to go in and widen some roads, some trails so we have better access and limit the amount of spread.

The current project that's being done It's 34.8 acres and MRCA owned land near Rolling Oaks and Thousand Oaks, so let's take a look at that map. So I know it's a little small but basically at the bottom of the 23 freeway on the hillsides by the 101 freeway you can see where the project is going to be. So south of one and near to 23, the local roads in the neighborhood is Rimrock, Colt, Sundown and Saddle Trail, so give you an idea of where this project is.

The project is designed not to be like a clear-cutting operation. We're gonna be using the lightest practical touch in the environment. Our footprint is important, we wanna be sensitive, we are gonna use targeted treatment areas and we're gonna use the right equipment. We are not gonna do a broad vegetation removal. Special care will be taken to preserve the cherished oak trees in this neighborhood and our community, the native vegetation and the wildlife habitat areas including the environmental sensitive areas Specifically for the oak trees since we're on Thousand Oaks, I want to mention that we'll be thinning out some trees that are smaller than two inches and will be rooming some limbs that are what we call ladder fuels that are below two inches.

Ideally, we're going to be working on the light flashy fuels. One of the challenges with this sandy fire right now is that it's in light flashy fuels so we're gonna have an emphasis on the light fuels. We will be using our manual hand crews with weed whackers string trimmers whatever term you prefer but with a light touch. This allows us to use the environmental protection plans best management practice and avoids impacts the waterways and sensitive areas Quick map here of the actual process that's going in place.

Everything that's in purple is gonna be weed whipped, weed whacked, whatever term you prefer. The yellow area along the trail is gonna use some other equipment, some weed whackers and some masticators to get into the heavier brush that is there. This a proactive project represents a balanced approach to both wild safety, environmental stewardship and the protection of our community.

We continue to seek and we look for collaborative fuel management and wildfire resiliency projects throughout Thousand Oaks and all of Ventura County. If anyone knows anything about the Sandy Fire, I'll add another minute otherwise I'm gonna go back to work. Andy, we appreciate you being here. We appreciate what you guys are doing. Thank you for your time today. Thank you

all. Andy? I don't want to leave quite yet. Quick question now, you're doing this above Rimrock and that general area south of the freeway? Is this in addition to the normal residential 100-foot fuel reduction zones, and this is outside of that area?

Yes. This is outside of this area. So I'm going to back up a picture here so you can get a better map of it. We are near the residential areas, so we're really working in the wildland urban interface here. So what we're asking our residents to always do, the weed protection and build that safety space 100 feet out around all their properties. This is going above and beyond that so MRCA has given us some grant money to help protect that area. We're gonna be on the hillsides above the homes in that neighborhood.

Thank you and as you mentioned weed whackers, that's my term, weed whackers. Taking out a lot of light, flashy fuels. Are you identifying any of the native fuels that might be there and trying to preserve those?

Some of the more sensitive vegetation that's growing there is being identified with our hand crews and we'll be utilizing them. One of the things we were not able to do with this one, which we had liked to do was to introduce some goats to the area. But we are currently facing some access issues with the goat trailer. If that situation changes, we'll be glad to try and re-look at that but right now we're using all hand crew members with weed whackers, weed trimmers.

And that was my other question. What is the advantage or disadvantage as opposed to the manual removal, as opposed to goats, sheeps, that sort of animal

control? Well, there's two advantages and disadvantages to everything, correct? So one of the things we have with the weed whackers is most of the time we still leave the fuel there but it's below three inches. The advantage with goats they consume it, right? So that vegetation is turned into fertilizer, lack of a better term. But we still have to keep the upkeep on it. This is not going to be done in a couple weeks. This will be visible from the freeway for some time as we manage the right time and environment because we don't want to be doing this on a hot, dry day and causing any type of issues so you'll see us working pretty meticulously and carefully at the right time with the right temperatures with the right crews.

Does this simulate, say a controlled burn effect on the fuels?

No. It's nothing like a controlled burn. This is the vegetation removal for sure. So there was no intent to put fire on the ground with this project at all.

No, but you're going to be reducing the fire loading. Is that the same?

That is exactly right. We're removing the fuels that are there selectively.

This is on MRCA property?

This is 100% on MRCA property.

Is there other areas around town that would benefit from this in our WUI zones?

Yes we would like to work with any partner or agency or group that has some land that we would like to help mitigate some of those challenges

Thank you. Thank you, sir. We appreciate you.

All

right. Next up we have Cynthia Geiselman. My apologies.

So, okay. Yes my name is Cindy Geiselman and I'm on the Foxmoor HOA board and I'm here representing the concerned Foxmoor community regarding the hazardous parking situation on our streets. Approximately a year-and-a-half ago I addressed this committee regarding the problem and some steps were taken to improve the issue which we are grateful for however the situation continues to exist and has worsened The access street, as we call it Little Potrero, cars are double parked and creating a situation where in order to pass we have to play the old game of chicken. Where one has to back up and one has to go forward because two cars cannot pass or go either way with two cars parked on the street.

Okay and there's many blind spots that cause huge cars and trucks parking along the street to interfere with the cars going back and forth. This condition is an accident waiting to happen, and it's just a matter of time before it does happen. As well the curbs that were supposed to be painted red last time I was here as of last discussion are not. There's one curb at the left side of Camberwell that's slightly pink and pursuant to assembly bill The new assembly bill, cars must be parked 15 to 20 feet from a curb feeding into another street. These curbs need to be painted red as soon as possible and signs placed on all corners. To date there's only three signs and there are seven streets with 14 corners. The majority of the violations occur from parents picking up their children for Westlake Elementary School but the biggest part is the Westlake baseball parents afternoons evenings and on weekends They have absolutely no regard for the signs that are up and certainly don't care about the streets that have no signs or colored curbs.

In conjunction with the above, we need enforcement. I spoke with several neighbors who are very concerned about the danger of these parked cars present. When they park up against the curb, you cannot see to make a left or right hand turn. You're just like throwing the dice So as well I spoke with some of the staff from the school today who agree that a lot of the people when it says no parking which is very you know clear where Westlake Elementary School is on one side They do it anyway and she said that they would like enforcement to come and start giving out tickets And just for the safety of the children Well, these are repetitive concerns that involve all who live here. Immediate action needs to take place to ensure the safety of our community and I hope you guys will work on this and make it happen

Thank you Next up we have Holly Krasinski

Good evening Mayor, Council Members and staff. My name is Holly Krzyzewski. My family moved to Thousand Oaks in 1969 I have a letter I would like to read to you from one of Thousand Oaks former mayors Mad Schaefer regarding the downtown project Good evening, my name is Mad Schaefer. My family moved to Thousand Oaks in 1969 and in 1978 I was elected to the City Council where I served two terms before moving on to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

During those years public sentiment was unmistakable. Thousand Oaks residents did not want the Caneo Valley to become the San Fernando Valley. That council took the mandate seriously. We created the green ring of permanent open space surrounding our valley, developed affordable housing through projects like Hidden Canyon and Jungle Land so that our teachers police officers and firefighters could live in the community they served. Passed Measure A a people's ballot initiative to thoughtfully regulate growth and adopted an oak tree protection ordinance. We were bold, creative and innovative, and the community rewarded that vision.

I am proud of what we accomplished. Thousand Oaks bloomed and became an example to many other cities of what thoughtful, principled planning could achieve. I come before you today because longtime Thousand Oaks friends have shared deep concerns about the proposed downtown project. The renderings featuring California modern design look far more like Ventura Boulevard than the Canal Valley. We have long work to protect.

I urge this council to be equally resolute, revise the plans, lower the building heights Rethink the design. There is nothing wrong with embracing contemporary architecture, but it needs to respect the character and charm that have defined this community for decades. Envision your legacy ten years from now by imagining Thousand Oaks Boulevard. Will it be unique and inviting or will it just be another San Fernando Valley? I speak today on behalf of the council members of that era, I am the last one still standing and I can tell you we didn't We did not do all that work to watch it be undone. Thank you.

I would also, I was at the five hour meeting last night and I just wanted to commend Commissioner Farris for listening to the concerns of the citizens and trying to abide by The current height restrictions and his thoughtfulness regarding the jungle land artifacts. Thank you.

Thanks, Ollie. Next up we have William Maple.

Good evening, William Maple resident Newberry Park Mayor Taylor and members of the council If you take a moment to notice the empty POW MIA chair over in the corner in the chamber tonight On it. You will find the motto You are never forgotten But do we truly remember their sacrifice? I When the old City Hall was abandoned, the city manager promised the Hubert family that their brother's 1973 Freedom Tree would be taken care of.

Eric Hubert was shot down in Vietnam in 1970. His body was never found so the family never was sure of his status. The tree's plaque was their only tombstone. Sadly, that tree died but the wood was used in a memorial sculpture that stands in the center of the Civic Arts Plaza out front today dedicated in 2001. Last week I received a text from Suzanne Hubert and after 56 years of unknown hoping and waiting they found the dog tags of their brother Eric in Cambodia I attended the transfer of these tags from the government to the family last week in Las Vegas.

Before I left, Suzanne mentioned that they had heard the memorial had not been maintained and may be damaged. I offered to visit the site and found that the center branch and another one in the back had been missing. There's a POW MIA flag above it but it's stuck in a tree and torn. I do hope the Hubert family will no longer feel like an afterthought by the City of Thousand Oaks.

Their brother's sculpture must be repaired and someone should be assigned to maintain it. When you discuss the plans for the expansion of this site, please be cautious regarding the sacred sculpture that we might truly say the Hubert family You are never forgotten. This is a letter from the sisters, the two that are remaining and contact information. I hope someone will contact them and fill them in on the disposition of this monument. Thank you. Thank you William.

Is Heather Hamilton in the? Okay we'll go with Heather Hamilton next

Hold on, let me get set up. Don't start the timer yet.

We would take your time.

Thanks. Okay. So complicated. Clean the glasses. Okay. When I was here a few weeks ago There was lots of conversations about symbols, parades, celebration and placing in God we trust in this chamber. And I just want to say I've really taken that to heart. I've spent the last few weeks reflecting praying and renewing my mind and honestly trying to understand what God may be doing in this moment.

And while preparing to come speak tonight, I started looking into the number of people ICE has taken from Ventura County. And when I saw the number was 1,984, I was like 1984 and suddenly I heard God's small still voice. At first I thought 1984 was a warning about authoritarianism, propaganda, surveillance culture, obedience and state power merging with theology.

All the dramatic silly stuff that people like me tend to worry about. But now I'm realizing maybe I interpreted it all wrong. Maybe it wasn't a warning. Maybe it was confirmation. Maybe 1984 wasn't supposed to be a cautionary tale at all. Maybe it was aspirational, after all there is nothing new under the sun because once you stop asking about uncomfortable questions about what you see with your own eyes life really is so much simpler and maybe in this new world of MAGA discernment no longer means following the words of Jesus or examining the fruit of MAGA culture Maybe it just means trusting people with the flags, the worship music and parodying the word of America's pastor also known as Rob McCoy who we are very blessed to have influencing so many members of our community.

We have such a strong local MAGA faith community, people who are really active, really visible, really committed to bringing Jesus into the public square into the Ecclesia. Because after all, if where we go one we go all then I suppose we should all be very honest about exactly where we're going. And that made me think if we're gonna put in God We Trust in this chamber maybe we should expand it. Maybe we should really commit to being scripture into every part of civic life And that made me think, what if we put in God We Trust on every ICE vehicle in Ventura County? What a powerful witness that could be. We could also include Corinthians 16 four somewhere on the vehicles. Let all that you do be done in love because I think that would bring such comfort and clarity to people involved.

America's pastor has a great line that I think would be so appropriate on a bumper sticker. You are not my enemy, you are my opportunity. Maybe we could even put Matthew 25 somewhere on the mass of the agents, add in some soft worship music playing in the background while families are transported and processed just so people understand they're experiencing the love of a deeply Christian nation.

Our kids are gonna ask this one day, what did you do when people were held in detention centers? What did you choose to worship human dignity or political power wrapped in the image of God? Thank you.

Thank you, Heather. Next up is Elaine Ibarra.

Good evening. My name is Elaine Ibarra, and I'm with Diversity Collective Ventura County. I want to thank the city council for hearing me today and for listening. I'm here to ask you to raise the pride flag in the current state of this country, in this current state of confusion and fear and oppression, and in the cases of some people, in a state of cowardice.

I want to see the City of Thousand Oaks Demonstrate support for their entire constituency. Please raise the pride flag, thank you.

Thank You Elaine next up is Rain Richard Davis

Thank you for allowing me a couple minutes up here. So I was here last night pretty much through that whole five hour meeting, but I had to leave and go see a man about a horse. So I went home last night and literally I was up all night reading and just familiarizing myself with the City of Thousand Oaks. This is your Thousand Oaks 2045 general plan And just to counter all that went on here last night, you know when I opened it up like to these few different goals here?

The first one. C1, conserve Thousand Oaks physical setting and natural scenic resources. C2, I know they're not building on hillsides. Minimize and mitigate the visual effects of urban development on the hillsides That should apply down here on the boulevard too I think. But the other reason why I came up here was, I've lived here since 67. I lived right over here by the Crowley House for a number of years and when I moved out here I got totally into the history of this area.

I'm not here to advocate for the Chumash tribe or anything, but nothing was said last night in five hours. I wanted to come up and ask, but I had to leave, but nothing was said. I believe it's been taken care of about following through with all of the protection, historical protection. And then you have all of the Anything built here is supposed to go through this process, you know what I'm talking about. All these different C-11-2, C-113.

I'm hoping, I'm expecting that has been done right with this project? Is the public able to view the results of these, you know contact the historic different societies, the Museum of Ventura, the Chumash people because I knew from living over there Even before Jungle Land, if you all know. It's a Ventura designated historic site. The Chumash encampment that was there, ancient encampment.

It was called IPUC, I-P-U-C. I wonder if any of that will be remembered or mentioned? They talk about a plaque or something that's gonna be done for the jungle land. I don't know what that involves But would they include prior history or what was in the area right here? So my last question too is, should, is it okay can I contact you guys afterwards and like deliver up a simple package to you.

Or even talk to you guys one at a time and not just hear for three minutes. I'm really curious to learn how many people are savvy to the history of what went on right here

Just so you know, we'll have a moment at the end where City Manager will respond to some of the questions. And then yes, you can reach out to any one of us individually.

I made like eight copies of this little thing.

Perfect. All right thank you so much. Thank you. Okay and then next up is Michael. Michael will be our last in-person speaker.

Just wanna make sure I get this right first. Okay, thank you for that. Michael from Thousand Oaks. Mr. Mayor, council members. So I'm gonna try to read this as fast as I can but first I just want to say that I second the In God We Trust statement from earlier we should definitely get it up. I also second getting In God We Trust on all the ICE cars, that's a great idea And the Corinthians quote with regards to something about love, I think it is showing love for Americans getting rid of people who shouldn't be here. So only 1984 were removed not enough barely scratching the surface so that being said um i'm going to be reading SB 1138 because from a few weeks back Mr Newman shared with me that was something that Jack Irwin thought was a good idea Without further ado, I'm going to try my best to get through this.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with a regulatory authority over public utilities including electrical corporations requires the commission to establish resource adequacy requirements for all load serving entities, electrical corporations, electrical service companies, providers or community choice aggregators be subject to the same requirements for resource adequacy, the Renewables Portfolio Standard Program and the integrated resource planning process that apply to electrical corporations. The bill would require this bill SB 1138 would require the commission to reauthorize, to authorize not permit a load serving entity to demonstrate compliance by selling to or otherwise making transactions with another load serving entity to meet not more than 25% of its compliance obligations with contracts that are a short-term, not long-term duration.

The bill would authorize the commission to suspend or adjust the authority of a load-serving entity to sell to, or otherwise make transactions with another load serving entity as specified under existing law. A violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order decision rule direction demand or requirement of the Commission is a crime. So this bill would make those violations a crime.

This bill would impose a state-mandated local program so I could continue reading but it would blow through 50 seconds and so this is what we call over regulation, so anyone supporting this bill is making the current problem in California worse. It is not allowing for competition to get us better lower cost energy. It is cementing the problem that we currently have And it's going to punish by crime anyone who does not follow the mandates for social, what is it? Solar renewable green nonsense that we're trying to get rid of in the first place. So I don't recommend anybody support this but I believe they just had a meeting on May 14th. I don't know what the results are. It may get second amended or may get finalized either way it's a bad idea if you guys want to improve this state stop endorsing things like this.

All right and last up thank you for being patient we have on zoom Spencer Ritchie

Mr. Ritchie is not on I

Guess he didn't get he lost his patience All right, the city manager have any follow-ups for public comments

Just quickly that on the Foxmoor parking issue a chief of police Paris and our Public Works leadership party spoke with resident out there And we'll be able to address some of the enforcement concerns That she articulated out there. As it relates to the Hubert Memorial, Cultural Affairs Director Serrett will catch Mr. Maple in the lobby. That sculpture unfortunately was vandalized but Mr. Serrett is already working on the flag related component of that that we were already aware of and that's it.

Thank you, Mr. Powers.

Next is consent calendar. Does anyone have any questions? Have anything to pull or any discussion? Would somebody like to move the consent calendar?

Sure I'd love to move the consent calendar

all items. Thank You Mr. Engler we have a motion will City Clerk call the vote.

Council Member Gutierrez Yes. And that motion passes, five to zero.

Thank you. Next up is tonight's department report presenting the item will be Deputy City Clerk Sandra Delgado. Take it away.

Good evening mayor and council members. Tonight we'll be discussing the city's upcoming municipal election The city's general municipal election will be held on November 3rd, 2026 Where three council members representing districts 1 2 & 3 will be elected to four-year terms This will be the city's second district based election in 2024 elections were held for districts 4 & 5 The map on this slide shows these three districts outlined in red As required by the Elections Code, staff has prepared three resolutions for your consideration tonight. First a resolution calling the election to elect three council members with one council member elected from each of Districts 1, 2 and 3. This resolution includes the city's policy to resolve a tie vote by lot which was their direction provided by the City Council for the 2018 election and reaffirmed for all subsequent elections since.

Second, a resolution requesting the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to consolidate the city's election with the statewide gubernatorial general election. The resolution exhibit is the county agreement for election services for payment and finally a resolution adopting candidate statement guidelines and required deposit as determined by the Ventura County Elections Division In addition to the resolutions, there is also an optional action tonight. As in past years, the League of Women Voters may request approval to hold a televised candidate forum which is contingent on theater availability. The Cultural and Community Services Department and Thousand Oaks Television will coordinate the event with the league should the request be made and approved tonight.

Earlier this year City Council approved a similar action for the league to host a forum for the June primary election. The first candidates were allowed to begin fundraising was six months prior to the election, which was May 3rd. Candidates are required to submit a form 501 also known as the candidate intention statement prior to receiving or expending any funds. These and all required state forms are posted on the city's website within 72 hours of receipt. Contributions are limited to $800 per the city's adopted campaign contribution limit, which this council adopted October 2025.

The candidate nomination period when those interested in running for office can receive paperwork for their candidacy will begin on July 13th and conclude on August 7th. Election information is available on the city's website and will be updated as we get closer to the nomination period and the election date. Currently, information can be found related to voter registration, vote center locations, and ballot drop-off locations, as well as campaign disclosures filed by candidates.

As we experienced in the last three elections and in the current primary election, the California Voters Choice Act modernized elections in California by allowing counties to conduct elections under a model which provides greater flexibility and convenience for voters. As we are now used to, this model gives voters greater flexibility in how, when and where to cast their ballots by mailing every voter a ballot, expanding in-person early voting and allowing voters to cast a ballot at any vote center in Ventura County.

For the November election, vote by mail ballots will be mailed by the County Elections Division starting October 5th. Ballot drop boxes will be accessible from October 5th through Election Day, November 3rd. Vote centers will be available from October 24th through November 2nd from 9 a.m to 5 p.m And on election day from 7 a.m to 8 p.m, voters can choose to vote in person at any vote center in Ventura County.

It does not have to be where they live as long as it's in the county. 11 vote centers will be open and countywide on October 24th and all 53 vote centers will open countywide starting November 2nd. Staff recommends that City Council adopt recommendations one through six, adopting the resolutions and approving the expenditure for the county services. The expenditure and use of this facilities for the candidate forum and the CEQA finding as listed in the staff report. That concludes staff's presentation. City Clerk Laura McGuire and I are available to answer any questions.

Thank you. Anyone have any questions? Mr. Newman.

Thank you, Mayor. And thank you Ms. Delgado for your report. I noticed that there is a minor difference in the fees for the candidate statements. It's $1,800 for Districts 1 and 3 and $1700 for District 2. Where does that offset come from?

It's based on the voters that are registered within each district. So we also saw a similar change or difference when it came to Districts 4 and 5 in the 2024 election, so there might be a slight difference in the voter population. I

see, so they're slightly... In other words you're saying there were slightly fewer voters in District 2 than in District 1 or 3 therefore the registration cost is a bit lower?

Potentially yeah, so less printing

Very good, thank you.

Any other

questions?

I have one really quick actually somebody just recently asked me this for our sign policy does that start on voting day or when the ballots go out?

We will defer to the city attorney for that. So we've had this conversation before, remember signed political... Did I forget already? It's okay, it's okay. I'm probably going to say this a bunch of times over the next several months. Remember our sign policy has members called the substitution clause. You remember us talking about a substitution clause? Probably not. That's okay. Totally.