Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting

All right everybody, good morning. We're going to bring to order this meeting of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on March 24th. Madam Clerk can you call the roll please?

Thank you so much Chair Gorel, members of the Board of Supervisors, Dr. Johnson, members of the county staff. I thank you so much we're very honored to be part of this moment of inspiration. I do believe that many mansions has provided and does provide inspiration to many members of our community. You know we were founded in the city of Thousand Oaks in 1979 And we're very much a community-based organization. Our belief has always been that everyone deserves a home, a home that's safe, that is uplifting and that is affordable.

Since that time we've actually developed 21 affordable housing communities here in the County of Ventura. Many thousands of individuals and families live with us or have lived with us Those include low-income individuals and families, veterans, seniors, those with disabilities, those coming from chronic homelessness, transition aged youth and many others. But I think as you saw in the video, many mansions is more than just housing.

It's people that we serve. It's offering those programs on site for the youth, for the adults and for the community. You know, we have over 400 school age children living with many mansions. We have many adults coming from homelessness, those with disabilities, those with other challenges. And it's really through the support of the county, the long-term support that we're able to provide this housing and provide and offer these services.

The County of Ventura has been a financial partner in almost all of our affordable housing communities. That includes Ormond Beach Villas which is housing for veterans, veterans coming from homelessness. Hillcrest Villas, which is a mixed supportive housing. D Street in Oxnard, which is one of the only transition-aged youth permanent supportive housing. Pepper Tree and Simi Valley Homeless families.

Our Rancho Sierra, as you know many of you came to our grand opening which is for supportive housing for seniors coming from homelessness and now our Lewis Road home key project that we're working with the county on We are the largest provider of permanent supportive housing in this county. And the county itself is a largest funder of our support of service programs through the county's continuum of care that includes funding from the continuum of care, the COC funds, CDBG funding and HAP funding And at the same time, the county's coordinated entry system and HMIS system has really helped elevate our programs. Our ability to serve those coming from homelessness and those in other needs. So in closing on behalf of many mansions, its board of directors, its staff, its residents I want to thank the county for all their tremendous support and thank you for honoring us this morning.

Thank you, Mr. Schrader. I invite up anyone else from many mansions? Okay thank you. Kimberly.

All right chair girl members of the board and doctor Johnson as Rick so eloquently already mentioned the county partners with nonprofit agencies like many mansions in order for them to develop the housing provide the critical services and shelter. As we strive to reduce homelessness and develop affordable housing together their recent projects that Rick, I won't relist since he listed them have just been absolutely critical in making progress. So we are just so grateful for them and other nonprofit partners that serve our most vulnerable neighbors like those that you saw on the video this morning.

Thank you so much many mansions.

Yeah, thank you. Just a couple of data points who are facts here 24 affordable housing communities developed by many mansions 2000 residents served of those residents serve 95% of them remain stably housed 90% of the teen residents of many mansions projects they graduate from high school 450 youth supported just all of this data here are real lives that are touched and and Lives being changed and futures being strengthened. So thank you for everything you do many mansions and round of applause everyone Thank you for thank you for inspiring us Agenda item number five begins with a Levine Act disclosures any Levine Act disclosures by the members of the board I have none either So I'll turn it over to doctor Johnson for a agenda review.

Thank you, Mister chair good morning supervisor staff and all the tenants today agenda review for today March 24th 2026 is as follows item 8 general public comment one public comment letter has been submitted item 36 information technology services approval of an authorization to sign amendment number one to the contract number with a seller incorporated revised exhibit one has been submitted Item 49, Supervisor Garrell. Receive and file a review of the Local Planning Council 2025 Child Care Needs Assessment and presentation proclaiming the week of April 11th to 17th 2026 as Week of the Young Child in Ventura County. A revised PowerPoint presentation has been submitted. Item 50, Board of Supervisors. Recommendation of Supervisor Lopez to direct staff to execute a project labor agreement with the Ventura County Building Trades.

Two public comment letters have been submitted. Item 51, County Executive Office receiving filed in mid-year budget report and approval of fiscal year 2025-26 budget adjustment recommendations. A PowerPoint presentation has been submitted. Item 52 County Executive Office receive an update of permit streamlining improvements completed by county agencies. A PowerPoint from staff, a PowerPoint from member of the public and three public comment letters have been submitted. And finally item 53 County Executive Office adoption of a resolution renaming the March 31st county holiday as Farm Workers Day one public comment letter has been submitted. Thank you Mr. Chair this concludes agenda review.

Thank You Dr.

Thank you Tregara. We do have one speaker for item number 16, Sandra Aldana who's joining us here today via telephone. Sandra I see that you are online if you unmute your phone you'll be able to give your comment. Sandra Aldana if you do the star six on your phone you should be able to give your comment Hi Sandra, it looks like you're going to need to accept a prompt to be promoted and then do the star six so that you'll be able to give your comment.

Hello can you hear me?

Yes we can please proceed. Hello are you

able to hear me?

yes we can hear you please proceed

I can't get to the phone.

Sandra I'm sorry we are able to hear you. We do have audio, I'm sorry that you're not able to hear us if you would like to give your comment please proceed otherwise you can email your comment to clerk of the board at venturacounty.gov. I'm going to ask IT to mute you and then we can try and come back to you um i do see that we have another speaker signed up to speak on item Okay it looks like we have another speaker signed up for item number 26 I believe.

And that speaker is going to be Mr. James Greenfield, Mr. James Greenfield please proceed to the podium you'll have three minutes to give your comment for item number 26.

Good morning chair and board I'm 26 There's zero transparency on the cost for each project here. I reviewed the PDF and there is not even an aggregate dollar amount that you are voting to approve. This is sloppy and does not belong on the agenda in this state. You need to pull this item and send it back to GSD. There's no correlation between the different job order contract project numbers in the projects listed, and a spreadsheet.

There's no dollar amounts for the projects. Every job should have a bid price based on a job order contract price list. Does anybody on this board actually know how job order contracting works? So how does the CEO recommend this for approval and on what fiscal grounds? And there are other items, no explanation for the increase in expenditures. What is the reason?

The consent agenda represents fiscal promiscuity here. The county can do better and the rate payers of this county deserve better. Where's the review and oversight? If you don't know what you're approving and why it is necessary, it doesn't belong on the consent agenda. Where are the legitimate board reports from the requesting departments? Why am I asking this?

This is kind of embarrassing work from highly paid staff if this item's not at least removed from the agenda how is this board and company here to be taken seriously? How?

Thank you for your comment. I think we're going to try and go back to Ms. Sandra Aldana. Cynthia Salas, I see you have your hand up. We're on consent items right now. We're not yet to general public comments so if you wish to speak on a consent item we can add you. If not please lower your hand thank you. Sandra Aldana are you able to give your comment now?

Okay and it looks like Cynthia solace would like to give public comment on a consent item so we'll go ahead and add Cynthia please let us know which item. Sandra I see that you're unmuted can you please give your comment now? Oh

yes thank you of course um i just wanted to make sure that the board was aware The transparency in the application process for the appointments to the Gold Coast Health Plan has not been there for a number of several years. And I wanted to go ahead and make sure that the board was able to pull that item today from the vote so that is an issue that could be discussed and addressed by the board prior to any appointments, thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Okay, we had Cynthia Solis but I see that Cynthia has lowered her hand so I'm Cynthia I'm guessing that we are going to add you to general public comment and with that Chair Garrell that concludes our public comment for our consent agenda thank

you. Yeah thank you Madam Clerk appreciate you navigating that back to the board are there any changes or Any items that you'd like to comment on? Yes.

Chair.

Supervisor Parvin.

Yes, I just wanted to draw your attention to something pretty amazing in my opinion which was under the health care agency item 32. The approval of agreement with the veteran mentor project for implementation of a veteran mentor project. I'm very excited about this project. I know it's new Although the person behind it has been working on this for many, many years lost his brother a veteran to suicide and has been working on this project for quite some time. I'm very proud of his achievement. And I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to behavioral health for recognizing the importance of the health of our veterans and I look forward to seeing how beneficial this project will be to

behavioral health. Thank you. Thank you supervisor Parvin any other comments on agenda item 6 all right is there a motion and second.

public comments on that. Item 7 motion to approve move by Supervisor Lopez, seconded by Supervisor Parvin please vote.

Thank you.

That passes unanimously thank you.

Agenda item number 8 general public comments

Thank you, Chair Gorrell. We currently have 24 speakers signed up for this item and as a reminder to members of the public who wish to address the board today with public comment on any agenda item please visit VenturaCounty.gov forward slash BOS comment for participation information and instructions. For in-person public comment please check in with the deputy clerk at the entrance of the boardroom If you wish to make comments, you must be in the boardroom or if you're participating remotely. You must be connected to the meeting via zoom or telephone before the close of the public comment period for that agenda item request to make public comment on an agenda item will be accepted until the public comment period for each agenda item is complete.

For our remote participants please accept the prompt to be promoted and unmute your mic when it's your turn to speak and for all public comments. The in-person speakers present in the board room will be called upon first Followed by remote participants. At the discretion of the chair, general public comment regarding county related matters that are not listed on the agenda but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board may be moved to the end of the meeting.

So we're going to start with our in-person public comment. I'm gonna call your name in three. Our first speaker will be Paul Johnson followed by Stephen Weed and then Katherine Genachowski

Thank you. I'm Paul Johnson, I live in Moore Park. I am a computerized system analyst with 20 years of experience in the implementation validation. Many citizens of Ventura County are concerned, including myself, that the computerized systems used by the county are not secure from hacking or election data manipulation. Many citizens of Ventura County, including myself, are concerned that persons not eligible to vote in Ventura County are registered to vote.

The citizens of Ventura County exchanged election integrity for convenience and comfort to vote and register to vote. These comforts and conveniences undermine election integrity. Voter registration without proof of residence and proof of citizenship provides a loophole that allows the creation of a pool of fake voters that could be used to cast fake ballots.

Abandoning the requirement to show voter identification allows a person to vote who's not that registered voter. Universal vote by mail fundamentally provides opportunity for hacking ballots in transit and discarding ballots in transit, in order to bias election results. Dr. Douglas Frank extensively studied USA election data, he found widespread systematic anomalies in voter registration data and vote count tabulations. Dr. Frank concludes that fake voters are added to the voter rolls to provide pools of fake voters from which fake ballots are generated so that sufficient fraudulent votes can be cast to achieve predetermined final election results.

When Dr. Frank discusses his findings with county election officials and secretaries of state, he gets responses such as I know but there's nothing I can do about it. I am not claiming that the current Ventura County Clerk Michelle Ascension is engaged in any nefarious activity. That said the creation of fake voters and fake ballots can be done without the participation and knowledge of the Ventura County Clerk And then fake ballots from fake voters can arrive mixed with the valid ballots and get counted in order to achieve predetermined final election results.

I'm concerned that the current Ventura County Clerk lacks the technical ability or the interest to ensure that only eligible votes, only eligible persons are registered to vote in Ventura County and that ballots are issued only to eligible voters. Ventura County needs a person for Ventura County Clerk who has strong understanding of computerized systems and a strong interest in ensuring election integrity for Ventura County.

I am that person and a candidate for Ventua County Clerk.

Thank you for your comment. Our next speaker is going to be Steven Weed followed by Catherine Janowski and Naomi Fontes. Do we have Steven Weed? Okay, Catherine Janowski followed by Naomi Fontes, Margaret Tolberg.

Can Naomi go before me?

We have a Catherine Janowski followed by Naomi Fontas

Good morning honorable chair and members of the board. My name is Kathy Janowski, and I'm a resident of Somis and a small farmer of a three-acre avocado grove. I'm here today to speak on behalf of Ventura County Water Works District 19, a small water works utility serving only approximately 810 parcels in Somis. Small water systems are the backbone of our rural We don't have the luxury of a massive customer base.

We operate on thin margins and currently facing a critical threat to our sustainability from the county's current labor overhead allocation model for large municipal system, a percentage based overhead fee is a manageable line item but for small utility like ours these charges have become an undue burden that ignores are operational reality We're being asked to pay for centralized county services that are lean localized operation simply does not utilize at that scale.

California law, particularly when overhead costs rise we have two choices defer critical infrastructure maintenance which has happened or raise rates on residents neither is acceptable California law particularly through the lens of Prop 218 and cost of service requirements mandates that these bear a reasonable relationship to the benefits received. Currently, the map doesn't add up to us.

Upon reviewing the financials during the Finance Subcommittee meeting it's shown that our overhead costs are added to the salary dollar. What that means is for every salary dollar we expense our overhead allocation is increased in proportion. And the amount of overhead allocated to us is approximately 110% of every salary dollar. So what that means is if an engineer has paid $60 an hour, the district is charged $126 per hour.

The more repairs and maintenance we require, the more labor overhead allocated cost to us. District 19 cannot operate more leanly than they already do. Adding a heavy county administrative fee on top of their lean budget is a financial challenge. We believe the county overhead allocations may not fairly represent the actual benefits and services received by the small waterworks utility district 19, thereby creating an unreasonable burden.

We would like to challenge the fee structure by asking for a nexus study that shows the cost of services provided by the county, ensuring the fees do not exceed the reasonable cost of service. We aren't asking for a free ride. We're asking for an overhead allocation study that reflects the actual service chart usage of our small, tiny utility Waterworks District 19.

We urge this board to consider a tiered or usage-based allocation model that recognizes our limitations. Thank you, Catherine. Thank

you for your comment. Please help

us keep the water flowing.

Catherine, you've used your three minutes. Thank you for your comment. Okay, our next speaker is going to be Naomi Fontes followed by Margaret Tolberg and then Steven Weed. Naomi Fontes? Hi my name

is Naomi Fonts I'm a Somis small farmer of Waterworks District 19 what happened this is the question so many SOMAS residents are asking over the last two years there were a 5% and a 9% increase where did that money go It appears as though the root cause of this problem is not being looked at. What makes sense to the residents is that it is years of fiscal and operational mismanagement by Ventura County as the root cause, although the district has historically relied on low-cost groundwater for more than 95% of its supply failures to maintain wells forced a shift to purchase significantly more expensive imported water.

It appears the system wasn't managed properly. Reserves were depleted and now the county is trying to pass those costs on to the residents of Somis that is definitely not the right solution. It is shifting the consequences of failure on to the community. Residents requested a comprehensive infrastructure assessment to understand long-term system needs County officials indicated such an analysis would not be funded until reserves are rebuilt over the coming years at the same time, the county has budgeted We're going to be working with outside consultants to project future rate increases with discussions indicating increases of roughly 11.9% annually to replenish reserves if left to rate study consultants, they're going to look at the problem from a money in versus money out perspective that perspective makes sense institutionally but it misses It defies common sense to plan years of rate increases without first understanding the condition of the system.

Residents deserve a plan before they're asked to pay more, thank you.

Thank you for your comment our next speaker is going to be Margaret Tolberg followed by Stephen Weed

Good morning My name is Margaret Tolberg and I'm a 30 year resident of Somis where my husband and I farm at 2 acre avocado Grove. My comments relate to water district, what works district 19 and the proposed 11.9% water rate increase which our community recently rejected through the proposition to 18 process. I'm here to talk about trust because right now that trust is broken Our community is still recovering from the 2024 mountain fire.

Many of us lost our homes, irrigation systems, equipment and income. Our farming community is still trying to recover so when a double digit rate increase is proposed during that time trust in the process and the information we're given is critical and we do not have that trust. We were asked to accept a rate increase without a clear understanding of the system's condition, without a long-term plan and without a transparent breakdown of costs.

We were told there are serious problems but not what would be fixed when or at what cost? So people asked a simple question. What are we paying for? At the same time there is still no comprehensive plan to address aging infrastructure even after decades of county management Residents continue to deal with issues like brown water and the response continues to be reactive, not proactive. That does not build trust.

It gets harder when what we're told doesn't match the record. We heard that grant funding had been pursued yet records show no applications for many years even now we're hearing about possibilities, not results. Meanwhile, costs including internal overhead continue to climb without a proven need or justification for efficiency. And this has real consequences.

Agriculture makes up a large share of water use in District 19 and as costs rise especially after the fire farmers are being forced to cut back or stop irrigating entirely that reduces revenue increases fire risk shifts cost onto fewer people And finally the process itself hasn't helped a citizen's advisory committee that doesn't fully represent ratepayers combined with decisions that appear to be made before questions are answered and without full transparency undermines confidence in the entire process.

The SOMA's community didn't just say no, we stepped up and asked hard questions but this is the county's responsibility and we expect to be included in the process not just ask to approve the outcome. To rebuild this trust it starts with a clear honest plan Because at the end of the day, this isn't just about water rates. It's about whether we can trust the county to manage our water system responsibly and actually improve it not let it continue to decline and right now we can't but we want to thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Our next speaker is going to be Stephen Weed followed by Kirby Thomas and Walter Brand

Good morning board and staff and community. Sorry to be late, had a little domestic hiccup at home. Last year the board approved the formation of the Election Advisory Committee and each board member appointed one member to that board. Since then citizens have continued to address the board in this forum showing dissatisfaction with the election details. Some even criticized the EAC's work suggesting it was a waste I don't think that's what you wanted.

When the board created the EAC, it recognized that it doesn't have responsibility for elections by establishing the EAC. It publicly demonstrated the need to have confidence in the election process. The California voters initiative will be on the ballot in November. In the February EAC meeting, I requested that the EAC provide a report of their findings as it relates to the California Voters ID Initiative before the November election.

Among other things this initiative would mandate voters present ID when voting in person. Will this make elections more secure in Ventura County? That's one of the many questions that needs to be addressed. The EAC already has enough information to make such a report. One of the members has been a long-term member and participant in the League of Women Voters and has monitored elections for many cycles, another one actually served as temporary help And the chairman and the vice-chairman were invited by Michelle Asuncion to tour the facility.

And they made very appreciative statements in the meeting last time. So when the Board of Supervisors receives the EAC report, they should review it and provide a public statement on the benefits and the costs to the county if this initiative passes. This recommendation is consistent with the board's previous actions. The Elections Division and League of Women Voters publish educational materials for each election. I'm not discounting their work, however for the Board did not wish to enter the discussion of voter integrity they never should have authorized the EAC.

To maintain this credibility, the board owes it to the public to follow through. Regardless of your individual thoughts about the elections or issues involved, your commitment in forming the EAC was to educate and increase confidence in the elections in Ventura County. Please reinforce this by providing a public statement regarding the voter ID initiative. By the end of September 2026, I hope you'll consider this thank you so much for your time.

Our next speaker is going to be Kirby Thomas followed by Walter Brand and Mark Taylor. Kirby Thomas. Thank you.

Good morning. I don't have a prepared speech. I'm a small avocado farmer in the Somos area, what we call the groves. My land my Grove was entirely destroyed in the mountain fire. I have rebuilt it to the price tag of $55,000. That's irrigation system. You have to clear the trees. You've got to grind them up. You've got to haul them away. You gotta buy new trees. You gotta put them in the ground and you have to water them so that they produce. It's gonna be seven years minimally before I even begin to tap into that $55 thousand.

An 11-12% rate increase every year for the next two, even next one year is devastating to me. My water bills, ag water alone in summer months can run upwards of over $1,000. Think about that. Everybody who's spoken before me has actually a smaller farm than I do, and my neighbor farms 80 acres. I can't imagine what this is going to do to his business. So I'm just asking that you put some people on the CAC that are members of the area And that they think about what they're doing. I'm a former member of the CAC, the Citizens Advisory Committee and when I was on there every member lived in Waterworks District 19. My understanding now is, I'm not sure this, none of them do. That's not representation, and they're not giving you the information that we need communicated to you.

I hope that there are some changes made and some thoughts put into the future actions of the board. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Our next speaker is going to be Walter Brand followed by Mark Taylor and then Laura Schwab.

Good morning all. Apologies for reading my remarks but I tend to ramble otherwise. My name is Walter Brand. In 1971, my wife Brenda and I purchased a 2.47 acre parcel in the new Somis development called The Groves. This kaiseretna undertaking was billed as country living with income provided by avocados which were newly planted at the time on all marketed parcels.

While each two acre minimum size lot included a building site, it was understood that homes built there would be custom and we proceeded to do just that moving into our current home in 1978. Through the years my wife and I have diligently managed our avocado grove and it has rewarded us with a modest return While providing an employment opportunity for those in the local ag business who supply labor, fertilizer supplies and other services.

Naturally with all plant growing enterprises water is an essential element to success and that is the point of my brief remarks. Since 1980, the water for our property has been supplied by Water Works 19. There have been issues to be sure but the district customer service has always made a good faith effort to address any problems however as might be expected Over the years, water costs have risen due to numerous reasons not the least of which is inflation. That said farming is one business where a producer is not able to set a price for their product even though the output is highly affected by the vagaries of mother nature therefore it stands to reason water rates must be subject to the highest critical scrutiny to ensure absolute efficiency and management by those entrusted with administering the service, the system sorry.

It is with that in mind that we in the Somis community have invoked Prop 218 a rate delay by obtaining the requisite signatures I strongly urge Supervisor Gurel to commission an independent audit as part of the process of developing a new rate plan. Put plainly, I feel there is ample room for significant improvement in the fiscal efficiency of WaterWorks 19.

Further like to say, I second the remarks of my fellow WaterWorks 19 members. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Our next speaker is going to be Mark Taylor followed by Laura Schwab and Waldemar Janowski Do we have Mark Taylor? Okay, then Laura Schwab followed by Waldemar Janowski and Dee Peterson.

Good morning, Board of Supervisors. My name is Laura and I've been a 37 year Ventura County resident and I just want to thank you so much for listening to my concerns today. It was wonderful watching the video for many mansions that was so amazing. And I'm here as an advocate for our farm workers. They also deserve safe and wonderful housing And recently the Planning Commission voted to approve the new build of Ventura Ranch farmworker housing. It's a huge complex 328 high-density apartments and it's on agricultural land, and I know that this month is Agricultural Month, and I'm just so surprised that you would want to get rid of our ag land but anyways they voted 3 to 2 For an approval of this extremely dangerous.

Build it is in a extreme high fire zone and there's no safe really evacuation plan. They asked to be exempt from CEQA I want to know why why would they ask to be exempt from CEQAs I thought that it was put It's the applicant says that because their application was approved by all of you in April 24th of 2024, that they do not have to abide by the new updated fire mapping by Cal Fire last July of 2025.

It was deemed in an extreme high fire zone And CEQA guidelines state that if there's new safety concerns, that the record must be updated and addressed. I cannot imagine that this would not be updated it's so unsafe. The CEQAs also states that farmworker housing cannot be built in an extreme high fire zone This is clearly a dangerous safety concern in the event of the next wildfire because they keep happening.

The Ojai Casita Springs Oakview Ventura corridor will be dangerously impacted. The area is already congested and it cannot handle any more traffic in the event of an emergency. Ventura Avenue is a one-lane highway, and it cannot safely accommodate vehicles in the event of an evacuation during the Thomas fire. It took me 45 minutes to go was at a half a mile a very short district. It was the most terrifying thing that I've ever experienced in my life and two of my neighbors lost their homes Laura, thank you. Thank you for

your comment. We have used your three minutes.

Okay. Thank you.

Our next speaker is going to be Waldemar Janowski followed by Dee Patterson and Jenny Nack.

Good morning. My name is Waldemar Janowski. I'm a farmer from Somis and a customer of District 19. I depend entirely on the district water for my residence and my 3-acre avocado grove. But years before I came to Somis, I was a young engineer at Rocketdyne. And on January 28th 1986, I was watching the launch of the Space Shuttle. My co-workers and I were glued to our monitors watching the data for the engines that we'd built. We took tremendous pride in that machine but we knew it wasn't perfect.

But NASA was key to declare that the shuttle was operational and routine And despite persistent technical risks that we managed every day, they elected to launch. When Challenger exploded 73 seconds later we were devastated. Later we learned the physical cause was a failed O-ring seal not on our engines thankfully but the real cause wasn't just hardware it was a psychological phenomenon known as normalization of deviance Coined by sociologist Diane Vaughn, the term describes an insidious process where people become so accustomed to a dangerous situation that they no longer see it as wrong.

At NASA engineers had seen O-ring damage on previous flights but because shuttles hadn't crashed yet the organization stopped treating the damage as a warning sign and started treating at acceptable risk. They expanded the boundaries of what was okay until the unthinkable became the inevitable. Today, looking at our district's crumbling water infrastructure and the board's consistent inaction I see the same normalization of deviance taking root. Each time we patch a break rather than replace a pipe, we are normalizing a failing system.

Depleting our reserves and raising our rates while doing nothing to improve the water quality or secure the future of our infrastructure is the exact same behavior. Become comfortable ignoring our failing infrastructure, expecting us to simply absorb cost increases indefinitely. Until when? Until farming becomes unaffordable until we shut down our farms, our fields become tinder for the next fire event.

We are tempting another catastrophe Like Challenger, infrastructure doesn't fail all at once. It fails to a series of predictable surprises that we choose to ignore. We must have a plan to address these issues and affordable approach that meets the needs of the community without destroying the spirit of the neighborhood. The lesson of Challenger is that nature cannot be fooled.

You can ignore the data, you can normalize the leaks. You can silence the concerns but you cannot ignore the consequences when the system finally gives away. I am here to ask this board when will we stop accepting a situation as it stands today and start planning for a system that supports our community and one our community deserves? Thank you. I'd like to submit my comments for the record.

Thank you. Our next speaker is going to be Dee Peterson, followed by Jenny Knack and Linda Bellamy.

Good morning board members we've been speaking about these high-density projects for two years a Cabrillo neighborhood tiny bungalows your building four stories the city allowed nine variances for 6.62 acres as sinkhole threatens homes But who cares about the children living right behind this project? It was disapproved previously. Valley Vista 328 units, three stories that will block all of our solar panels. It is actually illegal to block our solar energy panels.

I could name 1,000 reasons this project should not be approved but nothing we say nor the money that we spend on lawyers appeals seem to matter because it seems there is an agenda to push these projects through despite the hazards that everyone begs you to consider. I encourage everyone to look up 15-minute cities on YouTube. This high density building is going on across California.

Gavin Newsom has mandated that thousands of apartments must be built across our cities and counties or state funding will be cut off. This is an agenda far bigger than we even think. These mandated numbers have been surpassed, yet more are being approved. Why? Ignoring public safety high density fire zones. CEQA why has it been disallowed for them? Everyone else has to obey by that. It protects us.

Extreme Fire Zone is now what my house is in Yet, it doesn't matter. We're still going to go ahead and build this. It's been approved. Great! Chemicals in the soil three-story four story five story monstrosities are being approved I feel that you have made up your minds some of you to these 15 minute city mandates These choices are ruining our beautiful city You are the planning commission. Please plan for the future of Ventura. Please plan wisely, thank you.

Thank you for your comment. Our next speaker is going to be Jenny Nack followed by Linda Bellamy and Robert Moon.

Good morning I'm Jenny Nack with Parents Against the Sanders-Susanna Field Lab Boeing has now released their corrective measures studies or CMS for soil at the SSFL and DTSC has issued their statement of basis concerning that document which serves as an official decision document in its final version. What DTSC has informed you to wait for before filing for litigation is a decision document were there.

In the CMS, Boeing states that they plan to begin the general soil cleanup at SSFL this summer. The many failures within Boeing's plans should be stopped by the county who has pledged to the people who have elected them to uphold the previous stringent cleanup agreements that DTSC and Boeing have now officially broken. The counties have earmarked taxpayer dollars to secure counsel to litigate over this issue and it is now time to file over the state's failure to deliver a complete and safely executed SSFL cleanup.

Major issues with the cleanup plans include but are not limited to. One, an extremely weakened cleanup standard that's not health protective if implemented as they currently stand. We've passed motions again to litigate if and when the previously passed and legally binding cleanup standards are not upheld in the time is now upon us. In the CMS, very loose waste classification methodologies which could allow hazardous waste to be misidentified and under classified as benign Only one sample per every 150 cubic yards will be taken in efforts to ascertain whether excavated soils are radioactive or hazardous. That's one sample for every 10 to 14 dump trucks worth of soil.

In the CMS, Boeing claims that 85% of excavated soils will be characterized as non-hazardous and destined for disposal in the Simi Valley and Azusa and other municipal waste facilities. But almost 100 of the contaminants of concern historically documented by Boeing to exist at the SSFL in the soils are constituted And classified by the state of California to be deemed either hazardous toxic or extremely hazardous.

Boeing and DTSC should use the California Regulation Hazardous Waste Classification Appendix X and presume that these targeted soils whose extensive contaminations clearly documented are potentially hazardous, and to act to implement much more thorough and stringent waste classification strategies. The cleanup is plagued with confirmation sampling plans Frankly scientifically unsound allowing samples from one remediation area to determine the completeness of excavation at neighboring.

Excavation areas. That's going to get us a very shoddy cleanup and the standard operating procedure document we cannot get from DTSC that is going to detail dust mitigation and transportation practices, and I'm afraid that they're holding it till the very last minute.

Thank you for your comments. Our next speaker is going to be Linda Bellamy followed by Robert Moon and Alex Donington

Sorry, I got a frog in my throat this morning. Good morning chair members and board. My name is Linda Bellamy. I live in the Valley Vista track. I'm here today to respectfully ask you to deny the Ventura Ranch project The proposed 18 buildings three stories each are completely out of character for the Ventura Avenue area and is inconsistent with land designation use in that neighborhood Valley Vista is a very low density residential area, placing a large high-density development there in a high fire severity zone would create serious risk along with term impacts for everyone who lives nearby. The Planning Commission received well over 200 letters and numerous emails asking that the project be denied on January 22nd.

2. I'm sorry on January the 22nd, the planning Commission listen to the County Sheriff who described the extreme hazard traffic congestion on the avenue and the challenges residents face trying to evacuate. I know these dangers firsthand because two houses across the street from me burned down in another house down the road had burnt farm worker housing should be a safe accessible location, and this is simply not one of them Adding 1500 residents to such a small congested area is irresponsible. Approval of this project will set a dangerous precedent, one that could encourage farmland conversion across the county as it becomes easier to build apartments than to farm.