City Council — June 9, 2026

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

Thank you, Mayor Taylor.

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All right, we are now back from closed session. Ms. Noonan is there anything to report? Nothing to report. All right if you are able can you please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? Right hand over your heart ready begin pledge allegiance to the flag united states The Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice All right, and now we are for items 13 A and B on the Council of Aging Annual Report.

And fiscal year 2026 to 27 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations. We're gonna be moving those up on the agenda and they will be heard following the consent calendar. So next step we have our special presentation so give me one second and I will move to the podium Unity Conejo is a grassroots non-profit organization based in the Conejo Valley. The organization is primarily focused on supporting and advocating for LGBTQIA plus youth and their families working to ensure they have safe, inclusive and affirming spaces within the community and local schools. Lily before I have you speak, I'm actually going to invite Council Member Ty Gutierrez up who's gonna share some words.

I guess I'll make it work. That's okay.

Hello, everyone. We are breaking from this script a little bit today and I'm really grateful to Mayor Taylor's invitation to take a moment to speak and acknowledge the really brilliant work and meaningful work that Unity Conejo is taken on, has taken on for our community long before they were ever recognized by our community in this really healthy inclusive And in this inclusive way.

And so the moment that it is upon us right now was a long time coming and didn't just happen In one council member's time or one body of council members. It has come at the cost of many community members taking voice to their discrimination, their harassment, their lack of safety, their lack of representation and I I typically do not take up so strongly my own identity when I sit on this very honorable dais, that is the City Council dais.

But this is a moment and because I was invited to speak and I think that's really a point I want to drive that we are no longer facilitating around intolerance. We are facilitating around inclusion and for that I want to be really clear about some of the Ideas or schools of thought around proclamations, or raising up the flags, or the right flag. Or who's doing it and who's not?

These are extremely difficult conversations within our community so within LGBTQ plus community and externally. And it takes a lot of courage internally and personally for all parties involved to have the conversations, but politically it's even harder. And I don't know if that's right or wrong. I would argue it's probably wrong. It feels wrong when I'm having these really hard conversations that involve who I am And so I'm just so really taken by this moment. As someone who grew up in Thousand Oaks, loving their community and feeling safe but being closeted.

This moment is really meaningful for us all, staff, council, our community and of course the non-profit that we're recognizing this evening. And I just want to pause before we do politics before we do is it enough or could we do more? That we acknowledge what's happening and that we extend More love, not grace. Not tolerance, more love and I think that's really what our flags and our community really promotes and that's a huge difference between any other conversation that we might have about identities right? And what they mean to the community How people identify their backgrounds, their orientations, their preferences are theirs alone and they do not take away agency from anyone.

And so I apologize for taking a lot more time than I anticipated but I wanted to also take up the space I wanted to take up the space and so thank you for sharing this. Thank you for the invitation, and I hope that it just grows at Thousand Oaks as a city, as a council, as community that we continue to come together in these inclusive ways without feeling that we are sacrificing something.

Thank you all for being here so much. I'm excited for the other proclamations that are up next, but this one right now just is a moment in time for me personally and I think for the Thousand Oaks LGBTQ plus community that is significant and I wanted to mark it by taking up time and space and saying my truth and thank you.

Okay, hi everybody. I am Lily Berry. I am the executive board president of Uli Kneho and this thing adjusts right? I'm very tall. I just want to say thank you to Mayor Taylor, Council Member Gutierrez and the rest of City Council for their support and this proclamation. I am also a Thousand Oaks. I was born here in Southern California and then my family moved up here when I started high school so I'm Newbury Park class of 06 very proudly Cal Lutheran Class of 2020 And my friends, my family and this great community are all very cherished things here that you know them being here is a function of Thousand Oaks and this being such a beautiful place A place with great opportunity.

So growing up as a closeted queer child here in Thousand Oaks, I think one of the main reasons why I was in the closet for so long, it took me so long to come out. I didn't come out until I was 30 and there were a lot of kind of dark times in there where I did not understand who I was. I did not have positive role models, I did not have a community around me that could explain some of the ways that I was feeling.

So I came to it really late and certainly growing up in a Thousand Oaks that was a little bit more closed-minded, was a little bit less diverse, a little bit less welcoming of difference. Was challenging and yeah so We put on a great event about a week and a half ago at Cal Lutheran. We invited over 700 happy celebrants to Kingsman Park, and we modeled what queer joy looks like out in the open, under the shade of the beautiful trees out there.

And it was just a really happy day. It was a happy day to be in community and be able to see all the people that come from varied experiences but they understand that diversity is a strength. I didn't know I was going to get to speak today so I apologize I'm a little rambly. Yeah, so happy pride everyone. Thank you for the proclamation and I hope that Thousand Oaks can continue to embrace its diversity and see that diversity as a strength and to look at some of the models of other cities in the county and throughout the Southern California area who have made slightly more demonstrative efforts to show queer people that they are welcome here.

Thank you.

So on behalf of Thousand Oaks, we have this proclamation and I'd like to invite you and if any of your friends would like to come or family to take a photo with council?

All

right everybody.

Thanks for watching. All

right, I would like to now welcome Michael Arndt, co-founder and artistic director of the Kingsman Shakespeare Company. The Kingsman Shakespeare Company is a nonprofit professional theater organization dedicated to presenting the works of William Shakespeare for the education and entertainment of people of all ages For the last 30 years, the Kingsman Shakespeare Company has helped to enrich the culture of the community, educate and foster lifelong theater learning in students, and promote the development and careers of future theater professionals in the Caneo Valley and City of Thousand Oaks. Michael, would you like to share some words? How are ya?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the City Council for this recognition. The City of Thousand Oaks has been very instrumental from the very beginning of the Kingsman Shakespeare Festival really helping the very beginning and continuing to assist us over the past 30 years in which over 100,000 people have visited the beautiful Kingsman Park on the campus of California Lutheran University seeing productions of William Shakespeare.

As the only professional classic theatre company of the City of Thousand Oaks, we're very proud to be in this community and share our wonderful festival with families. We have never charged anyone under the age of 18 and we will never charge anyone under the age of 18 to attend. And we urge everyone in Thousand Oaks and beyond to come to this summer's festival, which celebrates our 30th year by producing a Midsummer Night's Dream opening on June 19th and Hamlet opening on July 10th.

Thank you very much.

On behalf of the City of Thousand Oaks, I'd like to present you.

If I could introduce two of my members. Tim Hanks is the Executive Director of the Kingsman Shakespeare Company and Jane Elliott is the Chair of our Board of Directors.

Would you guys like to join us in a photo?

Yes.

I should be telling the council to come up but everyone knows the drill. And for our final presentation of the evening is to recognize Juneteenth, which commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. It is recognized on June 19th because that is when the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas in 1865. Juneteenth today celebrates African-American contributions and achievements while encouraging cultural humility and understanding for all cultures.

I'd like to welcome up Marlena Wallace, Chair of CVUSD's African American District Advisory Council along with her representatives to the podium.

Good evening to the council members, the city staff and the community members. My name is Marlena Wallace I am very proud to be the chair, the current chair of the Conejo Valley Unified School District's African-American district advisory council that is a mouthful you can call us ADAC. ADAC is a vital parent and community voice for African American and black families within the school district Council, I'd like to thank you for this proclamation recognizing Juneteenth. I am honored to receive it on the behalf of those who understand the deep meaning of that day. Juneteenth is not just black history, it's American history and it's a day that we can all be proud of as Americans. It's a day that we got a little closer to doing things right The proclamation is meaningful because it says that this city chooses to remember.

It says that we value contributions, resilience, culture and the history of black Americans. It also invites all of us regardless of our background to continue building a community where freedom opportunity dignity and representation are real for everyone It's both a celebration of freedom and it's a strong reminder that there was a very long struggle to make freedom real for everyone.

It's also a very good reminder that unfortunately, there will always be opposition to righteous progression. And just like on Juneteenth and many other times in our history if we hold the line, we will prevail. So to my black community, particularly the parents and the school of the school age children within the Conejo Valley School District. I'd like to invite you to join ADACT and to become active in our efforts to support our children. Our priorities include student success inclusion and safety and community connection. We have a web page on the CVUSD site where you can learn more and where you can get in contact with us. So once again, thank you so much for recognizing Juneteenth and thank you for the honor of accepting the proclamation on behalf of our community.

So on behalf of Thousand Oaks I'd like to present this proclamation and if you guys would like to join us for a photo with council? We have to take a short recess. We're having a little bit of technical difficulties, so hopefully it's not too long but I'm gonna stop us for a sec and we'll be back hopefully soon

Okay. Hi. Oaks City Council meeting. Oaks City Council meeting. Thank you.

♪ Okay, we are back up. Thank you everyone for being patient Next up is public comments will the city clerk please announce public comments

This is the time in place for public comments speakers are requested to state their name and residence Excuse me community of residents for the record We have four speakers who have requested to speak and pursuant to council standards, speakers are allowed three minutes. The yellow light displays when you have one minute remaining.

Okay. And Laura I'm not seeing names. Do you mind calling the speakers for me? You're not seeing them either?

Our first speaker tonight is Jeanette Welling and she'll be followed by Cheryl Hink.

Thank you.

Hello. I'm here tonight to just address some issues that I've seen from the planning commission approving a lot of highly developed plans that are submitted to the city And I think that this is not setting a good precedent for the future of Thousand Oaks. I feel that we're losing something that makes it special, the peaceful semi-rural ambience and we're rapidly heading towards the San Fernando Valley type ambiance which I don't like.

And with over 1,600 residential units in the city's pipeline from the massive TO Ranch development to the sweeping downtown Main Street master plan we're completely abandoning I think a big picture vision. You're rezoning city-owned land for like 240 residential units and seven story and 142 room hotel And seemingly bypassing measure E protections, tree protections and height limits.

I don't think that sets a good precedent. So we're seeing like a death by 1,000 cuts specifically the systemic destruction of our mature urban canopy. If the city overrides its own laws and cuts down its own namesakes to build seven story structures how can we expect private developers to respect our environment? While I recognize state housing pressures, I understand that.

I don't think we can let project by project approvals bind us to this cumulative irreversible damage. So I'm asking this council who is looking at the macro level impact on our infrastructure In a wildlife emergency, our evacuation routes are already bottlenecks. How will our roads handle the thousands of new vehicles this hotel and these pipeline projects will bring?

Where is the long-term water security for existing residents if we keep compounding demand during persistent droughts? And when does the increased traffic, air pollution and clear cutting of our mature tree academy stop? I would hope that you would stop treating this overdevelopment as a foregone conclusion and scale down some of these projects. I think the City Council needs to fiercely protect local control, environmental safety and our small-town atmosphere that makes Thousand Oaks a community not just a dense transit corridor. Thank you.

Thank You Jeanette Next up will be Cheryl Is it Hank? Is that how you pronounce your last name? Hank, okay.

Hello, Mayor and Council Members. I'm Cheryl Heink and a long-time member here in Thousand Oaks over 60 years same house Love the community teacher here retired about 25 years so involved in a lot of things and I'm here to Share with you an idea it actually It's called Community Project 250 And I was aware of it through an article in the Star newspaper. A lady called Janice Okuma wrote in and I picked up the idea, she's from Ventura, and I thought wow Ventura come on we're in Thousand Oaks, we need to pick this up here in Thousand Oaks.

Okay so I got excited about the expanse of the idea and I thought okay come to City Council Go big or go home. So I'm here to share the idea with you and I'm going to read to you the flyer because the details are right here, then I'm going to leave the flyer. I had about 15 of them over on the table and they disappeared so whoever picked them up I hope you share them wildly! Okay.

So it's for groups and clubs, and it's called 250. And it's in honor of our country's 250th birthday. And we will be celebrating in parks and whatever. We'll be singing the national anthem. We'll be pledging allegiance. We will be having a great time, barbecues But when it's over, that's over. And how does our community get help from that? So this is an opportunity. So we're gonna declare the number 250 as a challenge, a community challenge to serve.

We're gonna celebrate the whole month of July, not just to July 4th in supporting our own community in 250 ways. Okay so there's no project and no collection that's too small. So I suggest if you belong to a group or even individuals, you decide to participate. You decide on a local area to support. Some of the ideas might be You might check with community websites for needs, what they need. You could collect $250 and donate to a local charity, keep it local. You could go to the beach, the park, creek, pick up 250 items of trash.

Bake 250 cookies and give it away to needy neighbors. Collect food items for MANA, FoodShare etc. Collect 250 letters for military, that's what our Kiwanis group is going to be focused on. Could clean up somebody's yard, pull 250 weeds. Woo-hoo! How about that? Anyway, any helpful project just go wild with your imagination. So and if you wanna, as I said, I had flyers. I have my email here if you wanna do something and let me know what your group is doing. That would be super. We could get some pictures et cetera. I hear ya, okay bye.

Anyway, have fun. 250, celebrate with your clubs. Okay? Thank you.

Thank you, Cheryl. Next up will be Henry. Henry, you have a lot of energy to match after that. I don't think I'm going to

beat that one but all right. Hello, Mayor and Council Members. I'd like to share a bit of our nation's birth certificate. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume on the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them A decent respect to the opinion of mankind requires that they declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they're endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form that to them shall seem to affect their safety and happiness. Now I want to mention how God is invoked four times in the Declaration Creator, Nature's God, Divine Providence, and Supreme Judge of the World The Declaration of Independence is our foundation and it has our principles. The Constitution is the structure which is built on top of our declaration, so if you take the foundation away what happens to the structure? It would just collapse. So with that said let's prevent the collapse by remembering and honoring the principles upon which our nation was built and I kindly request that we officially adopt and display our nation's national motto of In God We Trust in our public square thank you guys

Thank you Henry and next up we have Jack.

Good evening Council. As our Declaration of Independence states, we are all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. Inalienable rights are rights that come from God We are all born with them and no one can take them away from us, not even the government. Did you know that the government was created for the purpose of protecting our inalienable rights?

John Wise was a minister of the gospel in early America. From his sermons in the early 1700's you will find these words All men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. You will also find in his sermons that God's preferred form of government is the consent of the governed, and you will find the infamous phrase taxation without representation is tyranny.

Who knew? All of those ideas and words were preached by a pastor in the pulpits of America some 75 years prior to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration Committee took those valuable truths from the sermons of John Wise from nearly a century prior, and baked them into the Declaration. As we're about to celebrate our nation's 250th year of declaring our independence from the tyrant, King George of England. There is no better time than this supercentennial to begin acknowledging God and put forth in our national motto, In God We Trust in our City Hall. Thank you and God bless you all.

Thank you, Jack. Does the city manager have any follow-up on public comments?

Yes, thank you Mayor Taylor. I'd like to thank everyone for coming out to participate in tonight's meeting with regards to the comments on development and the city. My understanding is that our Assistant City Manager Akbar Alakhan has previously emailed Ms. Welling and is more than happy to meet with you to address your concerns. We also have staff available to speak with you in the hallway this evening if you'd like to do that as well Then on the 250th anniversary of our country this city has a website if you'd like to take a note of it on ways that you can celebrate locally and that is toaks.gov Backslash two five zero toaks gov backslash two five zero and that concludes my comments Thank you.

Thank you And next up is consent calendar does anyone have any questions or would like to pull any of the items I? With nothing there, would somebody like a motion? Mr. Newman. Calendar please. Mr. Adams jumped in. All right we have a motion on the floor. Can City Clerk please prepare the vote?

and that motion passes five to zero

All right, next up is tonight's committee report. Presenting the annual report tonight is Council on Aging Chair Dorothy Hatfield and we have available for questions Community Service Analyst Sarah Males.

Good evening Mayor Taylor and council members. Thank you for the opportunity to present the 25-26 Council on Aging Annual Report. My name is Dorothy Hatfield, and it's been an honor to serve as the chair of the commission this past year. With me tonight are Vice Chair Joe Donahue and Commissioners Pamela Davis and Penny Greenblatt. who have dedicated countless hours in service to our older adult community. We appreciate the opportunity to share highlights of the council on aging's work, accomplishments and activities from the past year.

One of the commission's most valuable activities is our monthly guest speaker series. Throughout the year, commissioners engage with local agencies, non-profits and city departments to build relationships, to stay informed and to provide input on issues affecting older adults. Topics have included city communications partnerships with a Thousand Oaks Police Department vulnerable population officers which I gotta tell you that was one lively session And presentations from organizations such as Senior Concerns, Gold Coast Veterans Foundation and the Caneo Free Clinic. These discussions help ensure that the needs and perspectives of older adults are reflected in the community programs and services.

As a first-time commissioner I've got to tell you how informative and educational they are and how much they have helped make me a better member of the community. Another key opportunity for commissioners is serving as liaisons to community organizations that support older adults. In this role, commissioners strengthen partnerships, we stay informed on key initiatives and provide monthly updates on programs trends and needs affecting older adults This year, commissioners served as liaisons to the Ventura County Human Services Agency, the Area Agency on Aging which if you don't know is going through a major transition over this next year. The Global Adult Community Center Commission, the Conejo Senior Volunteer Program, the Conejo Recreation and Park District, the Conejo Free Clinic, senior concerns in many mansions.

A summary of these liaison activities is included As attachment one to the staff report.

For the fourth consecutive year, the city proclaimed May as Older Americans Month, recognizing the vital contributions older adults make to the strength and vibrancy of our community. The City Council formally presented the proclamation at the May 12th meeting and the framed proclamation is proudly displayed at the Global Adult Center as a visible recognition of this commitment.

The council on aging successfully launched its inaugural volunteer fair age of possibilities igniting purpose in An initiative designed to expand awareness of volunteer and civic engagement opportunities for older adults in residence. Planning began in September 2025 with a dedicated committee supported by the Full Council on Aging, which led outreach recruitment and promotion efforts throughout the community. The event was held on April 17th from 10am to 12pm and brought together 27 local nonprofit and community organizations. Approximately 150 attendees participated Exploring volunteer opportunities, connecting with organizations aligned with their interests and skills, and discovering new ways to stay engaged. The event also strengthened collaboration among participating organizations.

Strong attendance and positive feedback highlighted the success of the inaugural event and growing community interest in volunteerism and civic engagement.

The Council on Aging's outreach and resource directory committees continued the focus on connecting older adults and caregivers with timely, accessible community resources. This year the committee completed and released our third edition for the City of Thousand Oaks Resource Directory for Older Adults which is available in large print, digital format and Spanish translation. Each of you should have received a copy of it on your desk there. And if the audience wants a copy of this, there's copies over there on the desk and we have more if we run out over there.

The 30-page guide includes key services such as housing support, food resources, caregiving assistance and adult daycare programs. To date more than 1,000 printed copies have been distributed through the community and the directory is also available at www.toaks.gov older adults. In January of 2026, the committee participated in the CSVP Annual Wellness Festival engaging more than 700 attendees and sharing the resource directory. Commissioners also continue their outreach at the Global Adult Community Center where they provide information referrals and distribute resources.

As you can see we've had a meaningful and productive year, and we greatly value the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Looking ahead to 2026-2027, we will work with the City Manager's Office to identify and prioritize future projects These may include expanded outreach to organizations serving older adults, as well as initiatives that further support the work of the Council on Aging. Thank you for your time and community service analysts, males, myself and the other commissioners are available for any questions.

Thank you so much for the presentation. Does anyone have any questions? Mr. Newman.

Mr. Engler. It's partially a comment and but the question as well, the resource directory is what an asset for our community to have this out here for everybody. And thank you for doing this and all the other work that you're doing we appreciate it. How are you getting this word out to everybody? Are you putting it into the Global Center another library in that place?

It is available at the Global Center and we have commissioners that sit at the table next to the lunch people and talk to the people as they're standing in line, which is great because they're kind of stuck there. Until the doors open, so sorry. And we pass it out there and we've had several times where somebody was looking for something and we could flip to the page and they're like going I've been looking for this for three months and so it really gives us a sense of pride to know that we're giving that information out to the people that need it.

Nothing like captured audience things, that's a good thing. Yeah, this I'm glad to hear that. This has come in handy for folks because that's Sometimes getting there's their services out there Getting that information out is so important.

Yep Well, thank you so much and thank you for the time you spend in our community it's greatly appreciated Would yeah, thank you Would somebody like to make a motion mr. Newman

Thank you, Mayor. It's my privilege to move item 13A based on staff's recommendations.

And will the clerk please prepare the vote?

and that motion passes five to zero

Next is our second committee report and presenting the report tonight is Community Funding Review Committee Chair Kyle Warbach and Vice-Chair Kate Marley

Good evening Mayor Taylor, Councilmembers, staff. I am Kyle Rohrbach. I am the chair of the Community Funding Review Committee, and as Mayor Taylor said with me tonight is Vice Chair Kate Marley. It is our pleasure to present the committee's recommendations for the fiscal year 2026-2027 Community Social Services Grant Program commonly referred to and tonight I will be referring to it as the CSSG program.

Funding for the CSSG program is included in the adopted fiscal year 2026-2027 budget. The program provides $200,000 annually to support nonprofit organizations that deliver social services to Thousand Oaks residents. To be eligible applicants must be 501c3 nonprofit organizations located in or primarily serving the Thousand Oaks community The application period was open from March 16th through April 16, 2026. To ensure broad community awareness the grant opportunity was promoted through the city's website, the City Scene newsletter, social media channels, press releases and direct outreach to previous applicants.

In addition, City staff hosted an annual grant application workshop for interested organizations providing guidance on application processes and program requirements. That workshop was recorded and remains available on the Dedicated Grant Opportunities webpage on the city website. The City received 34 applications and the Community Funding Review Committee members independently reviewed and scored each application using an established evaluation criteria outlined in the grant program guidelines.

On May 26, 2026 the committee met to discuss the results, review the rankings and determine funding recommendations. And because total funding requests exceeded the available budget, the committee engaged in extensive discussion to develop an equitable allocation methodology. So following the review, the CFRC unanimously recommends awarding a total of $199,952.90 in grant funding to all 34 eligible applicants.

And the organizations shown on your screen here are recommended for funding. That should represent all 34. Collectively, these programs provide a broad range of social services that meet the goals of the CSSG program and support a diverse cross-section of Thousand Oaks residents. The committee's recommendations are now before you for consideration. On behalf of the Community Funding Review Committee, we respectfully recommend that the City Council approve the fiscal year 2026 to 2027 community social services grant awards as presented for that total allocation of $199,952.90.

Community Services Analyst Sarah Males and Vice Chair Kate Marley and I are available for questions. And I am just going to add since we're at the end of our cycle here, just a very quick thank you to Services Analyst Sarah Males who has done a really excellent job preparing the committee every meeting to make sure that we're prepared after all those individual rankings. I think a lot of the work that she's doing goes unseen and part of the reason that we're able to have those robust discussions is because we come in with everything sitting there ready for us, so just a real thank you to city staff for that. I'll also recognize my fellow committee member Clyde Doheny is here in the audience as well and that's it.

Thank You Mr. Orbach for the great presentation does anyone on council have any questions? You did such a good job. We have nothing for you. Excellent, thank you.

Thank you.

Would anybody like to... Mr. Adams?

Yeah I want to thank the committee it can't be easy when you have 314 thousand requests and you only have 199 to give out but all 34 recipients received something and it was a who's who list of social service agencies in the Conejo Valley so thank you very much for your work on that and with that I will move What have we got here? 10B. 13B. What? 13. Yeah,

1-3. Oh

I'm on last week's agenda. No. 13B.

And we have a motion on the floor. Will the clerk please prepare the vote.

and that motion passes five to zero

thank you and next is our first public hearing will the city clerk please open the hearing

Hearing advertised as required by law is open to consider agenda item 10A, Assembly Bill 2561 vacant position status. There are no speakers for this item.

And presenting the item tonight is Human Resource Department Director Jeanette Green.

Good evening. Sorry about that, I'm just getting myself set up here. Is it visible? Not yet.

All

right. My apologies. Good evening Mayor Taylor and council members. My name is Jeanette Greene, I am the Director of Human Resources for the City of Thousand Oaks. Tonight's presentation fulfills The city's annual reporting requirements under Assembly Bill 2561, which took effect in late 2024. AB2561 requires public agencies to report each year on job vacancies and on recruitment and retention efforts to help ensure adequate staffing and support strong labor relations. This report covers fiscal year 2025-2026.

The law also gives recognized employee organizations the opportunity to speak at this hearing. The Department of Human Resources duly notified all three of the city's employee associations of their right to present this evening. AB 2561 also requires additional reporting requirements if vacancies exceed 20% in any bargaining unit. Currently, none of the city's bargaining unit vacancy rates meet these thresholds.

At this time, the city has a total of 388 bargaining unit positions with an overall vacancy rate of 5.67% for all bargaining unit positions. This slide breaks down the vacancy rate by bargaining unit. You can see for Tosea it is 4.57%, Tomah 8.42%, and SMA 5.41%. To attract qualified candidates, the City uses a variety of recruitment strategies including job boards, social media posts, job fairs and other public outreach efforts. Earlier this year the City transitioned to NeoGov as its new applicant tracking software platform which includes access to advertising the city's jobs on governmentjobs.com I'm happy to report that as a result of this transition, the City is beginning to see an increase in the number of applicants for city positions and we expect this trend to continue going forward.

As you know, the City also continues to offer competitive compensation and benefits which remain an important part of attracting strong candidates. Regarding retention our efforts are focused on employee engagement, professional development and fostering a strong connection between employees and the organizations. To aid these efforts the city recently completed a culture survey of all city employees to identify key factors to support retention as a result of these efforts the city continues to be a premier employer in Ventura County and throughout the region and we remain committed to attracting and retaining a talented workforce This concludes my presentation and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Do we have any questions from Council? Mr. Engler.

Thank You, Ms. Mayor Ms. Greene, I think we have a very laudable and thank you for this presentation. We're at 5% or so of vacancy rate. Is there a general consensus on why we are at 5%, is this a collection of people who have retired? Who have left our employment for other employment? Was there any trend that we could specifically identify?

With a vacancy rate that is that low, generally speaking it's going to be a mix. It'll be voluntary resignations and some retirements. I don't think there's any one factor that is pushing the vacancy rate as it is. We're very pleased with the numbers. We're pleased with our turnover rate. It's historically low in my opinion compared to other organizations that I've worked in We're at about a 7% turnover rate, so I don't think there's any one particular factor that is causing the attrition that is occurring. It's just the normal process of turnover in any organization.

And you mentioned that we did a survey of our employees.

Yes,

is there any particular item that the council needs to be aware of? For that

no the survey we literally just concluded it only a few weeks ago So we're still going through and culling the information and understanding their results so not at this time

Thank You Mr.. Adams

I was just going to say that it's pleasant to see that our vacancy rate is far below the threshold that the state seems to be concerned about. And also, more important, our turnover rate is also quite low which says to me that we are competitive in compensation and we've created a very positive culture here that people want to participate in and be employed in so very happy to see that.

Well, I guess I'll make a motion. Hang on, I

can't make a motion yet. What? We've got to close the public hearing before we go to motion. Oh, we

should do that.

Yeah, thank you though for the desire to do that. The only question I have is personal opinion. How would you say the health of our organization is? Do you think we're doing well? What's your overall view?

Oh, absolutely. Excellent. I've been spending quite a bit of time over the last few months going out and talking to our employees and getting their feedback. I've been greeted by a workforce that's very engaged that seems to understand the work that they do in their mission. They're very dedicated to it and they're happy to be here. And they're also comfortable letting us know when there are things that they don't like or things that they wish for us to improve. And that's what you want to see in a healthy organization.

Oh, that's great to hear and it's been great having you a Great addition to the team. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you for the presentation I'm now going to close the public hearing and mr. Adams.

Yeah. Thank you That's a good point. You made that people feel comfortable Speaking up and talking about their job and where they work and that's that's a good thing too So I with that I will move 10 Hey Thank you, sir.

And will the clerk please prepare the vote?

and that motion passes five to zero.

Thank you and next up is our second hearing will the city clerk please open the public hearing