UnGovr Transcript
iHow this transcript is madeUnGovr transcribes the official recording with automated speech-to-text, separates speakers by voice, and matches voices to the seated roster. Names and attributions are AI estimates and may contain errors.Verify any quote yourself: click anywhere in the transcript and the official video jumps to that exact moment, so you can check any quote against the recording.0:20 – 0:2711 turns
Good morning, everybody. Welcome to this. I'm going to convene a call to order this meeting of the Board of Supervisors for April 14th, 2026. Mr. Clerk, can you take the roll call please?
Roll call — called by Kelly Long · 1 under review
Show transcript
Thank you, everybody. We're going to start with a moment of inspiration today. We're honored to be joined by our District Attorney Eric Nazarenko. Before we play a video here in just one quick minute I want to say that today we recognize Crime Victims Rights Week and affirm our responsibility to support victims and survivors not just in words but through meaningful action This year's theme Listen, Act, Advocate is a powerful reminder of what that commitment requires.
This year we also recognize Maricela Rocha Parga whose identity was restored after years as an unidentified Jane Doe. Her story reflects the dedication and compassion of those who never gave up in the pursuit of justice. Supporting victims strengthens our entire community. When we listen, act and advocate and invest in models like the Family Justice Center We build a Ventura County that is safer more just and more compassionate for all Mr. Clerk if we could play the video
July 1980 Sheriff's Department received a call of a deceased female in the parking lot at Westlake High School Patrol deputies responded and located a Jane Doe female with no identification that was the obvious victim of the homicide. Investigators had to rely solely on leads at the scene and leads provided by the public, of which there were neither. The victim in this case had no identification
Typically we know the name of the victim and then we prosecute. And this one, we did it reverse. We prosecuted and then learned their names.
We knew that they'd had children in their past. We knew that they like everybody else has a family. And I just felt like every victim needs to be with their family.
We had just begun doing investigative genetic genealogy in 2018 and this was one of the first cases. By the time we got done with this case, by the time we actually were able to make an identification, we had over 125,000 people in this particular family tree.
I knew even at 10 years old that my sister wasn't going to come back. I knew that something had happened to her.
We are so thankful for this Jane Doe project and all the people that helped. We are grateful and thankful that you guys were able to find her and bring her back to us.
Thank you for that. Mr. District Attorney Eric Nazarico, please join us at the podium and share some words.
Chair Gorrell, members of the Board of Supervisors, Dr. Johnson I want to begin by thanking you every year and each and every day this board is dedicated to the service and the voice of our crime victims and survivors as you know in April by virtue of a congressional resolution every county throughout the United States honors crime victims and that is what we will do next week at the Camarillo Public Library and you are all invited.
As that video displayed, every victim whether with us or not deserves to be with their family. And finally after 45 years Maricela Roca Parga was reunited with hers. This was a horrific murder and rape. The perpetrator was prosecuted, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole but only a couple months ago through the valiant efforts of our cold case detectives as well as the volunteers with the Jane Doe Project were we able to identify the actual victim who was slain and her body discarded in the upper parking lot of Westlake High School?
So, I invite you to honor our victims and I invite you to be a part of the reunification between the family members of Maricela Roca Parga who will be there next week. The cold case detectives who helped bring us to this point And the prosecutors and investigators who are so indispensable in making sure that justice was finally achieved. And then lastly, I just want to recognize some very important people that are with me today.
They are in this audience right here. Erin Meister, she's the Chief Deputy over our Sexual Assault Division. Lisa Latakanian, she is the number two, our chief assistant. As well as Terry Anderson, our Head of Human Resources. Thank you very much Chair Garrell and thank you Board of Supervisors. I look forward to seeing all of you next week.
Thank you Mr. District Attorney. I know that we're grateful for your leadership and for your entire team. Some of them are here some of them are back working in the offices We cut the ribbon last week on a domestic violence shelter that was enormous undertaking and in great addition to the suite of services provided to victims and family justice centers that are up and running and will be soon. And we're just so grateful I want to say this is a little unorthodox for a moment of inspiration. We also have a proclamation honoring crime victims week and would like to come down and present this to you and your team.
And to take a photograph with this proclamation if we could, but before so I want to see if any of the other members of the Board of Supervisors would like to make any comments. No? Okay then we'd like to come down and invite you and your team up for a photograph thank you.
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Own of our victim assistance and crime assistance program. They serve each and every day restraining orders completion of judicial counsel forms counseling, they are such an indispensable part and I too want to recognize our outstanding victim advocates who are joining here this morning.
Please join us down here for a photograph. You can
have folks in the back of the podium as well.
That was very poignant and powerful. Thank you very much, and thank you for everything you do that moment of inspiration. Agenda item number five we're gonna move to that it's the agenda review but before we do gender review with the CEO I'd like to ask if any of the members of the Board of Supervisors have any Levine Act disclosures to make? None. And myself neither all right thank you madam CEO would you walk us through the agenda
Thank you Mr. Chair I'll be happy to. The agenda review for today, April 14th 2026 is as follows item eight general public comment six public comment letters have been submitted. Item 11 Board of Supervisors recommendation of supervisor Parvin to approve reappointments to the El Rancho Simi Cemetery District Board. One public comment letter has been submitted. Item 32, Public Works Agency Watershed Protection District. Approval of an agreement renewing the district's membership on the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authorities Commission continue to April 28th 2026 Item 36, Sheriff's Office. Approval of an authorization to enter into a five-year addendum agreement to the 2023 contract with VersaTerm Public Safety Incorporated for the implementation and use of the VersaTerm LIMS Plus Crime Laboratory Information Management System integrated with the VersaTerm Records Management System.
Six public comment letters have been submitted. Item 37, Sheriff's Office. Approval of an authorization to purchase items which are designated by Ventura County Ordinance Number 4603 as military equipment. Eight public comment letters have been submitted. Item 50, Healthcare Agency. Receive and file a presentation announcing the Healthcare Foundation for Ventura County's 2026 We Give Employee Giving Program Golden Football Challenge winners. A revised PowerPoint presentation has been submitted. Item 51 Board of Supervisors. Recommendation of Supervisor Parvin to name the Crisis Stabilization Unit in Simi Valley, in honor of former Ventura County Supervisor Bob Huber. One public comment letter has been submitted. Item 52 Board of Supervisors recommendation of Supervisor Parvin's direct staff to review and modernize policies related to community events temporary food facilities and event organizer criteria one public comment letter has been submitted.
And lastly item 53 county executive office Receive and file an update of the county's HR 1 advocacy efforts a PowerPoint presentation and one public comment letter have been submitted Thank You. Mr. Chair, this
Agenda Discussionitems moved / continued / pulled — click to expand
concludes agenda review
Thank you madam CEO is there a motion to approve the agenda as modified?
Yep,
thank
you,
mr. Judge Lavera
Thank you and I would request my colleagues consent to pull items 24 and 25 and have them heard at our meeting on April 28th. Still some work I want to do on those items, some questions I want to research and I would just ask for this two-week delay.
And those are both on consent?
They're both on consent yes.
Would we handle that on the next agenda item or could we do that right now? Okay very well
I would just ask if there's anybody here that wants to speak on those items, if they want to speak today versus waiting till the 28th. Thank
you. Yeah Mr. Clerk can we identify if there's any public speakers on 24 and
28? 25. We do have one
0:33 – 0:408 turns
public commenter in agenda item number 24 so okay would you like to take that now? Yes please. We have Alex Hamilton here in person to comment on item number 24. Please come forward to the podium.
Good morning Chair, Supervisors, Dr. Johnson. If it would please the Board I would be happy to come back reserve my comments for the meeting on the 28th if that works for
you sir? That'd be fine thank you very much appreciate that. So I'd like to have an alternate motion, and that is to adopt the agenda as proposed except for item 24 and 25. That would be removed from the agenda in advance to the next Board of Supervisors meeting. All
Roll-call vote Passed 5–0 · via vote board Moved by Matt LaVere · Seconded by Janice S. Parvin approve the agenda as modified
Show transcript
All right, thank you We're gonna take an item out of order right now before we get to the consent agenda and That is item 51 brought forward by supervisor Parvin
Thank you, Chair. Good morning. I'm pleased to bring forward this item recommending that the Crisis Stabilization Unit in Simi Valley be named in honor of former Ventura County Supervisor Bob Huber. Bob Huber's decades of service to Simi Valley and Ventura County reflect a lifelong commitment of public service. He's got he's a community leader and he's improved the quality of life for our residents from his early career as a deputy D.A. and local attorney to his time on the Simi Valley City Council and later as a four term mayor Bob consistently demonstrated thoughtful leadership and dedication to his community most recently during his tenure on this board Supervisor Huber played a key role in advancing behavioral health services in East County.
Notably, he helped secure the American Rescue Act funding that is now being used to transform an existing facility into a crisis stabilization unit expanding access to critical mental health care for our residents Naming this facility in his honor recognizes not only his leadership, but his lasting impact on behavioral health services and the well-being of the communities he served. And with that I know that we have a couple of people that might want to speak with us today. We have his wife Deb Holler and his son Todd Huber. I'm not sure if you want to speak or Maybe not I know that Todd likes to speak.
If you watch his Facebook page.
Good morning everybody. My name is Todd Huber. I'm a 57-year resident of Simi Valley, California and I wanted to just start by saying how much I respect what you guys do. I know this is such a hard job. I know my dad was up there just like you guys and he's my dad so I know it's a really hard job and I appreciate what you do to make this part of the world a better place for us. It's a great place to live and there's no place like home I wanted to urge you to name this new crisis stabilization unit after my dad because he worked for it. He worked really hard, but he wouldn't...I don't want to say he wouldn't want it, but he wouldn't ask for this.
You know, he didn't do it for that. He did it because he truly believes that mental health is important. He served for over 20 years as a mental health judge and he also dealt with some mental health...he saw his mom go through some pretty heavy mental health issues So he always made that a really high priority in his career and leadership. So I just again, I want urge you to do this. I know dad would love it be proud for us every day when I'm out and about the town somebody always comes up and ask me how's your dad?
He helped me this time. He didn't charge me. It just I'm a really lucky guy to have that man as my dad because it made me a good man and I appreciate it so much. Thank you very much.
Thank you. I'm not sure Deb Deb Holler, Bob's wife.
Hello, I'm Deb Holler. I'm Bob Huber's wife and first I want to thank Supervisor Parvin for bringing this idea forward and the entire board of supervisors. I echo what Todd has to say in that I know how I know what difficult work this can be and how dedicated you are to our county Thank you very much. I'm sorry most of you know that my husband is suffering from a long term fatal illness and so this means so much to our family.
Bob served as the mental health judge for the East County for 20 years and he did it pro bono It'd be funny if you guys could hear what the conversations used to be in our whole household years and years ago. I ended up doing Bob's books, I was in banking and I would notice that he would do a lot of pro bono work And a lot of it had to do with particularly minors who might commit a crime.
But what he would discover is that they did that in a way of acting out some of their mental health issues so The invoice would come in and then I would see it waived and I would say to him, you know you need to make a living we do have bills to pay. And he would say yeah about what goes around comes around and you know this family doesn't have a lot of money and I was going to be in court anyway that day.
You know what can you say to that? You know, there are givers and takers in the world and the takers eat better but the giver sleep better. And then he would just grin at me with those big Thank you. I had the honor of working with Bob on numerous boards.
0:40 – 0:4720 turns
Even though we weren't that far apart in age, he was really fun to work with. I really enjoyed him and I'm really just asking if you would approve the naming of the Crisis Stabilization Unit in Simi Valley as the Bob Huber Crisis Stabilization Unit subject to unanimous approval?
Any
comments from the board?
I just wanted to say thank you to Deb and family. Just what a pleasure it's been to work with Bob, and how much of a legacy he left in Simi Valley and Ventura County It's been wonderful to get to know your family and Definitely support this. Thank you very much, Supervisor Parvin for bringing this together.
Thank you.
Supervisor
LaVere?
Yeah thank you Chair and thank you Supervisor Parvin. You hit it on the head I got to work with Bob for two years and anybody who works with Bob you quickly learn that behavioral health mental health those services are so high on his priority list And you mentioned it, but when we were going through the ARPA funds funding that we received and how we are going to allocate that he was the one here fighting to make sure that we provided these services in these county. We got this CSU propped up and it was because of his work that we're able to bring this to the East County so I think this is absolutely appropriate that we name it in his honor.
Thank you, Supervisor Parvin. And I think I probably have the shortest stint of an opportunity to work with Supervisor Huber and at that time was just through a screen. But I can say that from the moment that I came when I was appointed to the Board of Supervisors, he was very gracious in reaching out and just extending a welcome even from a distance. So I do appreciate them. Just really great to see your family here today and do support this. Thank you. It's great.
I'll just add that I've known Bob for many years and truly a servant of the people. He fought really hard to bring a lot of services out to the east side of the county. The CSU is one of those, it was originally a twinkle in his eye that he was able to give life to He was an early proponent of Family Justice Center in the East County. And I know that he's not well enough to be here today with us, but please family if you'd share with him our love and our gratitude for his service and how excited we are to be able to move this agenda item here forward.
Mr. Clerk are there any public comments beyond those we've heard?
There are no requests to speak for this item. Thank you. Supervisor
Parvin? Yes, I will move that we name it the Bob Huber Crisis Stabilization Unit.
Roll-call vote Passed 5–0 · via vote board Moved by Janice S. Parvin · Seconded by Kelly Long approve for the recommendation
Show transcript
Thank you. Thank you all.
That was great, thank you. I guess we're now at item 6 the consent agenda 9 through 38 with the exception of 24 and 25. Is there a
motion to?
Sorry
Chair Grell we do have additional public commenters on the consent agenda items. Okay
good to know thank you Let's let's see, let's take those first
I suppose. Okay Chair Guerrero we have one public commenter for agenda item 35 Adrian Coulter please come forward to the podium to provide your comments
There's an old phrase that people have said, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. In L.A., at the last Snow Kings rally, an 18-year-old USC student got to live this phrase while documenting the event he was hit with a less lethal projectile lost his right eye in January. This happened to two protesters young people in Santa Ana Well, at least they didn't die. That should be a huge comfort to them and a petty price to pay for exercising their First Amendment rights together and protest what we have here on the consent calendar for goodness sakes item 35 is a recipe for more of that Surveillance drones, tactical single shot launchers, pepper ball launchers. This is essentially a declaration of war against your own constituents.
We do not consent. First put this on the regular agenda like normal humans. Next, withhold everything that the sheriff wants until he signs a behavioral contract to comply with every part of the Center for Policing Equity's principles for crowd management which includes but not limited to affirming the First Amendment rights of peaceful demonstrators regularly retraining all officers and current de-escalation practices showing up in regular uniforms not riot gear and wearing full identification.
Not deploying impact projectiles into a crowd for any purpose. LAPD is now barred from using foam rounds in protest, never using less lethal weapons against peaceful crowds and those who are not posing any immediate threat as for the drones. Representative Jimmy Gomez has introduced H.R. 4759, Ban Military Drones for Spying on Civilians Act. L.A.'s City Council has unanimously approved a resolution endorsing this legislation with one member stating spying on people engaged in peaceful protest is unconstitutional dangerous and a direct attack on democracy I ask that you pass a similar resolution forbidding the sheriff from using such use of the drones, which shouldn't be an issue since they are only being used as he's advertised.
The responsibility for heinous injuries both to civil rights and to human bodies ultimately rests on you. Please do better. Thank you.
0:47 – 0:5314 turns
Thank you for that comment. Mr. Clerk, any other public comments on consent?
Chair Garrell there are no additional requests to speak on
the consent agenda. All
right thank
you. Are there any,
Roll-call vote Passed 5–0 · via vote board Moved by Matt LaVere · Seconded by Kelly Long approve consent agenda items 9 through 23 26 to 31 and 33 through 38 that has been
Show transcript
Thank you we're gonna go to agenda item number seven which is minutes of the meeting, the previous meeting and special districts is there a motion?
Item number 7 motion to approve move by Supervisor Parvin seconded by Supervisor LaVere please vote. That passes unanimously thank you
Great, thank you. Agenda item number eight general public comments. Mr. Clerk can you post the public comment information and are there any public comments? Stand by
There are currently six requests to speak for general public comment. I'd like to read the script as a reminder to members of the public who wish to address the board today with public comments 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 are 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. Requests to make public comments 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 is your turn to speak.
For all public comments, the in-person speakers present in the boardroom 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 item but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board may be moved to the end of the meeting.
Thank you. Let's take those public comments in order if we could
The first public speaker will be Brandy Gray, followed by Laura Schwab and David Luff.
Hello, everyone. I'm Brandi Gray, Executive Director with Global Women's Foundation and Vanda Brothers. And first of all, I'd like to really thank Janice Parvin and Ventura County for the letter of support for supporting the veterans and the mental health in solving homelessness It's been a long time coming for the veterans and we were just awarded that the chip grant to be able to build out of 42 bed. Peer respite center here in Ventura, Ventura County so really appreciate your support definitely and looking forward to working with you guys county contract I believe is the next step Thank you guys very much for your help and support and look forward to working with you more.
Okay, the next public commenter will be Laura Schwab followed by David Luff and Joseph Ramirez
Good morning, Board of Supervisors. My name is Laura and I'm a 37 year resident and I'm here to share my concerns about the dangerous unsafe serious matter for farm workers. It's regarding the Ventura Ranch 328 high density farm worker apartment complex that was recently approved by the Planning Commission Farmworker housing should not be built in an extreme high fire zone.
CEQA states it cannot be built in an extreme high severity fire zone. Why did the applicant request to be exempt from CEQAs and why was that honored? The area from Ventura Ranch site all the way down to Stanley Avenue is already has already approved a 154 units and the old Avenue school property was just awarded to the Ventura housing authority who will remodel the entire parcel to housing in the coming years adding even more density and potential for gridlock during an emergency on the Avenue. What safe evacuation plan is in place for residents to exit the entire Ojai Corridor and Ventura Avenue safely? In the event of an emergency, if there's fire flames smoke panicked people and confusion and severe life-threatening danger.
How will the people evacuate safely? How did each of you do and how did the Thomas Fire affect all of you? Just yesterday from the Ojai Corridor heading into Ventura, there was a traffic gridlock caused by one tree being trimmed. This was not an emergency situation but many people were delayed by an hour arriving to work late and arriving to their medical appointments late. Please I urge you not To build the farmworker housing at the Ventura Ranch, which is in an extreme high fire zone and an already congested area. Please go to the Ventura Ranch to view for yourselves the close hillsides you can see how dangerous a fire would be and the one lane highway and no sidewalks See all of the dangers that are present there.
Please keep our precious farm workers safe and please do the right thing. Thank you so much.
0:53 – 1:016 turns
The next public commentary is David Love, followed by Joseph Ramirez and Holly
Asla. Good morning board. My name is David and I'm a resident of District 1, and you might already know that because unfortunately I had to drive past probably half a dozen flock security automatic license plate reader cameras so we're kind of living in a surveillance state as it is I'm speaking on items 36 and 37 regarding the VersaTerm contract, multiple millions of dollars that are going to be used for the public funds to in effect circumvent our Fourth Amendment rights to be secure in our person and effects.
Now, the courts have ruled consistently that the government is not a surveillance state and cannot mass surveil its citizens. However, they have blindly allowed companies like Flock Security Systems to engage in that very same activity and local law enforcement agencies have been able to establish an unholy alliance with Flock in order to circumvent our constitutional rights.
Now, this VersaTerm contract is going to be the same scenario where law enforcement is going to benefit from the fruit of the forbidden tree in direct violation if not the letter of our constitutional protections but certainly the spirit of our constitutional protections. So, I would ask that you defer your consent on the items 36 and 37 and put those to a fully public vetted process. We need transparency with regard to these matters.
Now in closing, I'm sure you're all familiar with George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984. We've all read it. I would caution you that is a cautionary tale It's not a how to handbook. Thank you very much.
The next public commenter is Joseph Ramirez, followed by Holly Aslop and Bruce McVicker on Zoom.
Hi, good morning. My name is Joseph Ramirez and I'm speaking about sidewalks and streetlights for the unincorporated area of Ventura County. In a given year the discretionary spending for the unincorporated area is roughly six to ten million dollars and the sidewalks and street lights come from discretionary spending they are not from the general fund or budgeted item for those unincoporated areas The need in El Rio Del Norte area is $5 million. The need in Saticoy, regional expansion $4.2 million.
Nyland Acres $3.5. Casita Springs $2.8. My proposal has been contributed to each district. Everyone has a copy on the board. These pertain to the sidewalks and streetlights, and the time to submit a grant to do that instead of using discretionary spending is about a month. May 26th is the deadline for the grant. I would be happy to put together the grant. There's a special portal that I don't have access to And that with access to that portal I would be able to write the grant otherwise the county has its grant writer.
That is due by May 26 if they submit a grant for this because the unincorporated area is impoverished and that they qualify based on low to moderate income, the grant will more than likely be approved and that the sidewalks and streetlights for the unincorporated areas would be provided in that that affects safety sidewalks I'm going out to go get groceries and I'm walking.
And so the proposal is pretty short each page of it there are less than 10 pages each page has about a paragraph to just sort It will establish the administrative logic for unified submission across multiple high-priority unincorporated county plan areas. Thank you.
The next public commenter is Holly Aslop, followed by Bruce McVicker on Zoom and Siddharth Mehrotra.
Good morning I'm Holly Alsop nothing personal I'm really excited about what's happening with the Bond One Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program in Ventura County. So this was a measure that the citizens of the whole state of California passed to help house and treat those that are suffering from behavioral health issues, that includes mental health, drug use, drug abuse etc., so that we can prevent death and provide housing for those that need it the most I would really like to see the County of Ventura set aside the Behavioral Health Service Act funds to fund these projects that are all across Ventura County. They are required to have a 30-year encumbrance, meaning they have to provide services for 30 years and you could guarantee that Ventura County residents have access to the services that they need.
You could set aside an RFP or a grant. It's very simple to do but restricted only for the awardees so that it's not competing through all services, but just for those that are going to have the infrastructure and particularly I'm in a lot of favor of peer respites. Um, Ventura County is grossly underserved for behavioral health services and peer respites act as the buffer between the emergency rooms and more restrictive mental health residential treatment centers. And oftentimes they have a much higher success rate for those that go through the stabilization because they are talking to someone who's been through it before.
And when you meet your peer it is much easier to trust them and know that this process could possibly work for you The other part that I want to say again is that Ventura County also has a high death rate of homelessness. Five people die every day and one of those five people happened to be a veteran who served our country. So I think it's imperative for the board to support those organizations that went through the process and won a very highly competitive grant award to support Ventura County in its behavioral health services. And so I'm asking for the Board of Supervisors to consider a motion to set aside funds from the Behavioral Health Services Act and create an RFP as quickly as possible because these programs are rolling out in January 2027 and beyond.
Thank you so much.
1:01 – 1:076 turns
Our next public commenter will be Bruce McVicker on Zoom.
Morning, can you hear me?
Yes we can hear you please proceed.
Okay thank you the Guarantee Clause in Article 4 Section 4 of the U.S Constitution states The United States shall guarantee every state in the union a Republican form of government. In this context, Republican does not refer to a political party. It requires that the federal government ensure each state maintains a structure of government opposed to a monarchy aristocracy or pure direct democracy which typically devolves into a majority tyranny. A republic is a representative democracy where power from the people elected officials trained by Separation of powers and the rule of law. Laws are passed by the elected officials to reflect the will of the majority with safeguards for individual and minority rights. California would likely lose four to six US out seats in electoral college votes under a hypothetical census that counted only citizens for a portion.
Citizens in not sanctuary states who follow federal law have had their voting power diluted, One state stealing from another is unethical and arguably unconstitutional. California could at least assist the DOJ in cleaning up the California registration list, but they won't. They are fighting the lawsuit brought by the DOJ to provide the list. What is the California Secretary of State hiding?
The motor voter law enacted by the SOS allows people getting a driver license to register to vote and does not guarantee that their citizens are otherwise ineligible. There are no verification mechanisms in place. Voting rights and privileges are reserved for US citizens under the Constitution, illegal aliens and others are specifically restricted from voting. How many ineligible people are on the Ventura County voter rolls?
Unite for Freedom published a California 2024 general validity chart showing a 30.6% registration error rate, 34.6 vote error rate and the 35.1% total election error rate. These are really high numbers how much does Ventura County contribute? JD Vance's Fraud Task Force and citizen journalists have been exposing fraud throughout the country now have descended on California These journalists are exposing massive fraud in the hospice service industry and election fraud. They have exposed organization registering voters by paying random people with money and drugs registered to forge signatures on voter registration lists, this is very disturbing.
In California there are 24 million registered voters 60% of these are likely Democrat and 40% Republican. California congressional house through gerrymandering Mr. McNichol, your three minutes are up. Thank you for your comment.
Our next speaker is Siddharth Mehrotra on Zoom.
Thank you, Supervisors. Thank you everyone. I will keep things simple. I am here to agree with nearly all the previous commenters in all they have said and respectfully disagree with Mr. McVicker on principle and at all points If I have anything to say, it is this. We are not doing enough in this county to protect our people either from military occupation which calls itself a customs enforcement agency or from the environmental crisis we ourselves have caused over the past 30 odd years.
These two are the principal threats at present besides the mental health troubles we have so sadly neglected Enough has been said about those. Something has been said about the first of the other two and something more undoubtedly will be said about the third, but we must do more about that law. We must indeed permit what is called plug-in solar panels on every household.
We must give people who cannot afford these things the money they need for it and the plans We must give them all the support they need to convert to clean energy so we are not paralyzed by the incessant oil wars. Thus far environmental protection and a little more, we must give up the practice of throwing away trash as well. We are running out of space. Recycling has become difficult.
We are virtually drowning in our possessions, those of us who have it thus far as for the ice occupation that must end we cannot live under the boots of these self-appointed governors or whatever they used to call themselves any longer They are mistreating us every day and we are nearly, we appeal to you for protection board from these two three threats. And we shall appeal to you again and again as long as that is the only power remaining to us.
That is all.
1:07 – 1:146 turns
Thank you
very much. Thank you everyone for your comments and
let's move to agenda item number 39 and that is brought forward by Supervisor Long
All right, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I am really excited to have here today the Pacifica High School varsity football team with us this morning along with Principal Ramirez and Coach Mike Moon we have Eric Diaz, Marcus Alford, Mark Brando, Bondo's, sorry. And Agustin Castellanada, which I'm totally screwing up because I'm just rushing through it. I'm so excited you guys are here. So I apologize. I even know that Mayor MacArthur is in the house. So he's here supporting from the city of Oxnard. We're all here and I just want to say that we are really proud to recognize and honor this team for their 2025 CIF Southern Regional Division 1A and the CIF Southern Section Division 3 football championships. That is huge you had to for this win the league, the regional and the sectional and that's huge I just have to say it's Showing up every day and making sure you're doing the hard work and just fighting, that's just impressive.
I mean these student athletes have demonstrated what it means to represent their school and community with pride. Their hard work perseverance and sportsmanship have brought pride to the County of Ventura And the city of Oxnard and serves as an inspiration to young athletes throughout the areas. I also want to acknowledge the dedication of the coaching staff.
The families and school leadership who have supported these players every step of the way. Success like this is truly a team effort both off and on the field. My dad was a professional football player, played for Buffalo Bills and so forth. The amount of dedication to get to where you are, The small, small percent that actually makes it all away is amazing. But this is where you're starting.
And this is not just the only step that you're going to get throughout this life. So I just want to let you also know, did you know that Ventura County Pacifica has the first public school football state champions? And that was in 2019. So there's a proud legacy here that I just wanted to make sure we share and acknowledge. We have one of the photos here and at this time I'd like to welcome up the principal of Pacifica High School, Chris Ramirez.
Come on down.
Thank you guys. I thank you for the kind words and thank you all for inviting us here today and allowing me to say something because, to us our program isn't just about football. You see there's more than that to us and I think there's a little secret that makes us successful here and it's about how these coaches here that I have It's the small things that they do along the way. You see their priority and their main goal is not just football, but it's to teach our students the importance of building character, of giving back to their school community, of giving back to the broader community of Oxnard and Ventura County See, we focus on not just the athletics but also the academics. It's about teaching the kids to win out on the field but also off the field and it's the small things that matter to us the most.
The relationships that we build, the networking that we do, um the heart that we pour into our program into our school and I think that's what makes our program, our school a little special and I think that's why we're on this winning streak. It is the hours upon hours that the coaches give back to the students And the amount of energy that they pour into them to ensure that there are successful every day academically, athletics and everything else they want to strive to do.
So I thank you for recognizing that with that. I do want to invite my coach here Mike Moon who leads our program coming up Mr. Mike Moon. And then just hearing this guy speak and what he says is you there's a reason why our boys are run through walls for him, but it's come on. All
right, give my turn really appreciate you guys bringing us here today and to recognize us I do remember coming back here in 2019 when we did win the state championship Really, really an honor to be here. We got recognized by the city about a month ago and it's a bigger honor obviously from the county so this has been really great kind of reiterating everything what he said is we really do feel like we've built something special I thought he was going to say but he kind of alluded to it we really are family.
I mean, our principal is the boss man. He helps us as part of our family and those types of things. Our coaches are amazing the hours they put into it. We're not one of those schools that these guys get paid a ton of money like some of these other high school programs around Southern California. They do it for the love of the game to do it for more importantly, the love of the kids he talked about what they do in the classroom. I think the amount of kids that we send to college tells you that doesn't matter how good fat big fast tall you are. If you're not getting done in the classroom, you're not going to get to college and do those things. So I just really, really proud of that. I do want to say it was a big part of what we do as a family.
We talk about the family supporting us, but let's be honest. It's about the kids and for a group to win back-to-back CIF championships, back-to back Southern California Regional Bowl Championships says something. I know, you know years ago there were some private schools that did similar things but for a public school on the east side of Oxnard to do that two years in a row and win three championships in a six-year span says something about the young men that we have so I'm honored to coach them. I'm honored to work for Mr. Ramirez. I am honored to work with these coaches and I'm honored to be recognized today for what this team and these young men have done.
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It's our first time, so I don't know.
So is there anyone else who would like to speak? I just wanted to give this opportunity. Any of you? I mean it's a great way to do public speaking. I wasn't good at it at first either.
How about our quarterback
Taylor
Lee?
Thank you guys for having us. You know, we had a great year back-to-back CIF championships. Thank you for all the coaches what they've done here, all my teammates, principal Chris Ramirez, all the parents just we had a great year this year and hopefully running back next year. Thank you
guys. I just want to say thank you, Kevin Long for recognizing us a part of your district. You do amazing work as well and to each and every one of you continue the hard work that you guys do for our county much appreciated.
Thank you. Supervisors, any comments? With that I just think it's super amazing and the complexity of what you have to do to get things done on and off the field is really impressive in one to just make sure we brought you here today to celebrate with you. And we'd like to ask you to come to the dais. We're gonna come down. I've got a proclamation here and we're gonna present that to you and do a little photo op if that's okay with y'all. Okay, come on down.
Always fun. Before we go to the item number 40, I'm going to ask the county CEO to clear up some remarks that might have been made during public comment.
Thank you Mr. Chair happy to do so. So I just want to address the comments regarding homeless people dying per year in Ventura County what was stated is that five people die every day and one of five are veterans and just to be clear the MEO report the medical examiner's report that's a person who logs all these They claimed 1,931 deaths across all of Ventura County in a year.
That is not homeless. So in 2024 the homeless death count was 88. In 2025 the previous year 23 it was 139 the year before that it was 157 I do want to also add that this county supported by this board has made significant strides and addressing homelessness We just set our point in time count January and the results were a 28% decrease for the past 3 years that is phenomenal. And that is not done alone. That's done by the work of our community development team along with their homeless liaison unit that go out on a regular basis help with backpack medicine that's provided by ambulatory care at our health care agency built rapport and trust with individuals to help them go into emergency housing like shelters Thank you so much for the opportunity to clear that up, Mr.
Chair
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Yeah, thank you Dr. Johnson. Appreciate you clarifying the record. Item number agenda item number 40 Supervisor Lopez. Thank you.
Thank you Chair. Today I have the pleasure of bringing forward a proclamation for Earth Day in Ventura County and this year we recognize the unique designation that we have here locally as the Channel Islands Biosphere Region so I want to invite Ken Owen from the Channel Islands Restoration and Dr. Joe Cahill from the Ventura Botanical Gardens to present, I think they have a presentation but as they come up, Ken and Joe are here representing a larger coalition of diverse groups stakeholders that have come together to support the man and the biosphere designation that our area has held since the 1970s The designation highlights the interconnection between humans and our environment, and it is about promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.
This is also an international recognition of our county along our region from UNESCO, our coastal communities and our unique region. It demonstrates to visitors and locals what a unique area we live in so with that I want to invite the two speakers to come up and share a little bit more about the Channel Islands Biosphere Region or maybe it's Sean Hastings Who is coming up so uh Sean is with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Thank you, Sean.
Thank you, thank you Supervisor Lopez. Good morning Chair, good morning Board of Supervisors. A little just switch up to provide a quick overview could not have said it any better than the way you summarized that we are all living in the Channel Islands Biosphere Region and while we all recognize that and know that locally because we live and thrive here our economy is dependent on a healthy environment The international community decades ago recognized the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the Channel Islands National Park offshore as a biosphere region.
Again, Sean Hastings I'm with NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. And when I first started here about 30 years ago I had no idea that we were part of an internationally designated special place. I know why we are. And over the last 20 years 25 years I've learned what it means to be part of a biosphere region In 2016, we had the opportunity to expand the biosphere region from offshore to bring it onshore because and again this is obvious to everyone in this room. We are connected to our to this place from the islands to the channel to our mainland next slide please And so as Supervisor Lopez, do I have the control? Oh there it is. Thank you. So well summarized what is a biosphere region and again under the United Nations and their UNESCO program is the Man of the Biosphere Program.
There are over 700 biosphere regions designated globally 27 within the United States I think, again it's obvious to us why we're special. But what this recognition does is it brings international attention to this region and again it's not just an emphasis on how biodiverse and how healthy our ecosystems are but it's how healthy our communities are and that the interconnectedness between our communities and these places. These are non-regulatory designations they don't come with any international oversight And what I like about this program is it's governed by us, it's governed from within and recognized internationally. Next slide please.
And so this is the biosphere region as it exists here in Channel Islands. Again we have our offshore islands, the national park lands and the National Marine Sanctuary waters around them and then on the mainland encompassing the front range of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties are our state beaches, our state parks and our coastal communities And this is what was missing from our biosphere region a decade ago were people. We were just an offshore site and while that is the core and the true health of our region, we needed to envelop and expand to include the coastal communities dependent on the channel dependent on the coastal resources as well as looking inland And so since 2016 this is this is your our biosphere region.
Next next year 2027 we have an opportunity to review all that we're doing all that the county is achieving with sustainable agriculture and sustainable development as well as environmental protection. Next slide please. And it offers an opportunity to not only showcase to the world why we are special, but an opportunity to revisit what more do we need to do?
How do we flesh out not just the map but engage our communities and real importantly engage visitors to our region that they if you. If you're from out of the United States, you know what a Biosphere Region is and they choose to come here. That's not really widely known within the U.S., but let's bring our international tourists to these regions, to Channel Islands and the other regions and have them understand and celebrate what we do here which again summarizes collaboration connection and the ability to scale successful programs that the county is doing, we want to understand as the feds offshore and vice versa. And then make that connection so with that thank you so much for the recognition what an honor to be here on behalf of the coalition that we've created that's still growing.
We have an interim steering committee and we invite any organization that lives and thrives in this region to join this effort. So thank you very much
Thank you so much, Sean and thank you to everyone. I also learned about this designation through Sean actually about two years ago. So that it was very timely to recognize this work in this effort as we celebrate and recognize Earth Day this month. And as you mentioned the steering committee has been meeting alternating meetings between Santa Barbara and Ventura Just had a meeting last week in Santa Barbara and I believe the next meeting in June perhaps, might be off on the timing. Will be scheduled here in Ventura so appreciate the work that all of you have done and I believe we also have a few other members from the committee?
We do. Several members here. I invite them to come up if they have anything to share.
Yes
please do. And thank you for sending Amy on behalf of the county to represent it's been very helpful.
Yes, thank you and I think the invitation goes out to anyone else who wants to be a part of this conversation. Other representatives that have been a part of the meetings include naval-based Ventura County representatives, commercial fishing, the Santa Barbara Zoo, Cal State Channel Islands and so the invitation is really out there for anyone else who wants to be a part of this process especially as we prepare for the redesignation in the coming years. All right, so with that if there's any other members who just want to come up and please introduce yourselves at minimum. And we do have a proclamation for you.
Yeah, good morning. Just really briefly I'm Ken Owen executive director of Channel Islands Restoration so we do habitat restoration in Ventura Santa Barbara County and out on the Channel Islands. So we thought we were a good fit for the biosphere region and it's not just conservation organizations that are involved with it but commercial fishing like you said Supervisor Lopez and other groups like the military and everyone who has an interest in Sustainable development and use of our whole amazing region that we all love and cherish. But this shows that it's loved and cherished outside of our region by the international community, so thank you for this recognition.
Great, thank you and I think Carla Mena from Los Padres Forest Watch is also here. So I would like to invite anyone else to come up for the picture so please stay up here Ken and we'll come down and take the photo with all of you. Thank you
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Okay, moving on to agenda item number 41 also Supervisor Lopez.
Thank you chair this next proclamation is does it proclaiming the month of April 2026 as Arts Culture and Creativity Month in Ventura County? It is an annual statewide celebration that was first established by the California State Legislature in 2019 and it is about bringing joy inspiring action empowering our counties capacity Arts and culture drive local economic growth, stimulate business activity, create jobs and workforce opportunities and serve as essential pillars for small businesses. So we do have a PowerPoint or a slide that will just kind of rotate with some images. And the reason why is because today I'm proud to bring forward And celebrate the very recent designation of the downtown ox art cultural district designated by the California Arts Council.
That was just a designated or approved in December and Two weeks ago, there was a really incredible launch in downtown Oxnard. So we have some speakers so I will start by inviting David Yoshitomi the arts and cultural manager for the county to provide some opening remarks and then and we can see some of the images of why this designation was made possible.
Thank you very much Supervisor Lopez. Good morning Chair Gorel, Supervisors, Dr. Johnson. I'm very happy to be here to celebrate Arts Culture and Creativity Month here. It's an exciting month for the arts and culture sector here. As a supervisor as you were mentioning it is a statewide recognition celebrating the economic and social impact of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy across the state here. This year's theme is Boundless Culture and Creativity and it celebrates the role of creative expression and its power to celebrate and connect communities here. And I think there's no better appropriate time to recognize the exciting moment that we're experiencing here in Ventura County recognizing the Oxnard, Downtown Oxnard Cultural District here which is the first cultural district, not only in Ventura County but also in the central coast here.
So it joins and I think there's 10 new cultural districts across the state primarily concentrated in northern and southern California. I'm sorry Los Angeles and San Diego so we are the dot on the map in between those areas here with Oxnard being The community there and what it does is it attracts attention to our communities here. And one of the things about cultural districts is they don't happen overnight, and this is not to discount the hard work that went into the application here, but culture just doesn't happen because of the hard work and the dedication of the communities and the artists and the cultural bearers and the arts organizations Decades of work providing arts and cultural services to the community here often without recognition, often without adequate resources.
But they do it because they love their community because they support their cultural backgrounds because they understand the value of culture and they present these wonderful events here to the community here so It's an exciting moment where they're still building the program out and I'm excited to share a little bit, have them share more about the program here. So first and foremost, I'd like to introduce Mayor Luis MacArthur from the City of Oxnard to talk about the Cultural District.
What a beautiful opening. Thank you. Oxnard has just dominated this morning. Thank you, Supervisor. Chair Gural, thank you for the kind invitation to have us here and good morning all supervisors Dr. Johnson, Jose, good morning. It's just really really an honor for me as the mayor of Oxnard to come here before you And not only, you know, seeing our Pacific High School being recognized but also our arts community that is so dear to me personally. But from the images here that were provided by the OPAC and others who contributed it's just an absolutely an honor for me to be here.
Just wrote some notes down to share with you. Oxnard's official recognition as a California's cultural district by the California Arts Council is a prestigious statewide honor that celebrates the people, places and creative talents that contribute to our community's unique character as you're seeing from these images here. Out of 74 applications submitted across the state of California, only 10 districts received this distinguished recognition.
Carolyn Mullen, the Executive Director of OPAC who will be speaking after me served as a lead applicant and a key coordinator in this successful initiative working closely with artists cultural organizations in downtown Oxford Improvement Association enabled us here to speak as well in the city of Oxford to promote this vision This designation acknowledges both the community's deep-rooted heritage and its vibrant creative spirit ranging from Oxnard's renowned music legacy, to historic sites like the Heritage Square. It also highlights the dynamic new creative venues shaping our future, such as Teatro de las Americas Open Door Studios Chapter 30 Creative Studios and others along with ambitious projects like the proposed 33 acre Campus Park project.
This achievement is built on the groundwork laid by community leaders and cultural pioneers who believed in downtown Oxnard artistic potential long before statewide recognition it have never given up The designation offers exciting opportunities including $10,000 in statewide funding, technical assistance and increased visibility across California. OPAC through Carolyn's leadership will continue to play a vital role in managing the cultural district ensuring it remains inclusive artist focus integrated into the community fabric. And so I'm just honored to be here accepting this proclamation. Thank you Supervisor Vinay for doing this. Thank you.
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Thank you mayor and next up we have Carolyn Mullen, the executive director of the Oxnard Performing Arts Center.
Yeah good morning thank you so much for having us this has been decades in the making cultural planning in 2009 and community charrettes and it's just amazing that we've been able to pull all the partners together to make this happen and I feel redundant with all the images on the screen but I invite you all to come take a tour of the Cultural District I mean this is yes for Oxnard but it is for our county And this is going to be transformative in terms of tourism and economic development, its ripples will affect the entire county.
But Oxnard is just so special, right? Largest city in the county, the most diverse, and there's so much layered history in downtown from the Japanese-American experience to the immigrant community to our Oaxacanos restaurants and markets to the music scene, legends like Madlib and Anderson .Paak and hip hop Our punk rock scene, Nardcore which is huge in Japan I hear.
You know you can walk down the boulevard and hear trios just performing or the mariachis rehearsing in our parking structure. Oxnard is just oozing arts and culture and I'm just so excited that the state of California was able to see downtown Oxnard through our eyes and I thank you again for this designation it means a tremendous amount.
Thank you Carolyn and next we have Abel Magana the Executive Director of the Downtown Oxnard Association. My former boss too.
Good morning, Chair Gorel and Supervisor Lopez and all members. Also along with myself today is my colleague Sarah Morales. I wanted to say thank you very much first of all for this honor to be here with you today to accept this proclamation really just to receive the flowers are so well deserved for the artists and the creators in our community I serve as the Executive Director of the Downtown Association of Business and Property Owners, and they are a long time we've been working to revitalize downtown but there's always been the foundation there. The people who work so hard who have been part of the culture in the history of the community when we talk about the heart of the city you know it's not just uh it is not just a cliche it is actually So true that the city, the city center is how we are defined as a community.
And every day you feel it in terms of the heritage, the love of the craft at these artists and creators put into their work. And we sometimes take it for granted. So, it's wonderful that we are here today actually to take a moment to celebrate and also as to echo the comments of my colleagues here these images that we see around us here on the PowerPoint are the things that bring people to the downtown to make them feel sense of place and sense of community. I invite you to also take part in that too hope that you can come to experience the downtown soon with us. And again, thank you so much for this honor and we look forward to the thank you so much for everything that you do in V&A. I so look forward also to seeing you again and thank you for all the support that you have provided.
Great, thank you. And so these three representatives are accepting a proclamation today just given the amount of work that it has taken to get to this point and it wasn't overnight. I think Carolyn said it's been decades long and people who have been committed from the beginning who haven't given up on downtown Oxford to ensure that it is a thriving place for our entire county.
And so with that, we do have a special treat before we come down with the proclamation. We have Togen Daiko, the Japanese drumming group who want to give a brief performance. So thank you so much for being here!
So yes, thank you very much. We are Togan Daiko out of the Oxnard Buddhist Temple and it's a honor and pleasure. We were asked by Carolyn to show up and she actually took taiko lessons from us and that's how we met each other. And so I would like to mention that yeah, we're the oldest Taiko group in Ventura County and this month we're gonna be celebrating our 30th anniversary Go ahead.
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Thank you so much. That was just barely a taste, I was expecting it to be a little bit longer! But that's just a teaser to ensure we go out and support and see the work that you do. So again thank you all. We have the proclamation so we'll do a photo down there.
All right, thank you. We are now going to skip forward to agenda item number 45 that's presentation proclaiming April 13th through the 19th 2026 as public safety telecommunications week in Ventura County we're gonna be recognizing some local heroes I'm very excited about this So as I mentioned today, we recognize April 13th through 19th as Public Safety Telecommunications Week in Ventura County.
At this time, I'd like to invite a few people up to the microphone to get us started. Please join me up here. I'd like to invite Allison Ramble, Sheriff's Communications Center Dispatcher of the Year. I'd like to invite Taylor Zillman, Ventura County Fire Dispatcher of the Year. Aaron Brokus, Assistant Sheriff Communications Manager and Allison Testa, Supervising Public Safety Dispatcher please come on down.
This board is excited to join in the recognition and celebration of this amazing public service. Our 9-1-1 dispatchers are often the first point of contact or very often the first point of contact in any emergency, the calm voice on the other end of the line when somebody is experiencing one of the worst moments of their life Their ability to remain steady under pressure, gather critical information and direct help quickly can truly mean the difference between life and death. You know that very well.
The telecommunicators of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office and Fire Department are highly trained professionals who work around the clock ensuring that help is always within reach. While their work is often behind the scenes, their impact is felt across the entire community. They are an essential part of our public safety system and a critical link between residents and first responders.
This week gives us an opportunity to recognize and thank all of our telecommunicators for their dedication, their professionalism, and their life-saving service. Today, we are especially proud to recognize Allison and Taylor as Dispatchers of the Year for their outstanding work and commitment to our community in our county. I'd now like to invite Aaron Brockes and Allison Testa to share a few remarks please.
Thank you so much for having us, as you do every year. Good morning to everyone. I do want to give you a little background on something that Allison has recently done for us here in the Sheriff's Office and actually the community of Ventura County. Recently at the Thousand Oaks Mall an 18-year old female victim was with a friend when an unknown male attempted to pull her pants down from behind. The suspect immediately fled and the victim called the police.
Deputies were unable to locate the suspect. Allison used various databases and her keen skills to identify the suspect, his vehicle and match the clothing he was wearing with the Oaks Mall security footage all from her desk in Ventura. She also determined the suspect was on parole, required to register as a sex offender and had GPS monitoring which placed him at the mall at the time of the incident.
Her curiosity and strong investigative skills not only led to the identification of the suspect but also likely prevented him from victimizing others in the future. And we're very proud to have her on our team. I want to give you a little bit of better sense of who Allison is as an individual. Not only she's amazing telecommunications dispatcher with the Sheriff's Office, she is one of three girls raised by two loving parents who are still together after 40 years.
Allison's hobbies include working out, reading and snowboarding but the love for her life is her quarter horse Rosie. Allison and Rosie plan on competing in the near future, and the Sheriff's Communications Center wishes her the best of luck. And a huge congratulations for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department Dispatcher of the Year 2026.
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Good morning, honorable members of the Board of Supervisors. My name is Allison Testa and I am privileged to be a supervisor with the Ventura County Regional Fire Communication Center. I'm here today to present our Dispatcher of the Year and recognize an individual who represents the highest standards of public safety communications for our community and its valued citizens.
Taylor Zillman exemplifies the high standards of professionalism skills and dedication needed within the fire communication center. His impact on our center has been consistently positive, both operationally and culturally. And Taylor routinely exceeds expectations demonstrating a level of performance, reliability and initiative that sets him apart. Taylor has repeatedly proven himself during major incidents notably this past year with the Canyon incident taking on complex roles with confidence accuracy and calm leadership.
His experience with aircraft and resource ordering has been invaluable during high pressure operations, and he has established himself as a go-to resource in these areas. Supervisors and peers alike routinely seek Taylor out for his knowledge, his problem solving ability, and his guidance in challenging situations. He is dependable to show up when the center's demands are high, and his work strengthens our teams and improves response outcomes every single shift for our citizens that he serves.
In addition to his operational excellence, Taylor is committed to representing our agency beyond his daily duties. He took the initiative to seek out and join a CAL FIRE team contributing to a large-scale impact of state resource ordering process when areas are impacted by the devastation of wildfires. Within his first assignment, Taylor received praise and accolades from his leader and proved he was a positive representation of the Ventura County Fire Department.
Additionally, his involvement in our training center reflects the same dedication to growth mentorship and professionalism and development. Taylor invests in others by supporting new dispatchers sharing his technical experience and modeling calm confident decision making something we can only hope to reflect more of when training new dispatchers while making them feel welcome to our team Taylor's performance consistently goes beyond what is expected of a dispatcher. He never hesitates to step up, take on additional responsibility or support his team.
Whether handling critical incidents, providing training or ensuring operational success, Taylor approaches every task with humility, integrity and a commitment to excellence. For these reasons and for the positive influence he has on our operations, our team and our mission it is my honor to present to you Taylor Zillman as our Regional Fire Communication Center Dispatcher of the Year.
And with that I want to thank the Board for recognizing the vital role of dispatchers in public safety and our continued support. Thank You
Well this is fantastic. Before we invite everyone to come down and take a photograph and present some individual certificates and a tele telecommunications week certificate I just want to say that we're really proud and honored to recognize you. We know that 9-1-1 dispatchers have, you know the stakes are high life and death. And we know that because there's been movies made about the day in the life of a 9-11 dispatcher including recently with Jake Kuykendall right?
I can guarantee you there will never be a movie made about the day in the life of a county supervisor from the 2nd District. What you do is truly impactful and it's fantastic and saves lives so thank you very much. We're going to come on down take a picture, we'd invite our leadership which we've got here and all of those public safety team to come on down and take a picture with this great group.
All right, thank you. That was heartwarming. We're going to pivot back to agenda item number 42 at this point again a presentation from Supervisor Lopez
It's my last one chair promise. All right, well it last meeting we talked about housing and we'll continue on that topic of housing with the proclamation for April 2026 as Fair Housing Month in Ventura County. The Fair Housing Act was enacted in 1968 and it was so vital to prohibit discrimination in housing based on race color religion And with that, we are very fortunate to have the Ventura County Board of Supervisors Coastal Association of Realtors here who are committed to that very same practice in ensuring that we have fair housing in Ventura County. So with that, I would like to invite Jerry Becker the president of the Ventura County Coastal Association of Realtors to share a little bit about your work and I believe an event that is coming up to continue on this commitment.
Yes, thank you Supervisor Lopez. Good morning Chair Gorrell and members of the board Matt Levere staff Dr. Johnson thank you so much for having us here again I'm Jerry Becker thank you and I am the president for 2026 of Ventura County Coastal Association Realtors And on behalf of VCCAR, I want to sincerely thank you for this proclamation recognizing April as Fair Housing Month.
Fair housing is not just a legal requirement. It is a commitment to ensuring that every member of our community has equal access to housing opportunities free from discrimination, to offer fairness, dignity and inclusion Realtors, we do take this very seriously. Through ongoing education, advocacy and daily practice we uphold the principles of the Fair Housing Act and promote equal opportunity for all in every transaction that we touch. We appreciate the county's leadership in recognizing the importance of fair housing and in supporting efforts that help build a more inclusive and equitable community.
We would also like to invite each of you, our community. Invite your staff at large to our second annual Fair Housing Forum which will be hosted in partnership with the City of Ventura next Wednesday at the Museum of Ventura County. We will be discussing current issues, best practices and ways we can continue working together to expand access and opportunity. Lunch will be provided And we'd love to have you as part of the conversation. Please register at VC Realtors dot com or City of Ventura dot gov.
And again, thank you for this honor and for your partnership in advancing fair housing for all. Thank you so much.
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Thank you, Jerry. And thank you, Rob, for reaching out and ensuring that especially with hosting a forum that your work doesn't just stay within your individual capacity but that it is it is a commitment countywide to ensure this. So with that we have a proclamation that will come down and take a photo with you. And if you want invite anyone else up to join us as well.
Sure, I'd love to invite Rob our Government Affairs Director and another member Rick Uchich to please come up. It's Yuditch.
Thank you.
It looks like agenda item number 43 is up right now, thank you and that is mine. Today we recognize April as Autism Acceptance Month in Ventura County and at this time I'd like to invite to the podium the following individuals Ashley Pope, the Board President for Autism Society of Ventura County And Brian Schumacher, the Advocacy and Community Impact Manager for Autism Society in Ventura County.
I'll say that very few families have not been affected by autism that I'm aware of that I know of including my own. This month is a reminder to foster greater understanding and to ensure that individuals are seen, valued and supported in every part of our community. Acceptance means creating spaces where people feel they belong, where their strengths are recognized, and where they have the opportunity to live full and meaningful lives. Here in Ventura County we're committed to building a community that is welcoming, inclusive, and supportive of individuals and families. We are grateful for the families, caregivers, educators and advocates who show up every day with compassion, patience and dedication.
We also want to recognize the Autism Society of Ventura County for their leadership in providing resources advocacy and connection and for helping to build a stronger more inclusive community. I'd now like to invite Ashley Pope and Brian Schumacher to make a few remarks. Thank you Ashley.
Thank you so much for having us today. Good morning Chair Gorel, Supervisors and Ventura County staff. My name is Ashley Pope and I'm here today as the President of Autism Society Ventura County. Also welcoming all of you all here today is Megan Meadows our Executive Director as well as thank you so much for introducing Brian Schumacher our Advocacy and Community Impact Manager.
I'm proud to accept this proclamation on behalf of Autism Society Ventura County. Our Board of Directors, our Advocacy Committee and our dedicated staff. I am also proud to accept this proclamation on behalf of the many autistic residents who call Ventura County home and the families like mine, families who love someone with autism. Thank you so much for recognizing April as Autism Acceptance Month.
According to CDC one in 31 children in the United States will be diagnosed with autism Autism is lifelong. Here in Ventura County there are thousands of individuals and families navigating complex education systems, working to access health care systems that were not built with them in mind, paving the way for more inclusive employment pathways and advocating for understanding accessibility and opportunity they do so with remarkable resilience Autistic individuals are part of every aspect of our community. They are the artists, engineers, entrepreneurs, students, public servants, neighbors and friends.
The autism spectrum is vast. Some individuals require daily support some live independently. Some communicate in alternative ways without spoken language. At Autism Society Ventura County we advocate for a fully inclusive Ventura County across the lifespan and regardless of where a person falls on the autism spectrum. Acceptance means creating systems that work for autistic community members, it means building environments where autistic individuals are welcomed valued and able to participate in ways that are meaningful to them It means being intentional about leading with accessibility, dignity and respect as core values.
One of the most visible examples of acceptance in action is our Ought to Run at CSUCI on Sunday, April 26th. This year is our 14th annual and you are all invited to join us. This event brings together over 4,000 community members to celebrate the beauty and diversity of the autism community. We invite each of you and the entire community to join us at CSUCI on Sunday, April 26th It's a powerful reminder that inclusion is not abstract, it is community in motion.
Registration is available at ought2run.org. That's A-U-T the number two run R-U N dot org for walkers runners and volunteers ASVC is deeply committed to advocacy, education and connection. Over the last year we have expanded our trainings to include an autism friendly business certification program expanding throughout Ventura County very soon inclusive parks and recreation training for cities and a civic engagement curriculum for students with extensive support needs We have also had great success in expanding our programs to reach every city in Ventura County, something we've wanted to do for a very long time.
We are proud of this progress and the partnerships that make it possible as a county your policy funding priorities and leadership set the tone across systems behavioral health medical care public safety housing transportation education and workforce development. We recognize that you oversee a lot These systems intersect in the daily lives of individuals and families in the autism community. When the County of Ventura prioritizes inclusion, it strengthens outcomes not only for individuals with autism but for our entire community.
We look forward to continuing to partner with you to move toward lasting acceptance and systemic inclusion. For more information about ASVC programs and supports, please visit autismventura.org or to learn more or get directly in contact with us you can reach out at advocacyatautismventura.org Thank you again so much for the proclamation and for your leadership
Thank you very much for being here today and for your words and for your leadership in this space. Are there any comments by any other board members today?
I'd like to make a quick comment. Yeah, Supervisor Parvin. I really appreciate the work you've done. I have seen tremendous growth as far as helping the individuals in Ventura County that are trying to process all of this. And I appreciate that you're meeting with city representatives, too, because they're building parks in their cities and we need to make sure they they're doing it right.
So I really, really appreciate it. And now I know I was involved in one of your events in Simi Valley and it was a very rainy day, but you really had a great turnout. So look forward to your next event coming up on April 26th.
Yes. We'd love to see you out there and thank you. We're looking forward to more parks, new park.
Thank you very much we like to come down now and take a photograph with you and proclaim April as Autism Acceptance Month in Ventura County We're going to
move to agenda item number 44 that's being brought forward by Supervisor Parvin.
Thank you. First of all, thank you for waiting two hours for this moment. We are celebrating 55 years of the Free Clinic in Simi Valley. Can I have the Executive Director Fred Baumeister and the President of the Free Clinic Board of Directors Maggie Kessley come forward? I'm gonna talk about you for a minute Today we recognize an extraordinary milestone for an organization that has quietly and compassionately transformed lives across the community. I want to make a point of the fact that this is actually last month, and I'm like, we missed their anniversary, and that's not going to happen. I'm glad I brought him back today when we're doing a marathon of proclamations.
For more than 55 years of the free clinic in Simi Valley, they have stood as the beacon of hope. As individuals too by the way not just your organization providing critical medical care counseling and support to those who need it most. All while also shaping the next generation of health care professionals, providing an opportunity for them to train. It's wonderful. This proclamation honors not only its legacy of service but the countless individuals whose dedication has made that legacy possible. Now would you like to say a few words?
Fred.
I guess
we've waited 2 hours.
So
you've had time
to kind
of thank you
come up with something. Thank you, Supervisor Permanent and and church girl and suit and said Johnson CEO. Thank you. So I was sitting out here and I was sorry didn't bring any slides or a drum kit or anything But I wanted to say a couple of words and maybe tell a brief story about our partnership with the County of Ventura. You all know that our services are possible because of the generosity of the County of Ventura, because you provide us space at 2003 Royal Avenue. Now most of you are too young but I want you to imagine going back 55 years Let's make it less than that, 52 years. So 1973.
Now at that time the Free Clinic of Scenic Valley was on Tapo Street and the county had services at 2003. They had public health was there, they had mental health services, they had social services there and they had a general medical clinic there And the Free Clinic of Senior Valley was just getting off the ground and we needed all the support we could get. And the County of Ventura stepped up, and they said Fred you can, we'll be happy to supply you with some exam gloves, exam table papers things like that that you might need is the disposable supplies will be able to get you in if you don't mind. We'll just deliver that to 2003 Royal Avenue where we have our county programs.
You can pick it up there and take it over to your clinic on Tapo. And I did that regularly. And over the years, I got to know the staff there and they were very friendly to me. In fact, I walked in the back door like I belong there. It was great. And everything was going great until one day they stopped me and they said Fred we have a problem we want to talk to you about. I want to remind you this is 1973.
I didn't look as distinguished as I appear before you today And so they said, Fred, we got a complaint from somebody. They said that they saw a hippie walking into the back of the county facility removing supplies putting him in their car and driving them to the free clinic on Tapo Street. I said guilty. I always remember that as I walk in the door to this day to that same building through that same door. I always remember that story and I reflect on our partnership and how much appreciation the Free Clinic of Senior Valley has for the support of the County of Ventura. Thank you for this proclamation we're happy to be here for 55 years, we're going to continue moving forward with your support and thank you again. And i'm here with Maggie Maggie, would you like to say
a few words? It is an honor to stand before you and thank you for what you have done for the free clinic. And what's really remarkable is to be able to say for 55 years we have offered anyone who walks through our doors The ability to get the care that they deserve regardless of who they are and whether they can afford it or not. We never turn anyone down, we have seen more patients and we have done that with volunteer support but we have also done that because of the partnerships that we have and I can't even begin to thank every member of this board for what you have done for the free clinic and a new home that we have. Thank you.
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Well, I want to thank you for many reasons. But one of them is that recently we've seen an uptick in legal requests for legal services and they do offer those services as well, which is really I mean aside from all of the other things you offer so appreciate that we have a phone number to give these people to get that help some. Thank you any other comments?
We speak about what you do so often in my office. I really would like to say thank you also for your continued dedication of the tattoo removal clinics. I really appreciate that it's such a help for the community and Brian Miller, of course is high to both of you can't be here today but just really appreciate all that you're doing. Thank you.
Any other comments? All right let's get a photo and give you your proclamation
All right we've been jumping around a little bit this morning we have 2 more items left on these proclamations presentations are going to go to 47 right now's presentation. Proclaiming the month of April 2026 as child abuse prevention month in Ventura County. As mentioned, we recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month a time to raise awareness and reaffirm our shared responsibility to protect children.
I would like to invite right now up to the podium Dr. Kathleen Van de Twerp and the Executive Director of the Partnership for Safe Families and Communities Child Abuse Prevention Council to the podium. Good morning. Child abuse and neglect remain serious issues in this community. In Ventura County alone, thousands of calls are made each year to report concerns and hundreds of families receive services every month. We also know the abuse that can be multi-generational which makes early intervention and prevention critical to breaking these cycles of violence and strengthening families. Prevention works when we invest in families through family resource centers and strong community support systems. It's my honor, we are grateful for the many organizations and partners in Ventura County who are doing this work every day and making a difference in the lives of children and families.
So I'd like to invite Dr. Venator to make some comments.
Good morning, I'm actually going to start. Okay please do. Thank you Chair Goral members of the board Dr Johnson my name is Salida Dabrowski and the director of public health nursing for Ventura County Public Health. I also have the honor of serving as the board president for the partnership for safe families and communities The county's designated Child Abuse Prevention Council.
As you know, April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and we believe that every child deserves to grow up in a safe nurturing and loving environment where they can thrive and one where parents receive the support and resources they need. Ventura County is taking a leading role in California with our child youth and family wellness system. Our vision is to create an integrated system of care by aligning government, community, families and partners to maximize wellness and quality of life so children youth and their families are safe healthy and educated with a sense of belonging purpose and an opportunity to achieve their aspirations.
This means that every door will be a right door for families to ask for the support they need without blame, shame or fear to keep their family strong and together. This collaborative effort includes several county departments including public health, behavioral health, ambulatory care and children and family services as well as many other partners throughout our community. The partnership for safe families and communities is also a key partner in the wellness system So with that, I would like to turn it over to Dr. Van Antwerp, the executive director for the partnership.
Good morning, good morning. Such an honor to be here and to see all of you. And thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support you've given the Partnership for Safe Families and Communities. We are Ventura County's designated Child Abuse Prevention Council. And what many folks don't know is that by California law every county in the state of California must have a child abuse prevention council And we are yours, we have been yours for 40 years. The mission of the Child Abuse Prevention Council which goes by the acronym CAPC, the mission is to create safe healthy peaceful families that mission alone speaks volumes our work directly impacts our communities every day and because communities are made up of families and families are made up of individuals the work we do impacts every one of us We're excited to say that the work we do is to link, lift and leverage prevention and strengthening family activities.
And we do this on a national, a state, a regional and a local level. And I just wanted to provide a small example of what we do in each of those arenas so that you have a better understanding of the work we're doing on behalf of our county. On a national level, tomorrow we're presenting at a national conference and it is called Family Voices Matter. And our parent voice and our youth voice which is made of people with lived experience will be presenting our models to other states throughout our world. It's exciting!
On a state level, we work closely with the Office of Child Abuse Prevention. We work with one of our exciting programs is our network of care model and that is with Ventura County's probation agency. We provide what we call community-based alternatives to incarceration. We work with hundreds of youth and their families to keep them out of our justice system and provide them with the support, the resources, and the education tools that their families can strengthen and move down a path that is healthy and safe.
On a regional level, we work with our coastal Tri-Counties Child Abuse Prevention Councils that encompasses Santa Barbara and Ventura and San Luis Obispo. And the purpose of that collaborative is because we recognize our families may move up and down our coast and we want to make sure that they're supported, strengthened and surrounded by resources wherever they are in our tri-county area And locally, Salida had already described our wellness system. And we work very closely with our human services agency, our Child Protective and Family Service Agency to make sure that all of our programs are lifted and linked together. And we leverage our time to make sure Ventura County's families are strong. So we thank you so much for this honor today, but most importantly, for your time in understanding who we are and supporting the work that we do.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, thank you very much as a former criminal prosecutor here in Ventura County. Those were the most difficult cases very emotional very heartbreaking so we're all very grateful of what you do and your leadership in the community on this and there any comments from the board to me for like we would be honored to present this proclamation to you declaring April 2026 is Child Abuse Prevention Month in Ventura County will come on down.
Thank you
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This is item, let me see what item we're on now. 46, 46? Not yet okay well let us let it oh yeah that's right okay so standby to stand by. We've got one more of 46 and this is a proclamation for the month of April as the sexual assault awareness month. We recognize April is sexual assault awareness month in Ventura County, and I'd like to invite to the podium the Coalition for Family Harmony Executive Director Dr. Caroline Pregital Sutton who just saw last week or earlier this week last week At the domestic violence ribbon cutting and coordinator Melissa a Patsy during my time as a prosecutor here in Ventura County. I handled some sexual assault cases, and I saw firsthand the lasting impact on victims. And how critical it is that we support survivors and hold perpetrators accountable to stop these cycles of violence.
Here in Ventura County, organizations like Coalition for Family Harmony are providing vital trauma-informed support to survivors and helping them navigate the path forward. Prevention matters. Through education, awareness and a shared commitment to creating a community rooted in respect and safety. We all have a role to play in supporting survivors and working to end sexual assault.
And with this I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Preetjatel Sutton. Thank you.
Thank you so much and good morning Board of Supervisors, Chair Garrell and CEO Dr. Johnson thank you for having us this morning yes last week we opened a shelter and this week we are here to focus on the other part of our mission which is our Rape Crisis Center and our sexual assault response team. Having a rape crisis center in your community in the coalition is the only rape crisis center in Ventura County means that approximately 300 survivors of sexual assault and rape are cared for every single year.
It means they're offered services that are holistic, they involve therapy 24-7 advocacy crisis response 24-7 legal advocacy support groups Really making sure that their case is managed, that we are collaborating with forensic nurses, law enforcement, the district attorney's office to make sure that they have a successful outcome and that they are cared for and they are healed.
This past year with deep budget cuts many of our sister agencies across the state of California have had to cut their hours or close their doors And we are resolute in maintaining a 24-7 status, making sure that our doors stay open. Making sure that this option is available for Ventura County residents and for the community because survivors really deserve to be cared for and heard.
Oftentimes we hear what can we do to support raise awareness talk about the rape crisis center in Ventura County. Come to our fundraiser on April 29th at Spanish Hills and celebrate what we do and be able to hear what we're going to do in the future so with that I hand off to Melissa Patsy she is our sexual assault response team coordinator and one of our amazing team members who works with survivors every single day 24 7
Thank you. I would like to thank Chair Gurrell, CEO Dr. Johnson and the entire Board of Supervisors for the opportunity to proclaim April 2026 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Like Caroline mentioned, I am the sexual assault response team coordinator at Coalition for Family Harmony. In 2025, our rape crisis advocates provided more than 1,000 individual services to more than 300 survivors of sexual violence. So about one per day if you think about it and in doing so help them regain a sense of independence and autonomy by supporting their healing journey.
However I want to emphasize that these are more than just numbers on paper these are real people with real stories This proclamation allows us to give voice to every survivor in our community and I'll tell you just about two that we saw out of those 300. A woman in her 20s who had moved to California and what better place than Ventura County because she loved the beach so much.
And I held her hand as she talked to law enforcement about the man who had sexually assaulted her over the course of an entire night. And every time that she became a little overwhelmed, she would take a deep breath and tell herself you know what at least I can go surfing after this is all over. Or the eight-year-old girl who I attended a forensic exam with after she was sexually assaulted by a trusted family member. Her mom had promised her that she would take her to go get ice cream afterwards and she wanted to know if her new friend Melissa would be able to come with.
These are people that we likely deal with every day in our workplaces, in our local coffee shops and even in our neighborhood and they deserve to feel heard and supported by their community It was an honor to be awarded the Justice for Victims Award last year by Ventura County District Attorney Eric Nazarenko for our Rape Crisis Advocates Commitment to Empowering Victims of Violence. We are also so grateful to work with the Ventura County District Attorney Advocates who we saw earlier this morning Our sex crime detectives, forensic nurses, Family Justice Center and other community partners to provide victims of sexual violence with trauma informed support that aids in their healing process.
Proclaiming April a Sexual Assault Awareness Month shows survivors of sexual violence that we as a community recognize their struggles and we are committed to putting an end to generational cycles of violence. Sexual Assault Awareness Month is an opportunity to educate our community on safer sex practices, including the importance of respecting consent, identifying unhealthy relationship dynamics and disrupting a culture that tells survivors to be silent about sexual violence.
You may be thinking, how can I help? We need our Board of Supervisors to lend us their voice in advocating for victims of sexual violence as we've seen today. Men in the room and elsewhere, we need you as allies. Your wives, your mothers, your children, your family and your community need you to stand up against violence. Speak up when you hear sexist victim-blaming jokes that propel rape culture and help us create a safer environment for our youth.
Parents teach your kids about consent and not just the importance of giving or asking for consent, but the importance of being able to accept a no from somebody else. Together through advocacy and education grounded in compassion for survivors we can become proactive allies for our survivors of sexual violence in Ventura County. Thank you so much for your support.
Thank you so much. Can we give a round of applause to these amazing folks? You know raising awareness is the least that we can do here at the Board of Supervisors and we want to make sure that you have all the resources and support that you need for the amazing work you're doing on the front lines of this. So, we'd love to come down and take a photograph with you and to present this proclamation thank you Okay we're going to ask folks to start coming in and please take a seat if you'd like. We're moving over now to agenda item number 48, and I'm gonna hand the reins over to two esteemed leaders Danielle Keys and our own Dr. Johnson to lead item 48.
Good morning Good morning chair Guerrero, board members CEO Dr. Johnson I'm Danielle Keys your County Human Resources Director here to celebrate our continuous years of service on behalf of your board we present 24 County of Ventura employees to be recognized for reaching continuous service milestones of 25 30 and 35 years during the fourth quarter of 2025 We will display each person's photos and say a few words about them.
And for the honorees that are in the room, when we call your name please come to the front of the room receive your certificate and stay at the front so that we can take a group photo at the conclusion of the presentation. So with that we will get started with our first honoree Ida Calzada for 25 years of service Ida is recognized for 25 years of dedicated service within the homeless services program. Throughout her career, Ida has provided steady and compassionate support to clients and colleagues contributing meaningfully to the Human Services Agency known for kindness warmth and reliability. Ida fosters trust and comfort in every interaction and is highly valued by those who work with her Thank you, Ida for 25 years of service to our community.
Congratulations.
Next we'll recognize Anitha Balan, 25 years Public Works Agency. Across 25 years with Ventura County, Anita has held a wide range of key roles within public works, culminating in her appointment as director in 2023. A registered civil engineer, her career reflects enduring technical expertise, trusted leadership and a strong commitment to public service. Congratulations on your 25 years of dedicated service!
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Next we'll recognize Brenda Mendoza for 25 years with the Human Services Agency. Brenda demonstrates steady dedication to her team and consistently delivers exceptional customer service. Through her supportive approach and strong work ethic, she fosters positive working relationships and contributes to a collaborative environment. Brenda's professionalism and commitment strengthen the team's effectiveness and reflect dependability service focused values. Thank you Brenda for 25 years of service to the people of Ventura County. Congratulations.
Next, we'd like to recognize Cecilia Escoto, 25 years Healthcare Agency. Cecilia has contributed 25 years of dedicated services to WIC families, bringing professionalism, teamwork and steady leadership to her work. Her commitment has made a meaningful difference for the family she supports and for our organization. We appreciate her positive presence and value all she continues to bring to the team. Thank you Cecilia for your 25 years of services to our community.
Next we'll recognize Eric Blewell for 25 years with County Council. Eric is recognized for his dedication, versatility and strong support to county council since 2000. His trial assistance technical skill and positive teamwork have strengthened countless projects colleagues value his reliability enthusiasm and the meaningful connections he builds throughout the office thank you eric for 25 years of service to the people of Ventura County
Next we'd like to recognize Ezekiel Tovar, 25 years Human Services Agency. Ezekiel demonstrates consistent dedication and integrity in supporting the VCSC clerical team with a steady work ethic and professional approach Ezekiel contributes to positive collaborative environment Ezekiel's dependable performance and commitment enhance the team's overall effectiveness. Thank you for your service and dedication to the county of Ventura.
Next, we'll recognize Gina Hurkle for 25 years with the Department of Child Support Services. Gina serves as a Customer Service Representative Supervisor in the Department of Child Support Services Call Center, leading a team of seven. With 25 years of service to Ventura County, Gina has been dedicated been a dedicated advocate for children and families and continues to be a valued member of the department. Congratulations Gina on 25 years of dedicated service!
Next, we'd like to recognize Grace Sepulveda, 25 years Human Services Agency. Grace has dedicated 25 years to the Human Services Agency providing steady support and a reliable presence for colleagues and the community. Her tenure reflects her commitment and the meaningful contributions she continues to bring to the organization. Congratulations on 25 years of dedication to the families of Ventura County.
Next, we'll recognize Jennifer Thaler for 25 years with Animal Services. Jennifer has dedicated 25 years to Ventura County Animal Services, advancing to supervising officer and earning multiple professional certifications. A skilled responder and equine specialist she is respected for her steady leadership compassion and unwavering commitment to community service. Congratulations Jennifer and thank you for your service.
Next we'd like to recognize Maria Ibarra, 25 years Human Services Agency. Maria is recognized for 25 years of dedicated service within Children and Family Services. Her kindness, generosity and steady support have had made a meaningful impact. Maria consistently goes above and beyond contributing positivity and reliability that strengthen her team and the workplace as a whole. Thank you for your 25 years of service and dedication.
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Next we'll recognize Maria Lafitte for 25 years with the Healthcare Agency. Maria began her career in 1984 as a student worker in clinic and dental services. After becoming a nurse in 1989, she advanced through roles including senior RN and clinical coordinator later serving in multiple specialty clinics. She now serves as charge nurse in immunology marking 37 years of service. Thank you Maria for 25 years of service to the people of Ventura County. Congratulations.
Next we'd like to recognize Mai Le, 25 years Public Works Agency. Mai began with the Department of Child Support Services and has spent more than two decades in the Public Works Agency's Fiscal Division. After starting at Accounts Payable, she advanced into roles leading to her current position as Senior Accountant providing essential support to the Watershed Protection District and its Internal Service Fund. Congratulations Mai on your 25 years of dedicated service!
And next we will recognize Michelle Yamaguchi for 25 years with the Auditor-Controller's Office. Michelle began her career with the Public Works Agency and later joined the CEO budget and finance team as an analyst. She became Chief Deputy Auditor Controller in 2014 overseeing property tax, and now serves as Assistant Auditor Controller guiding the department's operations with dedication. Thank you Michelle for your commitment to serving Ventura County.
Next we'll recognize Netza Ortega, 25 years Human Services Agency. NETSA is recognized for 25 years of dedicated service. From early contributions and office support to becoming an essential part of the organization's technical foundation, NETSA has played a key role in advancing daily operations. His commitment to the profession including work on collective bargaining and modernizing job descriptions reflects deep expertise and lasting impact. Thank you for 25 years of dedication to public service.
Next we'll recognize Rachelle Dean for 25 years with the District Attorney's Office. Rachelle joined the District Attorney's Office in 2000 and has served as a trial attorney, supervising attorney and now Chief Deputy since 2021. She leads several key units and launched the Courthouse Facility Dog Program. Her dedication leadership and long-standing commitment to the community continue to make a meaningful impact. Congratulations Rachelle on 25 years of outstanding dedication in public service.
Next we'll recognize Rainy Hufalar, 25 years healthcare agency. Rainy has been a dedicated nurse for 25 years offering steady compassionate support to patients and colleagues. Rainy's commitment to teamwork and positive presence make a meaningful difference within the unit. Thank you for your 25 years of dedicated service.
Next we'll recognize Wendell Ho for 25 years with the Public Works Agency. Quindell began his county career as a public works inspector conducting construction inspections across Ventura County. After advancing through design and construction roles, he joined the stormwater department as a water quality analyst before returning to design and construction where he now serves as senior public works inspector. Congratulations on your 25 years of dedicated service!
I'll note we are now at 30 years of service and the first up is Aaron Brockes, 30 years Sheriff's Office. Assistant Sheriff's Communications Center Manager Erin Brockes began her career as a dispatcher in 1995 and has guided the center through major changes including new computer systems, 911 cell tower routing and text-to-911 implementation. She also leads the department's Peer Support Committee providing support resources for staff after challenging calls. Congratulations and thank you for your dedication to public service and safety.
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Next we'll recognize Sergeant Joseph Mulrooney for 30 years with the Sheriff's Office. During his 30-year career, Joe served in custody patrol investigations court services and the major crimes unit later promoting to sergeant. He worked at the main jail court services and Thousand Oaks Patrol before concluding his career at the Camarillo Police Station. Thank you for 30 years of service to our community.
Next we'd like to recognize Martha Hernandez, 30 years Human Services Agency. Martha has devoted 30 years to serving the county beginning in 1996 with a job training partnership act And continuing through WEA and the WEO programs. She has supported countless individuals in achieving stability and opportunity. Now part of the Client Navigation Program, Martha is valued for her calm presence, dedication, and unwavering commitment to helping others transform their lives. Thank you for 30 years of dedication to public service.
Next, we will recognize Rose Munoz for 30 years with the Healthcare Agency. Rose began her career in EMS extra help and soon advanced into full-time roles across multiple county agencies including the Auditor Controller's Office, Human Services Agency and Health Care Agency. She warmly supported operations and contributed to the introduction of interventional radiology and the development of the new hospital wing. Congratulations Rose on reaching your milestone in this in your career congratulations.
Next, we'd like to recognize Sean Eskridge 30 years Sheriff's Office. Senior Deputy Sean Eskridge has served Ventura County in a variety of key roles across detention services and patrol services, including field training officer, school resource officer, court services supervisor and East Valley Jail Supervisor. Sean has valued each assignment throughout his career and remains grateful for the support and partnership of colleagues and supervisors. Congratulations on 30 years of outstanding dedication and public service.
And we are now transitioning to 35 years of service. Let's recognize Jenny Delgado with the Department of Child Support Services. Jenny began her county career in 1990 with the Auditor Controller's Office before joining VCDCSS in 1995. She now serves as a Child Support Financial Distribution Specialist, valued for her expertise and dedication and enjoys spending her free time with her husband children and grandchildren. Congratulations Jenny and thank you for 35 years of service congratulations
And lastly, we'd like to recognize Marie Pokola, 35 years healthcare agency. Marie began her VCMC, Ventura County Medical Center career in 1988 as a registered nurse spending 10 years in the NICU before supporting the emergency department and later serving as clinical nurse manager. She went on to lead the trauma program and ICU DOU teleunits and has since returned to bedside care in the emergency department. Thank you for 35 years of dedicated service.
To date, the careers of these 24 dedicated individuals represents a total of 580 years of county service. Can we give them another round of applause? Thank you and congratulations to all of you. We want to take a moment to thank your board for recognizing these amazing county employees who serve as a wonderful example of dedication to public service so with that, that concludes our presentation we invite the board to take a photo and this group is going to take direction from Diana this way okay? Thank you.
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I want to thank all of our department heads for being here too, showing up for your people. District Attorney Nazarenko, Sheriff Fryoff, John Fankhauser, Nancy Schramm. Thank you all very much for stepping up for your folks. That was a receive and file item, so if I could have a motion to receive and file. Item
Roll-call vote Passed 4–0 · via vote board Moved by Vianey Lopez · Seconded by Janice S. Parvin receive and file · 1 under review
Show transcript
Thank you agenda item number 49 first public hearing regarding an adoption of an ordinance. Let's see I'm going to open the public hearing on this there's a staff presentation Anna Ford please join us at the podium thank you.
Good morning, Chair Gural, members of the Board, CEO Dr. Johnson. I'm Anna Ford with the Classification and Labor Relations Unit. I am before you today to present the following. The Ventura County Employees Retirement Association, VISERA will be adding one new position allocation of a Program Administrator 3 for VISERA's Disability Unit. This was approved by the VISERABoard on January 26th, 2026.
This position will serve as the lead role for Viscera's disability unit providing oversight through added review and specialized expertise in medical claims and legal documentation. We're also placing the Viscera classification of retirement chief technology officer in the unclassified service. This is the first hearing, and a second hearing has been set for April 28th 2026.
The single position classification of Retirement Chief Technology Officer will report directly to the retirement administrator and will be responsible for planning, directing, administering and coordinating the entire scope of technology activities within Viscera and will function as both Viscera's chief information officer in chief information security officer.
Our next item is the recommended to establish two GSA classifications, graphic designer and senior graphic designer. These classification will be responsible for increased complexity in assignments related to multimedia and digital design. Additionally, they will address the expanding need for professional creative services that enhance countywide communications. Establishing these classifications align with the classification principles market standards and internal equity while supporting current and future operational needs.
These classifications were recently approved by the International Union of Operating Engineers or UOE on March 10th 2026 All the recommended items along with the county's strategic priority to attract, hire, develop and retain a diverse workforce empowered to meet the needs of our customers. This concludes my comments and I'm open to any questions you may have regarding our recommendations.
Thank you Ms. Ford. Mr. Clerk are there any public comments on this item? Chair Gerald, there are no requests to speak on this item. Any questions or comments from the Board of Supervisors?
I do,
Chair.
Just a quick question regarding the graphic designers is the work that they would be doing in the future is that something that's just internal or is it internal and external?
It's internal it's for our to serve our departments
okay all right thank you
Any other questions, comments? Okay. I'm gonna close the public hearing and if there are no questions or comments inviting a motion.
Roll-call vote Moved by Levier · Seconded by Kelly Long approve has been
Show transcript
And a very nice to see you up here.
Thank you that passes unanimously, thank you.
Yes, thank you. Okay moving finally into the regular agenda and I appreciate everyone's patience for this especially Mrs. Towner has been holding that football so patiently. I'm about to say hike I think number 50 is a receiving file presentation Amy Towner is here from the Healthcare Foundation please share us the news
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What a morning, good morning Board of Supervisors and County Executive Officer Dr. Savette Johnson thank you so much what an inspiration this morning has been it's been a front row seat to see you know really all the strong sense of togetherness in community And what I'm really happy to share and support, and show the support of our county family. And we're gonna have the same kind of feeling because what we're doing with the Golden Football Challenge is developing that culture of philanthropy. And that's exactly what you're gonna see. I wish the Pacifica football team was still here because I want them to take our football and I want them to send it on over to you too, Supervisor Gorrell.
So this is the fourth year that we've done Golden Football and I can say that it's really grown. It's really developed and people are starting to, you know, it takes a little bit of time. We got to practice just like the football players to win CIF. We're working on CIF in Golden Football We also want to thank everyone for wearing red and thank you Supervisor Long for wearing red today too. You know, this is our one of the kind of how we show up in uniform I think at the County of Ventura and our county employees so I want to thank you for that. And this really is kind of showing our support of our patients and our healthcare agency where it's a very unique system and so it's unification It's a togetherness, it's bringing things together. And I think like Bob Huber's you know his statement I think to his wife was very compelling that at night he gets to go home and he gets to lay his head down because of all that he's given.
And what I can say to all of you and to everyone is that we're seeing the same thing with our county employees They give every single day and yet here they are participating in something really special where everyone has. They count with their participation and that's a pretty special thing so we want to thank everyone because of this, a lot of the impact is We have a lot of equipment vital equipment that comes to serve, you know the community that we serve but also individuals County employees that are receiving care. I especially you know lymph node seeker which is one of the number killers in Ventura County has breast cancer Division winner our large division winner and this one's a hard one public works. Whoa, I mean they show up every single time with such heart and so public works winner was definitely our large pub.
Our large division winner this year. So we want to thank them and Human Services Agency was the runner-up, and General Services Agency was after there. And I have to say these are huge divisions alongside Healthcare Agency. These are people so it's kind of hard in the large divisions to compete. So these are some of the things that we're looking at. So I want to make sure that we work on this next year as well. So Public Works Agency, thank you so much for your participation. We're going to wait after this. We're going to pull everybody up and have them get their golden football here And then our medium division. Now I got to tell you about this medium division, it was a nail biter this year an absolute nail biter Jennifer Garcia from library is here along with her team and they've done an outstanding job rallying their team they've had such heart but I gotta tell you resource management agency I don't know if they're in the house But I will tell you it was a nail biter.
I mean, we get the reports from auditor controller and it was they were ahead and then library would come in and they were ahead. And I mean this whole golden football season has been a nail biter with the with the medium division. So I want to thank them because you can see their heart and it's been a consistent heart with our library division and resource management And then Auditor Controller's Office was right behind us. We wanna thank them and they've had just a solid presence as well.
So our small division, I gotta tell you Board of Supervisors, you guys, you just keep killing it every single year. It was just great this the heart that you've shown up with and County Council, they were coming in hot after you. I gotta tell you County... Yeah, well I and I heard a little bit of that. I did hear a little bit of that Tiffany North and I said listen I guarantee you that the Board of Supervisors would be just fine with you coming in and taking their golden football then because then the competition is a good fun healthy competition and I think that's the other message is that You know, this is a way for us all to participate and you know while there's never ever any pressure. This is all fun This is a lot of fun that does a lot of good so an air pollution control district was right after that So we just want to thank everyone for for participating and we also want to acknowledge Ventura County Credit Union.
So this was a big one for this year, I think two years ago we had an anonymous matching donor in this year. Ventura County Credit Union came in where every single dollar was matched that's huge it's really great. And then we also want to talk about the things that we do that are for free. You know, we want to make sure that everyone knows that we have free estate planning and trust workshops. You know, we have over 230,000 properties in Ventura County only 30,000 of them ever held in trust so let's make sure that we you know really work at attending those estate seminars and estate planning seminars and make sure we secure our future for our children and that's what's going to help create a strong community So if there's ever any questions, please you know anyone can reach out but I want to thank your for you for your continued support.
It's it's a way for us all to come together and and show our spirit and the spirit of cold developing a culture of philanthropy. So thank you.
Yeah Thank You mrs. Towner for everything we do and amazing work and he mentioned any comments from the board
I just really appreciate you rallying and making this a fun event for everybody. Our staff just donates in so many different ways, but to make it fun too is always a blast and the end result is the winners are really our community members that are using our facilities, that are using our hospitals or clinics and so forth. And so I just wanted to say thank you to all of our employees Really making a difference for the whole community and more than just being an employee in the staff It's just means the world.
Thank you.
Yeah,
thank you We'll get your golden footballs and we also have a bag of golden footballs for those winners stress balls that you can hold on to and Appreciate all your participation
Thank you very much for everything you do
yeah
All right, we're going to go down to agenda item 52.
Are they here? Do you need a picture with them or anything? The library is here. I thought okay yeah.
Library's here yeah do what library I don't know Public Works. Should we give photographs? Yeah we should do a photograph so that we get it for next year.
Absolutely absolutely we're coming down to do a photograph of the Golden Football.
And library oh Public Works yay! Oh Public Works is here. You should have spoken up.
3:09 – 3:173 turns
I almost let us miss the photograph. That was near disaster. All right, whenever Supervisor Parvin is ready we are ready to
move to agenda item number 52. Thank
you. Item 52 is to direct staff to review and modernize policies related to community events Temporary food facilities and event organizer criteria. I am been very involved in being going through the temporary food facility training, as well as people on my staff. So we recognize there could be ways to streamline and do some improvements to it. It's interesting how many phone calls I get on environmental health questions because it's really kind of complex As it currently stands, but the current framework was adopted in 2013.
And it's done an important job of protecting public health. I think environmental health does an excellent job. But what we need to do is really update it. We need to over the past decade, our local economy and event landscape have evolved significantly. I'm sure you're getting calls too from non-profit organizations struggling to prove that their nonprofit organizations today at community events are not just gatherings there key drivers of small business growth.
Entrepreneurship and local economic activity, but some of our current requirements will to be designated as a community event organizer such as nonprofit sponsorship or formal proclamations resolutions. They're creating unnecessary barriers. So that's why we want them to review everything and I know that Mister Nichols here and. I spoke with him about this before coming to you but the state law doesn't require those provisions which gives us an opportunity to better align our policies while creating a more accessible environment for small businesses and those emergence emerging entrepreneurs and community groups. And just yesterday as I was kind of looking at this again, She said we're a 501c3 but our 501c3 is held in Illinois, but we represent the company here in Ventura County.
So the fee actually ended up being much more than they really should be paying. But you know again that you have to prove that they are 501 c3 and that takes a little time too. But I mean I would verify it if that would be allowed, but currently it is not. This item would direct staff to evaluate the requirements and return recommendations on how we can modernize our definition and eligibility criteria, while still maintaining strong oversight. That includes considering more flexible approval methods such as maybe a handwritten or an email from a city staff individual within the city. And that's just an example but instead of the formal proclamations because I've seen a few of those come across our Our agendas, whereas we know that they are definitely a nonprofit type organization.
We also want to take a thoughtful look at how we can reduce administrative burdens for both event organizers and county staff while still ensuring appropriate health and safety protections that are in place. The goal is to shift from limiting eligibility to improving how we manage oversight through practical and operational tools. So I'm pretty it was pretty self explanatory in the board letter. It took a long time to kind of figure out how to get what I'm trying to say if you're not familiar with the processing but having gone through the training myself at least two times maybe three, not sure been doing it for awhile I've come across a lot of ways we could make it more improved, but another key component of it is just modernizing our permitting process.
And I know that we approved a software package for environmental health which going to really help a lot. I'm just trying to reduce the amount of paperwork that's required to go through the process and maybe it could all be done online. But at the same time, I want to make sure that we're keeping everyone safe. If you've ever been food poisoned, you totally appreciate the work they do.
And my second date with my husband, I was food poisoned and won't say where but it makes me more appreciative of the rules. Yeah he still did. I brought that up to him the other day in fact when I was working on this But we also, you know, could strengthen and standardize our education and training for the community event organizer and the temporary food facility operators.
Instead of having it just one trainee break it into different modules but moving towards a more targeted category based training model will And this is just study it. Under our current framework, vendors permitted in other counties may be limited in their ability to participate in events here. And there are some of us that are close to county lines see more of that than others.
We're asking staff to explore a pathway that would allow these vendors to participate In permitted community events through the temporary food facility process while still meeting the applicable health and safety requirements and limiting operations to the duration of the event, which I think will work. This could include the mobile food facility being permitted in a neighboring county and being allowed to participate in Ventura County event as a temporary food facility, as long as they have started the permitting process for mobile food facility in Ventura County.
At its core, what I'm trying to achieve and I'm not trying to make this long and really boring because it's not every at the top of everyone's list. But we're trying to make sure that our policies reflect current conditions supporting economic growth reducing unnecessary regulatory barriers improving efficiencies and continuing to uphold our commitment to protecting public health and safety And I'm gonna say it one more time, we have the best department in the world because we're all very healthy. Very rarely do you hear of anything? All I get is calls going why are they making me...
Why is environmental health making me cover my wallpaper in my bathroom with a coating? I get calls like that believe it or not and but it's not very healthy to not have coating on your wallpaper when you're in a restroom So that's why I've become kind of really experienced at this particular process and would like to see some improvements. And with that, if there aren't any speakers on it, I will make a motion for that we move to study this and review and modernize.
3:17 – 3:3711 turns
If I could, I just wanted to say thank you to Supervisor Parvin. We too get a lot of different questions. Some we expect and some we don't expect like the wallpaper. You don't always expect that but there's reasons why we do things and so I wanted to say thank you to our code compliance for all that you do. I think that's really important. We do have rules and regulations out there And so I definitely support this and really want to say thank you for bringing this forward.
Just to kind of follow up on that, I agree our Environmental Health Department does do a really good job and sometimes they're just enforcing rules that either this board or prior boards put in place. And now we look at it and say maybe we can improve that like the proclamation thing when the Boy Scouts call you and say they want to have a pancake breakfast. You know, I don't know if we need to bring a formal proclamation to the board where you all agree that Boy Scouts are A non-profit. So I think these are all three really good ideas for us in the department to explore and ways that we can streamline the process for our customers, but thank you to the EHE Department because they are so effective.
Supervisor Lopez?
Thank you Chair and thank you Supervisor Parvin for bringing this item forward. You clearly must have had, you know antennas in our offices because this is definitely one of the issues and I want to thank Graciela and Charles for their engagement. My office has certainly reached out to them a number of times specifically about these community events and the need for a proclamation so I think this is worthwhile to evaluate and look at how and making sure that we are.
Meeting the intent of this, the community event organizer. Community events in general and making sure that it is an even playing field for small businesses out there and everything so thank you for that. Thank you ahead of time to the Environmental Health Department for looking into this.
And I'll just say ditto, I'm excited to receive back the report, the recommendations, the findings, the assessments because I think there's a lot of opportunity here for streamlining and reducing some bureaucracy that will be helpful for everybody including our own county team. So thank you Supervisor.
Yeah. Thank you again. Thank you was great to have that interaction before bringing this forward with the department. I know they're already making a lot of improvements All right, well I made my motion.
Roll-call vote Passed 5–0 · via vote board Moved by Perkins · Seconded by Kelly Long approve the recommended action has been
Show transcript
Thank you it is now my intention to go to agenda item number 53 which is a receiving file report from the CEO's office on the updates on HR 1 Good afternoon. Good morning still
good morning. Good morning Chair Garrell, members of the Board of Supervisors, Dr. Johnson for the record my name is Michelle Guzman and I am your county's Government Affairs Manager. I appreciate the opportunity today to be able to one give you a few updates but also reiterate all of the good work our county has done in the advocacy space around HR 1 over the past year plus not only for your board's benefit but also for our communities so that they understand how active we have been in this discussion So just a quick overview of what I'm going to cover today. I'll do a quick recap of the impact, this will be reiterating some information that your board received in November. I'm gonna talk about what we did pre-enactment post enactment briefly cover our associations engagement.
We have an upcoming critical window in May so I'll talk a little bit about that and then I'll talk about some recommendations that I have to present to your board Just quickly recapping, my colleagues in the CEO budget and finance team presented to your board on November 18th of 2025. Estimating that due to the impacts of HR 1 we're likely to see a $400 million plus loss for our VCMS, so our medical system.
There's also projected to be a $43 million loss across general fund that's primarily in the Human Services Agency. I want to note that over that six years that estimate does not include a payment error rate. That's what SNAP PER stands for The supplemental, one of the provisions of HR 1 is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also known as SNAP has a payment error rate penalty associated with it coming forth that has not been implemented yet and depending on how it's going to be calculated that could expose us to some additional financial risk there.
Aside from the financial implications, we have done a lot of work to estimate how many individuals we believe that this will impact in our county. While that number is very challenging to pin down in any kind of exact way, we estimate that approximately 77,000 people will be impacted by losing their Medi-Cal coverage not just because HR1 there's an asterisk next to that number because it is also compounded by some proposals and some things that passed in the last state budget. And I'll talk about that momentarily, but I wanted to make sure that was referenced as much as I tried to segment out only HR1 impacts. It is a very dynamic situation and there are a lot of compounding factors.
Can you hit real quick on, you said 23% of Medi-Cal by 2030 so if they aren't enrolled in Medi-Cal then what happens?
So there's currently a freeze on Medi-Cal enrollment for individuals that are undocumented. That was a change as part of the January state budget. If folks are not currently enrolled in Medi-Cal, I think that there might be some challenges due to some of the factors I'll discuss later on in the presentation but essentially we're seeing some challenges not only with new enrollments but also the redetermination and or keeping people on their Medi Cal coverage. Thank you.
And just for reference, behind me I have Roger Robinson and Dan Schneider from the Human Services Agency. So if you have subject matter specific questions they're available. Also Dr. Fankhauser has joined me from the Health Care Agency and Mark Sewell from the CEO Budget and Finance team so I'm happy to invite them up if you have any subject-specific questions.
Aside from the budgetary impact and the numbers, I wanted to just highlight for your board how many people receive services across our county. This information has been pulled from several pieces of advocacy materials that we've shared with our state and federal representatives. But you can see that here of the 830,000 residents in Ventura County one in four receive some kind of service from the Human Services Agency. 256,000 of those are Medi-Cal specifically so that's really important for us to note in this conversation when we talk about impacts.
The other number I wanted to highlight in the figure in front of you is the 72,000 that depend on SNAP again that's our Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which is heavily impacted by provisions of HR 1 On the right side of the slide you'll see just a quick overview of our VCMS system, so the medical system which includes our hospitals but also public and behavioral health.
So you can see a very high percentage of those systems rely on Medi-Cal patients and those are the folks that we're most likely to see come through our doors not only in our two public hospitals but also throughout our clinic system So when we talk about this HR1 picture, while it's going to have reverberating impacts I think across the federal and state government. It also has significant impacts on the county because we are the safety net for these services. We provide the services directly to these individuals and ultimately they're the ones that come through the doors of our emergency rooms which they don't only utilize but also our residents as well so any impact to our hospital system can also have potential larger impacts on the health care system more broadly A quick recap of our pre-enactment engagement, so this was before HR 1 was signed into law.
At the time it was proposed as a budget reconciliation package which is separate from the 12 appropriations bills that go through Congress every year. That was proposed in roughly February of last year and as you can see by the timeline we started advocating then All of the letters here are just noted quickly, but for reference when we say House delegation or Senate delegation that means it has gone to Congressman Carbajal and Congresswoman Brownlee. And then on the Senate side Senator Padilla and Senator Schiff along with any relevant leadership in key committees that are discussing these proposals.
I want to note that on May 13th, we sent a letter specifically to Congressman Carbajal because he sits on the House Agriculture Committee. So you'll see specific references to Congressman Carbajal because of his leadership in that area. We communicate early and often with him because the House Agriculture Committee is the one who determines how SNAP is funded and at what levels. So you'll see some specific references to Congressman Carbajal there. So I wanted to make sure that was clear.
As you can see, we advocated through June all the way up until the bill was signed into law on July 4th of twenty twenty five. So that was our activity that happened before the bill even came into law since then there have been a lot of activities not just by us but our our advocacy associations on November 16th. We talked to Congressman Carpall again Our as I mentioned earlier, your board received a presentation by our CEO budget and finance team as we had gotten together some numbers at that point about what the impacts would be directly to our county.
And then these activities were followed those numbers were then used in advocacy at the state and federal level moving forward. Specifically by our Urban Counties of California Association. They hosted several legislative staff briefings that would help them understand a little bit more about the implications because as complicated as this conversation has been for us to understand, it's equally as complicated for the state and how they can potentially support us or react to these changes themselves.
On February 12th, we went to Sacramento and spoke with Assemblymembers Irwin and Bennett and then met with staff from Pro Tem Lamone and Senator Stern's offices to really kind of drive home the impacts that we were anticipating locally on the county. And that was followed closely by another urban counties interaction with We're also meeting with key staff specifically around the impacts on CalFresh, which again is the state version of the SNAP program. So a lot of significant advocacy throughout Followed by a trip to D.C., which was in conjunction with the NACO Conference, so the National Association of Counties.
We attended meetings directly with Congress members Brownlee, Carbajal and Sherman and also the California Caucus as a group briefed Senators Padilla and Schiff on the impacts of H.R. 1 and other issues that were important to counties. Our CEO, Dr. Johnson went up partially in her role as the vice president of CASE, the CEO Association but also to represent our county as part of Education Day that CSAC hosted and then we have done several letters since then specifically on budget requests. These are in response to the governor's January budget reiterating and stating that HR 1 is our top priority as a county, and that is what we will be advocating the most on over the coming months as we anticipate the June budget passage at the state level.
Can I add also, with the California State Association what's not in some of the dates is all that advocacy. Just want to make sure on the urban counties that is our group of urbans 14 urban counties that create basically the majority of the population for California and we are strongly advocating for all that Michelle's talking about But then in conjunction, we are also working with the California State Association of Counties, which is all 58 counties in which are pushing back on the H.R. and providing guidance as well as the other department associations, health care foundations case. So I just want to make sure that everyone There's an alliance of groups associated with this and I really appreciate Michelle outlining some of the specifics here because this is just the tip trying to advocate so thank you.
Absolutely
and we're going to get to see a little bit more of the iceberg here next uh so just wanted to reference quickly, a lot of the national activity was pre-enactment because again that was when the federal government and our representatives had the most impact on what was being proposed via reconciliation which became HR1 but NACO and the other associated affiliate organizations have stayed incredibly engaged throughout the conversation not just post passage But also to bring counties together to talk about how we are planning to mitigate impacts of HR one and then how we can share information, data and things like technology tools that may assist us in being compliant with these new rules and regulations that we are seeing come through.
I wanted to highlight that starting on October 14th there was a subcommittee of the Human Services and Education Committee that started meeting every two weeks to really kind of share information, particularly across the states where the county administers the SNAP program which California is one of. Not only to talk about the impacts that we were seeing but also how we were starting to work on efforts like reducing our error rate and I just want to shout out to the Human Services Agency Roger Robinson and team. I know he's reported to your board but my understanding is Currently our error rate is at zero. They have worked very hard to make sure that even though we are actively advocating on these issues, we are not pretending like they're going to go away.
We are continuing to pursue best practices and other tools that we can utilize to make sure that we mitigate the impacts as much as possible assuming that we're not able to make any progress on the advocacy front. So I wanted to highlight that for your board. On the state side, as Supervisor Long shared, there is an active coalition of counties. All of our associations are united. You can see the logos there. I'm not going to go through them all but essentially it's every affiliate association that sees themselves as being significantly impacted by H.R. 1.
So I'm going to start off with a little bit of background on this. One kind of story line on this was CSAC coming out with a full budget ask and request for the state legislature in response I'm going to be talking a little bit about what we're doing in terms of fiscal responsibility for safety net programs and from the federal government to states and counties. So really reiterating that this shift is not something that we could have planned for budgeted This just recaps on the left side some of the actions that were taken by this coalition of associations. And again, this is not an exhaustive list it's really just a highlights of the big moments that have happened over the past few months. Again after the governor had released his January budget and there was no additional allocation for HR 1 implementation The county associations have been very active in those discussions.
We have echoed those with our state representatives, they understand the challenges that we're facing however the state is also facing a significant budget shortfall this year to the tune of 18 billion dollars and so really what we've asked for is partnership and our goal has been education and outreach so that they understand if we're not able to mitigate these impacts at the state level Then counties will start seeing these essentially in real life with folks coming through the door without health insurance. This leads to the indigent care issue which is highlighted in the state estimate category to their right.
Just for reference, indigent care refers to our programs that support folks that come into care without insurance. So they come at a cost that the county has to bear the estimate for indigent care statewide provided by CSAC and the affiliates was they estimate that about there will be $761 million impact in the next fiscal year and then that rises to a 2.4 billion dollar impact the year after so essentially what they're noting is that as we see people increase coming through the doors without health care coverage costs will be transferred to counties to that tune over the next few years.
You see similar estimates across the public health care or public hospital system. Those estimates were supported by CAPH, the California Association of Public Hospitals and others. Essentially sharing that with changes to HR one we start to see critical dollars that we have relied on for many, many years being peeled away and we will begin to see our deficits rise.
Same applies for our eligibility workforce so this is in reference to additional redetermination requirements. So essentially making it harder or excuse me, having to provide more documentation in order to recertify someone on these benefits programs. Our Human Services Agency has been active in sharing estimates about what this would mean for us locally at the county but statewide they're anticipating 373 million dollars in the next fiscal year and then 402 the year after that And then lastly, there will also be several impacts to county behavioral health and public health systems. The behavioral health implication is noted there.
But with all again with all of these estimates while we are anticipating that these will be significant to the county Our county agencies are working actively to figure out what we can do locally to make sure that we're providing the best level of care and service, despite the challenges that we see coming through. And our ask to the state is that they partner with us to try to fill the gap essentially that's being created by HR 1.
And given the financial situation at the state level, that is unclear at this time but there will be a couple of opportunities for us to talk about that moving forward.
3:37 – 3:533 turns
But just to go back, you said earlier it was 23% could fall out of Medi-Cal. So we do not get dollar for dollar when we get reimbursed for Medi-Cal I need everyone understand that also if they're not in Medi Cal they have to pay it themselves or the responsibility is on the county so that could be up to a 23% cost increase I just want to make sure we're talking budgets. I appreciate this coming through and I need that information to stick in your head, so thank you absolutely.
So as we've been discussing, there's a few key moments coming up in the next few weeks or excuse me over the course of three weeks starting May 6th. UCC is organized an advocacy day and as Supervisor Long referenced, UCC is Urban Counties of California which represents the 13 urban counties in the state which is the majority of the pop oh it's 14 It's the 14 urban counties across the state which you know roughly make up the majority of the state of California. We are particularly crucial in that conversation for a couple of reasons not only because we are an urban county but because we have a public hospital system which only I think Eight of the urban counties do there's or I'm sorry, 10.
There's 13 public hospital systems left statewide. So we're crucial not only because we're an urban voice in the conversation also because we have a public hospital and we are represented by the now pro tem of the Senate Senator Monique Lamone. And so she understands our county and the makeup of our district very well And we're being seen as leaders in this conversation, not only because of that but because we have a great deal of subject matter expertise across the VCMS system and also our human services agency.
The second opportunity for us to continue work on this issue will be the week that the May revise is released. So that will be sometime the week of May 14th, that will be the governor's excuse me, the governor's revision of his January budget and so that is when we will find out some answers as to if we've moved the needle at all when it comes to having there be a specific pot of money set aside to address the implementation of HR 1.
We meet regularly with our local representative for the governor's office and he has been very open to discussions with us about this. But again, there is a very large budget hole that is going to have to be filled somewhere so we are anticipating that May revision very much so we can really kind of triangulate where we're gonna go next. And then lastly, the CSAC annual conference will happen the week after that. So representatives on this board will be in Sacramento for the CSAC conference. So we have scheduled meetings with our delegation really to follow up on any conversations that that will be discovered from the May revise. So we're looking forward to being able to touch base with our legislative delegation again after the conversations that we had in February And again, reiterate our priorities and the hope that they can partner with us in mitigating some of these issues.
Oops. So just a few things to note we've got ongoing engagement on the federal side with the farm bill again the farm bill is where uh the SNAP program levels of funding are determined and other key provisions I'll just note on the federal advocacy front it's been a bit of a challenge there was an ask from NACO and the other national associations essentially to pause the error rate calculation and then also give us more time to implement the provisions of HR 1. We thought that this was a reasonable ask, basically not to say that the provision shouldn't go forward but essentially just give us more time so that we can make sure we're doing this thoughtfully. That did not make it into the language of the Farm Bill. So we're seeing that as an indicator You know, essentially what we may be able to do going forward.
It has been a very challenging discussion at the federal level to make any progress on these asks that we've made. We continue to monitor the negotiations around the FY27 budget development which again, the Federal Government is still working on one last appropriations bill for 26 and then we're already turning to the 27 budget negotiations So we watch, excuse me, the conversations around that very carefully. And then we are also exploring opportunities for engagement with the administration. The president's budget was released last week and again did not include any changes to HR 1 or any proposals relating to that. In addition, there was a 10% across the board cut for non-defense spending. So we're seeing that as an indicator that again this will likely not be headed in a direction that's positive for us on the health and human services front so we're exploring options that we could potentially pursue to engage there So, our associations have taken a wide view on what we can potentially do.
I've just described a lot of the traditional activities that my office leads on behalf of the county but um we are also looking outside of that again given the gravity of the situation not just for us but counties around the state and the impact to the overall general safety net system so on the left you'll see traditional strategies all of which i've explained very uh you know in detail, but if you want more information on those I'm happy to provide that.
On the right hand side our associations are recommending several add-ons to that so I wanted to provide those to your board just to let you know that the associations are doing an all call for engagement to County Board of Supervisors given everything I've shared and everything that you've seen over the past year this will be this can take the form of several things it can be stories about HR 1 impacts in your newsletters and other communications that you have to your constituents engagement on social media, and then also presentations to stakeholder groups. And with that I just want to acknowledge Gold Coast Health Plan. So Gold Coast Health Plan has been very active as a local partner for us in convening groups for us to really have these conversations not just from the county perspective but also from our community groups, our hospital, our private hospital systems and others so we will continue to do those things as staff just to actively engage with our partner networks, but what that's referring to is additional stakeholder groups that may be interested in this topic or maybe impacted later on down the road.
So just a quick overview of some broader advocacy items that are not necessarily specific to HR 1 but are related. As I mentioned, we're going to continue to monitor the budget development at the federal level. We wrote a letter last year essentially noting that the HHS budget is going to continue exacerbate the issues that we're seeing with HR 1. We will likely have to do the same thing if there are cuts to the HHS budget this year.
We always are looking for opportunities to advocate on DISH, FQHC and 340B so DISH is the Disproportionate Share Hospital Program. We receive significant funding through that program because we support not only uninsured but underinsured populations. FQHC refers to our federally qualified health centers, so that's a portion of our clinic system that receive funding directly from the federal government and then the 340B program is a prescription supplement program where low-income folks will or the hospital receives financial support to provide prescription care to low income individuals that come through So we always look for opportunities to advocate on that but we will double down essentially given that any change to those programs will also exacerbate the issues I've just discussed.
And then at the state level, I think I have talked about most of these but essentially we shared with our delegation that any continued changes to health and human services programs that are brought on by the state will make our situation even more complex So we've referred to things like the Medi-Cal freeze for folks that are undocumented. That was something that the state started, the pause started in January of this year. That will cause our number of uninsured folks to grow within our county. We've talked about the asset limit test which essentially means that folks will have to prove that they make less than or have less than a certain amount of assets in order to qualify These are all things that we've seen throughout time. Even if we do these redetermination measures, it does not necessarily change someone's eligibility.
It just means that there is more hurdles for them to get there. So again being a safety net system, it just means more uninsured folks coming to our hospitals and more and higher levels of care needed once they get there. And then some other budget advocacy that we've done on IHSS and other impacts to the general fund. We'll continue to do those things again with this background of HR 1 impact.
So with that, I recommend that your board receive and file this presentation. That you continue to support the advocacy and engagement that we've done so far this year. And if you are interested in engaging further in some of those other options I've stated, please reach out to my office and be in contact about that. And essentially, I wanted to take this as an opportunity based on the language in the platform. Our strategy is based on supporting a strategy that seeks immediate and incremental modifications. So this is the deferral of penalties and things like that while raising awareness and seeking full repeal.
So if we need to make a change in direction, I wanted to make sure to check in with you at this time and ensure that we're moving in the direction that your board wishes. So with that, I am here for questions.
Michelle, thank you. I just want to take a moment and I appreciate the board putting me on these boards for National Association of Counties, the HSC. I've been put myself onto our snap calls every couple weeks and appreciate all of our staff in the knowledge getting everyone involved even this state when you're talking national they're like oh Thank you so much for joining us.
With USDA, also with California State Associations and UCC in regards to the state. I appreciate Supervisor Lopez going up there and everyone working on their connections of who you know to really get out there. I appreciate the information in regards to dollars. I think it's important when anyone is talking that as one in four of Ventura County is being affected by this.
One and four people. And when you're talking budget, some people just gloss over it. But what that means is service. Service to our community which is so key. We've had a lot of discussions Dr. Johnson I really appreciate picking up the phone so much and understanding because we talk about advocacy. We've agreed on our legislation platforms but there's a lot more to it.
There are some counties that have put taxes on to help their systems. I don't believe we are financially at that level as a community that we can do that. Santa Clara with the Silicon Valley and so forth, that's great but we really need to look at our population and what we can do here. Appreciate CSAC and UCC have hired And and are doing a lot of publication.
I've been myself through a lot of training for how do we draw more attention to this. My vast Michelle to invite our legislative staff and elected to come to our departments And actually see what and who is being affected by this. If you look at the description for IHSS, not everyone gets into that can be granted funding or assistance is less than 1% of our population and those that are most needy.
To be kept at home instead of at a facility where their family can't visit them. There's so many things that go to this in a personal level, it's not just a dollar figure or line item on a budget that we could just cut. State budget is 38%, the state budget is HSA. Forty percent is Prop 98 which is our K through 12 education. So if our state is going to cut funding it's gonna cut at the HSA and that's huge for us you've seen our budget, half of our budget is human health services the other is public safety so even with these cuts I can only foresee that public safety that's an issue that's going to strain them as well And so for that, I really need to ask everyone to advocate and to talk about this. And if you haven't, if you need help understanding where these cuts are from, Michelle's here, Dr.
Johnson, our executives, I really need this to be raised up and so I appreciate being here today because our nonprofits are gonna be affected. Our corporations, our businesses are gonna be affected in one way or another because one in four people in Ventura County are affected. I have asked Graham Canals to come he will be here on May 12th so that we can also join in on the support letter for all counties. We've joined I think every letter that we can to state that we need assistance and help with this.
So I just wanted to make sure everyone understands that. I don't know if there is a it's to continue going on this process, but if there's anything that someone sees that we're not doing please bring it up. I mean this is all hands on deck think out of the box. Bring it to the personal level. If you have things going on in your county, if you could make sure that that's highlighted, I would greatly appreciate it. Anything that we can do to send this message of what these cuts cost is not just fraud, not just error rates. It's not all these other things that, you know, I understand those are important but in the end result, I have two hospitals that if we didn't have them would be crucial for this county.
I have how many clinics that is crucial to this county and do the good work, train the good doctors, treat our community. And so just with everything if we can just please support this and somehow get this message to the governor, I'd really appreciate it. Thank
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you. Supervisor Lopez?
Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Michelle for this presentation. I think it's a good compilation of the work that has been going on and appreciate just seeing it all in one what you have been doing and through supervisor along with her position on CSAC. I think we're probably in one of the better places in terms of having both a state and federal delegation that understands the issues, that their representation is aligned with the values of our community where I don't feel like we have to continuously pressure them.
What I think as you mentioned, one of the points you mentioned Supervisor Long. One of the most valuable things that I think we can do is share those stories with them because that's what they can take with them when they hear a story of a family, a story of an individual and how this is impacting or potentially impacting their lives. I think that goes a longer way than just the general numbers, which I think are just a good reference for everyone and I agree in terms of Helping others understand what is happening.
You know, looking at the graphics that you provided was reminded that I took that as a handout when I went to my protocol visit with the grand jury and left that with them right? And I think that's how we continue to share that information. So, and I also appreciate the alignment that we have both through our membership on the Urban Counties Caucus and our state lobbyists that also staffs the urban counties. So I feel like we get just more value out of that. And so as I see things moving forward I believe that our next meeting we're going to start receiving those individual department budget presentations and this is a good place to go off of as we go into those presentations to understand where those budgetary impacts will be made and what decisions we might have to make on our own because we aren't guaranteed that even though our delegation support us.
So that's what I'm looking at for the next couple of meetings and keeping this in mind. as we make decisions on our budget. And yeah, so what I would say at this point is if there are opportunities beyond the local staff or the state offices I know that the schedules are very limited and the state representatives just went back from their spring recess. But so it's limited to, I think Fridays if not maybe weekends if we can squeeze that in too. I think extended invitation for them to go out and see what is happening and hear directly from our county staff who are Engaging with providing the necessary services on a daily basis to share those stories that they can take back with them to both Sacramento and DC. And I think that has happened already in the past year, especially ahead of H.R.
1 being voted on And signed by the president last summer that those conversations were happening and those stories were being shared with our federal representatives. So I support this work and agree just whatever we can do on our respective ends and through the opportunities that we'll have to engage with our representatives, so thank you.
Supervisor LaVere. Thank you, Chair and thank you Michelle for this update I so appreciate having you quarterbacking all of these efforts It's got to be mind-numbing just all of the work that's being done to advocate for the county And I know that we have incredible Lobbyists both in Sacramento and DC advocating on our behalf. I think moving forward when it comes to further advocacy To me it's a matter of quality not quantity And so I'll really look to you and to our advocates in Sacramento and DC on ways that we as elected officials locally can most effectively advocate for these impacts in Ventura County.
You know how to reach all of us, you do frequently. So just please keep in touch with us and let us know ways that we can be most effective moving forward.
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Thank you. Ms. Guzman has made some recommendations, is there a motion? A second I probably should ask if there's any public comment on this agenda item from the clerk. Chair Gerald there are no requests to speak on this item. Okay thank you we've got a first and second.
Roll-call vote Passed 6–0 · via vote board Moved by Kelly Long · Seconded by Matt LaVere receive and file · 1 under review
Show transcript
Thank you
I'm gonna take up item 56 receive and file the correspondence if there are no questions we'll do a motion. Item
number 56 motion to receive and file correspondence moved by Supervisor Grell seconded by Supervisor Parvin please vote that passes unanimously thank you
Thank you. Agenda item 54, moving now to board and CEO comments. Dr. Johnson?
Thank you Mr. Chair. I will be brief and I'll try to mention nothing that you all are going to mention. So first congratulations to GSA on behalf of the California Counties Facilities Services Association on earning the CCFSA Award of Excellence in Facility Management for 2025 This award demonstrates GSA's proficiency in the core competencies of excellent facility management. The cool thing about this is the application is reviewed by peers, representatives in a different county and so it's actually like a peer review of people who actually do this work every single day and judging you and determining if you meet the criteria.
So they'll be presented with this award this week at their annual meeting for that association in Orange County And just want to say congratulations again and thank you to all the GSA staff that made this recognition possible for the hard and tireless work you do every single day. Next, I want to say thank you to Congressman Carbajal and his team. There is a community project funding request of $3 million for the Ventura County Sheriff's Office aviation technology equipment. And we got notice last week that it's been selected, the project has been selected to move forward for consideration by the subcommittee.
This is not an approval yet, but it's an important next step in the appropriations process. It's highly competitive and it really reflects the strength of that proposal and the benefit to the community so just want to say thank you to Congressman Carbajal and his team for always supporting us advocating for us and bringing resources to Ventura County. It greatly appreciated especially in times like these Next 2023, I'm sorry 2026 Earth Day celebration events at the Government Center in celebration of Earth Day. Bless you GSA is coordinating two Earth Day events one will be on it's going to be at Earth Day Celebration Tour at the Government Center And the other is going to be an electronic waste collection event. So electronic waste is really important, that's where you bring all those old cords and devices that you don't use there in a drawer somewhere that you cannot throw in a trash can.
You cannot do it in a trash can but you can bring them here so look forward to people taking advantage of that. And then lastly fun fun family event and it's free F R E E free This is going to be at the Channel Islands Harbor on Sunday, April 19th. It's the Celebration of Wells Festival from 11 to 3. It's a harbor tradition it's really cool it celebrates the migration of Pacific gray whale and there's all kind of interactive activities education and ocean inspired fun this year like last year they're doing this community arc project they'll do a chalk colorful chalk art and there is like a children's fun zone as well so If you have a free day and want to catch beautiful ocean vibes and do some fun things with your family It's a great event to come out to it's this Sunday from 11 to 3 Thank You.
Mr. Chair that concludes my remarks
Thank You supervisor Lopez
Thank you, Chair. I will start off with a few report backs. I stopped by the Election Advisory Committee last week and just spoke briefly to make myself present to the committee and wanted to highlight just This being an election year, I hope that there is an increased interest and effort in voter engagement and voter participation. And the committee is focused on developing a rubric to use in determining how they consider public comments because there's a lot coming in as we also hear here, here, here in the boardroom And so so they they I think they made some progress in terms of how they will evaluate those issues and what the committee can do.
I also attended the continuum of care meeting, and I think we have all had meetings with staff but at the continuum Care we received a point in time how homeless count presentation with the updated numbers and I know that they're coming to the staff is coming to our board meeting next month or later this month. And we'll be talking a little bit more about that, but just a concern over tying into our last presentation about the federal impacts and potential budgetary decisions that will impede our progress from the federal government, so keeping an eye out for that.
I also want to thank Chief Gardner and Chief Williams who met with me and a resident who we all heard from here at our previous meeting, a resident from Port Wainimi concerned about the storage of lithium-ion batteries at the port of Wainimi And so we had a good conversation with him about the safety measures and the response to any potential fires around lithium-ion batteries. So I want to thank them both for taking the time to meet with me in my office and our resident Greg Ross, and they will be also engaging with some of the homeowner associations out in Port Wayne to also communicate that.
I attended in the last couple of weeks, the Ventura County Office of Education Annual Equity Conference. Really good gathering. I stopped by the presentation by the youth on how to engage with our community and also attended the ribbon cutting for The Hope, The Mission their new thrift store in Oxnard and it was just another great gathering of people looking to serve our community My Youth Advisory Council held their first annual youth civic engagement fair. There were about 144 students who attended and want to thank a number of organizations, I think we had about 20 organizations including some county agencies who participated engaged with the youth there and want to thank the high school Pacifica High School and the principal who was here earlier this morning for hosting the event there I also attended the Water for Education for Latino Leaders, their annual conference in the Central Valley and talked a little bit more about the regional water issues.
I also attended the Cause Power of Assembly and engaged with some of our residents here looking to be more active and involved on decisions locally And I think Chair Garrell will share a little bit more later about the Family Justice Center, Shelter Grand Opening. Four of us were there and want to extend my appreciation to Congressmember Salud Carbajal for his support with that funding to make that possible.
And the Ventura Defense Industry Forum Strategic Alliance had a two-day event at the Oxford Performing Arts Center last week. Chair Gorel provided some opening remarks, so it was great to be there in attendance also with Supervisor Long. And there have been a number of other events. But the last thing that I would like to submit is the list of people I request we adjourn in memory of, but want to bring special attention to someone who was just a really great person. I think some of us knew him.
It was Anthony, known Tony Volante whose public service was the defining theme of his life beginning in 1953 when he enlisted in the Air Force and continuing through his volunteer work with veterans and disadvantaged teenagers. Tony grew up in Jersey City and at the age of 18 he joined the Air Force in Newark. In 1955, he moved with his family to the San Fernando Valley and joined the 146th Supply Squadron in Van Nuys where he spent 40 years in the military.
In 1970, he was commissioned as First Lieutenant and assigned to the 146th Combat Support Group as a Computer Systems Operation Officer He was a talented trumpet player and was also named temporary commander of the 562nd Air Force Band, which performed concerts worldwide. In 1988 he finally made his way here to Ventura County living in Port Wainimi. During his tenure as an air force colonel, he served as support group commander of the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing at the Channel Islands Air National Guard Station.
He retired in 1993 and a year later was elected to the Port Wainimi City Council, where he went on to serve as mayor through 2006. And in June of 2013, then Assemblymember Jeff Gorel honored Tony as the 44th Assembly District's Veteran of the Year. Tony was just a really incredible person, both he and his wife. Just the warmest of people and his loss is definitely being felt in our community so I would like to request that we adjourn in his memory and send my deepest condolences to his wife Barbara and their family and all his family and friends who are feeling this loss as he had just turned 90 years old in 2025 I know Supervisor Long will be able to share a little bit more, but definitely feel this one. Thank you chair
Yeah, thank you. I hadn't heard it's very sad prayers to Barbara and the family supervisor pardon
I Hadn't heard that either and that's really heartbreaking for Working with him. I really enjoyed it. He was always so energetic Right. I mean, I didn't know he was 90. I Yeah, I just it seemed like I didn't see him that long ago. I'm glad I stopped to talk We attended the Simi Valley Legislative Forum and the Mooreport Government Relations Committee, and we shared updates on what's going on in our district.
Participated in the Administrative Finance Committee meeting for VCTC then followed by approving it at the VCTC meeting on Friday. Met with the Simi Valley Samaritan Center's leadership and discussed a gap analysis kind of like what we were doing with HR1. And potential next steps. They also shared information on their upcoming fundraiser, which is called Second Chance Prom taking place on May 14th. It sounds like a lot of fun to me.
They have women competing to be the prom queen. I know it was. I did not know he passed and so it's really hard, yeah. I met with Adventist Health's new president in Simi Valley Austin Perkypile and yes I did ask him where that name came from Participated in the Moorpark Simi Valley Boys and Girls Club board meeting. We have an upcoming gala called Havana Nights, it's an auction and dinner at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on May 2nd.
Come join us and help us build better futures for our kids. Participated in the EDC Executive Committee meeting and presented a Certificate of Recognition to a Simi Valley Teacher of the Month. Congratulations, Sarah Dakin! I was interviewed on 99.1 The Ranch Radio Station to share information regarding our upcoming City-County Public Safety Forum on April 22nd at Tierra Jada Golf Club And you can register online on my website.
I had a meeting with Greg Strakoulos to discuss Water Works District sewer rates. I'm hoping Kelly's going to feel better because I'm trying to distract you right now. All right, I met with Simi Valley Unified School District Superintendent of Schools and Simi Valley Chamber CEO to discuss economic growth attended the Moorpark State of the City Along with our favorite doctor and the city's in great hands proud to say that the city is enough is the fourth safest city in California.
We attended the NOLS HOA meeting where we continue to keep an open line of communication and discuss concerns with them there a community on the incorporated area that always kind of felt like they didn't get the attention that other areas do so we Put them in the forefront of what we do. Participated in the film Simi Valley meeting at the Reagan Library, where ongoing filming and District 4 continues to grow. Attended the Ventura County Sports and Entertainment Task Force meeting to continue collaborating on ideas and marketing for the upcoming major sports events especially LA-28. Received a briefing on housing and homelessness with Kimberly Albers, Deputy Sheriff John Hajiego And Dr. Johnson attended GG's Playhouse, which is the nonprofit I was talking about earlier.
We had a meeting with them where their founders shared their vision and provided an update on their nonprofit that offers free therapeutic educational research driven programs to individuals of all ages with Down syndrome. So it's they're definitely a nonprofit. We participated in the Simi Valley and Moorpark Chamber of Commerce networking meetings. We participated in ribbon cuttings in the East County including Lucky Q if you're a billiards person.
Moorpark College had an art gallery showing, and we also had a ribbon cutting at Froyo and Fido. And yes that's I believe ice cream and pets. Met with the city manager of Simi Valley, participated in the 13th annual Ventura County Farm Day. I believe Kelly will be talking about that. We also participated in a civics bee and Simi Valley apparently it was very challenging for one of my staff members he said it was very tough questions April 1st we kicked off our pet adoption kit drive in partnership with Ventura County Animal Services and we're collecting items through May 15th.
And information can be found on my website, and please mark your calendar for April 22nd because we're holding that county and public leadership forum that includes both Simi Valley and Moorpark City managers and their police chiefs. And also, I don't have any names to adjourn which I'm very grateful for. But I just want Tony's family to know how much I really cared about him and he was just so fun and somebody that everybody probably looks upon very fondly. He probably doesn't have a single enemy in the world but what a wonderful guy.
You're lucky to have him in your district Yeah,
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he'll be missed supervisor long.
All right. First of all I just want to say thank you to the board for Sorry We have a lot of great people in this county. I don't know why but it's just very touching When you go into public service, you meet a lot of people and the really nice ones. You really miss. And Tony was definitely that. So I apologize. A little choked up, but he's just an amazing person. So thank you.
Yeah. OK. Sorry. First of all, Cal State Sorry, California State Associated Counties. We had a meeting last week in San Diego talking about HR 1 and all the pressures there. Amazing supervisors working on the state level just trying to advocate for funding so that's good. We had a grand opening for the Ventura County Family Justice Center. Had friends that needed those shelters so thank you for that Farm Day, just want to say thank you.
Ended up being our VIP tour was all in my district from Agri-Min's biomass to regenerative farms for the schools to Driscoll's to McGrath Farms talking about regenerating the soils We had a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun to be there. To then ending up at the boys and girls club for Camarillo celebrating people just being All right, just amazing. Just the people that are there to save our community was at the funeral for the retired Oxnard Police Department Sergeant and Ventura County District Attorney Investigator John Sunia, just loved by so many happy I don't have to adjourn in too many people except for a couple on my list and really appreciate that we're gonna adjourn memory for Tony thank you.
Yeah, thank you Supervisor Long. Supervisor LaVere?
Thank you, Chair. Yeah it's been mentioned but I think most of us were at that ribbon cutting for the Family Justice Center Domestic Violence Shelter and thank you chair for your wonderful words at the event and incredible partnership between our DA and Congressman Carbajal to bring that service to those who are most needed in the community And another really innovative partnership where I was able to attend the ribbon-cutting was on March 26th at our Juvenile Justice Hall, where one of our probation officers came up with the idea that he could really The center could really use a library for the youth living at the facility. And he came up with the idea, he partnered with our library department and they were able to open this beautiful library for access by residents at the Juvenile Justice Facility that they're able to use old space that used to be rooms where these individuals were housed now it's a really beautiful library and so just an incredible partnership between the probation agency and our library department.
So I wanna recognize both of them Representative Carbajal has been mentioned several times already, but he was really everywhere and I'm always impressed by his energy. But he was able to come do a tour of Satakoy. It's the first time I remember a congressperson coming to visit the community of Saticoy and toured the library there and met with some local residents so I just want to thank him for taking the time to come visit Satakoya.
And then lastly in event tonight Our Animal Services Department is hosting a town hall at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center tonight at 6 p.m. It should be well attended, obviously animal services is a big issue as you know Supervisor Lopez in the city of Oxnard and so it should be a great townhall to come learn more about what our department's doing answer questions and provide outreach on as to the many services that we're offering particularly to residents in Oxnard with some new mobile units that were bringing online And then lastly, I'd ask that we adjourn in honor of those on the list. I provided to the clerk one veteran I'd like to recognize is John Benny who was a United States Marine Corps veteran who went on to serve for many years as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner in the city of Ventura.
And then lastly, Ivor Davis, who I don't know if you were able to meet Ivor but he kind of rose to fame as the journalist who traveled with The Beatles on their first trip to America many years ago And has written several books about his experience touring and writing about the Beatles. Many people in Ventura considered him the unofficial mayor of Ventura, but such a likable man frequent lecturer both at the museum and local community colleges.
Ivor passed away last week and he'll be deeply missed by many in the community. So we're thinking about Gideon and the entire Davis family. Thank you, Chair.
Thank you. I'm just going to read off some upcoming events and not discuss necessarily what I've attended in the past. April 17th from 11 to 1, I'm hosting Sidewalk Office Hours, my monthly sidewalk office hours This time I'll be doing it in Thousand Oaks at the Global Adult Center and all are welcome. No appointment necessary, just come on out. On May 2nd from 11 to 3, all are invited to the second annual Casa Canejo Day with the Casa Canejo Municipal Advisory Council and that's again at Walnut Elementary School. We'll have live music, food, creek walks, a touch of truck and some good community time.
On May 7th, I'm hosting the second annual Supervisorial Leadership and Excellence Awards honoring local leaders and community leaders. The proceeds every dime goes to the Gold Coast Veterans Foundation for their Mobile Veterans Outreach Unit. This year's awardees include 102-year old World War II veteran Robert Taylor with a Lifetime Achievement Award. And then we have an Education Award going to Dr. Jesus Vaca, the Superintendent and Principal of the Somos Union School District. Our Public Safety Award winner is going to Dylan Alvarez for the East County Special Enforcement Unit. Our Prosperity and Job Creation Award is going to Dr Yupeng Gao, founder of Cassion Incorporated.
And our Community Leadership Award goes to Rosemary Allison. And our Environmentalism Award goes to the community group known as the Oak Park Community Garden Group. I hope you will join me on May 7th for this community event, it should be a lot of fun. And on May 30th is the 11th annual annual Ride for the Blue in honor of Sergeant Ron Helus to raise money for mental health support to first responders. The county is a sponsor of this great event once again, I'll be there. I intend to ride my motorcycle in the Ride for the Blue.
Supervisor Parvin has always been supportive and there and attending and actually rode one year Okay, there you go more than one year she's a bit definitely always big enthusiast for this. So I hope folks can come out enjoy the 11th annual ride for the blue and that's all I'm going to put out and with that. I think we adjourn into closed session and I'll turn it over to County Council.
Thank you chair. Yes, we will go into closed session on items 57 and 59. We will not be going into closed session on item 58 today and there will be no reportable announcements. Thank you.
Thank you everyone. Have a great rest of your day, appreciate it.