City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello, good evening.

Just want to call the meeting to order for the Oxnard City Council for Tuesday, July 21. I just want to clarify for the record, and it also should be reflected in the minutes, that at least part of this City Council meeting is held pursuant to California Government Code Section 54943 , as Mayor Pro Tem Turan is participating remotely from the Visalia Marriott at the Convention Center located at 300 South Court Street in Visalia, California. in accordance with the Brown Act. The teleconference location has been listed on the agenda for this meeting. Madam Clerk, can you please proceed with the roll call and posting of the agenda? Afterward, we'll confirm certain matters for the record.

Council Member Parallo? Here. Councilwoman Perez? Here. Councilwoman Rodriguez? Present. Councilman Starr? Here. Mayor Pro Tempteran? Mayor MacArthur here the agenda for this meeting was posted in the kiosk at City Hall the Oxnard Public Library the City Administrative Offices and on the city's website on Thursday July 9th And I would like to request that mayor Pro Tem that on respond to the following questions Mayor print mayor Pro Tem that on can you hear me well? Yes, thank you. Were you able to hear our proceedings on this end up until now?

Yes

Do you have a copy of the agenda for this meeting?

Yes.

Have you posted the agenda at the location where you are located? Yes. Is your location reasonably accessible to the public such that any member of the public could participate in this teleconference from your location if he or she wished to do so?

Yes.

And the last question, is there any member of the public there with you who would like to participate in the public comment portion of this meeting? or otherwise address any items for this meeting?

Not at this time, no.

Thank you. I would like to advise the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and Council Members that any votes taken must be taken by roll call. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Prior to closed session, we will take public comments on the closed session agenda. Can the City Attorney please provide a statement prior to closed session?

The City Council will recess to a closed session pursuant to government code section 54956.9 subdivision D1 to confer with its attorneys. The matter being discussed is the workers' compensation claim of Alejandro Rangel.

Thank you, Mr. Fisher. Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers for the public comments part of the closed session?

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Members, there are no requests to speak in person or virtually for closed session. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. The City Council will now recess to a closed session at 6 p.m. We will begin the regular scheduled meeting. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. The City Council has just emerged from closed session, and I'd like to ask our City Attorney, Mr. Fisher, to make any announcements before we proceed.

Thank you, Mayor. There are no reports out of closed session for item C1.

Thank you, Mr. Fisher. Good evening, everyone. Just want to call the meeting to order for the Oxnard City Council, Oxnard Community Development, Commission Successor Agency, and the Oxnard Housing Authority for Tuesday, July 21, 2026. I want to clarify for the record, and it should be reflected in the minutes, that part of the city council meeting is being conducted under California government code section 54953, parenthesis B, as Mayor Pro Tem Turan is participating remotely from Visalia Marriott at the convention center located at 300 South Court Street in Visalia, California. This is in accordance with the Brown Act, the teleconference room, A LOCATION HAS BEEN LISTED ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING. MADAM CLERK, PLEASE PROCEED WITH THE ROLL CALL AND POSTING OF THE AGENDA AFTER WHICH WE WILL CONFIRM CERTAIN MATTERS FOR THE RECORD.

COUNCILWOMAN COMMISSIONER BERSUA. HERE. COUNCILMEMBER COMMISSIONER PIRALLA. HERE. COUNCILWOMAN COMMISSIONER PEREZ. HERE. COUNCILWOMAN COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ. PRESENT. COUNCILMAN COMMISSIONER STARR.

HERE.

MAYOR PROTEMP, VICE CHAIR TERRAN.

HERE.

Mayor McArthur, Chair McArthur?

Here.

The agenda for this meeting was posted in the kiosk at City Hall, the Oxnard Public Library, the City Administrative Offices, and on the City's website on Thursday, July 9th. I also have an announcement. Pursuant to Government Code Section 54952.3, each member of the Housing Board of Commissioners present will receive $50 pay for convening this meeting, with the exception of Commissioner Starr, who has declined to receive compensation. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. The next item is the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence, in which we'll take a moment of silence our military personnel that has been killed in the line of duty, and also for all who have lost their life, innocent people who have lost their life because of the conflicts we have going around the world. And for this, I'd like to turn this item over to Mayor Pro Tem to introduce Ashley Valdez, a 17-year-old cultural arts participant and Extra Help staff member who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Go ahead, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor. And I want to thank Ashley for taking the time to join us this evening. She will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence, as the mayor had mentioned, for the important reasons mentioned as well, followed by her sharing a little bit about her story. So I'll turn it over to Ashley at this point. Thank you.

Place your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, and liberty and justice for all.

Thank you again, Ashley, for joining us. We're all really excited to hear more about you. Go ahead.

It's my honor. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and council members. My name is Ashley Balderas-Arcega. I am a student at Oxnard High getting ready for my senior year. I'm a member of the Cultural Arts team. I'm involved in water polo, cheer, and swim at my high school, as well as founder and president of Mock Trial and the Garden Club secretary. I'm also part of OHS Law Academy, who is ran by Mr. Jaime Moreno. Everything I do is what brought me here today. Working for Cultural Arts has definitely been a wonderful adventure. I first started as an intern during last summer's Summer at City Hall program. When I first applied, I had zero clue where I would be placed, and honestly, I didn't try to find out. Moving towards the day I came to meet my supervisors, I was greeted with the most wonderful people, Julie, Diana, and Peter. Art has never been a thing I did or was good at, but in the short month, I learned how to trace, paint, and fix old paintings and even paint straight lines. As my summer wrapped up, I did a total of six projects with the art team. Later on, I was hired as a part-time employee and I couldn't be more grateful. Being on the team has really brought on my creative and talkative side out. I've learned how to communicate and socialize with others, such as my team and the community. And since I've been hired on, I have done small work as peanut character props and the largest mural at South Oxnard Library. One of the biggest things that I've learned is that art is ugly before it comes beautiful, meaning it's a lot of trial and error. and using everything we have to make it work. We definitely have our challenges, the sun being the biggest one, but we have learned to overcome them and keep pushing. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to continue working because I have been able to save up for my senior year and treat my family. Working for the city has also allowed me to use my experiences as a leader for younger kids, such as working with the PAL team for their cheer camp. I would like to thank the council members and city managers for allowing our program to continue doing such beautiful work for our city and for supporting staff to create a foundation to have a wonderful program that allows teens like me to protect and participate in these projects such as this. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Ashley. We have a certificate for you, but thank you for making those beautiful comments about us as a council and our executive leadership team. It just reminds us that we are, just reinforces that we're making the right policy decision to allow young people like yourself to thrive. So thank you very much for those comments. Thank you. Do you want to introduce anyone who's here with you? You're all welcome to come and take some photos and we'll present you with the certificate.

Personally, I would like to thank my team and my supervisors that are here today. Also, my family that is here today as well. And just everyone that has been supporting me is here today, and I would like to thank them. Thank you so much.

You know, I met Ashley a couple years ago in Mr. Jaime Moreno's class when I went and presented. And I remember, I know Mr. Moreno shared with me, you're one of the leaders in the class. And it's no surprise that you're here before us today. Great job, Ashley.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you again, Ashley. Thank you to the rec staff for being key leaders and shaping the lives of these young people. Thank you, Julie. Thank you very much. And before we proceed, I'd like to Before we go to the next item on the agenda, I'd like to turn it over to our city clerk to make an announcement.

I would, Mayor Pro Tem, I forgot to ask a few questions, so my apologies. Mayor Pro Tem, can you hear me well? Yes. Were you able to hear our proceedings on this end up until now?

Yes.

And do you have a copy of the agenda for this meeting?

Yes.

Have you posted the agenda at the location where you are located?

Yes.

Is your location reasonably accessible to the public such that any member of the public could participate in the teleconference from your location if he or she wished to do so?

Yes.

Is there any member of the public there with you who would like to participate in the public comment portion of this meeting or otherwise address any agenda items for this meeting?

Not at this time, no.

I would like to advise the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members that any votes taken must be by roll call. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. The next item on the agenda is for public comments for items not on the agenda and also for non-action items. Madam Clerk, are there any public speakers for this item?

Yes, Mayor, we have a few in just a minute.

I just want to make a reminder, anyone who wishes to speak on items not on the agenda and for non-action items, you can come forward or you may fill out, you have the option to fill out a speaker card if you like, or you're joining us virtually, please press star nine to raise your hand and I will call you if you want to join us virtually. JR Ruiz. Followed by Alexis Schmidt.

Good afternoon. I'm here on my agenda again because I'm here briefly for another couple weeks, so I kind of want to squeeze this in. So I'm really here to remind you that I'd like to meet with you about my moth property and maybe building that stadium like we talked about. And I also want to push my agenda for the public that I really feel that maybe we should do like music nights at the plaza, like maybe a DJ on Saturday and classic music on Sunday. It would bring in people and bring in more revenue for the taxes because people consume from the local businesses. There's things that we could also do over there that would be like we could have skate ramps and we could do like a Ciclovia. There's a city where I live at, they have about 20 million people. And every Sunday morning, they shut down the speedway around the city. And they let the community come out there, skate with their kids, and rollerblade, and walk, and exercise. And I think we could do it here around the plaza at the same time. I'd be interested in taking care of that. Also, when I traveled to different towns, I noticed that in every city, there's a place where the old men sit, like in the center of plaza. And they just relax and they meet because they retire. They got nothing to do but talk to their friends. And it seems like here at the bus station, they took those benches away for the elder people because of the business owner. And I think that we shouldn't do that because that's something that every town has. And I think they're citizens like everybody else. And they put in their time. And they deserve to have benches there. Also, some of the things that I wanted to bring into mind I know there's a lot of people that are out and about from the mission to the community center. And there's an area there that I saw that I think the city should accommodate, put some benches for them, because sometimes you just need a place to sit and think about things. And that was another project that I kind of had in mind, that I think the city needs to do more for the people. Also in front, I noticed that they canceled the truck stops. And you guys got to understand that these truckers that come to take our products to other stores, That's the hardest job in the world. I worked in the trucking industry with one of the biggest corporations, and it's really a sacrifice. And I think we should fix that for them instead of telling them they can't park there, because at the end of the day, they're bringing in general revenue for the city, and we've got to be more accommodating to the people. Also, one other thing that I wanted to bring up is a gentleman that has a bakery over here. I don't know the name. And it seemed he spent like $20,000, $30,000 remodeling his bakery, and the city blocked his parking lot out. And I always thought, man, that's kind of unsafe because when I want to pull in there, which I never do, it's kind of unsafe, but it kind of anti-business. I would say that, I don't know who programmed that, but it seems like it doesn't help the situation. And they should have just left parking spaces there for the public. I think it's called a rally house or something like that. And one other thing is that I like to see if by my parents' home, there's some signs that were put up that says no parking, if we can work on that. And the last thing is, um, more bike lanes to make it clear and safer for the kids. I guess in the future I'll be able to explain more about that.

Thank you. Thank you, JR. Alexis? And then followed by Angel Garcia.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. So I'm the chair of the East Village Neighborhood Council, and we recently were assigned a new beat coordinator, Mike Cole. And I have not been able to get in contact with him for a few months now over several complaints. He didn't come to our last neighborhood council meeting. And also I invited him to National Night Out and didn't hear back. And I'm hearing from other people in the neighborhood that they're also not hearing back from him. And now I'm receiving a higher volume of complaints about things going on. So I don't know if there's like, you know, if we're busier, if there's less patrol going on or something like that. But I would really appreciate at least a line of contact so that we can, as the neighborhood, be at least informed when really there isn't a lot of communication going on.

So thank you. Thank you, Alexis. Go ahead, Council Member Perlow. Can you, excuse me, Speaker, can you share the information with the Assistant City Manager?

We will. We actually got it. Thank you. It's a Mike Cole you talked about.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Alexis. Angel Garcia? Followed by Heather Schmidt.

Hello. Good evening, Mayor, City Council and staff. My name is Angel Garcia, District 3 resident, lifelong resident of Oxnard. I'm going to try to channel my inner Reverend Runyon from my comment because, you know, I've never really made a comment like this, especially before the City Council. And, you know, when someone runs for city council, you hope that that person runs with the mindset of serving the community, recognizing the needs of the community and the district, and really working in partnership with community members, with staff, to really make that into a reality, right? And as a District 3 resident, I'm gravely concerned, and I really want to raise the alarm about my particular council member, and that's Council Member Stark. And I don't think enough people are really paying attention about what's going on and what his future and what he wants to do means for the city as an organization and for a community. And for most folks that don't know, in May, Councilmember Starr attended a libertarian convention. And he made it very clear that he wants to make City of Oxnard his vision of a libertarian haven. And he's willing to put crazy amounts of money to make that happen. And those are my words. That's what he said. And there's going to be clips later to show that. And that's very concerning. I mean, that really just speaks to me as a resident, as someone that's been civically engaged since I was in high school, that they're just in it for themselves. I mean, what an honor it is to serve La Colonia and Rose Park, the beautiful district we have in District 3, and to put your agenda and your interests first, and if that means putting in a lot of money, I mean, that is gravely concerning. And just the manner of... the partnership between STAR and staff the ridicule. I mean these are people that work night and day and I think they deserve respect and especially with the budget meeting to see him vote no on a budget that includes programs for our community important infrastructure, for me as a voter and a resident, I'm gravely concerned about that. I mean, that shows that you're not willing to put community programs first, programs for our youth, for our seniors, union contracts, for our hardworking police officers, firefighters. I mean, I really want to make sure that residents of Oxnard and District 3 are aware of what's happening in these meetings. what these votes mean, and with the upcoming elections, what he's planning on doing by putting this crazy amount of money. I mean, it's crazy to me to think that someone that's not from Oxnard wants to come here, invest this much money for their way of thinking, because they think they know what's best for Oxnard, which frankly, I disagree. And you know, I think it's important to have that good partnership, but it's clear to me that you're not interested in that, and it's either your way or the highway. And that concludes my comments. Thank you.

Thanks, Angel. Heather Schmidt, followed by Oscar Sanchez.

My comments are in a video.

Thank you, Louis. Thank you. Diego, please play the video.

good evening mayor council and city staff it's time for a reality check i'm going to change that what i've done is i've recruited three candidates to run with me uh in to run in november i'm not that not only have i been recruiting candidates but i've been raising money for them some of you who have previously donated to aaron's campaign are on a an interesting map it's dots of where libertarians live all over the country so it's

Alicia and I interviewed dozens of people trying to find folks that would actually be part of our agenda.

So now we have confirmation that the following rumors are actually true. Number one, council member Starr has been raising funds for three candidates in an attempt at a hostile takeover of the city this fall.

By the way, I want to introduce my wife, Alicia Purcell. We are an absolute partnership. I could not do this without her. There are some folks that have actually called her the eighth council member. because she and I work so closely together.

Two, Council Member Starr works closely with an unelected member of the public to such an extent that violations of confidentiality, ethics and other relevant laws, including the Brown Act, are now in question. Three, Council Member Starr doesn't care about good governance and transparency.

Any future whistleblowers, you please contact me.

If he did, he'd respond in good faith to public records requests and prioritize his district over partisan events. The truth is that all the ballot measures... What's the point of having this conversation at all?

Because it doesn't mean anything. Would you commit...

the lawsuits if you guys believe after looking at that that's a justified expense okay i don't give a lot of weight to your opinion what what expense are you referring all the drama the point of order the mayor has a floor here actually i hit the floor and he's taking it back right When will I have an opportunity to speak?

Hold on a second. That's just the libertarian playbook to destroy a city from the inside. And now we have confirmation that's been his plan all along. It's my 19th convention, actually. How embarrassing. This breach of public trust cannot continue. You have to take steps to secure this organization. First, mayor and council, please consider reorganizing the city committees. It is not appropriate for a council member with a publicly stated goal of dismantling a municipal government to be on the finance and governance committee of that very government. And second, please update the city council procedures manual to include a more robust code of conduct and a clearly defined procedure for censure, such that our neighbors in Ventura and Camarillo have already done. all have an obligation to rein this insanity in. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Mr. Oscar Sanchez. Followed by Alicia Porcel.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, Committee. Good evening. You can call me Oscar. I'm a coach and mentor here in Oxnard. Throughout the years, I have worked with people of many ages, backgrounds, physical and mental abilities and conditions. Thanks to that experience, I've been able to develop something called the OM alignment or OM as a, you know, the mantra. a practical community-based system for emotional regulation, confidence building, and personal leadership development. I work with people who are navigating things like stress, identity, parenthood, work pressures, and the traumas of past experiences. Many of them don't seek therapy. Many of them don't feel comfortable in a traditional wellness place, yet they show up and they're open to learn and train when it feels familiar when they feel safe and they're able to open up their heart. That's the gap that the arm alignment is seeking to fill. Over the past year, I've been piloting the program with adults in Oxnard, teaching tools of self-regulation, conflict de-escalation, and emotional clarity. I've seen anger turn into patience, isolation turn into healthy routines, and families reconnecting. I've seen people who felt stuck in life find goals and purpose. This isn't therapy, it isn't exactly counseling, but it is a structured personal development with many layers rooted in discipline, reflection, integrity, love, and community accountability. It's designed to be safe, neutral, and accessible, especially for anyone who doesn't respond to traditional support systems. Every part will be designed with intention and purpose to help towards the next step in our community's growth and connection. I'm here today because Oxnard is my hometown and I love this place. I've left multiple times out of state, out of the counties and I always end up coming back because this is just no place like here. You know, I love this place and I've always, for the people that have known me for a long time, they know that I've always wanted to help others. My whole life, that's anything I've always wanted to do. And after 42 years, I've accumulated enough experience and wisdom to be able to use what God brought me here for and everything that I've gone through to help that to teach others to prevent them from making the same mistakes that I've made, that I've seen others make and just be better people in general. Our people will benefit from this in every aspect such as home life, relationships, work life, life choices, stress regulation and overall better health, overall better life decisions because as the old saying goes, I apologize. You can't see clearly in boiling water.

Thank you, Oscar.

Mayor, we have some virtual callers. Maybe we can recognize them.

Yeah. Alicia, do you want to... I know I called you up. Do you want to go up next? Is it okay if I call some virtual speakers? You okay with that? Okay. Madam Clerk, we'll go to the virtual speakers.

Virtual speaker, if you can press star six to unmute, and you have three minutes starting now.

Hi, this is Eric Andrus, Henry Levy House owner. I'm not a libertarian. I'm just a resident trying to make Oxnard better for everyone, not just District 3. Councilmember Starr, please move over to District 4 so your efforts can really be appreciated and not distorted. These naysayers don't know what they're talking about and don't realize you work for the entire city, not just District 3. Everyone needs to remember that the public record advocate refuses to respond all the time. There are far worse council members than Erin Starr and District 3 isn't calling for their recall. What does Gabriella Bethua do during council meetings except play on her computer? Watch her eyes where they are the whole meeting. When she does speak, it's word salad. Mayor, what policies are the administration making so that I can thrive here? Are those efforts only for select people who haven't yet needed to hold the city accountable? Last week, I told you I was assaulted adjacent to my home in City Hall's own backyard in your precious historic district next to a potentially dangerous park being built. Only Gabriela Rodriguez contacted me. Our elected mayor didn't contact me. He seems to have deliberately forgotten me after I spent more than a year helping him. I wonder if y'all would take a moment of silence for me if the assailant had killed me with metal objects he threw at my head. Who else contacted me with concern? The people's elected treasurer, Phil Molina. He also told me about a strange man entering his office at City Hall, threatening to firebomb and kill him. As I understand it, the city attorney's office, which has a clear vendetta against Mr. Molina, refused to help him seek a restraining order against a man the police report identified as known to officers. Molina asked the police chief how to protect himself and got no response. Four days later, what was all over the news? An Oxnard police officer who had, quote, sustained minor injuries in a tussle with a perp. Paid city employees get press releases. Vocal taxpayers get ignored. Today I participated in a police lineup. Hopefully it will identify my assailant. But since it happened to me, y'all don't care anyway, right? It has to happen to a police officer before you can feign concern with a press release. days later a truck trailer crashed into second street an oxnard police officer directly behind it saw everything what did he do nothing he sat on his car while the driver and passenger pushed it to the side no help no warning lights no protection for passing traffic the officer issued no citation under vehicle code 29004 requiring a safety chain or equivalent device or section 24002 prohibiting unsafe or improperly equipped vehicles Although city leaders often treat their city manuals as optional, OPD's manual section 316.2.2 says emergency lights shall be displayed when necessary to protect an extreme hazard scene, including a roadway blocked by a disabled vehicle. Policy 520.2 says an officer observing a disabled vehicle on the roadway should make a reasonable effort to assist. When exactly do cops ticket people? Only when they hold the city accountable? Thank you, Mr. Andrus, for your call.

Thank you. Virtual speaker, if you can press star six to unmute and you have three minutes starting now.

Yes, can I be here?

Yes, please proceed.

Good evening, Mayor, council members and city staff. I'm a resident of District 3, and I live in East Village, where Councilmember Aaron Starr is my representative. I have grown pretty frustrated with the way Mr. Starr is handling his position. Many people thought that when he won his seat, he'd stop with all the lawsuits, but it seems that wasn't true. He's cost voters over $4 million in legal fees alone, and it's only a matter of time before the city faces lawsuits relative to his behaviors towards staff or even the public. And what if he gets away with this plan that he has to take over the council and fire a bunch of staff members? Will the city not face costly lawsuits over that too? He also promised us he would solve homelessness and lower the cost of living. I'd like to know how voting against the Oxnard Navigation Center and how planning to privatize all our utilities is going to save us anything. And what about when he's voted against all the ordinances that said a landlord can't harass a tenant? As I understand it, that ordinance was about harassment. Mr. Starr, you voted to let your constituents be harassed. Mr. Starr, I think the voters gave you a chance, but you seem to be blowing it. The recent libertarian video is very disturbing, and it is evidence that you lied to your constituents and concealed the secret plan you had. The public is seeing a real mess, and I hope it will be resolved soon. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you for coming in. We'll go to the next virtual speaker.

Sarah, if you can hear me, please press star six, and you have three minutes starting now.

Hi, good evening. Mary MacArthur members of the city council. My name is Sarah. And I am a volunteer with 805 and fund and an oxide resident. I'm just here to give you your update on. Ice activity in the 805. Currently, the latest kidnapping numbers as of 9 a.m. on July 19th, starting from January of 2025, in the 805 area code, 2,358 people have been kidnapped. In Ventura County, 1,142, and 233 of those are from Oxnard. And just as a reminder, if you see anything suspicious, please call or text 805-870-8855. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Sarah. We'll go to the next virtual speaker.

Virtual speaker, if you can hear me, please press star six and you have three minutes starting now.

Hi, can you hear me? Yes, please proceed. Hi, good evening, City Council and Mayor Pro Tem. I'm calling because recently I had seen a video on social media, but apparently that video is old now because there's a new one. But in this video, it was of Star and Mama Purcell at a libertarian convention, admitting that he has a libertarian agenda for Oxnard. He said and I quote Alicia and I interviewed dozens of people trying to find folks that would actually be part of our agenda. And end of quote but then he later on he also said I recruited three candidates. Districts 1 2 and 5 wake up because errands start things you're all stupid. I did a little detective work, and I found the actual—the whole video. And in it, he also says—he tells his fellow libertarians that if they want to run for office, to come to him, because he knows what to say. And as the previous speaker said— You know he ran on lowering the cost of living and all these other things and he hasn't done any of that. So he was just saying that to get your vote. District 3 already fell for it. Districts 1 2 and 5 don't fall for him and his agenda and his puppets. I hope that you guys can clearly see now that Aaron Starr, Mama Purcell, his friends Mr. Portobello and the angry man that always calls, they don't want what's best for District 3 or for Oxnard, as a matter of fact. They just want to force their libertarian agenda on us. Mr.—I'm sorry—Aaron is not even from Oxnard. He didn't grow up here. He doesn't know what's best for Oxnard. He just wants some kind of, like, control to feel better about himself. I don't know. I can tell you that District 1, anything that John Barak, District 2, Lizanne Nanez, and District 5, Noemi Corpus, tell you, they're all going to be lies. Why? Because Aaron Starr knows exactly what to say. And he's going to tell them what to say, just like he said in his speech, that he'd share all this stuff with any other libertarian who's open to it. He also admitted to raising money for them. So don't I don't know how he's going to deny that he didn't do this, because why are you raising money for them? At the moment, you know, obviously, like I said previously, he does not have Oxnard's best interest in mind, let alone District 3.

Does that conclude the virtual speakers, Madam Clerk?

Excuse me, Mayor, yes, that concludes our virtual speakers. Thank you. We'll go to Ms. Alicia Parcell.

So there was another video two weeks ago and tonight's comments. I have to say it's amusing that some people think that the good club is entitled to a monopoly on candidate recruitment and fundraising for the people they support. Nobody else is allowed to do that. Interesting, though, Oxnard has been... living under the policies of the Good Club supported candidates for many years and a lot of people are not happy with results. All we get are high taxes and poor service levels and a lot of businesses are driven away. You know, our supporters contact us and tell us what recall proponents or supporters say to try to get signatures to qualify for the recall. One contacted us and said the person at her door claimed that Aaron owns a house in Simi Valley, like he doesn't even live here. That's just false. You know, property ownership records are public. There's no basis to even believe it. You know, this person ought to know better. But, you know, they're just making things up to tell to people. You know, I have a question for... For those of you in this meeting who are openly or secretly assisting the recall efforts, are you comfortable with the racist images on the flyer that is being hounded out for the recall? I mean, in the second box here, there's a little map cut out of South Oxnard, and there's a generic family with brown skin, and there's a generic white person to the side, and the white person has a red X. over it. Nobody's identified there, but I find that pretty interesting. I don't know if those of you supporting the recall are supportive of that kind of messaging or not. For somebody to accuse a person who doesn't even accept compensation for serving on the council of being in it for themselves is pretty interesting. Tonight's video allegations are just more baseless and vague allegations. And at the end of it, it's pretty interesting to play a video of Aaron being interrupted by other people and then suggest that he should be censored for decorum violations when he was the one being interrupted and then the video turns around and violates decorum standards by referring to anybody that disagrees with them as insanity. I mean, that's just, you can't say that these council meetings don't give us entertainment value. I'll say that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Purcell. Madam Clerk, I understand we have two other virtual speakers. Let's proceed with them.

Yes, that is correct. Virtual speaker, if you can hear me, if you can press star six to unmute and you have three minutes starting now.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. What we are witnessing in District 3 is a proud portrayal of public trust. We have a council member who explicitly prioritizes his personal political ambitions over his sworn civic duties. While his constituents were gathered in scheduled neighborhood council meetings looking for leadership and answers, Council member Aaron Starr was completely absent. Where was he? He was attending a national libertarian convention, networking and soliciting campaign donations to fund his broader political takeover of Oxnard. When an elected official values out-of-town partisan networking over the real everyday concerns of the working families who elected him, he has forfeited his right to represent them. Furthermore, Mr. Starr operates under the dangerous delusion that money possesses a First Amendment right to free speech. Anyone with a modicum of common sense knows this is an absolute absurdity, regardless of flawed Supreme Court precedents. Money is not speech. Money is power. Allowing unchecked financial influence into our political arena does not protect free expression. Instead, it subverts democracy entirely by ensuring that only the exceptionally wealthy and powerful have a megaphone, effectively silencing regular working class residents. This brings us to the acute danger of outside money and local politics. City council races should be entirely about our community, about local public infrastructure and the direct immediate needs of our neighborhoods. But when candidates invite deep-pocketed outside donors and special interest groups into a municipal election, they shift accountability away from the local electorate. Local governance is meant to be a grassroots reflection of the community's collective will, not a playground for wealthy out-of-town ideologues buying influence. Outside money distorts the playing field. drowns out local voices, and transform our local council into a battlefield for national political agendas. We can't allow the leadership of Oxnard to be bought and paid for by outside special interests. I strongly urge all District 3 voters to make their voices heard, reclaim their representation, and sign the recall petition against Aaron Starr. For the rest of Oxnard, we must collectively repudiate this calculated effort to spend our city council and replace it with an ideological puppet government. Our city belongs to the people who live and work here, not the high dollar donors funding Mr. Starr's political machinery. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll go to the next virtual speaker.

Virtual speaker, if you can hear me, if you can press star six to unmute and you have three minutes starting now.

Hello, this is Manny Herrera. Mr. Mayor, I don't appreciate your favoritism to the eighth council member, Alicia Purcell. Every time you ask her, you tell her that it's her time to speak, and then you give her the option to wait to hear what everybody's going to talk about her husband about, then that way she can have the last word. That's not cool. Anyways, my real reason for calling is to talk about the takeover of Oxnard. You know, everyone always asks, what is Aaron Starr's true agenda for Oxnard? Why is he willing to dedicate his whole life and his money to fighting City Hall? He must really love Oxnard, and he must really be a fighter for the people. And remember, that's what he ran on, right? Well, that's what he wanted you to believe. Just like Donald Trump, Aaron Starr lied to everyone just to get elected. And just like Trump, once he got into office, his true agenda was revealed. This past May at the Libertarian Convention, Starr revealed his real agenda for Oxnard. At the convention, he literally said, I have recruited three candidates to run in November to be part of my robust agenda reform for Oxnard. He plans to replace his fellow council members, Turan, Basuwa, and Parello. Starr also mentioned he is funding these candidates. And who are these candidates? John Baric, Lizanne Nanez, and Noemi Corpus. So make sure you remember these Aaron Starr endorsed candidates come November. Because the only thing worse than one Aaron Starr Our four Aaron stars. Imagine that. And if that happens, then Oxnard will be a libertarian ruled city. And if that happens, look for this new libertarian council to outsource our solid waste department, our fire department, and our police department. And if that happens, we're all screwed. So how does Starr pay for all this? Well, he doesn't. It's the libertarian party that is funding this takeover. So what can you do about this? First of all, reach out to the Oxnard Recall of Aaron Starr social media pages and ask to either sign the recall petition, volunteer to gather signatures, or donate money. Do not vote for the Aaron Starr endorsed and funded candidates in November. Say no to the proposed Aaron Starr libertarian takeover of Oxnard. Those are my comments.

Thank you, Mr. Herrera, for calling in. Madam Clerk, does that conclude the virtual speakers?

Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, yes, that concludes our speakers in person and virtually for items not on the agenda. Thank you.

Thank you very much. The next item on the agenda is Item H. This is the report of the City Manager, Ashley. The next item is item I. This is a report of our city council members. We'll start to my left, Councilwoman Perez.

Thank you, Mayor, for the recognition. Just a quick report of all the things that I've been working on. I've met with cause and members of their climate team to discuss their newly released policy briefing. I also had the opportunity to give a presentation to Channel Highlands High School students who are part of their summer Upward Bound program. It was really awesome to hear them give public comment about a lot of the issues that are facing our community. within three minutes, so it was great to be able to give, to have that experience and also share what the landscape of local government is and how they can get involved in their neighborhoods and within their community overall. Today I also had a South Oxnard Connect project briefing to talk about some of the plans there. They're going to be having another community meeting next Thursday. I believe it's next Wednesday actually at 6 p.m. at the South Oxnard Center. So definitely encourage folks to come out to that event, give your feedback, give your thoughts on the project and ideas there. This morning I also had the opportunity to meet with the Nature Conservancy team to talk about Ormond Beach and some of the layers there in terms of some project development, but also the importance of safety in our community and making sure that as we develop projects opportunity there, that there are plans in place for environmental restoration, public access, and public safety measures as well. This Thursday is the last day of the Summer Youth Academy. It's been such an amazing opportunity to witness all of the students get that firsthand experience of what our department staff are doing, have face-to-face conversations on who the people are that make our city run, whether it's our environmental resources team, public works, housing, all the various departments. And so it was really great to give them that exposure over the summer and excited to even welcome our next academic Voices of Oxnard youth cohort coming up pretty soon. The Youth Academy will be giving their final presentations on Friday about issues that they care about and some recommendations on how the city can continue to address those issues. And the last thing I'll report is that next Wednesday, at the same time, there is going to be a carbon end of the year project. There were some partnerships that made it possible to increase air pollution monitors in the community. And so they'll be doing their wrap-up presentation next Wednesday as well. And that is my report.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilmember Perlow.

Thank you. I appreciate the public's comments. Thank you very much. Recently at the Ventura County Organization of Local Governments there was a presentation by Ventura County Environmental Health Department having to do with sidewalk food vendors. The issues were pointed out how severe the issue is of lack of health control for the people that are selling food on the sidewalks. They made a tremendous presentation. I have no knowledge, but I would assume that some of my fellow councilmen would be interested in having that presentation here. They did offer to make the presentation if there was interest in the city. Recently, the council has been informed that the city of Oxnard prevailed in a lawsuit with Mr. Starr And after his appeals and denials, we were awarded $26,000 for costs. Tomorrow, the Fox County Groundwater Management Agency will be holding a meeting. Again, residents of Oxnard, there is a very strong reason to fight for your water rights. Your water rights, there's various terms, called potable water. We're talking about drinking water. There is going to be a reduction in the amount of water that we are able to get. There's an ongoing fight to get what we're entitled to, and to the credit of the Public Works Department and the City Attorney's Office, they're doing a hell of a job for you. That's my comments.

Thank you, Council Member. Councilwoman, do you have any comments? Actually, I'm sorry, if we could just pause on that. Mayor Pro Tem Turan?

Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of quick comments. I want to again thank our speaker tonight, Ashley, for making the time to be here and for the sharing of her story and her journey as a recent city employee. And I think it speaks to many of our city employees who have uh longevity and have dedicated years of service to our community how many of them started in in entry-level positions or introductory positions and have stayed with the city for many many years and I hope it's the start of yet another one of those stories within the city, someone who will dedicate their career to serving their community and our community. So thank you, Ashley, and thank you to the recreation team for supporting her and for having her share that with us today. Just some quick announcements here. The Fremont South Neighborhood Council will meet on the 27th at 630 at the Police Activities League. This will be an election meeting. And the previous chair moved out of the neighborhood, actually out of state. And I want to thank Kim Winch for her service to the community and to the neighborhood. She also, for a time, worked for the fire department. and did a lot of community education and outreach, as well as her husband, Wayne, who was also on the executive board. So they both moved, and so this will be an election meeting for all of the executive board positions for anyone who's interested and lives in the Fremont South neighborhood. I'll let Councilwoman Basuwa speak to this more in depth, but I was very pleased to be able to attend the Paletas in the Park at College Park with Supervisor Lopez and Councilwoman Basuwa last week. Thank you so much for allowing me to hang out with you all. And I saw a lot of really good conversation with constituents and work at problem solving. And it's just a great thing to see in a great, it's just great to have a good working relationship with our County supervisor as well. So thank you both again for holding the event and for inviting me to that and, or allowing me to stay, I should say for letting me crash it. And then lastly, I, I was able to present this Monday morning to the Youth Right to Rise youth group who work with the attorney, Vanessa Frank. And I believe we've seen these young people in council chambers in the past and out in the community. And we had a really great open discussion around what it means to be a local elected official in 2026. uh especially as it pertains to many of their priority areas and they look what they look at in their desire to go into the law profession and when we look at federal actions against many of our vulnerable community members and those who make up much of the backbone of our community they it is not lost on that group that they want to look at what can be done to continue to support them and they look at their ability their capacity and they wanted to hear from an elected official's perspective as well. So I want to thank them again for that invitation. And it was a really great conversation. And those are my comments. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Councilwoman Pasua.

Thank you. I've had a busy two weeks. I attended Les Cortes board meeting. We have the Housing Authority doing great things there. And we're going to see something on the agenda tonight that is really, really going to be able to take the housing authority to the next level. I also had a meeting regarding South Ochsner Connect as Council Member Perez, and I will be meeting with the Nature Conservancy this week regarding Ormond Beach Park. I also had the opportunity to meet with members of the community that were here at our last Council meeting regarding our mobile home park rent stabilization. I got to hear some of the concerns and issues that have arrived. I have had a great conversation with Brenda, and we are going to do our best to try to get an informational campaign out to our mobile homeowners so they understand the process that needs to be taken when they feel that they want to object to a rent increase. So I really want to thank staff for that. And I was honored to be joined, or join, I should say, Supervisor Vianney Lopez at Paletas at the Park last Friday. And thank you to Mayor Pro Tem for joining us and helping hand out paletas. It was very interactive. We got to meet with members of the community, District 5. They asked about the aquatic center. That was a hot topic. We told them that, you know, what happened and what stopped us from constructing the aquatic center, the lawsuits that took place. They shared their frustration. But most importantly, they shared the fact that they, have to take their kids to Ventura to get swimming lessons. That we here in Oxnard do not offer that. We had a great opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, we were stopped. We were in a legal battle. We prevailed. But the community lost. At the end of the day, the community lost. And I have been extremely honest with the community that at this point based on our bonds and our interest rate, it wouldn't make sense. We've lost a great opportunity to bring something great to Oxnard. And I say that with a heavy heart because there is some of us that don't understand the value of bringing things into our community and the hurt that we do to families when we fail to see the need. I want to make sure that the community at least knows that I'm paying attention, I'm listening, and I want to continue to fight for what's right for Oxnard. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Storer?

Thank you. I missed you folks two weeks ago. Other than the July 4 events, the only thing worth reporting is my attendance at the Association of Water Agencies meeting. where there was some discussion of a $350 million general obligation infrastructure bond that will be on the ballot this November. And I'd like to say that any time an agency wants to go into debt, the voters should always have the opportunity to weigh in on the decision. So I'm happy to see that the electorate will have that opportunity here. Mr.. Perello is correct. I lost a lawsuit where I was trying to defend folks rights to vote whether to go into debt or not and The city now can do it without the permission of voters. I think that's just horrendous and Even though we can do it. I don't think we should ever do it. I think that if we want to go into debt Let the voters decide that That's all I thank you Thank You councilor star guess one Rodriguez

Yes, thank you. I have a few updates that I wanted to share. There's going to be a meetup cleanup this upcoming Saturday at 800 Hobson Way Community Center Park. And so I look forward to being there and look forward to having folks join us. I want to give kudos to PAL, the nonprofit, and the community services group that put together the backpack distribution and laptop distribution. There was about 500 kids and families that were fortunate enough to receive a backpack and a laptop. So thank you for the invite. And it was great to be part of that very I don't know, just a heartwarming event. I think that's the best way I could describe it. That was a collaboration between the AT&T Foundation and the Human IT, or Humanity I think is the play on words. But that was, those backpacks were given to our PAL programs and they selected families throughout the community. So thank you for that. I had a constituent reach out to me about a, I don't know, mailer that was sent out about tenant protections and rent stabilization. There's community meetings happening. There was one recently on July 16. So I want to thank the person who called me. And we'll call him Bob because he wanted to stay anonymous. And he was just sharing his concerns about some of the fees that are getting proposed. So I did have city staff respond to him from housing about why those fees were assessed and what is being proposed with those fees. So there will be additional meetings for us to hear from community next month. And I know that there were some initial conversations happening. And I think this person's concern really was talking about how they're a tenant and They try to be a fair tenant and and just some of the strains So I think is really important that we hear from different perspectives and in our efforts of still protecting Tenants and a lot of folks suffering in different ways that we hear from from all angles I don't want to see your thunder mayor But I want to thank the Oxford College Foundation the city of Oxnard especially folks running behind the scenes trying to make this happen and There was a watch party in collaboration with Oxford College, ,, the College Foundation, and the city. The FIFA final watch party was at Oxford College this past Sunday, which was really amazing. It was a very warm, heartfelt event, family friendly, a lot of children. And it was just everybody in good spirits. So congratulations to the winners. And it was a great time to have everybody come together just in support of something that is very important to the community. Many times when we see these gatherings or folks, you know, rallying right now, there's been a lot of tensions in the community and a lot of polarization, but it was nice to see people come together for, you know, just the love of the sport. I'm very excited about some of the, well, I won't go into the items because I don't want to break Brown Act, but kudos to the senior center that's going to get remodeled soon. And yeah, anybody wanting to join us for the meetup cleanup, I look forward to going there. I'm also looking forward to the ribbon cutting happening this Friday, July 24th at 11 a.m. at the renaming of the John C. Zaragoza Transit Center. And last but not least, I want to give a shout out to Chapter 30. I went to their grand opening last weekend. I think on Saturday they had local artists displaying their art show. So I think it's a great kickoff right there on the corner of Fifth Street and Menta Street. So folks haven't checked it out. There's a new art studio in town. So thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilwoman. I'll make my comments brief. Many of you know I stay quite busy. I went to Grace Life Community Church to celebrate with them 81 years of service to Oxnard. It's incredible. 81 years, formerly the Trinity Baptist Church, presented them with a beautiful commendation that I crafted. Also gave a certificate acknowledging 20 years of pastoral leadership to Pastor Carlos Spates for his service and vision for Grace Life Community Church. Also, I was... Given a recognition and, you know, nice, just I was honored by New Dawn. It's a mental health provider that offers family counseling. and services to individuals and children facing mental health trauma. And I certainly, coming from policing, know the challenges with vulnerable communities. So they celebrate 10 years of service, New Dawn, and they highlighted several key individuals. And so I was very honored to receive an award by New Dawn. Also, I have met with several constituents in my office. I have an open-door policy and many set up appointments to come with me, to come to meet with me, and we talk over issues and discussions. That has led me to go out to several businesses and take a look at some of the challenges that they're facing, including homeowners and renters going out to their house. I readily drive over to their house and take a look at some hazards that they highlight. So I'm very thankful that I'm able to take that information back, work with our executive leadership team to try to resolve some of their issues. And also for us, it's good to get ahead of it to avoid any potential hazards. Also this morning, received a really kind invitation by our police department to go and speak to, it's a married couple who are police officers who combined have provided service to the Oxnard community for 52 years. So I was able to go and make some brief comments and celebrate with them and their separation from the police department. I also attended the county BMI meetings as well as the city BMI meetings engaging with the local business community and to always make myself available to how we can support their efforts because I certainly believe if local businesses thrive, then we all thrive as a city because they provide employment to our workforce and that we benefit from the taxes and also benefiting from the culture that they provide. I went to the... Dale Dean Memorial Mass here at Guadalupe Church. I know Council Member Perlow talked about Dale Dean, who was a former neighborhood council chair as well as a planning commissioner for many years. So I went to his memorial mass. And lastly, much like to what Councilwoman Rodriguez mentioned, we wrapped up the World Cup here on Sunday. Many of you know I'm an avid enthusiast of the World Cup, and I'm always present in youth sports because of the benefit that I certainly believe they provide. Organizations that run youth sports, utilize spaces like parks to make them hub for gatherings that are beneficial for young people to develop their pro-social skills for families to come together. So I'm so grateful. As I mentioned before, sometimes it's easy to do nothing as a leader, but it takes a lot of effort to put events together such as the July 3rd event that I imagined and with the help of others we were able to realize that. But also with the collaboration of the Heritage Square, with Randy Latimer there, and others who put together, along with myself, those watch parties to bring community together. And this last one, thank you to our city attorney who worked Friday night on his day off writing an MOU so that we can bring together a beautiful watch party in collaboration with the community marketplace at Ochsner College, coupled with the Ochsner College Community Foundation, in the city of Oxnard. I'd like to bring together, put together a final watch party for our community with live entertainment, a couple hundred people out there, families, young children. And it was just up and down, trying to organize. It takes a lot of effort, but we did it for the benefit of our community to come out together. And it was just an absolutely beautiful event and a testament of what we can do when we collaborate and all work together for the benefit of this beautiful city. So thank you. Thank you very much for hearing me out on all of the things that all of us collectively as a council are doing for all of you. Thank you. And with that, we will go to the next item on the agenda. This is from the city clerk department. The subject is the 2027 regular meeting schedule for the legislative bodies. The recommendation is that the City Council Community Development Commission Successor Agency, Financing Authority, and Housing Authority adopt the proposed regular meeting dates for the calendar year 2027. And Luli Lopez, our City Clerk, is here to answer any questions we may have. I don't know if it's an appropriate time, Madam Clerk, but I know this item came up in committee to discuss the committee meeting. So I don't know if it's an appropriate time to pause on that until that item is brought to the council for discussion.

Excuse me mayor mayor pro tem and councilmembers We can certainly remove this item from the agenda and bring it back at an appropriate time if that's the desire of the council American open over selling for any discussion, but But I know we had that discussion at one of the committee meetings to bring back for discussion the full council and

the future committee meeting. So I just don't know. I just think to set the calendar without having that item brought back for discussion. I mean, I'm open to any input here.

My recommendation, Mayor McArthur, if you don't mind, would be to move forward with this item. And we are going to bring an item for discussion to the Finance and Governance Committee in September about the committee structure, the schedule, and the future of the committee system. And I think if there were any council actions that came out of that discussion, I would think we would go back and we could amend the calendar for 2027. and I will just look to the city attorney if he thinks any differently.

Absolutely. Mr. Fisher?

The assistant city manager is correct, and we can come back and adjust should anything come out of the finance and governance committee discussions that the council takes action on.

Thank you, Mr. Fisher. Mayor Pro Temp, did you have your hand up?

Yes, thank you. Similar to what Mr. Sonstegard and Mr. Fisher have said, I was just going to mention that we could certainly move this item if the council wished to tonight and approve it so that it's done. And the clerk has that in the record. And if there is any council actions that changes that in any way when this comes to a discussion regarding committees, then we can certainly amend it. So that's my comments, Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

I move the recommended action.

Madam Clerk, are there any speakers for this item?

Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, there are no requests to speak on this item.

Thank you.

I'll second the recommendation.

Thank you. Any other further comments or questions?

No? Madam Clerk, call for the vote. Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, I just want to point out that on the calendar, it has the wrong date. If you're looking at the schedule, It shows that there would be a meeting on Friday, April 29th, and that is not the correct date. I'm sorry, that would be the, it's supposed to be the Thursday. So the calendar will be updated and will be listed on our website. And then we'll share it and include it in the neighborhood packets and all of that.

Thank you.

Council member Perala. Yes. Councilwoman Perez. Yes. Councilwoman Rodriguez. Aye. Councilman Starr.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tempteran.

Before I vote, was the maker of the motion fine with what the clerk just mentioned about that small correction for the date being the 29th, not the 30th?

Yes, I am, Mayor Pro Tempteran. Okay. Yes.

Thank you.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you for asking. Thank you for asking.

Councilwoman Basuwa? Yes. Mayor McArthur? Yes. And this motion carries 7-0. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. The next item on the agenda is the review of the InfoConsent Agenda.

Mayor Pro Tem and Councilmembers, I have a couple of announcements on the Information and Consent Agenda. Starting with L1, there is a correction to the minutes of the June 30th City Council meeting on page 31. Council Member Peralo's name was listed twice, and it should be Council Member Starr that was inadvertently omitted, and that's on item 31. L1, I'm sorry, excuse me, on consent agenda L3 on page 31 of the June 30th minutes. The other correction is on L2, and that would be the minutes for the Housing Authority. I am requesting that the minutes for June 1st and June 16th be removed from the agenda. Once again, this is on item L2. And finally, we are asking that item L9 be removed from the agenda. And those will come back to the city council on Thursday, June 30. Thank you. I'm sorry, July. Wow.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Are there any items any council members want to pull from the consent agenda for discussion? Go ahead, Councilmember.

Item five has to do with the comprehensive banking services agreement with the Bank of America. I did watch the Finance and Governance Committee meeting. I want to thank the city staff that presented at that meeting. Thank you very much for your comments. But I need to say this. I was very impressed with the report, how the report addressed and the question of the various things that the committee and the city treasurer looked at. And the one that struck me the strongest was the security and fraud. And the security and fraud is a very big thing. But the one thing that I think is a glaring omission is on February of 25, the city treasurer attempted to get an individual appointed city treasurer. And to the good fortune of this city, the Bank of America was doing their job and gave us a heads up. And I just think that that's an indication that they had been doing a good job. I had no dog in this hunt. I don't have a favor to a bank one way or another. But I do have a favor when something happens that could potentially put our city at financial risk, falling underneath security and fraud. And it also is a highlight to my mind when the individual that is going to be named as the assistant city treasurer is Ms. Alicia Purcell, the wife of the sitting councilman, Aaron Starr. And so I just wanted to add that because I am grateful that the Bank of America and their security and fraud division pointed that out to our city and their city was able to protect itself. Those are my comments, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member.

Are we pulling that item off the agenda or is it just making a company?

He was just wanted to make a comment. That's all and if there were no other comments.

I'd move the recommended action I'm sorry with with removal of l7 correct. I'm sorry a line So with the edits that she mentioned and l1 and the removal of l9 right Are we okay with that? I'm sorry you made the motion. I want to make sure you're okay with that. Yes. Yes, Luli I'm sorry our clerk just told us that Does she want to remove L9 right now from consent?

Let me go to Ms. Ashley Goldman real quick.

So if you're past the point where you're seeking to remove items or not, then it would be appropriate now to take public comment?

Thank you. We have two public speakers. Our Treasurer Phil Molina is here as well as Ms. Alicia Purcell. Go ahead, Ms. Molina.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. With regards to Bert's comments, I think you all need to read the government code. The government code is clear. The city treasurer has the authority to appoint the deputy city treasurers. We're back in court, as you know, because the city has not been in compliance with what the California Court of Appeals said, that all the ordinances and resolutions that the city previously passed were null and void because they violated the intent of the law. I don't want to go any further with that. What I really want to say with regards to the banking agreement is that I want to express my appreciation to the staff for their professional help in getting this process to its successful conclusion. Particularly two city staff were extremely helpful, Patricia Garcia and Libertad Macias. They helped me through the six months it took. They were respectful of the vote of the Oxnard voters. They provided me assistance and responded to my questions and suggestions for change in the process. I want to include those staff who actually worked on the process that used the bank that we would ultimately choose. The people in finance, the people who used to be in Treasury, And so I wanted to make sure that the group that was analyzing this included the people in IT and the other departments. I wanted to see the proposals offered by each bank in a single spreadsheet showing each level of service. And if I remember correctly, there were 64 columns and 94 rows of services and information that was available. The staff put that together for me and it was very helpful. We did get finally looking at four banks, and these are banks that I called and asked to submit a proposal, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, JP Morgan, and BMO. Each of them submitted quality documents. They were excellent, they were very detailed, very specific, and it was very difficult to make a final decision based upon looking at all of those pieces of information. And so it was very helpful to me to have quality staff that provided input to me to allow me to move ahead with this. And with that, I would simply say that I agree with the staff recommendation and I would sign the contract for that. Thank you.

Thank you, Treasurer Molina. Ms. Alicia Purcell.

So I signed up to speak L4 specifically, but I don't know. Given the comments, it's rather concerning to me that we have a sitting council member who uses the word fraud but doesn't seem to know what it means. As to L4, all I wanted to say about it was that we are still missing the city manager approved contracts. that are below $100,000. We're still only getting $100,000 to $220,000, whatever the upper limit is. Something I've been asking for a few months, and we were told that that would be easy to do, and we still don't have them. So I just want to make that point again. A lot of things can happen for less than $100,000, and you're not even given the opportunity to be aware of it because it's not on your list. So I don't see why those aren't included. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Purcell.

Madam Clerk, any other public speakers? Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, that concludes our speakers on the information and consent in person and virtually. Thank you.

Thank you. I just want to clarify with Council Member Perrello, you moved the consent agenda without L9 that our City Clerk said she is pulling, and also with the edits for L1 as stated by the City Clerk. Is that correct?

And the removal of the minutes for L2 for the June, that would be for the Housing Authority for June 1st and June 16th. And Mayor Pro Tem I believe would like to make some comments. Go ahead Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you Mayor. I am glad that we have the motion on the table, but something that was just stated, I don't know if the treasurer can clarify, I've asked him an email and he either forgets to reply or just declines to reply, but there's just some confusion about, he cites the government code about appointing whomever he wants as a deputy treasurer, but he states that on one hand, and then we have, on the public record him saying that he has appointed Miss Purcell and she has accepted that position, his words, then later Councillor Starr saying that is not the case. She did not accept the position. So I'm just still a little confused by it because Has she accepted the position as Mr. Molina stated that she did? Or did she not accept the position and never accepted the position as Council Member Starr stated that she had not? So there's just still some confusion about that. I'm not asking Mr. Molina to come back to the public and reply to that. He can reply to the public on that one. I'm sure that he will get emails.

So thank you. So Mayor, the agenda item is not about the appointment of the Deputy City Treasurer, so we need to stick to the agenda and not get off on that issue. Thank you.

I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Fisher. Thank you for your comments, Mayor Pro Tem. So we have a first and a second with those edits. Madam Clerk, if there are no further speakers, call for the vote.

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, we will have a combined vote. This will be for the City Council, the, excuse me, the Oxnard Community Development Commission Successor Agency and the Oxnard Housing Authority. Okay. Councilwoman Commissioner Basuwa?

Yes.

Councilmember Commissioner Parallo?

Yes.

Councilwoman Commissioner Perez? Yes. Councilwoman Commissioner Rodriguez? Yes. Councilman Commissioner Starr?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Vice Chair Theran?

Yes.

Mayor Chair McArthur?

Yes.

And this motion carries seven to zero. Thank you.

Thank you. The next item on the agenda is item N1. This is from the Cultural and Community Services Department. Subject to ratify the acceptance of a $23,500 donation from the Home Depot Foundation to renovate the Colonial Recreation Center. The recommendation is that the City Council ratify the acceptance of $23,500 and grant funds to purchase materials and supplies for services to be provided by Home Depot. Volunteers for the public purpose of facility improvements at the Colonial Recreation Center. This item did not originate in committee. And Culture and Community Services Director Terrell Harrison. And I see our Deputy City Manager Katie is here. So we'll start with any council member questions of staff on this item. Any questions, clarifying questions? No. Madam Clerk, do we have any public speakers on this item?

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, there are no requests to speak on Report N1 in person or virtually. Thank you. Go ahead, Council Member.

I just, I will ask a question just to shine some light on the explanations I received. So anybody just watching the video, it didn't go in depth. They said they'd like to talk about it here. But there was a part of the award, right? This is a grant for us to remodel the senior center. But it mentions something about gift cards. So it seems like we're going to receive the award in forms of gift cards. So maybe our Director Terrell can share a little bit more about how that functions. So it's a program that Home Depot has, and their staff volunteers their time during their work day to come and remodel. I believe they're going to fix the floors, they're going to paint, they're going to get new cabinets. So the piece about the gift cards was a little confusing to anybody, you know, gift to public funds and all that good stuff. So if you could just share a little bit about how that will work and why we're so excited about this. So thank you for taking my questions when I called.

Thank you, Councilwoman Rodriguez. And before Terrell comes up here, I just want to... showcase our admiration for the Cultural and Community Services staff. This was all initiated by staff to reach out to Home Depot, one of our recreation specialists that has worked at the Colonia Recreation Center. Notice that it could use some sprucing up. So this was a staff initiated project Our staff is very eager if you've ever worked with Cultural and community services staff if they get a green light they go for it. So councilman Rodriguez Thank you for talking about the process there the reason why we're asking the council tonight to ratify the acceptance of the twenty three thousand five hundred dollar donation from the Home Depot Foundation is because our The Home Depot Foundation, our staff worked in tandem with the local Oxnard store manager. Unfortunately, he had a family commitment, so he is not here this evening, but he sent a letter of support on this item. We worked with them to get the award from the Home Depot Foundation. So how the foundation awards their donations is through gift cards. So we received the gift cards and we gave it to the store manager to procure all of the necessary supplies for the renovation of the recreation center. Now, government code, state law requires you to accept that donation. So we went out of sequence here. We should have come to you first before we procured all the equipment and supplies with the Home Depot store manager. However, should you choose not to accept the donation, it's okay, the Home Depot can, refund all of the gift cards to the Home Depot Foundation. So just wanted to make sure you understood that process. So what we are doing tonight is asking you to ratify the donation. We have a receipt of all the supplies, and if you read the letter from our Home Depot store manager, that includes new flooring, painting of the facility, And really exciting is the donation and installation of two new pool tables. If you go and talk to any of our seniors at the recreation center, that is one of their favorite recreational elements. So the Home Depot Foundation has procured those pool tables and they will be part of the donation from the foundation. If you have any other further questions, Terrell here is here. He can talk about what the city employees did to chase this down and their dedication to it. But I wanted to make sure that they got kudos this evening because this was staff initiated and they went out of sequence with it. So that is why the item is a report tonight. We just wanted to acknowledge that. And what we're asking for is the council's ratification of acceptance of the donation.

Thank you for that. I think for me, it was really the question about the gift cards, right? Like, wait, so who gets the gift cards? It's an e-gift card. People have already talked about what the needs are, and basically it's just a process that we would have to follow in order to keep it clear. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll just make a brief comment to Council Member Starig. Just to praise the efforts at Tarot by you and your staff to take this initiative. I know it's passion that drives it. Sometimes we slip up on the technical aspects of it, but that doesn't certainly negate what the outcome is. And that is something absolutely wonderful for our city. So I'm in full support of Of us as a council ratifying the acceptance of the twenty three thousand five hundred dollars and and again Thank you for leading that initiative right for doing something to benefit our entire Recreation community and the benefits from the colonial rec center being being enhanced So thank you for that, and I would be on for it is recommended I'll pass it over your council members.

Thank you. I I just want to commend you for all the work that you've done to to this to get this grant I'm very thankful for this approach I'd love to see a lot more of this so just kudos to you I'm very grateful to the Home Depot Foundation for being so generous to our city and I it's my hope that that sometime soon that we'll formally recognize them here for their gift because I think that more than anything else, they just really, I'm sure people will really appreciate just being thanked. So let's go through the effort of thanking them and perhaps there'll be others who will also be inspired because of that.

Thank you. Mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Councilman Starr, absolutely. We'll go ahead and do that. We think it's very admirable. And I want to tell you that it's staff initiative. They carried this. Although we may not have done everything exactly the way we should, the intentions were really good. But the last thing is, and I'm glad I got to speak, I've been gone out of town, and my mom just surprised me. She... She's an avid watcher, Councilman Perrello. She loves you as well as will give you grief every time she sees you if needed. But yeah, I just wanted to recognize her because this is the first time she's ever just drove over here herself and wanted to attend just to see me. So thank you, Mom. Unless there's any other questions.

Excuse me, Mayor. Mayor Pro Tem Turan would like to say a few words. Yeah. Go ahead, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you. Just a couple of quick questions if Mr. Harrison or Ms. Casey are able to address them. And it's really just for the benefit of the public. I think it's important that we make an important distinction here that before us is a generous offering, a grant totaling $23,500 from the Home Depot Foundation, which is distinct and separate from the Home Depot, the corporate entity. Is that correct? Correct, Mayor Pro Tem. Okay, thank you. And I know it's already been summarized, but just so that we're clear that there's the monetary donation, but there's the addition of the volunteer time on the part of Home Depot Associates who will come and volunteer essentially the labor to assist in the work that's going to be happening at the Colonial Center, correct?

Correct, Mayor Pro Tem. The labor portion and their donation through labor is much greater than that financial contribution.

Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Those are my questions. Thank you, Mr. Harrison. And thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Again, these things don't happen by accident. So Terrell and Casey, thank you for your staff's work on this. This speaks to the relationships, right, that I always speak about. When we have good relationships with our business community, they're more apt to collaborate with us to enhance services that better our entire community. So this is really a testament to your staff to build these relationships that really got the commitment from Home Depot to provide not only the monetary support, but the in-kind contributions through work and everything else. So we certainly need to bring them back and highlight them. Our clerk just informed me we do have one speaker that wants to provide some comments, so we'll invite that speaker to join us.

Virtual speaker, if you can press star six. I'm sorry. Yes, star six to unmute, and you have three minutes starting now.

Yes, good evening, Council. First of all, I just want to congratulate our senior senator in Colonia for actually receiving this grant. I think that, I mean, I met the ladies personally. I mean, I think a lot of us have, and I think they love to cook. They really look forward to spending a lot of time. I know that the group that does attend, the staff that's there, They're really good with the ladies. They do a lot of recreational activities. And I think that, you know, invested money in recreational activities for seniors is always good for occupational, STEM activities. STEM therapies, you know, we have to keep the seniors busy. You know, I think, you know, when you walk in there, you feel warm, you feel welcome, you feel at home. And, you know, the attention that our seniors are now getting in our city is well-deserved only because of the dynamics, being close to the beach, weather-wise. It's good to keep them busy, keep them out, and, you know, make a place inviting for them as well. you know my suggestion is a nice little sitting area for the ladies you know like maybe like a little couch area where they can sit down talk a little bit um you know i know that they have their bingos and they have a lot of events and little parties like for cinco de mayo but you know just like a little nice little seating area for them where they can actually sit down uh you know relax and you know enjoy enjoy each other's time and that's pretty much my suggestion and i And as well, you know, everybody understands that how important our seniors are to me and the work that's been provided for the city, the advocacy, where we started during COVID. And I think it's important that we continue to invest in our senior centers. You know, we need to build more activities for them, more pickleball courts for them, more tennis courts facilities for them. I think that our city and our weather is really inviting, and especially the summers. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, does that conclude the public speakers?

Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council Members, yes, that concludes our speakers in person and virtually. So public portion is closed.

Thank you. Is there a second? Go ahead, Council Member Starr.

I'd like to move that we ratify the acceptance of this very generous grant.

Yeah, so that would be a second. I made the initial motion. Any further comments or questions? Yes. Go ahead.

I'm grateful for the initiation of the ask. They call it an ask. There have been members of the public that have come forward and simply said if some of the organizations would ask businesses, professional people in the community to donate, this could get a lot bigger and a lot better, whether it's a baseball field, lights, taking care of bushes and shrubs. Tremendous thank you to the initiation of this ask to get this award. But ladies and gentlemen, this is a big city. There are lots of wealthy businesses and individuals that are willing to contribute. It's a matter of asking.

I don't care. Call for the vote.

Councilwoman Perez? Yes. Councilwoman Rodriguez? Yes. Councilman Starr? Yes. Mayor Pro Tempteran?

Yes.

Councilwoman Basua? Yes. Councilmember Peralo?

Yes.

Mayor MacArthur?

Yes.

And this motion carries 7 to 0. Thank you. Thank you.

Also, Terrell, if your mother wants to come up here and memorialize her in-person visit with us, she's welcome to come up here and and capture a photo right next to Council Member Perrella. I understand Council Member Perrella is single. She can take a photo with all of us up here to really memorialize it. Come on up here. Come on right up here. Take a photo. And before we adjourn, Just this is for, I do like to put something for maybe the September agenda, if it's possible. If we can get a status update on the Carnegie Art Museum, where we're at with that, and maybe put that for the September council meeting.

Thank you very much, man. Your son tells me to stop. Yeah. There we go. One more.

Got it. Thank you.

She's an avid watcher.

Tara, let her take a picture with Bert. Isn't he a jerk? Okay, also, if there's no objection, we are adjourned, everyone. Thank you.