City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, I'd like to call to order the August 12th, 2026 meeting of the Camarillo City Council, Camarillo Sanitary District, and the successor agency. Will the city clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Santangelo? Here. Vice Mayor Martinez-Bravo? Here. Council Member Kildee?

Here.

Council Member Trembley?

Here.

Mayor Tennyson?

Here. And if I could ask Ms. Santangelo to lead us in the pledge? Will the city attorney please read the closed session items?

Yes, thank you, Mayor and Council. We have three items on closed session this afternoon. We have Conference with Legal Counsel Existing Litigation, which is related to the OPV Coalition versus Fox Canyon. Second, we have Real Property Negotiations. related to property at 2222 Ventura Boulevard. And we have public employee performance evaluation city attorney. And if we have any reportable action, we'll make that report.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Are there any public comments?

No comments.

Hearing that, we will now recess to close session. Good evening, we will reconvene the August 12th, 2026 meeting of the Camarillo City Council, Camarillo Sanitary District and successor agency. Will the city clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Santangelo? Here. Vice Mayor Martinez-Bravo? Here. Councilmember Kildee? Here. Councilmember Trembley? Here. Mayor Tennyson?

Here. I guess that means we're all present. Okay. Vice Mayor Martinez-Bravo, would you lead us in the pledge?

Sure. Please stand. Put your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

Council are there any changes to the agenda? Hearing none we will move on to our presentation. Tonight, we are pleased to recognize the winners of our Camarillo 2050 Teen Video Contest and Community Photo Contest. These contests invited community members to share what they value about Camarillo and help bring our community's vision for the future to life through the general plan update process. Congratulations to Glenda Sandberg, winner of the community photo contest, and to Jacqueline Gutierrez, winner of the teen video contest. We thank you both for your creativity, civic participation, and meaningful contributions to this important community effort. The general plan update will continue to provide opportunities for residents, businesses, and community partners to participate and help shape Camarillo's future. We encourage everyone to stay engaged as the project moves forward. Before we present the certificates, we would like to take a moment to share the winning entries. First, we will display Jacqueline's winning video, followed by Glenda's winning photograph.

We are truly excited to showcase these winning entries. As Mayor Tennyson explained, we'll start with the winning entry from the teen video contest that was created by Jacqueline Gutierrez.

has continued to flourish and thrive. This unsuspecting town has a lot more to offer than what meets the eye. With glistening views and community connection, this little town of ours is a diamond in the rough. Do you want to know how you can tell a town is great? By its parks. Camarillo has about 15 different parks, including a 4.7 mile bike path that spans across Camarillo, connecting one side of the town to the other. These sanctuaries of nature are vital and well kept. The parks have amazing structures to play on and wide open ranges to roam. You and your family will enjoy spending time here. Next to one of these parks is our community center, where people connect with their fellow townsfolk. Camarillo dawns upon many centers like these, such as the nearby Boys and Girls Club, the Bob Kinley Community Park, an aquatic center, and two of my personal favorites, the Camarillo Library and the Channel Islands Art Center. The Camarillo Library is a spacious library for all ages. They have monthly events and programs, an amazing kid center. I mean, just look at that boat. It's huge. Any kid or adult would feel engaged reading in this library. This library is obviously filled with books, but also has their own outside park in case you wanted to take your reading outside. The Channel Islands Art Centre is filled with amazing art and hosts around 40 artists, but let's hear a bit from Peter Tyus, I'm the Executive Director here at Studio Channel Islands.

We are entering our 26th year as an organisation and the idea was that professional working artists would have a place to make work, to gather and to show their work in some of the derelict buildings as the university was taking shape. So artists are inherently quiet and reclusive people. They work throughout the week. in their own space without engagement with the public. So not a lot of people have seen how an artist goes about making their work. So an open studio event is an invitation to the community to come in and walk through the studios and meet the artists and talk about the work they're doing. So the first Saturday of every month between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., we invite anybody who wants to come in to walk through the studios, meet the artists and see what they're working on.

Right next to the art center is the weekly farmer's market hosted every Saturday of the month with fresh produce and local commodities. Let's hear a bit from the vendors and managers here.

Hi, good morning. My name is Patty Davis and my husband Bill. We're market chairs this morning from 7 to 10.

The Farmer's Market is peacefully located in Old Town, Camarillo's historic hub. Here you'll find all sorts of small businesses, restaurants, games, and more. I don't want to spoil too much, but there is so much to explore, so why don't we plan a trip?

And then we'd also like to present our winning entry for the photo contest which was taken by Glenda Sandberg.

Absolutely wonderful ladies. If you could join me up here right now and I will present your certificates officially now. I just want to congratulate you two young ladies. If I had one ounce of the creativity you two have just shown, I would impress everyone in my circle of friends and family. That was just absolutely phenomenal. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Thank you for entering the contest and being involved in our new general plan update process. Would you like to say anything?

Yes, you would.

Thank you so much, everyone, for taking my picture and for this opportunity.

You're welcome. Thank you for selecting my photo and displaying it.

You're welcome. Fellow council members, I'm sure somebody has something to say.

Susan.

I want to thank you both for your hard work because I know there's a lot of work that goes behind what that final product is. So thank you for that and for entering it and for being a part of our community and for highlighting what makes our community so wonderful. Congratulations.

Thank you so much for your beautiful work, your wonderful talent. When I first heard about the news, I shared it on social media. I was so proud to see what our youth were doing here in Camarillo, and I wanted to definitely get the word out and highlight it. And I'm just so proud of who you are, what you've done. And I really look forward to continued partnership and work. Thank you so much.

Thank you both you know they think the video and the photo is beautiful and it really encapsulated a lot of what the history you know that before the now and the future of our city is and has been and will be in the future so you really encapsulated that feeling so it's like the mayor said I don't have a lot of artistic talent I wish I did but both of you hit the nail on the head congratulations.

We have a council tradition that when we agree with what all of our colleagues have said, we simply say ditto. But I'm going to add to that and say really, really well done, both of you. Thank you.

Okay, moving on. Madam Clerk, are there any speakers on any items not on the agenda?

Yes, Mayor. We received six requests to speak. Remote participation will be called after all in-person speakers have finished. Raise your hand by pressing star 9. Each speaker will have three minutes. When your time expires, you will be muted and we will move on to the next speaker. General public comment will be heard for an initial 20 minute period. Council will receive comments for up to six to seven speakers during this period. If after a final request by the mayor and the clerk for any further public comment either in person or remotely is made and there is no response, general public comment will be closed. If any additional speakers beyond the 20 minutes request to speak, those speakers will be heard at the end of the meeting after all agenda items.

Thank you. Welcome to the public comment period under the California's Brown Act. Members of the public have a right to address the City Council on matters within the Council's jurisdiction. We welcome open expression and differing viewpoints, including criticism of the Council, City policies, and City actions. At the same time, the law permits us to enforce reasonable viewpoint neutral rules to maintain order and prevent actual disruption of the council meeting. Our goal is simple. We want to ensure that everyone has a safe, productive, and fair opportunity to be heard. We ask that speakers maintain appropriate decorum and direct their comments to the council as a whole. Please refrain from personal attacks, abusive language, or conduct that disrupts the meeting or interferes with another person's opportunity to participate. If you wish to display or unfurl a banner, you may do so at the rear of the Council Chambers. We simply ask that banners not block an ADA-accessible walkway, obstruct an exit, or interfere with the ability of other members of the public to see or participate in the meeting. These rules apply equally to everyone, regardless of the viewpoint being expressed. Thank you very much for your cooperation. We appreciate your participation in your city government and we are ready to hear your comments. So Madam City Clerk.

The first speaker is Blanca O followed by Sarah Matthews.

Welcome Blanca.

Good evening Mayor and Council Members. The last time I was here, based on some of the council's responses or lack of response, I felt that perhaps my public comments had been misunderstood. So today I want to be as direct and clear as possible. I previously came before this council on behalf of 805 on DocuFund with what I believe should have been an incredibly simple request, acknowledgement and visibility. That request came after then Vice Mayor, now Mayor Tennyson repeatedly emphasized that the glass house raid technically occurred in the unincorporated area of Camarillo. I find it very telling that this distinction continues to be emphasized when we talk about the glass house raid. Because when other crises affect Camarillo, this council does not seem nearly as concerned with drawing boundaries around where the harm occurred or writing opinion pieces about it. Take the mountain fire, for example. Much of that damage occurred in the unincorporated areas of Camarillo, yet I don't remember hearing this council focus on jurisdictional boundaries when discussing those families and the devastation that they experienced. So why does this distinction suddenly become so important when we're talking about immigrant families? From my perspective, that is where the problem lies. Whether intentional or not, it comes across as though empathy or more empathy and compassion and urgency are extended to families who look more like the people sitting on this dais. And to the people who were affected, that feels dismissive and it feels belittling. It was dismissive and belittling when a remembrance banner honoring those people who were forever changed were referred to as a poster. It was also dismissive and belittling when this council cannot even offer 40 seconds of silence to honor the families impacted by what happened here last year. Our original request was modest. We weren't asking this council to solve immigration policy. We weren't asking you to take over federal responsibilities. We were asking for the bare minimum. Acknowledge the people and the families that were harmed here in our community here in Camarillo. And apparently even that was a bit too much to ask. So while council updates may focus on heritage days, concerts in the park, I will use my remaining time to update this community about what is happening to our immigrant neighbors. As of today, the numbers of those who have been abducted are as follows. 2,474 people from within the 805 area code. 1,203 within Ventura County, and 513 here in Camarillo, four of which just happened the last few weeks here in Camarillo. One in particular happened at Vaughn's parking lot in Arneal, a place I frequent with my family. Thank you.

Thank you.

Sarah Matthews, followed by Lilia M. Welcome, Sarah.

Good evening, council members. My name is Sarah Matthews and I'm here tonight to add my own voice to the many you've heard over the last few months to express concern over the city's recent expansion of flock camera services. Since hearing of this council's decision to more than double the number of these cameras in our community back in October, I've been educating myself on these ALPRs and I'm concerned by what I have heard. I'm thankful and supportive of our Ventura County sheriffs for the difficult and important work that they do. and I'm thankful to live in what I feel is a very safe community. As a resident along what is known as the theft corridor, I can see the use case for these cameras and I could understand their deployment here in our city on a limited and thoughtful basis, balancing law enforcement's needs against our residents' expectations of privacy. However, I do not believe that the decision to increase these number of flock cameras to 25 back in October was justifiable for the size or the crime rate of our city. I myself have nothing to hide in my relatively boring daily comings and goings, but in a time that I feel that our right to privacy is being slowly chipped away at, I wish that our city would take a stance to push back on the rapid expansion of surveillance that is now present in our daily lives. In my research, I was concerned to learn about the history of leaks, hacks, and concerning misuse of flock data across the U.S., including use by federal immigration enforcement agents an incident where a mother and children were held at gunpoint after ALPRs wrongly flagged their cars stolen, or an instance where a woman was tracked across state lines after seeking reproductive care. The ACLU has spoken out against Flock and ALPRs, and more than 80 communities across the U.S. have ended their contracts with Flock in recent years over privacy concerns. Earlier this year in a public press release, Ventura County Sheriff shared that through an audit, they discovered that over a month-long period last year, Flock granted unauthorized access to outside agencies, and our local data was queried over 364,000 times, including 299 searches in relation to immigration enforcement activities. Despite Flock's promises and commitments, I have no faith that this private company that gathers a massive amount of data in our residents' lives is effective in preventing unauthorized access And I feel that as a resident, I have no control over how this data will be used in the future. Last month, the LAPD made a decision to suspend their contract with Flock, citing concerns regarding civil liberties, privacy, and data security. Just last week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass released a statement indicating that Flock has lost the trust of local Angelenos, urging LAPD to end their contract with Flock outright. I urge this council to follow their lead and take a hard look at how we are utilizing this technology in our city. As a local taxpayer, I would much rather my dollars go directly towards expanding VC Sheriff's services than financing a private surveillance network in our city. Thank you.

Thank you.

Lilia M followed by Melissa Hines.

Welcome.

I am speaking from my heart. Sorry for my English.

Pull the microphone, ma'am. Ma'am, pull the microphone a little closer to you. There you go. To me? Perfect.

Perfect?

Yes.

Okay. Good evening, Mayor and members of City Council. My name is Lilia, and I have lived in Camarillo for more than 20 years. I never imagined that in my age and after a lifetime of hard work and service to this community I love, I would stand in here tonight asking for protection from violence, intimidation, and elder abuse. Since March 26, the intimidation has continued simply because I asked neighbor, follow common rules in the sharing area in our common hallway. After this, I am followed, I am recorded, I am provoked, and I treated as I have no rights simply because this individual have police retaliation. relation. I don't know. I have been subject to escalating harassment, stalking, and threats from neighbor individuals who claim connection to Camarilla law force. In August 7, this harassment turned into violent physical assault. I was thrown in the pavement and left struggling to breathe. And later, I was treated in the emergency room, and I have done Everything the law required. I feel declaration submitted a formal citizen complaint. I gave you city manager package of my declaration. I have done everything law required. And I have been blocked from receiving basic information because there is police involvement in this neighbor's family. And I have blocked some. I cannot protect my life. This is not just housing problem. This is a conflict of interest, retaliation risk, and dangerous abuse of power and repeated threats from abuser against the elderly woman living alone. I'm asking this council to support me to request the court order Sapuena required senior sheriff officer some with no personal connection to this family involved to appear on August 17, 26 in a court hearing at 1030, room 2033. I have always follow rule, I never ask for special treatment, only safe. Please do not block me from filling restraining orders. This is a severe abuse of power, retaliation, and conflict of interest. I previously submitted full paper with detailed declaration of all incidents.

Thank you, ma'am. Ma'am, your time is up. Your time is up, ma'am. Thank you.

Melissa Hines, followed by Siddharth Benabrotra,

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening council members. I attended the July 8th meeting as a concerned community member and a volunteer with 805 on DocuFund. First, I'd like to acknowledge the city council members who have taken steps individually to support our immigrant neighbors. Please continue to do this. Dr. Martinez-Bravo, during your comments that evening, you said it was important to lead with love, empathy, and purpose. And I appreciate that because I agree with you. But this message got lost during that last meeting. Mayor Tennyson, when you did tell that community member she could not use her remaining public comment time for a moment of silence for the more than 360 individuals that were terrorized and abducted in the class house raids without reason or justification, this community felt that. And then it hit a bit harder when the rest of the dais remained silent to that edict. In that moment, the council appeared to stand united, but not with the empathy for a community member's concerns or the community's shared grief and not in respect of the communities, the immigrant communities. The council instead appeared united in minimizing and dismissing a solemn moment honoring the very real and rich lives of those that were forever changed that day. I honestly found it disturbing and a bit beneath the office of a council member. But to a point that you did make, Mr. Mayor, in an op-ed, trust between law enforcement and the community is hard won and fragile. I would say it's the same trust between council and its constituents. That trust is built or broken in exactly those kinds of moments, and while you can't unring a bell, this council can move forward differently. Community members have been asking for this council to speak up loudly that the city of Camarillo stands with immigrants and in opposition to the brutal and unconstitutional actions by ICE as a whole, without hesitation, without qualification, full stop. And while we really recognize there are limits to what you can do, there are some things that you can do. terminate the flock cameras. You can direct the attorney to explore joining amicus briefs. You can pass a formal resolution that clearly states Camarillo stands with its immigrant residents. That was submitted actually last meeting. There's nothing abstract about what is happening. We are witnessing the indifferent brutalization of human beings for simply existing in non-white bodies. Black, Latino, and immigrant families have documented this reality themselves. Ordinary acts of life can end with violence or death at the hands of federal agents. And still, these communities, they organize, they document, they litigate, they show up demanding accountability, transparency, and an end to these brutal actions. This is what your community is asking you to support. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Siddharth Mitra followed by Spencer Ritchie.

Welcome, sir. Good afternoon, council. I am here to add to what the previous speaker has said, to add one very simple remark. It is true what we have heard, what we have read, what has been written, that a city government has little or no power over federal law enforcement. That, to be admitted, requires an admirable humility, and I do admire it. However, In principle, in theory, the citizens of a republic have the rights to petition their government for redress. And as the duly constituted representatives of the city people, the city government has the right to petition higher levels of government on our behalf. And that is the sum total. It is all we have asked you to do. In all our cries, our rhetoric, our remarks, in everything we have said over this past year, the simple and essential meaning is very easily said, we ask you to make that petition on our behalf. The petition which you have heard now three times today and many times before and perhaps many times since. It is all we ask. For you. So much for that subject. On another, I would like to clarify something I did not have the time to for the Vice Mayor. I mean the street-facing plots of flower-growing land along Flynn Road from the intersection at Upland to Pitts Ranch Park. That is all.

Thank you.

Spencer Ritchie.

Welcome, Spencer.

Hello, hello, hello. Good evening, everyone. Yeah, I'm Spencer Ritchie. I've been a Camerian for... since I was born in St. John's Hospital, well, when it had that name. And so I have a few different concerns. First off, gonna be quick with this one. I absolutely agree with everyone here who has pointed out, not only is it insulting how little you as a unified group, have done you know regarding the the ice scourge on our city and it was just petty and rude to react the way you did to you know at the last meeting that was by the anniversary of the glasshouse raids um So there's that. My second point is, like, on a similar topic, the glasshouse raids, those glasshouse raids on July 10th, 2025, they have their own Wikipedia article now. Guess what its title is? 2025 Camarillo Ice Raid. Like, I don't know if you can see it, I know it's little, but so, yeah. So this is literally the Wikipedia page I pulled up. And I think that really says a lot. First off... The official Wikipedia title says raid single. Like, it does not indicate that there was two raids. And the Carpenteria one isn't mentioned until its own section at the end of the article. Yeah, so not only is it in official U.S. federal legal documents that That glasshouse raid happened in Camarillo, but that's how the rest of the world and rest of the country and everyone outside of our region is going to see it as when they read about it on Wikipedia. Like it or not, you... Our city is going to be forever what place is going to be associated with those horrific glasshouse raids. And the fact that you spent so much time saying, oh, no, no, no, that glasshouse farm was outside of Camarillo City limits. That's an incorporated Ventura County. At the end of the day, that isn't mattering. It's only going to be Camarillo, so it's entirely on us. Thank you.

Thank you, Spencer. Madam Clerk?

That concludes in-person speakers. We will now move on to remote speakers. If you wish to speak, please raise your hand at this time. There are no speakers waiting.

Thank you. We will move on then. Next up, I would like to invite the president and CEO of FoodShare Ventura County, Monica White. Welcome, Monica.

Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to share a little bit about FoodShare. We believe we have a presentation that we're gonna pull up. Because pictures speak a thousand words.

Yay, there it is.

All right, well, thank you for the opportunity to be able to share a little bit about the state of hunger in Ventura County, and more specifically, right here in Camarillo. Again, my name is Monica White. I'm the president and CEO of FoodShare, and it's my honor to be able to lead this incredible organization that has been here in Ventura County since 1978. go back. This is a picture of in Camarillo. This is our volunteers back in 1978 gleaning from our local farms. The very first year I guess it's on auto. Very first year, they collected 34,000 pounds of food. Today, we are distributing 32 million pounds of food on an annual basis. We get that food from a variety of different sources. We get it from the government, about 20%. We collect from grocery stores. We collect from farmers, packing houses, Port of Wainimi. people's backyards, and a lot of food drives, as you can imagine. Everybody wants to be able to help feed their neighbors, those big yellow barrels that you see out there. We also, anything that we can't get from a variety of those sources, we purchase. And that's about $2.5 million on an annual basis. And that's for our specific programs that we may not be able to get it from those other sources. The items that we are purchasing go towards our farm worker boxes, they go to our unhoused kitchen-free bags, and more produce. 200, 200 nonprofit partners is who we work with that's helping to get all of that food out. They get the food from us at no cost. We do not charge anything, and we do not even charge to deliver to them. There are after-school programs. There are church pantries. There are congregate meal sites, which is another way of saying soup kitchens. And our biggest one drive-through is in Oxnard. It's every week, every Wednesday, 1,000 cars are coming through. I'm going to be able to show you a picture of that as well. So how many people are we actually serving in Ventura County? 254,000 is our number from last year. That is an unduplicated number. And you can see that we had a large increase, obviously during COVID, and we really thought it would go back down, maybe not to pre-pandemic levels, but we're averaging at about 250,000 ever since COVID. One of the big numbers in this one is that if we were to go and buy all that 23 million pounds of food on an annual basis, we went to Vons and said, fill her up, it would cost us $67 million. Our annual budget's only $10 million. So you can imagine, a lot of that donated food is very important to us. So right here in Camarillo, here are your stats. 1.1 million pounds of that 32 million pounds of food was distributed here. When you put that into equal and a meal, that's 955 million, almost a million meals. Sorry, 955,000. That's 8,500 people that were served out of your total population of around 70,000. That's 12% of your city population was served through FoodShare's network of partners. We work with 14 different pantries. We rescue from 12 different locations. And again, that retail value, if we had to go purchase all of it, it's about $3.6 million. And these are some of our partners, Camarillo Community Church, Crossroads Church, the Dolphin Pantry at Cal State University Channel Islands, Pleasant Valley Parks and Rec, and Seventh Day Adventist Camarillo and St. Mary Magdalene. Those are our partners who are helping to feed those neighbors in need. We do have an app that allows people to be able to find food that is available right now. They can go on there and they can see what is open within five miles of them, 10 miles, or 15 miles. They can also toggle it to see what else is available within their area that maybe is gonna be open tomorrow. But we have found this is very helpful for people who want to help their neighbors in need. Instead of just saying, hey, call FoodShare, they can help you, you can pull it up on your app and find somewhere to send somebody to get more food. Here's some of the pictures that are referring to some of our programs that we work through. This is the College Park. This is that drive-through distribution. Again, 1,000 cars serving about 5,500 individuals for all of those cars that are going through for their families. They're getting a box of groceries. They're getting a box of produce. And whatever it is that we have available from USDA that week, it could be eggs, it could be milk, it could be pork chops. It just depends. Every week it is different. And it takes 70 volunteers to be able to run this operation every week. So if you ever want to come out and help, we'd love to have you. These are our kitchen-free bags. Everything in here is purchased and everything in here is good for our unhoused because it does not require a kitchen. It doesn't require refrigeration or a stove. It's pop-top and we even put utensils and wet naps in there. These are a great picture of our farm worker boxes. We work with our local farm worker organizations to be able to help us as well. But we are delivering many of those boxes directly to the fields. And we're also bringing diapers and we're also bringing feminine hygiene projects. And our seniors, so we have a senior program that is through the government. They allow us to be able to distribute 3,500 boxes annually, or sorry, monthly. If you are over the age of 60, you live in this county of Ventura, and you are under the federal poverty level for our area, which is very low, you qualify for one of these boxes. If you do not qualify and it's all self-certified, we have another box for you. We make sure that anybody who shows up for food is going to get exactly what they need. We have several kids programs where we provide them with tasting exercises and then we have a nutritionist who teaches them what a good plate looks like and then they get to taste the things that they're making and then bring home the recipe and the produce or the grocery items to be able to share with their parents what they learned and be able to teach them what a good plate looks like as well. The need is continuing as you can see that one graph shows that we are not expecting that our numbers will decrease anytime soon, but we are preparing for the future. And what we are doing is we are building a brand new food bank. It's located in Oxnard, not too far from our current facilities. That's 12 acres. We are well into our design phase. We have submitted our permits with the city of Oxnard, and we are breaking ground ceremonially on September 11th from three to five right there on our property. You are all invited to attend. We would love to have you there, and we hope to be able to officially break ground by the end of this year, permit pending. But here's a picture of what this new facility is going to look like. What we're happy about this is that it's going to be able to, it's gonna allow us to be able to rescue even more food. Last year we had to turn away eight million pounds of produce. We do not have the freezer or cooler or ambient space available for all the food that is offered to us. This new building will allow us to be able to accept so much more of that. It's 85,000 square feet. It's going to have a community room. It's going to have a commercial kitchen. Three times the amount of cooler space and three times the amount of rack space. Separate driveways for our volunteers. Separate driveways for the big rigs. It's much safer. We are so beyond excited about building this future home for food share that is going to be able to serve our community for generations to come. Of course, a building of this size comes with a big price tag, $50 million, but we have raised 45.5 million to date. We are 91% to goal. We have sent out our last push to the community to ask them to help us by buying a paver in our front entrance. The front entryway is going to have all pavers that can be engraved with your family's name, a note of optimism, whatever it is that you would like within reason. But those are available all on our website at foodshare.com if you would like to be part of that. And of course, if you would like to have a naming right, we have other opportunities as well at a higher cost. Higher price, higher pledge, higher grant. More money. Money, exactly. But thank you so much. Here's a picture of those pavers that are available. And I appreciate the opportunity to be able to share what is going on at FoodShare and what our future looks like.

Anybody have questions for Monica?

Kevin.

Thank you for what you do. I'm sorry. I thank you for what you do. Oh, thank you. I know it spends a lot of your time, but I want to thank you for that. And it's grown a lot since the early days, hasn't it? It's been phenomenal. But good luck in your new building, and we'll continue to help improve the lives of those folks that need it and the services that you provide. It doesn't go unnoticed. And thank your board and all your volunteers, too. I've known several of them, and they're kind of the unsung heroes in all this, too. So thank them for us, if you would.

I will. Thank you so much. And we appreciate your support. You have been there for us when we needed you during the government shutdown and fires and all of that, and we can't do this without the support of all of our community, and you have been there. Mm-hmm.

Tony? Monica, thanks for your presentation. I think the statistic that resonated with me most is the fact that you had roughly 254,000 unduplicated clients in 25 compared to, if I wrote this down correctly, 132,000 just pre-COVID, right around 2020. So the increase is astronomical in just six years. So food shares continuing to meet that need I think is a testament to what all of you do, your board, your staff, the volunteers. Thank you, and I'll say ditto to what Councilmember Kildee said.

Thank you. Thank you. My entire staff of 41 and all of our 4,400 volunteers, all of us are on the same mission to ensure that no one goes hungry in Ventura County.

Monica, do they still have the drive-through at Pleasant Valley Rec and Park on Fridays? You guys used to support that?

You're asking me a question? Of course, I don't have the answer to. I don't know, but I will find out.

I know that a couple of years ago the Pleasant Valley Camarillo Lions Club volunteered there on Fridays and at that point there were over 200 cars driving through the community center parking lot getting food and I quit doing it because Fridays are grandfather duty days for me now, but I'm just curious if it's still going on I see you listed them as a partner and

I don't know if they're a drive-through still, but yeah, with 200 pantry partners, I have a hard time keeping up on all of them. And my backup's not here to be able to say, Monica.

Yeah, next time you come here, make sure to have the Camarillo answer. Thanks, Monica. You're welcome. We appreciate you.

Okay, thank you so much. Thank you, Monica.

Thank you. Okay, council.

Council comments. Mr. Tremblay, would you be so kind as to go first?

Sure. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for meetings attended since July 8, our last meeting. July 9, the Airport Authority. July 10, the Ventura County Transportation Commission. July 15, the Utilities Committee. Last week, I was at the CASA Conference, California Association of Sanitation Agencies Conference in Napa. I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN JUST A MINUTE. YESTERDAY THERE WAS SCHOOL CROSSING GUARD BREAKFAST, AND THANK YOU TO STAFF FOR PUTTING AND THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT FOR PUTTING THAT ALL TOGETHER. AND THEN YESTERDAY I HAD A MEETING OF THE BOARD AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR METROLINK BOARD FOR THE L.A. 28 OLYMPICS. As far as the CASA conference is concerned, the topics included sustainable resource management, a de-siloing of regulatory agencies. You have so many regulatory agencies out there, they all tend to have different agendas. The idea is to try to get them to start looking at one another and trying to assimilate what what they are doing and start trying to align with one another rather than have someone go to one agency, get a permit, then go to another agency and have to do a completely different permit. Talking about the value of water, and we also had a presentation on data centers. AND CLEAN WATER AGENCIES. THIS CASA CONFERENCE, THIS IS MY LAST MEETING AS THE STATEWIDE PRESIDENT OF CASA. I COMPLETED MY ONE-YEAR TERM. IT WAS A PRIVILEGE TO SERVE, AND I APPRECIATE ALL THE SUPPORT FROM THE CITY AND FROM MY COLLEAGUES. I know that we are going to close the meeting in memory of Mr. Children, so I'll have comments on that later. But then very quickly, I want to make sure that, and I know everybody is already aware of it, I believe they are, and that is that the amazing Pleasant Valley Recreation Parks and District Foundation has the amazing Race for the Parks event, which is going to be on Saturday, October 3, 2026. And to those out there who might be seeing on TV, you can enter this. It's a great fundraiser for the Parks Foundation. And I've got copies of these for all of my council colleagues who I think are probably already aware of all this, but I'm going to give them to you anyway. And that's it for me. Thanks, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Mr. Kildee.

Yes, okay, so meetings attended and events since July 9th. July 11th was the opening of the Summer Concert Series Band, Sabor. They were very, very great and a big, big crowd there. Thursday, July 16th, we had a BRSD board meeting. Saturday, July 18th, I welcomed the FIFA fans to Distar Park, which we showed the soccer game. It was the game before the championship. And we had a very big widescreen TV. I want to thank all of our staff who spent a lot of time getting that ready. It was really great. It was interesting. It was kind of low attendance at the beginning, but they got more and more as the... game progressed. It was a very hot day, but it was really great to do that. I hope we can do more of that in the future. On Wednesday, July 22nd, I went down to LA for the CJPIA annual meeting, and that's our insurance carrier. And I'll have more to say about that later, but it was a very interesting meeting, and I learned a lot about insurance with public agencies. If you ever get a chance to do that, I strongly encourage to go down and attend one of the meetings. uh... this past saturday august eighth i actually had the privilege uh... for the another concert series it was the yellow brick band and it was also national night out there was a lot a lot of people there saturday it was actually uh... the crowd actually went over uh... almost into uh... the street there but the band was really great it was at elton john tribute band a yellow brick band and uh... The individual that played Elton John was really, really good. Big crowd, and that's a great event for the public here, and I'm really happy that we're able to do that. Yesterday, I also attended the Crossing Guard, and again, they're kind of the unsung... people in our community here that do a really great job for us getting all ready for this year and a lot of them if not all of them are really happy to be doing this and they provide a very necessary service so with that your honor that's all thank you vice mayor

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. And it's just super important to always prioritize safety. I know we all want to get there on time, but definitely prioritizing safety should be our number one. And I'm just very thankful for the work they do today at the high school. We've made some changes to the due to pedestrian and traffic safety along Camarillo High School. And so there was a lot of law enforcement that was present to try to help inform the residents as to or the people who were parents who are showing up as to the changes that were made. I did reach out to the our trustee from Oxnard Unified High School District. Just to make sure that those communications are going out to the parents as well. So that partnership continues and Then Friday August 7th I actually met with Governor Newsom staff to discuss the city's some of the city's issues and concerns Which includes funding for our wastewater treatment plant and also funding and that's needed for interim supportive housing through project Hope which is a wonderful program helping the most vulnerable here in Camarillo. July 29th I attended the meet your elected officials event through the West of Ventura County Business Alliance and I know that Mr. Andy Conley is actually here in the house. If there are any businesses who are interested or nonprofits who are interested in becoming a member you can go to wvcba.org Or if you're here, you can go directly to Andy to discuss that but they do offer a lot of support I've been through so many of the ribbon cuttings and grand openings and there's a lot of Organizing that goes behind and support that they provide for our local businesses and one thing that I always try to do with my family on weekends is try to visit local businesses which I think are such an important part of the the economy here for our city and And then July 11th, I attended and I also provided the intro with Councilmember Kildee on the summer concert series. It was a lot of fun. Yeah, thank you.

That's good.

Councilmember Santangelo. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. On July 9th, I attended the Ventura County Airport Authority. On July 25th, I attended the Stevens Grill Ribbon Cutting. I always enjoy going to our new businesses that are opening up in Camarillo and celebrating their success. On July 25th, I did the introduction for the concert at the park and it was the Blue Breeze Band. On July 29th, I attended the Shots Fired wellness presentation. This was, I was invited by Chief Tennyson and I'm really Happy and grateful for the invitation. This was a story, a presentation by Michael Martinez, who was a law enforcement officer who had been involved in multiple on-duty shootings and off-duty incidents as well. And it was a really powerful story about law enforcement, about the toll it can take on people and the help you can get and how you can turn your life around. So it was really, really worth being there for that. So thank you. And then later that day, I attended the WVCBA elected officials luncheon. Thank you very much for having us. And then on July 30th, I attended the Pleasant Valley School property ad hoc committee meeting. And that's all I've got.

THANK YOU. ON JULY 9TH I ATTENDED THE REGIONAL DEFENSE PARTNERSHIP COMMITTEE MEETING. THAT AFTERNOON I CHAIRED THE VENTURA COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS MEETING. ON JULY I ALSO ATTENDED THE STEPHENS GRILL RIBBON CUTTING AND GRAND OPENING. for the second time. We did the soft opening and then we did the grand opening. On July 16th, I attended the VCOG Admin Committee meeting. On July 29th, I also attended the Shots Fired presentation put on by Officer Michael Martinez, and it really did me proud to see how far law enforcement has come since my early days in the late 70s and the fact that the agencies care about the mental health and well-being of their employees and provide tons more services after critical incidents in my day you sucked it up and went back to work so I'm happy to see these changes in law enforcement I also attended Mr. Connolly's West Ventura County Business Alliance Meet Your Electeds. It was a great evening and it was actually nice and cool at Heritage Park in Oxnard. It was enjoyable. I also attended the crossing guard breakfast and one of the things I shared with the crossing guards is oftentimes we talk about public safety and we're typically referring to law enforcement and firefighters. and first responders and as far as I'm concerned our crossing guards are an important spoke in that public safety thing because they are the ones that keep our young people going to our grade schools our little older people that are going to our high school safe and sometimes It's at potential risk to their own safety, so I appreciate the job they do I'm glad that Sergeant Tommy Miller and staff from the police department coordinate those events and they put on I believe about a half a day training session for them every year to kick off the school year, so Thank your staff commander Tennyson for putting that together And with that we shall go to the consent calendar Madam clerk are there any public comments on consent calendar?

No comments

Any questions from council? Do we have a motion?

I can second.

We have a motion and a second. Roll call, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Santangelo? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez-Bravo? Yes. Council Member Kildee? Yes. Council Member Trimbley? Yes. Mayor Tennyson? Yes. That passes unanimously.

With that, we will move on to item P, as in Paul, the review of the draft vision statement and guiding principles for the Our Camarillo 2050 General Plan update. And I believe our Director of Community Development, Mr. Bradley Calvert, is going to take this.

Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. I'm actually going to turn it over to our planner who's managing this project, Megan Ciccola, before she hands it off to our consultant. She can give you a little bit of a better background, if you will.

Nice segue, Bradley.

Nice little preview.

Yeah, great.

You got a nice preview earlier this evening with the awards ceremony. I'd like to also give a shout out both to Megan and Melissa Beebe on their work on that. They've done a lot of good efforts to try to get the youth involved and to really kind of diversify the feedback that we're receiving.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. Tonight's presentation provides an overview of the work completed during phase one of the Our Camarillo 2050 general plan update, which focused on community visioning and identifying the key principles that will guide the remainder of the planning process. Over the past several months, we've heard from the community through workshops, surveys, pop-up events, stakeholder outreach, the general plan advisory committee, and other engagement efforts. That input has helped shape the draft vision and guiding principles before you this evening. I want to thank members of the GPAC that have joined us this evening. Thank you for coming. We've got Josie and Gary and Andy and Dennis with us this evening. The draft vision statement and guiding principles are intended to establish the overall direction for the general plan and provide a foundation as we move into the next phase of the project, where we will begin evaluating land use and other policy alternatives. With that, I'd like to introduce Andrew Hill of Dyett and Bhatia, who will walk us through the phase one outreach and engagement results and the resulting draft vision statement and guiding principles.

Great. Thank you, Megan. Good evening, mayor and council members. As Megan said, my name is Andrew Hill. I'm with Dyett and Bhatia. And tonight we're very pleased to introduce the draft vision and guiding principles for the general plan update. This item is also an opportunity to report out on the status of the project and recap activities to date. So with that in mind, I have a quick presentation for you. I'll provide a little background to the general plan and the project. I'll recap community engagement activities to date and then I'll introduce the draft vision and guiding principles and touch on next steps in the process. So starting with background, so Camarillo's general plan will serve as a guide for decision makers and developers on how and where development should happen. It'll identify the city's assets and challenges and describe a shared vision for the future. The general plan will recommend the type and the character of development appropriate in different locations around the city, and it'll identify necessary transportation and infrastructure improvements needed to support that development pattern. It will also include goals, policies, and actions, and recommend the resources needed to achieve the plan's vision All cities in California are required to adopt a general plan that serves as the blueprint for urban development and conservation. The general plan must have seven elements that touch on all aspects of life in the community, everything from land use and circulation to conservation, open space, safety, and noise. The general plan can also include optional elements addressing topics of local importance. And so Camarillo's current general plan has the curb element, the Camarillo urban resource boundary and also an element on community character and design. The general plan is the city's primary long range planning document. It's a high level policy document with a 25 year long term framework. In turn, it's implemented through a series of more specific mechanisms. And so the city has specific plans that deal with land use and infrastructure in targeted locations. Of course, the zoning code provides specific development standards and design standards for individual properties. And then there's the capital improvements plan, that identifies investments. By law, the specific plans and zoning must be consistent with the general plan. Camarillo's current general plan dates back to 1969, and while the individual chapters have been updated over time, the document as a whole hasn't been cohesively, comprehensively updated. And as I'm sure you're aware, the world has changed a lot since 1969. If you think about the population today, Camarillo, like many cities across the US, is aging. But we also have increased diversity and emerging millennial needs as well. In terms of economics, we've seen a big shift towards internet retail and online commerce, but there's also changing office and workplace needs to consider. Technological advances, autonomous vehicles are in some California cities already. We see ride sharing and transportation apps that are changing the way we move around town. And there's new technology, smart city technology that allows as to use infrastructure more efficiently. And then of course there's climate change issues and a whole host of new state laws. All of this is triggering the need for a general plan update. And so the time is right for the community to come together and develop a shared vision for the future and for the city to put in place new policies that can guide the evolution over the next few decades. And so this is an overall snapshot of the project timeline. As you can see, it's gonna be completed in four key phases over a period of about three years. And we're coming up on the end of the first phase now, which was all about understanding issues and opportunities from a variety of different perspectives and building a shared vision for the future that's articulated in the draft vision statement and guiding principles. In phase two, we'll be, again, what I would say is through each of these phases, there's extensive community engagement involved. And at key points throughout the process, we'll be coming back to the council to report out on progress and check in before moving to the next phase. And so in phase two, picking up on the vision, we'll be exploring different options and alternatives for land use and circulation, economic development, quality of life, that can achieve the vision that emerged from phase one. Again, with extensive community engagement, we'll be developing, building consensus around a shared set of actions that'll be presented at the end of phase two. And then in phase three, we'll roll up our sleeves, we'll actually draft the goals and policies and actions in the plan and complete environmental review. And that'll bring us to phase four, where we have the draft plan out for public review and we move into public hearings. And so the vision and the guiding principles are really one of the key products for phase one. They summarize what we've heard from the community and it's a foundational first step for updating the general plan. It identifies the key themes and the priorities and it describes a shared image of the kind of place that Camarillo residents and businesses would like their city to be in 2050. The vision and the guiding principles are intended as broad aspirational statements that'll inform more specific detailed language and the goals and policies to be developed later in the process. And as I said in phase two, we'll be exploring different options and alternatives that can help achieve this vision. And so community engagement is really a foundational critical part of the general plan update and in developing the draft vision and guiding principles before we've done extensive engagement with the community. In total, between December and June of this year, over 850 community members have shared ideas that have informed the draft vision and guiding principles. engaged with residents across a variety of digital and in-person activities. Residents came out to community meetings and met with staff at pop-up events around town. We also did a series of focus group discussions with community groups, business organizations, developers, and others. And the city's established a General Plan Advisory Committee, or GPAC, that has met three times to provide input. The General Plan Advisory Committee is made up of 15 Camarillo residents with a variety of different backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and expertise to the process. Their role is to serve as a sounding board and to ensure that a range of voices and interests are heard and considered in the general plan update. And they also act as ambassadors for the project, raising awareness of opportunities to participate in the community. The GPAC is one of several avenues for input to the city council, including input from city staff, input from the consultant, and from the residents at large. So between January and June of this year, staff really conducted a robust program of pop-up outreach events at popular gathering places around town. The objective was really to meet people where they are in their daily lives, raise awareness of the general plan update effort, and provide opportunities for people to provide input that have shaped the vision and guiding principles. Additionally, we held two very well attended community open house events, one on the 24th at the Camarillo Public Library, and the second at the ranch house on the 28th of March. The Saturday event was intended as a family friendly event. We had Mr. Softee's ice cream and kids activities. And at both events, participants circulated to about five different stations to interact with staff and provide input. We had one station dedicated to the guiding principles. And as you can see, lots of people shared their ideas and drafted their own guiding principles. We also had an online survey that was live between February and May of this year and garnered about 401 responses. And as you heard earlier, we had a photo contest where people were invited to submit photos of places in Camarillo that make it special for them and a teen video contest where youth was given the chance to provide input on what they love about Camarillo and what they hope for in the future. So in terms of who we heard from, I think we heard from a good representation. As you can see, we heard good representation across council districts. We had pretty good representation of age brackets as well. Although I would say we heard less from youth. And so that's definitely gonna be a focus of our efforts in the next phase to make sure we do more to reach out to youth. And we've got some ideas in the works. In terms of gender balance, about 60% of the people who participated were female and 40% male. That's actually quite common in the general plans that I've done. But it also gives us tips for the next phase as well. We need to think about more ways to reach out to men. And maybe we can do that through business events and that kind of thing as well. In terms of also the length of time that people have lived in Camarillo, people who have been here more than 15 years were the largest participants, and that gives us a hint as well for the next phase. We can do more to reach out to newcomers and involve their voices in the process as well. Some key themes that emerged from the process, I think Camarillo residents really appreciate that it's a friendly community with friendly neighbors. The small town feel ranked very highly and also the quietness, the pace of life, the weather and the climate. And looking to the future, this is a snapshot of some of the priorities. So maintaining that small town feel was really the number one priority, but also people were interested in creating more jobs so that residents can both live and work in Camarillo, revitalizing some of the older shopping centers, attracting and retaining younger households to the community. So these are some ideas that we heard from in terms of priorities, and all of this input is reflected in the draft vision guiding principles as well. And that brings me to the document for you tonight. Again, it's intended as a summary of the shared vision. And I'm gonna read the vision statement to you now. Camarillo is a welcoming, close-knit community shaped by its small town character, agricultural heritage, natural beauty, excellent schools and parks, and relaxed quality of life. As the city looks to the future, Camarillo will preserve the qualities that make a distinctive, while thoughtfully planning for the needs of future generations. Responding to the demands of a changing region, Camarillo will grow responsibly by focusing new housing, jobs, services, and public spaces in strategic locations within the urban boundary while protecting surrounding agricultural lands, open space, and scenic resources. The prioritization of high-quality infill development, vibrant gathering places, resilient infrastructure, and a connected transportation network will support a thriving economy and enhance daily life for residents of all ages, incomes, and abilities. Camarillo will continue to be an inclusive community that residents feel proud to call home, where everyone feels connected and safe, rooted in history, guided by sustainability and fiscal responsibility, and prepared to meet the opportunities and challenges of the coming decades. So this vision statement is then supported by 15 guiding principles, and we've organized them into four broad themes. There's no prioritization. The organization is really just meant to make the document easier to navigate. But the key themes that emerged are community and people, nature and place, livability and economic vitality, and mobility and connections. So under the community and people category, we have four guiding principles. There's small town character, safe, welcoming city, caring and connected community, history, arts, and culture. Under the nature and place category, we have four principles for responsible growth, for modern resilient infrastructure, for cohesive community design, and healthy green city. Under livability and economic development, we have balanced local economy, attainable and diverse housing, vibrant gathering places, and destination Old Town. And then finally under mobility and connections, we have three guiding principles, connected Camarillo, active transportation, and streets for people. And so in your comments tonight, we would certainly welcome feedback from you in response to these questions. Does the content of the vision statement and the guiding principles reflect community priorities as you understand them? Is there anything that you think should be added or removed? Or would you recommend any other refinements to better reflect community priorities? We did review this draft with several bodies. Our GPAC met and provided comments that are reflected in the draft you have before you tonight. The GPAC recommended that in places we use more active, aspirational language, that we strengthen references to cultural diversity, inclusivity, volunteerism, and community connection, that we acknowledge that there are state laws regarding development that could affect the small town feel. They also recommended that we expand some concepts around transportation, transit hub opportunities, old town connections, and context sensitive roadway design. They wanted us to broaden the ideas of around infrastructure and sustainability to address heat, drought and flooding, flooding and water quality as well. And that we specifically add references to key sectors, economic sectors and partnerships with Cal State University Channel Islands. So again, all of these comments have been incorporated into the draft that you have in front of you. Also in June, we met with the Economic Development and Land Use Committee to review this draft with them. They expressed support for advancing the document to the full council, and they requested in the next phase of work that we continue focus on workforce housing, especially for early career workers, and to expand our outreach to Spanish-speaking communities. And so we'll definitely keep that in mind as we focus our efforts in the next phase of the work. And we met with the planning commission also in June and they expressed support for advancing the document to the council as well. Overall commissioners expressed support for the content and particularly for the focus on mobility, connectivity and activities for youth. Some commissioners emphasized that small town character comes in part from the quality of design and buildings that reflect history and heritage, so that's something to keep in mind. And they appreciated the community outreach so far, but they did encourage us to focus on engaging newer community members in future phases as well. And then since June, we've continued outreach to the community, staff has continued to pop up presence at the summer concert series, and we've put the draft vision statement and the guiding principles on the project website. We made it a little bit interactive so people could click on the principles that resonated most with them, and we've received pretty broad support for all of the guiding principles to date. And so that's the end of my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions. And after public comment, the recommended action for tonight is for council to find that the vision and guiding principles are exempt from CEQA to review and provide comments on the draft for us. And then if appropriate, to accept the draft as the foundation for the next phase of the work.

Thank you, Andrew. For the council, this is the time for questions, not comments. Does anyone have questions? Go ahead, Mr. Kildee.

Yeah, it's just kind of interesting, and I know it's not necessarily part of what you're doing, but I found it kind of interesting in the comments as I read through it. I've read through it in phases for several times here. what a lot of the residents like about the city and what they thought the city can improve on didn't talk about a lot of the medical which I kind of find kind of interesting here I know that's not necessarily part of a general plan update but I just kind of found that interesting and my question is to you is that you've done this for a long time and is that is that is that interesting to you

Yeah, I think when medical and hospitals come up in a community, it's often because the community isn't served as well by infrastructure and services. And it could be that people feel relatively content with the quality of the offering now. That doesn't mean we can't dive into this issue more, and we will as we get into phase three when we're actually writing the policies and actions. That's an opportunity to do that. But in phase two, we have an opportunity to ask specific questions and get input for some higher level policies and strategies around that topic.

Okay, thank you. Other than that, I've been through a few of these and I'll have some comments later on. But other than that, that was the question.

Mr. Tremblay.

Thanks, Mr. Mayor. And thanks for an excellent presentation. And before I go any further, thank you, thank you to the members of the General Plan Advisory Committee because you all gave up a lot of your personal time to assist on this, and I'm very appreciative of your efforts. I had one question, I'm gonna have a couple of comments later and constructive critiques later, but the question is this, and I noted, I wasn't clear from the presentation, could you outline for me what the opportunities, let's say somebody wasn't focused during phase one on this, but becomes much more aware, a resident becomes much more aware in phase two or phase three, could you describe what the opportunities for future engagement are going to be as we go forward in the process?

Yeah, absolutely. And so in phase two, we'll be continuing with the pop-up approach, so going out to the community at popular gathering spaces, at events around town, Again, to raise awareness of other opportunities that are coming up to participate and to get live feedback. So continuing with the pop-up. We'll also be doing two more community open house events, you know, family-friendly events open to all that provide more opportunity to dive in deeper and provide input on specific alternatives. We'll be having an interactive online survey as well. So trying to have a combination of digital and in-person activities. And the survey, I think, will be more robust, I think, than the one we did previously because we're getting into more nuanced ideas. And so one idea that we're thinking of is to use Instagram real polls, if you've seen it. You can create a video to explain a concept, and you're asking people to make a choice in voting. So we found that to be a very effective way to communicate nuanced ideas but get meaningful feedback. So a broad range of digital in-person opportunities. Great.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks, Mr. Mayor.

Andrew, is there any intent to do outreach into our local high schools to get some youth involvement in this going forward?

Yes, absolutely. And so we have, through the first phase, we did have a good contact with a teacher at Camarillo High. And so we'll continue to engage those students. But we've also been working with Girl Scouts to have them do a more hands-on activity around to inform some ideas for the alternatives. And we're looking for other youth groups to partner with as well.

Have you reached out to the library director to get her input and involvement with youth?

Yes, there's a team council that meets at the library, and we did engage with them in phase one, and we'll continue to engage with them.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, any, no questions, no questions. Can I have a follow-up? A question? Yes, you may have a question.

The timeline, is that kind of normal? It's going to be north of about, I believe, around three years on this, for all that you've done with that. Is that about the normal time frame?

YES. YES, IT IS. IT CAN BE TWO AND A HALF, THREE YEARS IS PRETTY TYPICAL FOR A GENERAL PLAN UPDATE. THERE'S CERTAIN TIMING AROUND THE CEQA DOCUMENT, TOO, THAT IS A CRITICAL PATH DRIVER IN THE SCHEDULE, BUT THREE YEARS IS A PRETTY STANDARD AMOUNT OF TIME.

THANK YOU.

YOU'RE WELCOME. MADAM CLERK, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS?

There are no in-person speakers. If you are wishing to speak remotely, please press star nine now. There are no remote speakers.

Okay, with that, we will now go to council discussion, and I'm going to pass it off to Mr. Trimbley. He's got constructive things to say.

Two comments, and in no way am I being critical of the work product. I think it's just uniformly excellent, and again, I really appreciate the efforts of you and city staff and our GPAC. Two things, one, and I may have missed it, because I had a limited time with the document, because I just got back into town, but every year, the council spends, and staff in particular, spends a good deal of time formulating and coming back to us with our council goals and objectives, and we, goodness knows, we change them, they evolve from year to year to year. I may have missed it, but was there any mention in the guiding principles of that aspect of what we do? Because it's a critically important step, in my view, just one of five, that the council undertakes every year, and I'm looking, I'm trying to look for some alignment between those goals and objectives. I want them to be in alignment with what our aspirational goals and objectives are under this general plan. That's a really long-winded way of asking.

Is there any mention in there of those deliberations? We don't have it in this draft of the guiding principles. We can certainly explain that in the general plan. And what I would say is the general plan is a long-range document, right? It's looking out. you know 25 plus years and so inevitably it's it's um got a different um you know timeline involved with it the the um council goals are shorter term updated as you say you know every year but i would certainly hope that the the broad higher level general plan um vision and guiding principles will pick up the kind of uh topics that you're bringing forward in your um in your current and um And if they're not, we'd certainly like to hear from you tonight about what should be added to make sure that they are aligned.

Well, I'd like to see some language. It doesn't have to necessarily be in the guiding principles, but I'd like to see some language trying to integrate what council does each and every year, knowing that this is a long-range foundational document for us. But just an acknowledgment of that step. because I think it's important. We spend, in my view, because we spend an awful lot of time on it each year. And conversely, I think as a council, I would always feel I've got to pay attention to our general plan when we're formulating the general plan and when we're formulating our council goals and objectives because we want to be in alignment. The second thing, the second item that I wanted to just chat about for a minute, Council Member Santangelo and I And Mayor Craven, prior to us, have been involved for several years in getting a community wellness initiative going. It's known as Healthy Camarillo. And we have a signed MOU with the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District, with the Camarillo Healthcare District, and we are about... the cusp of moving that forward it's taken a long time but and and I'm not sure where exactly well I think it's going to pay dividends and it's going to pay dividends from a health standpoint it actually gets a little bit to the medical issue you talked about councilmember Kildee I didn't see anything in the draft guiding principles on that. What I saw under the nature and place section, under the healthy green city subsection, was a mention of integrating nature, shade, parks, and green spaces into the fabric of the community to support public health, among other things. The issue I'm articulating is a little broader than that. And it's more of a focus, and it's certainly consistent with our, we've had long-standing, for several years, council objective on improving community wellness, the wellness of individuals. I sure hope that, separate and apart from what's under the Healthy Green City, maybe some additional language could be worked in to say, look, we have a focus on community wellness of our residents. And so, anyway, that's just a thought as to something to, I guess in this case, under your setting, it would be a refinement to that section. A refinement to that section. And again, with thanks to you and to staff and to GPAC members, I really appreciate all your time. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Thank you. So, yes, first of all, thank you so much for all the work that you put in there to our staff, to the committee, for all the volunteer time that you put into it as well. So I had a very similar thought process as I was reading this presentation. I know it came to our committee first and then as I was reading this I was thinking you know there tends there seems to be this discrepancy between Maybe what we as a city council members believe is like a top priority for Camarillo So if someone were to ask me and I've been asked like hey what's like you know a top issue for Camarillo that you're working on and one of the first things that comes to mind is the wastewater plant and But I've never heard anybody, like when I've asked, like, hey, you should focus on the wastewater plant because that's just not something that they're privy to. And so they're more like, oh, yes, let's, you know, we definitely want, you know, our children to grow up here, which is something that we've also worked on as well. But I think to your point, Council Member Tremblay, I think maybe through this process there could also be that opportunity to engage and inform our community as to what the these issues are that need to be worked on because at the end of the day like we do need to flush our toilets right like that's one like top priority for us and So I also had that that same thought process as I was as I was reading this in addition one thing that I feel extremely strong about and it's one of the first things that I did when I came on council and with the support of all the council members is to add for all at the end of our mission. It's to provide effective and efficient municipal services for everyone, for all. And so I want to ensure that that for all is taken and that we operationalize that word to ensure that people with abilities and people with disabilities, that they are also included. So whether that means tapping in and making more connections with the nonprofit sector, people of different ages going out to the soccer fields, to the Miracle League, when those games are happening and trying to maybe table and engage people in that way. And it's really, I think the guidance that we've provided is meeting people where they are. And so I think there's definitely some really, really good work that has already been done. I think there's always room for improvement, no matter what, because there's no such thing as a perfect human being, right? But having said that, I am very... happy with what I see and I think with the further direction of even being more inclusive of You know, yes, I think it sounds like we're already reaching out to the high schools to youth I just envision like going out to the Pleasant Valley soccer fields You know, there's like thousands of people that are always showing up to the to the games and So yeah, those are the comments that I have. But overall, I'm actually very excited to see this and to be a part of it and to provide guidance as well.

Great, if I could respond because I think it speaks to Council Member Kildee's question as well. The other sort of milestone document from phase one is our technical background report, which we've posted to the website. And that has a whole chapter on community health that documents conditions in Ventura County and the city and benchmarks Camarillo against other peer cities in the region. And so that's a really sort of important baseline of information that we can carry forward. And in phase two, we will be in the, once we get into developing the alternatives, we can incorporate different strategies for addressing community wellness and health too. So I think we can really get at those. And as you say, sort of, it's an opportunity to educate and inform people about the other initiatives that are going on and why it matters to them in their daily lives.

Council Member Santangelo.

Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. I'd like to really thank you for the work that you've put into this. I'd like to thank the GPAC. I know that's a commitment, and I appreciate their willingness to participate. I'm really impressed by the turnout. I think we got really good community feedback. 850 responses is pretty impressive. I would like you to continue, and I think you've heard this, on the youth. I think reaching out to both schools, Rancho Capanha and Camarillo High School. And especially, I think some of that digital stuff will help to pull in some of the younger residents. And I think, you know, I really take to heart what Councilmember Martinez-Bravo said about the difference between, as a councilmember, what I see as a priority for the city and what a resident may see. But I'm not surprised in really what I saw as the output. I'm not surprised that people love our character and our small town quality. I'm not surprised that people value our agricultural background. So I'm not really surprised by the findings, and I'm really pleased to see them. And I'm excited, as she said as well, to see what goes next. So thank you.

Thanks. I would also point out that on our GPAC, we do have a student representative. Oh, good. Awesome. So that, to help, you know, with that engagement and that perspective as well.

That's great. Thank you.

Mr. Kildee.

Yeah, kind of a couple of interesting things that 25 years ago, one of the themes was the quality of life. And I think it's really great that it's still one of the comments that we get here. And also one of the comments 25 years ago was maintaining the small town atmosphere. And I appreciated a lot of the comments on that, too. This is much more comprehensive document than it was in the past. And it, you know, it's signed at the Times, but... It's really interesting. I think it's a very, you know, we've got to look to the future on this. It's got to last 25 years. And to me, this is always a working document here. But I want to commend you with your vision. And everything is in how you formulate the questions. And I think that you formulated them. very well And comment that I have I think it's really great to reach out to the youth, but I think we also want to reach out to the younger families in our city and Why do you live in Camarillo? What what actually brings you? to Camarillo and I think All of us are the future, but they're really the future here as well. And I think we want to make sure that we reach out to those folks, you know, the under 40 crowd, if you will, as much as we can. And I think we can learn a lot from them. And that's just one suggestion that I've got. But it's very... comprehensive in what you're doing. Three years is a while, but I can understand why you need the three years. But I look forward to this process. I look forward to being informed of what's going on. Again, this is a working document that we can always pivot, which is a good thing. So I'm excited about, you know, continuing this process and seeing what's out there. So keep it up.

I would like to just expand. We have two public high schools in Camarillo. We also have some private and faith-based high schools, so I wouldn't limit it to just the two public high schools. I would do outreach to the private and faith-based high schools. I look at this dais up here with all of us, and this is Camarillo's general plan through 2050. And I will assure you, none of us will be sitting here in 2050, but maybe one of these high school students or two or three or five of them will be sitting up here. So I think it's, you know what, I agree, young families, but I really think it's important to engage the youth to get their views on what they want from Camarillo. You know, many of them may go away to college, but if they're like my daughter, they just want to come home to Camarillo after college is over. Please don't neglect that part of our community because they're the future leaders. We're not. We're the current ones. So thank you. Any other?

One last thing, as I was thinking about just meeting also youth and young families where they are, a lot of the schools are going to have like back to school, open house, back to school nights. So I think having that partnership with our local school districts and schools, I think that's a great opportunity, like showing up, tabling, trying to gather data. AS PARENTS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN, WE'RE JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE EVERY DAY, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S LIKE A LITTLE BONUS THAT CAN BE OFFERED AT THE TABLE WHERE KIDS CAN STOP AND HOLD THEIR ATTENTION AND PARENTS AND KIDS CAN FILL OUT SOMETHING, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY, TOO.

THANK YOU. AND WITH THAT, OH, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? WITH THAT, DO WE HAVE A MOTION? I'LL MOVE THESE THREE RECOMMENDED ITEMS.

I'LL SECOND.

WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. MADAM CLERK, PLEASE CALL THE ROLL.

Council Member Santangelo? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez-Bravo? Yes. Council Member Kildee?

Yes.

Council Member Trembley? Yes. Mayor Tennyson?

Yes.

That passes unanimously.

And with that, before we actually recess the closed session again, is there anything to report from our earlier closed session?

No, I'll just note that two items, the OPV item and performance evaluation, we will be returning back into closed session for those items.

Thank you. Mr. Kildee, I believe you want to adjourn in somebody's memory.

Yes, if the council will allow me, I'd like to adjourn in the memory of Saul Kujan. And to say Saul was not a great man, and that's an overstated saying, is an understated saying for this individual. Saul was one of the greatest people that I've ever met in my life. Saul was a giver. If you ever had anything that you needed done for the city of Camarillo, Saul was always there with his beautiful wife, Laura. And Saul has helped me a lot in my life here. If you look at, and I encourage everybody to read Saul's obituary, and what he did is pale to what I've done or a lot of other people. Saul was one of the most engaging people in our history of Camarillo that's ever helped Camarillo become what it is. We would not be the city that we are today without Saul Kulishin. I just won't want to read all of his obituary but I do want to read a little bit of what he did to the for the community 25 plus years as a board of directors for the Boris and Gullis Club of Camarillo 28 years on the board of Crestview Mutual Water Company and 24 years of that as president Also 40 years as a spirited bid spotter for the ring at the Ventura County Fair Junior Livestock Auction. Saul's always highly concerned if not his number one concern was through the education and the welfare of our community's children. Saul was very, very instrumental in Rancho Campana High School. As a matter of fact, I'll go as far as to say without Saul's efforts, we would not have that high school in Camarillo. And Saul would come to the council meetings, and when we first started talking about that with unification, there was a big push several years ago to unify our school districts. The pro-unification folks were on this side, and the not pro, the anti-unification was all there. When Saul Coulijan got involved, at the end of this process, they were all seated together. Now that's leadership. That's an individual that knew how to bring people together on just about any issue that any of us could think about that. Saul was a master at that. I've never seen anybody that had a gift quite like Saul on that. Beautiful wife, Laura, his children, Excellent, I can talk a little bit about it. He's got a son that's not only a lawyer, but a doctor. He's got two daughters, very high achievers. One of the things that was the greatest thing about Saul, when he would come in and talk to me about issue, Saul was one of the smartest, if not one of the brightest people I've ever met, but he never wore it on his sleeve. He was always a give and take. He was always a discussion and always about how can we make things better and how can we improve the lives of people that live in Camarillo. He was married to a diehard Dodger fan, Laura. Very generous with his tickets and having people go down and watch his favorite teams, the Dodgers. I am... really going to miss Saul. And Saul was a giver, and he was an incredibly giving spirit in so many different ways. What I've said tonight is pale in what Saul has done for our community. So I want to thank my council for honoring Saul's presence in our community and adjourning in this meeting in the memory of Saul Kulija and just a great person, a great Camarillon, and just an all-around credit, and I mean credit, to our society. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tremblay.

Thank you, Kevin, for those words. I want to say a few words as well. I first met Saul Children 43 years ago when my wife and I moved here to this community to practice law. I was privileged to know him for all of those years. He's married to my former law partner, Laura McEvoy, who's a very close friend of mine. I would describe Saul as brilliant. He did not wear it on his sleeve, but he was brilliant. He was warm. He was funny. He had a great sense of humor. And to say that he was community minded, based on what Kevin just read, is a real understatement. There aren't enough Saul childrens in this world or in this community, we desperately need more. His life was a testimony to a life well-lived and caring about those members, caring about his community. So I think it's really appropriate. Kevin, thanks for taking the laboring oar on this. I think it's really appropriate that we adjourn in Saul's memory this evening. Thank you.

Vice Mayor.

I did not have the blessing and the opportunity to have known Sol, but Sol in Spanish means sunshine or sun. And so it sounds like he truly was the sun and the sunshine to Camarillo. And it sounds like that light will continue to shine on through all the impact that he had. So may he rest in peace and my condolences to his family as well.

Council Member Santangelo.

So I met Sol when I became elected to the council. He was very interested in knowing me then. And I learned a lot about him through my parents, who know him well. and I kind of know him as a character. He was fun, he was funny, and I thank him for his community service, for all that he's given back to our community, and I hope that he rests in peace, and my condolences as well to Laura and her family.

Well, I haven't known him as long as Mr. Tremblay. I met him in 1999 when I was the commander assigned to Camarillo. He was at every Boys and Girls Club event. He and his wife, Laura, were major donors to the Boys and Girls Club. In fact, last year... Last year or this year? Last year, they had a naming opportunity for their new maker space, the... Laura McEvoy and Saul Chulgin Room. They have given time, talent, and treasure forever to the Boys and Girls Club and I'm sure other endeavors. I saw him about two months ago. It was clear that Saul's health was failing, but he never lost his optimism, his quick wit, and his smile, even though you had to bend down to see it at that point. And I look at this picture up here, and this is a perfect example of Saul Chulgin. He never took himself too seriously. He was a serious man, but he never took himself too seriously. And I, too, will miss Saul. So, Kevin, thank you for bringing that up. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we will recess to our closed session.