City Council - Regular Meeting

order. Mr. City Attorney, are there any reports from close session? Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. Nothing to report out of close session tonight. Thank you. Roll call. Oh, excuse me. Let's do the pledge of allegiance first. Mr. Doug Landon with the Samaritan Center, will you please lead us? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Madame Clerk. Roll call, please. Council member Ayala,

here. Council member Judge, here. Council member Rhodess here. Mayor Prom Litster here. Mayor Kavanaaugh here.

Are there any items for agenda review? Madame Mayor, we do have one for item 9A. There is a supplemental. Thank you. I move that all resolutions and ordinances presented tonight be read in title only and all further reading be waved. Second. Call for the vote. Council member Ayala. All votes will be verbal tonight. Yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge, yes. Mayor Promutster, yes. Mayor Kavanagh, yes. The motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. If there is any member of the city council who may have a conflict of interest or any reason why that member must abstain from consideration of any matter on this agenda, he or she should so declare at this time. Seeing none, we may move on. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, the first item on the agenda is item 1D1, presentation of a proclamation declaring April 24, 2026 as Arbor Day. And community services coordinator Kelly Duffy is here to present this item. And accepting the proclamation is Marcus Barbara Calire. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and honorable city council members. Tonight, we are delighted to announce that the Arbor Day Foundation has once again recognized the city of Seami Valley as a Tree City USA. We are privileged to have a representative from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection here tonight in recognition of our city achieving the Tree City USA certification for the 26th consecutive year. The first Arbor Day was observed in 1872 with the planting of over 1 million trees. In that tradition, the city of Seami Valley is dedicated to enhancing and preserving the urban environment with the planting of trees. Seami Valley has been named for the 26th year as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. The Sei the Seami Valley City Council proclaims the week of April 20th, 2026 Arbor Week in the city and encourages all residences and all residents and businesses to plant trees to enhance the beauty of Seami Valley and promote the well-being of this and future generations.

Please welcome fire representative Marcos Barbara. Hi, good evening everyone. Uh yeah, I'm Marcos Barbara. I'm with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Calire and under the urban and community forestry program and uh I'm here to present the 26th year of Tree City USA for the city of Seami Valley and talk a little bit about Tree City USA. So for a community to receive a Tree City USA designation, you need four criteria. a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita, and Arbor Day proclamation observance. Uh since 2000, the city of Seami Valley has shown its dedication to restoring, enhancing, and maintaining your community's urban forestry by meeting or exceeding these standards. Uh it's my pleasure on behalf of CalFire and the Arbor Day Foundation to uh recognize your guys' achievement and thank you guys for having me. Thank you. Thank you. And we'd like to present you with this proclamation. I had the honor of actually being on the tree advisory committee way back when when we had it and we would have arbor days. And it's so important if you drive through Semi Valley, look at all our trees and you go to other communities, they don't have the trees that we do. And it really makes a difference in our climate also, but it just makes a difference in feeling good and seeing a beautiful city. So, we thank you for honoring us again for Tree City USA. Thank you.

I know. I hate photo ops. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 1D2, presentation of a proclamation declaring the week of April 19th through 25 as library 2026 as library week. And deputy community services director Anna Medina is here to present this item. And accepting the proclamation are Stephanie Wanka, library director, Dave Rosenberg, branch manager, and Jimea Harmo, adult literacy coordinator. Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh and members of the city council. It is my honor to recognize National Library Week in the city of Seami Valley. Libraries spark creativity, fuel imagination, and inspire lifelong learning by offering welcoming spaces where individuals of all ages can experience the joy of exploration and discovery. They serve as vibrant community hubs that connect people with knowledge, technology, and resources while fostering civic engagement, critical thinking, and cultural enrichment. Libraries provide free and equitable access to books, digital tools, and innovative programming, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, have the support they need to learn, connect, and thrive through collaborative partnerships with schools, businesses, and community organizations. Libraries expand access to essential services and contribute meaningfully to the strength and vitality of our community. They play a critical role in nurturing young minds through story times, steam programs, and literacy initiatives that that foster curiosity and a lifelong love of learning while also protecting the right to read,

think, and explore freely as champions of intellectual freedom and free expression. These contributions are made possible by the committed librarians and library staff who create welcoming environments that inspire discovery, collaboration, and creativity for all. On behalf of the city council, we extend our sincere appreciation to the library staff for their exemplary service, professionalism, and steadfast commitment to the residents of Seami Valley. In recognition of the vital role libraries play, the city of Seami Valley hereby proclaims April 19th through April 25th, 2026 as Library Week as Library Week, honoring the invaluable contributions of the Seami Valley Public Library and its staff. All residents are encouraged to visit the library, take advantage of its many resources and programs, and join us in celebrating the important role it plays in enriching and uniting our community. Thank you. I'd like to present this to you. Our library does such wonderful things. If you have not been there recently, you really need to go in there and check it out. We have so many innovative ideas going on there. Um, our mobile van is one of our newest and biggest, which is great. You do all kinds of programs throughout the year, especially during the summertime and when kids are out. I know my grandkids love to go to the library. So, if you haven't been there, make sure you get there soon. And if you're are going there, continue to do so. Stephanie, would you like to say anything?

No, thank you. All right. Well, you guys do a great job. We're so very proud of you and everything you do for our library. So, thank you. Now, it's picture.

Thank you. Night, ladies. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 1D3, presentation of a proclamation declaring April 20, 2026 as Earth Day. And public works director Ron Fuaki is here to present this item and accepting the proclamation is Deputy Public Works Director Wanda Moyer.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and council members. The first Earth Day was observed on April 22nd, 1970 and led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency in December 1977. Their mission is to protect human health and the environment, ensuring clean air, land, and water. To celebrate Earth Day, we are pleased to announce that the city is partnering with the Ranchosimi Recreation and Park District for an event on Friday, April 24th at Atherward Park from 3:30 to 5:30. Additionally, uh on Thursday, April 23rd from 4:00 to 7:00, the city is joining the Seami Valley School District for the Monte Vista School Earth Day event and open house. During these events, staff will encou engage children in fun and educational activities focused on pre protecting our plan planet and its pre precious natural resources. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the joint efforts of the city, the park district, and the school district in educating our community about environmental sustainability. Therefore, it is proclaimed April 22nd, 2026 as Earth Day in the city of Seami Valley to encourage all residents and business to support and participate in Earth Day activities recognizing our commit commitment to both our local and global environment.

Thank you. Recognizing Earth Day is just one thing we can do to help everybody in our community to appreciate what we have and to take care of what we have. And Wanda does a great job in her area. Some of the uh landscaping you see the beautiful water saving landscaping. A lot of times it's done by Wanda. So she does a great job. So just um congratulations and thank you for accepting this. Would you like to say anything? I just want to uh say the landscape team is really the one that does all the work. I help find the funding and it is beautiful in bloom. So, thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Picture.

Thank you, Wanda. Madame Mayor and members of city council, next on the agenda is item D4, presentation of a proclamation declaring the week of April 12th through April 18, 2026 as public safety te telecommunicators week. And communications manager Aaron Cooper is here to present this item. And accepting the proclamation are communications supervisor Brooke Dunar and dispatcher trainee Elsie Montescu. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Tonight I have the honor of recognizing a group of professionals who are absolutely essential to public safety but who often go unseen. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is about acknowledging the people behind the headset. the calm voice on the other end of chaos. The ones who are making critical decisions in seconds, gathering information and getting help where it needs to go fast. When someone dials 911, it is rarely on their best day. It's fear, panic, uncertainty. And on the other end is a dispatcher who shows up steady, focused, and ready to help every single time. While most people are celebrating life's moments, birthdays, holidays, soccer games, family dinners, community events, there is always a dispatcher sitting behind a console, missing those moments, working through those holidays, answering a call that for someone else may be the worst day of their life. And without hesitation, they show up calm, focused, and ready to help. Our dispatchers are not just voices on a phone or radio. They are highly trained professionals who are constantly prioritizing, coordinating, and supporting both the public and our officers in the field. They are the link

between crisis and response, and they carry that responsibility every shift. Here at Semi Valley Police Department, our dispatchers serve this community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Holidays, nights, the moments that most people don't see, they are there. And the work they do in those moments truly matters. It saves lives. It protects our community. And it makes a difference. Over the past week, April 12th through April 18th, we celebrated public safety telecommunicators week here in the city of Seami Valley. It is a time for us to pause and say thank you, to recognize the commitment, the professionalism, and the heart that goes into this job because the reality is dispatchers are some of the most important people you may never see. Thank you.

Thank you. going to hook us. Thank you. Dispatchers, you are first responders and I think sometimes people forget that and you're so very important to everything that is done. I believe we just celebrated last weekend or this past weekend the um dispatchers of the year from every public agency in in the community. I think our Rotary Club sponsored it, right? Yeah. Very good. Unfortunately, I was out of town on another Rotary event. Um, otherwise I would have loved to have be been there. But congratulations and thank you for all that you do. We need you to keep us safe and we appreciate you the sacrifices you do on your family and how that is. So, thank you for all you do. Would you like to say anything? Said it all. Oh, Erin said it all.

I do want to say that this is Alie's first day as a dispatcher trainee. So, you're Oh, you're okay. Well, congratulations. Well, best of luck to you and your career. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Picture. And while you're taking the picture, while you're taking the picture, it was Jordan Cook who was celebrated as the Seami Valley Dispatcher of the Year at the event. Yes. Thank you.

I know. I looked out there. I went, "Where'd go? I didn't realize you had moved over to do the presentation. Thank you all very much. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item two, public statements on appointments, special presentations, andformational reports. We have no speakers for this item this evening. Madame Mayor and members of city council, next on the agenda is item 3A1, designation of two city council members to conduct interviews for the Sema Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation Board of Directors and Assistant Community Services Manager Sandy McGee is here to present this item.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. The Seami Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides endowment and annual financial support for the Seami Valley Cultural Arts Center. The foundation board is comprised of up to 21 voting members, including seven city council appointed public members. Due to one city council appointed member resignation in October 2025 and the expiration of two city council appointed terms on June 30th, 2026, there are currently three city council appointed public member vacancies. The city initiated a recruitment to solicit applications that concluded on March 27th, 2026. A total of four applications were received and staff estimates that approximately one hour will be needed to conduct the interviews. Staff is recommending that the city council select two city council members to interview and nominate three candidates to fill the vacancies on the foundation board. Mayor Prom Litster and council member Rhodess served on the nominating committee for the foundation board in May of 2025. This concludes the report and staff is available to answer any questions at this time.

Anyone have any questions? Um, I would just uh put out there that uh because Elaine and I serve on the arts commission that um being on this panel for interviews would be appropriate. I'd be happy to do it again this year. So move. I'm happy as well, but I don't want to deny anyone the opportunity, but happy to do it. Okay, we have a first. I have a motion. Do I have a second? I'll second. Thank you. Roll call, please. Council member Yala, yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge, yes. Mayor Prom Litster, yes. Mayor Kavanagh, yes. The motion passes unanimously.

Madame Mayor and members of city council. Next on the agenda is item 32, designation of one city council member to serve on a selection committee to interview and nominate prospective semi valley arts commissioners. Commissioners, assistant community services manager Sandy McGee is presenting this item as well.

Good evening again, Mayor Kavanagh and members of the city council. On June 30th, 2026, the terms of service for three members of the Semi Valley Arts Commission will conclude. The arts commission is responsible for promoting greater public participation in and access to arts and culture, exploring alternate sources of arts and culture funding, planning arts programs and events, developing a master cultural plan, applying for grants, reviewing the annual financial and operational plans for the semi valley cultural arts center and reinforcing the arts as a vital integral and necessary component of life for all members of the community. The commission is comprised of eight members. Two city council members, five city council appointed public members, and one Seami Valley Cultural Arts Center Foundation board of director. All public members are serve staggered two-year terms of office. Arts Commission members may serve two consecutive terms and may serve additional terms provided 12 months have lapsed between appointments beyond beyond two consecutive terms. Staff initiated recruitment on February 12th, 2026 to fill these upcoming vacancies. A total of seven applications were received and six candidates attended the orientation. It is estimated that approximately 1 and 1/2 hours will be needed to conduct the interviews. Staff is recommending that the city council designate one city council member to serve on a selection committee with a continuing arts commissioner to interview and nominate three applicants to serve on the city the arts commission for appointment by the city city council. Council member Rhodess last served in this capacity in April of 2025. This concludes the report and staff is available to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions? Any questions from the DAS? As the person who did it last year, I want to um wholeheartedly volunteer Elaine to do it this year. I'll second. I would be honored to serve in that capacity. Be happy to do it. Thank you. We have a first and a second. Call for the vote, please. Council member Ayala, yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge, yes. Mayor Prom Litster, yes. Mayor Kavanagh,

yes. The motion passes unanimously. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 3A3, designation of city council members to interview and nominate prospective neighborhood council executive board members and community services coordinator Kelly Duffy is here presenting this item.

Good evening. Mayor Kavanaaugh again and members of the city council. Neighborhood Council Executive Board members are appointed to staggered two-year terms with approximately one-third of the seats expiring every eight months. The next term of appointments is scheduled to commence on July 1st, 2026. A general recruitment was conducted March 3rd through April 3rd, 2026 to fill the upcoming 16 vacant positions. A total of 25 applications were received during the recruitment period. The distribution of applications was as follows. Neighborhood council number one received nine applications. Neighborhood council number two received three applications. Neighborhood council number three applications and neighborhood council number four received 10 applications. In previous recruitment cycles, the city council has appointed two subcommittees, each consisting of two city council members. Staff recommends that the city council appoint two subcommittees, each comprised of two city council members, to interview and nominate prospective neighborhood council executive board members. This concludes my report and staff is available for questions.

Mayor Pro Tim Litster. So I do have a question about the process. Um I noticed in the report that it stated that um well if I understand correctly there are 13 that serve on the committee and it basically we go through this process three times in two years. Is that right? Every eight months.

Every eight months. Okay. So I was just um I was trying to understand why district number three has six vacancies and district number two has only one vacancy. So unfortunately every now and then we have some people who um do not they drop out and also um when I came in uh we had an executive board neighborhood council 2 only had uh nine members and so to fill that up which was about two years ago it was they had a large amount and then the next one we only had one.

So for that district, they will always unless people drop out, we'll tend to have Okay. Well, it depends because some it does happen every now and then that people someone moves or Sure. Got it. Exactly. Moving. And I had one other question. Um I noticed for my district number three that um that basically um there is not enough applicants to actually fill the openings. And so my question was if I go out and recruit this week, is it too late for them to be part of the process or is it closed? I mean I just

not that I would do that. I just I just want to understand the process. it is closed. But I also had that question from my executive board members because um and I've looked in the bylaws because of this question. Uh we had a couple um executive board members that are terming off that wish to stay on,

but our bylaws say that there needs to be between each term there needs to be eight months. So then I think we would have to change the bylaws. Um we would have um we if those three are appointed then we will have 10 on the board which um would mean we would only need six for quorum and right now we have seven per quorum. So it's really only one off. Got it. But and and that instance I see is a little bit different because it the bylaws preclude them returning but someone never having they have you done all the trainings for them already I guess is my question. I know that's part the training the orientations are complete.

Okay. Got it. So that in my mind that precludes then got it for for oh for like a new member. Correct. For a brand new member. Okay understood. Thank you council member Ayala. Yes. So, should we just split it? One and two together, three and four together, it's about the same amount of applications. That's what I was going to suggest so that you have an equal number. Yeah. And then it's different from what we did the previous time as well. So, I need a motion on who's going to do. The only thing is Dee, did you want to be part of the interviewing cycle? No, I'll let you guys continue to do that. I'll just go visit each one.

Okay. So then I will move to designate two subcommittees, myself, council member Ayala and council member Judge to interview and nominate for neighborhood councils one and two and council member roads and mayor prom Litster to interview and nominate executive board members for neighborhood councils three and four. I will second that. Call for the vote. Council member Oyala, yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge, yes. Mayor Prom Litster, yes. Mayor Kavanagh, yes. The motion passes unanimously. Thank you,

Madame Mayor and members of the city council. Next on the agenda is item 3B1, informationational presentation by youth council member Elizabeth Rakowski. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and distinguished members of the city council. My name is Elizabeth Rowski and I am a junior at Royal High School. First, I would like to give my sincerest gratitude to you for your never-ending support of the Semi Valley Youth Council. Your continued investment in our program empowers us as leaders, serves our peers, and contribute to initiatives that have a positive impact on the youth community. It is truly an honor to be here today to share updates on our recent events and any upcoming initiatives. The end of March and the first half of April have been filled with meaningful engagement, impactful events, and ongoing preparation for several major initiatives. To begin with, youth council members had the opportunity to participate in the Ventura County Office of Education Equity Conference. During this event, our members were able to moderate and sit on panels discussing student civic engagement. These discussions allowed students to share their perspectives on important topics surrounding equity, inclusion, and representation. Additionally, we planned and led an equity walk where attendees engaged in open and honest discussion about complex and challenging topics. This experience fostered thoughtful dialogue and equipped participants to apply what they learned within their communities. On April 11th, 2026, the Youth Council hosted their annual talent show at the Semi Valley Cultural Arts Center. The event featured over 30 acts performing in either the afternoon or evening show, showcasing a wide range of talents from students in the community with a total of 180 tickets sold for the event. The event not only highlighted creativity

and diversity, but brought our community together in a supportive and positive environment. Through the dedication and teamwork of our youth council members, we raised approximately $8,000 to help fund and support future community events for our youth. Additionally, on April 14th, the youth council held a youth safety workshop in collaboration with Detective King from Mercy Valley Police Department. The workshop welcomed over 40 community members and focused on raising awareness about critical issues such as human trafficking. Attendees learned to recognize warning signs, support individuals who may be at risk, and better understand the common myths about this topic. This event was especially impactful as it provided practical knowledge that the participants can share within their community. Looking ahead, we are excited to present a workshop at the California School Health and Behavioral Health Conference on April 27th. We were specifically invited by the school district to this event to participate, which reflects the growing recognition of the youth council's efforts and the positive impacts we are making beyond our immediate community. Furthermore, we are currently preparing for our upcoming teen wellness night on May 22nd. This event is designed to help students manage their stress, particularly from AP exam season. We will be organizing a variety of wellness focused booths and activities that will help promote relaxation, self-care, and mental health awareness. Following this event, we will also be hosting a yogurtland fundraiser, providing a way for the community to support our initiatives. Mark this date on your calendars and enjoy a sweet treat while also supporting the youth council. On May 30th, we will host our field day event, which aims to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. Through interactive activities and educational components, students from across the community will come together to learn, connect, and engage with this important issue in a

meaningful and impactful way. In addition, the youth council will be presenting to the school board on May 19th, further expanding our outreach and strengthening our connection with the broader community. Lastly, Youth Council applications for the 2026 2027 term are open and due on April 22nd. Students under 15 years old will be required to complete a hard copy application. However, anyone who prefers a physical copy may complete one and drop it off either here at city hall or mail it to city hall address to youth council coordinator Ryan Fowler. Students who are 15 years or of age or older may complete and submit their application online. We encourage our middle school and high school students to apply in order to build lasting connections, create meaningful experiences, and develop leadership skills while becoming more actively involved in their community. I would like to highly encourage everyone to stay connected with the Seami Valley Youth Council by following us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, Semi Valley Youth Council, as well on Tik Tok at SVYC2929. Once again, I would like to thank Mayor Kavanaaugh and the city council for inviting me to speak this evening and for your continued support of youth initiatives in our community. Your commitment enables us to create meaningful change and we are truly grateful. I am happy to answer any questions you have and thank you.

Thank you. Um, Mayor Proan Litster Elizabeth, that was a fabulous presentation. Thank you very much. I do have a couple of questions, a couple things that weren't on my radar on you. You you mentioned on the 27th of April, a behavior help conference that you are participating in, but you're invited to by the school district. What exactly is that? Is does that entail? not specifically Elizabeth uh although she was reporting on it. Um yes, we were invited by the um the school district to apply to this is the California school health and behavioral health conference. So it is a state conference for school nurses, school counselors, social workers um to talk about to well we were invited to present uh to apply to present a workshop and so we put together a proposal on on partnerships talking about our partnership with the school district especially through their uh tobacco use and prevention education which we're a big part of Friday Night Live as well as our work uh with Bright Youth through the um Seami Valley Unified School District and our proposal was accepted. So myself and our chair and vice chair and a representative from Bright Youth as well as the school district district will be presenting on Monday at that conference.

And where's that being held? Universal City. Wonderful. Very very good. And Elizabeth, did I hear you correctly, applications are due April 22nd. So to be very clear, that's in two days. Yes. Is that right? Okay. So this is So get the word out. You've got two days to make it happen. Still plenty of time. Plenty of time. Thank you, Elizabeth. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Ayella. Thank you for the Mr. Fellow. You mentioned $8,000 or Elizabeth in your presentation. What how does that compared to last year? Um I believe we raised off the top of my head, I believe we raised about $6,000 last year. So definitely better.

Great. It was uh for those of you who could not attend or did attend, it was a great experience. I'm sure we'll talk about it later in our in our reports. The other thing the other thing I wanted to mention was that um and Mr. Fowler mentions this a lot but it's a good thing. There's 24 seats I believe on the city on the council. Correct. How many are up for election or selection this year? Is it all 24? No. So that we um of our current uh members like um Lizzie over here, nine are able to return. So we have 15 open spots.

And what's your application count right now? We are just about at 50. I'd like to get around to 70 or so would be good, but we're about 50. Last year we had 90 applications.

Yes. And I bring that up because one of the other great things I think about this program in terms of the applications is they do not screen the applications and then decide who gets to be interviewed. The and the interviews are conducted by the members of the youth council. So they interview every single applicant that turns in an application. And one of the things that Mr. Fowler mentioned to me the other day or I overheard him say um was they do that too because it allows those students even if they don't get selected to have the practice of actually interviewing and I think that is what's really important as well. So thank you for doing that and to the youth council members who sit through hours and hours of interviews and don't discount anyone.

12 hours to be exact. 12 hours to be exact. We would not even do that but the youth do that. So, thank you for that. Thank you. Not all in one day, to be clear. Thank you, Elizabeth. Um, I was bragging about our youth council at a leadership event I was just at for high schoolers. In fact, I was checking people in and one young lady goes, "Aren't you our mayor?" She goes, "I'm on the youth council." So, I thought I just thought that was really cute. And Elizabeth, thank you for representing my Royal High School. Also, I have to do that because council member Judge went to see me. So, we like to tease each other a little bit. I was confused by the S, but I know I I was too at first. Is that for Stanford? No, it's just a random letter.

Oh, okay. At first I'm like, "Oh, she's from CEI." And then I saw the colors and I went, "No." So, well, either way, Elizabeth, you did a great job and thank you for representing our youth council so well. And thank you, Mr. Fowler. Thank you. Thank you. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 3C1, presentation by Adventist Adventist Health Program Manager Daniel Wearley and Director of Public Health Nursing Selita Drosski,

City Council and City Staff, I'm Lisa Heoy, director of community integration with Advent Health Sei Valley and co-chair of the Ventura County Community Health Improvement Collaborative Steering Committee. I'm pleased to introduce Daniel Worley, program manager with Community Lifting Communities and Celita Drosski, if you can just wave. She's the director of public health nursing with Ventura County Public Health and also my co-chair for the steering committee. Daniel will present highlights from the recently completed Ventura Countywide community health needs assessment. We appreciate the opportunity to share a brief update with you and the community. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. And and

there's a button to raise that up for you on the side so I'm so you'll be more comfortable. Thank you. That's great. Thank you.

I'm the shortest one in my family. So, um so thank you for having me here today. As as Lisa just said, I'll just be describing some highlights of it, but I welcome any questions as well. We're not going to get into all the details about the data. Our 2025 Ventura County Community Health Needs Assessment was run and and led by Vich, what we call the comm community Ventura County Community Health Improvement Collaborative. It's a long name. Uh it's it's a formal cost sharing partnership made up of major healthc care stakeholders across the county including Adventist Health here in Simi Valley. uh includes hospitals, uh community clinics, the main public agencies around health, um the major health plans. So you can see it's it's a large continuum and then there are many dozens and dozens of partners helping us with this. And really we first came together uh in 2016 and 2018 officially uh to do this sort of assessment really trying to get a sense of what is it that the county of Ventura needs for all of its residents to be healthy and to improve their quality of life. And every three years we're asked to do this again and again. And every year we we learn more about how to do it well. And so I'm going to give you some highlights about what happened as in 2025 as we went through this process. So VTEC is is really as I said a collective organization meant to do collective impact and really it's about partnerships and building unified action to improve the health of the county. Historically we have done health needs assessments which as you can imagine is kind of in the name. We're trying to learn more about what the county is doing, but not just for the purpose of hearing from residents, but really to start doing action planning that makes an impact to improve their health. We know that even though Ventura County is a relatively healthy community, that we always can do more to improve the quality of life. So, this is what we are engaged in doing. What's the purpose of this kind of a health needs assessment? I think everyone's taken a survey and said, "Why did I do that survey? What came of it?"

We hear this from residents all the time, but it does have a purpose and it's not simply to give you a survey. It is really it's fulfilling regulatory requirements for many of the health care agencies including the hospitals and including the public agencies. It gives us some of those vital community insights about what is really happening on the ground today. It's not just about an anecdote. It's not a data point. It's really conversations with community members and it really serves as then the foundation for collective planning as to what are we going to do to improve their lives. And lastly, we really wanted to achieve certain values. It's not just about cost-saving. It's not just about what is it to keep someone out of an emergency room. It really is about values and quality of life. As we say, it really is the foundation for our data, community centered process to improve health for all. So, just to give you a couple highlights about some of the data and community input that we got last year, over the first two months of 2025, we conducted surveys online and in person across the county, including here in Seami Valley. We got over 6,600 completed surveys, more than 300 in Seami Valley alone. And of those, you can see this breakdown. I'm not going to run through it all. You can see it's p primarily in English but we had a bilingual uh survey and we got a lot of them online but also in person. So it was a wide breadth of the community that we heard from and we combine that with health data insights that we gathered from the public health department and combined that to come up with that data and then we combined it with local input. And this is really the important part I would argue is not just the data, not just the survey but really talking to people. What are the challenges you're facing? What do you need from your county? what do you need from your community to really thrive? And so you can see we did community focus groups for many communities that really are struggling uh in particular. It's not that they're the only groups that are struggling, but ones that maybe aren't always reached by a survey. Um and then we did partner listening sessions. What we really reached out to

is who's providing care for the community and how can they really impact what we're talking about, what we know are the most urgent issues. So you can see some of the groups that we talked with including veterans, uh, folks who are non-English-speaking, folks who are unhoused, and then also behavioral health services, those who serve young children, those who serve older adults across the breadth of the county and from from east to west, north to south, and across the age span. Then we take all that, as you can imagine, it's a lot of information. It's a we hear a lot, particularly in 2025, the community was facing a lot. They still are, but you can imagine it was a highly dynamic year for people's health needs. There was a lot of fear in the community across Ventura County and beyond. So then we had to decide, well, how do we prioritize what we're hearing? What we had to basically do is take all this data, look at, yes, of course, data from a perspective of what is impacting the health, but also try to filter it through what is strategic for these health partners to make a difference on. It can't be we're doing everything. If we're doing everything, we're probably not going to do it all well. So, we have to narrow our scope and really lean into what is it that we can impact, what is urgent, and what can the health care health care partners do that maybe some others aren't. So, for that reason, we landed on these three for our countywide priorities for the next three years. It's not to say that other things aren't important. Just to clarify, housing came up as a high need across the county, but what we decided is there's a lot of folks working on housing in Ventura County. Maybe the healthcare partners can can take a supportive role and we will focus on these older adults health, women's health and behavioral health. We also realized in talking to the community members is that across all of those topics, there are certain things that cut across them. There's a challenge for accessing care and services of every kind of health service and every kind of need. There's also the challenge of health navigation. How do you get if I have a need, how do I actually get that service? And lastly,

there's the health equity. Certain communities and certain populations who feel even when they're trying to get ahead, they're still struggling. So, we're trying to achieve those across all of those crosscutting issues. I'm going to give you just a few of the data points. I'm not going to talk through all of these for the sake of time. Uh, but just to give you a sense, there is a lot of data points that tell us where some of the struggles are. And again, we as a health as a county can't maybe do all of this at once, but we can focus our efforts to make an appreciable difference in over the next three years so that the community feels that they're healthier. So, we can see for older adults health, there are a number of ways in which county residents are really struggling, those who are 55 and older. And you can really see that it this is just a this is just a snapshot of some of the things they're struggling with in the community. Likewise, when it comes to behavioral health, and I heard what we heard from the youth council, definitely we see that for younger adults, but it's not just younger adults in our communities that are struggling with behavioral health challenges right now. So, what we can see is is barely more than half of those across the county who said that they needed behavioral health services. And by that, I mean mental health or substance use services didn't get services. And again, that's not to say that Ventura County isn't doing its best, but maybe we can make appreciable differences over the next three years. Likewise, we we looked at disparities when we looked at these data. Are there certain groups that are struggling? And again, to the youth example, we saw that there were a lot of young people ending up in the ER due to mental health issues and that was predominantly young women. So, what can we do to address some of those particular populations? Not every solution works the same for every group. So, this is what we're trying to do is find where are the needs that we can really make an impact and tailor our approach to that. Lastly, we did get a lot of community input. As I said, if you look at the report, and I think Lisa, my colleague, passed these along out to everyone. They do show where we heard from people. So,

that gives a little bit more of a flavor to what some of the challenges are. It's not just a data point. It's someone's life who's really struggling. So, that's why we feel there's a sense of urgency in this approach. We can't just say we're a group that meets every three years to talk about planning. We have to deliver for the residents. They are counting on us. So that brings us to our last point is really now we pivot from what I would call the assessment and the planning stage to really this idea of pivoting to collective impact. And that's where Viche has really sort of set the bar. If you look at across the state, we have a lot of people ask us how is it that Ventura County has done this so well? They're bringing in behavioral health, public health, the hospitals, the health plans. Many counties have not done that effectively. Ventura County has done it, but now we're trying to stay ahead of the curve. We're also working on how do we do it collectively to impact it, not just assess it. How do we do more than just planning and how do we actually achieve change? So that's what you can see over the next three years we're looking to do. So early this year we kicked off our our work groups for each one of those three priority areas, older adults, behavioral health, and women's health. And we're really looking to get a broad cross-section of society, the county, including Seami County residents, to really impact what it is that we need to do. It's not always a hospital that has the only answer. It should be the hospital along with the CDO. It should be the community clinic along with the health plan that works together to achieve these solutions. And I do want to just give one example. So we've been doing this as I said for multiple iterations now. Our last iteration in 2022 really focused on again substance use disorder and the challenges in the community. And I want to point out just one highlight of what it was achieved in those three years is that local Adventist Health in Seaming Valley worked together with partners across the spectrum across sectors including um with Gold Coast Health Plan including with CBOS and really started to achieve gains in what they call the substance use navigator program. And

that wasn't just a small effort. It really built out this effort to to intervene and help those who have substance use order here in Seami Valley and beyond. And so you can see that this collective effort isn't just one hospital doing a standalone program. It's really the collective fabric of this community working together to achieve community health. And I think we can all be proud of what Adventist Health is doing. And I think we can all be proud of what we can be doing in the future. And I do know that I haven't had time to go through a lot of what we talked about for Seami Valley's health. Um but I think I can talk about that if you have questions. I do think one of the things that we see here in Seami Valley as opposed to the county as a whole is that need for affordability, that need for access came up time and time again both in the survey results and people who spoke to us. So again, we can't fix that all in one fell swoop. Some of these are systemic problems, but we can look to achieve real change by working together across across community lines, across political lines to really achieve some of these changes. and I think you can see that it's going to make a difference in the next three years. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Wearly. I think we have some questions. Council member Rhodess. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, thank you for the data. Anytime you're trying to make community decisions, data is the best way to go. Um, one question for you and then one question for Miss Hemingway. the um uh the data set that you collected, the number of respondents you got, one there was an error on your slide, but did you feel that it was a um a uh substantial enough cross-section of both race, um gender, age?

Great questions. I mean, the survey questions, the surveys of this type are always prone to I will say you if you look across the state, we tend to get older adults who respond more heavily. uh it tends to be women who respond more heavily. So the survey does skew older and more female oriented. That's not unique to Ventura County. In terms of the sheer numbers though in the populations, I think we did do a great job. I've seen larger counties that have had less response and we got really good response rate by having in paper by having it bilingual. But that is where those focus groups play an important role is that we know that there are folks that are historically underserved by a survey even if we do our best efforts. So that's where the focus group for those hard-to-reach populations really tries to come into play.

The three segments that you came up with that doesn't that doesn't surprise me at all. But then what you were able to do and drill down further into that data and how do you dissect it that was really impressive. That leads to my question for Adventist Health and that is um what I I pressed the button to ask the question before your last slide which was this is what we did last year with the data to uh and and that response for um addiction was was but what are you going to do with this year's data? What did you learn that you can apply this year? Sorry.

I think we just continue our collaborations and really just continue working with each other and our organizations here and really just continue educating and and promoting because it's very important for all of us to work together. It doesn't take just one person. It really all of us. And we are such a great community. All of us work together to help one another. So, I think the continued collaboration mental health issues and and drug issues don't know borders. So, I'm glad to be working without throughout the county and thank you for the data. Those are my questions. Thank you, Council Member Ayala. Thank you. I think I have a question for each of you too. Worley, right, Mr. Worley? Is that correct? Correct.

You had mentioned that uh you did do you have the data specific to see me that you could provide to us at a later time just separately?

Yes. Yes. So we do have a a separate set that one of our public health colleagues thankfully ran for us about just the survey results from CMI Valley and as I said it was around 300 results. So that's where you start to get into some of the statistical 300 can't necessarily speak to the full breadth of of this community's needs but we do our best. Um so we can break it out and we can definitely share that data after the fact as well. It is mostly in line with what we saw across the county. I mean what you also see is is to your to your question or your comment about behavioral health crossing lines. Unfortunately, most of these issues cut across communities. There are differences and there are differences in terms of what needs to maybe be done to deliver improvement, but most of the issues cut across you know municipal lines. So most of it is pretty similar. And then as you come up with um implementation strategies and things we have to do,

is there funding at the county level to support like Adventist in SEMI or is it privately funded that you the hospitals have to come up with their own funding strategy to do the implementation?

I'll start with that and Lisa you can maybe chime in too. I mean, I will say it's a fantastic question and this is where Vichch as a collective, these 10 partners really have stepped up this year to try to make sure that we have money for implementation. Um, but it's it's not enough frankly. I mean, the the federal cuts, the state cuts, I mean it is a challenge for the breadth of the needs that we see in the community. So, what that's why we al always are trying to look at feasibility and strategic scope. Um, and I do think that's where, of course, we're always seeking additional funds to make sure that that Adventist Health and others can really achieve the results. We're not just doing analysis for analysis sake, but that we're really trying to deliver results. So, yes, funding is something and we'd be happy to partner with others and partnering with the hospitals and others to really make that something that we can deliver.

Great. Thank you. And that's where we have our community benefit spend. So we I have a budget of where we can allocate our funding strategically aligned with our community health implementation strategy. So we take a look at that at the beginning of the year and the programs and the services that are out in the in the community. We can support them financially or we can support them with some types of other types of the Naran kits or you know we're at the street fairs we help um the park district senior games. We help support their those events. So we do align with our organizations here and I do have a budget for that. All right. Thank you. Um, Mayor Prom Litster,

thank you. Actually, um, appreciate the presentation. Very good. I wanted to understand there was a slide about three back that talked about, um, I think it was a I just wanted to understand the slide be better. Um, I don't mean Yeah, keep going. Right before this one. help me understand when you talk about adults needing and receiving behavioral health value compared to what is what is I included this just so for those who go onto our website which is health matters in venture accounting and I'll share that as well this is kind of the way that it looks on on the dashboard so sometimes folks are like what's the dashboard

so it compares each of these data results to what it looks like in other California counties so for instance in these two measures you can see particularly the top measure it is quite poor compared to other California counties in terms of those who need and receive the behavioral health services. So you're saying and then the California value is is what percent across California ask for and receive that service. So you can see the range isn't even that large. Even in California as a whole, it's 58%. Here in Ventura County, it's about 52%. So 52% of adults that need it receive assistance. Correct. Okay. Okay.

And that's a multiaceted I mean again that's a multiaceted problem. So it's not that we can simply just wave a wand and fix that. But that's why we're trying to dive deeply into what is it going to take to at least mitigate some of those challenges. Okay. And got it. And 26% of adults needing help with mental emotional or substance abuse problems receive assistance. Correct. suggesting that 74% who need it are not receiving it. Correct. Ouch. Okay. I just And again, I mean, you can see that these are I mean, they're not unique to Ventura County. It's not that Ventura County is is far out of step with the state. I mean, many of these are national challenges. Got it. But I just wanted to

No, it's it's a good point. That's why I wanted to bring those two up as they're pretty eye opening. Start right. Thank you. Um, and my other question, um, and maybe this is a Lisa question too. I I know that the substance use navigation gentleman that was there that has been working in the emergency room has been doing wonderful work. I recall years probably before you were even here, Lisa, looking for a funding source for him specifically, but I understand it's more stable. I was impressed with your statistic. You said 375 were referred to um treatment, which is fabulous. Um, is there specific stable funding source for that program in Adventist?

The substance use navigator program was part of a a grant through California Bridge and that ended about a year or so ago and so now he's contracted through Kaho Health and which is great because we have a lot of other substance use navigators that other hospitals and other organizations utilize them both or all of them together. So they're all working together but just at different locations. Brady Wellman is who you're actually you're talking about. He is um at our hospital all the time. So he is there. He's dedicated to that facility and he's wonderful. He's really great. Wonderful. So glad. Well, very good. Thank you both.

Thank you for this wonderful presentation. We really appreciate you taking the time. Have a good evening. Pleasure. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 3C2, presentation by audit partner with Vosquez and Company LLP regarding the fiscal year 202425 audit results and deputy administrative services director of fiscal Marvin Lopez is here to present this item. Good evening honorable mayor and members of each year the senior valley fiscal services team local favorite accountants prepare the annual comprehensive financial report known as the acter and facilitate a city-wide financial audit. The audit is an independent review of our city's accounting processes and the related financial statements. Financial statements provide information about operations, cash flows, assets, and liabilities that account for the government's management and use of funds. Financial reporting serves as a link between our government's financial information and our city council, taxpayers, and creditors. The city's aer for fiscal year 2425 was completed in December of last year and was provided to and accepted by city council on the January 12th meeting earlier this year. The single audit which is the audit of federal grant expenditures was just concluded in March. And now that we have concluded these audits, our audit firm has joined us to present the results. Please welcome Linda Nariso, audit partner at Vasquez and Company.

Good evening. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. Yeah, now it's time to go a bit shorter than the gentleman. So, I'm happy to be here again to present to you the results of our audit of your city and we are covering the year ended June 30, 2025. So for this afternoon, I'll start with the introduction of um the engagement team, the one assigned to to audit your uh financial statements. I'll go over the scope of the services as well as reconfirm our independence with regards to the city. Then I'll go over the results of the audit. We'll start with the financial statements and then I'll also cover single audit as well as provide some financial statement highlights and I'll end with the required communication to those charged with governance which is of course the city council. So for um the engagement team so I'm the lead partner. So overall I'm the one signing on on the report. I also have a second partner involved in the engagement. So that's Christy Caneda. So what she does is perform a quality control review of all the reports that we issue uh to the city to make sure that we are complying with applicable standards. All the note we are issuing the correct opinion and all the necessary note disclosures are included in your financial statements. We also involve our IT um department in terms of looking at your IT general controls. So we have uh that's being led by our IT general man um senior manager Jason Tagasa. So for the audit I'm also assisted by the senior manager of course um Roda as well as another audit manager and associate manager.

So for the scope of the engagement it's basically the same as in the previous years. So we are auditing your financial statements. We are also performing a single audit. So that's a compliance audit of your compliance with your federal programs. And of course on a year- round basis, we are available to the city's finance team in terms of any consultations about maybe implementation of new accounting standards. For the financial statement, we we perform that audit um in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards in the US but also government auditing standards. For the single audit, we performed that in accordance with the uniform guidance. So in terms of independence, we just want to confirm that the entire um vasquez team are independent of the city. So there are no relationship between us and any member of the city staff or members of the city council that would um impair our um independence. Now moving on to the results of the audit. So for the financial statement audit, we are again issuing a clean opinion. So an unmodified opinion on your financial statements. It means that the financial statement of the city fairly presents your financial position the results of operations and the changes in net position. We if you look at your acter it's about I would say 180 pages and it also includes combining schedules supplemental schedules. So in terms of those supplemental schedules, we are issuing an in relation to opinion. So in relation to the basic financial statements, those are also fairly presented. Um internal controls over financial reporting. So this is another opinion that is required by the government

auditing standards and if we we are not opining on the internal controls but in the performing in our planning and determining the audit procedures we do consider your internal controls and um if we note of any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses we are required to report that to to you and we are happy to report that as far as for the year ended June 30 2025 no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies were noted in terms of the single audit. So this is your com our compliance audit on your federal programs. So at the beginning uh we review your schedule of expended federal programs, federal awards for the year. So we make a determination. So what are the programs that we need to audit for for this year? So for uh 2025 we audited two major programs. So ALN 14239. So the home investment partnership program amounting to 2.2 million. We also audited uh ALN16922 which the city dispersed about.7 million which is the equitable sharing program. For the year um the city expended about 11.3 million. So for that audit we covered about 25.7% of your total federal expended for the year. Now the city is classified as a lowrisk audit. So for you to qualify as a low-risk audit. You have to have a clean opinion. There's no material weaknesses noted. And then in the prior year, you should have completed the audit timely and submitted the data collection form as well timely um to the federal clearing house. So being a low-risk audit, we are only required to audit at least 20% of the federal programs. If you are not a low-risisk audit, we have to audit at least 40%. So

that increases the scope of the audit if you're not a lowrisk audit. In terms of the result, again um no financial statement finding, no federal finding. Last year we had one uh finding in the single audit and we are required to to see whether um management was able to correct those um those uh those finding and we're happy to report that that has been effectively implemented during the year. Now for the financial reporting highlights. So this is the governmentwide financial statement. So it includes both your governmental governmental activities and business um activities for the year. So for um just looking at the total assets, you ended the year with about 833 million compared to only 77 77 million last year or an increase of 56 million. For liabilities, um, total liabilities, you have 342 million versus 343 million last year. So, a decrease of 1.9 million. So, just want to highlight like you ended the year in terms of your net position. still a positive net position of 512 um 9 million versus 473 um 100 million um last year for an increase of about 40 million um during the year. So a positive increase in your net position. The bulk of your um net position still lies with your in it's invested in capital assets but still a positive restricted um net assets and a positive unrestricted net assets in the end of the year. So here's the the statement um it's

basically your P&L statement for the governmentwide. So it shows your revenues and expenses and the changes in net position uh for the year. So if you could look down at the end, you ended the year with a positive 40 million um change in net position. So it means that your total revenue exceeded your expenses uh for 2025. So here are some financial reporting highlights only on the general fund. So for the general fund, you ended the year with 104 million uh versus 94 million last year. So increase of 9.7 million or 10%. Total liabilities was 13.1 million versus 7.3 million or an increase of 5.8 million from the previous years. So at the end of the year, the fund balance was a positive 80.8 8 million and you have an unassigned balance of 42.5 million. So that's always good to see um that your general fund is a positive in terms of revenues and expenses for the general fund. Again um you ended the year with a positive balance of um 2.7 million compared to last year. Last year was a negative balance. you have um negative results of your general fund of almost 2 million. So it was um a swing of about 4.6 million uh from the previous years. So if you look at the the total revenues, the increases came from taxes. So there was like higher property taxes due to uh better appraised value for the properties in 2025. And then for other revenues, um the city was able to get uh 5.9 rebate,

federal rebate for the backup batteries that was installed um within the city. And as well for the total expenditures while it increased it was not a major increase just an increase of about 9% over um last year mainly like vehicle purchases and some um increases in salaries as well as of course the cost of installing that backup batteries. So in terms of um comparing the general fund to the budgeted approved budget at the beginning of the year, it was a positive variance. So in terms of comparing your budgeted revenue versus actual revenue, it was um the actual revenue was higher than budgeted and then your expenses was actually lower than the budgeted revenue. So in terms of the performance of the general fund compared to budget, it was a positive variance of for the year ended 2025. In 2025, the the city implemented a new accounting standard. So that's gasby 101, which is the compensated absences. So it resulted in a slightly higher um compensated absences liability at year end, but it's not really material on the overall. Um if we compare the compensation liability from the previous year, it increased by about 250,000. For as far as the net pension and OPE liability at year end, the net pension liability was 155.9 million versus 169.4 million. And then your net OPED liability was 72 million versus 69.1 million. So both liabilities these are actually determined. So there's an actual calculate calculation being performed.

Any questions on the financial highlights? Any questions from the dis? No. No. Thank you.

So I'll end with the required communication to those charged with governance. So first one our responsibility we have issued um engagement letter and have sent that to management. It was dated June 17. So that enumerates all our responsibilities. So basically saying that our main responsibility is really issuing an opinion on your financial statements. Um performing our audit in accordance with applicable standards, obtaining sufficient audit evidence for us to issue an opinion. We also issued another communication um that's to the attention of the the city council and that summarizes our plan scope and timing as well as preliminarily identified significant risk in terms of accounting principles that has been adopted for or was um adopted by the city for 2025. So that's gas B 101 and 102. So 102 did not really have a an impact on the the city. The 101 the 101 as I mentioned earlier resulted in a slightly higher um compensated liability at the end of the year. in terms of significant accounting policies. Uh so we do review the accounting policies that's being implemented by by the city to make sure that they are um in compliance with um generally accepted accounting principles in the US and we found them to be in in order and it's being applied consistently and we did not identify any significant accounting policies that lack guidance or in any controversial area. We also did not find any significant or unusual transactions for audit adjustments. Uh we only identified two audit adjustments and those were booked by by management and we are also not aware of any other

uncorrected misstatements other than those that are clearly trivial or immaterial to the financial statements. We did not have any disagreements with management with regards to application of um significant accounting principles um management's estimates their basis as well as disclosures in the financial statements. In terms of consultations with other accountants, we are not aware of any consultations made by by management with regards to any accounting or auditing matters. There was also no issu significant issues um arising from audit was discussed or subject to correspondence with management that needs the attention of the city council. We also did not encounter any significant difficulties in in dealing with management during that the audit and and actually I want to take this opportunity of course to acknowledge Caroline of course Marvis Marvin's team um the entire finance team has been very responsive um at each time we do an audit at the beginning we do a planning meeting with management wherein we set timelines expectations and in the past we've also assisted the city in terms of preparing the report. So for this year, Marvis team took on that responsibility of really preparing the initial draft of the acter and while taking that on they were still able to meet the timeline that we've um decided on at the beginning of the the audit. So it's always a pleasure working with with Marvin. They're very knowledgeable and very responsive to all our questions. So, thank you. In terms of um significant significant matters that require consultations, there was none that needs to be

reported. Um independence um as I mentioned, we are independent of the city, but it's a joint uh responsibility between us and of course members of the city council, members of management. So if you are aware of any instance that might impair our independence uh we are um requesting you to let us know so at least we could address that. And in terms of significant communication between us and management we only have the management representation letter. So that's a letter that management signs and provides us before we issue the report as final for um significant accounting estimates. So part of the the financial statements it includes um accounting estimates. So as so we review management's judgment um the reasonable of jud judgment the assumptions that they they use and these are the accounting estimates that are currently being reflected in the financial statements. So estimated useful life on the capital assets of course the net pension liability the op liability the fair values of your investments the estimate um collectibility of your receivables the claims payables at year end the net present value of your future leases and subscription payments which is the basis of calculating of the the the right the lease liabilities and your lease rece receivables as well as the compensated absences liabilities. So all these estimates we we test the reasonleness of um the assumptions what are the basis of management's estimates. Um so we interview the management and if we could

do um a recalculation then we we perform that recalculation just to make sure that um it's reasonable. So in terms of new pronouncements that would affect the city in the future year. So for fiscal year 2026 we have two accounting pronouncements that will be effective. So 10 gasby 103 and 104. So 103 it basically changes um primarily the MDNA. Um so next year it would have a prescribed um five components that needs to be included in MDNA. It focuses more on the analysis of the numbers rather than just showing tables like increase decreases but it's really more narrating what happened during the year. It also in terms of budgetary comparison. So for budget comparison for general fund and your special revenue fund, it is now required to be part of the supplemental schedule and not part of the basic financial statements because currently it's part of the basic financial statement. So that's that part we have to change um next year in terms of the city um disclosure of certain capital assets. I think the one that would change here is if you have an asset held for sale and that sale is expected to be to happen within one year then we are supposed to disclose that in the act starting next year for the following year fiscal year 2025 um gasby 105 will be um implemented so that's basically just additional disclosures on subsequent events Any questions?

Does anyone have any questions? Council member Rhodess.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, first a comment. Thank you very much for the audit report. Um, uh, for the benefit of our football coach in the back, I'm going to make a football analogy. um the um the city council and some of us like to be uh the wide receivers and the quarterbacks and make the big plays and be showy. Um this is the blocking and tackling of of what a city does. And if we don't do this right, it doesn't matter how good your receivers or your quarterbacks are. um for year after year um uh our team wins awards for your accounting practices and you keep us honest in uh in obtaining those awards and I really want to um acknowledge your work but uh specifically the work of our our amazing staff to do this year after year. That is um quite a feat and there's a certain personality style that can do that. I'm not one of those people. Um but thank you for getting it done. I do have one question. You talked about um internal control audits. Um there's a there's a new um danger lurking in data and that's artificial intelligence. Do your control audits um discuss the handling of our data and any use of AI and preparation of uh our accounting reports? I think um the auditing standards is slowly recognizing AI. Um I think they're developing new you know procedures that we need to to perform to specifically address AI. But currently what we do is um one we involve our IT department so to look at of course data integrity. So that's because we can't really audit something that doesn't it's it's not complete or it doesn't really

reflect the the true transactions. So we partly rely on our IT department to assist us but at the same time we every schedule that are being provided to us we have to test completeness we have to look at supporting documentation supporting contracts. So, I think at this point we could say that uh we're confident that you know transactions are properly supported. Awesome. Thank you. Those are all my questions. Mayor, thank you. Council member Ayala,

thank you. I just want to piggyback on something that uh Council Member Rhodess was was mentioning is that this really is the work that we don't want to do, but that people in our office really do. And the year-over-year of getting this right is a big deal because I know council member Rhodess had um introduced me to a newsletter that we now get a weekly uh electronic newsletter that kind of uh talks about everything highlights from the state different what's different cities are doing and at least once a month there's a little article in there about either a city that has missed one part of their audit and is now under investigation or an individual who has done something in the city they weren't supposed to do in terms of the financial practices. And uh so congratulations to Marvin and his team as you pointed out because it really is a superb job they're doing to keep everything the way it's supposed to be in terms of both the numbers and the practices that we have. Um the second thing is can you just quickly talk about what 105 is? What would what what what does subsequent events mean?

Subsequent events those are events that happen after year end but before we issue the report. So for example typically we issued the financial statement December December we issued last last year December 16 2025. So the period from June 30 December 16 that's subsequent events. So that's a subsequent period. So anything that happened between that time we have to identify whether these are recognized events or non-recognized events. Recognized events are those already recorded in the financial statements. For example, a receivable that's already recognized in your financial statement but something happened like maybe that receivable are no longer colle collectible. Uh we find that there's a bankruptcy after year end. So those are recognized events. So we have to adjust the financial statements because it's already recognized. So, it's no longer collectible. Nonrecognized events are something that's not included in your financial statements, but it's significant. Uh, it happened after year end, but it's significant enough that warrants note disclosure in your financial statement. So, maybe you issued a new debt. So, it's not existing at year end, but it's significant. So, we have to disclose that in the financial statements.

Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim Litzer. So thank you for the report and and good to have you here uh annually to do this. Very appreciate it. Um you mentioned that we are lowrisk audit which I appreciate and that basically sets the standards of the percent or thresh threshold of federal programs that have to be audited. I would just it's just a curiosity is there similar requirement for state funded programs etc or

no this is it only applies to federal the single audit only applies to federal grants. Very interesting. Thank you. I appreciate that. Um and and this maybe piggybacks off to what um Council Member Bala was saying. This is a very positive analysis and we appreciate that. And I was just curious, is this in your experience because you service many different municipalities. Is this normal for municipalities? Um and no, actually uh this is one of our better clients, right? When whenever we have of course some like I'm not asking you to divulge secrets. It's just a curiosity without ranking my my clients. But we do have clients that we have findings year over year. Got it.

Um and then we are we have clients that's not ready like even though we have several planning meetings at the beginning setting timelines, we sometimes have to staff restaff and then adjust our timeline consistently um throughout just to to meet the deadlines. But uh for for this audit every year when we meet with Marvin's team at the beginning it's always like so this is the plan and we and basically they stick to the plan. Uh in fact sometimes um we get pressured because they they bring the their comments gets back to us pretty fast. So we have to answer right away. Good job Marvin.

So we're like pressured. Okay. We have to address this immediately because instead of taking a week because normally we give the our clients a week to review the the the draft report after we give our comments but sometimes a day or two it's back to us. So now we're forced to like okay we have to address it. So well thank you very appreciate your work all of you this. Thank you so much.

Do good clients get a discount? Yes, it actually because we we base our fee based on estimated time to complete. So if our clients are timely and they provide us the documents um on time and it we don't have a lot of adjustments then it reflects on the fee double good Marvin Council member Judge. Thank you Madam Mayor. I just wanted to say thank you for your comprehensive report and I'm always impressed by it every year. I think we do a great job and I want to thank you and your team for doing such conscientious work for our city. Thank you.

Thank you. As somebody who performs audits and is audited, this is wonderful. So, Carolyn Marvin, thank you all for uh representing Semi Valley doing a great job. Um, and thank you for you and your team for continuing to um do such good audits with us, keeping us on our toes, and thank you for everything you've done. We appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Good evening. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item four, public statements. During this agenda, item four, the city council will hear all public statements from persons who have submitted a speaker card. Agenda item four is a time letter for public statements on all items other than public hearings, appointments, andformational reports. Speakers will be called on in the order in which Mr. Carwood submitted to speak for public statements item four for a period no more than three minutes each. Persons addressing the city council are requested to state the name and committee residence for the record. Madame mayor, unless you have any comments, we can begin public statements.

Please proceed. Um the just a note our timer is not working for is not viewable to the public. So the mayor will not have access to it and the lights will still work. Correct. Thank you. So the green light means three minutes. When you get the yellow light comes on that means you have 30 seconds left. When the red light comes on your time is up. And madame clerk how many speakers do we have this evening? We have 14. Thank you. May I'm sorry. Are we going to we there is a public hearing. Are we going to hear all 14 or are we Yes, we I determined that was quick enough.

Excellent. Thank you. I will call three uh names at a time so you know who you follow.

Jill Abila, Sarah Bernson, and Ben Davis. Good evening, madame mayor and city council members. My name is Jill Abala. I'm a resident of district 1, and I have a provocative question for you this evening. Wouldn't it be great for Semi Valley to have three school resource officers by the start of our next school year? Yeah. Now, I know you're seeing dollar signs, so uh and I do certainly understand our city's budget constraints, but now I believe is the ideal time to have a conversation with our school district about cost sharing for our SRO's. Please, let's ask them to sharpen their pencils. It's budget season, right? So at the same time, please let's consider adding one more SRO to strengthen coverage here. Ideally, Semi Valley would have three SRO's each assigned to one high school and one middle school. I encourage the city council to act now and consider this approach. I think it's an investment in our youth and the safety of our community. Um, also agenda 9A, uh, I didn't hear what, uh, city manager Argerbrite said if we took it off the agenda or not, but, I had a quick comment on that. Um, I just want to applaud and I and I truly appreciate your efforts to provide competitive compensation so that the city uh may recruit and retain retain quality staff. I think that's important. So, thank you for your time.

Thank you. Hi, my name is Sarah Bernson and I'm here representing a nonprofit organization called All It Takes in Seami Valley. I'm also a marriage family therapist that works at a trauma center. And we have an event coming up for mental health May that we wanted to share with you. We think it can help build bridges within your community, but also within families and schools. Um, it's for adults and youth. We have an event May 6th at Studio um, movie Grill and it's a free dinner is going to be served. There's going to be two separate events. One for the adults. They'll be watching one film while the youth will be watching another. conversations will be had in their groups and then together they will meet and have a joint conversation. The goal is to bridge and to reach depth or have be able to have conversations that we're not able to have now because we're so caught up in our phones that we're not connecting. And as um someone who works with mental health, I know that connection is one of the biggest things that helps increase our mental health. My having a connection to people and to comm community to communities. So we would really love for you to come. I know Councilman Ayala has already signed up. Thank you so much for your support. We'd love for you all to be able to attend. More importantly, we'd love for you to share the event and get people to come. It's from 5 to 8. Free dinner and conversation. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. Should I leave this here?

Thank you so much. Good evening, mayor, council members, and city staff. My name is Ben Davis, president of Piccola Tiny Homes here in Seami Valley. Thank you again for your time tonight. I've now come before you several times because the housing crisis is something we can't ignore and the future generations of Seami Valley need more housing options. Tonight, I want to focus on one of the main concerns that has been raised. The fear that if movable tiny homes are allowed, then any RV could end up in someone's backyard and be called a home. I understand that concern and I completely agree with the principle behind it. Seami Valley should not open the door to just any RV and that is exactly why a clear ordinance matters. A movable tiny home is not the same thing as a typical RV either in how it looks or how it is built. These homes are designed for full-time living. They are built with residential materials require property utility connections and city review. The sample ordinance and checklist I previously provided already lay out these distinctions in plain language. For example, a movable tiny home has residential siding. An RV has laminate or fiberglass siding. A tiny home has double pane rectangular windows. An RV has single pane rounded windows. A tiny home has no mechanical equipment on the roof. An RV has lots of mechanical equipment on the roof. A tiny home has a minimum insulation rating of R15 for the walls and R23 for the ceilings. And an RV has a minimum insulation rating of R3 for walls and R seven for ceilings. A tiny room, a tiny home cannot have room extensions or slide outs. And most RVs have room extensions and slideouts. In other words, this is easy to this is easy to distinguish in code because the distinction has already been written. Seami Valley doesn't have to start from

scratch. The framework already exists and has been passed in California 22 22 times. So tonight, I respectfully ask for one simple next step. Please allow the public and the council to see the staff report that has been drafted so this conversation can move into the open and we can make progress towards a brighter future for semi valley. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. The next three speakers, James McGillis, Aman Shriet, and Steve Thompson.

Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council and staff. I'm James McGillis, a proud resident here in Zumi Valley. Recently, I received an email invitation from the city manager asking me to participate in an important survey of our residents. It was about short-term rentals. I indicated that I supported a ban and gave extensive reasons why. Looking at the original invitation, I noticed that the independent research firms would manage the survey and summarize the results. So, my written responses could easily be ignored. The questions that followed could have come straight from one council member's list of suggested questions. What was their source? The questions favored a strongly regulated but legalized STR policy. At the end, I was asked if I would like to change my attitudes towards STRs. In the survey, there were none of the following questions. Would you like an STR next door? How about on both sides of your house? What if every home on your street converted to STR? Have you personally lived near an STR? Do you know anyone who cannot rent or lost their lease because STRs have taken over the market? Do you know any families who are unable to buy in Seami Valley because corporate buyers outbid them? Is it fair that an HOA can ban STRs, but non-HOA neighborhoods cannot? Did you know that having an STR nearby could reduce your property value? In my opinion, the independent survey was designed to get the biased answers desired by the dark money faction. We do not need a contractor filtering what the public will see. The results of this survey should be made public in their entirety. Why hide the actual data and responses? On tonight's agenda, item 9B, one year over, one year late, we will hear about Semi Valley City Council Code of Ethics. Having been called out twice by name and twice by inference, I hope this reading will put an end to one council member's personal statements of bias in favor of STRs. In honor of Arbor Day and Earth Day, this Tree City USA is in the process of permitting the destruction of the Semi Valley heritage oak tree and it's not and its many siblings. No, not

the heritage oak tree cut down in 2007. This is a heritage oak tree residing on Oak Road for the past 500 years. For anyone interested in Chum Mash or tribal heritage, it's time to act. Contact me and help us save this priceless natural, cultural, and cultural resource for future generations. If not, this entire relic forest could disappear forever. I plan to live here for a long time and fight the for the values this city was founded on, which in my opinion are private home ownership, quiet, friendly neighborhoods, excellent schools, and a city government that cares about the environment and its residents. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh, Prom Litster, and the rest of the city council members. My I hope you are doing well tonight. My name is Amen Sriith, and I'm in eighth grade at Hillside Middle School. I'm also currently part of the Seami Valley Youth Council. As a part of my civic seal project, I'm here to talk about an invisible but pressing matter in our community, our street lights. Street lighting issues are a problem almost everywhere, including Semi Valley. In my research, I found community complaints on social media about dark zones and safety concerns in their neighborhoods. These issues include break-ins, thefts, and encounters with wildlife. Better lighting not only reduces these problems, but also assists law enforcement officers in investigating crime. Additionally, studies show that 77% of accidents in California occur during nighttime hours. And the Federal Highway Administration states that installing proper lighting can reduce nighttime crashes by 28 to 42%. So today, I've brought two recommended solutions. First is solar powered LED poles. These reduce electricity costs and eliminate the need for underground trenching, cutting installation costs by up to 60%. Our neighboring city, Thousand Oaks, is replacing 7,434 sodium vapor lights with modern LEDs and expect to save $137,000 in energy costs. Second is motion sensing dimmer lights. Certain parts of Seami Valley prefer limited street lighting to preserve dark skies. So, this approach improves safety while respecting community preferences.

Now, you may be asking where where these lights should be installed. After research, I found parts of Township Avenue, Alamo Street, East Los Angeles Avenue, and nearby residential areas need the most attention. I have also prepared a document with the areas needed needing most attention. Finally, you may be concerned about funding. However, there are sources beyond local maintenance districts such as state active transportation grants, the US Department of Transportation safe streets and roads for all grants, and the Southern California Edison energy efficiency rebates. These will help chip down the major costs of these great improvements. So my concluding request for the Seami sorry the Seami Valley City Council is to conduct or issue an audit of these proposed areas and move forward with any necessary improvements to make Seami Valley safer. I also suggest adding a street light request form to the city council website so res residents can report dark areas and request for better lighting. When conducting my own research, I found a maintenance request form that did not include street lights. Lastly, I would like to encourage the audience to take a look at their neighborhoods and take up action if applicable. Thank you for your attention and have an amazing rest of your evening.

Thank you very much.

He did great. He had 4 seconds left. Wonderful. Good. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Steve Thompson, and I've had a short-term rental in Semi Valley for 5 years. I'd like to start with examples of people who actually stay at my home. Over the past few years, I've hosted guests in town for extended medical situations that needed quiet, stable place to stay for weeks at a time. I've hosted families relocating to the area that needed temporary housing while searching for a permanent home. About two years ago, I hosted a team of five drone pilots for five weeks. Their job was to fly their drones over all electrical lines and transformers throughout Semi Valley. They were able to detect any sparks, identify failing equipment, and locate trees in contact with power lines that are serious fire hazards. What they were doing directly contributed to the safety of all residents in Semi Valley. And with drones and amount of equipment they had, there's no way they could have operated out of a hotel. Right now, I have a Semi Valley family of four staying in my home because a plumbing leak flooded their house. With kids in school, homework to be done, and the need to cook meals, a hotel is simply not a reasonable option. This is the fifth such family who has stayed in my home for the same reason. One family needed to stay for two months. These are not party groups. These are Semi Valley families who need something that traditional hotels simply don't provide and they are important parts of the community. Over two months over the past two months, I've spoke with many local STR hosts. One thing that stands out to me is how many of these properties are

owner occupied with hosts living on site. Because of this, I strongly encourage the city to consider allowing STRs with the hosts living on site. This creates built-in accountability, maintains neighborhood integrity, and supports responsible home homeowners who are part of the community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. The next three speakers, Alin Een, Ivana Chrisman, and Christy Grayson.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh. City Council members, city manager, and city attorney. I am Alen Een, and I have lived in Seami Valley almost 42 years. City Manager Samantha Argarbrite. Please inform the public here tonight if staff is currently working on an ordinance for banning short-term rentals in addition to the ordinance for regulating STRs. When short-term rentals is brought back to the city council agenda in May, both ordinance should be considered. Having both an ordinance to regulate and an ordinance to ban would help the city council make a more informed, intelligent, and impartial decision. This would be in following with the city's code of ethics and conduct under your stated 18 guiding principles. in particular. Number one, act in the public interest. Number six, decisions based on merit. Also, in your statement of purpose of that code, it is stated public officials should be independent, impartial, and fair in their judgment and actions. You need not be unduly influenced by speakers who are unwilling to state their city of residence and are here promoting their own financial gain. Some speakers who reside in a neighboring city where STRs are banned have come before this council to sing the praises of STRs while not having the misfortune of having to live next to one. Some might consider that hypocritical. Interestingly enough, probably not one of you on this council would want to live next to one. All residents need to

come and let the city council know how you feel. It could make a difference. Let your voices be heard. Don't expect that others can do it for you. The final outcome will be in all of your hands. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh, city council. I'm Ivana Chrisman and I'm a resident of Seami Valley. I'm here tonight to talk about many different organizations in our city and ways to give back. First, I'm so happy that dispatchers had a great event and our Rotary Club was so honored to be a part of that, helping put it together. I'm very grateful for all of our first responders, but I'm here today to talk about many different ways to give back this weekend. I'll be running for Casey's team for GG's Playhouse fundraiser. Uh that's called I had to write it down. GG's 5K dash for Down Syndrome. If you don't want to join Casey's team because you don't want to support me, you can join some other team. It's a great event. You don't want to miss it. It's a great way to give back to a great organization. And if if you miss on that event, I'm also running for the Samaritan Center with their second chance prom queen event. There's so many great people that have been nominated. I'm looking at you, Richard, in the back that have been nominated for the second chance prom queen and king event. And I hope you can donate. If you can't donate, you can like, share, participate in many different ways in these events. I hope I see you this weekend, many other weekends. I'm Ivana Chrisman. I'm running for city council. Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh good evening, Mayor Kavanagh, council members, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Christy Grayson, Navy veteran and a resident of Simi Valley. I'm here tonight to make a couple public service announcements, just like everybody else here tonight. That's great. As a member of several veteran service organizations, I would like to invite everyone to a couple upcoming events planned by our city's veterans groups and various civic organizations. The first is Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th. A ceremony will take place at 10:00 10:00 a.m. at the El Ranchosi Pioneer Cemetery. Members of our community come out early and place flags at the grave sites of veterans buried there. The program that follows reminds us to remember those who never returned home, those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms and those who served with honor. It is also time to lift up the families uh who will always mourn their loss. The second is flag day, sat Sunday, June 14th. The program will start at 100 pm in the veterans court at the Semi Valley Town Center. This is a day to honor our nation's flag. And as it happens, it's the Army's 251st birthday. Uh, but we'll celebrate anyway.

In conclusion, I hope you make it out to these upcoming inspirational events being celebrated in our community by our community. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next three speakers, Michael Shaw, Ken Hurst, and Frank Tomlinson.

Sorry, I'm a little slow, guys. Moved too much ice this weekend. Hi, I'm Michael Shaw from Santa Susanna. Nice talking to everybody. And I didn't show up tonight just to complain, but I have to say Ryan does a great job. Our youth council is great. All you can see is just wonderful things out of those guys. It's it's awesome to see. I matter of fact, I think a lot more highly of that council than I think of some other councils I talked to. But uh one of the things Oh, nobody said anything. Happy 420, you guys. It's Arbor Day. It's a We're talking about landscape, but what happened to our landscape on the freeway? I know we don't look over that, but we we can't even see the ugly con or uh concrete anymore cuz the weeds are so high. The uh poor guys with the STS, you know, um the drone operators. And I think to myself, well, now I got five trucks or four trucks outside of my house. And are any of those guys vetted to make sure they're not a sexual predator? Um, but they're in my neighborhood and I didn't get any say so. Um, but they could be affecting my life so somebody can make a buck. Um, I'm not so hot on that. I'm kind of stuck up about my little neighborhood. Um, okay. Whatever happened to the the ugly fre Oh, and then you guys with the bicycle master plan. Okay. I I congratulated you. Okay, great. But then I go talk to everybody at the school board and everybody at the park district and they're go, "God, did you guys slam them?" Well, how about now since it's just a framework, we can use that framework and collectively start some conversation about how best to address bike lanes and pedestrian safety. The

county is going to do the thing over there. we're going to have next month, you know, over at uh uh what Sycamore and Cochran. So, um we need to start concentrating on bicycle safety and not just try and outlaw ebikes cuz that isn't going to do it. All right. Um oh, and then I'll shut up in a minute. Um but I'll give you all a chance to say anything. Um, about a month ago, I came in here and I talked about the problem of racism in our schools and how it just broke my heart listening to all those young kids comment and tell us about it. And so, I'm asking any one of you has anybody giving any thought to what we can do about that. And I'll go sit over here and if you want to comment, go ahead. If you want to ignore me like normally, I'm used to that, too. Talk to you later. All right.

Thank you. Hello again. Um, my name is Ken Hurst and I live in Seami Valley. Um, Semi Valley Police Department Sergeant uh, Zik and please forgive me if I butchered your name. Um, made a useful presentation on April 6th about the uh, police department use of flock. Thanks very much to the police department and to the council members who made it possible. I have raised the issue of blank reasons in the audit files. Sergeant Zik in his presentation April 6th stated that in his audits there were no blank reasons. I have no doubt that Sergeant Zik is correct about the data he is looking at. I can prove that the data that I am looking at has blank reasons about 15% of the time on April 5th and 19% of the time on April 19th. Why is this portion of the audit files different? That seems strange. On another audit issue, the audit files of other cities sometimes add or drop entries depending on when the audit is accessed. Happens about three 3 to 7% of the time in other cities. I compared an audit from April 5th in Semi Valley versus the April 19th audit. They had 12 days of overlap, 122 records. I found one deleted entry and one added entry. That is two differences out of 122 records or about 1.6%. While this sample is too small to make a good estimate of the frequency, we can def definitely state that uh semi valley flock data the audit logs do show this problem. At the end of February, several local law enforcement agencies in California

found that Flock had reset access to allow Flock data to be searched by non-C California agencies contrary to the their contracts and contrary to state law. Flock has essentially said oops and it won't happen again. And by the way, the restricted audit content makes it harder to audit, harder to monitor. Why does the publicly available audit file redact the agency accessing the flock data? Why are there blanks in the publicly available reasons but not in the semi valley internal version and why are those particular ones blank? Why do records come and go from what should be a fixed audit log? What determines which ones come and go? Which one which ones come and which ones go? The fourth amendment states, quote, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation and particularly prescribing the places to be searched, the persons or things to be seized." In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Carpenter versus the US that it is a fourth amendment violation for police to access.

Mr. Hers, your time is now up. Okay. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Frank Tomlinson um with Vets and Valor. came a couple weeks ago and introduced the idea of being able to use the retired banners that we have around our city as a way to connect with veterans that are separating from their uh branch that they're coming home from. Um I just wanted to fill in some of the gaps because I left kind of quick. My son had actually come home from a fivemon deployment the day before. So I left a little early. Uh I'll stay around a little bit tonight so that if there's any questions later. Um, but some of the things that I realized that benefit not just veterans in our community that I had mentioned last time that are, you know, not connected with because it's hard to connect with some of them. I estimate about 3,500 veterans that are rated at zero. Um, just to let give you a little bit of perspective, if a veteran is rated up at 100% and they're single, they get about $4,000 a month of tax-free income from the federal government. um to our community. So that makes a big difference for any single veteran, but to our community, that would be about $14 million that would be flowing into our our local community from federal tax dollars. Um these are this is already money that's set aside. Uh a lot of older veterans don't understand that. they feel like that they've already done their service and and they don't want to bother um taking what they feel like would be taking away from younger uh younger generations, but the reality is we know it with the way that government budgets work that money set aside for veterans. Um so that's something that they can take advantage of. Uh the other thing we realized that through the um through SBA we're able to connect with veteranowned businesses and what we want to do is build a robust um network so that we're able to when these

young people separate they can come. We would actually like to make it more of a celebration for them where we where we actually have some sort of party event celebration when they come and pick up their banner. Um, but when they do that that we can introduce them to some of our local businesses that are veteranowned that already are looking for veterans when they come out of the service. Some of them actually go out to Fort Orwin 29 Palms to look for recruits that they can actually bring back and employ. Um, so anyway, if you'd consider that, like I said, I'll stick around if you have any questions. Um, and maybe I can fill in any more gaps that I left out this time. Thank you.

Thank you. The last two speakers, Todd Taylor and Jamie Sanchez.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh, city councilman. Um, my name is Todd Taylor. I am been a resident of Seami Valley for about 17 years. I didn't write anything this evening, so just doing right off the cuff. Um, I moved to Seami Valley to get away from the San Frernando Valley and I love Seami Valley and I appreciate everything that Seami Valley has to offer. I'm a homeowner here. My wife and I have been married just over 13 years and we started an STR about eight years ago. currently actually in a long-term rental that we're very fortunate about which I understand is difficult to find sometimes but in my experience is we have met some amazing people most of the people that come here to see me valley are family people looking to visit with family may not have enough room in their own existing home my particular situation we only have it's a small ADU it's 350 square ft we have a maximum of two people that we allow a lot of these people, they may come here for work, um, and and various things, uh, coming to the Reagan library and so forth. Being I'm also a small business owner and a private investigator, and I got to tell you, I was scared to have strangers come to my house from everything that I see. And I've been a PI now for 27 years, so I've seen a few things. I've met some amazing people, and I was very surprised. I've been very surprised at some of the people that I have met in my home. And uh quick quick story, young man came here from France and this was during CO and the bus schedule that we had found online to help him get around was wrong and it did not take him up to the Reagan library. That whole schedule was cancelled. And so we helped him out. We didn't realize it for a couple of days, the issues he was having. And my wife drove him to the Reagan library when he

could not get there. We picked him up and so forth. And I remember this young man one day asked for a ride and he was dressed in a suit. And my wife said to him, you know, why are you in a suit? He says, because it's President's Day. This is something that's important to your country and I want to show respect. These are the types of people that we've had in our home. And so I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional lands of the Trumash people. I honor their enduring connection to this land and pay my respects to their elders past and present. Good evening. My name is Jamie Sanchez. As this month comes to a close, I want to recognize that April is the month of the military child. As a Navy veteran, I've learned that when one person serves, the whole family serves, especially the children. My children were my older children were born at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. And I still remember the saying, your kids don't come in your seatback. But the truth is, they carry the weight anyway. They carry the missed birthdays, the empty chairs, the fear they don't always have words for. No child should have to carry that. And yet so many do quietly. Because sometimes as veterans, we are taught to suffer in silence. And that silence doesn't end when the service does. It echoes in our home into our homes and into our children's lives. this past weekend while my nine-year-old was having the time of her life competing at the Junior Olympics, something I had to miss and yet grateful for the community I have who had supported her when I couldn't because I was making a sharp trip to San Diego so my 18-year-old son could say his final goodbyes to his father, a fellow veteran was only 43 years old. That is why I refuse to stay silent. I want my children, Leila, Jared, and Briana, because I want to acknowledge them because my service didn't just belong to me. It shaped them and it cost them, too. They are the reason I stand here. Because behind every veteran, there's a child who learned how to be strong too soon. Who learned how to say goodbye too many times or for the last time and sometimes who was left to carry a loss they never chose. So if we are going to honor the uniform, we have to be willing to see the families and the children who

live with its cost because their sacrifice doesn't end when the service does. It lives on to them. Thank you. Thank you, madame mayor, members of the city council. Next on the agenda is item 4A, city council comments regarding public statements. Council member Ayella.

Uh thank you. I will start with the kind of group at first for the military ones. Thank you for for everything. Did you have fun at Junior Olympics? My daughter was there too. So yes. All right. So thank you for that. And then um for Miss Grayson, thank you for sharing all of the different events that are going on and for you helping to plan that and make it happen. And then for Mr. Tomlinson, I I think people when they hear of the company Valor Valor, the your main business of mortgaging kind of uh is secondary to really what you do, right? In terms of what you provide to to the veterans. Um city manager, do we have an update on the request that we had received?

Yes. So, um staff is still working on the memo for um information on retiring the military banners. So currently we don't really do a formal retirement ceremony. Um military banners are provided to the families if they want them. Um we do ask for that. Um sometimes they're not in great shape by the time they're done. Um but we also are looking at kind of the considerations that council needs to look at for referring folks to a private business um in this case. So that memo will be coming to you guys soon. Staff's working on it this week.

Okay. So, we'll hear something soon on on that. Uh, Aman left, but Mr. Per, I'm sure you will see him soon. Let him know that uh he did a great presentation when when the next time you you see him and then throwing it back to the city manager. Remind me the STR date. I think we switched it, but May 11th. May 11th. So, for those of you who are um I know there's quite a few of you who are really interested in that, but May 11th would be the date that we're reviewing that. And the other question around the what are we going to see?

So the STR um item will include an ordinance that has not only regulation but there will also be an option for an ordinance to ban STRs. So should the council want to see that um and want to consider that based on the planning commission recommendation. Um so I've been working with environmental services director Strateis Peros and his team. So there will be an ordinance that also has that option to ban STRs. Um, but we will be considering that item on May 11th. Very good. Okay. Thanks everyone for for coming tonight. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim Litster.

So, I will try to comment on things that you did not comment because ditto to all that that you just said. Thank you very much. Um, Jill, um, yes, we would love to have dedicated resource school resource officers and but particularly would love to be partnering with the schools in funding that. And so I'm hopefully that they will be interested in your suggestions as and we can have that discussion. Um Sarah who came forward and talked about all it takes on May 6th at Studio Movie Grill. Um thank you for giving more details about that. In fact, I spoke with I don't know if she's still here spoke with Lori who is the author of the book that you shared. Um and she is partnering she's authoring and overseeing that. Um she looks to be a wonderful wonderful event. um it didn't she didn't mention it but as I understand it's open for youth ages 10 and older so that so there will be something for all a for that age group of youth and so again a great opportunity and I think that speaks to some of your concerns about what's being done in our community um but glad that that's taking place on May 6th. Ben, thank you for showing up and um educating us every time. I I have read your materials, but it was great to be reminded that the differences in sightings, windows, roofing, insulation, pull uh pull outs, etc. Anyway, and that it's passed elsewhere. So, thank you for again educating us. Um I will say um actually I am going to duplicate something you suggested and and that's when you have a wonderful articulate eighth grader who not only states the problem um gives you solutions and including funding and how to identify it. I mean that is a well presented proposal and so please commend him. In fact as I was taking notes and I will read carefully what he's what he offered. Um, I very much appreciated his suggestion that there be something on our city website that actually lets

people articulate things. It feels very dark where I live. Can we have a street light or something? And so adding that to the website. So I'm certainly willing to make that motion later on, but um again, please commend. I know it is late for school night and I know they're off, but I wanted just to add um add to that. Um and also just with the discussion of landscaping on the freeway that you mentioned um I will say that that the city has actively been speaking with department of transportation. Have we received any response from them? They were out working on the freeway today.

So just just sharing that um they're working hopefully there's some results but um there is certainly that concern. Um anyway, thank you all. Lots of great topics discussed. I won't duplicate, but but again, we are appreciate all of your comments. Thank you, Council Member Rhodess.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I can be brief because uh you guys have covered a lot of it. I did want to uh circle back to Jill's comment about the resource officers and just say that and Jill, where are you? Gone. Um the uh one of the uh things that's unique about Seami Valley that not many cities do is we pay for the two resource officers instead of the school district paying for them. And yes, I think there should be a third. And no, I don't think it should be our cost. And I think the school district's been stonewalling us. And so when we get to that conversation with them, I'm I actually look forward to it. Um Mr. McGillis, I'm going to use your name again uh in response to your comment as is allowed from the deis. Um um I want to thank you for coming each time and expressing your opinion. Um uh the fact that you got the um survey I think because it was a random selection of people that took the survey um the fact that you were invited to take it is I think proof that we are having a unbiased and professional audit done. And I can categorically say that none of the questions that I suggested were even taken into consideration by the company. It was not passed to them in any way. And so the questions were professional questions that have been used in other cities. And I'm looking forward to seeing the results. Who knows? They may say that the Seami Valley residents want to ban STRs. I don't know what the answer to that's going to be, but that's how unbiased, professional, comprehensive work is done. But thank you for bringing that to our attention. Um, I think it was Christa uh about the uh veterans ceremonies. Christine, Christine, thank you Christie. I can't hear. I can't hear. I'm so sorry. Thank you for bringing those to attention. I'm putting them on my calendar. Um

Oh, and uh Ivana also left. Um, uh, the dispatcher event, which I'm going to talk about later in in Council of Thomas, was spectacular and, uh, I'm proud our Rotary Club can put that on. So, those are the end of my comments. Thank you, Council Member Judge.

Really, not to rehash everything because everybody spoke pretty well up here about stuff going on, but I want to thank Frank for coming out. I want to thank Christie for coming out and putting on those making those veterans issues front and front and center, especially the one about veterans not getting their their due on the VA. I think that's very important that we do this and those banners do mean a lot to veterans even though we might not have a formal process. My brother is a retired army colonel and he did almost 30 years in the army, graduated from West Point. When I presented him with his banner, it's hanging proudly in his love room. So, it's they love those things. Veterans love to get those banners that I think that's one of the most awesome things we've done in a long time for the veteran community and I'm really looking forward to making sure that we can work together with them. I want to thank everybody else for coming out and expressing your opinions. And Michael Shaw, I was actually a witness today to CALR cleaning up our freeway, doing out their weed whacking and cutting stuff down. I appreciate your comments on that because I too comment to the Calrans district rep that serves on the VCTC board with me and every time I see her, I say something about our freeways. What? Number one, I want sound walls. Number two, it's clean up the freeway. Please get the weeds out of there. But they're actually doing it. I think that was also a combined effort with our city management sending them a a strongly worded letter. So, thank you very much for coming out tonight.

Thank you. U my comments include yes um Miss Alet brought up the SRO's that is already a priority of this city council is to ensure that we have SRO's in our schools. At the same time, we have a tri- agency meeting coming up soon and that will be one of the things we will discuss with the school. Um let's see. Aman did a great job. I love it when you get a problem and solutions allin-one, especially from an eighth grader. That was just wonderful. So, Ryan, congrats on that. Chrissy, I just wanted to also mention thank you for coming out and especially listing the different things that are available and the events that people can go to to help support our veterans. U Mr. Shaw, yes, we did send a letter to CALR. I was going to cover you on that. And we can also bring up the bicycle plan with the um at the tri- agency meeting. I believe we reached out to a couple of them and we just didn't get responses. So, we will kind of put our thumb to the needle on that one, thumb to the pin. Um, Mr. Tomlinson, thank you always for the veterans. And Jamie, Miss Sanchez, thank you for being here. Um, I was going to um bring something up at the end of the meeting regarding it being military or child military child month. My nephew just deployed this morning, leaving three three kids. So, it's very important that we as a community support our veterans, support our active military and their families because I see that a lot too. So, and you've personally experienced it. So, thank you for bringing that up tonight. So, that's all for my comments. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is public hearings. This is the time for testimony on public hearings on the consideration of matters as presented on this agenda. that the record show that due notice was given as required by law and an affidavit to this effect is on file in the office of the city clerk. All comments submitted by email have already been provided to the city council. However, they will not be made part they will and they will be made part of the record. However, they will not be read by the city clerk this evening. Speakers

will be called on in the order in which their card was submitted to speak for this public testimony item five for a period of no more than 5 minutes each. Persons addressing the city council are requested to state their name and community residence for the record. Comments shall be limited to matters relevant to the item on the agenda and may be ruled out of order if comments are unrelated to the item. The reports of city staff relating to these matters shall be made part of the record of this meeting. If you challenge in court any of the city council decisions made here tonight, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at this public hearing. The time within which judicial review must be sought is governed by California Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.6. Item 5A, a public hearing to consider the community development block grant allocations and the draft fiscal year 202627 action plan and administrative officer Julio Ramirez and senior management analyst Lindseay Scarge are here to present this item.

Okay, before we begin, are there any exparte communications to report from the council? Thank you. Please proceed. Good evening, madame mayor and members of the city council. Tonight, we are conducting a public hearing to solicit comments for the upcoming fiscal year 202627 draft action plan inclusive of the community development block grant CDBG program. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, requires the city to prepare an annual action plan outlining how community development block grant CDBG funds will be used to address community needs identified in the regional consolidated plan. While the CDBG advisory committee provides funding recommendations, the city council makes the final determination and authorizes the submission to HUD. The fiscal year 202627 CDBG entitlement amount was released by HUD on April 3rd, 2026. The city is expected to receive $651,387 in CDBG entitlement funding. Since this information was not available when the draft action plan was published for review, an estimated amount of 650,000 was used. The final action plan submitted to HUD will reflect actual funding amounts and the city council approved allocations. CDBG funding allows for three categories of expenditures. Public service, capital improvement, and administration. Public service funding is capped at 15% and administration is limited to 20% of the total entitlement amount. Public service application projects

operate on a two-year application cycle. So, as fiscal year 2026 27 represents the second year of the cycle, no new applications were accepted. Previously approved fiscal year 2025-26 projects will continue into the second year contingent upon participation, compliance with HUD and city requirements, and receipt of HUD funding. On March 11th, 2026, the CDBG Advisory Committee held a public hearing to review applications for funding and solicit comments on the draft fiscal year 202627 action plan. One microenterprise application, which falls under the capital improvement category, was received. Consistent with city policy, the remaining funds will be allocated to the annual minor streets project. In accordance with HUD requirements, the draft action plan was made available for a 30-day public review period beginning on March 19th. Staff recommends that the city council adopt the committee's funding recommendations and make a final determination of projects and programs to be funded in fiscal year 2026 27. authorize the submission of the fiscal year 202627 action plan to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and authorize the city manager to finalize and execute grant agreements and related documents in connection with the fiscal year 202627 CDBG grant action plan. This concludes staff presentation. We are available for questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions of staff from city council members? Council member Rhodess. Thank you, Mayor. I think we'll have others questions, but um in table two, capital improvement category, the upwards care boost is in capital improvements. And I wanted clarification as to why it's in that category. It's cons it's a microenterprise, so it's considered economic development, which the way HUD has uh separated the categories, it falls within the capital improvements project per HUD. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Ayella.

Thank you. Does the CDBG funding when does it come into the city, the coffers, does it ever come to us or does it go straight to the organizations? It's it's reimbursement based. So, we'll get an entitlement amount. um as we allocate the funding and the funds are used, we reimburse the um the recipients and we draw down from that amount through directly through HUD with HUD.

And then is it a use it or lose it thing? So if one of the organizations decides not to use it, we just don't that money can't can't be reallocated any in any other way. We don't lose it. It will re be reallocated into the next um the next year. This school year. Yeah, that's that's not in in process. Okay. All right. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tim Litster,

you referenced that the allocation for next year, I believe, is $651,387, I think, if I wrote that down correctly. How how is that decided or how how does HUD what is the formula that determines how much we are qualified for?

They do have a formula and I believe I wrote down a little bit of the specifics. So, let me pull that up just so I have um Well, I'm impressed that we came so close in our estimate with it. So, clearly we know clearly we know the formula. We were thousand off. We we don't it is it is a best guess. They do do a h have a whole allocation formula that they do come up with. Um it does include the you know it's federal funds so it is throughout the United States. I don't have the exact specifics of how they come up with that but I can get that to you. That's that's fine. It was just a curiosity. I should have

I got didn't mean to blindside you but it was just a curiosity. Yeah. Any other questions from the council? Seeing none, at this time we would like to open the public hearing for anyone in the city council chambers wishing to be heard on this matter.

Madame Mayor, we do have two speaker cards. The first one is Doug Landon. Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh and city council members. Just want to make a couple quick comments. Um first one was on the 20 uh 2026 27 action plan when I read it very detailed plan fantastic will acknowledge the city's uh continued investment in homeless services as it mentions including case management supportive programs these these services are essential to make a meaningful difference in helping individuals move to stability. Um as the city continues this work uh encourage consideration of full continuum of care particularly how individuals move to homelessness to permanent um support of housing as it's mentioned in the report. Many communities find that having options between those two being homeless and permanent support of housing such as transitional housing can strengthen effectiveness of services already provided. exploring what that could look like in Sunni Valley through data partnerships and planning uh could be valuable next steps in building more complete effective system. Um thank you for your consideration uh if that's appropriate to add to the um CBDG report. And then relevant to uh the CBG for 2026. We appreciate your consideration for funding smart centers uh case management services for the unhoused individuals in Sime Valley. uh would do look forward to that and we respectfully request the city provide additional uh guidelines for navigating the safe safe system um you know during the implementation so we can execute the upcoming contract quickly. Thank you.

Thank you Melanie Ford.

Good evening Mayor Kavanagh and city council members. My name is Melanie for from Upwards. Um, I'm here tonight to speak in support of the proposed CDBG annual action plan and really thank you for your continued investment of CMI Valley's inhome daycare providers and the families they serve and the Boost program. Um, so Boost supports low to moderate income family child care providers in strengthening and growing their business. We do that through personalized coaching. providers will work with experienced care specialists to build a customized business action plan that covers marketing, enrollment, finances, staffing, and more. We also give them free access to our childcare management system, which is a custom platform that handles all the administrative side of running an in-home daycare, which um and also gives them tools to improve the quality of care uh with lesson planning and whatnot. It's important to note that the graduates of the boost program will retain free access to this platform beyond the program year. So the result is that they maximize enrollment, increase revenue, create local jobs, and expand access to quality care that helps families get back to work. Um, as you may know, homebased childcare providers in Semi Valley earn on average less than $18 an hour and many face financial instability. At the same time, over 60% of children under six lack access to licensed care spot, which leaves thousands of families, especially mothers and single parents, shift workers, struggling to find care, which limits their ability to fully participate in the workforce. Um, Boost is a proven model. Uh, so we're we're only able to launch the first year right now. Um, we're excited for that. But just for reference, over the course of the last two years, we've mentored over 500 family childcare providers, created 180 jobs, we've grown provider revenue by an average of 25%, and expanded childcare slots by 30 to 50% all within the first year. Um, so with council's approval, we'll be able to support eight new local microenterprise daycare

owners, create three teaching assistant jobs, and serve at least over a 100 CMI Valley families. Um, thank you again for supporting these small businesses that are so critical to our local economy. And I'm always happy to answer any questions, both as a representative, but first, I was as a parent who will forever be grateful for the teachers who cared for my little ones. Thank you. Thank you very much. Madame May, that was the last speaker. Thank you. Does staff desire to respond to any comments or issues raised? No comments.

Thank you. Are there any further comments or questions from the city council members? Seeing none, this hearing is now closed. I will now entertain a motion. Madame Mayor, I move to adopt the CDBG advisory committee funding recommendations. Make the final determination on of projects and programs to be funded in fiscal year fiscal year 2026 27. authorizes submission of the fiscal year 2627 action plan to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and authorizes city manager to finalize and execute grant agreements and related documents in connection with the fiscal year 2627 CDBG grant action plan.

Second. Thank you. We have a first and second roll call, please. Council member Ayala, yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge, yes. Mayor Pro Tim Litster, yes. Mayor Kavanaaugh. Yes. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We may now proceed to the next item. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item seven, the consent calendar. And there are no resolutions for your consideration this evening. Council member Litster, excuse me, Mayor Prom Litster, I move passage of uh consent items 1 through three. Second. Call for the vote. Council member Ayella, yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge. Yes. Mayor Prom Litster. Yes. Mayor Kavanagh.

Yes. The motion passes unanimously.

City Council. Next on the agenda is item 8A. Adopt a joint resolution approving the memorandum of understanding with the Semi Valley Engineers Association. The reading of the resolution is as follows. Resolution number 2026-09 and WWD-304. A resolution, a joint resolution of the city council of the city of Semi Valley and the board of directors of Ventur County Waterworks District number eight adopting the memorandum of understanding between the city of Semi Valley and the Semi Valley Engineers Association and assistant city manager Luis Scarbe and senior human resources analyst Shannon Nash are here to present this item. Good evening, mayor, city council members. This is the first year the standalone labor agreement for the engineers group which encompasses 20 active employees plus another three vacant positions. There are eight job classifications within this unit, three of which are not actively utilized at this time. The term of this agreement is approximately 38 months from April 6th of this year through June 30th, 2029. The CE flex benefit for the 2026 plan year remains the same and is then increased to 246 per month for the 27 and 28 plan years with an additional increase to 2575 per month in the 2029 plan year. The opt out amount remains the same.

Year 1 adjustments include a onetime payment of $2,639 plus a 3% salary range adjustment that is also applied to employees. The first phase of range adjustments towards market median will be made effective December 28th of 2026. In year two, the second market median adjustment will be made, followed by an additional 3% adjustment to salary ranges and employee pay with the bottom 5% of all salary ranges being eliminated at that time. In year three, the salary ranges will again be adjusted to achieve market median under the compensation study and then increased by 3% which will also be applied to employee pay. The three-year cost of the implementation is expected is estimated at $1.1 million with approximately $200,000 for year 1 costs being absorbed by staffing vacancies. The costs for years two and three will be included in future budgets. At this time, staff recommends the city council adopt joint resolution number 20269 and WWD-304 to approve theou with the semi valley engineers association. That concludes staff's presentation. We're available for questions.

Any questions for staff? Seeing none, may Oh, mayor proter. No, I was just going to make the motionless. Thank you. I move to adopt joint resolution number 20269 and resolution number WWD304 to approve the memorandum of understanding with employees represented by the Seami Valley Engineers Association. Second. First and second. Call for the vote, please. Council member Ayala, yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge, yes. Mayor Prom Litster, yes. Mayor Kavanaaugh,

yes. The motion passes unanimously. Thank you, madame mayor and members of the city council. Next on the agenda is item 9A, citywide compensation study consultant report, and deputy human resources director Jennifer Gutierrez is here to present this item. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. On June 10th, 20125, the city council held an off-site goal setting retreat during which staff presented compensation data for sample positions to indicate overall salary competitiveness. The data showed that the city's compensation falls below market rates, making it challenging to recruit and retain candidates across departments, including public safety. At the conclusion of the retreat, the city council set nine focus area goals, including ensure competitive compensation and succession planning for the police department and city staff. To determine the city's compensation disparity, funding was included in the fisc year 2526 annual budget to conduct a citywide compensation study. Staff engaged Public Pay LLC, formerly Ralph Anderson and Associates, which conducted the city's 2017 classification and compensation study. I want to point out a correction to the financial impact section of the staff report. Uh since both of the general unit and engineers groups already have agreements to move their positions to the median, the subtotal at the bottom of page five

should have also been applied to the charts on page six for the 2.5% and 5% below the median to ensure a fully accurate grand total for each. That's a lot in one paragraph. Uh, with that, I will turn it over to Doug Johnson of Public Pay to present the study's results.

All right. Good evening. I have a short presentation here to go through. Great. Okay. So, um, I'll just go through this quickly and then entertain questions at the end. I think a good starting point is to ask why these compensation surveys are done. Our firm does these kinds of compensation surveys for city government, county government, uh, special districts, public agencies throughout California and the western United States. The main objective in doing a survey is to provide data so that you can make an informed decision and be very strategic about where you position your compensation plan relative to peer organizations. This is an assessment of what other agencies are paying and it kind of helps you in terms of being able to provide a framework uh so that you can make a decision that's not made in a vacuum using a dart board using dice etc. There's the additional uh recognition that in California in particular that any kind of disputes with respect to data salary decisions and so forth in a meet and confer process that will be something that goes to factf finding or some other adjudication process and those processes are very data driven. So there again that's why we do surveys is to be able to obtain this information so that you can have that information. The end objective is that you want to optimize your ability to recruit and retain employees because employees are the service providers for this organization. And so in order to be able to provide good community services, you need an adequate workforce uh to do that. What you are doing is normal business for an organization and it it is done in private organizations. The difference is here it's transparent. There's data that's transparent. It's a public process. in a private company. They do their own internal compensation studies and it's not something that any of us learn about, but they do the same kind of datadriven analysis to position their

compensation plans that you do. The survey agencies that we utilize are ones that have been historically used by the city. You can see that this particular chart breaks down the agency. We show population as just kind of a a easy kind of size indicator. We show driving distance. Uh we also show the county that these cities are in and then those columns show the different employee groups. So we have SEIU, SVEA, management, police management association, POA. So those entities, those employee groups will have different groups of agencies that they survey. And then we also have some supplemental data that we collected in this survey for the sanitation wastewater jobs and for the transit jobs because particularly for transit there wasn't enough data in these agencies to provide those transit uh data for those transit operations types of jobs. In terms of how we utilize this data, there is an additional step. Essentially the data that we're collecting is driving the whole compensation structure. You have equity relationships between managers and analysts and professionals and technicians. You have vertical uh compaction salary uh relationships between a lead worker, a supervisor, a manager, a director. So all that data needs to be utilized as a foundation on top of all the unique job classifications or job titles that the city has. So, we're essentially balancing the internal relationships, the internal organization structure, and that market data, bringing it into a new updated compensation plan. A key part of developing this compensation plan is where do you want to position yourself relative to the market agencies? For most public agencies, that's somewhere between the median and 75th percentile. So, median would be the 50th percentile. So, that would be a point in the data. That's the exact middle. If you position yourself there, half the agencies pay above that point, half below. If you position

yourself at the 75th percentile, and I have many clients that do that, only a quarter of the agencies pay more, and you're going to be positioning yourself above 75% of the agencies in the marketplace. What really drives this decision is what do you need to do to recruit and retain? What have you done historically? Is there a desire to maintain that practice? And also, there's a component in terms of how much does it cost? You can't set an objective to say we want to be at 75th percentile or 80th percentile and not have the funds in your budget to sustain that market position over time. So that's a key part of doing that analysis and then translating that into cost so you can then make a policy decision with respect to how you best position the compensation plan for the city. In terms of the process, the great thing about working in a environment where there's public agencies, all of the data we're uh collecting is current, it's accessible, it's public information. These agencies all have memorandums of understanding, salary schedules, benefit summaries, um job descriptions, organization charts, budgets, position allocations. So, they have all that information online. Part of our process is we have to analyze the job here, not just by title, but what is the job? What is a maintenance worker? What is an accountant? What is a planner in Seami Valley? And what is that comparable job in all the survey agencies? And then we're essentially grabbing the maximum of the pay range. That's the control point. Comparing max to max for all these agencies. We're looking at cash benefits, things like longevity pay, education incentives, deferred compensation, excess contributions towards retirement. Those are all considered kind of cash components. And then we're also looking at insurance benefits. So the employer cost for health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance. So the the computations that I'm going to show you in terms of market position factor in all those things on the right. We're not just looking at base salary. We're looking at base salary, cash benefits, and insurance benefits. So this is a chart that gives you a

distribution. So if we take all the survey jobs, I forget what the number of survey jobs is, but it's somewhere around 80 85 or 90 or so. And if we just look at them in terms of what is their market deviation to median, uh if we look in the middle, our objective would be for most of the the bars to be near the middle of that chart. So if we just kind of start at the middle, just estimating here, there's 24 jobs, mostly the green and yellow, it looks like all green and yellow, which would be management and SEIU, that are uh job titles that were from zero to 5% below median. And then going left we have uh looks like around 22 23 job titles uh that are 5 to 10% below. And then the next bar over 10 to 15% below looks like we have around 14 job titles. 15 to 20% below median is 15. And then more than 20% looks like it's 16. And again those color variations are broken basically breaking those job titles down into the different employee groups. You have some job classifications that are slightly above market. So it looks like there's around 11 that are within plus or minus 5% of median and then you have looks like five that are more than five to 10 percent above and then two that are 10 to 15% above. It's not uncommon to have a little bit of distribution on the wings in terms of having some jobs that are maybe ahead of market or below. An additional consideration is you may have an internal salary structure. Um, I talked earlier about that horizontal uh relationship in terms of your internal classification structure that may override the market data by a little bit. If we have five data points for your directors, but you have a desire for the directors to be in a common range, then we're going to average or utilize that data um in aggregate and that's going to change a little bit compared to what this raw data shows. This chart shows the median deviation and ideally if you want to be at median you'd have as many of those bars in that shaded area pretty close tightly clustered against the median of market.

We did look at other options. We looked at 5% below median and we looked at two and a half% below median. So if you were to look at those options, everything kind of shifts a little bit to the right if we're changing our target uh by reducing it by five or two and a half percent. for the median option. If we translate that into uh adjustments or kind of anchoring benchmarks for all your job titles and then factor on top of that all the employees, this gives you the number of employees in terms of what the real results are in terms of adjustments. So 87 employees would receive no adjustment as part of this. Essentially the analysis has determined that the salary range that they have is comparable to market. It's at median already, maybe even slightly above. So no change is necessary. 105 employees that would have zero to 5% 184 5 to 10% then 75 22 and 20 so we have majority of increases are in the in that zero to to 10% range I think if we average this whole thing out it's around 9%. And again we did run two more options a 5% below median and two and a half% below median. So implementation is how do we translate this into slip street into an effective date and your budget process and this is where you have some options in terms of the mechanism by which you do this. So what you're trying to balance is if your objective is to be at median you most organizations can't do that all at once. So if you were to try and do that and say effective this date we're going to do it all at once most agencies that's an insurmountable number. So what you try and do is you you bite off as much of that as you feel comfortable your budget can and then what happens is you're placing employees in the range and their normal range progression increases will occur over time. So if you look at the upper right there if I have a 10% range adjustment for a job. One option would be I could just laterally move that employee over into the new range. And what you can see is

in the old range they were topped out. In the new range they now have room for range progression. And we can implement that day one and then just let your normal increases the range increases which are an assessment of performance and are given on anniversary dates and then the employee would over time get back to being at the range maximum. So that would be the cheapest way of implementing year one. If we did full implementation as I said before that would do the 10% immediately and you would do that for all employees in that analysis. We also came up with an option that basically split that difference. So instead of starting at that whatever that lowest cost is, we're going to go halfway between which in this example would be a 5% increase. So then you're basically doing 5% year one and then the remaining 5% would be in future uh increases in terms of range progression increases. This implementation methodology um is very mechanical and so we ran a bunch of spreadsheets and did some data analysis. Um, it's very similar to the kinds of things you might have in an agreement if you're bargaining an agreement for SEIU or for the engineers bargaining group. The mechanics might be a little bit different in terms of the process, but the concept is the same. You're not doing it all at once. You're spreading it essentially over a multi-year time period about three years for this. So, if you figure you're biting off 50% of it year one, within two or three years after that, most employees will get back to where they were in terms of range placement. So this is very consistent with how you've uh done your your collective bargaining agreements for other groups um that were part of data that was derived from this study. So here's the cost. This is looking at median and remember that full cost if you were to do everything and this is broken down by bargaining group be $3.785 million to do the full cost and that is the full burden moving forward. It's only a question of do you get there within two, three, four, five years. You have control over that. The 50% difference cost, that's doing the gap

between the two. You can see the nearest dollar cost is 880,000. So that would be the cheapest cost year one, but you're essentially going to just end up going all the way to that 3.7. It just will take a longer period of time. So the idea of 50% option is to get there a little bit quicker so that it doesn't take you six or seven years to get there. That you're biting off half of it. And then most employees, as I said, will get the remainder of that adjustment within two or three years. An employee that's significantly off market, if they were like 20 or 25% off market, um it might take a little bit longer, but for average employees, it's going to be within two or three years after implementation. If you start with that 50%. And then we did run numbers. If we do two and a half% below median, those numbers come down. That long-term number comes down. the nearest dollar number doesn't change much because that's kind of rounding into a range and the range minimums provide a pretty big gap in terms of being able to round into. So you don't see as much of a change in that nearest dollar, but you can see the progression up to uh full cost is lower and then we oops and we did a 5% below median. The reason for doing the two and a half and the five is if you can't find a way to be able to adjust or look for uh paying for that 3.785 in your budget looking forward. So if you're making a commitment today, we know we can do that 50%. We're confident we can do range progression increases that basically get us to that 3.785 within the next two, three, four years. If your budget analysis says that that's doable, and I don't speak for you on that, um then this option meets your objective in terms of wanting to be at median, it's consistent with what's been done with two of your bargaining groups, um and allows for um an ease in terms of um kind of slip streaming it into your budget process. If a year or two from now something happens that causes a change, you always have the ability to do some adjustments or slowdowns if uh forecasts and those things uh change.

So just in summary, the results of the survey show that you have uh an average 9% deviation. Most of that is going to be for unrepresented in terms of a greater differential. Not uncommon because when you have bargaining groups, you have an obligation to bargain. You have cycles of two, three, fouryear contracts. And so there's a regular attention. Unrepresented often gets a little bit off to the side. And don't want to say you're inattentive to it, but most organizations that's kind of the last group that they would make adjustments to. your insurance benefits keep you a lot more competitive compared to market. That's why we made sure that we captured that insurance benefit in this analysis because you do actually provide a higher benefit in terms of employer cost compared to the market agencies. Um and then you know really in the end you're basically coming up with this new compensation plan as what's presented in the staff report that uses uses that underlying median market data and then gives you a new updated compensation plan. And with that I'll take any questions. There any questions from the D? Council member Rhodess.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. In the analysis of the different um groups and using the different cities that were on that on that chart, um were any of the um uh titles, positions um compared to outside contracted? An example I would have is for the title of city attorney in our city um we have a contracted city attorney. Would any of those other um comparisons be used? No. So we're not looking at contract positions. They have to be a city employee or any agency employee on their payroll. That type of job, not contract jobs.

Excellent. Thank you. Mayor Roim Litster. Thank you, Doug. appreciate you're staying here much longer than probably you wanted. Appreciate you being here all evening. Um I just want to make sure that we are being or we are treating our different um our our different employment entities um uh equally. And so you've referenced that a couple times, but I just want to be sure I know that that the SEIU um and and the engineers bargained in good faith to try to get to this point. Um I want to be sure that we're doing literally the same thing for both. Can you maybe elaborate more on how how that works?

So I think with SEIU and the engineers uh employee group, they bargain the process by which you give colas and extra equity adjustments and they schedule that according to their interests. So they can accelerate those that are further behind market. They can target whatever job classifications they want to get an increase in year one of the contract, year two, year three. So that's a very customized, very deliberate exchange or or input process, I guess, from the labor representatives. What we're doing is very similar to that. It's just more math. So we're not going to each department or each employee and getting their opinion on as to whether or not we should accelerate some jobs over others. There's no need to do that because this is a management implementation, not a collective bargaining process. But the concept is the same. We're essentially doing a three-year implementation more or less very similar to what's being done in the collective bargaining agreements.

Thank you. And if I can just add, we will have to meet and confer with the POA and the PMA because they are represented. Got it. Understood. Any other questions? No. Thank you very much for the presentation. Do we have any discussion or for a motion? I'm prepared to make a motion if Thank you, Council Member Judge.

Thank you. I move to direct staff to implement salary adjustments to align salary ranges with the market median and adjust employee salaries using the 50% difference method. Effective the pay period beginning as soon as administratively possible for unrepresented management and confidential management and as soon as administratively possible following a meet and confer process with both the police managers association and the police officers association. Second. We have a motion and a second. Call for the vote, please. Council member Ayella, yes. Council member Rhodess, yes. Council member Judge, yes. Mayor Prom Litster, yes. Mayor Kavanaaugh, yes. The motion passes unanimously. Thank

Thank you. I can tell you staff will be very happy with this action tonight. So, thank you. Thank you,

Madam Mayor, members of the city council. Next on the agenda is item 9B, approval of code of ethics and conduct for elected officials and members of appointed boards, commissions, and committees. And deputy city manager Heather Sages is here to present this item. Thank you, Lucy. I don't have a presentation, so if you don't mind clearing the screen, just pushing exit here. That guy. All right, there we go. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. While tonight's item is routine, it does serve as an important reaffirmation of the city's code of ethics and conduct for elected officials and members of appointed boards, commissions, and committees. The code is intentionally values-based. It's not punitive in nature, but instead serves to guide behavior, support ethical decision-making, and reinforce public trust. It establishes the principles that shape how public officials and appointed members carry out their roles in service to the public. These include expectations relating to acting in public interest, complying with the law, respectful conduct, transparency, decision-making on based on merit. It also addresses key areas such as conflict of interest, gift and favors, the handling of confidential information, the appropriate use of public resources, and maintaining independence, accountability, and a professional working environment. The code has been in place since 2002 and was recently reviewed in 2023. Tonight's item is part of the city's regular review cycle and keeps us aligned with our bianual review process while also acknowledging recent updates at the state level. The city council has been proactive in this area and has

traditionally gone beyond state requirements by extending AB1234 ethics training to appointed members of our boards, commissions, and committees as a part of their appointment to volunteer service. This helps ensure a consistent standard of ethical conduct across elected and appointed officials. Before turning to the specific action tonight, I want to briefly acknowledge recent updates to AB1234 ethics training requirements at the state level which were effective in 2026. These updates expand applicability to additional roles including department heads and depart and deputy directors. reaffirm the requirement of 2 hours of ethical training every 2 years and introduce new fiscal and financial governance training requirements with compliance required by January 1st, 2027. Staff is addressing these requirements through administrative processes, training programs, and internal track tracking and not through the changes to the code of ethics document itself. So, I want to be clear that these broader changes are not focus are not the focus of tonight's item. Tonight's action is focused specifically on the city council and members of our boards, committees, and commissions. So, while these updates are important, they're operational in nature and separate from the action before you this evening. In terms of the code of ethics itself, there are no substantial changes being proposed. City staff does recommend one clarification. And please note that this does not appear as a track change in your staff report as attachment C. So I will read it to you. The change that should have appeared was on page 4, section 17 titled implementation. It updates the language to clarify that the code will be reviewed on a bianual

basis rather than referencing a specific month. In previous documents, it stated in November of evennumbered years. This adjustment aligns the document with current practice while also providing flexibility moving forward. Staff recommends that the city council reaffirm the existing code of ethics and conduct with the minor clarification noted. Thank you. Any questions from council? motion. Oh, Mayor Prodim Litzer, happy to make the motion, but just to clarify. So, what you're saying that what we have in our um in our packet is basically how we want it to look right now. Correct.

Correct. And so, the motion probably should state with item 17 amended. Is that correct? As as amended. Um I believe that or implementation. Is that is that how the amend amendment should read? So, correct. Okay. We can ask question. I'm sorry. Um, okay. I just wanted to clarify that and I mean if there's no discussion, happy to make that motion with that clarification. Um, so I move to reaffirm the city of Semi Valley code of ethics and conduct for elected officials and members of appointed boards, commissions, and committees, including with the included outline modification for section 17. Second. We have a motion and a second. Roll call, please. Council member Ayella.

Yes. Council member Rhodess. Yes. Council member Judge. Yes. Mayor Pro Tim Listister. Yes. Mayor Kavanagh. Yes. The motion passes unanimously. Where's my script? Madame Mayor and members of the city council. Next on the agenda is item 10A, city council member reports. Council member Ayala.

Thank you. On Tuesday, April 7th, I attended the Youth Council Committee meeting. They talked about what they're mentioning tonight, which was the uh the application process that it'll be hours for them to fill those 24 spots. On Thursday, April 9th, I attended the neighborhood council meeting where we had a presentation by city staff on the hazardous waste and recycling programs and everyone really enjoyed it because they all found out new information. So, lots of good stuff on the website for that. Friday, April 10th, I attended the Fourth of July planning meeting. And if you go to cme2250.com, that provides a summary of everything that is happening on July 3rd and 4th here in the city to celebrate our 250th anniversary of the country. I also on that same day uh attended the opening of Freyo and Phto, which is the new frozen yogurt. Plus, they sell dog supplies. That's where the phto comes in up in Wood Ranch. And it was completely packed. It was on a Friday. Council member Rhodess was was there with me. I had to go back later that evening because the line was too long. But what I have found is that she had to close for the next couple of days, few days, because they ran out of all of the frozen yogurt. That's how many people were actually there over those first couple days. So, good for her. It's a good problem to have, I'm sure. The Saturday, April 11th, I attended the Youth Council talent show. Lots of great uh talent here in the city. I know Mayor Prom Litzer will talk more about that because she had a much more significant

role in that event than I did. I just was an attendee. On Monday, April 13th, I attended the Council on Aging uh committee meeting. Uh important very important events that they are working hard to put on, which are the concerts and all of the money from those musical concerts are going to the Meals on Wheels program. So, make sure you go to the website to be able to buy your tickets for those concerts coming up. Wednesday, April 15th, I attended the Youth Employment Services Committee meeting. They are we've decided or they decided to put on a summer program specifically for businesses in the community to give them information about the hiring process for students. And so when the fall comes around, they know how to do permits and all of those things so that they are ready to go and hire more students in their businesses. I also attended the that same day uh the training uh here at city hall in regards to the retail academy. I continued to uh let the city manager know that it was a great uh training. I learned so much when um in that in that session. Thursday the 16th, I attended the dispatcher of the year awards. I know that mayor, I'm sorry, council member Rhodess will talk more about that because his Rotary Club did put that on. But again, congratulations to Jordan Cook who was our representative there. Also to Smoking Mike's Barbecue who put on the dinner on Friday the 17th. Um I don't often talk about that. I'm in the Seami Valley leadership class, but I but this one was important because on Friday, this session, it was all about our schools. And so we got to visit all of the different schools here in Semir or or most of them. But I just want to do a few shoutouts to highlight uh three of what our schools are doing and which

we got to experience. We were able to um experience the culinary class at Royal High School where they actually made the lunch for us uh from everything from the sauces to the salad dressing besides salad dressing but everything else they made. They did a great job. We went to Sinaloa. Their jazz band actually played for us which was great. And we went to Santa Sue and they are putting about to start Pippen and so they did an act from Pippen to be able to showcase what they're doing. So if anyone to support our schools um Santa Susanna go to their their school website and buy your tickets to go see Pippen that those students do an amazing job. On Saturday the 18th, I attended a junior Olympics along with Mayor Prom Litster and we did the proclamation for those uh those athletes. Um and that evening I then went to the Kowanas Country Music Festival and volunteered uh there for about four hours. And that is the end of my report.

Thank you, Council Member Rhodess.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. on um Wednesday, April 8th, I traveled downtown for the first of uh Skagg meetings. This is the executive uh meeting. We nominated new officers and and we allocated $9.6 million to Metro for the FIFA World Cup transportation initiatives. The next day on the 9th, we had two SKAG meetings. the joint policy committee meeting, we discussed development priorities and processes for connect SoCal 2025. And during this meeting, members heard updates on data inputs for the next plan cycle, initial analysis points to key shifts in regional growth, including slower population increases driven by aging demographics, lower birth rates, and reduced immigration. These trends will have implications for travel patterns, economic activity, and transportation funding. uh the stage will work uh the stage of work will provide critical context for upcoming policy and strategy updates and we also reviewed the state of the region report which I asked uh a link to be sent to all the council members. Um, also that day we had the regional council meeting where we received reports on two bills sponsored by SKAG SB1087 AB 2002 and we got a preview of the annual conference that'll be coming up in May. Um, I rushed back to this part of the world and attended the More Park Arts Gallery ribbon cutting and now they finally have a space where they can uh display their artwork at the college. On April 10th, I attended the Seami Chamber breakfast in the morning. I attended the ribbon cutting at Fro Yo and Phto. And uh I gratuitously took some pictures with some dog owners out front because we couldn't even get near the front

door. It was that packed. Um and I I did not go back, but now I understand that's probably a good idea because they ran out. So I'll I'll have to make a visit over there. On April 13th, I flew to Sacramento, but it was not see me business. On April 15th, uh attended the arts commission meeting uh on tax day. Luckily, we're already filed, so good. And uh Mayor Projam Listster will have more to say on the I'm sure on that meeting. On April 16th, um I attended the second day of the retail academy and uh in agreement. The second day, though it was different than the first, was also fantastic and u very insightful. And I'm glad that we uh have gone through the effort internally to um get that um education and preparation for um going to the conference. Um also on the 16th uh yes the Rotary Club of Semi Valley um uh was proud to work with Semi Valley um PD and come up with the dispatcher of the year event uh where we celebrated Jordan Cook. uh the dispatchers uh each year a different entity is responsible for um putting on the dispatcher of the year event and um and it's been it's been neglected a little bit and they came to us and said, "Hey, can you help make this more of an event?" And uh well, we just set the bar really really high for the next organization and um I think that it might have um caused more work because I think they're probably going to come back to us and say, "Why don't we just do it every time?" Um and then on April 17th, um uh Heather Sumagisai and I had an interview with the Ventura County Star where uh we

talked about short-term rentals and Heather made sure that I didn't get the city in trouble. So, and that ends my report. Thank you, Council Member Judge.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. On um Wednesday, April 8th, I too attended the Skagg EAC meeting downtown. Earlier that day though, I did attend a Microsoft Teams meeting with the Ventura County Transportation Committee, basically uh um finalizing our executive director's performance evaluation, which good news is we kept him. He's doing a great job. So, good luck. Um BCTC is being wellrun. On April 9th, I too attended the Skag meetings along with council member Rhodess and uh he already talked about those so I won't go into detail on them. We did have a special transportation committee meeting mostly talking about movement and stuff during the Olympics and the upcoming FIFA or the FIFA soccer games. So that was basically what we we were we were focusing on. On Friday, April 10th, I too attended chamber breakfast and on Saturday, April 11th, uh this is something that's not city business, but I wanted to mention it anyways. We had at the Elks Lodge, we have celebrations of life. You know, unfortunately, people pass away every year and we have these celebrations. On Saturday's event, though, was one I've never seen before at our lodge. We had almost almost 400 people show up for the celebration of life for Robert Johnson, a former exalted ruler there at the Elks lodge who passed away. Um, it was amazing the outpouring of joy and goodwill and brotherhood. It was awesome. And if you're not an elk, you should think about it. Um, Monday, uh, April 13th, I too attended the Council on Aging meeting and council member Alec covered that pretty well. On Wednesday, April 15th, the retail academy was an eye openener. I mean, an eye openener. Seriously. I learned that retail wasn't dead, that they are coming back and we're trying to get our city back on track to have more places for you to shop, spend your money here in Seami Valley. Thursday, April 16th, I attended the dispatcher of the year awards. It was great. Rotary Club did a great job. Um, uh, I look forward to, I mean, I look forward to comparing it to whoever comes next because it was great, great event. And it was amazing because it's not just our dispatcher that was

honored. It was one from every agency throughout the county. And that's the end of my report. Thank you. Excuse me, Mayor Pro Tim Litz, sir.

Thank you. Um I'll start with actually with um Thursday, April 9th, I attended the SCAG joint policy committee um which has been discussed. Appreciated that. Um I actually tra uh Friday, April the 10th, traveled through the night so I could be back Saturday morning to catch a flight so I would not miss our our youth talent show. Um, I would thank you Ryan for inviting me to be a judge and I want to commend Susie Jeffs and Patrick Rose who are my fellow judges. Um, we Yes, we had that privilege of judging our over what 30 acts or so and just some outstanding outstanding talent. Everything from singing to dancing to um instrumental work to all sorts of things to celebrate. Um but I want to commend the youth council for their efforts raising um honoring and recognizing with monetary awards. Um yes we as judges got to select our who we thought were deserving but as did the audience and it was just really well done and just huge effort by our youth to make that successful. So I commend all involved. Um going into the following week on Wednesday, April the 15th, as was mentioned, I chair the Semi Valley Arts Commission meeting. Um we received a budget. We approved uh the the filed budget for the fiscal year ending and then the projected operating budget for fiscal year 2627 which will be coming to the council. And so we passed that as well. They also um had a um we discussed a um we discussed a I should say the operating plan for fiscal year 2627 which was a work of art. I'm anyway it will also be coming to the council and um it was beautifully done but it talks about all of the plans and desires for the coming year and I think I I sense

the commission was so excited that they have just they are desirous to have a booth at the street fair and talk about the different um cultural activities and opportunities taking place in semi valley and also solicit uh conversations about maybe where we should be going. And so it was a very we have a very involved arts commission at the moment. And on Thursday, April the 16th, um I too attended the retail academy. It really was very instructive. The materials they gave us very good. Um and as what council member um Jud Mike Judge mentioned, one of my takeaways was definitely that retail is not disappearing, just changing and we need to really um strategize how to be effective in bringing that to our city. And so and and there's a bigger role for the city to be playing and anyway, lots of strategizing on how we're going to go forward in in making good things happen in that regard. Also on that date, I um uh attended uh Ventur County Association of Government's admin committee meeting. Also met with city manager Samantha Arbrbrite to discuss issues of concern. Um Friday, April 17th, um I am not part I I have the fun of being part of the steering committee for the semal leadership and I which means I bop in occasionally to what's going on. And I will say I was going to reference something you didn't even mention that I was so impressed. I went to Semi Valley High School and viewed their beautiful new food distribution cafeteria that they have there and their wonderful plan where they've built that portion of it. And then now you see this big cavernous dirt area that concrete will be starting in about two weeks which will become their new fine arts uh building which is being built there and and um it's just going to be a beautiful building and um so glad to see their bond funds going

towards something so positive for Seami High School. Um Saturday, April the 18th, thank you council member Ayala for making sure there was a proclamation. It was delightful to share read that back and forth together and he didn't he was very modest but did not brag but his daughter took fifth place in the softball throw. So I will mention it for you so you don't have to look like the bragging father. So um also on that date I too uh attended Roundup's country music festival. Hats off to the Kuanas for putting that together. That's a lot of work, but a great community event and fun to be part and the funds that were raised go towards so many projects. Great to be a volunteer at that event. Um, Sunday, April the 19th, uh, Mayor Kavanaaugh invit was not available, invited me to take her place at the car show that was held at Royal High School and to be a judge for the mayor's award. I felt supremely unqualified to be that judge and I was honest with them. However, it was a delight going around and seeing all these beautiful ve beautiful cars that were here uh that were on display and and finding out the stories behind them. It was so delightful. I had to call my husband. They said, "You do not want to miss this and grandson and they just we had a great time." Um but my kudos to them to what's going on there to raise funds for students there. Um, and did just so you know, I selected a 1964 Plymouth Valiant as my selection and it was and it was unassuming and but it was restored just the perfectly to the original with all original parts and anyway it was lovely. Um, so um thank you for letting me to do that. Today before we um we had our close session I did attend a League of Cities uh veterans legislation forum because I do serve on a veterans committee. I just wanted to I just

wanted to understand better some of the legislation some of the things taking place. I there was so much conversation about veterans today during public comment which I was grateful for. I just wanted to share some of the things I learned in quickly in that in that roundt discussion as far as legislation that's taking place. One of the things that has passed and is going through are is um tax relief for military or in process that she's they're working I'm sorry it was assemblywoman Polar Shaveo who spoke but we're working on tax relief for military pensions um because basically it's awfully expensive in California and if there's some tax relief that maybe when they they when they retire from the military will stay in California and that was some of the ideas what did pass that that she was part of the effort was to stop the um claim sharks. I was not aware that veterans when they're trying to get their their benefits often are approached by a group. They call them claim sharks, but basically to help them get their veterans as opposed to using the full the free resources of of county veteran service officers. And so it was it's legislation that's that's trying to um make um raise the the these kind these CVSOs b be much more accessible maybe more funding for them but just and to and basically to um get rid of claim shark access to veterans. Um AB2054 is is going making the rounds which is supporting military families with paid leave for things that are not currently counted like training um or even sometimes domestic deployment for like for fires etc. And so there would love the city support on some of this legislation which might be worthy of looking at um and I think certainly worthwhile. Were you going to say

we'll have to look at the ledge platform? Um we've we've modified it to allow for some um veterans causes and veterans issues. Um but depending upon what the ledge platform says, we may have to bring it back to council, but that sounds like a good Okay. Good one. I appreciate that. And AB 2022 is talking about exempting property tax for disabled vets based Anyway. So anyway, some of the things to look at, but it was it was very instructive and so I um appreciated that to be able to attend that. I will add that tomorrow is my 38th wedding anniversary. I told my husband, you don't you dare show up with flowers tonight.

And and he said he would not do that if I promised if basically I acknowledged it publicly that it was taking place and that he negotiated that when we hit our 40th anniversary in two years, he said I will be there. So I just letting you know that may happen. So anyway, I So I'm acknowledging publicly that I've been married 38 years and my anniversary is tomorrow. So and with that I end my my report. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tim, congratulations on your wedding anniversary tomorrow to you and Greg.

All right. Um, on Thursday, April 9th, uh, Mayor Pro Tim Litzer and I had an ad hoc, uh, call regarding our filming, uh, committee, and I will be getting with the, uh, city manager probably sometime this week to discuss what to follow up and, uh, discuss where our next steps are. On Friday, April 10th, city manager Argite and I met with our county supervisor just to discuss future endeavors between the two of us. on Saturday, April 11th. This was great. I had the pleasure of being a judge for the regional chamber of commerce civics B. So, it's for eighth graders and um Mr. Brian Dennard from Royal High School and Michael Court from Jennis Parvin's office and I were the three judges. Um Anthony Angelini MCed the event, did a great job and it was awesome. We had these 10 young eighth graders that had qualified to come to this bee and they have three rounds. First round is 10 questions, second round is 10 questions and then they had essays where the judges, myself and the other two uh read the essays and then were able to ask them questions. But what was funny is during the the two 10 question uh sessions, you're allowed to the uh spectators were also allowed to answer the questions. Yeah, that wasn't very good. I got I got 11 out of 20 and I guessed on a couple of those. Now, Mr. Dennard and M. Mike Court, neither one of them would do it. Mr. Dennard said, "I don't want to look bad." But it was a lot of fun. Congratulations to the three finalists. The finalists will go to the state competition which we are hosting at the Ronald Reagan Library in June, I believe it is. So, I'll follow up with that. But, it was a great opportunity. We had students from uh we had quite a few from Hillside, one from Valley View, then we had three or four from uh high or middle schools outside of Seami Valley. So, it was very

very informative. It was and it was a lot of fun. Um oh, and also with Mr. Dennard, I will get with you on item 10B. I'll bring something up on then. Um let's see. Then I had the pleasure of spending four days with 240 high schoolers from Thursday, April 16th to yesterday. Um, I was exhausted when I got home, but it's always a great thing. It's it's a Rotary event that we do a leadership camp for the high schoolers. And I know I went there as a Rotarian, but one of the counselors there or one of the instructors also told my 30 group of people, "Oh, by the way, one of your counselors, one of your counselors is a mayor." And there were five of us and they all turned around and looked at the guy sitting next to me. I went, "Oh, thanks." So I didn't tell we didn't, none of us said anything until the next class when it was dealing with judging on personalities and I got a driver. I'm a driver. Yeah. And so they I said, "Now, do you know who the mayor is?" They all started laughing. But it was a lot of fun. But talking about running into people where you don't expect them, as I'm walking to the one of the classes, which is public speaking with my team, I look up and I see Joseph and Katie from See Me Filmfest up visiting our location because they have a new business or new uh place called See Vibe. And what we do at Ria has some instances that they may want to incorporate into CMI Vibe. But I'm up in the middle of Ohio nowhere and I you run into people, you know, Joseph was like, "Who are you?" You know, for a second, out of place, but it was a great event. Um, that was my 24th year doing that. And as long as I can still walk and talk, I'll probably keep doing it. It's a lot of fun. So, that's the end of my report. And item 10B, do we have anything for future agendas? I do, but if somebody else does.

I actually I I thought it was very fun to get this report that we all received. Um I actually would love maybe because I we haven't discussed this item really at at all, but I thought it might be nice to have um maybe con consider allowing people to basically on our website um indicate they they have desires for tra lighting tra and I think that would just be a relatively easy addition. obviously has to be studied etc. But I don't know. Is that appropriate? Is that Yes, I think we should. It would be nice to have a an update really on our lighting lighting and maybe that maybe that's where we start. So

well and we go to shows too to be honest where we see the the solar lighting options etc. And I I'm not looking for more work for our staff, but I do think there is maybe some savings. And well, and one of the things that um that Aman had suggested was, you know, converting them to LED and and we did that. Yes. So we took over the lights from Edison. We did that process already, but um certainly we can add a section to the form online about, you know, identifying kind of dark areas of the of the city. Ask the county to put lights on their streets. Yeah, some of the areas it looks like that were identified are county area, but and and maybe that's what we need, Mike, is correspondence with the county. Okay.

All right. One of the items that I wanted to bring up the possibility of, and Mike, you can be a lot of help on this one. So I was uh approached by uh Brian Dennard with um Royal High but also with Rancho Seami about doing a possible walk walkable trail from Mayfair Park up to the semi town center especially with the um proposed development and such that's going to be happening. I guess there was some research done that SCAg might have the money to to assist with um the proposal and the actual building of it. That would come up probably come under the go human campaign.

Okay. I they were somebody was saying and they go you've got Mike Judge right there. This might be a good opportunity to go for that. But it would I guess there used to be a natural type of walkway up there. But Mayfair Park and it would just be between Calrans uh the city of Semi Valley and Ranchosi Park District Parks or excuse me properties but um it seems to be kind of a positive idea. I'd just like to look into that. Is anyone that's fine and if people aren't familiar that's the dinosaur park that's on the on the south side of the freeway and it's it's a it's there's a culvert or something that would take you underneath the freeway to get up there. That right is what she's talking about. I think I just want to confirm that it's not like a drainage culvert or something like that.

It could be. I don't know. I I don't know. Um I don't for sure. That's what we would look at as part of the research. Yeah. Staff will look at that. That's the first thing. I believe it's referred to as a wild animal crossing. Well, it's not the Royal Sini, so we're good.

But it it's just an an idea to look at because once we start getting a lot more uh things going on up at the center at the town center, it would be a great idea. Okay. Thank you. Um, any other comments, questions? All right. Um, as I mentioned earlier, I I just wanted to ask everybody in our community to keep our military and service members in their hearts, their thoughts, their prayers if they pray. Um, there are and like one of our speakers, Miss Sanchez, said, it is uh military child family month. And I know I have friends who have are deployed whose children are at home. So, just kind of a little bit of an emotional side, but also um I would like to adjourn in memory of Detective Randy Hopper. He was a Toary County Sheriff's Office detective. So, we are adjourned.