City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Miss, city attorney, are there any reports from close session? There are no reportable actions tonight, Madame Mayor. Thank you. for our pledge of allegiance. Chris Turner with the YMCA. Will you please lead us tonight?

Our country's flag right alsy and justice for all. Thank you, Chris. Roll call, please. Council member Ayala, here. Council member Rhodess here. Council member Judge here. Mayor Prom Litster here. And Mayor Kavanaaugh here. Are there any items for agenda review?

Madame Mayor, there is one for item 5A. We did issue a supplemental on that. There was an incorrect reference to a different project. All right. Thank you. I move that all resolutions and ordinances presented tonight be read in title only and all further reading be waved. Second. Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously. Thank you. If any member of the city council may have a conflict of interest or any reason why that member must abstain from consideration of any matter on this agenda, he or she should so declare at this time. Seeing none, we can proceed. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, the first item on the agenda is item 1D1, presentation of certificates of completion of the spring graduating class and emergency services coordinator Shannon Johnson is here to present this item.

Mayor Kavanaaugh, members of the city council. Good evening. Tonight we are recognizing the spring 2026 community emergency response team training class. This year marks the 32nd year that Seami Valley has offered CERT training. In that time over 1,600 participants have completed this hands-on 24-hour disaster response training course. This training is free to the community thanks to our partnership with the Ventura County Fire Department who provide instructors and equipment. We would like to extend a special thank you to Ventura County Fire instructors William Michael and Ron Oman as well as the county program director Steve Lazenbeby. We would also like to thank the city's disaster service worker volunteers and C volunteers for supporting the C training. The volunteers with us tonight are Phil Ingram, Ed Baker, David Fiser, Katrina Veruno, John Gusan, and Kathy Tanoli. We thank each of you for your time, service, and dedication. Over the course of six weeks, these graduates received training in key emergency response skills, including disaster preparedness, disaster psychology, medical operations, fire safety and suppression, and search and rescue. We thank all of tonight's graduates for their dedication to the program and congratulate them on their graduation. We ask them to encourage their neighbors to take CERT training for when disaster strikes, the more prepared we are, the better our community will respond and recover. The next C class will be offered this upcoming fall starting September 9th. For more details, visit the emergency services page on the city's website. At this time, we invite the graduates who were able to attend to come forward as their names are called to receive their certificates. Steve Adashi, Peter Andelman, Michael Bee, Malikica Buland, Paul Campanella, Julie Clayton,

Richard Fernandez, Holly Hoffen Fernandez, Virginia Guerrero, Don Lee, Gina Lorenzo, Curtis Morsette, Trisha Potter, Claudia Rojo, Emmy Emmy Sundine, Pearla Tran Lopez, Brian Vega, Regina Ibaka, Aubrey Tokusanu, Mason Tokusanu, Himabendu Vanapenta, Veta Devatra and Vihas Devakatra. Congratulations. Wow, this is really a goodiz class. Did you all learn a lot and have a good time? I'm I'm a SE graduate, so I'm proud to say that. I think it's one of the best things we can do for our community because in times of emergency such as earthquake or fire, we don't have enough law enforcement and firefighters to help each and every one of us. So, if you're trained, you can help your family and then you can help your neighbors. So, that's what you guys have all done. I'm so very proud of you and I just want to say thank you for doing all of that and thank you to our wonderful DSW uh volunteers. They do a great job too. And our fire chief Dan Horton right here. So thank you Dan for being a part of this too. And Eileen for for supervising it.

Is there you want to say anything chief? Assistant chief. What? He did just get promoted to assistant chief.

Thank you. Thank you everybody. Um, and to our sir class, on behalf of the Ventura County Fire Department, I just want to offer a sincere thank you uh and appreciation for what you do. Stepping up to serve your community is it's honorable. It's selfless and we applaud you on a job well done. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Pictures.

She's gonna organize her pictures. I'm going to need a couple different.

All right, I'm right over here. You guys are big. All right, here we go.

Congratulations each of you. Cert is just such a great uh organization or a a great class to take. So I encourage each and every one of you to do it. Um, you learn a lot and I have a go bag ready with the tool to turn off the gas and, you know, a hard hat and just all the little things you don't think about a Thomas Guide because your navigation doesn't work when there's no internet. So, keep that in mind. Or no Wi-Fi. My Thomas Guide is very old. Thank you. But at least it's got the basics. All right, I think we can move on to our next item now. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 1D2, presentation of a proclamation declaring the May 2026 as mental health awareness month. And community services coordinator Ryan Fowler is here to present this item and accepting the proclamation is Chris Chris Turner, executive director of the YMCA.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh and members of the city council. This evening we are recognizing May as mental health awareness month. to accept the proclamation. I would ask I would like to ask the following individuals to come forward just to the left of the podium. Chris Turner, he's already up there. Good job. Chris Turner is the executive director of the Seami Valley Family YMCA. Youth council members Gabbot and Surya Ravi Kumar. Youth council chair Jasling Kangura. And I would also like to invite Rhythmika Naveen, Youth Council Teen Wellness Committee Chair, to come to the podium and read a statement on behalf of the Youth Council. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. My name is Rafika Naveen and I'm a senior at Oak Park High School. Developing and maintaining healthy physical and mental habits is essential to building a strong, healthy community. While one in five people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges that can impact their mental health. Despite ongoing misconceptions, mental health is just as important as physical health. And serious mental illnesses, though often misunderstood, are highly treatable and more common than cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. In fact, they are the leading cause of hospital admissions nationwide. With effective treatment, individuals living with mental health conditions can recover and lead full productive lives. Promoting mental mental wellness is a shared responsibility among businesses, schools, government agencies, health care providers, community organizations, and residents. The city of Semi Valley remains committed to fostering a healthy community and encourages residents to explore the valuable mental health services and resources available by visiting the city's website at semi valley.org. or in support of this commitment, the Semi Valley Youth

Council continues to lead efforts to reduce stigma and raise awareness through various campaigns, youth summits, and the upcoming Teen Wellness Night on May 22nd, 2026. Therefore, we ask the city of Semi Valley to proclaim this month of May 2026 as mental health awareness month to support and promote mental health awareness in our community. Thank you. Thank you very much. Chris, did you want to say anything? Chris, I just want to say that Semi Valley has a lot of amazing young adults here and they are leading the charge for mental health and making us all a lot healthier. So, thank you. Jez,

hi everyone. So, as Earth Mika mentioned, um we do have our upcoming teen wellness night coming up. the youth council, we really prioritize mental health as one of our initiatives and teen wellness night is a great community event for you to bring your friends and family and really um enjoy de-stress uh during the spring time of year. So, we really encourage you all to attend our teen wellness night. It's here at the Seami Valley Public Library on May 22nd. So, thank you. Thank you, Mayor Kavanaaugh. Thank you. Thank you. As a little plug too, for the first time ever, our softball community is having a um softball tournament June 27th and 28th and for mental awareness and they will be making a donation to the new crisis stability unit um in name of some in the name of somebody who recently we lost a suicide. So, thank you

madame mayor and members of the city council. Next on the agenda is item 1D3, presentation of pro proclamation declaring the week of May 17th through May 23rd, 2026 as public works week. And public works director Ron Fuiaki is here to present this item. And accepting the proclamation are assistant public works director Al Ston and assistant public works director engineering Chris Oberender.

Good evening. U mayor mayor and council members, I want to thank all of the audience members for coming out for public works weeks. It is my pleasure this evening to join the city council in proclaiming the week of May 17th through May 23rd as public works week. Not only is it a time to recognize the efforts of the department in managing the city's infrastructure in providing excellent customer service, but it is an opportunity to recognize the men and women that operate m and maintain those facilities and provide services to the community. These facilities and services include engineering, streets and highways, landscaping, public buildings, water, sewer, environmental monitoring, and transit. I am especially proud of our Semi Valley Public Works employees that work day and sometimes night to ensure the community has a well functioning and well-maintained public infrastructure. Now, I would like to join the city council in proclaiming the week of May 17th through May 23rd as public works week in the city of Seami Valley.

Ron, this is going to be your last time doing this. He's retiring at the end of June after how many years? After quite a few years. So, yes. And what is it you like to say? Public works keeps things flowing. How do you say you say it better? Well, it keeps things flowing, keeps things running, you know. Yeah. Make sure the water comes out your faucet and make sure your your waste water goes down the toilets. Exactly. So, it's a very important aspect of our city services, right, gentlemen? Yes, sir.

Okay. So, we just want to thank you guys for everything you and your crews and everyone in uh public works for everything you do. um wave to them, say hi, offer them a bottle of water when it's a hot day, you know, just to be nice. So, we have a great community. So, would you like to say anything? You will. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. I just want to say thank you and accept this on behalf of all the hardworking public works uh staff that we have here at the city. And it's an honor to lead that group and and it's really a pleasure for these people to know that they they bust their back every day and they are the backbone of the city keeping vital infrastructure going. So, thanks everybody.

Thank you. Thank you so much. It's your last one. Come on, Ron. I know he should have, huh? And Ron was being modest. He has 25 years with the city and 50 years in total in public service. There you go. 50 years in public service. Would you like to say anything, Ron?

Okay. Thank you all very much.

We like to pick on Ron. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 1D4, recognition of the wastewater collection system workg groupoup of the sanitation division for winning the California Water Environment Association, C.WEA local first place award and statewide third place award for 2025 collection system of the year award for a medium-size collection system. and public works director Ron Fuiwaki is presenting this item. Supervisor Keegan Sherk and Chip Marquette and Rob Pratt wastewater collection system text 2 are here for the presentation.

I was wondering I saw it sitting there. I'm like what is that? It it Okay, that is pretty big.

Good evening again, Mayor Kavanagh and council members. Um, of course, uh, you see, um, Keegan, Chip, and Rob up there. They're part of our sanitation crew, uh, our collections crew. They're the ones that, uh, when there's a sewer blockage was in one of our sewer lines, they're the ones that go out and unblock it and keep the sewer flowing. Uh Al Saxon and I are pleased to announce that our public works wastewater collections systems team was awarded first place for medium-sized wastewater systems by the California Water Environment Association at their trial Tri counties awards dinner in December of 2024. And there there's a nice trophy there that they won at that event. And just recently, the team award was awarded third place out of 17 local sections at the annual CWEA conference in Sacramento. We didn't get a trophy there. We barely got a certificate. The California Water Environment Association or CWA is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the wastewater management and water quality sectors in California. CWA was founded in 1928 and represents over 10,000 professionals in the water environment field, including wastewater collection system technicians, operators, engineers, laboratory technicians, and other specialists involved in wastewater management and resource recovery. Tonight's awards are given to agencies that demonstrate outstanding performance in maintenance programs, regulatory compliance, safety, training, and operational excellence. It acknowledges agencies that maintain reliable sewer systems, prevent sewer overflows, and ensure ensure environmental stewardship. The

wastewater collection system workg group has a staff of nine, three of which are here tonight, and is one of four sections in our sanitation division and public works. These rarely public acknowledged dedicated employees keep everything flowing from the east portions of the city to the water quality control plant and then disposal into the aoyal CME. Winning this award is considered a pre prestigious recognition in the wastewater industry, reflecting leadership, operational excellence, and commitment to public health and environmental protection. Please join me in congratulating our city's wastewater collection systems team in achieving these prestigious awards. Would you like to say anything

just real quick? Um, for those that don't know, the we're a mediumsized system in CM Valley. That means we have over 400 miles of sewer line that these individuals maintain and keep flowing. Not only they keep it clean by roinating the lines, they also video them and see if there's any fun things in there. And there's all kinds of things they find in there from time to time. So, appreciate the hard work they do and it's a pleasure to have to lead this group. So, thank you. No, they're done. Congratulations and thank you for all you do. Oh, you want a picture?

Get Ron up here, too. She wants She likes it over here with the background. There we go. We're good. Thank you very much. Thank you gentlemen for all you do.

The last one holding it has to take it home. Right. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item D5, presentation of certificates of appreciation to outgoing community projects grant review committee members and deputy environmental services director Cynthia McCulla is here to present this item. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. In 2011, the city council and waste management executed a memorandum of understanding which provides annual grant funding of $150,000. The city council awards funding to nonprofit organizations for community projects and programs that benefit the Semi Valley community. In 2017, the city council created the community projects grant review committee consisting of seven representatives from each one of the four neighborhood councils, the council on aging, youth council, and the community at large. The review committee provides public input and a funding recommendation to the city council for consideration. Each year, the requests have well exceeded the amount available and all deserving programs and projects are not able to be funded. This year, the review committee first met on April 15th to develop its review process for evaluating the 26 eligible funding requests that totaled over $82,000. On April 22nd, the review committee met again to receive public comment, presentations from applying organizations, and discuss the funding requests. After discussion, the review committee concluded its service by providing its funding recommendation for city council consideration that will be presented later this evening. To show our appreciation, the review committee members who are present this evening are asked to come forward to be

recognized for their contribution of time, leadership, and service to the community. representing neighborhood council number one, Paul Chandler. Neighborhood council number two, Gail Sutton, neighborhood council number three, Steve Busco, neighborhood council number four, Deanna Block, the Council on Aging, David Lewis, Youth Council, Aman Sadri, and the community at large, Nadia Kurpensky. Please join me in congratulating them on a job well done. Sorry, they weren't in order, so I kind of got a little lost there. Thank you all for volunteering or volunteered on this committee. It's probably one of the hardest jobs that of any of the committees that we have because the requests always exceed what the availability is. So, thank you all for your hard work on this and making those hard decisions. That's kind of that's one of the reasons the city council formed a committee so that we didn't have to do it to be very honest. So, but we thank each of you for your contributions to our community. We appreciate it. Thank you. Madame Mayor and members of city council, the next item on the agenda is item two, public statements on appointments, special presentations, andformational reports. We do have one speaker for this item this evening. Brian Shoeacher

here. Hello. Uh, good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh, council members and staff. My name is Brian Schumacher and I am the advocacy and community impact manager for Autism Society Ventura County. I am here tonight on behalf of our dedicated advocacy committee who review city council and schoolboard agendas each week to ensure that people with disabilities are included in decisions that affect their lives. So, we appreciate the city's proclamation recognizing May 2026 as mental health awareness month and wish to offer our strong support um and congratulations to the recipients. At Autism Society of Ventur County, we believe that it's important to share that mental health challenges and mental health crises do not present the same way for everyone. For neurode divergent and autistic individuals, signs of distress can look very different from traditional expectations. What may appear as defiance, withdrawal, agitation, or behavioral escalation can often be signs of a mental health disorder worsened by anxiety, sensory overload, communication barriers, or unmet support needs. For many autistic individuals, what is labeled a mental health crisis is often a systems crisis, a breakdown in environmental supports, communication access, or regulation strategies. Additionally, autistic people face significantly higher rates of mental health disorders, suicidality, and are at risk during behavioral health crisis interventions. With this in mind, awareness must include understanding that prevention and crisis response approaches need to reflect those differences. This means disability informed training, culturally responsive practices, and coordination with families and community- based providers. When we broaden our understanding of what mental health looks like across neurodeiverse populations, we reduce stigma, reduce unnecessary escalation, increase safety, and positive outcomes. We appreciate the city's leadership through this proclamation, and look forward to continued partnership to ensure mental health systems serve all residents,

including those who experience the world differently. Thank you. Thank you, Madame Mayor and members of the city council. The next item on the agenda is item 3B1,formational presentation by youth council member Gia Bot. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and distinguished members of the city council. My name is Gia Bot and I'm a sophomore at Santa Susanna High School. I would like to give my sincerest gratitude to you for your continued support of the Seami Valley Youth Council. Your support allows us to grow as youth leaders and give back to the community. As a member of the youth council, it's an honor to be able to come forward today and share our most recent updates on events and initiatives. On April 27th, youth council chair Jasine Kungura and vice chair Nandha Krishna Mori presented at the California school health and behavioral health conference. Their presentation was called the power of partnership, youth leadership in action. The goal of this conference was to be able to educate school-based health professionals on how they can allow their students to thrive and succeed. and they did exactly that. We are happy to announce that applications for the 2026 to 2027 Semi Valley Youth Council term have closed with over 90 applications. We will be holding interviews for new members in June. For returning members, the interviews will be held on May 26th. We excited to welcome new and returning members to the Seami Valley Youth Council next term. Our next big event is Teen Wellness Night on May 22nd from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Seami Valley Public Library. Our hope for this event is to have students from all over attend and provide a healthy last few weeks of AP

testing. We'll be featuring therapy dogs on the spot on spot volunteer opportunities with the ability to earn service hours and mental health boots on prioritizing self-care. After the event, we hope attendees support our not one but two fundraisers at the Yogurtland and Pan Express located at the Regal Center right next to the library. Proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit the Ventura County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, whose goal is to advocate for and provide support and crisis resources to those affected by neurological disorders. On May 19th, youth council members Surya Ravi Kumar, Ethan Bot, Jezeline Kungura, Serena Kungura, Friday Night Live mentoring member Leila Selenas, and myself will be presenting to the school board, informing them of youth council events and initiatives we have also completed. We will be discussing items such as social media campaigns, our recent youth impact forum, teen wellness night, youth summit, underage drinking, and gambling prevention grants. And about Friday Night Live mentoring in the Friday Night Live youth summit that occurred in Anaheim last year on May 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the youth council will be holding our first ever field day event at Royal High School, a free event to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. This event will include an activity hosted by the Semi Valley Police Department. To end the youth council term, we are excited to announce our annual escape room on June 18th and 19th. An event I'd like to say is a youth council favorite. The theme for this year is bank heist. It will be hosted on the Burlywood Teen Center in partnership with the Rancho Seami Recreation and Park District. All profits made at this event will benefit a local nonprofit organization. I highly encourage everyone to stay connected with the Semi Valley Youth Council by following us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at Semi Valley Youth Council, as well as on Tik Tok at SVYC2929. Once again, I would like to thank Mayor Kavanaaugh and the city council for inviting me to speak this evening and

for your continued support of the youth efforts in our community. Your commitment enables us to create meaningful change and we are truly grateful. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Mayor Prom Litster has a question or comment. Gia, thank you. That was a wonderful presentation. And did you really said you say that you closed with over 90 applications? Yes, we're really happy about it. That's that's huge. And how long how long is it going and we for the audience will you will you remind how many candidates get to be selected

um for the new members? So, we take nine returning members. So that leaves 15 spots for uh out of those 90 applications. So it's very outstanding and selective and and just a reminder to tell tell us who the schools that are represented. I just think that's fun to put out there. I think it's a variety from all over the SVUSD district um from Royal High School, Westlake High School, Oak Park, and Senior Valley High School of course and Santa Susanna and also the middle schools too if I'm not mistaken. So wonderful collaborative effort with all of our students and thank you G for a great year and all that you're doing and look forward to the wellness event. So thank you so much. Of course. Thank you so much

council member Ayala.

Thank you. So the the work that you guys are doing is so um impactful that each year the number of applicants continues to grow and it's because of the work that the members in the group do. Um, and so I know the members of the grant committee thought they had a tough job to do, but this is 90 applications and they have to select a total of 24, right? And I'm not looking forward to the 26th or something because I have to sit in on those interviews and actually help to tell students that they're did not uh are not going to continue on to the youth council. And so, uh, for those of you who, um, in advance don't get selected to continue. That doesn't mean that your service to the community has to stop. There's still a lot of other opportunities that we'll make sure you have available to you so that you can continue to serve. But thank you for all you do, Mr. Fowler. Again, you do an amazing job with the with with the youth, and uh, you need to be applauded for the continued growth of the program over the years.

Thank you. Thank you, Gia. That was a great presentation. And yes, Ryan Fowler does a wonderful job. But I have a question. So, you're um what's the date again of the escape room? The escape room is happening, I believe, on 18. June 18th. June 18th. And you said it was bank heist. Yes. I'm a banker, so I think I need to go do that. But, um, do you bring your own teams or can individuals come? I'm not sure how it works. You can bring friends and you can meet up with people who come there, too. It's a collaborative event.

Okay, sounds I will make sure I'm there if I'm in town. I guess I want to see how it works. All right, thank you very much. We really appreciated it. Great, great presentation. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 3C1, presentation by Commander Darren Mueller, Traffic Bureau, regarding the newly acquired specially marked police vehicle. Following the verbal presentation, it is recommended that we take a brief recess. Mayor Gavana, member of city council, you were lucky enough to have Sergeant Mallister here. In the words of my brother from North Dakota, he said, "What are you doing tonight?" I said, "I'm doing city council." He said, "Will you be sitting there while that young guy talks?" And the answer is yes. Sergeant Mallister,

good evening. I'm here tonight to uh give a presentation our newly acquired and recently put into service police vehicle

or patrol vehicle. So, a specially marked patrol vehicle is a police vehicle that has minimal or subdued exterior markings and lighting. Basically making it less immediately recognizable than our traditional black and white vehicles that we have out there on the roadway every day. Uh it's got a low profile appearance, but it's fully equipped with emergency lights, sirens, and all the law enforcement equipment that a normal black and white vehicle would have. The purpose of these vehicles is to allow officers to more easily blend in with traffic, which will allow them to be more proactive at identifying dangerous driving behavior to include speeding, distracted driving, and reckless driving behavior. So, when it comes to legality, uh 48 4800 of the California vehicle code talks about um a traffic officer on duty for exclusive or main purpose of enforcing basically the traffic laws. So it says they shall wear a full distinctive uniform and if the officer while on duty uses a motor vehicle, it shall be a distinctive color specified by the commissioner. When they say commissioner, they're talking about the CHP commissioner. All semi valley police department officers operating specially smart patrol vehicles for the purpose of enforcing traffic laws will be in a full distinctive semi valley police department approved uniform that clearly identifies them as a peace officer. So what are the laws and the legality when it comes to the markings? So, you'll find these in the California Code of Regulations, Title 13. And basically, it has a whole list, but the ones we're going to work on today is bas basically vehicles except for mo motorcycles shall be painted entirely white or white except that an area not less than including the front door panel shall be black or the vehicle can be all black except that an area not less than and including the front door panel shall be white or the vehicle can be any other color with any color front door panels. So, this is straight out of the the title and regulations. So the uh the only caveat to that is the initial or name of the governmental entity operating the vehicle shall be displayed in sharp contrast to the background on the front door panels and shall be of such size, shape, and color

as be readily legible during daylight hours from a distance of at least 50 ft. So California Highway Patrol started using these vehicles and introduced these vehicles back in May of 2025. They started with 25 uh and put on some of the most uh problematic freeways and highways throughout California. They currently have a fleet of 100 specially mark patrol vehicles. They have multiple color vehicles uh and they're spread out like I stated among the most problematic stretches of California highways. So, how we we're going to use them similar to what CHP would use them for. We're going to use them to deter dangerous driving behavior like speeding and reckless operation. We're going to use them to identify violations that may not occur around clearly marked patrol cars. Everybody knows what our black and white patrol cars are with the light bars on top. Anytime someone sees it, they do the best driving they've ever done in their life. And so we're going to, you know, which is good. That, trust me, that's a good thing, too. But there's sometimes where, you know, we need to be a little more less obvious to be able to take care of some situations and problems that are going on. We'll address distracted driving, including cell phone use behind the wheel. This vehicle will enhance overall traffic safety and help reduce collisions. It's going to provide a proactive enforcement tool to help keep SE Valley roadways safe. So, we're going to use them in high collision corridors and major thorough affairs with a history of speeding and reckless driving. And everybody knows what what those major roads are. LA Avenue, Royal, Cochran, Aringer, Madera, First Street. Uh we're going to use them in school zones and nearby residential streets where child and pedestrian safety is a priority. I get calls and complaints all the time about people not stopping at school buses, going by school buses with the stop arm out, everything like that. Uh people not yielding. So, we're going to use them in those areas. We're going to use them on the busy commuter routes during peak morning and evening traffic hours. And we can also use them in commercial areas and shopping centers with heavy vehicle and pedestrian activity just to keep everything safe. There's a few pictures.

So, like I stated, this vehicle went into service April 28th of this year. Uh, it's been basically out on the streets for roughly eight days now. Uh, it's assigned to one traffic officer. It's his vehicle he uses every day. So, since it's been in service, there's been he's written that traffic officer has written a total of 30 citations and given two warnings. 15 of them are for speed. There were two cell phone violations, one red light violation, and 12 other violations. of the speeding violations, every one of his citations were 15 miles an hour or more over the speed limit. So, a couple of interest u the officer got a a driver going 67 and a 45 and the comments are the best part. Basically, the driver stated, "I saw your car. I thought it was a security car at first and then uh one of the better ones we have." So, we got a driver going 81 and a 40 on Royal. And basically, the driver said he thought it was a park ranger car and nothing would happen. So, the car, it's useful. It does, you know, help us do our job a little bit better. And we can hopefully once the word gets out there that it's out there, people won't really know what it looks like and it'll help uh keep down our speeding and collisions. Any questions? I'm available. And like uh was stated, the cars out front if anybody wants to take a break and go look at it real quick. Any questions from council? Nope. All right, we're going to take a quick 5 to seven minute break to go out and look at the car. So, and then we'll we'll come back.

Thank you. We're now coming back into open session. Madame clerk.

Thank you, Madame Mayor and members of the city council. Next on the agenda is item four, public statements. During this agenda item four, the city council will hear public statements from the first 10 persons who have submitted speaker cards. After the first 10 persons have spoken, subsequent persons who submitted speaker cards will be called to speak during agenda item number six. This is a continuation of agenda item number four. Agenda items four and six are the times allotted for public statements on all items other than public hearings, appointments, andformational reports. In accordance with the protocol protocols that were adopted in October 6, 2025, if 20 or more speaker cards are received, each speaker's time will automatically be reduced to two minutes each. We have received 33 speaker cards. Each speaker will have two minutes to speak. Persons addressing the city council will be requested to state their name and community residence for the record. Madame mayor, uh, unless you have any comments, we can begin with the first 10 speakers.

Please begin. I will call three at a time. Ben Davis, Mark Lucer, and Jenny Jerry Canana.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and city staff. My name is Ben Davis, president of Picola Tiny Homes here in Semi Valley. Thank you again for your time tonight. Tonight, I want to talk about affordability. In the year 2000, Seami Valley's median household income was about $70,000. The median home value was about $240,000. This means one would need to work 3 and 1/2 years while saving 100% of their median income to buy a house. Today, Seami Valley's median household income is about 122,000. So about 3/4 more than in 2000. However, the median home value is now $845,000, which is 3 1/2 times more than in 2000. This means one would now need to work 7 years while saving 100% of their median income to buy a house. So, literally double the time. In the year 2000, someone could have bought two houses for the cost of what they have to pay today. Even taking into account the differences in median wage. And it's not just housing. California gasoline was around 175 a gallon in ear early 2000. And as I was driving over here today, the cost of gasoline was at $6.15. That's three and a half times more than in 2000. I'm sure that everyone listening has felt the squeeze of rising prices in all aspects of their lives. So this is the reality that families are living in. The essentials have outrun what ordinary people can comfortably afford and traditional housing options are not keeping up. This is why movable tiny homes can't be ignored. So tonight, I want to respectfully ask again. We have not seen the report and I would like to ask for a date that it will be brought forth. The cost of living is not going down and the people of Seami Valley need solutions. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Mark Luger, Mayor Kavanagh, Council, I read over the weekend the story in the acorn about the city wanting to take back control of the public library from the county. If the article is correct, financially it seems like a no-brainer. I do have a concern though. We have at least one council member who is 100% Trump MAGA Republican. What are our assurances that Mike Judge or any council member isn't going to suddenly push to ban or even burn books that they don't agree with?

Thank you,

Jerry Canana. Uh, Madame Mayor and members of the council, my name is Jerry Quintana. I'm here to speak in support of the grant request by the Samaritan Center of Seami Valley. I'm a 26-year resident of Semi Valley and one of over 100 volunteers who serve at the Samaritan Center. I have volunteered there for over three years. As you may be aware, the Samaritan Center provides food pantry services to the homeless as well as to those who are housed yet are experiencing food insecurities. The request for grant is for the replacement of sheds associated with the food pantry service. The Samaritan Center receives donations of fresh, canned, and dry goods from both private individuals along with local businesses. In addition, we receive a monthly shipment of canned and dry goods from the US Department of Agriculture. The storage of donations and pre-sorted goods is accomplished with the use of multiple sheds. Several of those in use are aging plastic units that are too small and can often be too full to allow good access to all items. I would best describe the older sheds as large garden sheds. Their deteriorated condition leaves them a susceptible to rodent entry. Space is also a critical shortcoming. Accessing the stored items can be difficult due to the limited space and narrow aisles. Just last week, a portion of the monthly USDA food delivery had to be redirected to another provider as there was no space in the existing shed. Awarding the requested grant to the Samaritan Center would allow for the

replacement of the oldest and least functional sheds and improve the efficiency, capacity, and safety of the food pantry operation. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. The next three speakers, Ray Bintock, Joseph Metaf, and we have Jody Lewis and Scott uh Conus on the same card. So, Ray Bintock. Good evening. My name is Ray Bentock. I represent Many Mansions, a nonprofit provider of affordable housing and supportive services. We currently serve 52 formerly homeless Semi Valley residents at three different communities, Kasa Depaz, Lraada, and Pepper Tree. Thank you for having us here this evening. We are so grateful to the city for the city council's partnership which allows us to offer dignity, safety, and stability to vulnerable households. As the community project allocation committee heard several weeks ago, one of our Seami Valley residents testified how the stability of a home and resources staff as resources staff provided supported her as she went through recovery and finally earlier this winter obtained steady employment for the first time in many years. We're very proud to be working together to benefit the Seami Valley community. Thank you. Good evening. Um, my name is Joseph Metath. I'm um just want to bring to attention 54 days from now, uh, we're going to be celebrating the when America annihilated Britain in a war. And I want to address that right now, but I want to address it in a very positive way in how we're going to celebrate that here in Semi Valley. So, I'm here speaking on behalf of a of a public um community organization called CI250. CI250 has put

together um to celebrate America 250 in a really special way like it's never been done. Fourth of July has never been done like this in Seami Valley. Um what we're going to be doing and we want to make everybody aware that we are going to be asking businesses and and everybody to get involved. First of all, with businesses, we like to get a $250 experience or a Fourth of July special, a signature special, so that people who don't normally get to experience things in Seami Valley will uh will have an opportunity to to get it at an affordable price. So, it's an opportunity for residents to come out to local businesses and celebrate. On July 3rd, um in in the morning of July 3rd, we're going to be starting with a 5K run, which will start at Duck Park and go along the Aoyo and back again. Um very fun event and that's for all uh abilities. So, um if you can if you want to walk it, bring your dog, bring your kids, that's absolutely fine. Uh in the evening, um we're going to be doing a car cruise, which is, uh we're asking everybody to dress their cars, red, white, and blue, and drive through Semi Valley through a 15-mi designated route ending up at Santa Susanna Community Park, where we have a free movie in the park. Um on the July 4th itself, um we're going to be doing uh celebrations at the Reagan Library from 10il 3 and want everybody to get involved with that. And then of course in the evening the Kwanis is organizing a pre-f fireworks show um at Santa Susanna Community Park from 3 till 9. And then at 9:00 for the first time ever in the history of Seami Valley, the Seami Valley Symphony Orchestra will be performing the fireworks live and the fireworks will be synchronized to that. So we want to invite you to get involved, the community to get involved and celebrate in a really big way in Timmy Valley. Thank you.

Thank you. Greetings, Mayor Kavanagh and council members. My name is Jod Lewis and I'm the booster president for Semi Valley High School football. I'm joined here today by some of our football players who just left practice. So, um, so in response to the recent Semi Valley Acorn article published by Virginia Seaton on May 2nd, I'd like to correct several factual errors and that she stated regarding our application for the community projects grant, our football program and its equipment needs. The Sun Valley High School tackle football program supports an average of about 150 students annually or 1500 athletes over a 10-year span. The CIF regulated lifespan of a football helmet is only 10 years and every helmet must be reertified every single year by an approved reconditioning vendor. Any helmet that fails reertification must be removed from use and replaced. And a new football helmet actually costs between $500 to $1,000, not 45. I understand how Miss Eaton was confused considering that the total amount that we had requested uh was actually across 1500 students using the athletes over a decade. And so that long-term investment was approximately $46 per athlete reflecting cost distribution over time and not the actual price of a helmet. Furthermore, our athletic department works very hard to support all sports. Funds are limited and football does not receive funding from the school. Semi Valley High School football does not receive gate ticket revenue. When Miss Satan referenced booster raised funds, that refers to fundraising done directly by our student athletes, their families, and community supporters. The booster run snack bar revenue ensures that none of our athletes go without. We don't turn any

kids from away from our program. Um it covers the cost of athletic equipment, spirit pack assistance, pregame and aftergame meals, transportation, and other operational necessities. So, the Seami Valley football program is a 501c3 uh nonprofit and we've followed all of the required protocols to submit for the CPG grant application. Many nonprofits in our community are well deserving of the support, but our student athletes are also equally deserving of safe, properly certified equipment, and it's our mission is now up. I'm sorry. Thank you. The next three speakers, James McGillis, Darin Stoutland, and David Lewis.

Mayor Kavanaaugh, members of the city council on staff. I'm James McGillis, a proud resident of Semi Valley, California. On Cinco de Mayo, I had the pleasure of dining at Maria's Mexican Restaurant here in Semi Valley. There was live music, attentive staff, and excellent food. I highly recommend this family-owned local establishment. As I looked at each of the five TV screens placed around the restaurant, I could watch golf, baseball, soccer, or basketball. Then, to my dismay, a local politician's face flashed on the screen one after another. Scenes of immigrants being detained zip by, following by the politician's smiling face and a request that you vote for him on June 2nd. So, there I sat in a restaurant owned, run, and staffed by individuals who might be immigrants or the children of immigrants. I wondered if an ice raid would spoil the celebration that was in full swing. Last September, we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month here in Semi Valley. I remember everyone on the DIS smiling down as our mayor made the formal declaration. So, which is it? Do we support diversity and inclusion in Seami Valley, or do we want to clear out all Hispanic people so their homes can convert to short-term rentals? During the height of Hispanic Heritage Month in September 2025, the Seami Valley City Council voted formally to oppose the California Congressional Redistricting Plan known as Proposition 50. One council member was quoted as saying, "I would not only like to oppose the map, but as a city oppose the whole ballot proposition." On election day, November 4, 2025, I was canvasing residents to sign a petition supporting a ban on short-term rentals in Semi Valley. Three of us collected 430 valid signatures which will likely be ignored later tonight. Waiting in a line of 250 voters at sundown that night was a prepoundonderance of Hispanic voters. Proposition 50 passed in Ventura County with 60% approval. Tonight I stand with all our residents either documented or undocumented in opposition to anyone who supports the detention and deportation of the innocent. Thank you.

Thank you. Hi, Mayor Kavanaaugh and city council along with staff. My name is Doren Stoutland and I'm a resident of the Woodlands. I would like to inquire whether the city is aware of the upcoming expiration of the statute of repose related to Canyon LLC. Under California law, a developer's 10-year infrastructure or construction warranty period, commonly referred to as the statute of repose, limits the time in which the latent construction defect claims can be brought involving structural elements, foundation, and major infrastructure, whether seen or unknown. It is my understanding that the 10-year period for RL Canyon may expire at the end of this month based on the closing occupancy date of the first home in the development. I'm also aware that after this period expires, responsibility on ongoing maintenance, infrastructure issues may shift to the property owners, HOA common areas, and the city for public infrastructure, which would include future responsibility for roadway roadway deterioration, potholes, and other public school maintenance issues. As you know, there was has already been a settlement involving one of the homes as well as a current lawsuit involving 19 homeowners. However, it is my understanding that these matters do not include potential future impacts to the HOA or to the city of Sumi Valley. Given the significance of this deadline, I respectfully ask, is the city aware of the pending expiration of the statute of repost for Monl Canyon LLC? Has the city conducted or commissioned any recent inspections or assessments of public infrastructure within the development

prior to expiration? Does the city anticipate any financial or maintenance exposure once the statutory period expires? I thank you for your time and consideration. I would reference you to the 2025 California code. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh good evening uh Mayor Kavanagh and count city council. Um I am a member of the COA executive board and I had the honor of being chosen to be on the grant committee and subsequently the honor of chairing it. Uh the system that was put into operation um is kind of flawed um for only $150,000 uh offered for over $800,000 in requests. So I would like the city council to consider the following things. That the uh amount be increased to 300,000. I know that the uh grant comes from the waste management, but perhaps you can find money elsewhere. The also we were told that there has to be a minimum of $10,000 offered to each organization. I'd like to suggest that maybe drop that to 5,000 and that way um more people can be u warded. I must say this, uh, I'm well known in the city. Uh, I've been here since 1972 and after this grant was done, I had many, many calls, personal calls. And unfortunately, not all of them were positive. But having done that, I would do it again. And I appreciate your time and I hope that you can consider what I was suggesting.

Thank you. The last of the first 10 speakers, Cindy Sleck. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. My name is Cindy Slack and I am the president of the Seami Valley Library Foundation. I have lived in Seami Valley for 42 years, raised three kids here, and lucky enough to have three grandchildren being raised here. I'm here this evening to sincerely thank you along with our partners at Waste Management for the generous community programs grant. We truly appreciate your confidence in our vision and our commitment to investing in the people of Seami Valley. We understand how important it is to ensure these funds are used responsibly and in ways that benefit the greatest number of community members. In a city now approaching 125,000 residents, that responsibility becomes even greater. We also recognize there are many deserving organizations throughout our community that are equally in need of financial support and we remain hopeful there will continue to be additional opportunities and resources available for all who serve our residents. This grant is not simply funding improvements to a building. It is helping strengthen a place where our community gathers, learns, connects, and grows. As many of you know, for more than four years, we've been working through the steps necessary to not only renovate the library, but also in transition ownership of the library to the city of Semi Valley so we may create greater opportunities to raise funds for long-term capital improvements. The community room serves everyone. Children attending programs, students studying, nonprofit organization

meetings, seniors connecting, and families gathering. It is one of the few places in our community that truly welcomes all generations. Our residents deserve a library that reflects the pride and standards of this community. With your support, we are moving closer to creating a library that is safe, updated, and welcoming. Thank you again for your generosity, your partnership, and your belief in the importance. Thank you. Your time is up.

Sorry. Madame Mayor and members of city council, the next item on the agenda is public hearings. This is a time for testimony on public hearings on the consideration of matters as presented on this agenda. Let the record show that due notice was given as required by law and an affidavit to this effect is on file in the office of the city clerk. All comments submitted by email have already been provided to the city council and will be made part of the record. However, they will not be read by the city clerk this evening. Speakers will be called on in the order in which their car was submitted to speak for this public testimony item five for a period in no more than 5 minutes each. Persons addressing the city council are requested to state their name and community residents for the record. Comments shall be limited to matters relevant to the item on the agenda and may be ruled out of order if comments are unrelated to the item. The reports of city staff relating to these matters shall be made part of the record of this meeting. If you challenge in court any of the city council decisions made here tonight, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at this public hearing. The time within which judicial review must be sought is governed by California Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.6. Item 5A, a public hearing to consider adoption of a resolution approving the issuance of taxexempt revenue bonds by the California Public Finance Authority to finance or refinance the acquisition, construction, improvement, and equipping of a residential care facility project for seniors located at the southwest corner of Tapo Canyon and Guardian Street, Semi Valley, California. The reading of the resolution is as follows. Resolution number 2026-12, a resolution approving the issuance of revenue bonds for residential care facility for seniors project by the authority for the purpose of financing and refinancing the acquisition,

development, construction, improvement, and equipping of certain facilities for the benefit of Enzo Verde and assistant to city manager Angel Sierra is here to present this item. Before we begin, are there any exparte communications to report? Please proceed.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. We are here this evening to conduct a public hearing pursuant to the Federal Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act or TERA. Pursuant to section 147F of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, TER requires that a public hearing be held by the governing body of the jurisdiction in which a project to be financed with taxexempt financing is located and that the governing body approved the proposed financing. In accordance with these requirements, the city published a notice of public hearing in the Ventura County Star on April 30th, 2026. Tonight for your consideration is resolution number 2026-12, a request to approve the issuance of one or more series of taxexempt revenue bonds by the California Public Finance Authority or CalPFA in an amount not to exceed 450 million. The proceeds of the bonds will be issued for the benefit of Enzo Ver Verde, formerly known as Kendall at Ventura, a nonprofit organization to finance or refinance the acquisition, construction, improvement, and equipment equipping of a residential care facility for seniors located at the southwest west corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Guardian Street. The city council previously approved joining the CalPFA and subsequently approved a TER resolution for this project in January of 2023. However, due to project delays, increased cost, and a change in the borrower's name, the prior approval has expired and a new TERA hearing is required in order uh in order to proceed with the next phase of financing. The action before the council tonight is to conduct the required public hearing and consider adoption of a resolution approving the issuance of the bonds by CalPFA. This action is solely for the purpose of satisfying Taffer requirements and does not constitute approval of the project itself which must still undergo the city standard

review and entitlement processes. The bonds to be issued by CalPFA will be the sole responsibility of the borrower and the city will have no financial, legal or moral obligation or liability for the repayment of the bonds. All financing documents will include disclaimers stating that the bonds are not obligations of the city. The city will hear will bear no cost in the issuance of the proposed debt. This is a private loan with the borrower and their bank. This concludes staff report and is available for any questions. Thank you, Mr. Sierra. Are there any questions um from city council members? Mayor Pro Litzer, thank you, Angel, for your report. Just a quick question. This was originally approved in 2023. It's returning because there's been a name change and there's an expiration. I guess my first question, the first um uh 29 million that has already been issued was under a different name. Does that um I guess the question is is this next entity still obligated for those bonds or is it is it just two separate entities now that we are basically authorizing? How how does that work with

I would actually welcome up uh Bradley Forchner. She's with the Enzo Verde marketing team. Good evening. May could you repeat the question? So just a curiosity. I know that the name has changed from Kendall at Ventura to Enzo Verde. Um the initial 29 million was authorized with the original name. We now have a new name. I a curiosity whether that are these two entities that are now obligated or are they still one and the same just with the name change? No. Um, Enzo Verde will be the only entity responsible for this. Kendall at Ventura has exited the project and has no um, responsibility there.

So, they assume the initial 20. Correct. Okay. And, and the request up to 450 million. Does does the 29 does that mean we're really authorizing 421 million or it's it's a not to exceed amount of 450 million? Got it. Okay. And and this is just an aside because I will tell you I think that the project is well, we'll get to all that. um a beautiful community. It'll be beautiful when it is built. Um my question is I know there was some the project itself. Is the reason you're here today because they have are progressing further along in the process? I'm I'm curious. I know that they were trying to get a secondary access for instance. Do you know has that happened regarding the easement? Is that your question?

Yes. Whether or not they needed a secondary fire access they were trying to work out. That's part of all of it, but the easement is moving along in the the discussions with AJU. So, we're still on track and looking like we're making good progress there. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Seeing none at this time, I would like to open the hearing for anyone in the city council chambers wishing to be heard on this matter. City clerk. Madame Mayor, we have no uh public testimony cards for this for this item.

Thank you. Um this Are there any other uh further comments or questions from city council members?

All right, this hearing is now closed. I will now entertain a motion. Madame Mayor, I move the city council adopt resolution number 2026-12 approving the issuance of revenue bonds by the California Public Finance Authority in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $450 million for the benefit of the Enzoy formerly known as Kendall Adventura, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation to provide for the financing or refinance or the acquisition of construction, improvement, and equipping of the Enzy residential care facility for the for the elderly project. Second.

Thank you. Call for the vote. The motion passes unanimously. Madame clerk, we can proceed to the next item. Thank you.

The next item, item 5B, a public hearing to consider Semi Valley Municipal Code amendments Z-S-2025-00006 to regulate allow short-term rentals in residential zones. a determination that the amendments are exempt from the California Environment Equality Act and introduc introduction of an ordinance. The reading of the two ordinances are as follows. Ordinance number 1369, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Semi Valley prohibiting short-term rentals citywide and amending the Semi Valley municipal code to permit only those land uses identified in title 9 or ordinance number 1370 an ordinance of the city council of the city of Sei Valley for municipal code amendment Z-S-2025-00006 to regulate short-term rentals in residential potential zones and a determination that the amendment are exempt from the environmental quality act and deputy environmental services director of planning Sean Gibson planning a principal planner Narang Guna Sakiraa and associate planner Alexander Klingman are here to present this item thank you before we begin are there any exparte communications to report seeing none we may move forward thank you

good evening Mayor Kavanagh members of the City Council. Tonight's presentation on short-term rentals will be by associate planner Alex Klingman.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh and members of the city council. On December 15th, 2025, staff presented a draft short-term rental ordinance to the city council. The council made several modifications and directed staff to present the ordinance to neighborhood councils and planning commission. The neighborhood councils reviewed the ordinance in January and all four voted against it with three recommending a ban. The planning commission also recommended that the city council denied the ordinance and ban STRs citywide. However, if STRs were to be allowed, both the neighborhood councils and planning commission made the following recommendations. To require stricter occupancy limits per unit. To require safety inspections. to prohibit STRs in close proximity to one another. To prohibit STRs in ADUs, to include a cap on rental nights per year and on total STRs citywide, to require a minimum nightly stay, and to require all STRs to be hosted. Potential amendments to the ordinance are provided to you as attachment H. If the council wishes to incorporate any of these changes, they can do so when the ordinance is read. In March, the city council requested a professional survey be conducted to determine broader community perspectives on STRs. The city contracted with True North Research, Inc. to conduct the survey, and they allowed True North to develop the survey questions based on their extensive experience. Surveys were conducted with 670 registered voters in Seami Valley. However, to obtain a valid sample size, only 500 respondents were needed. A majority of the respondents were long-term residents and homeowners aged 50 and over, which is reflective of the

greater community demographic. The survey results showed that 72% of respondents were in support of STRs, 12% in support of STRs without any regulations, and 58% in support of STRs with regulations in place, and for 24% were opposed to STRs. Approximately 63% of all respondents supported the framework of the ordinance as presented tonight. And a copy of the complete survey report is provided as attachment I. And with that, two options are provided to the city council for consideration this evening. To adopt regulations to permit STRs or to prohibit STRs citywide. Each approach has regulatory, administrative, enforcement, and financial implications, which I'll explain in the presentation. And with either option, staff recommends a deferred implementation date of January 1st, 2027. This would allow staff time to identify existing STR operators and inform them of the changes. Operators would be required to have a valid permit by January 1st, 2827 to avoid enforcement. If STRs are allowed, a permit is required and is limited to one per person or legal entity. This permit would need to be renewed annually and a site inspection would be required to confirm that the site is up to building code. Permit fees and a business tax certificate would also be required and a nuisance response plan would need to be submitted which would include a contact of the person responsible for responding to complaints within 30 minutes. This information would also be mailed out to the neighbors within 200 ft for unhosted STRs. And just to clarify, if any issues arise, residents do not have to contact the STR owner. They can still contact

code enforcement or the police department. As usual, the operational standards would ensure compliance with the building codes such as smoke detectors and pool gates. Occupancy would be limited to two adults and two children per bedroom. Guest vehicles would not be permitted to park in the street. Exterior noise monitoring devices would be required. and party houses or similar event venues are already not allowed in residential zones, but the proposed ordinance includes an additional prohibition on any paid events or group events with non-registered guests. The city's current vendor, HDL, will administer the transit occupancy tax and business tax certificates for STRs. There is a 2500 one-time um setup fee for this. HDL will play a key role in tracking STRs across platforms like Airbnb. And they'll also assist in the compliance aspect of sending notices to non-compliant operators and providing education to those operators through their existing STR programs. The cost for this compliance aspect is approximately $14,000 for year 1 and $9,750 annually after that. Permit fees are based on cost recovery, which includes staff time for reviewing applications, coordinating with other staff on enforcement issues, admin staff time, and a building inspector's uh time for pre-permitting inspections. HDL costs will also be included in this and are split amongst 70 permits. And this is based on prior discussions with vendors that of the approximately 100 known STR operations in the city, about 30 of those would drop out after the initiation of an STR program. Based on that, the permit fee would be around $741,

which is relatively less compared to the average of seven surrounding jurisdictions, which was $936. The other element of STR regulation is enforcement. Violations related to STRs would fall into two categories. Operation without a required permit and operational violation violations such as noise, parking or parties. For those operating without a permit, if HDL cannot get compliance, then code enforcement and the city attorney's office would step in. Enforcement costs for permitting compliance can range from $360 for a notice of violation to $8,000 for full-blown legal action. The estimated annual cost for operational enforcement is anticipated to range from $1,800 to $17,000 per year. And this assumes that we would get four to 10 complaints annually. Some of these enforcement costs may be recovered through nuisance abatement filings and through penalties and fines. And Senate Bill 60 allows STR violation fines up to 1,500 for a first violation and up to 5,000 for three or more violations. And for reference, in the past year, the city received 10 STR complaints with five of those being for repeat addresses. The annual net revenue is estimated to be approximately $152,000 in the first year and $163,000 after that. Revenue includes tot business taxes and the permit fee. First year costs are anticipated to be higher due to uh one-time permit setup and website update expenses which are non-reoverable. These estimates differ from previous projections and one reason for that is

that um the initial estimates included the cost of hiring a full-time code enforcement officer. But based on the relatively low number of STR related complaints received so far, staff anticipates that existing code enforcement staff will be able to administer this program. Staff has also determined that a simplified vendor service model without features such as a 24-hour hotline are sufficient for the city's needs and staff time to prepare the ordinance has been removed since those costs have already been incurred. While an STR program is expected to offset administrative costs and generate some net revenue, revenue generation is not the primary purpose of the ordinance. The main goal is to establish clear operating standards and provide a framework for monitoring and managing short-term rentals in a way that supports neighborhood compatibility and addresses community concerns. The actual net revenue shown here could vary depending on future enforcement activity and related costs, which may be up to $25,000 a year since only a portion of these costs can be recoverable. Next, we'll go over option two, which would be to prohibit STRs. Under this approach, STRs would be prohibited under the general provisions of Title 9, which do not allow uses that are not specifically listed in the development code. The city's enforcement focus for a ban would be on identifying existing STRs and enforcing them to shut shut down through voluntary compliance and enforcement or enforcement actions when necessary. The city has two options to accomplish this. Use HDL or an in-house approach under SB 346. And as mentioned before, HDL would provide real-time monitoring of STRs and would contact operators to let them know

that they're not permitted. The estimated annual cost in year 1 is about $14,000 to set up the program and 9,750 annually after that, plus any CPI adjustments. If the SB346 in-house approach is used, the city would have to request listing data directly from hosting platforms and staff would also prepare and distribute initial code enforcement notices. The estimated cost for this is $11,537 in year 1, which includes initial data requests, staff and enforcement time, and a one-time initial mailout cost. and then 2,250 annually after that to request data. And while the in-house approach may appear cost-effective, SP346 is relatively new and untested, and the data provided by hosting platforms may be incomplete or delayed. This approach would require significant ongoing staff time for mailouts, enforcement, compliance tracking, and operator education. staff recommends utilizing HDL because they have an already established tool for identifying active listings across multiple platforms, which would ensure more complete and timely data when compared to SP 346. It's also important to note that whichever approach is selected does not have to be permanent. For example, if the council chooses to prohibit STRs, the city could utilize HDL during the implementation period and later transition to a more in-house approach if needed. And similar to the enforcement costs I mentioned before, those costs can range from $360 to $8,000 depending on the case. And operational violations can cost anywhere from 1,800 to 17,000 per year. But again, the total cost to the

city may be affected by these numbers and cost recovery is not certain. The following alternatives are available to the city council. One, to introduce an ordinance amending the Seami Valley Municipal Code to prohibit short-term rentals in residential zones. or two, introduce an ordinance amending the Seami Valley Municipal Code to regulate and allow short-term rentals in residential zones or provide staff with other direction. The planning commission recommends alternative one. This concludes staff's presentation and we are available for questions.

Thank you. Does any council member have questions for staff? Council member Ayella, I have three questions to start. We surveyed 670 people. So, what would you say to the residents who are concerned that 670 people that doesn't represent the 130,000 in the city?

I can take that. Um, so the survey company that we engaged with takes the survey sample as essentially representative of the registered voter population in the city. So just to simplify it, if you take a hundred people for the survey, um that would be representative of if there are x number percentage that are registered as a Republican, x number of percentage registered as a Democrat, x number of homeowners, x number of renters, all of those are factored into that survey sample to ensure that it is reflective of the entire population of the community that is a registered voter. and they do only survey registered voters to ensure that it's um the bare minimum of active members of the community.

So you're saying that the 670 would be an accurate representation of what the public feeling would be? Yes. And then if we were to move forward, how because there are STR owners in the community already, how would they be notified of the new requirements and all of the dates so that you make sure that they're actually following the process? uh the HDL vendor has a program set up where they will monitor STR listings and they will reach out directly to those um STR operators to notify them of the changes and if there's a the effective date of January 1st.

Okay. And then the third thing is you had mentioned the toot revenue that would come in to the city if um this were to if we were to regulate. My question is are there any um restrictions on the toot that how the toot can be used or does the city have free flexibility to use those in in whatever capacity we most need at that time?

I'll take that one too. Um toot comes into the general fund and there are no restrictions to it. So we can allocate it wherever it is best needed. Um the theory behind toot is that it's used for things like community safety, policing, beautifification, streets, roads, um to attract people to want to come to the community and stay here. Okay. All right. That's it for now. Thanks. Thank you, Council Member Rhodess. Yeah. I actually had one more question on the taxes. Um and I didn't notice it until tonight. I don't know why it went over my head there, but um T-BID, we have a transit occupancy tax. We also have a or not T- bid, the um

we have a T we have a TOT and a T- bid. T bit and um and I didn't see T-BID numbers or was that included in the transit occupancy tax assumption? The Toot number that's included is I believe separate from the T- bid number. So, um the toot is um specific to the city and then the T bid goes directly to the chamber of commerce. And uh in the uh if we had an ordinance approving the existence of STRs and collecting transit occupancy tax, we would also then be collecting T-BID from those same. That's correct. It just doesn't come to the general fund. It goes into the trans uh the T- bid. Yeah.

Yeah. So, and the T-BID was excluded from this report. Okay. Purposely. Yes. Okay. For the community sake, will you explain what toot and TBID are?

Oh, sure. Sorry. Um, government alphabet soup. Um, toot is the transient occupancy tax. So, um, it is applied to people who stay in a uh short-term rental situation or a hotel room. Um, so it is applied to people who are staying from outside of the community. It's not a tax on our residents. Um so currently our um transient occupancy tax is 10% for anybody who's staying in a hotel room or lodging in the city of semi valley and then T-BID is an additional 2% that um is directed to the chamber of commerce to help promote the community and encourage people to stay in the city of semi valley. It stands for tourism business improvement district um and the chamber of commerce manages those funds.

Thank you. Are there any other questions from council? Mayor Pen Litster.

Thank you. Um, just some questions as I was reading through the report that I'd like to maybe understand a little bit better. Um, as I understand it, whether we approve or whether we ban, the city is recommending HDL for compliance. Um, did it appear to me that in essence the compliance costs were very close or very similar regardless of which path we choose? Is that accurate or could you distinguish between the costs for me? There we go.

I've put the cost up on the screen. Um, yeah, in both cases in year one, the cost is of course a little bit more due to setup fees that we would need to put into play for either option. Um, but this would be under the prohibit just just Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. Just to clarify, uh, the the cost the HDL cost would be the same whether we prohibit or whether we allow because we're using HDL's compliance component in this for this for this costing. So the compliance component is where they monitor the the the listings and then they contact those listings and request compliance. So whether it's compliance to get a permit or whether to close down, it's pretty much the same cost.

Got it. Okay. That's what I was trying to understand. The HDL is virtually similar or the same, but the difference is in the permits that are are are collected in terms of and maybe theoretically the number would reduce and over time

if the so if you just for an example if we prohibit it um in the first year we're going to we we are expecting HDL to basically remove all the SDR listings um and then we have the the regulations are known. So if you know if if somebody's trying to start an STR in Semi Valley and they do a bit of due diligence, they'll know that STRs are not allowed. So we expect that number to keep going down. Um and sometimes some some listing companies like Airbnb will not even list uh uh units if they're in a jurisdiction where it's prohibited. So we expect the first year to have a lot of enforcement or relatively a lot and then as we go along that number should reduce. So if we want to we don't even need we might not even need HDL in the second third fourth year because the numbers are going to be so so few.

Okay. Um okay thank you. Page six it talks about um basically well who allows STRs etc. One of the pe one of the groups listed there of course is the county of Ventura which allows STRs and I think it said mentioned they have to hire two employees to oversee them etc. Um how many um county islands do we have within the city right now? Seven is it? There's like nine county islands. Nine county islands. So, if I understand correctly, regardless of what we do today, those nine county islands within this city can still have host STRs. Correct.

That's correct. So, my my understanding is that Ventura County only allows STRs in the coastal zone. So, since those nine islands are not in the coastal zone, they they wouldn't be able to get uh permits, but anything that the county regulates would apply in their county island area. So, while they may not allow them currently in anywhere but the coastal zones, um, if they were to change that, it would apply to the county islands areas. Okay. And so, you're saying the listings that I see in the county are that aren't coastal are are illegal.

That would be my understanding. Yes.

Okay. Um, one of I'm sorry, this is just kind of a um I was reading through the through the um basically the ordinance if we were to allow them one of the requirements is an installation of a noise monitor for instance. How how is that actually utilized? Is it connected somewhere? Is it I I just want to know the purpose. How does that work? So there's different noise monitor models available. Um there are and again we haven't done we've done a bit of research on this. We haven't looked at all the available models. Um what they do is they basically they're at the property boundary and they record noise levels in decibb. So if there is a code enforcement issue, code enforcement can go and check that noise monitor to see if that the the the complaint is actually reflected in the decibel level recorded by that noise monitor. Uh but we would need to the ordinance lets us request a wide variety of things from STR operators. We don't want to spell it all out in the ordinance because every time technology changes, we'll have to come back and redo this process. Um so we would be looking for a model of noise monitor where um code enforcement could just plug in the iPad and download all that noise data. There are also privacy issues. It can't record voice um like actual words and things like that because of privacy regulations. So just purely decibel levels.

Got it. And noise monitors were also created to alert the homeowner of uh noise potential noise violations. So if something happens at their house, they're alerted before the city's alerted so they can resolve it before it even becomes a complaint.

Got it. One more question. I know my questions are all over the place and and but thank you for humoring me. Um I read carefully the neighborhood council summarization report. Um I I wanted to understand you know the discussion that's that took place there etc. I know that in those entities you have voting with the the board members and then you have also voting with the general public and in all cases there was general public in attendance. Um I guess my question is is the general public voting limited to people that live in the district or could it be someone that went to all? I'm just curious how that works that it's basically anyone in attendance can vote or is it just if you live in the district you can vote as far as public attending

it's limited to people living in the district. People who are not in the district can speak but the public vote is limited to people in the district. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. At this time, I would like to open this hearing for anyone in the city council chambers wishing to be heard on this matter. So, madame city clerk, please proceed. Thank you, Madame Mayor. The first speaker is Chuck Lick.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh and city council members. I'm Chuck Le and I serve as the government affairs director for the association of realtors for it's a group that handles all of Cano Seami and more park. Um property rights really form the backbone of what the American economy has established and setting boundaries that courts will have for them. This includes the ability to lease the property to someone else for a set period of time. Let me begin with one popular saying. Timing is everything. If this issue were banning short-term rentals had been before the city council 12 years ago, it would have been a hypothetical situation. What's changed since then? There currently are approximately 100 properties that are already operating as short-term rentals. This is no longer a hypothetical situation. You're dealing with people's businesses and the way they do some of their lives and their property rights. Their concerns about rising rising are rising about a single property that should not drive a city when citywide ban on all short-term rentals, particularly those with a long record of compliant operation. A city-wide ban on short-term rentals would significantly disrupt existing local businesses, not only for the homeowner, but the other businesses that those renters utilize and the Seami Valley families who rely on that income. These businesses have operated because they feel the need and property owners exercise their established property rights to fill that need. We suggest the city should adopt clear

administrative standards and enforcable rules rather than impose a blanket ban on existing businesses. Let me finish with another saying from the final words of the Star Trek officer Spock. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. I'm not in your situation. You have to make a decision for the whole city and I believe the whole city needs regulation and not a ban. Thank you. Thank you.

I will read three uh names at a time so you know who you follow. James McGillis, Alin Een, and Anthony Een. Mayor Kavanagh, members of city council and staff. As you know, unlike many others who will speak here tonight, I'm a proud resident of Semi Valley. Tonight, we will hear from each of our council members. They'll speak regarding legalization andor banning of short-term rentals. Many will quote from the independent 670 registered voters who were surveyed. They will not mention that for the purposes of the survey, quote, short-term rental properties were defined as private homes that are rented for less than 30 days. End quote. We all know that the current STR inventory includes rooms, ADUs, pool houses, barn-like structures, unfenced pools, and a single family home on Amarillo Avenue divided in as many as six different units. Do I do not care how many other cities used a similar bogus survey to promote the legalization of residential motel. This $30,000 cost is a sham created to entice participants, myself included, to regulate with strong enforcement. In the proposed city ordinance, there is no cap on the number of off-site host on number of loca the number location or potential off-site hosting of STRs. An Airbnb superhost could live in Camaro and never even visit the local STR that they manage. I predict that any member of the city council who votes tonight to legalize and regulate short-term rentals will lose their next election bid. One council member will lose his primary election on June 2nd. On November 3rd, our longest serving council member will lose his race against our mayor. A currently appointed council member will lose his council race to one of several com opponents. The remaining council member will lose their seat in two years time. Our mayor mayor will be reelected, but only if she sticks to her guns and

votes to ban short-term rentals. It only takes three of you with a conscience to stop this dark money takeover of our residential neighborhoods and win your elections. Vote to ban shortterm rentals. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Alen Een and I have been a resident of Semi Valley for 42 years. Additionally, I worked for the Seami Valley Unified School District for 25 years until retiring. City Council, tonight you will be discussing whether to legalize or ban short-term rentals citywide. Your decision will affect the safety, character, and quality of life of the city you have been entrusted to protect. Seami Valley might become less attractive to people looking to move here. That will affect businesses as much as any tourism revenue might bring. After speaking here for more than one year and consecutively for the last nine months, I believe I have exhausted presenting the reasons for this council to consider banning STRs. You may wish to believe that there is no support for a ban and only three to 10 people in the city wish to ban STRs. That is not true. Even your survey finds that to be false. Also, the petitions with the 430 plus people, all the four neighborhood councils and the planning commission are all proof that a ban should be seriously

considered. be cautious in making your final decision tonight because it has the potential of adversely affecting our city for years to come. And before I sit down, I would like everybody who's here for banning STRs to stand up. Stand up and let them know it's not three to 10 people. It's not three to 10 people. and the petitions we got, it was going out and talking to people and explaining to them what short-term rentals were, what exactly we were talking about. It wasn't a survey. It was talking to people and explaining to them what you all want to do to our neighborhoods. So, thank you everybody for coming out tonight and please do the right thing. Good evening. Didn't know I was going to have five minutes, so this is very short. Anyhow, my name is Anthony Eston. I'm a uh 42-year resident of Semi Valley. After a year and a half, the city council may actually make a decision tonight on residential short-term rentals. The council should consider input from petitioners, decisions by the four neighborhood councils, the decision of the planning commission, speakers in favor and against, and now a survey. The recently completed survey should hold no more weight than all the other input the council should be considering. The survey is opinions of 670 out of the 85,771 registered voters of Seami Valley. Actually, that's that is less than 1% of

registered voters. Actually, that's 78% closer to 3/4 of 1% of registered voters. Is that actually representative of citywide opinion? I'm sure the professional survey company who is being paid will say yes. I think the public can decide for themselves. If you believe the numbers provided by this survey, it indicates at least 24% of those surveyed want STR's banned. Using that percentage, it would translate to at least 20,585 registered voters supporting a ban. not the three to 10 individuals insinuated by a council member. I am proud to have been an advocate for and hopefully represented well those voters these last nine months at these council meetings. Council members, consider this topic carefully. Make the right choice and ban residential short-term rentals. Thank you. The next three speakers, Matthew Abby, Robert Lickens, and Richard Hullman. Good evening, council members. I stood before you in past meetings sharing stories from the heart. the families who found comfort in our homes during cancer treatments, surgeries, floods, and final goodbyes. Tonight, I want to speak about something bigger. The long-term future of our neighborhoods and the real people who call Semi Valley home. For 23 years, I taught in the Semi Valley Unified School District, the bulk of which is at Sanana High School. That work was about building up our community, one student and one family at a time. Running today,

running short-term rentals is still about serving people. only now it's how I support my own family and help many people in Semi Valley, the homeowners keep their homes. After 10 years and more than 20,000 nights hosted, I've learned this well-run short-term rentals actually help preserve the character of our neighborhoods. The homes stay in top condition because guests expect it and hosts are rated on it for each stay. Gardeners are gardens are maintained. Upgrades happen regularly. The owners stay deeply invested in their properties. These aren't absentee landlords. They're local families who care about Seami Valley. I've seen how this flexibility strengthens families. One longtime Sei homeowner needed to leave the area temporarily for work, but wanted to return every month for the weekend. Short-term rental income lets them keep their house without locking into a long-term lease. Another family whose home was built by their grandparents nearly over hundred years ago now face $40,000 a year in property taxes with a step up in basance on on inher on on inheritance. Short-term rentals are the only realistic way they can hold on to that legacy. Without that option, more homes could slip away from the very families who built this city. A ban would take away that flexibility and that and that opportunity. It would punish every responsible host and homeowner for problems only perceived by a few because no hard data suggests otherwise. That's not fair and that's not semi valley way. Please vote to support the hardworking families, the well-maintained homes, the compassionate service these rentals provide. I'll also say it's tough to come here and just see so many people thinking one way. The rest of us are out in the world just actually making things happen. We're so busy taking care of the people that we're working for, the families that we serve, the guests that we have. I mean, we're just constantly bombarded trying to get five stars just all the time. Like, that's all you think

about. Um because that it's it means that much to us. And so to go grab a whole bunch of other people to come in and, you know, and do this week after week after week, like we don't have time for this. Like, you know, this is not our hobby to just show up to these meetings every week and say this stuff. like we're just too busy working and serving. So, I just want you guys to know that's where that's coming from. So, it's nice to feel supported sometimes. Let's choose regulation that strengthens our community and is working very well in other cities and in the county uh instead of shutting doors on the people who support Semi Valley. Thank you. Uh, good evening, mayor and members of the city council. My name is Robert Lykins, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight about the positive impact of short-term rentals. For me personally, short-term rentals made it possible to completely transform a heavily neglected property into a beautiful, well-maintained home for myself, my wife, and my two children. What was once a rundown and overlooked has now become something that adds pride to the neighborhood and creates a welcoming place for visitors. Short-term rentals encourage property owners to invest in their homes. owners renovate, improve landscaping, upgrade safety features, and maintain their properties at a much higher level because guests expect quality accommodations. These improvements often raise the overall appearance and value of surrounding neighborhoods as well. They also support local economies. Like we've talked about, visitors who stay in short-term rentals spend money at local restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, gas stations, retail stores, and entertainment venues. That revenue stays within the community and helps support

local jobs and small businesses. Another important point is that many of us who host are also travelers oursel. When we travel, we stay in short-term rentals because they provide a more personal and community-based experience than a traditional hotel. We enjoy supporting local homeowners in other cities just as visitors support ours here. Responsible short-term rental owners care deeply about their neighborhoods. We want quiet. So, we will be encouraged to put up the sound listening devices. Um, respectful guest because this is our home and our community, too. I believe thoughtful regulations like option one uh uh and responsible hosting can allow short-term rentals to continue benefiting homeowners, neighborhoods, local businesses, and visitors alike. Uh, and then I was going to speak to your question. Um, council member Ayala, you were asking about how are we going to, you know, make sure that these hosts are going to, you know, follow the regulations and put up the sound devices and all the other things. And I really don't think that's going to be an issue. You've got 100 houses plus or minus 100 houses with really only five of them that had have had maybe two complaints. So, we're invested. I mean, if it doesn't work out, then we're going to have to sell our houses and move. So, I really don't think that's going to be an issue. Paying the permits, paying down a lot of the fees that you guys I mean, you asked option, Miss Pro tip, Elaine, uh the you asked the cost involved. It's going to be a lot cheaper in my opinion um for the city to allow these because you're going to be bringing in some revenue, you're going to bring in your taxes, you're going to bring in some of the other things as opposed to the expensive to regulate. And then also I

think it was up to $14,000 and it was it was a number for um fines. It was almost the same on that. So there it would be less would it would be actually cheaper for the city to regulate. So thank you again guys. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Mayor, city council staff, I applaud the difficult decisions you make and the time you put in on our behalf. My name is Richard Hollowman. I'm a 55-y year resident of Semi Valley. I am a local realtor for 37 years. I'm a past president of our Semi Valley More Park Association of Realtors. I am also a certified real estified real estate expert certified by Ventura County Superior Court. So, I have lots of knowledge whenever I come forth with with um the information that I'm coming forth with today. I also live next door to the poltergeist house. So I want to disclose that as well. So um I am here today to speak uh for a complete ban on short-term rentals. Um some people today will say that uh that it is the right of a homeowner to have a short-term rental. And actually it's the opposite. It's a residence. A home is in a residential community. And to put a hotel in a residential community is wrong. For somebody to put a business in a residential community where people are raising their families is wrong. It was never the right of a homeowner um to create a business in a residential community. A hotel is a family, excuse me, a hotel in a family community um is not what a neighborhood is built for. People want to raise their families in communities, not have a hotel there. We have plenty of hotels in Seami Valley. We have a hotel that is permitted and has not been built yet. If we were

short on the need for hotels, that would already be built and it would be fully um fully staffed and fully um rented out. What I want to address today is Megan's laws regulations. Um it regulates sex offenders. Okay? It it regulates them where they live and it regulates pedophiles, child abusers. Um, and they're required to they're required to disclose where they live. Okay, a short-term rental isn't does not count as where you live. It's where you're visiting. There is no way to regulate, and if there was, it would already have happened over the last 10 years, the fact that you can have a sexual abuser, a pedophile, a rapist come next to your home because somebody has set up a short-term rental there. I don't think you as city officials want to be known for putting pedophiles, rapists, and child abusers into a family community. I don't believe the Semi Valley citizens are okay with short-term rentals next to them allowing those um deviants to be there. And I also don't think the homeowners are okay with the fact that the value of their home will decrease. Whereas it's been stated, oh well, they're they're improving the home whenever they come and and and put it out to rent it out. That may be correct, but as a family member, you can't go, hey kids, go out and play in the front yard because you don't know who's going to be there. So, if you're concerned about the citizens of our of our city, I want you to contemplate the fact of your kids, your grandkids,

do you want them to be able you can't put them out front in a family neighborhood because you don't know who's going to be next door because it's going to change every two, three, five days. Is that what you want to create for our community? I don't think it is. My request is that you protect our citizens, protect our families, protect our children, and that you ban short-term rentals in Semi Valley. I'm also going to ask that as the speakers come up that they disclose where they live and if they have short-term rentals whenever they speak. I want to thank you for your time. I appreciate all your efforts. I understand there are difficult decisions to be made, but in this situation, I don't think it's actually that difficult. And I really believe you want to support the citizens of the United of the uh Seami Valley and that you want to support making sure we have a family community to raise our kids in. Thank you.

Thank you. The next three speakers, Nancy Zeiss, Heather Moss, and Ryan Higgins.

Hello, my name is Nancy Zeisy. I do live in a neighborhood where next door to me, they were allowed to build a rental in their backyard. They also rent to somebody in the home. So now there's six cars for one house. I can never park in front of my house. Across the street from me, there's another rental um that people come in and out of, like the last gentleman said, two or three days, sometimes longer. They also have parked cars. So, I'm asking, what kind of real regulation are you going to do about the cars? Because in our neighborhood, there's nowhere to park. Um I think that sad. I totally agree with the last gentleman. Um, how do you know what's coming into the rentals? They aren't passing any kind of survey before they come into the rentals. I think you should respect the neighborhood. I've lived in my home for 46 years. So, um, it's a big change to have that many cars always parked in front of my house. Thanks. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh, council members Miss Arbrite and Miss Gutierrez. I am Heather Moss, a 15-year Seammy Valley resident and business member. I urge you to ban residential short-term rentals citywide. My family and many neighbors did not receive the STR survey. Contacting a small group while excluding several hundred thousand other residents, registered voters, and homeowners is not an accurate representative sample. Responsible cities have banned STRs in favor of residential character, stability, and safety.

Seami's own planning commission unanimously recommended a ban on STRs along with our neighborhood councils and 430 residents who signed a petition to ban STR citywide. Seami Valley has long prohibited commercial businesses in residential zones. STR slipping in under the radar never made these unregulated lodging operations permissible. bad actors, crime tourists, and pop-up brothel. They deliberately seek out STRs. Seami Valley should prioritize residents, housing concerns, property values, and safety, not unlicensed lodging businesses exploiting our neighborhoods. At v various recent meetings, many STR operators stood before you. They flat out lied to your faces and concealed that they do not live in Seami Valley. Many do not live on site at their STRs. They downplayed the true scope of their high turnover transient lodging operations and many operate multiple STRs. They are not their primary residences. Some engage in what's known as rental arbitrage by leasing properties in our city to rerent as STRs for profit, further reducing long-term housing availability to others. Superhost status is code for packing in lodgers 247 with no regard for our neighborhoods. Those that boasted of never having an issue or only having one issue that was resolved in one hour, that's all a lie.

They have numerous negative lodger reviews mentioning unsanitary conditions, safety and maintenance problems at their properties, and unresponsive off-site hosts. STR operators are not paying to tax. Most don't have city business tax certificates, and no one is regulating or vetting these operations for safety. occupancy, density, traffic and parking issues, or building code compliance. If the city refuses to ban STR citywide, then please immediately require toot collection on every booking and do so no later than 45 days from now. Their free ride needs to end. Enough with the delays. While STR siphon businesses away from licensed lodging businesses who are already struggling with high vacancy, Seami Valley is not a monopoly board. Homes are not hotels. Please ban STR citywide. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good evening, Honorable Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Ryan Huggins and I am the 2026 president of the Cano Simi Morark Association of Realtors. And for full disclosure, I also own and have owned and operated short-term rentals over the last several years. As realtors, we take an oath and are committed to protect the individual right of real estate ownership and to widen the opportunity to enjoy it. It is our position that a ban on short-term rentals would significantly impact and potentially negate the rights of homeowners. Many times in real estate transactions, a seller must close escrow

before the purchase is finalized. In these cases, both parties often enter into a seller in possession agreement, which can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks and typically involves compensation. A total ban on short-term rentals would unintentionally eliminate this essential and widely used practice. In addition to their practical use in everyday real estate transactions, many hosts rely on these rentals to combat inflation by supplementing social security or pensions or to provide long-term care for elderly family members. While short-term rentals have existed long before the internet, the rise of online platforms have significantly expanded their ability to be marketed. Sites like Airbnb, VBO, Home Away, and Trip Advisor make it easier than ever for to be a short-term rental host. These sites all have good neighbor policies, keep hosting guest reviews, and have mechan mechanisms for hosts and those in neighborhoods to file complaints for bad operators. These companies will ban problematic guests, hosts, and even properties from their platforms. Several of them also perform background checks on guests and hosts. According to the city, there are approximately 100 short-term rentals within the housing stock of more than 44,000 residences per aired DNA a short-term rental tracking site. Of those 100 short-term rentals, the average occupancy rate in Seami Valley is approximately 56, that's 56% equating to approximately 200 days out of the year being rented out. We would also like to highlight the results of the recent survey commissioned by the city which found that 72% of respondents supported allowing short-term rentals in Seami Valley. This reflects not only our position but also the views of the clear majority of the community. We encourage leaders of the great city of Seami Valley to follow the example of

other cities by adopting clear and enforcable rules along with administrative standards and reasonable restrictions for short-term rentals rather than pursuing an outright ban. Please vote to support an ordinance that allows allowing short-term rentals within the city of Sim Valley. Thank you. Thank you,

Patricia Flurry. Paul Hodgeges and Ted Mel.

Hi, I'm Patricia Flurry. Um, I've been living in Seami Valley for 50 years, seen a lot of changes. And what I don't understand is that you approved more or less Rocky and and um Mike to spend $30,000 on a a survey when we had resident people that went out Lynn and and Anthony and Jim and and all of them and did it for free. and the and the um um what do I want to say the figures that they came up with were almost half and half and you don't acknowledge that. Why don't you acknowledge as our residents who have worked in behalf of of trying to make this legal a go? I live next to short-term rentals. The house in back of me is a rental, but the people there a transition for every six months. We've had trouble with fire has it. We've had trouble with parties. We've had trouble with uh farm animals. And you say, "Oh, Pat, you know what's a chicken or two?" We had goats. And when it took code enforcement months to get rid of the goats and when we got rid of the goats, what these people do? They brought in a horse. So, and now we're having trouble with them stacking trash in front of their garage. So, you want to live next to a short-term rental. You want to live next to a house that has six to eight people in it. And that I turned to you guys because at one point we went over this. You said two adults and two children in

a five- bedroomedroom house is 20 people. and you came back to me at the next meeting and said you had scaled that down to a total of eight people. Tonight on your slide presentation, we're back to 20 people. I ask you to reduce that number if you're going to not ban STRs. And I'm begging you three because I know Rocky and Mike have already joined the STR family. I'm begging you three. It's not a good thing. It lowers the value of our house. It brings in all kinds of strange people. They're not the the realtor next to us does not have any landscape or does not keep up the property. Please don't allow this. And the other thing is, did you check with the hotels? Is this going to take business away from our hotels? Are we going to start losing that business in our community? I mean, so please there again and I could turn around to all the people that asked you to ban and I could go ditto ditto ditto because I'm in the same boat that what as to what they have conveyed. So thank you. Please give this a serious consideration. And we can we go back to the eight people per house instead of 20, please. Oh, I guess you can't talk to me, huh? Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Good evening, Madame Mayor. See me uh city council. I've attended uh numerous city council uh sessions um far more than I ever have in the 35 years I've been here um which I'm somewhat apologetic for. Um with regards to STRs, I've heard proponents of STRs speak in favor. However, I have yet to really hear um a response to how it makes the community better, how it supports young people possibly buying a home later on and not having to move from where they grew up. I don't hear that. It's it seems to be singular in its point. It's about money for various reasons and I can appreciate that. Um, a member of the city council had made a mention of a a fairly um energetic group of people that went out and did surveys and that referred to them as a vocal minority against STRs. It's not true. Of course, all four of the neighborhood councils voted to ban STRs. That's a mechanism used in the city to report back to the city council for advisement purposes as to what those neighborhood councils feel, their constituents have their feelings about. Not only did the neighborhood councils decide to recommend banning STRs, the planning commission unanimously

agreed to recommend a complete ban of STRs. Now, those are, if I am, correct me if I'm wrong, those are appointed by you guys. Um to just take and ignore that is simply moving the goalpost down the road when a very questionable under the circumstances but questionable a survey that was generated and created very very quickly and produced uh the results that we saw tonight. So from my point of view, I think it's time to do the right thing and to ban STRs in Seami Valley. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. It's been a while since I've been here and thank you for adjourning the meeting a few months ago in honor of my father. It was really I got that certificate. It was very much appreciated by my family. I own a long-term rental. I don't own a short-term rental. Um but I'm opposed to the ban. Short-term rentals located in residential neighborhoods bring foot traffic and out of town spending directly to local mom and pop shops, grocery stores, cafes, restaurants that may not be typically seen by tourist revenue hosts who frequently leave guide books recommend their favorite local spots, further driving business to neighborhood staples. Short-term rentals allow everyday homeowners to diversify their income. This extra revenue can be crucial for residents looking to afford rising property taxes, pay down mortgages, or manage general costs of living. In some cases, this supplemental income allows families to keep their home rather than being forced to sell to developers in gentrifying areas. Local job creation. The operation of short-term rentals creates direct need for secondary services, boosting the local gig and service economies. Post regularly hire local professionals to maintain their properties, creating steady work for housekeepers, cleaning services, landscapers, pool maintenance workers, plumbers, electricians, general contractors, and local property managers. Increased tax revenue. Many municipalities now require short-term rentals to pay the same transient occupancy tax taxes, hotel taxes, and sales taxes as traditional lodging. When regulated and collect correct collected properly, this generates a significant stream of tax revenue for local governments. These funds can be injected

back in the community to support public schools, parks, roads, maintenance, and affordable housing initiatives. neighborhood revitalization. Because hosts rely heavily on positive reviews and photos to attract guests, there's a strong financial incentive to keep properties in excellent condition. This can lead to homeowners investing in significant res renovations, fully furnishing and updating updating um maintain landscaping and restore restoring older unutilized properties. Over time, this consistent upkeep can improve the overall aesthetic and safety of a neighborhood. In highly popular dis destinations, traditional tourist centers can easily become overcrowded. Short-term rentals can help disperse visitors across a wider geological footprint, geographical footprint. This not only spreads the economic benefits across different zip codes, but can also relieve pressure and congestion on main tourist hubs that and public transit in those areas. Temporary housing to bridge the needs of people selling homes while waiting for their next home to be built or give them beneficial edge up to buy in competitive housing markets. For those of us who are real estate brokers, we sometimes will sell a house, someone's going to need temporary housing. These Airbnbs fill the void, gets them in a place where now they can go out and compete in the market. Um, being a long-term uh uh rental owner, one of the big things we see and we see as real estate professionals when we go into these long-term rentals, they're in very poor condition. the landscaping isn't taking well. You got paint peeling. You go in and the way landlords paint and slap uh or slap paint over

everything. Long-term rentals tend to be the worst properties on the block. Um the short-termers, they're out there, they're putting in furniture, carpet, fully everything, plates, glasses, dishes for all the people. They want the place to be very nice. They want the five-star review. While local mom and pop landlords attract actively maintain their properties, absentee landlords may defer maintenance to maximize profits. A high d highly a high density of poorly maintained rental properties can lead to an increase in municipal code violation, structural decay, and aesthetic blight. Over time, this visible neglect can suppress the property valuation of surrounding o owner occupied properties. And what I hear tonight is people are confusing long-term and short-term. The short-term properties aren't the monster houses on the block. It's the long-term rental properties and the parking issues that come with this. I have a house right down the street from me. There's over 20 25 people. It's a long-term rental. It's been a rental since I've been living in the neighborhood for 20 years. It's the eyesore.

I'm sorry. Your time is now up. Thank you. Thank you. Mike Little, Annie Rice, and Jonathan Beck.

Will you repeat the names, please? Is Mike Little. still here. How about Ann Rice?

Good evening. Thank you so much for the opportunity for us to speak to you again. Um, my name is Anne Ree. Uh, and I have lived in Semi Valley for 42 years. Like most people, my husband and I moved here because we wanted clean neighborhoods, good schools, and a sense of small town community. We were told that Seami was a bedroom community. We were told that was filled with cops. And they rolled the sidewalks up at 9:00 p.m. And coming from LA, I was like, "Yes, we loved it." I'm I'm really surprised that we're still debating short-term rentals because we uh we we learned about the 430 signatures that were obtained uh by uh some local residents, not through a survey with perhaps misleading language in it. If somebody had asked me about a private home, I might feel differently about it than the short-term rental. Um, plus if there's 670 responses of which 62% were in favor of it, that's kind of a wash with 430 petition signers who wanted them to be banned. I don't see that that's a big difference there. 62% of 670. I'm not going to be able to do the math that quickly. But, um, I was at the neighborhood one meeting where it was banned. The other three neighborhood councils also banned it. And as someone else said, the planning commission came back with a unanimous ban. I find it amazing that all these people can say no. And yet all of a sudden now we're up discussing this again like it's some

great thing. I'm opposed to this for a couple of reasons. One is we have lived in our home current home now and see me for 38 years. I have I retired two years ago as a registered nurse having spent 50 years working in hospitals and various other venues saving our money uh to be able to afford this house. Now I understand that someone can buy the house next door to me and immediately turn it to a short-term rental and and and my what I say or what I think means nothing. I find that unbelievable. Um if I'm an I if I own my home, why don't I have a say into what's happening? Um also fiscally, I don't think it's a great idea. I see there's new numbers now that city staff has put up, but in the acorn in January, there was talk that it would need 18,750 fully reported short-term rental nights per year or nearly 100 nights per listing assuming the 100 compliant units to break even with the costs that will be incurred in this including hiring staff. Now the staff is just going to kind of appear magically I guess. But um I I um if I and again this is anecdotal. I worked 50 years as a nurse. Um and nobody ever gave us anything. I can't afford a second home to rent out as a short-term or a long-term rental. What I

have is the house at 3086 Springfield that we've been in for 38 years. If my property values go down, who do I go to? How do I get that back as a 72year-old woman? Nobody gave us anything. I I'm I'm happy for the people who were able to have these wonderful houses. And I know my time is running out, but anecdotally, my son lives in a beautiful home in War Park, and he says, "Mom, we don't have that problem. It's banned in More Park. There are no short-term rentals. My daughter lives in Wood Ranch in a gated community. You think they're allowed to have short-term rentals there?" So, the question is, who's, you know, who's more equal here? What neighborhood are we going to put the potential of having uh a bad short-term rental that will last forever? I'm not going anywhere. So, that's something I'm going to have to deal with forever. Thank you for the time.

Thank you. Hi, my name is Jonathan Beck. I've lived in Seami Valley for 40 years. I love this place. It's a you can't beat it. There's no better place in the world. But I just have one question for you and the uh on the council and you folks, how many of you of a short-term rental that had seven units? Anybody want to do that? Sir, you need to address the council. You cannot address

come to the Texas track and you'll be able to see it in action. So, I hope there's no grandfathering. There should not be more than one person in addition and the person who owns the house should be there or there should be some close contact. Now, there's a couple things that I want to think about here as far as Seami Valley is a city and we're here for the people, not for the profits. And we have a central government, a federal government that's full of of of greed, craft, graft, and corruption. And we need to stop that in our city. So, I'd like to ask each of the councilmen if you have any relative connection, investment, or some benefit that you're going to derive from the short-term rentals, you should recuse yourself. And if honestly, do you have any

Mr. Judge? Sir, we can't respond to you at this point in time. You Rocky,

you're not going to benefit from this. Honestly, you're going to tell the rest of the people here. What about the rest of you? I mean, we're a city there. You heard of the rigged survey? It's a It's a uh a fake fake news rigged. It's a hoax. And we have to think about we the people, we want our own home. I don't want to be living next to a pedophile or some other person. Who knows? Do you check their references when they come in every night? And they How about the parking situation? How are you going to park all these cars on the street? And you know, you're going to say, "Oh, the rules say they won't do that." But then we have to come around with somebody checking on them every day. And it's it's ridiculous. And that's 72% against what? 23. That's ridiculous. That was rigged. Come on. But the point I'm making here is that we're here for the benefit of our children and our children's children, our our investments in our homes. I bought a home for 100,000 bucks. Now they're going for There was one in the Texas track that went for $1.1 million. And what if this person with the seven units decides to rent it out into each person and charge them $1,500 a month? How much money is that going to add up? What's going to stop these people from turning them into long-term rentals? And it's going to be a situation where uh we're going to be stuck in the middle and the the lot of lawsuits and people, you know, saying, "Well, I had this I invested all this money." if somebody they all the all these units because there's a shortage I know of of housing and everybody's able to uh build a little shack in the backyard, a granny shack. Well, that's great, but it should be their family members. It shouldn't be

for a profit. You shouldn't make a profit off your home except for the price increase. And that's your neighbors are going to make the money by the increasing of the price. So, as far as I'm concerned, all five or six or whatever, vote no or not want to get elected again or whatever. I mean, we're tired of having people showing their preferences for certain political beliefs and, you know, we are Seami Valley. We're a nice quiet community and we want to keep our values, our houses, and we don't need a bunch of strangers coming in. I mean, they're like strange people, but they're going to move in and we'll get to know them. You know, I want to get to know my neighbors. I know my neighbors, and I know each and every one of them. And I know that each and everyone I talked to did not like the idea of a short-term rental next to them. And you're telling me 72% of the population, they probably said, "Well, yeah, I could put a short-term rental, so I'm going to say yes on it." But that's not the idea. We're not here for the money. We're here for the beautiful life, the hills, the mountains of Seamia. I love this place. So, I hope you guys will do what's right and recuse yourself if you're going to make money off of it and vote no for no more short-term rental. Why should we even have to ask about it? Like everybody's been saying, we're here and we don't want this and listen to what we have to say. All right, have a good night.

Thank you. LEO PREY, Carol Fernandez, and Stephanie Bunker. Good evening, mayor. Good evening, city council. Thank you for giving us a ch a chance here to speak our mind. I've come here several times and I'm a little baffled too how all our neighborhood councils came up with everybody hating this idea and some sort of a survey which I can't really have much faith in. I'm not saying they did it wrong. I just can't have faith because it's 180 degrees from what the that your constituents are saying. So without getting into the uh the survey and I never received one either. I know you're not going to pass it out to 150,000 people, but um I I find it very disturbing that that company you guys hired came up with a re uh with a result that's 180 degrees off from us. I would find that concerning especially if it's you're using city money to get that, you know, those results. Um I have se this is a bad idea in so many different levels. It really is. Um everybody's talking about the money you're making. You're not going to make that much money and you're not the city. you're not going to make that much money when you get the money to enforce it and everything else. I don't even think you guys are going to break even. I really don't. And as far as controlling parking, you can't control parking. You could tell the person who owns the house that whoever rents his house, they need to park their vehicles in the driveway. I get that. But if you're having a party, may Mary, and you invite me and I bring six friends of us and we have six, but we pay registration. We have the right to park in the street. And especially if the people who rent those homes are going to be so restricted in what they could do. If you're going to rent a hotel or a home or be out in the beach in Monterey, you want to be able to invite friends, have barbecues outside. So, you're going to raise your

voice. You got 20 people inside a room, the volume's going to go up. You guys been in restaurants that the volume goes up with one loud person. So, it's almost polyiana to think that this is going to go really smooth and you guys are going to have everybody in place to take care of all the fines and all the homeowners going to be there. It It's not going to happen. It's going to increase our parking in our street. I lived up from Anthony and when they had a short-term rental there when they had the fires going and we had two huge dump trucks parked for over a week in front of our house. It's wrong. It's wrong. That's why they have zoning. That's why you I'm like I can't go in my house and start building a spaceship. I'm not in a commercial zoning. I'm not in a manufacturing zone. We have hotels. We have uh motel. You know, it's a bad idea. The only I I have to go make a call, but just put I'm going to trying to sum synopsize this real quick. How would you guys like to have a short-term rental next to your house, right next door to you, or two of them right and left of you? I know it's great when you get it. You could have family over and everything else, but why should the your constituents pay the price of inconvenience on a bedroom community because you guys want to change horses in the middle of a stream and have hotels and residential areas? You know, I'm not saying they're good people, bad people, pedophile. I don't know anything about the people. I'm not going to judge their characters or who they are. It's just a bad idea in city planning. It doesn't make them bad people that they want to do. It doesn't make us bad people that we don't dig it. But we're the ones I've been here for 34 years and I'm probably the rookie in this group, you know, and I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in my house and in see me and my children grew up here and I spent money here and we'll continue to do so. But another thing you

have too is guys like me, now that I'm an old guy, I could go ahead. I could sell my house and move. I could also do that and take all of that money that I spend in your city and tax everything else and just take it someplace else. Could all I could always do that if I'm not happy with you guys, you know. But the information you guys got outside of this and I'm going to say this bogus company you hired to get these numbers. Everybody else says it's a terrible idea. Even if it was a good idea, which it's not. Your constituents is saying, "Don't do it. You guys have to serve us." I feel like we're serving you. Keeping an eye on the house over here. What that? Who's that? Whose car is that? Hey, man. I don't want to hassle that. I want to come home and relax. I don't want to I don't want to know who's next door outside of, you know, my my neighbors that are there. It's a bad idea, guys. And the money is not going to be that much money. It really isn't. It really isn't. Anyway, thank you for listening to me.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh, council members and staff. My name is Carol Fernandez. I have been a Seami Valley residents for 53 years. I have seen a lot of changes in the city, some good, some not so good. Many of us moved here to Seami Valley for the quiet, safe bedroom type community. We commuted out of scen each day to work. There was no jobs here. We now have people staying here in homes during the week working constructions jobs, landscapers, painters, etc. And then they leave on the weekends. They stay in the homes. I don't know if they're SDRs. I can't I I do know of one around the block from me, but I don't know of this other one. But the one I was talking to the guy there and they have little toys out front, little pony ride thing for the kids and stuff. I said, "Oh, do you have kids?" "Oh, no, that's just a show for what?" "Oh, because we're workers and we come here at night and we just sleep." Okay. So, it seems kind of funny to me to have things like that going on. Um, it does bring more cars at this particular house. There's quite a few trucks at night pull in. And as we all know, 72 hours you can park on the city street without moving your car. So, as far as saying that you have to park in the driveway, that's not a true thing that

will happen. I feel that we have ADUs popping up. Uh lots of people renting out their garages and rooms. We can't do anything about that because that comes from Sacramento. We're hearing about having these tiny homes come in. Maybe that'll be good. People that can't afford their big houses anymore can maybe move into a tiny home or they can still stay here. I feel that uh times are hard for people. Everybody wants to make money. I understand that. But don't want to go out and work anymore. We have, as you come into our neighborhood, a house with an ADU, the garage rented out, something in the front that they added, and I can't tell you how many cars. And I can't believe that the guy had the nerve enough in a conversation to say, "I don't have to go to work anymore. I just rent." I am a renter. I have a home out here that I rent. Belonged to my mom. We used it. Unfortunately, we had to put her in a home. She got so bad. I watched who I rented. And in the 10 years that she was in that home, I rented it to two people. Planned on selling it, but I still have it because thank goodness I have a police officer that lives in there. Loves it. The neighbors love him. He's one person there, has his kids every other weekend, it's a great thing. But when he decides that he doesn't want to no longer live here, and retires, moves to another state, that house will go up for sale. because I wouldn't do that to those

neighbors. You know, I feel that you could be um you know, everybody wants to get on the bandwagon. You give it in, you take a foot. People don't always obey rules or laws. Do we in Seami Valley really want to open our city to short-term rentals when we can oppose? You can have uh read in Orange County and Santa Barbara. They are tightening up on regulations to help preserve the city's quiet bedroom communities. Orange County has 19 cities have banned SDRs. There are cities like Seami Valley, Alisa Viejo, Garden Grove. No, they're not your hot beachfront high-end homes like in Newport Beach where people want to go and stay on vacation and respect the house, do their vacation and leave, but they are uh you know they are nice. My kids only stay in STRs. A lot of people like STRs. We have done it in certain communities. I don't see Seami Valley as that commu community. I do not see, you know, beaches here. I don't see anything much to do even. Um, you know,

I'm sorry. Your time is now up. Thank you. Well, anyway, I just hope that you go along with more park and Camaro.

Thank you. Your time is up. Good evening, city council. My name is Stephanie and I am a homeowner here in Semi Valley. Neighborhood Council 4 recommended to ban short-term rentals. These rentals add speculative prices to our housing market, which can reduce affordability for all residents. As it is, our country is already being stretched thin due to corporate price gouging. Also, our schools has significantly declined in enrollment, which hurts our schools. Um, banning STRs can help improve school enrollment. Um, if we learned anything from the 2009 housing market crash, I strongly recommend that city council stands in solidarity with their neighborhood councils and in its planning commission and put a ban on STR rentals. Thank you.

Thank you. Todd Taylor, Kimberlin Paul, and Heidi Sabod. Short for short people. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh, city council. My name is Todd Taylor. I've been a Seami Valley resident for over 17 years, a homeowner for 13 years, and for clarification to others, I'm an uh was actually an STR operator for uh eight years. We've hosted probably I won't repeat, I've been here the last five times, so you've heard a lot of what I've had to say. We've hosted over 300 people. We've had over 250 reviews, all five stars. We monitor the people. We look at every person's review. If they don't have a review, I actually have a little bit of an extra benefit. I'm a private investigator, so I tend to run their backgrounds. Not something that everybody has that benefit. But I will tell you, out of all of those people, I've only declined one person. It wasn't severe, but I just decided I wasn't comfortable. Airbnb allows us to decline people just because we're not comfortable with them. So, it there there's a lot of things in place that do protect us hosts. I want to address and and it just came up the other day. I want to address what's been said about the 430 um petitions that went around. I had a gentleman come up to me at the um Chamber of Commerce and said to me, "Hey, I just want to let you know I signed that petition. I was forced into it. They just really, he said, the eans

came around. He said he lives close by and they kind of just intimidated him and he just to get them away from him, he just signed it. He said, "I'm really sorry that I signed that." Keep in mind, a petition is something that you're only getting one side of. The survey is something that you're getting multiple sides of. They don't want to tell you anybody who said, "Oh, no, we support STRs." They're not going to then they just don't sign that petition. So that's something to uh keep into consideration. I'm assuming hopefully that you're at least not going to do a complete ban. Uh and if the city is choosing regulation, now I'll continue the rest of my speech here. If the city is choosing regulation rather than a ban, then regulation should be reasonable, targeted, and based on actual impacts, not the fear of what might happen. There are several concerns with this proposal. First, the ordinance completely prohibits guests from parking on public streets. Yet, residents, their family members, contractors, and guests can all legally use these same streets every day. If the city has decided STRs are legal through regulation, then creating separate parking restrictions for one class of homeowners becomes difficult to justify. We already have parking enforcement laws. If someone blocks a driveway, creates congestion, or parks illegally, enforce the existing laws directly. Second, many of the standards in this ordinance are subjective and vague and vague. Terms like unreasonable noise, disturbances, and untimely corrective action leave room for inconsistent enforcement, and complaints based on personal dislike rather than actual violations. If the concern is nuisance behavior, then nuisance laws should be enforced equally against everyone, whether it's an STR, long-term resident, or a large

family gathering. Third, the ordinance imposes unrealistic requirements on property owners, including responding to complaints within 30 minutes. It may sound good politically, but in the real world, people travel, sleep, work, lose cell service, or may simply not be immediately available. Regulations should be practical and enforceable. Fourth, the proposal creates a significant new regulatory structure involving permits, annual compliance certifications, monitoring, complaint tracking, appeals, reporting requirements, and penalties where each day can become a separate violation. Yet very little evidence has been presented showing widespread ongoing problems in Seami Valley that justify this level of govern government expansion. And that's really the key issue tonight. If the city believes STR should be completely banned, then that is one debate. But if the city chooses regulation, then regulation should focus on actual nuisance behavior, not create layers of restrictions that treat responsible homeowners differently from everyone else. Deal aggressively with bad actors. Enforce nuisance laws strongly, but avoid creating overly broad regulations that risk selective enforcement, unnecessary bureaucracy, and restrictions that go beyond solving actual problems. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you. Hi, good evening. Uh, I didn't know I was going to come and speak tonight. I just thought I would sit in and listen, but um, I've been compelled to make some notes. So, thank you for giving me the opportunity. I've been a resident of Seami Valley for over 25 years. I'm a Airbnb superhost and I am actually a superhost. I'm not just pretending to be one. Um, it's very difficult to get that designation. and you have to jump through a lot of hoops and you have to be in the program for quite a long time and I've had that designation for about 5 years now. Um, I also work a full-time job in addition to being an Airbnb superhost. Uh, because of the pandemic, I work remotely for the most part. Sometimes I go into the office, but I am on the premises all the time. This is a part of my home. It's not the whole home. And so I am there to answer problems or issues or concerns or anything that comes up from my guests. I've talked to my neighbors. They don't have a problem at all with u me having an Airbnb across the street. And if they did, they would let me know and I would address those issues and concerns. On a personal note, uh I lost my mother about six years ago and I am a single parent. This is a way that I supplement my income and if I did not have this as a side business, I would have to move out of state like so many others have. This is a a little business that just provides a little bit of extra income for me. With that money, I use that money to put back into the property to keep it updated and landscaped and the pool and all of those things to attract people to come to the Airbnb for

that experience. The reason why a lot of people have started using short-term rentals and especially Airbnbs is because of the experience. I ask my guests, why do you come to Seme Valley? Why would you, if you want to go to Santa Barbara or you want to go to Universal Studios, why do you come here? And they tell me because I don't have to pay for a parking fee. I don't have to pay for internet use. I get a concentrated personal experience that you're going to give me because I'm focused on them and no one else. I understand about noise. I understand about disruption. I understand about traffic. I understand all of those things. So then why don't we just enforce the laws that we have on the books instead of a complete ban for everyone? I own a property. My parents worked hard for me to own a property and I'd like to keep it. So, thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, good evening. My name is Heidi Fabota. I'm a longtime resident of Seami Valley. I live roughly at Sycamore and Alamo and 33 years I've been there. I know my neighbors. I love my neighbors. And even the ones I don't love, they're mine. My concern with a short-term rental wouldn't just be the noise, the parking, the parties. It would be that revolving population of lodgers that would be coming and going in my neighborhood. I've raised my kids there. Many of the families in my neighborhood have raised their families there. It's not a community where we should have a hotel in our neighborhood. We have plenty of hotels in Semi Valley and I think that's what the lodgers should use. Every time we have a short-term rental added in our community, that'll be one less home that somebody could rent or possibly that would be listed on the market for someone to buy. So, I want you to consider that for the people that live here that it's not it's not a good idea for our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Gerald Pit Pitstick, Steve Thompson, and Vanessa Bellum Gerald, Steve Thompson. Listen. Hello, Mayor Kavanaaugh and city council members. Since you're voting tonight on whether to approve short-term rentals or have a ban here in Semi Valley, I assume all of you have discussed this issue in great detail and have most likely made your decisions. After listening to all of you over the last several months, many times I've witness your ability to recognize the important details while possessing the common sense to block out fabricated stories. We all know that short-term rentals have existed here in Semi Valley for about a decade with very very few issues. Mi Mr. Gunessa Secura, I'm ruining your name there. Um, of the planning commission um stated at both the city council meeting and neighborhood council meetings I attended that there have been virtually almost no complaints other than the poltergeist house. The numbers that they put up today um showed that there's roughly a hundred um short-term rentals here in Semi Valley and on average they're rented out or booked 200 days a year. That's 20,000 bookings. 20,000 days they're booked and you had

10 complaints. That's an astronomical number of bookings compared to so few complaints. So all of these stories about what's going to happen and this is going to happen and that's going to happen. Short-term rentals have been here for 10 years and none of this none of these things are happening. This is very clearly a very successful problemfree activity that has taken place in our neighborhood for years. I wrote to all of you last week my thoughts and suggestions to have a plan that allows short-term rentals and has regulations that would also provide a happy medium for those residents that are opposed. I have faith in all of you to make the right decision tonight and not eliminate more than a 100 home businesses here in Semi Valley that provides a valuable service to this community. I hope you will approve short-term rentals tonight so we can move forward and finalize a set of fair and effective regulations. Thank you for your time, consideration, and professionalism.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Vanessa Milan. Um, longtime resident of Seami Valley. My husband and I bought our first, uh, home here in Seami 17 years ago, and we have proudly raised our family in this community. We have two sons. One recently completed his MBA program at Channel Islands. And our youngest is a student athlete, one of these fine young men you had the opportunity to meet earlier today um from Sei Valley High School. He hopes to join the Ventura County Fire Academy after graduation uh next year. Like many families in California, we have felt the pressure of rising costs over the years. property taxes, insurance, utilities, college tuition, they all continue to increase. And for many middle-class families like us, it has become harder and harder to stay in our communities, the communities we love. Operating a short-term rental has helped us bridge that gap. It has allowed us to remain in Semi Valley to support our children's goals and to continue investing in our home and community. For the past four years, we have responsibly operated our short-term rental while following the city rules and regulations. During that time, we have welcomed people from all walks of life, and many of their stories have stayed with us. We have hosted families returning to visit loved ones, people attending weddings and funerals, workers temporarily

assigned to local hospitals and businesses, and guests caring for elderly parents during difficult times. The strange people that many have referred to here are a young gastroenterologist from Argentina who came to walk to work alongside our doctors at Seami Hospital for several weeks. Another family stayed with us after being displaced by the fires and they were incredibly grateful that they were they had a safe place to go to during this stressful time but also that they were able to bring all of their belongings with them, whatever they could fit in their cars. These are not partygoers. They're not disruptive visitors. These are real people. These are families who contribute to our local economy and our community. Eliminating or heavily restricting short-term rentals would not just impact businesses, it would impact families. Families like mine who rely on this additional income to afford the rising cost of living in California. Families who have worked hard for decades to build a life here and want to continue calling Seami Valley home. I respectfully ask the council to continue supporting short-term rentals and to avoid decisions based on a small number of unfounded concerns. Please allow family like families like ours the opportunity to continue operating responsibly, contributing to the local economy, and welcoming visitors to the community we are proud to call our home. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you,

Madame Mayor. That was the last speaker. Thank you. Do staff desire to respond to any of the comments or issues raised. Yes. Um to clarify Mr. Mikula's um comment about barns or sheds being used as STRs, just to clarify accessory structures that are non-habitable, meaning they're non-conditioned space. They are not allowed to be used as short-term rentals. And then to clarify the comment about um the proposed limit. So currently as proposed the ordinance limits um two adults and two children per bedroom. Given the feedback from neighborhood councils and planning commission. One uh possible modification that we've included in the staff report is to uh potentially limit that number based on uh based on something similar that Ventura County has which is um a total cap at eight occupants. Thank you. So if that's something that the council chooses to incorporate, this is provided here tonight as an example. And then in response to some of the nuisance concerns, there are a lot of um existing protections already in place specifically with noise. Um there is an existing noise ordinance that would need to be complied with and that's something that um is enforced through our current enforcement actions and through PD. Similarly with um complaints, there was a concern about responding within 30 minutes. That's something that's included in the ordinance as a protection measure um and as part of the nuisance response plan. It is still uh

possible that you can call code enforcement or PD if issues arise and the respondent can't respond within 30 minutes. It's still a protection that's in place there. And then to clarify a little bit about the survey. Oops. So statistically um to create a valid sample only 500 respondents were needed to create a statistically significant sample. So with the 6 670 respondents that um answered that gave a 95% confidence level with a maximum margin of error of 3.8%. So this bell curve here shows that if you were to increase the sample size meaning the number of respondents that margin of error is it changes very minimally it changes fractionally. So for example if you double the sample size to let's say 1,200 residents um the margin of error really difference the difference between that would be 3.8 to 3.5. So very minimal and that's what's considered diminishing return. So as you put more effort into it, more effort increases but the results do not. So hopefully that clarifies a little bit. Just one thing to add um the rental arbitrage that was mentioned uh one person leasing and then renting multiple properties. We would verify ownership of the property with the with venture county tax um uh records and that would be one legal entity or one person who owns that property would get one permit. So that rental arbitrage would not be possible.

Thank you. No, no further comments from staff. Thank you. Are there any um further comments or questions from city council members? Council member Council Member Rhodess and this uh just to be clear on process we are responding to what we um heard from the audience or these further questions of staff from the audience.

Okay, just to make sure don't want to go out of order. Um uh I'm excited to be here tonight because this is um this is democracy at work. Um for those who say, "Hey, this took too long to get this up here." It took the right amount of time to get to everyone's voice being heard. And um and I and I I start tonight asking the same question from a year ago um which is what is the problem we're trying to solve? And um I think that both sides articulated extremely well what the problems they perceive to be with a ban or an ordinance to be. Um and um I I tried to keep a list of what the big concerns were and um parking, uh a hotel next door, parties, property value decrease, um code compliance, multiple units on the same property, um affordability of housing, And um these are all important topics. These are all things that we should be concerned about if we want to have peace and harmony in our neighborhoods. A year ago, I said, um what's the problem we're trying to solve? And that's we want to we want to actually keep our neighborhoods under control. And then if you're going to ask that, you have to say what's out of control. What's the what's the actual problem number that we're looking at? and staff gave us a a

good snapshot of having of all last year of all 100 estimated units 10 calls and five of those properties were duplicate calls. So the problem that we perceive or fear is perception and fear. It's not actual within. And I and I even had conversations with those that are adamantly opposed and saying,"I think that we're going to be able to get you what you want, but not in the way that you want it." If we produce an ordinance that has expectation levels that demonstrates um what we want from renters and uh what we want from owners and how we want people to behave um and then we can enforce it and not at a loss for the city. Then I think we've accomplished the goal that everybody wanted, which was a peaceful neighborhood. The perception of what might happen, the biggest fears on that list are either already covered under an existing ordinance, if you have a problem, call it in. Or in the ordinance that's being proposed uh here tonight, it covers in more detail those aspects of how to be a good neighbor. So, um, so I want to thank everybody that came to talk on either side of this issue because I think what I heard from every single person was we want a good neighborhood. We want to live in peace and harmony with our neighbors and to look out for the entirety of Steam Seami Valley. The funny part about it is if we hadn't had that one house, and I'm sorry you had to live next to it. If we hadn't had that one house show up with great

fanfare, we never would have actually paid attention to this matter because it was not a problem to be dealt with. But now here we are. So a responsible city council says, "Let's deal with it. Let's organize it. Let's not overburden the city to to solve a problem until it's a real problem. And um let's not make it cost the city any money solving problems that don't exist. So a total ban would cost the city money to solve problems that don't exist. And an ordinance would be um at least break even. Um numbers that I have seen are I would I personally have a disagreement with the staff report. They were very conservative in their numbers of rentals. I I think the AirDire DNA quotes are probably closer to reality, but either way, it ends up being a uh not a burden upon the city to do this. So, um so thank you for participating in this process because I think we're going to get it right. I'm looking forward to vigorous discussion up here on the deis about it and I think Oh, I'm sorry. I did want to address a couple of things. Um, there's been some insinuations about graft, and trust me, there's not enough graph money in the world that would that would move uh any one of our opinions on this thing. Um, it was it was insinuated um at our last city council meeting as well. If there are any financial interests that we as elected officials have, we have to disclose them on forms. So go and scour the forms and and build your conspiracy theories about how much money we're making on the backside um from all of these. But um but that's just not a

reality. Um and then um polls and surveys um we tend to be skeptical of a result that doesn't give us the answer that we like and I am skeptical of the um the petition that was put out because it didn't give me an answer I was satisfied with. If I was given the question, do you want to live next to a hotel and have horrible problems? I would say no I don't and I would sign your position petition and I think that that's what's been presented to us. I thought it was very interesting that they were having problem with the uh number of respondents uh of this and yet their their survey was less. So maybe we should even give it less credence. Um, but this survey, we specifically took a outside company um that does this professionally to get us to a margin error of I wanted a margin error of less than 5%, they got it to 3.8%. Um, and if you want to know what the questions were, the sequence of it, the breakdown of the demographics, it's all in the report. It is there for your perusal, but if you're predisposed to disbelieving the information, you're probably not going to turn to that page and look. But I encourage you to do so because it's all there and it was not influenced by us. We kept our hands off of it and let the other company do their job and they produce this result. So, Mayor, that's all the comments I wanted to make at this time.

Thank you, Council Member Ayala. Thanks. The first thing I wanted to mention was the a couple of times the Texas track seven units property came up and um not for today but I think if we can just look into that because whether regardless of the decision we make tonight that just doesn't seem that that should be there's something there's a problem there. So, if we can just take that

and I believe that I'm aware of and I believe staff's aware of which property that is, but um for the folks that mentioned that property. Um if you could see Stratus Peros, he's our director of environmental services. He's in the back. Raise your hand again, Stratus. Um make sure that he has the address of that property or the location of that property so we can ensure that that's the one that we're already working on.

Thanks. The other thing is I know there's um was going to be concerns about the survey and so I'm glad that Alex brought up the screen because what it shows is that 670 people were responded but whether we doubled that or tripled that or quadrupled that the survey results would still be the same with 95% confidence level right that's how the survey works and I So I think that's also very important to to do. And so you know I always like to make these decisions and things not on personal feelings but on the information that's been presented. And I as you all know I listen to all of you and respond to your emails and everything. So I have a really good feeling as to where people are standing. And so I'm going to be looking down because I took a lot of notes from things. And um what I would say is that the the three main concerns that people have brought up with STRs over the past year and also tonight and also in the emails I get and also from the neighborhood council report and also from the planning commission. Um they are the ordinance really minimizes or tries to eliminate them. So the first thing is that people say that uh they're concerned with problems. there's gonna be problems with people if we h allow them to rent the STRs. And we have to remember that the data shows that since we've been discussing this in 2025, all of 2025 and up through 2026, a total of 10 STR related complaints and only at only five addresses. Right? That's the what the facts show. Now, I I know it's an issue though because 82% of all respondents, right, indicated that there should not be a

permit issued for an STR that that has a history of violations. So, to address this, the ordinance includes that a permit can be denied if there is an enforcement action against an STR. So, it's already built in there that if someone is violating it that when they go to renew that STR permit, it can be denied and we can get rid of the person who is not being a good owner. It also includes a stipulation that paid events or group events with non-registered guests are not allowed. That was also added to the ordinance. And for added reinforcement, I'm going to ask the staff to provide to the council the number of complaints specific to STRs maybe every six months just so that we can monitor it and if we need to make changes, we can based upon new information if that were to be needed. The second one is that people talked about you here tonight the negative impact on housing ava a availability and that if we were to uh regulate this that we will see more STRs coming into the city. The ordinance includes that a person or legal entity may only hold one STR permit at a time. And the other thing that I think we have to remember is that up until this time, we've had an unrestricted open door STR policy. You didn't need a business license, no inspections, no fines, no tax. It's been easy to actually have an STR. We've said just come in and do it. So, if we were to see a dramatic surge in people wanting to have an STR, the time would have been when there was no rules. you could just come and do it. So the ordinance we're considering actually

creates more barriers to entry, not fewer. And so I don't know if we would see the increase in STRs by have by by by restricting them because that would have it seems it would have happened when it was easier to actually do it. Um, as an added reinforcement though, another request of the staff is a report on the STRs again, maybe every six months so that we can monitor and see maybe we're wrong, maybe it did bring in more than we expected and then at that time we can address it and decide if we want to put a cap, if we want to do a lottery system, something like that. The third and final one and then I'll stop is u people brought up the fact that STRs current they don't require any inspections and insurance and that could be a problem but the ordinance then um requires a proof of liability no less than 500,000 per occurrence. So that addresses that situation and 85% of all the respondents wanted us to require a pre-ermitting inspection to make sure that all of the rules were were followed. So, I'm going to ask the council support that we add the language from page 38 from the staff proposed language that includes a a pre-permitting inspection as part of the licensing process if we were to move forward with the with the ordinance. Um, and then just two comments. One to the planning commission and the neighborhood council. I want to thank you for all the work that you did. And it's important to recognize that many of the concerns that you raised were instrumental in creating the ordinance that was then brought before us. So your work was not taken for granted. It was actually taken into consideration and placed in there. And to the STR owners, if this goes forward, then I expect you to follow the process, follow the rules, follow the timelines,

and to uphold your end of the bargain that as you have stood here and said you would if this council were to say that we were going to regulate the STRs. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Member Rhodess. Yeah. For staff, I had one more um questions. There were comments about um uh ADUs and using them as short-term rentals. Um could you please um specify again the difference between a state sanctioned and a and a different ADU and what could and could not be used as a short-term rental?

Yes. Per state law, um stateexempt ADUs are not allowed to be STRs because they require an occupancy of longer than 30 days. and stateex exempt ADUs are typically Jadus. ADUs that are 800 square feet and under in size. So those would not be allowed to be STRs. ADUs outside of that limitation under the proposed ordinance would be allowed to be an STR. So, for those who are short-term rental operators and you have a stateex exempt ADU, you need to start considering what ramifications are uh for that because that's a state level law. And once again, we're falling into that every time that something's frustrating, you can point uphill and and find a law that Sacramento built. So, put that into your considerations. Thank you. Any other comments from anybody? Mayor Pro Tim Litzer. I didn't even push my button yet. Just saw me.

You were reaching for it.

I was reaching. I was um This has been quite a conversation to listen to through the past year and a half. um and to read and everything from letters to the editors to to um personal letter correspondents and clearly they are passionate people on all sides of this issue. it it it is very clear. Um, and I appreciate that you've all taken the time to share those concerns, interests. Um, and I just I have to share anecdotally so you can appreciate how difficult this is. Today, as I picked up my granddaughter, I asked we we were talking in the car from school and I said, "Tonight we're talking about STRs." And I explained what those Oh, you need to ban them. We need to be safe. That was that was my that was my 10-year-old granddaughter. As I'm driving to the city to the seek council tonight, I I legally dialed my next door neighbor who I I I was speaking through the car. I want to be very clear. Um who I know her husband had brain surgery two days ago and just wanted to check on her and see how she was doing as I'm driving mentioned. And so we I got that update and I explained I was on my way to way to to and this is going to be the big topic and she volunteered. She said, "Oh, you've it's property rights. People need to be able to control their property, but but you really should regulate them carefully so that it doesn't infringe on neighbors." And so that was my next door. So just within a period of of an hour and a half, I'm getting both sides of the equation from little bites of the elephant or what their experience is. And so, um, I realized very much we are subject to, um, what our exposure and experience has been. Um, and that's probably part of the problem. And I'll be honest because, um, I've been very

conflicted about this because in my life when I have used short-term rentals, they have been such a blessing. And I'm being completely honest. I have um the last maybe three times I've used in the last four years and I don't do much vacation or traveling. I was in Boisey attending my brother-in-law's big birthday party and I wanted my children to be able to stay near me because they were traveling from Utah and I hadn't seen them and I wanted them to be in a house together with me. And so I so grateful to Boyce I was able to rent a short-term rental there. And then a year and a half ago, my my mother was in intensive care assisted. She and I don't need to describe what's going on, but it was near-death stuff. And she was in this special hospital. She'd been shipped down from Idaho to Utah. And I wanted to go and do make Thanksgiving dinner for my father who was there sitting in the in the hospital room. And so I'm grateful in in Bountiful, Utah, I was able to rent a short-term rental where I was able to fix Thanksgiving dinner. my father could come and eat with us. And then even this last Christmas, and so I'm being I'm being honest with my youth, so I'm this is full disclosure. Um even last Christmas, um two of my children were gathering in Utah and they're all adults. I have five kids and I thought this is a way I can get them all the kids together. There's not enough room in that in my son's house, but I can rent this house and then come over and have Christmas dinner with me. And that's what I did. And in that instance, I don't think they would have been allowed to do it here if we were to even pass this because it was a family that literally cleared all of their things out so I could rent their house for 4 days so they could save enough money to buy plane tickets to go on a cruise with their family. I mean, it was just it so it was just I was blessing their life and they were blessing my life. So anyway, those are the last three times I have used short-term rentals. Um, and so I think okay, I've been blessed by this. Am I to deny that

blessing in my own community for others who have similar needs? It's not going to resort. It was incident. So, this is the internal conversation. I maybe shouldn't share as much, but this is my internal conversation that's going on. Um, that being said, I served on the neighborhood council. I very much welcome their efforts to try to do the right thing to listen and to hear all sides etc. And so I I value and so I was trying to read carefully what what their concerns were. Does this being addressed? Why did they vote the way they did? Etc. etc. And when in fact I almost left to go get my notes because they're back in my office. But I went through and carefully s saw each neighborhood council. How many votes yay, how many votes nay for banning, etc. What I found is that it was a mixed bag. Yes, they all ultimately voted had concerns and voted against it, but inevitably there'd be one or two who thought, well, yes, you it was it was just really it clearly it was a difficult decision for everyone. Um, but I value their input. I value the planning commission's discussion and in fact so much so you may have noticed there was one planning commissioner that was not there. Happens to be my planning commissioner. Not that but he was the one that was in the hospital and not there and and he listened to the whole thing and one and when I saw him he said I would have been the one vote the other direction. So I not that's obviously not on the record but I'm just sharing that's that conversation. You wonder why I'm confused why I'm concerned. Um so I just wanted to share that this is difficult. We want to do what's right that's up here. We want we all love our community. We love our neighborhood. We want to make it the best. And as with some of people as they were speaking, I was concerned that we were conflating long-term with short-term rentals. I was a little concerned about that. Having

once owned a home that I rented out that was destroyed by a long-term renter, um I recognize there's a difference between the the basically the monitoring that we have to do for short-term versus long-term. And so I just those of you who've discussed you know excessive parking etc all of that those are some of the questions to take up already regardless of what we do right now with our um with code enforcement to be sure anyway yes streets are for public parking but I want to be sure that some of the things you're observing in terms of trash etc if they're long-term rentals and if there's issues they need to be addressed. So I just want to go on the record of saying that. So um anyway, I'm not clearly I haven't I I don't know exactly what is the right solution here. My gut says that um that for certain people this is um that are very responsible and respectful um this is an important part of their life to to have these short-term rentals. And so um I'm I'm mindful of that. But if we are going to go forward with it, we need to be make sure that it is in no way impringes on or infringes on the rights of neighbors and that it's good for everyone in the community. So those are my thoughts as I lose my voice. Thank you. Okay, as I sat up here, I made notes, pros and cons, every time somebody made a comment, and they almost they almost equal out. They really do. um you know, property rights versus unknown people living next door to you. Usually family versus a constant change of people coming and going and I can go on and on all these all these things that are are just different. But you know, my first instinct was to ban and the reason I wanted the ban was because it wasn't a problem already. So why make it a

problem? You know, we we had no problems with it. if we if we did the ban and um people continued to operate the way they were, there wouldn't be any complaints and nobody would would bother. But we did have an instance where there was a home that was being utilized for more commercial use. And so that brought up the concerns and there were valid concerns. Um and so I think it's important that we look at all the pros and cons across the board. Um it's not an easy decision. I'll be I'll be honest, one way or the other. Um I do believe in property rights. You own your house. you should be able to do what you want to do, but I also believe my neighbor has the same property rights and they're entitled to be able to live peacefully where they live. Um, I do agree with the short-term versus long-term rentals. I live on a street where there are three I can tell you there are three houses within 10 houses of me that rent out rooms because the the by the cars the the last one just sold and there are six to eight cars there every day and I know it's because they're renting out rooms and maybe do a couple in one room so there's two cars and you know that type of a thing and it can be very inconvenient. I'm lucky where I live, they don't park in front of my house, but I have a big driveway, so I I I don't worry about the parking in front of my house, but I know other people do. And I worry about um the particular house I'm talking to is actually on a curve. So, coming around that curve, you have to be very careful because there's cars on both sides. So, I have to slow down and make a wide curve. And I worry about we have little kids in the area. Um it it's just I I've been trying to write down notes and trying to figure out exactly what the good and the bads are. Um if we if we allow them, they have to be strictly regulated and this is the only way that we're going to be able to do it is with an ordinance. I don't know that we can ban them now at this point. Um, I

also looked at the survey and the survey is two two to one in in favor of it. If you look at the questions, the actual company explained and went over it with us. They had positive leading questions, they had negative leading questions and then they had the general ones in the middle and it enabled you to answer questions you so they weren't leading like most like they could have been. So, they gave it both ways so you could answer it correctly and get a clear answer of what the person thought who was answering or who was completing the survey. I like the fact that the survey was truly representative of our community um in in the age brackets in the homeowners and that type of thing. And I really appreciate all of you that have come up here and said how long you've lived here. I've lived here 57 years. I had to figure I had to count it out because I couldn't remember how many it was. But um the problem is with Seami Valley, this is our biggest problem. I've said it before. We've made it such a great place to live. Everyone wants to live here. So, everyone wants to come visit their family here. The traffic, I hear about traffic all the time. It's because everybody likes to live in Seami Valley. Um I it'll be interesting to see if there are any other comments up here. I I think staff has done a great job in trying to formulate an ordinance, especially when we started pretty much without anything. Um I I think I'm going to stop with my comments right there and see if anybody else has any comments. Okay. No. So there are no other comments at this point in time. So, are there uh does staff have any response to any of the council comments?

Yeah, I believe there was there was one uh comment uh referring to a possible addition on page 30. So, if there's a motion, uh you may want to decide whether to include that as well in your motion. He's I He's talking about um my suggestion that staff had put in some language. I think they're going to bring it up on the screen that would require a pre-ermitting inspection. And the reason I brought that up is that the survey showed that 85% of all respondents whether you they wanted to ban them or regulate them. So it was across the board said that they wanted a pre-permitting in inspection as part of the process that they thought that should be required.

And I I

I thought there I'm sorry. I thought there was an inspection already in the ordinance. Did I misunderstand that? So, there's an inspection costed in uh with the permit fees. There is another section in the ordinance that lets us that gives staff leeway to add certain things. Um, and an inspection is one of those. This language we included because there's a difference between there's a bit of a difference between staff staff making decisions and the council making decisions in terms of the ordinance. So it's safer to put this in. But even without this, there is language that says staff can decide on what mater what what inspection materials, sorry, what application materials and our exact procedure to issue those permits and the building and safety inspection is one that we included. We included an hour of an building inspector. The key I think I heard was you said it's safer to put it in and that's what I'm relying on for my suggestion that we put that in there. Any other comment? Council member Rhodess

on the uh in the inspection um whether it's the pre-permitting inspection or done with the ordinance as as written. Um when when staff said we predict that only 70 out of the hundred will um go for a business license, there will be some percentage of people who have um what many have described as overbuilt their houses or have u built rooms that are not permitted and so on. Um I want to find those and encourage them not to have a short-term rental. Um, and um, would finding that require this language to be in the ordinance or would it be a natural course of an inspection anyway? And I'm good. I'm good either way. I just want to I want make your life flexible and easy so that it doesn't always have to come back to us. Um, but if we can get to that end result without that language, I'm I kind of like giving you flexibility. Generally, um, so I'm a planner, not a building inspector, but, um, building inspectors do have leeway when they visit sites to inspect other things. For example, if you get a water heater permit, they can tell you that you don't have your your smoke detector installed correctly. So if they do see evidence of they they will inspect the areas that are done that are being utilized for the STRs. So if they see our inspectors are very good in in in identifying sort of jerryrig stuff um those things. So they would flag that to us and we would inspect that further and potentially open up a violation on that and we would not issue STR permits on a property that has vi existing violations. Excellent. even if it's like an unpermitted patio or something like that, we would still

not um issue STR permits on that. And so that being able to handle that is existing in the ordinance as presented without um this modification. Well, well, the ordinance it's a it's a policy procedure on how to issue a permanent ordinance locks in that requirement. So there's no debate on whether it's going to be modified in a future uh procedure. Got

it. I would recommend that if this is something that council wants to ensure is consistently applied regardless of the staff that's in the position that it be incorporated into the ordinance. My question though would be to the city attorney. Um is this one of the modifications that could be made to this ordinance tonight or would this need to come back?

So as part of I was going to get to that. Thank you. Um, city manager I we would just part of the motion whatever language that the staff has produced just identify where in the ordinance you would like that. My concern you know previously when I had spoken to the city manager was saying if there were any other changes that would require maybe further analysis or drafting of certain language that we don't have before us that we would consider possibly bringing this back for a first reading another first reading. But since we do have language that is being presented and considered if this is something that the council would like to identify as part of the ordinance, we can absolutely do that tonight. And then I would just ask that we be very clear about where in the ordinance. I don't know if staff has a recommendation of where that can be inserted so that way the second reading goes smoothly.

Narren, do you have a you know where it should go? We do. It's uh section 5-46.06 application procedure of the ordinance.

Thank you. Any other comments, questions from the council staff? Any other further comments? Okay. At this time, um this hearing is now closed and I will entertain a motion. Madame Mayor, I move to introduce ordinance 1370 amending the Semi Valley Municipal Code to regulate and allow short-term rentals in residential zones and a determination that the amendments are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, including adding the um language we identified for uh modification to pre-permitting inspections.

Second. Thank you. Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously.

We're going to uh close for a 10-minut break. Recess for a 10-minute break.

Thank you everybody. We're going to call this meeting back to order. Madame clerk, would you like to move forward? Thank you. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item six, public statements. During this agenda item six, the city council will hear public statements from persons who had previously submitted speaker cards and did not speak under agenda item number four. Speakers will be called on in the order in which their card was submitted to speak for this public statements item six for a period of no more than two minutes each. Persons addressing the city council are requested to state their name and community residence for the record. Madame Mayor, unless you have comments, I we can begin.

Please proceed.

I will call three speakers at a time so you know who you follow. Virginia Satan, Jennifer Frank, and Nikki Lean. Hello. I attended the grant hearing and I take offense that the seami football boosters said that I did not um know the facts. I checked with several people that were also there just to make sure I had the facts before I would write that article to go on the acorn. And this is what I heard at the hearing that they requested $70,000, but they wanted 150 helmets at $45 each, which would only be 6750. After the hearing, many people were upset that the football boosters who rated fifth, okay, like there was a recommendation for the top whatever, they rated fifth and yet they were recommended more money than the previous four. And after the rec all the recommendations were made, uh the city, there's a city lady that said there was some unused funds from the previous year and I figured they should give it divvy it up among the top ones or give it to the next person or the next um organization, but they gave it all to the football boosters. So, they're rated fifth and yet they get more than the others. So, I researched their charity and it turns out um I researched on Guidear, which is a place that you can go to see charities, what the revenues and

expenses are. And for 2025, their re their revenues outpaced their expenses by $12,39. Now, I think the Boys and Girls Club or Body Brain Train or the library.

I'm sorry, your time is up. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh, members of the city council, city manager Arbay, and fellow community members. My name is Jennifer Frank, and I'm a board member of the Seami Valley Library Foundation. Our mission is to raise money for the renovation and revitalization of our library. I'm here tonight to show my strong support for the library foundation's community projects grant proposal to refresh our library's community room. The library foundation is so grateful to the review committee for recommending funding for our proposal. The community room is the most utilized space in the entire library with 20,000 people using it last year alone. Years of heavy use have caused a lot of wear and tear, leaving it in need of a lot of help. The community room is used for a variety of events. The library uses this space for many of its programs and speakers. Outside organizations also use this room on a very frequent basis for various events. The library foundation's full funding request of $37,350 would provide the community room with a long overdue refresh. It needs new, durable carpet that is clean for children to sit on. A fresh coat of paint will work wonders to make this room welcoming for everyone. And a chair rail will prevent damage to the new paint and keep the walls clean for years to come. Comfortable chairs and new heavyduty tables will create a flexible space that will meet a variety of needs. A smartboard will enhance presentations and learning experiences. The need to update this room is evident in its current condition. Modernizing this room will ensure that it remains functional, welcoming, and responsive to the growing needs of our community. All of these upgrades will benefit our

community for years to come. Thank you all for your time and um for thoughtful consideration of our request. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor, city council members, and community. On behalf of Body Brain Train, I'd like to sincerely thank you for your continued support through the community grants program. Your support allows us to continue growing, expanding, and bringing more wellness opportunities to seniors in our community. We'd also like to thank Waste Management for sponsoring this grant and recognizing so many incredible nonprofits making a difference throughout Seami Valley. I also wanted to share a quick update on what's been happening with Body Brain Train. This past Saturday, we hosted our annual Punchathon Drumathon fundraiser, and it was an amazing event filled with movement, music, and community connection. Council member Joseph Ayala, thank you for being there and spending 75 minutes drumming and moving alongside our seniors. Our members absolutely loved having you there. We're excited to share that both our fit drumming classes and our Thousand Oaks fit drumming programs have now regular weight lists each month. Because of that growth, we're currently looking into adding even more weekly classes to better serve both communities. We're also continuing to expand our programming here in Seami Valley. Some of our newest additions will include body brain train dance class and sound healing classes as we continue to explore new ways to support both physical and cognitive wellness. And thanks to the funding we received, we are finally moving forward with the completion of our online certification program, which we hope to launch in late 2026 or early 2027. This program will allow us to train instructors, program coordinators, and fitness trainers in our methods. so these classes and resources can expand to more facilities both inside and outside of Seami Valley. At the heart of everything we do is our belief that movement makes miracles and we truly appreciate this council's support in helping us continue this

mission. So, thank you again. Thank you. The next three speakers, Vanessa Balum, Tammy Jordan, and Tracy Hemnik, Vanessa, Tammy,

okay, Tammy,

good evening. Mayor Kavanaaugh and council members. I am Tammy Jordan with the Rotary Club of CI Sunrise. For 30 years, we have told our kids to go to college, get a degree, and avoid trades. But here we are, 2026. Perhaps we were wrong. The proof is sitting in every AI server farm in America, quietly eating the careers we promised them. Not in 10 years. It's happening right now. There's a 16-year-old in this city who doesn't know what she's going to do with the rest of her life. Her parents are stressed. She's stressed. College feels like a financial cliff. the military isn't for her. So, she's just waiting and waiting. And the longer she waits, the more she believes there's nothing for her. And what if the only reason she thinks that there's nothing there is because nobody has handed her a tool? That's what the Rotary Club of Seami Sunrise is trying to fix. The US Department of Education says by 2030, and that's just in three and a half years, 2.1 million skilled trade jobs will go unfilled in this country. You can't automate a plumber who climbs under a crawl space. You can't replace a carpenter's creative skills or electrician's judgment with a chatbot. We are putting on an expo free ages 13 to 24. It's handson. It's not a job fair with brochures. We are asking for your financial support to get the word out, to put the expo on, for introductions to school districts,

workforce agencies, and businesses. The trades built Seami Valley. They're going to continue to build what comes next. Thank you for your help. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh, members of the city council and staff. My name is Tracy Heck and I serve on the board at the Samaritan Center. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. First, I'd like to sincerely thank the council for recognizing the need our community and voting to fund our grant proposal. I also appreciate the city council time consideration as the recommendation comes before you today. Every day, the Samaritan Center serves individuals and families experiencing food insecurity and hardship due to rising costs and unexpected life challenges. In 2025 alone, we serve more than 3,100 individuals through our food pantry. While we receive a large volume of donated food, our ability to safely store and efficiently distribute those donations is limited by deteriorating plastic storage sheds that are vulnerable to weather and pests. This project offers long-term practical solution by replacing those aging sheds with weatherresistant storage units. These improvements will help protect the donated food, improve organization and inventory management, and allow staff and volunteers to better serve the community. This investment is not just about increasing our capacity to support vulnerable individuals and family while ensuring donated resources are used effectively, efficiently, and responsibly for years to come. Again, thank you to the community council for your support and thank you to the city council for your continued commitment to serving our community and considering this proposal tonight. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Pastor Amanda Berg, David Griggs, and Jared Shapiro. Good evening, Madame Mayor and Council members. My name is Amanda Berg and I serve as the pastor at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Semi Valley and I'm here tonight on behalf of our Stillwaters Food Pantry. And I'd like to thank you on behalf of our church, our volunteers, and all the people that rely on Stillwaters for your grant support. We have neighbors coming to us with everything from unexpected hardships and job loss to limited means and rising costs. And we want you to know that your grant support does more than help provide thousands of meals to folks struggling in the community. It also offers hope and dignity and compassion. And it's a tangible reminder to those that come that Seami Valley cares about its neighbors. And it's good to know that the committee and council values serving the most va v vulnerable among us. And so we're deeply grateful for your past and continued partnership and generosity and for getting to work together to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of so many here in Semi Valley. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh and Mayor uh Kavanagh Mike Judge, good to see you again Saturday night. I hope you enjoyed playing poker. Um uh while driving around Semi Valley, I found these signs littered all over the place on public land. It says, "Neighbor kidnapped here. This is an anti-ICE propaganda scheme and I want to know what we can do to prevent these things from showing up in the future. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. I I removed uh more than 10 of them from public land.

Thank you, sir. Hello. Um, Mayor Kavanagh, council, and the uh the grant board. On behalf of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, our Still Waters food pantry, the 40 plus volunteers who donate over 200 hours every week, and more importantly, on behalf of the 280 to 305 families that rely on this pantry each week to re receive needed food for themselves and their children, meals that otherwise may have been missed. We thank you. We're blessed in this community to have the support of our local grocery stores, food share of Ventura County, food drive sponsored by local scout troops, the post office, and other generous uh organizations. We're blessed by the many donations from concerned citizens who see the need and want to be a part of the solution. For that, we are truly grateful. Food and security, it's all around us. It's not just under the freeway underpasses or down on the riverbed. It is likely very much very much likely in this room tonight. It hides in our neighborhoods, even in the upscale ones. It's in the single mom or dad working two jobs trying to feed the family and meet the basic needs, meet the basic needs, but not making ends meet. It's in our seniors trying to live on their fixed incomes and losing the fight against inflation. It's in the unemployed and the undermployed and in so many others. As we move forward through the years, I would ask that this need be at the forefront of grant considerations. We live in the greatest country in the

world and with that we still allow people to go to bed hungry at night. I believe as Americans as Americans that we're better than this. So I thank you for your time. I thank you for your past support, your support tonight, and your future support. Thank you. Thank you.

The next three speakers, Pam Castro, Richard Pini, and Felen Kissik. Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh and city council. My name is Pamela Castro. I am not a resident of Simei. I've only been resident maybe three years during the uh COVID um for protection of others, but um my late husband was a educator here practically for 42 years. He actually lived here probably more than he lived at home. So we uh see me as part of 5050 for us called home. I'm here representing food share of Vur County um your county food bank. And the reason why I'm here is to brag about your your city. We I handle uh I'm the agency relations manager for the county and handle all of the agencies in Seami Valley alone. You have about 14 distributors, 17 different kind of programs that we bring in just in Seami Valley distributing foods for all different kind of programs. Many of your pantry coordinators, you know, our wonderful partners, but I want to let you know the capacity a couple things about Shepherd of the Valley. We have Samaritans and whatever as as community, but I wanted to to just brag about Shepherd of the Valley a little bit. All of all of the other partners are wonderful. But we had an auditor state of California. I'm I um handled the USDA commodities and and distribution throughout this county. Shepherd of Valley got um picked uh for an audit from the state of California. They came through with a AAA rating, one of the best. We recently uh highlighted Shepherd of the Valley in in our yearly video as one of the best and

they were the home for the workshop that we at 200 of our agencies to come to show off a model agency of how it should be done. Follow the rules and the the how you handle people with compassion. Thank you very much. Congratulations and you should be extremely proud that you're being represented by these incredible people.

Thank you. Good evening, mayors, council, and staff. I'm Richard Pini. I'm a resident of Seami Valley, and I wanted to bring you the good, bad, and ugly. The good being the Samaritan Center is having their first annual uh second chance prom and very excited about that. Um, and they're sold out. So, for those who don't have tickets, you can still vote. And what the voting does, it's like a dollar a vote and you'll be able to nominate a prom king or queen. Um it'll help our unhoused and some other people like um people who wanted to be prom king like Joe Ginstead. So, you can definitely help get Joe to uh be the king of the prom. Um my my bad is I would like to encourage the council to talk to our uh school district because we currently don't have any resource officers for these students. Um I think it's dangerous and I think security should not be an afterthought for these children. Um so if we can kind of get them to pick up two or three that would be great. And my ugly is something that I started coming here 15 years ago on. uh the safety on some of our streets, especially Royal Avenue. Uh we had a serious accident on Friday, and it caused um we'll say a young man, 10 years old, a clavicle injury and uh concussion, and a mother who was distraught. The problem with Royal Avenue is we have an S-turn at the in in the morning. Uh we have a sunrise that blinds the drivers. these two specific drivers could not see each other due to the amount of commercial parking that we have on Royal. If we could open up and

create visibility, uh I think it would prevent a lot of these uh accidents and that would simply be the eastward looking towards the Aoyo. Uh but if you guys can look into that would be wonderful. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Kavanagh, council members, and city staff. My name is Felen Kissik, the director and manager of Beginnings Brew Coffee House at New Beginnings Church here in Seami Valley. We are here tonight on behalf of Dr. Clifton Clark, our pastor, who is overseas tonight. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight regarding the Beginnings Brew Coffee House community project proposal. This project is about far more than coffee. It is about creating a safe, welcoming community, a space where people can connect, build relationships, and experience a sense of belonging in our city. Beginnings Brew is designed to serve as a place where neighbors can meet, students can study, seniors can gather, recovery groups can connect, and conversations can take place in a warm and welcoming environment. The funding request before you is not for cosmetic improvements. It is specifically tied to essential upgrades required to satisfy Ventura County permitting standards so that we can operate responsibly and safely. This investment helps move the proc project from a vision that we've had to a reality. The return to the community is a clean space, a local economic activity, job support, partnerships with local suppliers for our church. This project represents our ongoing commitment to serve the broader community be beyond our Sunday mornings. We are inviting the city to partner in strengthening community life. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you.

Thank you.

The last three speakers, Lisa Johnson, Eric Kissik, and Oscar Asthia. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and council members and uh staff here. Um I'm here to request that a portion of the grant monies be allocated for uh Beginnings Brew Coffee House as a neighbor coffee shop. It provides or will provide uh employees of the area, the businesses and offices and professional buildings all within a radius of just a couple blocks. Um it's across the street from the Seami Valley Hospital where my son-in-law works and he has said on several occasions that he would love to have an opportunity to go somewhere else as an option rather than always the cafeteria there in the hospital. and it is such a short walk that he could do that easily. And co-workers have also stated that same information and um what Felina just mentioned that it is a beautiful setting and very peaceful kind of to regain regroup yourself and um be ready to move on with the rest of your day. Um the coffee house is it's very relaxing. I've been in there. I've been blessed to be invited um to some of their events through their church and the space is just gorgeous. It's a it's a beautiful and inviting area. And my husband also works from home and he has mentioned several times, can we get in there and it's not open yet and it's had some several things that have stalled and slowed down that option. So he has asked um to just have a place that that's not the big businesses of of Seami Valley that is something a little bit different and unique. So um we've been just very blessed to be connected with that church

even though that is not my home church. Um I really feel that they um would be very deserving of a small part of that percentage of the grant. So we thank you very much for that consideration and um have a good evening. Thank you. I apologize. We have five more speakers after Eric and Oscar.

Uh good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and the council. I'm also work a volunteer for uh New Beginnings Brew Coffee House and my wife and I uh are the uh managers of it. And some of you came to the grand opening back in 20 uh 24 and I remember Elaine was there and Rocky was there. It was great. And if you know anything about Pastor Clark, he's a man of vision. He is full of vision. He he has upgraded that campus in ways I cannot be I can't tell you. He's trying to do a basketball court to reach the community. He wants the coffee house to reach the community. We have nurses from the medical building next door and I restock the inventory throughout the week. Every day I have to go in there and check make sure inventory is up to date for all the different church activities that we do. And the nurses come up to me and the doctors and they say, "Are you guys going to open it up for us so that we can, you know, instead of sitting on your picnic tables, we'd like to go inside and be able to have a latte or, you know, espresso." And I I said, "We're working on it. We're working on it." So um we really are need your help though where we can upgrade Beginnings Brew to a commercial standard. It's an investment in people and it will allow the food service the outreach and support programs to operate safely and sustainely sustainably under Ventur County envir environmental health guidelines. And we really want to reach people. That is our that is pastor's vision. And be there for the community. And we have free Wi-Fi and a great place to uh bring your laptop and do your work and relax and have a good cup of coffee. Thank you.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and members of the city council. My name is Oscar Assia. At a very young age, I was drunk driving and I got into a tra tragic car accident. The injuries I suffered from this accident left me paralyzed from the waist down. Due to severe fractures on my spinal cord, hip, multiple ribs, and other parts of my body. Through faith and rehabilitation, I learned how to walk all over again. I am extremely grateful to the AA program for my continual recovery. It would be unfortunate not to have the support group to look forward to weekly at Beginnings Brew Cafe. The cafe keeps the doors of hope open for those who are still suffering in their active addictions. Beginnings Brew helps many to reach their sobriety goals. There are men and women that have walked in the cafe emotionally, mentally, and spiritually broken. However, they have walked out with brand new faith. I am one of those individuals who has been rehabilitated through this place of gathering. I recently celebrated 11 years of sobriety and this has empowered me to remain of service to those who need guidance towards reaching their sobriety goals. Beginnings Brew provides more than beverages. It provides belonging with proper upgrades. It can meet all the health standards and continue to grow as a community hub. Thank you for your time. God bless you. Thank you,

Candace Score, Linda Kaplan, and Sandy Otto.

Um, good evening, Mayor Cap almost. Good morning, huh? Uh, good evening, um, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the council. Uh my name is Linda Kaplan and I'm also a member of New Beginnings Church and I have volunteered at the cafe, a coffee shop for about three years. Um it would be incredible to get this grant uh to upgrade our equipment to a commercial standard and also allow the space to better serve families, individuals, and those in need. I truly feel that the coffee shop coffee shop is an asset and gift to the community. Um, in the time I've been there, I have witnessed unhoused people who wander in and find a safe haven to get out of the cold and get a hot drink and a pastry which we will provide to them for free. And we also have a food pantry that we can go to and offer them a box of food at that time. So, I've seen that many times blessed many people. I have witnessed people going through very difficult times and coming into the coffee shop in need of prayer. um a simple thing but a way to help people um who are very distraught and may have bad ideas in their head. Uh the coffee shop is warm and inviting and people feel comfortable there. One day a woman who was distraught came in and said she was kicked out of the hospital and needed to call a friend to pick her up. I lent her my phone and got her some coffee and she was able to share her struggles with me. She said she was walking around crying and lo and and very lost and saw the cafe sign and felt God led her um to us. Um I was able to pray with her and make sure she was safe until her friend arrived. When we um when we were open to the public see Valley Hospital nurses nurses often came to sit in our beautiful yard and have a cup of coffee. This is definitely a place for them um to just get away from it all and relax. in. So, this cafe is one of our pastor's many visions for our church, not only to serve good coffee, but to have a safe place in the community. For these

reasons and more, I feel the coffee shop is a great assess asset and blessing to Semi Valley. Thank you for considering this request. Thank you,

Sandy. Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and city council members. Um, thanks for having us. Thank you for hearing our plea tonight on the benefits of our coffee shop at New Beginnings Church. Our mission is to serve the community in of Seami Valley by providing the coffee shop as a safe haven in many different ways. It's a gathering place not only for good coffee but for people who are looking for someone to talk to, lean on, pray with, and which then turns into friendship for all of them. Beginning Bruise is a safe place for people who are grieving over the loss of their loved ones from overdoses. We have a support group that meets once a week. It's also a resource center for the community as we have lectures on different topics to educate the community such as assisted living, signs and symptoms of senior decline. We have lectures on Medicare for our baby boomers and we have men and women's retreats. This is just to name a few of the benefits and the reasons we want to upgrade our coffee shop. We always want to offer the best of services that we can to the people of Seami Valley and um we're looking for your financial support. We thank you for your consideration in that matter.

Can you state your name for the record, please? Ma'am, can you state your name for the record? My name Yeah, my name is Candace Score. Thank you. Hi, Candace. Thank you.

The next uh speakers are Michael Shaw and Leslie Dumont.

Present. Uh Leslie Dumont, Madame Mayor, those were the last speakers. Uh next on the agenda is city council comments on uh regarding public statements. Is there anyone that has any comments? It is late. Mayor Pro Tim Litzer Make it fast.

I'll make it fast. Back to the very beginning. I was going to tell Mark Lucer about the library takeback. Very proud of the efforts there to try to It has nothing to do with banning with banning books and Mike judged. I just wanted to go on the record that uh it was way back three hours ago. I just wanted um wanted to thank Joe Metaf, Joseph Metaf for his summary of C250. It should be a wonderful oper wonderful thing that we're doing. all of the comments about you are all such wonderful people that do so much good in our community. We're going to be talking about the grants in just a minute, so I won't make any comments there except to say that we love you and appreciate all that you do. And I think that that I know that there was more I was going to say, but that's it. I I'll end it there.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, I will make one quick comment just for Shepherd of the Valley. You guys are awesome. Last year when we had the PSPS and the Target stores all shut down, I was able to connect them with you guys and you went over and it was your distribution day. It worked out perfectly on that day. So that was a great thing. It was a great save for everybody. So I want to say I know you guys do a great job. So thanks. We can move on. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item seven, the consent calendar. And there are four resolutions for your consideration this evening. Consent item 8, resolution number 2026-13, a resolution of the city council of the city of Sumi Valley, approving updated citywide publicly available pay schedules effective May 18, 2026 in accordance with the California code of regulations title title 2 section 570.5. Consent item nine, resolution number WWD-305, a resolution of the board of directors of Ventura County Waterworks District number eight, approving the initial study mitigated neg negative declaration and mitigation monitoring and reporting program for the Crown Hill Water Storage Tank and Nul Nolles Zone Water Facilities Project. Consent item 10, resolution number 2026-15, a resolution of the city council of the city of Simi Valley, approving the fiscal year 2026 27 road maintenance and rehabilitation project list and expenditure plan cycle 10 and amending the fiscal year 2026 27 budget and consent item 11, resolution number 2026-16, a resolution of the city council of the city of Semi Valley accepting the final map and approving the subdivision improvement agreement. and securities for the construction of public improvements for track number 6085 located at 1845 Oak Road.

Phew, that was a lot. Thank you. I move consent. Second. Second. Okay. Call for the vote. The motion passes unanimously. Madame Mayor and members of the city council, next on the agenda is item 9A, award of fiscal year 202627 community projects grant program funds and deputy environmental services director Cynthia McCulla is presenting this item.

Before you before you start, Miss McCulla, I just want to uh double check with everyone that they have no conflicts with any of the applicants andor the proposed um receipts of funds. Okay, thank you. City attorney wanted me to do that, so we're good. Go ahead, Cynthia.

Good evening, Mayor Kavanaaugh and members of the city council. As mentioned earlier tonight, in 2011, the city and waste management executed a memorandum of understanding, which provides annual funding of $150,000 to the city for community projects and programs at the city council's discretion. Subsequently, the city council developed the community projects grant program to distribute the funding and created the community projects grant review committee to enhance the public's input into the process for developing funding recommendations. The application period for the fiscal year 20 26 27 funding cycle began on January 14th, 2026 and concluded on January 30th, 2026. A total of $82,92123 was requested from 26 eligible nonprofit organizations that applied for funding. As you heard earlier this evening, the review committee met twice. The first meeting established the review and ranking process. The second meeting allowed for organizations to present to the review committee to make its funding recommendations for the fiscal year 2026 27 funding cycle. The review committee uh funding recommendations as displayed on the screen are organized in order of re of review committee ranking. The following 11 organizations are being recommended for funding this evening. The Samaritan Center, Seami Valley Library Foundation, Body Brain Train, Vets and Valor, Seami Valley Football Booster Club, Boys and Girl, Boys and Girls Club of More Park and Semi Valley, Gigi's Playhouse, Semi Valley, Many Mansions, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, For the Need Foundation, and Sarah's House. Only the

first agency is being recommended for full funding. A minimum of $10,000 is recommended per request, which is consistent with the eligibility criteria that was adopted by the city council. The review committee's funding recommendations attempted to maximize funding to as many organizations as possible while considering the needs of the community and recognizing that many deserving organizations and valuable projects would not receive funding due to unexpended funds returned to the city from a previous awardee. A total of $151,347 is available to award for the fiscal year 2627 funding cycle. The review committee recommended a total of $151,300. It is recommended that the city council award the remaining $47, determine final award amounts, and authorize the city manager to approve the final scopes of work. This concludes the presentation staff. And I think some of the organizations are still here to respond to questions.

Thank you, Cynthia. Um, any questions, concerns from council? I'm just waiting for the names to pop up. Sorry, council member Ayella.

Well, we have to figure out the $47, but I mean, in reality, we do, right? Because we have to do it. The the other thing I would say is um a couple of just points. The last time the when the council first adopted this and made the rules, it was 2017. So, we're going into year 10 starting next year. And so, um, we might want to look at some changes to how we do this. Um, I don't want to make any decisions now, but just some ideas. And these are really based upon the uh the the gentleman who was named the chair of the committee. He actually was Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Lewis. Um, a couple of the things he brought up to me even outside the meeting was that the ability to when they were doing the the process this time around, the people did the scoring and this he said the scoring was then placed up for everyone to see and then they had discussion. and he thought it'd be more beneficial that you had the discussion before you did the scoring because there might be something that another member felt or saw that someone else didn't see and it could have it could have it could impact how you actually decide to vote the same way we do up here. We we discuss first and give perspective and then other people and then we decide okay this is what we're going to do based upon what everyone's doing. So I'd like to as we're thinking of next year think about that. The second thing is that um I I know that there's a column that says were they awarded funding in the past just simply yes no but we the city grants funds funding multiple times throughout the year not just one and so one other thing I'd like to add um suggest is that going forward that since we track that data that when you provide the packets to the committee you also let them know what city funding each organization has return received in the past and in what amount. And I'm not saying it disqualifies someone from getting funding, but I think it's a good data point for the review committee to see as they're making the decision based upon who has received funds. And the third thing I would say is um that $10,000 amount was made back in 2017 and we now have more nonprofits serving our city and more needs, diverse needs in our city. And so maybe one thing we do is as he suggested is consider not significantly dropping the the

minimum of 10,000 because I think you dilute it if you do it too much but even the committee thinking of like a $7,500 mark or something like that where it would allow them allow us to serve even more um nonprofits going forward. And then just one little side note, if the council were to decide to give funding to um an an organization such as such as trade works, um I only say that because I'm on the planning committee for that. So someone else would have to make that motion and I would have to recuse myself from that vote just to be transparent about it.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim Litster. I can I concur with what um was just mentioned and I actually thought maybe it was going to be a 10B item that I was going to make just to that it might be appropriate to to re-evaluate how just the the way this is done. Um I $150,000 doesn't go as far as it used to but um but I know that that was um was put together with the with with waste management. I know this is the year that we are supposed to be revisiting that is and I would love it to be a discussion where we say you've gotten all these great things we want that up etc. Is I just for maybe our same manager is where are we in that process doesn't solve the problem today for needing more money but is is that something that might be happening soon

there's I need to bring an item back to you guys um the agreement is expiring shortly so Right. Yeah. Well, and I hope that there's the opportunity to renegotiate to re discuss and I also want to mention um and I want to punt it back to Cynthia related to the last time that the council discussed the parameters for the program. Um while the last time that there were changes made to the program, it was in 2017, I believe that the council considered um potentially making changes in 2024 2025.

Yeah. So, uh, the eligibility criteria, um, came to council December 4th of 2023. Um, at that time, we presented what, uh, was originally the criteria in 2017. Um, and at that time, council was okay with, um, continuing with that same eligibility criteria.

So, it's been reconsidered since 2017, but certainly, if it's the request of the council to bring it back and have that conversation again, we can obviously do that. Um, in the past I have occasionally tried to move money around and find find other pots. I don't know that we have that at our disposal this time around. Um, certainly if that is the council's direction, we can identify additional funding. However, what I would say is that um during the council priority setting process, there was um additional funds identified through that um process as well as at the budget workshop for um projects that were identified as a priority for economic development um that the city is using one-time funds for. So, I would recommend that we focus our efforts there based on the council priorities, but um certainly whatever is the council's direction, staff will follow.

Yeah. Well, and and I just I I I just want as a general commentary, there's such so much so many great things happening and and and and places we couldn't I would love to include more money spent even from the vans for the YMCA to transport for water and and new beginnings. Your your little coffee place is is fabulous. it really is deserving of being updated and and so um I would absolutely give you the $47, but that's I'm not gonna that's gonna do nothing for you. But just for the record, that's that's where I'm motion $47. But I would love to have maybe discussions. Um I I I think the awareness of what you're doing is a good thing. And I'm hoping that I mean there will there'll be another rounds in the future, but I'm even hoping that some of our Rotary clubs and some of the clubs that do such good work can maybe consider the the efforts that you're doing. Um I I don't know that I'm willing to make changes this time around. I know how hard in fact I spoke one of the people that was part that was part of that committee said it was probably the hardest job he's ever had to try to make this decision and just how difficult it was. And then then he agonized when he read the letter to the editor in the paper because he because he was anyway he just it it was agony for him. And so I just appreciate what everyone's doing to try to allocate these funds. Um so I don't um I don't know that I have any other recommendations to change things. I did have a question though actually for the library foundation. Um given that we're desirous to obviously um hopefully we will acquire that building. and my fingers are still crossed that it will be and once and when that happens I'll speak positively when that happens I know that there'll be architectural renderings drawings etc to expand change the entrance etc which might affect the community room um and so my question is and I want that to be

the most amazing community room we've ever had um but I guess my question is my understanding is these funds have to be used within a year or they are pushed back and so is there an exception in the library's case for instance or can we say an I owe you we will give you that money once we're sure once this is is resolved I don't know I just I just I'm concerned I want you to to have the money and be able to really use it and not not carpet and paint and then say oh wait a minute we're going to tear this room down and make it twice as big and put in chandeliers and swinging trapies I'm I mean facitious but you know you know what I'm saying I

come come on up. Come on up, Cindy. While Cindy comes up, I do just want to address council member Litster that um they funds do have to be expended by the next fiscal year. However, um it is at council's discretion if they would like to make an exception for any organization um simply because it is the council's discretion for the um criteria on when it needs to be spent.

Okay. So, to address your question, it's a good question. We also um we're excited about the steps moving forward for ownership. Um, but that could be such a long term because there's so many other steps once we do get ownership, when we get ownership. Um, right Samantha, I can tell you that there's that could take years.

There's well, there's a variety of projects that the council um well that we would want to do at the library. Um, just from a um infrastructure standpoint, you know, upgrading electrical and things like that. Um, I have a meeting with the county CEO on Wednesday to begin those discussions. So hopefully sooner rather than later, but um, obviously those conversations can take some time. So the community room is a cosmetic upgrade um, as well as making sure we have clean carpets. Um but um I think that it we would have to look at the project as a whole because there are a variety of upgrades that we um would be interested in making to ensure that the library is continuing to meet the needs of the community throughout the entire building um and provide more flexible use um and so that we would want to look at the building as a whole.

It's a non-C capital improvement. Um you might recall we did the teen lounge. Yes. last year and we've just about finished that I think. Um I think I think it's done. Yes. Um sort of like lipstick on a pig, right? So but it's serving the community now while we put the rest of this in, you know. Um and and no way do I want to deny you the funds. I just want to be sure that it's worthy. I know. But we asked ourselves

you're not redoing Yeah. you know, why do we do this if we're going to rip it out? Okay, at some point possible, but it's a long term. Even if we do debt ownership, it'll be um God, there's architectural stuff. There's all kinds of bureaucracy that we have to go through to start to make any of those changes. So, for now, the community room is being used by more people in the community than anybody any other location. And this would serve it. I think there's a plaque on the wall that uh the Rotary from 2009 was the last time that room was touched. So for upgrades. So that's our last project before ownership. So I hear you. Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

Anything else? Okay. I'm going to be the elephant in the room then. Um see me high school football. So the the comment was that uh they're number fifth but yet we're giving them the most money. Um, so that that is a little bit of a concern and I have a concern. Not nothing against CI or boosters or whatever, but this is the first time we're awarding money to one of the schools. And I don't know if we're setting precedents on this or I'm concerned about that because we have every school has how many teams of of different activities. So I'm I'm just if we're giving to one school, why can we give to the other school and vice versa andor we have, you know, football. We have and I understand the importance of the helmets. I do that that has nothing to do with it. But we have you have lacrosse and you have girls flag football and you have girls softball and you Royal has swimming and water polo and I just I'm worried that we're going to dig ourselves into something a little bit with this. So I just wanted others opinion. I just that's a concern. I'm not saying yes or no. I just wanted to bring that up on the dis. Sounds like nobody else has a concern.

I was Yeah, but let me get comments here first. Um, a reasonable concern. Um, I don't think I'm moved by it because we're not giving to the schools. We're giving to a booster. And if we gave it to the police foundation for a project, it's like giving it to our own city. Um, but it's not. We're giving it to the fundraising arm that does good work with it. So, uh, if it were actually giving it to Seami High School, I would probably have a big problem with that. They were already paying for their crossing guards and and resource officers. Um, yeah, I I I can see the nonprofit buffer between the entities.

Okay. That's why I just wanted to make sure we had I I'll be honest, I don't necessarily like it only because we're opening up a can of worms, but we can address that when we review our policies. Maybe we want to say, we want to limit it, you know, a limit dollar amount or whatever. So, don't worry. I'm not kidding. Um, we don't really normally like to change what the committee envisions, but I that was a concern and I just wanted to bring it up and um, nobody else has a concern in the same way. So, we'll go on. Although I think it's it's valid. I It's very valid. It's opening up an avenue because we've been approached in the past to do

like well other other I just it's just because there are so many school booster clubs andor clubs and teams and that that's the only concern even though I went to Royal I'm not picking on Sammy. You can come up for a second if you like. Sure. Can I also just ask staff for a clarification? Did we receive an application from the Royal High School booster club? No, there was there were there were no others. I'm just bringing it forward. Hi, ladies.

I mean, that's a it's a great, you know, absolute, you know, what you're saying makes sense. Um, when we applied, I I was very, it was very important that there was a protocol in regards to what a nonprofit is and we met every criteria of what the checklist does. Just because we were being proactive and trying to find ways to fund raise and find grants shouldn't punish us because other other nonprofits that are maybe related to school didn't apply. Um, I think it's important to know that this is not money coming from the city directly. It's a grant. It's a process. It's got a a voting. It's got a protocol. It's to be honest, I went to a meeting in between um that I was the only nonprofit there and they were talking about an open form like how we were going to grade this. How what are the things? And I was taking notes. I'm like, okay, that's what they're going to talk about because it was open. Nobody else showed up. Just I showed up. So, I don't understand that, you know, if if there is a legal process of here's a nonprofit, these are the things you have to submit. I don't think it opens up an account a can of worms. If there's a true nonprofit, they should be able to apply. It could be a royal football. It could be, but to be honest, most of them are non nonprofits. They're a leg of a booster of asmbb. We are a true nonprofit and we followed the rules. We applied. We followed, we went to every meeting and we had a true need that we literally cannot afford and nobody can give us money for.

Yeah. No, I'm not questioning any of your stuff. I just because there are so many schools involved. That's the only thing I But your point is that you two were a registered nonprofit as opposed to booster clubs. And they did and they followed all the they did everything they were supposed to do. I had no concerns with that whatsoever. To clarify, most booster clubs are all 501c3 nonprofits. They are registered nonprofits, correct? And they actually have to apply for it. So if they are ran through the ASB through the school, they are not a nonprofit. So split down the middle. I did not realize you did not get any ticket money. No, none of the ticket revenue goes to Yeah. I assumed that went to partially at least into the

We actually So probably at both high schools, football probably funds all the other. Exactly. That's why I was surprised at that. Dollar from the ticket. both roll and football. We come together, but we don't. Yeah, I was surprised at that. I was like, well, it covers security. It covers a staff to be there, right? It covers a plethora of other things. Where the money goes, though. We should ask. I do. It It's It's valid. It is valid, but I just thought the booster club would at least get a portion of it.

Well, and you know, it's unfortunate. You know, safety equipment is expensive, right? We do have I looked it up. We do have a large program. And just from the timing of when our recent coach came into the program, you know, we had a plethora of um safety equipment that came in at that time because honestly, CMI football didn't even have footballs when he came in. Um but all of those things are starting to age. And so even though we're trying to fund raise, we also have students who cannot pay their spirit pack fees. But like I said earlier, we do not um none of our kids go without. We feed them all very well. if you ever want to come have a meal with them and transportation and whatnot. So everything's covered for our kids and so Oh, you have to pay for the buses too, don't you?

We do. Yes. And we do take some some of the spirit pack cost comes from the parents paying for it. But not everyone can afford that. That takes us down another conversation about transportation and being short staffed. So we now have to charter buses. So we have to pay overtime for those buses out of our All right. All right. All right. No, there there's so much. But but you know, it's just a matter of like we want our kids to be safe. That's the bottom line. No, it is. That's that's is that's extremely important, especially at their age. Yes. I mean, that that's this is when it starts. So, yeah. No, thank you for sharing all that information. I appreciate that. Thank you, Mayor. Madame Mayor, if I could interrupt for just one second. Um motion

I'd like to move that the city council meeting tonight be extended beyond the midnight deadline to conclude the agenda section 2-1.106 of the Semi Valley Municipal Code. Second. Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously. That just allows us to go later. Nothing official. All right. Um, I'm sorry. I just had one question for Stephanie. If Okay, that's fine. I was going to say, are there any more questions?

Yeah. Steph, what I I was Cynthia. I'm sorry. I'm It's late 11:30. Cynthia, I'm sorry on that. Um I I was just kind of this is the point system that was rated is what is um I'm just kind of curious to see what is below what next came in order after um I actually have um hard copies of that. So each one of the representatives um provided um a point allocated point amount for each one of the agencies. Um in column I it was uh the total score for each agency. They were then um sorted in um highest to lowest and the committee decided that they were going to look at a natural break. Um so between 12 and 13 there is um just shy of 10 points. Um so they decided to allocate um funds to those top 11. Um and that's how they came to the determination. Got it. Okay, that this is helpful for me because I Yeah, thank you.

Any other questions, concerns, comments? If not, I'm open to a motion. Well, we still have to decide on the $47. Oh, sorry. And if we split it evenly, it's $420. No, I'm just kidding. I I would just make a recommendation we uh uh pay for one more class at Body Brain Train. Sure. Give we can give it to Body Brain Train. So, we'll amend it to $18,47 for Body Brain Train

and then everything else will stay the same. I just want to make that on the record. Okay. We tell the committee this is the hardest one of the hardest decisions to make. So, um I'm open. Is there any other corrections comments? We have a motion. I move the item with the corrections of the $47 or the dispersement of the $47 to body weight and train. Second. Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you all for being here. Thank you,

Madame Mayor and members of the city council. Next item on the agenda is to adopt a resolution implementing a previously approved schedule of sanitation service rates and fees consistent with ordinance number 1363 and authorizing the county of Ventura to collect residential sanitation fees on the tax role for the fiscal year 2627. The reading of the resolution is as follows. Resolution number 2026-14, a resolution of the city council of the city of Semi Valley, implementing a schedule of sanitation rates and fees previously established by ordinance number 1363 and authorizing the county of Ventura to collect residential sanitation service fees on the tax role for fiscal year 2026-27 and public works director Rush Fuchiwaki is here to present this item.

Uh good evening, Mayor Kavanagh and council members. On May 19th, 2025, the city council adopted ordinance number 1363, which established a schedule of sanitation fees and charges for 5 years, including fiscal year 2025 to 26 through fiscal year 2029-30. The adopted 5-year rates are needed to fund infrastructure rehabilitation projects to maintain facilities and to ensure reliability of wastewater treatment and the collection system. The rates are based on the cost of providing sewer service as outlined in the st sanitation rate study adopted on May 5th, 2025. The single family rate sewer current single family sewer rate is $56.73 per month. Ordinance 1363 established the fiscal year 2026-27 rate at $5872 per month, an increase of $1.99 per month. Rates for all other customers for FY2627 are outlined in exhibit A of the proposed ordinance. It is recommended that city council adopt resolution number 26 2026-14 implementing the previously approved schedule of sanitation service rates and fees consistent with ordinance 1363 and authorize the county of Ventura to collect residential sanitation service fees on the tax role for fis I'm losing my voice for fiscal year 2026-27 and staff is available for questions.

Any questions of staff? Mayor Prom Litz, sir. Actually, I don't have a question. I I I wanted to thank this being put on the open sk I mean on the on the new business schedule just because I think it's good for constituents to know what we're doing and I and and I appreciate that. Um, but as I understand, I know in the past there was a discussion of how this has generated the rates and ways we but I think we're past that point. If I understand it, we've already said it it's passed five years. If we don't approve this, then there's really no we would send out send out monthly bills. What is what is just out of curiosity, what's the option? We don't I mean

we wouldn't be able to put it on the tax roll. We wouldn't hit the deadline. So, we would have to do it ourselves, which would be much more costly, right? and either and it and it's really a cost that's borne by the property owner. Correct. I mean that's correct. Got it. Okay. Well, I'm certainly willing to make a motion. Thank you. Um I move that we basically pass this whatever the official let's see I get to the official. Um do you want me to read it?

I move to adopt resolution number 2026-14 implementing a previously approved schedule of sanitation service rates and fees. consistent with ordinance number 1363 and authorize the county of Ventura to collect residential sanitation service fees on the tax ro for fiscal year 202627. Second call for the vote. The motion passes unanimously. Thank you and mayor members of city council. Next on the agenda is 10A council member reports. And they should be short because it was only one week. So starting with council member Ayala. That's what you think.

Sit back. Oh my god.

So on May 5th, I attended the naming ceremony for the Bob Huber crisis stabilization unit, the new facility on LA Avenue. On May 6th, I attended the All It Takes Real Life, Real Skills Workshop hosted by Lori Woodley at the movie theater. It was well attended by representatives of the police department, the school district, parents, and students. On May 7th, I attended the day of prayer here in at the at city hall. I I then went to Garden Grove Elementary for the teacher of the month ceremony. So to congratulations to Lesie Brooks and then I attended the Fourth of July planning committee which Joseph Medaf outlined all of the great stuff that's happening there. May 9th I went to the ribbon cutting at the Poseria, right? Is that did I say that correctly? Okay. So and it's really because they make po and that is their specialty. So that's why they named the restaurant that. Um, and then on May 11th, which was today, I attended the Council on Aging Committee meeting. And I just want to make a plug that their concert that supports the Meals on Wheels program is Sunday, June 14th at the Santa Susanna Performing Arts Center. And they are pretty low in ticket sales. They really need people to buy tickets. And they've only sold about 122 tickets out of 400 seat auditorium. And again, for the community members who are listening to this are still awake, all of the money goes to the Meals on Wheels program, which is a really important program for people in our community. So, if you can make it out, go to the Santa Susanna Performing Arts Center website and get your tickets. And that's it for me. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rhodess.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I also on May 5th attain attended the naming ceremony for the Bob Huber Crisis Stabilization Unit. um couldn't be a better name for that building and um what a what a deserving great servant of our community that for that to be named after. I'm sorry he couldn't be there in attendance himself, but it was great seeing his sons and wife and and um other members of the community. On May the 6th, I attended the Skagg annual conference. Um, uh, and it started with a CVlink tour, which is nearly 500 miles of bike and golf cart path initially started by a go human grant through Skagg that proves those little grants lead to big things. Um, and also that day we had our EAC meeting for Skagg. on the 7th. Um, we it still at the g uh SCAG meeting, but the general assembly meeting. I was the voting delegate for our city and we approved a slate of officers and approved changes to the SKAG bylaws. On the 8th, I attended um the respect memorial um and I wanted to thank semi youth baseball for stepping up opening the facilities. Um I didn't count them but my guesstimate that there were nearly a thousand people uh in attendance at this event and it was moving, touching and um so sad that we had to have it. Um on the 9th um I attended the Westlake Village Fire Safety Day and got to talk to their cert people and uh other members and we had some great discussions about fire resiliency. Um uh and then also that day I rushed back

just got there in time for the ribbon to be cut at the uh at the new restaurant. Uh congratulations to Anna. And um on the 10th, happy Mother's Day, my gift, which I asked what would you like was hard labor and I did nothing but pull weeds and cut branches all day. So, uh, and that ends end ends my report. Thank you, Council Member Judge.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. On Tuesday, May 5th, I too attended the naming ceremony for the Bob Heer crisis stabilization unit, and I couldn't agree with more with Rocky's comments. Wednesday, May 6th, I too attended the SKAG retreat in the EAC meeting that day. On Thursday, I also represented the VCTC for SCAG at the regional council and policy committee. Rocky told you what we voted on. On May 8th, I attempted to get to their memorial service for the poor kid and I was accidentally delayed. On Saturday, May 9th, I attended the ribbon cutting for the Pasaria and I also attended the St. Peter poker tournament put on by the Knights of Columbus. On Sunday, May 10th, happy Mother's Day. It's end of my report.

Thank you,

Mayor Bertim Litster. Yes, on May 5th. I too I think we all attended that wonderful naming ceremony. It's such a delight um to have that actually I'm so pleased that that is being built in our community and very appropriate for Bob Huber to be the namesake for that. Also on that day met with a a constituent who is wants to be involved with film seeming on um Wednesday May the 6th I followed up with a meetings with Anthony Angelini about film issues just part of our um ad hoc committee discussion with him. Also I attended the Ventura County behavioral health um suicide prevention update and I share that it was a Zoom meeting. I just want to share quickly some of the things my takeaway from that. Um they talked a lot about how things are changing within the county as far as health services with recent legislation and funding etc. But I was there specifically for a friend who has had some horrible has horrible has had two instances of suicide in her family. But um specifically I wanted to hear the report on the aoyo on the bridge that goes over the 23 the connected and um I'm sure Mike knows all about this from VCTC but I found it interesting the bridge was built in 1993 that basically with with the fatalities they've been the suicides that have been been um experienced there. The project to make that safer was initiated in July of 2022. Funds and design were approved in August of 24 and it was scheduled to be completed this Saturday. So, two days ago, it should have been completed. Um I is it not yet? As I drove it, it looks I can see the s the the fencing on both sides.

It's going to be closed sometime this weekend. Okay. Yeah.

So, just so you know. Okay. Then we're then you're up to date as as as but it just shows that. But what what I found interesting is that that um one of the they surmise one of the reason takes well I should have say that Calran said that they never they didn't in the past have not really had a funding arm for projects that are of that nature to protect against suicide etc. But it was actually AB2267 that has actually now provide pre-approved designs and ways so that they can actually get funding. So in the future won't be so bad for other places. But anyway, that's it for that. But that was interesting. Also attended the Studio Movie Grill event. Um great a great program and I know our police are getting involved with it. Thursday, May 7th, uh attended the YMCA 27th annual prayer breakfast at at CLU. also attended our national day of prayer here where they prayed for all of us and all that we're doing. Um attended this the teach of the month event as well and then completed it with arts commission interviews that day. It shouldn't have taken so long but we agonized and finally came up with a decision but they were all very good candidates. Friday, May 8th, um I did attend the respect memorial service and dinner. And I will say that my um I ditto owe to all that council member um RH said my takeaway that this was a good beloved young man, kind, good friend, brought others to great spiritual depths, and his hair was very important to him. Um it was it was I I would say it was just lovely to get to know him a little bit more and so sorry for his family and for the loss for our community. Um also I will say that I attended briefly uh the leadership sim's leadership which you of course you went to all day um as a steering committee Fred Bowermaster conducted it but I I came away

understanding better the difference between nonprofit and not forprofit. Um anyway, May 9th, the 10 of the ribbon cutting at for Ria Ana. Um Mariachi was probably one of the biggest ribbon cutting parties we've had in a very long time in our community. Um and yes, soccer, all sorts of fun stuff in the community that day. And happy Mother's Day to happy and thank you to all the wonderful men that supported this happy Mother's Day events. And so that concludes my report.

Thank you. On Tuesday, May 5th, I also attended the naming cere ceremony for the Bob Hubert crisis stabilization unit. I was actually honored to be able to speak. Um, I met Bob, it'll be 30 years. Well, I knew him as Robert O. Hubert Law Office, but I met him as Bob in Rotary in November of 1996. So, we're coming up on 30 years. So, um, a wonderful, wonderful man. Uh what I didn't mention that day was and I should have is Bob brought in the first female Rotarian in our district and that was Ela Freeman who's retired from our park board but Bob was the one to sponsor her and bring her into that club. So that was pretty cool.

Um and it was always the turnout was wonderful. It was just such an honor um to see everybody that was there and his both his wife Deb and his sons both spoke or all spoke. It was really really moving and very welld deserved. Um, on Thursday, May 7th, I attended the housing trust fund dinner with our own Stratis Peros who sits on the board there. So, that was a great event raising funds for them. And then on Friday, May 8th, um, I attended a barn dance at the Strath. It's always a wonderful place to go to have events there. Put a plug in for them. And Saturday, May 9th, I volunteered all day for a softball tournament for our Rotary Club. Um, and that's where the idea of the mental health softball tournament came up. I was talking to Dan Potter who puts on most of the tournaments and he said, "We're not going to do Play for a Cure anymore," which I was a founding member of that. And um, he said, "I I think I want to do mental health." And I said, "That's perfect timing because of the the new crisis stabilization unit." So he said, "We will make a donation to that in, you know, in in Kevin McGwigan's name." Wonderful.

Yeah. So, but I wanted to make sure that that was publicized. So, that's it on in regards to my activities. So, item 10B. Um, I know another council member wanted something and I I was going to request something on SRO's um to look at where we're at on it and to ensure that we get some SRO's out there before the school season before the school starts. And you had some responses to that already.

I do. So um the police department is currently focused on the recruitment of detectives. We have three detective vacancies. Um one of them is the internet crimes against children vacancy. So those have taken priority. Um the police department still responds to emergency incidents at schools as needed. So while we don't have a dedicated resource there currently um we do anticipate and we do respond as needed. Um, we also have someone who is an SRO who is currently on leave. We anticipate that person returning before the beginning of the new school year. Um, and then we will be recruiting for um, the other vacancy position as soon as those detective positions are filled.

Thank you. I would also like to look at possibly expanding that if possible to three SRO's. I don't know what the budget allows. The chief's back there having heart attacks. Sorry. the if I can add to that I would suggest that we not put a number. Okay, just expand the program.

Not even expand. I think what I would like what I was going to propose is that we need a joint working group between that includes members of the city council, city staff, police, and the school district to really figure out and put together a comprehensive plan which includes a long-term funding mechanism for the SRO program so that it's actually solidified with everyone because I think with when we put a number, we're not taking into account what the police might consider is the right number of their school district. We're just assuming it's three and I don't know if we can do that.

Um I did have a meeting with the um superintendent of the school district regarding the council's priority to recover costs for the SRO program and the crossing guard program um before our tri agency meeting at the end of April. And um the school district did propose that they would be willing to potentially share in costs if the council would be interested in going um and partnering on a ballot initiative to increase tax by a quarter or a half cent. Um and then let the voters decide if that is something that um they have an interest in funding. So there's some other notes I have as well. Um but certainly we can if if there is the desire of the council to create a working group um we can bring an item back to for further discussion to form that.

I'd be willing to do that. Okay. I just think it gets us to if we have a working group it gets us to actually moving towards towards something. Well, our city manager has gotten farther than we have so far. So that was good. Thank you. Yes, Mayor Pen Litzer.

So another item then if are we um and just get the discussion this evening about the grants. Um I would like to I would absolutely like to maybe look at a couple tweaks as council member mentioned. I think for instance um we maybe look at the frequent maybe we should discuss frequency. if they've gotten it five years in a row, maybe I don't know. Maybe we cap it at a certain amount for every five years or something. There's there's ways to maybe share it around a little bit more possibly. So, I don't know if that is something that we need to bring back and obviously we did it in 2324. Is that a agendaized item? Is that okay? Yeah. So, if there's consensus for that,

I'll second that. We have time for that because it won't happen for right away. So, that's not a immediate not immediate. I just think before it reappears in conjunction with getting more money from waste management,

please. Any other? All right, then we're going to adjourn tonight in memory of two very special people. So, first off, we're adjourning in memory of Mary Spilman. Mary and her husband moved to Semi Valley in 1962. She was a founding member of the team to open our hospital here in Semi Valley because we didn't have one. She was a key role in establishing our police department and our neighborhood councils and she was very active at St. Rose among many other things. She was predescased by her husband Bob who I also knew very well. 65 years they were married before he passed. So uh we're journeying in memory of Mary. And then we're also adjouring in memory of John Basera. John is former council member Glenn Basera's brother. Um, John was the first grandson to his grandparents who moved here. His grandmother moved here in 1911. Grandfather moved here in 1923 and they met in Seami Valley. They married, had seven children and John was their first grandchild. So, it's a big loss for the Basera family. So, with that, we're adjourned.