City Council - Regular Meeting

Sanitary District for May 13, 2026 to order. City clerk, if you would call the role.

Council member Santangelo here. Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo here. Council member Kildy here. Council member Trembley here. Mayor Tennyson here. Thank you. And I will ask Council Member Santangelo to lead in the pledge. Please stand if you're able. Hand over heart. Ready to begin. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Are there any changes to tonight's agenda? Seeing none, we will move on to presentations. Um, we have three presentations tonight recognizing outstanding achievements in public service, infrastructure, and community leadership. And I'm going to start with the American Public Works Association Award. So, if you could meet me up by the stage here. stand right over under the seal. We'll begin with the American Public Works Association award. The city has been selected to receive the 2025 Ventura County Project of the Year award from the American Public Works Association for the Dizdar Park Renovation and Expansion Project. You're Joseph Dib, I take it. On behalf of the city council and our community, I'm proud to accept this award recognizing the city's commitment to investing in highquality public spaces for our residents, the transformation of Dizdar Park into a more accessible and welcoming space for all ages, and a truly communitydriven effort led by the community development and public works departments along with contributions of staff, project partners, and community members. We appreciate the recognition and remain committed to delivering projects that continue to enhance the quality of life in Camaro. And if some of the public works and community development people involved in this will come up here and accept this award with me.

Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Joseph Dib. I'm a senior civil engineer with Applied Research Associates, and I am this year's director at large of the Ventura County chapter of the American Public Works Association. I'm here tonight on behalf of APWA, a nationwide organization comprised of over 30,000 public works professionals. Our local Ventura County chapter consists of over 300 members and is one of the most active chapters in the country. Every year, our chapter recognizes outstanding public works projects throughout Ventura County through our project of the year awards. I am pleased to be here tonight on behalf of APWA to present the city of Camaro with a project of the year award in the structures category for the Oldtown Camaro Dar Park renovation project. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Any comments from council members? Seeing none, we Oh, Mr. Kild,

I want to thank um everybody's here. We've been working on this for Dizdar Park for 20 years. And if you can remember, take a trip down memory lane. I know time is of essence, but um the opportunities that we had there, I'll just be rather kind. They were very interesting and very eclectic. Uh sometimes it takes a long time to get a a project up and running, but I think this one was definitely worth the wait to have a lot of our staff in the back there. I want to thank all of you. I'd mention all by name, but I forget somebody and they would stop talking to me. So, I'm not going to do that. But our staff and this current council with their vision and the previous councils that hung in there with us and uh the proof is in the pudding and this is a great great park here. I encourage everybody that have not gone down there to go down there and look at especially at night. So, thank you all for your efforts.

Thank you. Next, our recognition. Our next recognition is the California Water Environment Association's Mechanical Technician of the Year Award. There has to be an acronym for that, right? Um, if I could invite Fred Parr and Darren Carter to please come up and join me. So when I finish reading this present,

we are proud to recognize Fred Parr, lead water reclamation maintenance worker as the recipient of the California Water Environment Association's first place mechanical technician of the year award. CWA represents more than 10,000 wastewater professionals dedicated to protecting California's water resources and advancing the profession statewide, making this recognition a significant achievement that reflects both technical excellence and public service. This award highlights Fred's important contributions to the city's water reclamation operations and our commitment to reliable forward forwardthinking infrastructure. On behalf of the city, we congratulate Fred on his well-deserved honor and thank him for his outstanding service to our community. Congratulations, Fred. Congratulations. You want to say anything, Fred?

Yeah. Thank you, Mayor Tennyson and city council for having us here this evening. Uh the acronym CWA, we'll go with that. And as you may mentioned, 10,000 members in the state of California have recognized Mr. Parr for his mechanical excellence. He was judged by his peers to be the best of the best. We here in the city of Camaro are privileged to have Fred as one of our mechanics. He's very forwardthinking and able to take on and tackle daily challenges that save time, money while not compromising craftsmanship and safety. So on behalf of the city and the water reclamation plant, the public works department. We congratulate you Fred.

Thanks Fred. Congratulations. Comments Mr. Trembley. Thank you. I want to congratulate you Fred and Darren. Um, for those of you who may not know, uh, this is a real profession and having you attain this CWA, uh, designation just means you are at the top of the field. So, we are really grateful uh to you for your professionalism. Darren, we're grateful to you and all of our staff at the plant. Um, you're doing great work. So, congratulations,

Vice Mayor. One of the things that we know is how hard our staff works, but when they are recognized by outside agencies, it just further um reinforces that. And one of the first things that I did when I came on to council was to get a tour of the waste uh water management. Um I was not as excited as maybe Mayor Tennyson was with the input that was coming in. I stayed away. But nevertheless, I really saw how important and crucial that entire operation is and how it has to be monitored and uh 24/7 it's really a public safety um operation truly. Um and I know many of us maybe take it for granted but every time you flush your toilet there are people that are making that happen and making our city safe. So many congratulations to you Fred. Uh thank you Darren. Thank you for all the work that you uh both and that your entire staff uh does as well. Thank you,

Mhm. Mr. K D. I'm going to follow our tradition up here. If we agree with what's been said, we just say ditto. So, ditto. Council member Santangelo, which means I'm going to follow with ditto. But congratulations and thank you for all your hard work.

Thank you. Our next special guest uh was the recipient of the public sector leader of the year from the Ventura County Leadership Academy, Mark Stadler. Mark is the uh senior program administrator with the Ventura County Sheriff's Office crisis intervention training program, which started probably within the last 7 to 10 years of my career and has grown exponentially um in the last 15 years. How long have you been in charge of it? 11 years. 11 years. Okay. It's grown exponentially in the last 11 years.

Uh I'm going to ask Mark, we have a certificate of recognition to uh present to Mark as a uh Camaro assigned and Camaro resident for the award he got from VCLA. But I'm going to give him a few minutes just to tell you a little bit about what CIT is, what it was, what it's become um in the last several in the last decade or so. Mark,

thank you very much. Um, so our CIT program, it's actually been around for 25 years now. Uh, we're very lucky in this county. We're the only county in the state of California that has every single law enforcement agency going through the same training. And what is that training? So, what we do is we we train law enforcement officers in uh mental health deescalation. We talk about cultural issues and we teach them to to improve their communication skills and understand what resources are available for persons in a mental health crisis so that we can get them the help they need and avoid going to jail. Want to use that as a last resort. So in the last 25 years we've trained um over 200 law enforcement personnel. That includes our dispatchers and key personnel that have uh forward- facing jobs with the public. and um it's it's just been a real blessing for me to be able to do this. I've been involved with the program as a collateral assignment when I was with Ventura Police Department. So, I've been involved with it since the beginning, 25 years now. So, now to for the last 11 to be able to run it has been has been amazing. And uh we have been able to expand the program. We now do a a refresher class for law enforcement. So, every two to three years they go back through the training and remind them there may be new laws that change and we're constantly putting out training for them. But, uh, like I said, we're we're very fortunate in this community and being able to work out of the Camrio station has been amazing. The the support that I have from from the department there and they, uh, let us do our job and and get the get people trained. So, we we we get all the recruits after they graduate from the academy. So, like I tell a lot of people, for six months, they learn command presence and how to scream commands and then after graduations, I get 40 hours to teach them how to talk like a human again. So, Congratulations, Mark. And on behalf of the city, we'd like to issue this cert certificate of recognition for you. Any of my fellow council members have a comment.

Okay, Mr. K, congratulations on a job well done. I think I met you at the coffee with the cop, but you're doing a great job and pass that along how supportive we all are that very necessary and needed program. And I thought this is timely since it's mental health awareness month. Hence the blue ribbons on or blue green I'm sorry green ribbons. I'm thinking of another time of the year. The green ribbons and the green clothing on on my fellow council members and staff up here again. Congratulations, Mark. Thank you.

Thank you. Madame clerk, are there any speakers on any items not on the agenda?

Yes, mayor. I received two requests to speak. Each speaker will have three minutes. Once your time has expired, the microphone will be muted and we will move on to the next speaker. The first speaker is Sid Hearth Medra followed by Don Becker. Thank you, council. I am very sorry to follow so much good news with some bad, but I fear I must. The the agency which calls itself Immigrations and Customs Enforcement or ICE for short has to date abducted 1950 people from the county. 900 of those from Camrio alone and counting. They have behaved reprehensibly. I need not repeat myself. I have said so and others is better qualified than I have said so many times. My request remains, our request, our plea remains what it has been all this year since that dark day last July. We wish you as the council, as the police department, as the public servants entrusted with this power to expel ICE from Camaro from where they hold their field headquarters on Cortez circle from the county if possible, never to return. That is a hard demand to meet. But the pressure, the burden, the pain they have inflicted on us is harder. Every day someone new is snatched away from um wherever it happens to be like a child in a ghost story carried away by

wraiths. This cannot be allowed to continue. And so at the risk of repeating myself. Ice out now. That is all. Thank you. No clapping. We do not clap. We do not show any appribation for one side or the other so that everybody feels free to come up and speak their mind without any other influences. Thank you, Don Becker.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and other members of the council. As announced, my name is Don Becker and I reside at 7030 Keo Court in Camaro in Councilman Tremble's district. And I'm here because I I am a recent resident of uh Camaro. I was driven out of Ventura by the Thomas fire. So, I we relocated here in 2018 and found out this is a real jewel and it's something I didn't know before. But in any event, uh I most recently also discovered City Scene, the electronic uh newsletter that you folks publish. And I wanted to thank the council and all of the staff that produce that newsletter because it's extremely helpful and informative. And in fact uh uh m Mr. Par I saw I read about him and saw a video about him on that in that uh publication. And so I I just wanted to say I appreciate what you've done. I wanted to say thank you. So I will thank you. Keep up the good work.

Thank you sir. No other speakers. We will move on to council comments and I think we'll let Mr. Kild go first if he's ready.

All right. Um yes. Uh meetings attended. Uh May 7th we had a VRSD meeting. Um last night we had the law day dinner. Thank you Commander Tennyson for uh the great work that your uh employees and yourself do for the city. Uh, I believe last Saturday I was at the YMCA. I believe it's the 20th anniversary. Hard to believe it's been 20 years. Um, last Saturday too, I attended the um service organization fair right here at our uh grounds here on city hall. There were several service organizations and if you have some time uh they really need some help. So, if you have some time to join a service organization in our city, they do a lot of great work here. Um, last week I also attended uh Congresswoman uh Julia Brownley's uh micro grid um presentation here and that was great. She's been a big supporter of our city and I appreciate her continued support uh of our city and I believe that's all I have tonight. Your honor,

Council Member Santangelo.

Thank you. On April 23rd, I attended the Economic Development and Land Use Committee meeting. On April 30th, I attended the VCLA awards where I got to see Mark Stadler receive his award. On May 1st, I attended the Nectar Juice Bar grand opening. Um, I got an Asai bowl and it was delicious. So, I um encourage everybody to go visit. Um, from May 5th to May 7th, I was in Sacramento at the Aqua Conference with Mr. Trembly. And on May 9th, I attended the YMCA 20th anniversary. Uh last night, I attended the Law Day dinner. Um which was really well done and I think everybody had a really good time. Um and um earlier today, I attended the Homeke groundbreaking. Um really exciting to see um homeless um to see us making strides in homelessness. Um, we have there's 88 beds there and there will be 10 beds secured for Camaro. Um, and then I just wanted to say something. If you notice, we all are wearing green ribbons. It is um um mental health week. I think it's actually mental health month. Um, and I work in mental health. So, I just wanted to take um if you don't know, my day job is um I'm a registered nurse and I work at Vista Delmare. So, I work in psychiatric nursing. So, I work in mental health. Um, this year's theme is more good days together and it encourages us all to reflect on what a good day looks like both for ourselves and for our communities. Together, we can use this insight to connect people to the right support people at the right time to shape advoc advocacy, education, and community engagement to make more good days possible for all. Um, if you're struggling and you need help, please, there are number of there are so many numbers I could shout out to you, but

the easiest way to get help is to call 211 and that's an easy number to remember. Thank you. That's all I have tonight. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Council member Santangelo, thank you very much for sharing uh the importance of mental health month and mental health awareness really should be every single day and there's still so much stigma around that. Um, and so any type of support, uh, definitely helps. Uh, May third May, sorry, let me go back. Today's May 13th, April 23rd, um, I attended the economic development and land use committee. April 23rd, I also attended the coffee with a cop at Panadia Lucero. It's a local Mexican bakery in town. April 23rd, I attended the National Latino Peace Officers Association scholarship event and we provided a certificate on behalf of the city to the nonprofit and many uh students were awarded scholarships from the organization. April 30th, I attended a meeting with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. April 30th, I attended the VCLA awards ceremony there. It's their 23rd annual. Um and then April 30th in the evening I attended the tip a cop at Finny's in Camaro. May 1st I attended the ribbon cutting at uh Nectar Juice Bar and ditto to what council member Santangelo said. It was absolutely delicious and it's owned by um local families as well. So if you get the opportunity to go check it out um it would be a great support. Uh May 4th I attended the CSU Channel Islands campus update breakfast with President Susan um Andrew Jessie and then May 6th I was a keynote speaker um at the municipal from I was asked to serve as a keynote speaker along with the mayor from Ventura Mayor Dr. Janette Sanchez Palasios. And that was on behalf of MMAC, that was a Municipal Management Association of Southern California. And

um it was actually a a really cool event. Um I had the opportunity to not only learn more about uh the mayor uh from Ventura, but to be able to provide my story and to share that in a space where we had so many other um staff uh Camrio staff def definitely showed up. um a lot of the the staff showed up there. So, it was it was a great event. Thank you very much to MMA AC um for putting that on. And then May 7th, I had a meeting with um some youth from Seafrog. May 9th, I attended the YMCA fundraiser. Uh many congrats on 20 years of service. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I was in between. My two kids had their band concerts that day, so I was trying to make it all. Um and then May 12th, yesterday I also attended the law day dinner. Um and then today I was also at the groundbreaking uh ceremony uh for the county's project. We're a partner in that project. Um it is it will be providing 88 permanent supportive housing um homes to people in our community who are experiencing homelessness but also mental health uh diagnoses and issues. So again, surrounding mental health, very proud to to be a partner in that. Uh and then today I also attended a community conscience lunchon. It's a nonprofit over in Thousand Oaks um that owns and operates their human services center and provides rentree space to local nonprofits. Um and I think I missed that I was the first five celebrity reader. Um I went out and did that. Um, and it was a lot of fun just being in the moment with little ones. And then the last comment that I have is I've I've received a lot of um questions from community members about our mobile home

rent stabilization ordinance that we um we had the first reading at the last council meeting. And I wanted to make sure that we're clear clear because the I believe the media didn't quite get the date correct as to when that ordinance would be into effect. And I wanted to ask our city attorney if you can just explain that piece. Uh uh yes. So we had the first reading and we still need to have the adoption of the ordinance. That's not occurred yet. And if it does, uh occur uh then it will be effective 30 days from that date. Thank you, city attorney. That's all I have.

Council member Trembley. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. For meetings attended since April 22. On April 24, the Metroink Board of Directors in Los Angeles on April 28th, the Fox Canyon GMA fiscal committee. On April 29th, utilities committee. On April 30, the CASSA's Executive Committee on May 1st, uh the Ventura County Transportation Commission on May 4th, I attended the dedication at Stevens Grill, which is the new Greek restaurant in the old soup plantation uh space uh with excellent food. um really happy to to attend that. Um from May 5 to May 7, I was at a conference in Sacramento for the Association of California Water Agencies. I'll talk about that in a minute. On May 9th, uh the Camrio Family YMCA dinner, their 20th anniversary celebration. They do a wonderful job. It was a great dinner. On May 12th, speaking of great dinners, we had the law dinner law day dinner last night. And thank you again to Commander Tennyson and all of our Camero PD officers and staff. And then today, the Home Key Plus uh groundbreaking uh out on Lewis Road. And I want to echo what my colleagues uh uh Susan and Marta said about the importance of the HomeKey Plus. The city is a funding partner and we are um very happy to be in that project. We've made a substantial investment in that project. And then I want to echo uh Susan's comments also on the importance of mental health awareness week. I tried to wear it green today. Hopefully we I succeeded. Um but it but in all seriousness it is extremely important. Uh for the Association of California Water Agencies conference uh I attended specific presentations on the proposition 218 legal landscape on groundwater adjudications as you would expect having some experience in that terms of water master council's perspectives and then on um attorney use of artificial intelligence and there's an attorney joke in there somewhere with apologies

to the city attorney but I won't go there. Um, in any event, that's it for me. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. April 25th, I attended the harvest lunchon at the Santa Paula Egg Museum to benefit the Museum of Ventura County. And the Museum of Ventura County also has the Egg Museum in Santa Paula on April 28th. And I may be off by a day on this. My calendar decided to make some changes. I also attended the meeting with um Cal State University Channel Islands interim president Susan Andrewski along with the city manager and our director our manager of community development. 29th I believe was the utilities committee. I also attended the VCLA journey to leadership lunchon and I know there's one, two, three, four people along this dis that are graduates of VCLA. Uh if you're interested in learning about Ventura County, please go online and look up the Ventura County Leadership Academy. Uh I also attended the um Cal State Channel Islands campus update breakfast. I was at the ribbon cutting at Stevens Grill. Um I was present here along with uh Mr. Kild and the vice mayor for Julia Brownley's presentation of our $1.1 million check which will go to good purposes for our micro grid. And on that same day in the evening, I attended Oxnard College's 50th anniversary founders day dinner. On May 8th, I attended the grand opening of a new farmer's insurance office on Arnneal Road in Camaro. On May 9th, I too attended the service fair at the Constitution Park. It was originally um coordinated with the Pleasant Valley Sus Camry Lions Club and there was a fairly good turnout of service group, service organizations

uh out there. On May 12th, along with uh George Winkler, I attended a business visit at Signic Solutions, which is a uh national defense or um a weapons defense system uh business here in Camrio that has uh numerous contracts with the I was going to say the Department of Defense. Uh the the the federal agency formerly known as the Department of Defense. um several contracts with local naval bases Ventura County and he employs presently in Camrio 47 people but he says within the next 6 to 8 months he'll have 120 or 130 employees at his location in Camrio and I too attended the uh groundbreaking today for Homekeeping and shortly in the future we'll have even more good news about permanent supportive housing within the city of Camrio. And with that, I will end it. Madame clerk, we'll move to the consent calendar. Are there any public comments on consent?

Yes, we have one speaker, Sid Hearth Medra.

My apologies, council, they're coming up twice. U I wish only to remark on a point of procedure in this case I think I'll not be the only one saying this but it seems to me to to allow an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act is badly timed even for so important and a project as in the resolutions on the agenda as each of these is. I mean with the world in in what we can only call an environmental crisis, exemptions are dangerous. They are the beginnings of more exemptions and ultimately of exempting something we cannot afford to. Therefore, I recommend council, you do not exempt it from the environmental quality act or any other similar law this or any matter until and unless some compensating measure is taken to reduce the resulting pollution. Thank you.

Thank you. Any more, Madame Clerk? No more. Any questions from council on consent? Hearing none. Is there a motion? I move to approve them. I'll second. We've got a motion and a second. Council member Santangelo moved and council member Kildy seconded. Roll. Roll call, please. Council member Santangelo, yes. Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo, yes. Council member Kildy, yes. Council member Trembley, yes. Mayor Tennyson,

yes. Okay, with that we will move to item R, climate first replacing oil and gas resolution. And I believe Mr. Alonzo Ramirez is the presenter.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, and council members. Last year, Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo provided city staff with a proposed resolution from a local climate advocacy organization known as climate first replacing oil and gas. The purpose of the resolution is to advocate for the phase out of oil and gas production in the state of California. The original version version of the resolution provided provided initially included language regarding legislation that could be supported by the city. So staff reviewed the legislative platform to determine if the resolution could fall under any of the items within the parameters of the platform. It did not at that time. So while the platform allows for the support of the legisl of legislation that provides funding for alternative renewable energy sources and conservation measures, the platform doesn't make any mention to phasing out oil and gas. Therefore, the proposed resolution was presented to the policy committee for discussion and consideration. Following that discussion, the policy committee requested that the item be brought before the city council for further review. The following presentation highlights several key components of the proposed resolution and provides additional background information for council's consideration. The following information summarizes several statements included in the resolution regarding oil and gas production in California and Ventura County. According to the resolution, Ventura County is the third largest producer of oil and gas in California. To provide additional context, staff included a comparison table showing only showing oil production uh rankings by county throughout the state of California. The resolution also states that approximately 60,000 residents of Ventura County live within 3200 ft of an operational oil or gas well.

In addition, the resolution estimates that the cost to clean up uh Ventura County's 2,367 idol and orphan wells would amount to a total of approximately 76 uh 776 million. For additional context, the staff review the California Department of Conservation's wellfinder map to identify oil and gas well activity within the city of Camaro. This slide provides a screenshot of the city and surrounding areas. As shown on the map, most wells within or near the city are identified as plugged wells. At this time, there are no active oil or gas wells located within the city of Camaro. I'll also like to highlight several additional topics referenced in the resolution that may benefit from further background information. The resolution references Senate Bill 1137. The legislation establishes buffer zones between oil and gas operations and sensitive comm and sensitive community locations. These areas have referred to as hell protection zones or HPC's. The purpose of health protection zones is to create additional separation between oil and gas operations and sensitive community uses such as homes, schools, daycare facilities, hospitals, parks, and other public gathering spaces. The legislation was adopted in response to public health concerns related to long-term exposure to emissions, noise, odors, and other environmental impacts associated with oil and gas production. Under SB1 1137, the state generally prohibits Caljam, the agency that approves uh permits for oil uh from approving notices of intention for new or expanded oil and gas development activities within 3200 ft of sensitive receptors. This includes activities such

as drilling new wells, deepening or retrilling existing wells, and certain rework activities associated with oil and gas production. Existing operations may continue under this bill. However, they are subject to additional operational, environmental, monitoring, and reporting requirements established by the state. Displayed on the screen is a map illustrating the health protection zones affecting areas within and around the city of Camaro. As shown on the map, much of the developed area within and surrounding Camaro falls within a health protection zone because of the proximity of residential neighborhoods and other sensitive land uses. The purple overlay demonstrate how broadly the 3200 ft setback can extend in urbanized areas where sensitive receptors are concentrated. Under SB1 1137, new or expanded oil and gas development activities are generally restricted within those zones. The map uh the map does not mean that all oil drilling is categorically prohibited within the city. Rather, it shows that much of Camaro falls within the state's 3200T foot setbacks areas due to the presence of homes, schools, hospitals, and other sensitive land uses. The law still allows certain activities such as emergency response actions, plugging and abandon plugging abandoning oil wells, uh environmental remediation work, and limited court order approvals. There you go. Sorry. In April 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14260 titled Protecting American Energy from State Overreach. According to the administration, the purpose of the executive executive order is to reduce barriers created by state regulations and promote domestic energy production.

Following issuance of the executive order, the US Department of Justice filed a legal challenge against the state of California regarding SB137. According to the Department of Justice, implementation of SB137 could affect approximately one-third of federally authorized oil and gas leases in California. The federal government also argues that the mineral leasing act and the federal land policy and management act preempt portions of state law. As part of the litigation, the US Bureau of Land Management requested a preliminary injunction to pause implementation of SB1 1137 while the case proceeds. The court denied the request for injunction, meaning that currently the health protection zones are fully in effect at this time. The litigation is still ongoing and staff doesn't have the current information on when the next hearing will take place. It is also worth noting that SB 1137 previously survived an attempted referendum effort that did not qualify into the state ballot, but at this time SB 1137 is fully in effect and it's been fully implemented. The resolution also references proposals related to the creation of a climate super fund. These proposals will require certain fossil fuel companies to contribute funding toward climate related damages and the cleanup of idle and orphan oil wells. During the 2025 2026 legislative sessions, two related bills were introduced to create a climate super fund, SB 6884 and Assembly Bill 1243. Both measures failed to advance through the legislative process and at this time staff is not aware of any active climate super fund legislation currently under consideration. To summarize the proposed resolution uh to summarize the proposed resolution urges the city and other governmental agencies to support several policy positions related to oil and gas production in California. This include

urging Governor Nuomo and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to stop issuing permits for oil and gas production, accelerating the phase out of oil and gas extraction in California, supporting and defending the 3200 foot health and safety setbacks established under SB137, ensuring that fossil fuel companies are held accountable for timely plugging and cleanup of idle and orphan wells. And lastly, supporting a long-term transition towards uh renewable energy sources. In conclusion, staff's recommendation is that the city council review, discuss, and consider adoption of the climate first replacing oil and gas resolution. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Alonzo. Any questions from council? Mr. Kild. Yeah, Lon. So, I just want to uh reiterate as far as you are aware, there's no pending legislations to address this issue at this particular point. There's no pending legislation to address the facing away of oil and gas that staff is aware of at this time. No. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Hearing none. Madame clerk, do we have any public speakers?

Yes. Uh, Mayor Tennyson, we have 22 speakers at this point. So, I want to give a little uh speech about uh the timing of it. I we received 22 requests to speak. Each speaker will have three minutes. Once you have your time has expired, the microphone will be muted and we will move on to the next speaker. I will call up the first speaker and then the following speaker so you're ready to move towards po the podium. The first speaker is Doug Bliss.

Just another quick reminder um since new people have come in, we do not show any acclamation, support or non-sup support for any speaker up here. No clapping, no shouting. Everybody needs to feel free to come up and express their opinion on every matter before council. So, please respect that. Mr. Boyce, thank you, Mayor.

I uh come here tonight uh in opposition to this resolution. I'm looking through the uh whereas clauses in the resolution. uh it speaks of um scientists predict uh predictions of scientists. Uh I want to point out these are based on computer programs util utilizing absurd and unproven formulas not on solid scientific facts. Uh secondly um we're now talking about a heat age supposedly. I remember 50 years ago when I was in college, they were worried about an ice age, and that was a big hubbub. Well, that didn't happen. So, they switched to climate change, aka hot temperatures. Um, thirdly, blaming everything on man-made climate change, uh, so-called burning of fossil fu fuels doesn't really make sense. Uh, when you consider the Mount St. Helen's uh eruption many years ago that produced thousands of times the the methane in the atmosphere than any possible combination of uh methane releases from wells would would uh add up to and again nothing was changed the the climate survived. Blaming wildfires wildfires on climate change. We all know that government policies of not clearing forests and the ongoing Santa Ana winds that have always occurred are the causes. U greenhouse gas emissions are blamed, but we know that natural eruptions I already talked about that Mount St. Helens u I don't believe I think I was thinking to myself there are no oil wells in Camrio and I heard from the gentleman of

the staff that yes, that is true. So, I'm not quite sure what Camrio is doing getting on board this with this resolution. Um, the nasty effects of oil wells. Uh, what about the thousands of birds that are killed by the solar farms down on the road to Las Vegas? And that is occurring. Thousands of them are dying. Uh, going on to the therefore clauses, phasing out oil wells to protect protect workers and climate communities. according to the clause. Um, what about lost jobs for all the different uh people that are affected and involved in uh or production? I respectfully urge you to not add your names to the hoax of man-made climate change disasters. Thank you.

Thank you, Kristen Kesler, followed by Kathleen Wheeler. welcome.

Hi, good evening. I urge you to pass uh these re these resolutions. If the state passes the polluters pay climate super fund legislation, Camaro would most likely see much needed funding to support disaster response, home hardening, wildlife mitigation, flood prevention, local jobs, and more. On a more personal note, this resolution is important to me because I'm 57. I grew up in Southern California, and the weather that I remember experiencing as a child and as a young adult is pretty much gone. Um, it will probably never come back, but I do not want climate change to keep getting worse. That's why it matters so much to me and I hope to you and I feel that it is very important that we keep taking steps to reduce emissions. Thank you.

Thank you, Kathleen Wheeler, followed by Anna Orsa. Welcome.

Good evening. The oil industry has deep roots in our county and it's important that we honor those roots uh and recognize them that history without also denying that the time has come for change. I believe in science and most people do. Yes, we are all beneficiaries of the services that the oil industry has provided to us and we all must take part in making the shift away from fossil fuels even and especially the oil industry itself. They have the power to be responsible partners in creating a successful transition for their both their own workers and for the community rather than spending millions to block forward movement. Several industries have been able to do that after recognizing or being compelled to recognize that their products h pose significant dangers. Pharmaceutical with drug side effects. Um asbestos, refrigerants, remember the ozone hole. um product safety, automotive safety standards, tobacco, and now oil and gas. Please listen to and support these youth whose future depends on us doing the right thing. Let Camaro be part of the solution and please pass this resolution.

Thank you. Anna Orsa followed by Michelle Sebastian. Welcome.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Anna Orsa and I'm a junior at Seami Valley High School. I'm here today in solidarity with my friends from Camaro for you to vote in support of this res resolution to phase out fossil fuels, defend SB137 safety setbacks, and support polluters pay climate super fund legislation. In January of 2025, I witnessed the destruction of climate change firsthand from the window of a flight approaching LAX. As we neared the city, I saw the flames spreading across the coastal mountains and the massive cloud of smoke growing larger every second. That fire would become the Palisades fire, one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history. Looking down from above, I felt powerless. I thought about the families losing their homes, the elderly residents trying to evacuate, and the wildlife trapped in the smoke and the flames. But that moment also made me realize that being young does not mean being powerless. It means we have the responsibility to fight for the future we will inherit. Many young people across Ventura County have already experienced the emotional, physical, and financial impacts of climate disasters. We are the generation that will live with the consequences consequences of the decision being made today. That is why youth from across this region have spent the last year and a half organizing, showing up to meetings, writing letters, and advocating for stronger climate action. This resolution is about protecting public health, supporting wildfire resistance, holding polluters accountable instead of placing the burden entirely on taxpayers and future generation. It is also about showing young people that our voices matter and that local government is willing to listen when we advocate for our communities. I urge the Camaro City Council to vote yes on this resolution and demonstrate the city's commitment to climate action, public safety, and uplifting youth voices. Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle Sebastian, followed by Eliza Turner.

Good evening, honorable mayor and distinguished council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Michelle Sebastian and I'm a junior in high school from Seami Valley and I'm here tonight to strongly urge you to pass this resolution in solidarity with my friends from Camaro and youth across Ventura County. When I was in elementary school, I had to evacuate my home because of a wildfire during the middle of the school year. I remember being scared, confused, and wondering if our house would still be there when we came back. And that's not something that any child should have to wonder. More recently, on April 27th of this year, the Reagan Library fire was right in my backyard, and it reminded me that this danger is still affecting families in our community. I don't want other kids in Camaro, Seami Valley, or anywhere in Ventura County to grow up with the same fear if we have the chance to act now. Scientists have made it clear that fossil fuel emissions are worsening climate hazards across California, including more destructive wildfires, more severe heat waves, intensified drought, flooding, and dangerous air pollution. Climate attribution science can now quantify how fossil fuel emissions increase the likelihood and severity of these disasters, too. Seami Valley and Camrio are both in the unique position of not having drilling within city limits. Yet we both still deal with the legacy of fossil fuel infrastructure surrounding our communities. If Camaro passes this resolution, it will help establish an important president across Ventura County. It will build on the actions taken already by cities like Oxnard, Ohio, Portini, and it will encourage neighboring cities like my own to step forward, too. It sends a message to the state that local communities want polluters held accountable, want orphan and idol wells cleaned up, and want a safer future for children. But if this resolution does not pass, that sends a message, too. It leads families who have evacuated,

children who have choked on wildfire smoke, and residents who are worried about the future to feel that their concerns are not heard. Please pass this resolution so children in our communities can grow up knowing that their leaders took these risks seriously and acted with their future in mind. Thank you. Thank you. Eliza Turner, followed by Abra Stewart.

Welcome.

Good evening, honorable mayor and distinguished council members. My name is Alisa Turner and I am a junior at Seami Valley High School and a youth leader with Seafrog. I'm here tonight in solidarity with my friends from Camaro to urge you to pass the pro the proposed resolution before you. For many adults, the weight of the long-term consequences of this vote will go unnoticed. For youth like myself, however, it will significantly impact our future. My generation has become used to expecting lethal wildfire, wildfires, heat waves, anxiety about the future, and constant conversations about creating change that doesn't happen. At one point, the impacts of reliance on fossil fuels were conceptual, but it's now our reality. As a student athlete who plays soccer, it's disheartening to check the air quality index before games, determining if lung irritation will be a consequence of playing outdoors. Once again, this poses not only a health concern, but an e economic concern with climate change related health care costs surpassing $800 billion per year nationally. I want to remind the council that decisions made about phasing out the use of fossil and fossil fuels and plugging oil wells are not just are not just technical or economic decisions. They are decisions about what the future holds for myself and my peers, including our health. These decisions do not stop at the city borders either. They impact how neighboring communities like my own Seami Valley respond to growing environmental concerns and consequences. Plugging oil wells, holding polluters accountable, and even passing this resolution are not extreme acts. But repeating the mistake of leaving environmental disasters for following generations is if not now, then when? And if not us, then who? I urge the Camrio City Council to vote in favor of passing this resolution to phase out fossil fuels, defend safety setbacks, hold polluters accountable, and demonstrate the city's commitment to uplifting youth voices. Please vote for

a future that sets our community up for success. Thank you. Thank you. Abra Stewart, followed by Kathy Flynn. Welcome.

Hello. Good evening, Mayor Tennyson, honorable council members. My name is Abra Stewart. I'm the program manager at Climate First, replacing oil and gas. And I'm here tonight to urge you to protect public health and invest in a sustainable future by voting to adopt this proposed resolution. But first, I have a confession. Call me a hypocrite, but I drove here tonight in a gas-powered car. In fact, I filled up my tank this morning on my way to work, like millions of Californians have to do. And I have my receipt right here. And for about 10 gallons of gas, I paid $67. And like millions of Californians, I can't afford an electric vehicle. I mentioned this because I know that climate change and oil and gas are not the top concerns for most Americans or Californians or maybe even you all these days. What is top of mind is affordability. From groceries to rent to gas, everyday people are suffering and sacrificing right here in Camaro. And I mentioned this to show that we are currently trapped in a system that forces us to depend on oil and gas that makes it almost impossible to afford the alternatives. A system that was designed and is perpetuated by the very corporations that are profiting trillions of dollars off the backs of working people like me and you and everyone else in this room. Because when we put all of our eggs in the oil and gas basket, we are all but ensuring that our energy system and our economy are beholden to the price per barrel and to these exploitative corporations. A diverse energy economy is a resilient one. And we do not have that right now. As the politics of oil and gas become increasingly precarious at the global level, we are the ones that are suffering. This all might feel very far away, but the proof is right here in my hands. The proof is in this room. This is an issue that your constituents care about and want to see you take action on. By passing this resolution, you would be showing local youth and your constituents that while you may not have the power or jurisdiction to regulate this industry, you do have the courage to stand up for what is right. You have the authority and the responsibility to express priorities when it comes to safeguarding our communities, our economy, and protecting public health. I have had the absolute pleasure of working with the young people in this room tonight since November 2024, who came to Seafrog in the wake of the

mountain fire, some of whom lost their family homes, who had their schools closed down, and were scared for what their future would look like without climate action at the local level, without leaders willing to prioritize their futures. We have spent the last year and a half asking you to be the leaders that our young people need. And we are asking you again tonight, please. It is clear from your council goals and objectives that you value a resilient economy, safe communities, responsible stewardship of natural resources, and thoughtful engagement of young voices in local government. And I'd ask you to honor those stated values tonight and vote to adopt the proposed resolution. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you,

Kathy Flynn, followed by Alex Montana. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you, mayor and vice mayor and council members. This is a wonderful opportunity. Um I hadn't planned on speaking. I hadn't planned on speaking tonight. Thank you.

But um this is such a a wonderful opportunity. I was reading the resolution and there's a lot of therefors in be it further resolved and there's urges and imploring and will continue to recognize this. So, you know, I was looking for the action items. I was like, well, what what action is the city council going to take? And I thought, well, there is something I wanted to read to you from Bill McKibben. Most Americans are concerned about climate change, but they don't think most others share that concern. That quiet misunderstanding is one of the biggest barriers to climate action in the United States. The findings point to a striking paradox. While many Americans trust the information they encounter and are concerned about climate change, they believe others are less concerned and are less able to recognize accurate information. So you have an opportunity tonight to pass this resolution to say publicly and acknowledge that you care about climate change. You care about the citizens in the city of Camaro and you care about the citizens in the state of California. It is a wonderful opportunity that has been given to you and I hope you vote in the affirmative.

Thank you

Alex Montana followed by Alexandra Massie. Good evening, council members. My name is Dr. Alex Matinona. I carry a PhD in chemistry and I am a policy advocate with the Central Coast Alliance United for Sustainable Economy or cause. Uh today I'm going to talk to you about three portions of my life in regards to this. I'm going to talk to you first as a scientist, second as a disaster recovery expert, and third as a policy advocate. The first is the science. Now um there are some molecules that exist that in interact with infrared light and that infrared light absorbs or will will keep and transfer heat. Carbon dioxide is one of those molecules. So we had somebody mention about the science. It wasn't really worked out. No, the science has been worked out. Some of you might have remember a term called um you know if you call somebody a savant that was person that was named after was savant arenius who in the 1800s proved the relationship between carbon dioxide and the greenhouse gas effect. Thomas Edison knew about this in the early uh 20th century and Shell knew about this in the 1970s and then they spent a lot of money burring that research and then casting doubt. Now, as a disaster recovery expert, I spent six months working on the Palisades fire recovery. I was on the ground walking through devastation. I understand the amount of effort, the amount of coordination, the amount of jobs and strength of will to recover from something like that and that takes a lot of resources. Now third, from the policy side, the make polluters pay resolution which will be reintroduced in January is a great policy thing for the

local level and the state. It is a jobs bill because it will create jobs for electrification, for home hardening. It will fund disaster relief. It will fund community resilience centers. It will also make sure that budgets are taken care of on the local level because instead of coming from city coffers, we're going to be using money that comes from the big polluters to pay for the things that are going to protect our communities. So when we're dealing with homeing budgets and we're dealing with the mountain fire in our backyard, we can then have the resources to deal with that. So I again urge you to pass this resolution in support and thank you. Thank you

Alexandra Massie followed by Elmeita Coats. Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening Mayor and honorable council members. My name is Alex Massie and I am a lifelong Camrio resident born and raised, a garden educator and substitute teacher and a longtime climate advocate. I am here to urge all of you, the Camrio City Council, to vote to approve this resolution brought to you by our youth and our allies to phase out fossil fuels, defend safety setbacks, hold polluters accountable, and demonstrate the city's commitment to uplifting youth voices. As someone who was born and raised in Camaro, I have returned to build my career in agricultural education with high school students. Many college age students like myself leave this city. But I came back because I see opportunities in Camaro. However, it's important that the city prioritizes my future and the livelihoods of its community members in the face of the glowing of the growing climate crisis. To me, this means supporting a fossil fuel phase out and transitioning to good paying clean energy jobs. I work with high school students in UHSD, which is the Oxnard Union High School District, and in Camaro on nutrition and environmental stewardship. As a young person myself, I want to continue to ensure that my students feel safe and excited to learn outdoors, which is only made possible by policies that protect air, water, and land. How can I encourage them to tend to the land when the next wildfire creeps down the mountains? How can they start their backyard gardens when they live close to oil and gas drilling that spews toxins that pollute the soils and their bodies, whether they're active or idle and continue to emit toxins? How can they believe in their own future as agricultural scientists, land stewards, and working people when the political system that govern them fail

to listen to their voices that are demanding that they be prioritized more than the polluting industries that watch the world burn while they line their pockets? As a city council, you have the power to support the youth voices that have taken the time to speak to you today and will continue after me. Who have put aside their adolescence, their childhoods to stand up for their futures. I came from their shoes. I studied environmental sciences and I returned to my city to make it a better place for the health and well-being of people, our people. You can continue to do this and I urge you to join me and the youth to pass this resolution and show us that you care for our futures, our land, and our community members. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Elmeita Coats, followed by David Compton.

Welcome.

Good evening, honorable city council members and Mayor Tennyson. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I am Almeita Coats, a Ventura County High School student and a youth leader with Seafrog. I am here today in support of the many members of Seafrog and residents of Ventura County. Um, I live off of Ventra Avenue near many oil drilling sites and a compressor station. Many of my neighbors live within the current 3200 ft setback that is currently in place. Our community is unfairly affected by oil drilling's release of methane, diesel particulate matter, benzene, and more. We ask that this drilling's release of meth setback law be defended against big oil and property owners. This would protect Camaro residents from new drilling sites which have been proven to increase risk of cancer, asthma, and reproductive issues and protect Camaro from a fate similar to my neighborhood in Ventura. Drilling affects human health as well as the health of our environment. We have all lived through the Thomas fire and the Wolsey fire and seen how wildfire can permanently disrupt our lives. The greenhouse gas emissions caused by the extraction and burning of fossil fuels heats our planet, increases drought, and inevitably leads to wildfire risk. With more than 100 idle wells surrounding Camaro and leaking flammable vapors, we need clear drilling laws more than ever. Included in this resolution is a statement of support for a climate super fund, which will hold polluters accountable and help pay for the losses we experience because of oil drilling. Please support this resolution to phase out fossil fuels, defend safety setbacks, hold polluters accountable, and demonstrate the city's commitment to uplifting youth voices. Thank you.

Thank you, David Compton, followed by Carol Pellet Pellet.

Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is David Compton and I'm a Camaro resident. I'm here in opposition to the Seafrog resolution. First and foremost, there is no oil drilling within the city of Camaro. So, this resolution asks the city to take a position on an issue that's outside of its jurisdiction. I don't believe that is the role of this council. Granted, there is however oil production in other parts of Venture County. But here's the reality that often gets left out of these conversations. Shutting down local oil production does not reduce the demand for oil and gas. Demand has not gone down and it's gone down very little with our move to electrification so far. California is an energy island. We can't import it by pipeline from other parts of the US. So if we don't make it here, we must import it from elsewhere. California already imports about 75% of the oil it uses. If we produce less here in California, we simply buy more from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iraq, or other countries where there are very few environmental protections and documented human rights violations. Choosing foreign oil over California oil is not a climate victory. It's a climate failure. At the moment when gas prices are already painful and when lowincome families are struggling to make ends meet, this is generally the worst possible time to signal support for accelerating a phase out of the fuel supply that we're still depending on every single day. SEAFOG represents a narrow slice of the political spectrum, pushing an extreme position. Their goal is the complete elimination of an industry that is essential to our daily lives and even their own lives. Even those opposed to oil and gas that are in this room right now are sitting

on chairs that are made from oil. And they're also wearing clothes that are also made from oil. We can't be hypocritical. Look, we all want clean air, clean water, blue skies, and a better environment. However, their goal deserves honest scrutiny scrutiny and not a rubber stamp from the Camaro City Council. I urge you to res to I urge you to reject this resolution and stay focused on matters within the city's authority. Thank you, Karen. I'm sorry, Carol Palier, followed by Natalie Johnston. Welcome.

Thank you and good evening. Um, we appreciate this opportunity to speak to you council members in support of this resolution to phase out oil and gas and make polluters pay for the damage caused by the continued use of oil and gas in our county, state, and country. I am a senior in my I'm I'm in my senior year of study majoring in political science and environmental science at Cal State Channel Islands. I chose these lines of study first to understand the hows and wise of the effects of a warming climate that we are all experiencing and secondly to work for changes to slow down or even even more hazardous outcomes. Instead of restating the wellocumented scientific facts connecting the most detrimental oil and gas byproducts which remain trapped in our atmosphere, connecting them to a warming climate, I'd rather share with you how the persistence of these gases in our atmosphere have changed our local environment and impacted me personally. Since 2000, I have worked with the country's largest park system on a local level in an education and interpretation program to bring students to our local uh state and national parks. The goals of these programs was to build affinity for and cultivate futures future stewards of natural environments. In the 2018 Woolsey fire, three of our national parks where we conducted uh weekly student programs all burned. This canceled much of the beloved Every Kid Outdoors program for the rest of the year, not to mention the many hundreds of of residents who were permanently displaced due to the loss of their homes. I now work in Malibu at a state historic landmark which three times last year was either directly impacted or closely threatened by fires. Although my front yard is an open space,

we do live half a mile from the 101 freeway where the car exhaust fine particulates from traffic from traffic exacerbates my son's severe asthma. Since we cannot afford to move, we've had to invest in costly air purifiers. I both cherish my location, but also live in fear from June to January, hoping to escape one more fire season unscathed. I was happy to see the climate action plan as part of the city of Camaro's general plan where the city's climate action plan acknowledges that the effects of climate change have the potential for a wide variety of impacts including wildfire risk, drought, water supply, extreme heat events, public health, public safety, agricultural productivity, ecosystem function, and economic continuity. By voting for this resolution, you have an opportunity to make major advancements in the city of Camaro's climate action plan goals of ensuring that quote this local government plays a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions since the city has the discretion on how and what strate.

Thank you. Natalie Johnston followed by Melberg.

Welcome.

Good evening. I'm Natalie Johnston and I ask you to please consider how crucial resolutions like this one are for the health and safety of California residents. I was 11 years old the first time that I experienced pain so intense that I vomited and started to lose consciousness. Devastatingly, it resurfaced nearly every month for another 14 years before my fifth fifth physician finally diagnosed me with endometriosis and PCOS at the age of 25. I underwent surgery less than 3 weeks later in which my surgeon found and removed diseased tissue from all over my abdominal ligaments and internal organs. While this procedure helped, it's not a cure. As recently as last Friday, I was substitute teaching at a local middle school when the pain struck so suddenly and sharply that I had just enough time to lay down on the floor before my vision went black. For reference, endometriosis is graded on a scale of 1 to four. In my case, it's only a two, meaning that others are going through even worse than what I've already endured. If that weren't enough, I also have asthma, a connective tissue disorder, and a chronic sinus condition that two surgeries have failed to remediate. And while it's extremely difficult to pinpoint an exact cause for these kinds of chronic illnesses, we have published data that directly link fossil fuel pollution to hormone disruption, reproductive illnesses, metabolic disorders, respiratory illnesses, learning disabilities, organ disease, dementia, and cancer. And that's only naming a few. Further, it is not coincidence that low-income communities and people of color are significantly more likely to be impacted by pollution. To those who argue that we need fossil fuels, insisting that they're essential for human progress, they're not. 200 years ago, humans used candles to light their homes at night. And then we switched to gas lamps. And 100 years after that, we switched to electric light bulbs. Why? Because techn technological advancements led to safer, less expensive, and overall better products than what we had previously. Now, we're at the same precipice. Fossil fuels are antiquated. Renewable energy is safer, cheaper, more reliable, and ready to go right now as soon as big oil

gets out of the way. A world exists in which we can all access free energy indefinitely. But as soon as that day comes, fossil fuel companies will no longer be able to rake in 2.7 trillion of our dollars each year, directly profiting off the health, safety, and wellness of comm community of and well-being of communities like ours here in Ventura County. That's why they're desperately attempting to cling to that control. This vote will allow us to claim our freedom from the the dependence that they have forced upon us. Um so that generations I had a little typo here. So that generations of families are protected from the harmful pollution that corporate greed brings. When it comes down to it, this choice is simple. Do we allow a small handful of billionaires to continue raking in record profits while we're left to choke on contaminants? or do we stand up for our well-being and declare that we've had enough? So, please pass this resolution so that we can shut off the faucet and make the fossil fuel industry clean up their mess.

Thank you. Thank you, Mel Burke. Followed by Brooke B offer. Hello everybody. Welcome.

As you can tell, I am not the youth of Seafrog. I am here as in a sense a tribal elder. I want to say kudos to Camaro and the staff for developing a 61page sustainability plan for municipal operations aka resilient Camaro. It states quote risks of climate change in the city of Camaro include increasing temperatures decreased rainfall and more frequent heat waves. Climate change is the basis for this sustainability plan because the potential impacts on the city's operation include direct impacts to city facilities and emergency response, increased costs for infrastructure repairs and resilience following storm, fire, andor landslide events. The plan goes on to enumerate the many ways Camaro can prepare for climate change impacts specifically in bold retrofitting municipal facilities to withstand climate related hazard conditions. These retrofitting costs are ultimately borne by taxpayers both locally and nationally as in the $1.1 recent million dollar federal appropriation from Congresswoman Brownley to quote help advance the city's long-term energy resilience and future hybrid micro grid system. The PR announcement goes on to say, "The funding builds on lessons learned during the November 2024 mountain fire and growing concerns surrounding public

safety shut offs and wildfire related utility disruptions and regional grid instability. All of these resiliency efforts and resulting costs are due to a climate impacted by increasing unprecedented amounts of carbon in our atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels i.e. oil and gas. A scenario predicted by the oil industry scientists but then buried in misinformation, greenwashing and lobbying efforts for decades. Now we are paying the price while the oil and gas earn profits in the billions and billions. This resolution simply adds Camrio to the long list of other city municipalities calling for a phase out of fossil fuels, defending common sense safety setbacks, holding climate polluters accountable. Emmen,

thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Brooke Baser followed by David Gilbertson. Welcome.

Thank you. Um, good evening, Mayor Tennyson, council members, and city staff. My name is Brooke, and I'm the community organizing manager at Searrog. I'm going to keep my com comments somewhat short, but as you have and will hear will continue to hear a plethora of strong arguments and powerful stories from your constituents today. I encourage you to explore the 20page comment letter signed by over 20 local organizations in addition to the 221 pages of attachments we submitted showing clear local relevance and reasoning for adopting the proposed resolution before you. Also, with it being mental health month, I would like to highlight an op-ed that was published in the VC Star yesterday written by one of our Seafrog youth leaders who was unable to be here with us tonight. Her piece is all about the mental health impacts the climate change is having on young people today and I would strongly encourage you all to read it. To share a brief quote, 2021 research shows that the mental weight of the climate crisis disproportionately impacts youth and young adults, increasing levels of anxiety and depression, worsening quality of sleep, and growing feelings of sadness, anger, and helplessness. With an entire generation's mental health at at stake like ours is, it interferes with not only our quality of life, but also our belief in humanity and our own futures. The more we ignore climate change now, the more future generations will be impacted by declining mental health alongside worsening air, soil, and water quality." End quote. As a young woman who has the privilege of working with these other young leaders um throughout the county, I cannot overstate the importance of listening to the voices of young people and providing meaningful opportunities for them to take action on the issues they care about most. After a year and a half of trying to make their voices heard, local youth leaders, many of which your constituents, finally have the chance to demonstrate their leadership and advocacy skills regarding an issue that they deeply care about. If the city wants to be a place that develops young leaders as outlined in objective 9.1 in the 202526 strategic

goals and objectives, then I urge you to listen to their concerns and act accordingly by voting to adopt the resolution before you. Thank you. Thank you, David Gilbertson, followed by Caesar Compost.

Welcome. Well, good evening, Mayor Tennyson, city council members, city staff. Thank you for your public service. Let's see if I can beat the clock here tonight. Um, you know, I'm inspired by the young people here tonight. I have no doubt that some of those young people may be in your chair in the future, and I hope to see them here. I was inspired by this book when I was in high school. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring talked about how man-made pollutants can threaten and destroy life on Earth. 15 months before the first Earth Day on January 28th, 1969, oil started pooling a black tar slick above the sea 6 miles off postcard perfect shores of Southern California. Santa Barbara oil spill. This was a major environmental disaster. Costly in terms of the impact on the environment and an economic disaster. Santa Barbara County eventually ended up finally after litigation securing 9.5 million in reparations. The environmental movement to protect our planet is a result of many young people like these advocating for government action. It's how we got the Clean Air and Clean Water Act. And here we are 57 years later, and it's time to act again. Our community's young people here today are advocating before this council and they present a resolution that supports our city's climate action plan, the Ventura County climate action plan and our state's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net zero by 2050.

Ventura County is disproportionately impacted by the impacts of climate change. In fact, it's proven to being one of the fastest warming regions in the continental United States. Yet, at the same time, the fossil fuel industry is receiving an average of 34 billion in government subsidies per year, taxpayer money that comes at the expense of poisoning our communities. A recent report based on 2023 US inflation data and regional climate impacts has estimated climate driven price hikes impact household budgets about 7500 to 3600 per year. A recent US Chamber of Commerce report shows that every dollar invested in climate resilience and preparedness saves $13 in economic savings from cleanup and damage costs. I urge the Camaro City Council to join with other California cities and the Oxnard Unified School District in supporting this resolution before you, our children.

Grandchildren. Thank you, sir. Caesar Compost followed by Lori Camille.

Welcome.

Hi. Thank you. I might go a little bit um faster. Um hello, good evening, Mayor Tennessee, city council member, staff. My name is Caesar and I'm a Oxnner College student and a fellow job leader with Seafrog. As a neighbor resident of Camaro, I want to express my strong support and in solidarity um with the agenda item R uh to favor a resolution that supports a fossil fill phase out protection for safety setbacks, plural accountability in youth voices. The reality is this. The oil industry is the primary driver of the climate crisis and affordability crisis too and poses a serious threat to public health and safety. With Camaro being situated in the fastest warming county in the lower 48 United States, uh the city is disproportionately impacted by the negative impacts of felled by big oil. From a climate from a climate perspective, the oil and gas industry is among the largest sources of the greenhouse gas emissions that caused the severe climate disasters we play out today. Take the 2024 mountain fire for example, which burned nearly 20,000 acres of and damaged like nearly 369 structures resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in housing and agricultural losses. Two months later, we have the Palisades fires and the Eden fire, which devastated our neighboring communities, tragically claiming 31 lives lives uh and leaving taxpayers and local budgets with a $250 billion bill. If the go oil and gas industry is not held accountable and effectively phase out through a managed transition, Camaro will only see more devastation in its communities. The climate crisis is ultimately a public health crisis too. And there is of negative impact impacts to the health. It will only get worse if we not if we not take action. Exposure to wildfire, smoke, stream heat, air pollution, harms public health resulting

in increased healthcare cost and impacts to daily life. Additionally, there are over 1,400 idle wheels throughout the county which are unplugged and leaking toxic chemicals such as methane and Benson which can lead to serious health issues including asthma cancer. And for these reasons and more carrier should adopt this resolution to show support for facing out fosial fails and holding polluters accountable and as a young person I want to finish it like this. The future holds the future I don't know about the future which holds to my generation which is why it is so important that all our elected representatives listen and prioritize drone voices. We deserve a future where we can thrive not just survive. There's no guarantee we'll be able to afford or remain in the place we can call home right now. And we want a better tomorrow for ourselves and for future generations. And so that's why we are to gather here today to speak out for what we believe is right and to urge you to make a decision that better represent the demands of your community. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you Lori Camille followed by Cliff Simson. Welcome.

Hello. Good evening city council. My name is Lori Camille. I am a University of CL a University of California climate steward and also a Santa Monica Mountains native plant steward. I was a firsttime home buyer when the Woolsley fire came down to our property line in 2018. Our home survived but many others were not as fortunate. This awakened in me to the fact that the effects of climate change are happening in real time. According to the University of California, agriculture agricultural and natural resources, Ventura County is one of the fastest warming counties in the state. Now, this is alarming considering how many people rely on Ventura County to grow our fruits and vegetables that feeds the entire country. I'm here to urge you today to pass this resolution because I believe we have a responsibility and an obligation to listen to our youth who will inherit this world from us. This evening you are considering the cries of youth that have come together after firthand experience with extreme fire caused by climate change during the mountain fire in 2024. It is they who will be taking care of our home and the best we can do is listen to them and take their concerns seriously. In addition, investing in clean energy alternatives to oil and gas is the future, and we need to shift to an energy economy that builds upon ingenuity and not reliant on an outdated fossil fuel system that will eventually deplete our planet. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Cliff Simonson, followed by Cat Selm. Welcome.

Good evening all. Take two. Good evening. Uh uh mayor, city cameo city council. My name is Cliff Simson. I'm a Camaro resident and I'm This is a tough act to follow because I'm in the oil industry. We produce oil and gas here in Ventura County. And I've been doing our family's been in the oil business for a hundred years. Um like farmers, we're price takers and we deliver the product that California needs, which is oil and gas. And the what has been ignored here, which is pretty remarkable because they're talking a lot about, you know, destroying the industry in California um helps things. And it was mentioned by another gentleman um was talking about because what we're doing is importing more and more and more oil and I really admire the passion of the kids. I would love to talk to them and tell them, you know, more about what they're learning and have them understand the complete nature of what's going on in the industry because we're importing billions of barrels of oil from places from overseas that treat our environment like it's trash. And whereas our company has done more for the industry in Cal in Ventura especially because we've removed hundreds of wells and none of our wells leak because we expect them every day. So anyway, I want to make a point about the industry supports um we we have 200 employees and we support job jobs, contractors, mechanics, truck drivers. And when policies or resolutions like this come out, what they're doing, they're pushing people out of a job and a job that is really, really important for supplying the energy that everybody thinks we're the villains, but we're not. I mean, I was a wildland firefighter when I was in your guys' age. And I know exactly.

Address address us, sir. Address us, not the audience, please. And I know I know about wildfires. I've been fighting them and I was um awarded a for fighting the Thomas fire. But I respectfully ask the council to reject this resolution and support policies that support local business, local jobs and the responsible energy policies like our and project um processes that our company u manages. Thank you. Thank you, Cat Selm, followed by Katherine Massie. Welcome.

Hi, good evening, mayor and council members. It's so nice to see you tonight. My name is Kat Selm and I'm an environmental policy professional and climate advocate who lives in Ventur County. I'm here tonight to stand in solidarity with the youth of Camaro. I want to thank you for your bold leadership with your climate action plan and for agendaizing this item tonight. You are part of the solution as our state is tragically behind on our emissions reductions. Our future is being held hostage by a dying industry which keeps us from transitioning to a greener, brighter future for all of us. Oil and gas production leads to massive public health impacts costing Ventura County and its residents untold sums in healthcare. According to the California Air Resources Board, oil production is the largest facility source of methane, benzene, hydrogen sulfide, formaldahhide, and volatile organic compounds in Ventura County. In addition, that old song and dance you'll always hear from oil and gas industry folks on jobs really isn't true. The oil industry in Ventura County currently employs a relatively small number of workers. Based on available data, crude petroleum extraction accounts for just 137 to 283 jobs. That's 0.002% of all jobs in Ventura County. We need bold leadership to support a livable future for these Ventura County youth. In addition, in a time of great fiscal uncertainty, we need stable income sources to address the climate impacts that cost us billions. And we can receive this by making polluters pay their share. I urge you tonight to adopt this resolution. Thank you.

Thank you, Katherine Massie, followed by Marvin Johnson. Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, honorable mayor, city council members, and city staff. My name is Katherine Massie, and I am a longtime Camaro resident, mother, and business owner. I'm here to urge the Camrio City Council to vote in support of passing this resolution to phase out fossil fuels, defend defend safety setbacks, hold polluters accountable, and demonstrate the city's commitment to uplifting youth voices. I care about the environment and our health and safety. My daughter, Alex Massie, cares deeply about our environment and has worked with climate organizations across the state to advocate for a clean energy future. She has been fighting for health and safety setbacks for over four years, and I've seen her work with many community members on the important need. Now that SB 1137 is law, the city council must show that it supports these setbacks. so we can protect more people from the harmful impacts of living near oil and gas facilities. I want to live in a Camaro that listens to the voice of young people and people who care about our fellow community members and the environment. I hope that the city council sees that what our young people like my daughter are fighting for is worth it and will benefit all people in the community. Please approve the Seafrog youth climate resolution and stand with our youth like I am doing. Thank you.

Thank you Marvin Johnson followed by Peter Johnson.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council staff. My name is Marvin Johnson. I want to illustrate my support for this resolution. And by the way, I applaud the city for bringing this forward. I've been a resident of Cambrio since 1955. In the 1960s, I was u a student at Camrio High School, also an athlete. And to illustrate why public action matters, in those in the 1960s, I'd go home from practice after school with my lungs aching. I'd go to what I considered responsible adults, like a doctor, and said, "What's causing this?" And they just said, "Well, don't spend so much time outdoors." Well, run the clock forward 20 years to the 1980s. I was still biking, cycling, playing tennis, and working outdoors. But no problems with those achy lungs because by then the city and state regulations against air pollution had taken hold and made some headway. So I would like to encourage the council to continue to make headway by approving this resolution. One observation I have is that the oil industry will keep turning up the pressure as they see their existing investments in infrastructure threatened by the lack of demand. Well, that's a good thing. and maybe not so good from them, but nonetheless, it's a course we must follow to reduce pollution in all respects and all of the effects of global warming. Thank you.

Thank you, Peter Johnson, followed by Todd Colart. Welcome.

Good evening. I'm Peter Johnson. I've lived in Camaro just about all my life and I urge you to pass the Seafrog resolution, but I wanted to come at it a little differently as the city is currently updating its general plan. One of the best ways to reduce fossil fuel consumption is to get cars off the road. That means changing our zoning rules to mix commercial and residential, building more densely, and building on a grid. These things facilitate cycling, walking, and public transportation and actually leads to a stronger economy and improved public health. And I I hope you'll keep that in mind and please pass this resolution. Thank you. Thank you,

Todd Colart, followed by the last speaker, Sid Hearth Medra.

Good evening. Um, we all know of instances where people or institutions have affected many individuals or groups of people and perhaps in ourselves. We think back to teachers or other people who've made important impacts on us, favorable ones over time. Uh, we're in a time now of climate chaos. We're metaphorically speaking like a bunch of people in a very small rowboat out in the middle of the ocean, desperately bailing to keep that boat afloat and our lives safe. And in that situation, we don't care how big a bucket you're using to bail the water out, whether you're sitting in the front or the back of the boat, what your gender is, anything. We just want the water out of the boat, otherwise we're going to perish. And that metaphorically speaking is the situation we have now with trying to make sure that we navigate the challenges of climate change. Um the issues before you today are three ways which you can make impacts, positive impacts on the future from the climate standpoint. You've heard from many of these already, but just to reiterate uh simply having a super fund uh for polluters pay their fair share um of the impacts that have been caused by this and there's plenty of science to show that happens. you had the Wolsey fire and other impacts we've seen in LA in partly impacted or increased because of uh global warming. And with those funds coming back to cities, counties, you can make meaningful changes in your community uh addressing mitigation measures you want to take or adaptation measures as the temperatures cries rise and your neighbors are crying out for shade or ways of dealing with cooling centers for example. Secondly, you want to be able to protect the interest the health of your constituents. Uh with the setback requirement, which is been scientifically established at 3200 feet, which seems like a great distance, but knowing what's in the constituent parts of oil wells and drilling, there's a lot of harmful things of the drift further

and further field. So, if you want to send a message to make sure those distances are are established and maintained, your action tonight is important. Your action tonight is also important in simply sending a message to other agencies throughout the county. Uh you've seen a list of other cities and institutions that have adopted resolutions similar to this one and you'd be adding support to that which would hopefully push legislation over the line to cement these practices uh together. Um the oil industry inevitably going to be phasing out the production the state has been drifting lower and lower uh day by day. Mr. Simson pointed out there's more imports coming in because of lack of production here. Uh regardless of how much more oil we pumped, the reservoirs are still running down. Employment's dwindling as well. And those of us present here, you know, feel badly about the transition oil workers will have to make, but we certainly invite them to try to apply their expertise and skills to areas in the renewable energy sector. And we hope your action tonight will help send the message to get these things adopted to

Thank you. Luis Jimenez, followed by Melissa Munosz.

Welcome.

Thank you. Uh, good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Luis Himenez, a lifelong Camaro resident. I'm a supervisor at Cal NRG. I apprec I appreciate the opportunity tonight in opposition to the climate first replacing oil and gas resolution. What I see every day are hardworking local employees doing essential work safely and responsibly. These are operators, mechanics, engineers, and field personnel who care deeply about safety, environmental responsibility, and supporting their families here in Murk County. California still relies heavily on oil and gas every single day. The reality is that producing these resources locally under California strict environmental standards is far more responsible than increasing dependence on foreign imports from countries with weaker regulations. Resolutions like this may seem symbolic, but they contribute to uncertainty for local workers and businesses at a time when many Californians are already struggling with affordability and rising cost. I respect respectfully ask the council to reject the resolution and support a more balanced and practical approach moving forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Sid Hearth Medra. Welcome again.

I respectfully beg the council to forgive me for troubling them a third time, but I assure you I will not make that a habit. At least I hope I will not have the need to. Really, what I would like to do is express my admiration for the Seafrog organization and their work and and its result in the form of this new resolution. I am very much in favor of it. For all the reasons are for said by the other speakers before me, the oil industry has missed their chance to make the change to clean energy. They missed it 70 years ago. We must not miss ours. That is all. Thank you,

Melissa Munoz. Welcome.

Thank you. Uh, good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Melissa Munoz. I am a student at Oxnar College and a f fellow youth leader with Seafog. I'm here to support I'm here to speak in support of this resolution because of the risks we face in Camaro are real and growing. I am a I'm a Camaro resident. Um, I reside in council member Kild's district and last year during the mountain fire, my family and I prepared to evacuate as flames approached our neighborhood. We were fortunate not to lose our home, but many families did. And that experience made it clear how vulnerable our community is to climate driven disasters and how urgently we need policies that reduce risk, protect public health, and strengthen resilience. Ventura County is one of the fastest warming regions in the continental United States. And at the same time, oil and gas operations remain a major local source of harmful pollutants. And according to state air quality data, oil production has been the largest facility source of toxic pollutants in the county. And these pollutants are linked to asthma, heart disease, cancer, and other serious health impacts. We also have significant groundwater vulnerability. More than 500 active and idle wells in the Ventura County are drilled through our or adjacent to freshwater aquifers. The same aquifers our agriculture and drinking water depend on and idle wells are particularly a concern. Ventura County has nearly 1400 and research shows that roughly 67% of unplugged wells in California leak methane or other toxic chemicals. From an economic standpoint, the data shows that a transition away from fossil fuels is manageable. Oil related jobs make up 0.09% of Entura County's workforce. Meanwhile, de well well meanwhile well decommissioning, clean energy and climate resilience work can create much many more new jobs that align with existing skill sets. In other counties, including Santa Barbara and LA have already begun implementing phase out policies with minimal economic disruption. Supporting this resolution also means supporting public safety. More than 60,000 Ventura County

residents live within 3200 ft of an active well or idle well. And climate driven disasters impose millions of dollars in costs on local governments. And shifting some of that burden to the companies responsible for the pollution is both fair and fiscally responsible. For all these reasons, public health, economic stability, environmental protection, and community safety. I urge you to vote yes on this resolution. It is a responsible forwardlooking step that will help protect Camaro families today and in the years ahead. Thank you. Thank you, Carara Sanford. Welcome.

Thank you. Um, good evening, Mayor Tennyson and council members. My name is Cara Sanford, and I'm here to urge you to vote in support of the resolution to phase out fossil fuels, defend safety setbacks, hold polluters accountable, and demonstrate the city's commitment to uplifting youth voices. I'm currently a student at UC Santa Barbara, although I am originally from Santa Cruz, where I've spent my life watching the impacts of climate change intensify around me. I've had to evacuate my home twice because of wildfire threats, and I've watched the coastline and cliffs I grew up around erode more and more each year. For young Californians, climate change is not theoretical. It's already shaping where we can safely live, breathe, and build our futures. I'm proud to say that both cities I call home, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, have passed the resolution in front of you today. Those communities recognize the importance of holding polluters accountable, protecting public health and safety, and listening to the voices of youth, asking for a more resilient future. Today, we are asking Camaro to do the same. That's why I want to highlight the city council's own 2025 2026 goals and objectives, specifically objective 9.1, which commits the city to in quote engage youth regarding issues that concern them and develop future leaders end quote. If the city truly wants to develop future leaders, it must show young people that their concerns are valued and acted upon. Supporting this resolution would demonstrate that commitment. The youth behind this campaign have organized, researched, attended meetings, and consistently showed up for safer, safer, cleaner, and healthier future for their communities. And so again, I urge you to vote in support of the phase out of oil and gas. Thank you.

Thank you, Peggy Morgan. Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening, city council mayor. Thank you for this little bit of time. I don't often come to city council meetings, as you know, and when I do, I usually end up speaking. I'm here because I came to this state in 1974 and I lived in LA County. I was a physical education teacher and I can recall having to call uh the air quality management district before we could compete in events after school. I had never before lived in a place where my eyes burned when I came home from being outdoors. And so I agree with the gentleman as to how important it is that we had the changes that helped to clean up the environment. But I'm here because I want to support the youth of this country and of Ventura County and of Camaro because they are our future. I don't personally have children. I'm sure many of you have children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews and family members who are affected by various health concerns. Not everybody's fortunate enough to have families that are all healthy. So, I hope that in looking at what these young people are asking you to do, you will realize they are our future. We are the past. We're still alive and we don't know how long we're going to live. No, nobody does. But it's time that we move past the industry that is draining us as a society and has drained us for years. The subsidies that go to oil and gas companies are unbelievable. Many countries around the world have transitioned to clean energy. We don't have to worry about whether the sun's going to shine every day or not. Most of the time here in Southern California, it does. So, we can rely on solar energy.

And transitioning to these new types of energy, which are really old types of energy, considering the wind and the sun have been around a long time, does create change. It creates job opportunities for individuals who are willing to make the change, who can learn the new skills involved, and who can then continue to support their families. But primarily I'm here because as a retired educator I can think of nothing more promising than supporting our youth, supporting the health of our community. And that means finding new ways to create jobs. And it doesn't have to be done overnight. But if you could support this resolution, it would say a lot to us older folks about how much we care for the younger ones. Thank you. Thank you.

Any more? No more. With that, ladies and gentlemen, sorry for the inconvenience, but we're going to take a quick 10-minute recess because my colleagues and I have been up here for 10 minutes, and it has been requested. We'll be back at we'll make it 7 uh we'll make it 7 7:05. Hurry up. That's

Thank you for your patience. We will now reconvene this city council meeting and enter into council discussion. Any council member wishing to go first? No. council member wanting to go first. Well, well, I don't want to go first, but I what I did want to do because you are going first.

Well, what I what I will sorry what I will ask is since there was a committee, so I asked that this uh resolution come forward, but I as always say I don't want to go to council jail, so I have not talked to either um council members who were involved in the committee. So, I would actually like to hear the feedback from the conversations that happened during that committee. They didn't volunteer. I looked at them. Mr. Trembley or Council Member Santangelo, would one of you like to go first?

Um, I'll go first. Um, I can report from the committee that we had differing opinions um and some concerns about the jurisdiction of the um resolution and so that's why we had it brought to council um without a recommendation. So that's where the committee stands. Um but I'll go ahead and continue. Um this resolution does a number of things. It calls for the governor and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to stop issuing new oil and gas permits and to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuel extraction. It calls for California lawmakers to hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for climate related damages. It calls for state leaders to defend and enforce the three 3200 ft setback protections. It calls for oil companies to fully fund and complete cleanup of idle and orphan wells. And it calls for the continued commitment to climate justice and transition to renewable energy. The bottom line is that I support all of these things. Full disclosure, I have met with Seafrog members on multiple occasions. I have read the multiple letters of re of support we have received and we've received many more in support than against this resolution. I sit on the policy committee and have heard public comment during those meetings as well, some for and some against this resolution. I'm impressed with the passion of the young people who have worked on this resolution and who support it. I am worried for these young people who will be shouldering the burden of our choices today. I want to thank everyone who took the time to be here tonight and to share their experiences with us. I really mean that. We really appreciate you all being here, taking the time and effort and

courage sometimes that it takes to speak at city council meetings. There have been concerns regarding jurisdiction. In other words, does this resolution apply to our city? I have given this a lot of thought and believe that it does. The effects of climate change are widespread. In fact, Ventura County, as has been mentioned tonight, is one of the fastest warming regions in the continental US. Our company has already our community has already experienced the climate the the climate effects of fossil fuels. Camrio has had its share of wildfires and landslides and there will be more. There are long-term health effects that will impact our residents. Sustainability must be built into all we do. All of these things impact quality of life and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. And for these reasons, because climate change knows no boundaries, I believe this resolution does apply to the residents of Camaro. Finally, as I said earlier, I have really been impressed with the young people who I have met and who I've heard from from via email. I want to listen to the voice of young people, not just because they are young, but because they are the ones who will be saddled with the long-term effects of fossil fu fuels. They deserve bold leadership and action. Today I will be voting in favor of this resolution.

Who would like to go next? Vice Mayor, I think it's up to you.

Uh, sure I can go. Um, so, uh, good evening everyone and thank you to all of the students, all of the community members, residents, um, who spoke tonight on both sides. Uh I believe your voice matters and they des your voice deserves to be heard. Uh I want to begin by saying that I also have a great deal of hope for our future. Like many parents in this community, I have three children of myself. I am inspired by young people and the passion they bring by these conversations. Uh so when we talk about well having three children at home when we talk about uh climate and public health and community well-being this is something that is also deeply personal to me. The goals and objectives of the city of Camrio call on us to support our residents especially our youth and future generations. The resol this resolution gives us the opportunity to do exactly that. To listen, to lead, and to uplift the voices of young people who are asking us to protect their future. As a forwardthinking city, we have the responsibility to support the well-being and quality of life of everyone who lives here. That means defending a com common sense safety setbacks, working toward cleaner energy solutions, phasing out harmful fossil fuel dependence over time, and holding polluters accountable for the damage they create. At the same time, I also want to acknowledge the importance of oil and gas workforce. Many hard-working families depend on these jobs to provide

for their households. And I respect the contributions workers have made to our economy and our communities. This conversation should never be about attacking workers. It should be about creating a healthier and safer future for our workforce and for everyone. That is why I believe we must also invest in cleaner jobs and in new economic opportunities. Jobs that protect both workers and public health. As we move forward, we should support workforce transition programs, clean energy careers, infrastructure projects, and industries that create long-term sustainable employment opportunities for future generations. Communities should never bear the burden of cleaning up pollution they did not create. The responsibility belongs to those who caused the harm. If industries profit from these communities, our communities, then they must also take the responsibility for protecting them. We are already seeing the impacts of climate change and extreme heat here in Ventura County. According to scientific reports, Ventura County is warming faster than many other regions in the country. I recently spoke with farm workers. As many of you may know, I'm also executive director of Friends of Fieldworkers, a local nonprofit supporting farm workers. And these farm workers have shared with me that this this strawberry season uh picking uh that once lasted six to eight weeks are now sometimes now reduced to like two weeks uh because of and we do not know what the reason is but it could potentially be because of the changing weather conditions. So this means there

are fewer wages, less stability from for families and growing uncertainty for workers who are also already vulnerable. And this of course also has an impact on the economy for the growers as well. Tragically, we have seen the human cost of these conditions. On September 7th, 2024, farm worker Oscar Pimementel collapsed and died on the fields during a heat wave in Ventura County. I also heard reports through the media about another outdoor worker who worked in oil and gas in in the oil and gas industry who lost his life during this extreme heat conditions uh back in September of 2024. These condition these are not just statistics. These are human beings, workers, fathers, sons and members of our community. I also want to share a story. During my summers as a child, I would often spend them out in Wilmington, California. Uh my grandparents lived, they were like the third house from the railroad tracks and right behind that were refineries. To this day, I still have many of my cousins who suffer from severe asthma and other medical conditions. And for those who want to know a little bit about Wilmington, um it's a predominately Latino low-income community in Los Angeles um that lives surrounded by some of the largest concentrations of oil and refineries in the state. Many homes such as my grandparents were also just hundreds of feet from active oil operations. Um and as mentioned earlier, residents experience higher rates of asthma, heart disease, pollution related illnesses, and other chronic health conditions. Studies have shown that pollution from

oil and gas operations disproportionately impact black, Latino, indigenous, and Asian communities. And I know some of that is mentioned in or touched upon in the resolution. Researchers have linked this pollution to thousands of premature deaths, pre-term births, childhood asthma cases, and cancers nationwide. California suffers more from these impacts than any other state. These patterns are not accidental. For decades, communities of color and workingclass neighborhoods have too often been asked to carry the environmental and health burdens of industrial development while receiving a few of the long-term benefits. This resolution is about making sure that Camrio chooses a different path. We can support economic opportunity while also protecting public health. We can stand with workers while demanding safer conditions and cleaner industries. And we can ensure that future generations inherit a city that values health, sustainability, and human dignity. Tonight, supporting this resolution means standing with our youth, with working families, with science, and with the long-term well-being of the Camaro community. I do believe that Camrio today has the opportunity to lead with courage and compassion and responsibility and I personally do support this resolution and I would uh be glad to hear what the uh the rest have to say.

Well, good. You'll get to Mr. K. Well, I want to thank the youth for uh being here. That's um you know said many times, you're the future and as a father of uh two girls, I definitely believe that. And the males uh in the audience as well here. Um this is a tough issue and it's a tough issue on many many uh faces here. Uh with this resolution, there's parts of it that I support and there's parts of it that I don't. Um, I do support um the creation of a super fund. I think that there should be much more money put in to close uh wells that uh may or may not be contaminated. In our city of to my knowledge, we do not have any. We do not put in any permits for any oil and gas in our city. I try to be local. I'm elected for to represent the city of Camaro uh at large but specifically in my district and that's district number three here. It's a little challenging for us to get into kind of a regional discussion about this but I think it's also necessary too. Um I do support SB 1137. I think that's important for the setbacks uh to be able to protect our residents here. Although it's not necessarily an issue with our residents here, but it could very well be in the county and the state. I'm very much aware of this. Um I think it's uh premature to phase out oil and gas at this particular point. I think it's it's going down that um track, if you will. uh the oil and gas is getting much more cleaner. It has a long way to go, but it's much more cleaner than it was when I was your age and they can uh will continue to keep working for this. My suggestion if the council uh wants to go forward with this that we write our own

resolution, I think we should reach out to all sides. I think all size, oil and gas, youth, seniors, everybody at a uh come together and see if we want to write a resolution that we could work for as many people as possible. But with that, I cannot support the way that it has been um brought to our attention and submitted at this particular time. However, I am open-minded on this issue. Thank you, Mr. KD. Council member Trembley.

Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So first of all, thank you to everyone who spoke. A sincere thank you this evening uh and the passion in which you have expressed your views. I respect everyone's position. Because I respect people's positions doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with them, but I could same time I can respect them. I'm going to say the same thing that I said at the April 16th policy committee meeting uh that Susan that that council member Santangelo talked about before uh because I apparently back on the policy committee this year uh for the first time in a long time. Um I cannot support the resolution and the reason is a threshold issue before even getting to the merits. The threshold issue, which I can't get past, is whether oil and gas permitting is a city issue or whether it's an issue for a municipality. It's not. It's not in the city's lane. It's not in the city's jurisdiction. And I've taken that position a few times. This is my 10th year on the council. I've taken that position a couple of times before. For example, with respect to u uh establishing this city as a sanctuary city. I did not believe the city should be involved because of the same principle from a governance standpoint. Same position with respect to abolishing ICE. It's not in this fundamentally in the city's jurisdiction. It's not in the city's lane. And I think it's a principled and I know it's a principled position. It all revolves around what the appropriate role of a city is. Uh so I can't get past that

threshold issue and I can't support the resolution. Thank you.

Thank you. Just a few things. First off, we had a speaker that pointed at all of us up here and said we're the past. So I pinched myself and I want you to know I'm still present. Um, I'm not the past yet, but I do agree that I am impressed with all of the young people here. They are the future, but I'm still present. Um, they're the future. They've been very passionate on this, and I sat on the policy committee when they first brought it to us a year and a half ago. Um, they're articulate, impressively articulate, and clearly very determined to see this through to the end. Like Mr. Gilbertson said, I believe it was he that said it, we all or somebody did. No, it wasn't. We want clean air, clean water, and blue skies. We all want that. We We not only want it for ourselves, we want it for the next generations. Uh I met with Mr. Gilbertson earlier this week and had an hour plus visit with him, an enjoyable cup of coffee, and we didn't talk specifically on this issue because it was coming before the council as a resolution. But I shared a little bit of my background. I raised my daughter in Camereo. She's an educator, a principal at a middle school. I have a younger brother that followed me out here 20 years later who provided me with three young nephews and a beautiful young niece. My daughter has given me two absolutely wonderful grandsons and the prettiest, most precocious two-year-old little granddaughter, finally. And I shared with Mr. Gilbertson. I care about people my age because we carried the burden for a long time. I care about people my daughter's age because she is the one that's ushering in the next future. I care about my nieces and nephews and I care about my grandchildren. And my hope, my daughter

was raised here in the 80s. My hope is that my nieces and nephews and my grandchildren have the opportunity to experience some of Camaro that my daughter did, some that I did coming here as a 22year-old um brand new deputy sheriff into Camaro and I want them to experience it. My issue with the Seafrog resolution is that it's asking us, as Mr. Trembley says, what's the threshold? We don't issue oil permits in Camrio. And according to the staff report, we have no active oil wells and all remaining oil wells in the city limits of Camrio are capped. My assumption is they are inspected on some regular basis to make sure that they're not leaking. Um they keep talking about the super fund. Now, if the state legislature ever passed legislation or offered or profered legislation to enact a super fund, then I would say the city needs to look at it through the policy committee to see what the benefits for local government are. Because when I sat through the policy committee previously, there was no mechanism in that proposed legislation which both legislators pulled back on their own is my understanding. There was no mechanism in there to decide how the money from that super fund would be distributed. Would it go to private industry? Would it go to local governments? Would it go to the state government? And none of that was ever clarified in those conversations and it hasn't been clarified tonight. Um, I appreciate you all being here and as Mr. Trembley said, I respect your opinion. It doesn't mean I have to agree with 100% of it. And so I too will oppose this um seafar resolution tonight, but I would be willing to entertain as Mr.

Kild suggested trying to work something out through the city a resolution that is city centric that we could support. So thank you. And now I will entertain a motion. Okay. I will move that we adopt the climate first replacing oil and gas resolution. I will second. We have a first and a second. Would you do a roll call vote? Council member Santangelo? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo? Yes. Council member Kildy. No. Council member Trembley. No. Mayor Tennyson. No.

That motion fails. two to three. Thank you. So m may maker if I may. So I'd like to uh offer a suggestion on on another on this on another motion. It Yes, it could be another motion. Well, I'm trying to figure out what you're trying to offer.

Okay. So, what I'm trying to offer is since it it sounded like there could be some support to bring a resolution back, um I would be open to that. Um I would like to involve our youth as well um in that in that work. Um, and then in addition, I was actually also interested in supporting our youth by having um them maybe work with the library to provide uh information, educational information uh through our library programs. So, that's actually a piece that I wanted to um add to the resolution. Should um you know, should we bring that back,

I might make a suggestion that we um direct the city manager to have staff pursue this further. And as Mr. Kild said, it would include the youth, it would include the seniors, it would include oil and gas industry people so that we get a full perspective from all sides. Is that something that we can push for over the next few months? Is that acceptable? Yes, it basically that's what I Okay. mentioned. Yeah, I would be open to trying to bring something back. Yep. He said, "So, do we need um Rachel?

If you're if you're just giving sort of direction to staff, I I think I would just make sure the council's okay with that direction. It's not actually action being taken, but direction being provided and unless there's any strong objections that we can just ask the city manager to look into that. Yes. Do you all be okay? Yep. Okay, we're good. Thank you. Now, we will move on to item S, the wireless assessment. And I believe Michelle Glucert Deanna is going to run with this one.

Good evening, Mayor Tennyson and city council. I'm pleased to be here tonight to share with you about the city's efforts to assess wireless service in our community. I think we can all agree that wireless service is a challenge in Camaro. We've heard from our community members and we've experienced for ourselves spotty reception, dropped calls, and inconsistent coverage. The city council asked staff to look into this issue and find some answers to these questions. Why is cell service inconsistent in Camaro? Why did some approved wireless facilities not advance to construction? How can we improve cell service in Camaro? At the request of your council in January 2024, staff presented information during a public meeting about how many permits had been approved by city staff over the last 20 years and how many of those had actually been constructed. Only about a third of the approved facilities had been constructed by the carriers. Council requested that staff look into this issue and try to answer those key questions. We spent considerable time looking into our permit records and trying to reach out to carriers to get some answers. Realizing that we needed an expert, we hired a consultant to help us dive into the details and get some answers. Our consultant conducted an initial assessment to gather some data from the field. To emphasize the importance of this issue to the city as part of the city council strategic plan for fiscal year 202526, your council added a new objective under the community enrichment goal to explore opportunities to engage providers to improve cell phone coverage within the city of Camaro. Staff presented information that the consultants field survey revealed at two utilities committee meetings in August and October of 2025. The utilities committee helped staff

further frame the scope of work to gain more tangible insights. We expanded the consultant scope of work. They gathered more information and staff returned to the utilities committee in March and April of this year. Now we are ready to present the analysis and findings of this research to the full council and to our community. Seeking answers to those foundational questions, we hired Enrust Engineering and this is what they helped us achieve. They measured coverage and capacity in Camaro. They reviewed the Camaro Municipal Code Chapter 19.76, consulted with all city departments who touched part of the process for wireless permits, reviewed approved but unconstructed conditional use permits, and they were able to conduct interviews with some recent applicants to glean insights into our process from the carrier perspective. Why? All of this work was done in order to better understand why approved sites were not built and how local sighting and design standards may be affecting deployment and service performance in Camaro. And with that, it is my pleasure to introduce Matt Steedman of Enrust Engineering. Matt is here tonight to share a high level overview of his methodology, findings, and implications related to wireless infrastructure sighting and performance in Camaro. And following Matt's uh presentation, I will be presenting some policy questions to your council for consideration.

Good evening everyone. Um my name is Matthew Steedman. I work for uh in trust solutions group and I want to summarize the results of the work that we did with senior staff on some of the wireless issues uh that are affecting uh Camaro. Um, as you can see on the uh the uh chart there, we looked at 11 cup applications and uh did a detailed analysis on six of those. Um, five of those were were ruled out in terms of of why we didn't look at them. The reason was um because Dish Wireless had ceased operations in 2023. So there was no no real path to to find any viable information. So the six that we focused on uh five of those were AT&T. Uh, one of those was Verizon Wireless and those were all applications between uh, October 21st or I'm sorry uh, 21 October of 21 and August of 24. Uh, we looked at CUP application records. Um, we did a a wireless field test. Um, actually drove around the city of Camaro uh, with some test equipment and were able to um, take readings and measurements on actual uh, signal strength and quality. Um we reviewed the uh uh Camrio Camaro municipal code and um as discussed we we actually did some outreach to uh some industry representatives not carriers directly but engineering companies and uh site acquisition companies that do work uh for them. Next slide please. The uh the bottom line uh from our result from our research indicated that um the buildout for approved designs really uh depends on whether it still meets carrier technical and investment thresholds. Um and and it it doesn't necessarily uh guarantee construction u because carriers are looking for a

predictable uh uh cost efficiency and return on their investment. Um some of the constraints uh that are created by some of the policies in Camaro may uh restrict designs and therefore restrict uh effectiveness and and coverage uh efficiency um for the carriers. U none of these issues are carrier specific necessarily. Uh the results of the drive test indicated that the the three major carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, and uh Verizon, which are the ones we tested for um they all have different uh performance issues uh depending on location and uh that could be for a variety of reasons. Next slide, please. The key findings um were that the city can it does a by all accounts uh from from speaking with industry folks the city does uh an excellent job of adhering to its existing codes and processes and procedures. Uh there were there were no issues with timeliness. Um I think that the issue that continued to bubble up was a kind of a broader issue which was that the combination of the significant terrain that you have in Camaro uh where you have uh sharp increases in elevation, you have a lot of uh canopy, a lot of um uh tree foliage that impacts signal quality uh kind of in combination with the requirements from your code design require requirements. um that creates an impact uh to to a number of things for the carriers, but probably it it it most seriously drives uh cost decisions. Um, and when we say that you have control over the approval process and and not necessarily uh deployment, that's

because you don't know how your approval is is being impacted by a broader regional budget and decisions that are happening in other communities around um and the the cost of those sites as well. Um but generally speaking the um the the CMC reduces technical efficiencies for for the facilities that are approved and that may uh again impact uh decisions to move forward. The way that it does that is there there are um limitations. You have height restrictions. Obviously, there's stealthing requirements, camouflage requirements, um language that that calls for least intrusive means. Uh arch things like architecturally integrated require very specific and intricate designs that drive cost up. And so that again may impact carrier decisions to to how they will invest in Camaro. um they if they can invest um more capital in other cities on a on a on a higher cost per basis, that's a decision some carriers may may make. Um and although your your your overall uh code does reduce visual impact, it does produce a lot of uh constraints for technical efficiencies. And that concludes my presentation.

Thank you, Matt. And now we wish to present some policy considerations to the city council for direction to city staff on how you'd like us to proceed. The overarching policy question is this. Do we want to sacrifice design for better service? Specifically, we have three policy considerations for you. The first one, should the city continue evaluating whether targeted updates to the city's wireless sighting framework are warranted? Number two, should the city conduct a focused review of applicable provisions in the Camaro municipal code? And finally, should the city facilitate deployment of wireless facilities on publicly owned land? The first policy consideration is to determine if targeted updates to the city's wireless sighting framework are warranted. This involves reimagining our CUP application process for wireless facilities, revisiting application fees for these types of projects and/or creating guidelines targeted at wireless carriers as a helpful resource to guide them through our process and demonstrate what types of facilities we would like to see in Camaro. The second policy consideration is to determine if you will direct staff to do a focused review of the Camaro Municipal Code Chapter 19.76. Specifically in regards to easing the standards for wireless facilities as they relate to setbacks from the property line, maximum height of facilities, lessening the stealthing and camouflage design requirements, considering a closer proximity to residential areas, and making these facilities allowable in more zoning districts. And the final policy consideration is to determine if you would like staff to collaborate with others to identify practical options for improving coverage. We know that some of our gaps in coverage exist in residential and

open space or park areas. So, one example of this collaboration would be for the city to collaborate with the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District to streamline and administratively approve facilities that are located on either PVRPD or city properties. And in closing, these are the recommended actions for your council this evening as listed in the agenda report. Uh staff is seeking your direction on moving forward with any or all of these actions. And this concludes my presentation. I am certainly available if you have any questions. Any questions for Michelle or the consultant? Mr. Trembley.

Thanks, M. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. I Oh, the consultant is here. Okay. There's a question. I I know you have the the technical memorandum, but uh Michelle, can you go back to the PowerPoint on key findings? Okay. Um I'm not sure I understand number three. The requirements of the CMC can reduce technical efficiency of facilities and increase cost. And I the way I'm reading that is that is the current state of the code according to the consultant. Am I right? That is correct.

Okay. And if that's the case, can you describe or provide examples of the technical efficiency of the facilities? I'm just not clear on what that means. So So some concrete examples of what you're talking about.

So the lower a a uh site is approved for, the less coverage generally it's going to provide to an area. uh when you when you drive around and you see full array kind of antennas that aren't mounted uh like slimline to the pole flush mounted um that impacts uh the propagation of the radio waves coming off of it. So when you have things like camouflage requirements that require um fake trees that would would also impact the this the the proliferation and you have those those slimline designs and a lower height. You're not getting the the kind of propagation that you would get from let's say a 100 foot fully full antenna array that is not impinged by any kind of stealthing design. And so because of that um some some of the the applications that we did look at were quite expensive. They were um buildouts on top of existing roof lines to integrate with existing architecture. Um extremely expensive compared to a 100 foot tower. The other advantage um would be a higher site facility would allow uh other carriers to also utilize it from a collocation perspective. It's valuable to them. But if you're approving let's say a 45 foot clock tower design that would be that's architecturally um matched to to the existing facility. that's very expensive for the carry to build and it's not a collocable facility um that they're going to get any kind of cost sharing.

If I'm understanding though and and thank you by the way, great great report. But if I'm understanding it correctly, the applications that were provided to the city had these expensive constraints. Was that because of the city's code or is that because of what the carrier chose to ask for or to request in a permit application?

It's a great question and I I unfortunately I was able to talk to some of the individuals that were responsible for many of those applications. They were just no longer available. They worked on some of these back in 2021. Um the I I I can tell you from having a background in that industry, the preference is not to to build uh that type of expensive stealth uh facility just because of the cost and that the amount of time that it'll likely take. If your question is did they come up with that expensive design? They may have, but they did so because that was what they thought was the only thing that was going to get passed in that particular location because of the zoning requirements.

Okay. So it would be principally if I stay with it principally because of what their interpretation of what our municipal code said. I I I wouldn't I I wouldn't know if that was principally it but but I but I can tell you the preference would be to build the the the most colllocatable simple structure without any impingement to uh propagation. But then consequently, there was a decision made even if the permit was approved, which it was in many cases, there was a market-based decision by the carrier not to proceed with the building of it. Um, yes. And if I'm understanding it right,

right, possibly for for a possible number of variety of reasons, but um after again speaking with the individuals that I I did speak with, that seemed to make sense. Um and it wasn't it's not necessarily to say that that is the the only driving reason. And again like I said overall budgets are regional. Um there's it may be impacted by other builds uh during that same time frame or other sites that were actually approved in Camaro that they decided to reorient towards this particular area to to fill in that coverage and they said well then we don't need to build this expensive site over here. which probably goes to show if nothing else, it's completely a market-based decision. It's a decision by the carrier. It's not a decision by the city.

Oh, no. Absolutely. You're right. But I guess what I find interesting is that when you have a carrier who has provided a permit application and gone to all these links and the expense of the process, has the permit approved and then says, "Ah, we're not going to b we're not going to build it." you know, having gone through that whole proc that entitlement process, spending all that money and then backing out is interesting and I I'm I'm trying to correlate it with the city's standards, which I think we should take a look at, but something is it's just not quite um uh jing with

Well, in terms of the terms of the You're right. There could be other reasons. It could be uh an uncooperative landlord, meaning they couldn't reach a deal for the for the ongoing rent for that particular facility. Um, but if the application was originally submitted and there was kind of an an iterative uh increase to the requirements because a lot of it, you know, is subjective in terms of matching aesthetics and things like that. Can you do this instead of this? Can you do this? Can you can can you create this instead of this requirement? And that may change it. It may drive up the cost significantly. I, you know, it depends on the design.

And if I'm just one more, Mr. R. Sure.

In our city, you know, we have Camaro Police Department officers having calls dropped in Midtown has been described to me. So, I think of this not only as a uh residential resident convenience issue. I think of it as a public safety issue. So with that in mind, is there any uh are are the carriers in your professional experience responsive at all to the public safety aspects of this or is this still driven completely by whether they want to do this or not? No, I I I think there's a big concern for public safety and I think the the carriers, you know, I we have discussed with staff that I think the the the messaging is you want to be known as that city that's kind of

um the the the co-venturer on these types of projects, right? So, it you you know, if there's an outreach, uh they'll there'll be there'll be an answer is is my Okay. opinion on that. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Anybody else? I have a question. I have any questions? Go ahead.

I'll be because Mr. Trembley asked a lot. Um, in your professional opinion, if this issue was revisited and if the regulations uh, pro or con were looked at and made more feasible, would that enhance our our hand uh, as far as getting and I I'll have some comments after this, but as far as getting some of these permits going in a better action.

Yeah, I would say yes. I think it if if you put up um a sign that says we're we're open for business and and we're a willing partner, I think that would that would encourage the care. I mean, again, having done this in a in a past life, um you know, the cities that are that are going to be difficult to to get an approval on the type of facility you're looking for and that kind of builds over time. And I'm not saying that's the case in Camaro. I think I think the the the perception is that Camaro follows its code as is uh in an efficient manner and and they're they're very quick about it and they know what they want. I think that's the feedback. But I think unfortunately um some of those constraints um if you can build a 100 foot site and and get good propagation off of it, you don't need to build another one. But if you build a 45 foot site and it's constrained by camouflage and stealthing, you're going to need to build a second one, possibly a third one. Particularly in today, and the reason this has shifted really is, you know, 10 years ago, we we were talking about uh LTE kind of propagation and now it's 5G and everybody wants to be streaming 24/7. You got to have more sites closer together. and and there's and I'm not saying it's the whole thing, but parts of your your your code maybe um discourages that and in some ways um and and in other in other ways is is great because it's protecting the the beauty of the the city.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Madame Clerk. Any public comments? No comments. We'll get to them. No comments. Now we will go to council discussion. Anybody have anything? Mr. K. Yes.

Yeah. I'll start and I'm going to be blunt. Um the current system that we have in Cameroon is not only woefully inadequate, but it's completely and I mean completely unacceptable for a lot of reasons. Mr. Trembley had stated, Mayor Tennyson, Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo, Council Member Santangelo have stated for the last four years, we cannot have a state-of-the-art city, one of the best libraries in the county, roads that are awardwinning infrastructure, a boulevard that's been rehabbed in a beautiful park there, and the majority of our residents really enjoying living here and have a really crummy cell phone service. That's not even to mention, and I'm getting on my soap box here, the public safety issue here. We have got to do something to improve this situation. I'm in direct uh support of all three of these issues. If we've got to go out and take the next step as a city of Camriel, we've done it before and my opinion is that we should strongly consider doing it again. We need to improve this situation here and I'm on board to improve it any way, shape or form that we can.

Thank you. Uh well, ditto. I was just in a meeting yesterday with someone who was out of town and she was on the phone and she was trying to get an address and I think the other person said something like, "No, I'll text it to you." She said, "No, no, no. I'm in Camaro. There's like poor reception." Like, I won't even get the text. So, absolutely. I think this is critical. It is a public safety issue. I've been in those dead spots. Um, for me it's been more convenience, but the reality is that this could be a real crisis. So, I'm happy to support the um, three items as well. Council member Santangelo, ditto.

Thank you. Council member Trembley, ditto.

Gosh, I feel bad. Um, I think I think we have to do something and I will support the four recommendations from city staff on this. Uh, I experience this on a daily basis and yes, it's merely an inconvenience to me. Uh, if I didn't have um internet at my house, I wouldn't be able to make any phone calls. But during the mountain fire, I noticed how extremely critical it was because electricity was out, which meant I had zero cell phone coverage. And I have a a lot of elderly, and someone would say I was elderly. um neighbors that came up to me asking whether or not they should evacuate and I said, "You got the evacuation order. Please follow it." Um they said, "Are you going to evacuate?" And I said, "I'm thinking about it." But during that, with all the electricity out, there was next to no cell phone coverage. And that wasn't just with one carrier. It was with at least two different carriers. So, I will support staff's recommendation. Do we have Do we need a motion on this? I'm happy to make a motion. Need a motion. Says provide staff direction.

Yeah, I think they're looking for direction. So, yeah, you can give them direction. I have just one question. Is the recommendation the prior slide are the three Michelle the prior slide or the three uh key questions. Do the recommendations on the slide track do they track the the considerations? Yes, in all respects. Yes, they do. Okay, great. I'll move and with thanks to our consultant and Michelle and staff for all of their work, um I will move the four recommended items. We have a second. Second. We have a second. Madame Clerk, roll call. Council member Santangelo, yes. Vice Mayor Martinez Bravo,

yes. Council member Kildy, yes. Council member Trembley, yes. Mayor Tennyson, yes. I apologize. That passes five to zero. Thank you. Next up, we have item T, the annual report on work workforce vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts for calendar year 2025. And I believe that's going to be Wendy Ley.

Yes. Thank you,

Ley. Thank you. Good evening, mayor and members of the council. I'm here to present our annual hearing required under Assembly Bill 2561 titled local public employees vacant positions. This is the second year we've held this hearing. I'll walk you through our 2025 vacancy data, our recruitment activity, the challenges we're seeing, and how we're responding. Briefly, I'll start with the legal background and requirements of AB2561. And then I'll review workforce and vacancy data for calendar year 2025, recruitment activity and hiring timelines, our current recruitment process, the major recruitment and retention challenges that we've identified, and the responses and efforts currently underway. AB2561 became effective January 1st, 2025 and added section 3502.3 to the Meyers Millius Brown Act. The purpose of this legislation is to increase transparency around public sector staffing vacancies and their operational impacts. The law requires agencies to report on the status of VA of vacancies, describe recruitment and retention efforts, and identify policies or procedures that may create obstacles in the hiring process. The hearing must occur at least once per fiscal year, and tonight satisfies that requirement. As of December 31st, 2025, the city had 174 budgeted full-time equivalent positions across six departments. Public works remains our largest department at 95 FTEEs, which includes street sanitation, water, and city hall support staff. The remaining staffing allocations includes administrative services with 21, finance with 18, community development with 18, city manager's office with 18, and hum human

human resources with four. During the year, the city added four new positions, increasing the total FTE count from 170 to 174. Our a average vacancy rate for 2025 was 4.1% which is well below the peer agency average of approximately 6.6%. The pattern tells a story. We started the year with our highest vacancy rate of 6.5% in January and February mostly inherited from our 2024 recruitments uh excuse me retirements and separations. Aggressive recruitment in the first half drove down drove that down to a low of 2.4%. 4% in June. The uptick in the second half reflects the four new budgeted positions added after July 1st and a normal pattern of midyear departures. We ended the year at roughly 5.5% vacancy rate with about 10 positions open against 174 budgeted. This slide breaks down the reasoning behind each of the 25 vacancies we saw in 2025. The largest single category is promotion or transfer at 36% which equivalent is equivalent to nine positions which is actually a positive signal. It means we are growing people internally and moving them into higher level roles. The downside is that each promotion creates a backfill vacancy. So one departure can generate two recruitments. Retirements and newly budgeted positions each account for 24%. six positions each for involuntary separations that accounts for 12% and the smallest category is resignation for another job uh another uh which is one job at 4%. Taken together, the data shows that most of our vacancies in 2025 were planned or anticipated. Retirements we knew were

coming and new positions council intentionally added. Unplanned turnover, meaning involuntary separations and resignations combined, represented only 16% of our total vacancy activity. Of those 25 vacancies, 20 were filled through external recruitments and five through internal only recruitments, meaning promotions or lateral moves. The bottom of the slide breaks down our three recruitment types by their average time to fill. Alternate recruitments use an existing eligibility list or a continuous posting. We use this twice during 2025 with an average of 64 days to recruit. Expansive recruitments are open to both internal and external candidates and represent the bulk bulk of our hiring. 18 vacancies were filled with an average of 121 days from posting to start. Focused recruitments are internal only. We were in five of these with a faster 59-day average. Since the candidate pool is already employed by the city and may many of the pre-employment steps are streamlined, the 121-day expansive average is the number we most want to bring down. Our normal recruitment process moves through three phases. Setup, selection, and onboarding. Most of these steps are required by our personnel rules or are required by law. But the cumulative effect is what drives our 121day average for expansive recruitments. Where we have flexibility to compress steps without compromising rigor, we're actively doing so. that includes parallel tracking background processes and condensing application screening windows. Any significant changes to the selection process would require personnel rules amendments and would come back to you separately. We've identified six recurring challenges that affect our ability to recruit talent. technical recruitments.

For those, our overall pool is healthy, but for specialized technical positions, the minimum qualifications and licensing requirements significantly narrow who can apply. The time to hire is a multi-step process that can stretch for several months. Some of that is on HR, multi-step screening, panels, eligibility list, but part of the timeline is also driven by the candidates themselves. finishing projects with their current employer, completing planned vacations, or working through their notice period. Strong candidates often have competing offers in hand before we can extend ours. Also, there's limited brand recognition. Local government roles aren't always visible to passive candidates in the way private sector tech, healthcare, or finance roles are. There's also a perception of of government jobs and it's a it's a mis persistent misperception that public sector work is slowpaced or low impact which affects our applicant flow. There's also workforce workforce flexibility that is also a concern. Remote work and work life balance expectations have shifted significantly po post 2020 and many of our positions are operationally tied to city facilities. Finally, leave acrruel. Um, this one comes up repeatedly. Candidates with significant tenure elsewhere don't want to start over at zero vacation acrruel, and we've lost candidates specifically over this. The next slide maps each challenge to a concrete response. For each of the six challenges I mentioned, here's what we're doing. For technical recruitments, we're doing more targeted outreach to professional associations and technical programs, and we're reviewing minimum qualifications to ensure they reflect what the job actually requires versus historical preferences. For our time to hire, we're streamlining the posting, screening, and interview steps whenever we can without compromising the integrity of the

process. Brand recognition is being addressed through a modern branding campaign that showcases what makes our work meaningful. The perception of government jobs um is being addressed by employee testim test testimonial videos that will let current staff speak directly to purpose, growth, and work life balance. for workforce flexibility. We're implementing wellness initiatives and exploring what f flexibility can offer within our operational constraints for leave cruels. The more substantive response is the comprehensive benefit study which council heard about. That work is underway and will give us datadriven options related to prior service credit starting acrruels and other competitive features. This is a multi-track effort. Some items like the benefit study or policy decisions that will come back to council. Others like outreach and branding are operational and we're moving on them now. And that concludes my presentation. It's my pleasure to answer any of your questions.

I have no questions. No questions. I don't have a question. Open the public hearing. Madame clerk, any comments? There are no comments. The public comment portion of the public hearing is closed. Any questions from council? I don't have any questions. I have some comments when it's appropriate. Council discussion. Mr. Kild,

am I allowed to bend up here? This is the epitome of an unfunded mandate from the state of California that we don't need to do in our city. If they're interested in running the state, I understand that. All of us and all the previous councils and our staff know how to run a city. This this is I'm sorry this really gets to me here and um I've been in here a long time and uh I've never seen a situation we haven't been able to uh uh find an employee at some point. It hasn't always been as early as we need it to be but and there's been financial constraints here. But if you look at our staff, I think we've done a pretty good job at hiring our staff level here. And this is what really gets to me here, and I'll go to my grave with a council member that would cry unfunded mandates here. Keep me up at night after the council meeting, but I love this right here. Let me let me just vent really quickly and everybody can get. So I love this. The California Constitution requires that the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statuary uh provisions establish procedures for making reimbursement. However, I love this. This bill provides that no reimbursement shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions for costs mandated by the state pursuant to this act. However, we do recognize that local agencies and school agencies may pursue any available remedies to seek reimbursement for these costs. Staff, you did a great job with this. I guess it means that maybe Friday we have a fish fry or something and raise enough money to do this thing. But anyhows um

it was very high quality. I am fully in support of our outstanding employees here. I have a lot of confidence in our city to go forward with this. It is law. I'm I'm going to follow this thing. I'm going to do this dance in here. But thank you for Thank you for allowing me to get this off my mind. Does anybody want to follow Mr. Kild? No, I don't see I don't see anybody else that wants to talk to talk. Sorry. Well, thank you for let me vent. I guess all they're asking for is receive and file on this report. So unless there's an objection, we will receive and file this report. Thank you. Thank you.

Do we need a report on the previous closed session? No, but I'll just uh for the record indicate that we did go into close session on uh two matters and there was no reportable action, but we are going to recess back into close session on the OPV matter. We are recessed to close session. Thank you very much. Yeah.