​Chamber Takes OPPOSE Position on Five Local Measures

A Message From Our CEO Nancy Lindholm

The Oxnard Chamber's Board of Directors and Political Action Committee have both voted to oppose five local measures currently being circulated for signature gathering in our community. The Board believes each and every measure will have a negative impact on city operations, should voters pass them.

Here are summaries and excerpts from the proposed initiatives. This is not the exact language of each initiative.

Term Limits for the Mayor and Councilmembers; Extension of the Mayor's Term
This initiative would impose term limits on the Mayor and members of the City Council. The proposed initiative states that once a person has served as the Mayor and/or as a member of the City Council for two consecutive terms or a combination of full and partial terms totaling seven consecutive years, that person could not be elected or appointed to be the Mayor or a member of the City Council. That prohibition would remain in effect for two consecutive years before becoming eligible again. This initiative would also change the length of time of the Mayor's term from two years to four years starting on November 8, 2022.

Early Termination of Measure O Sales Tax; Extension of Measure O Sales Tax
This initiative ties the condition of the city's streets and alleys to the Measure O Sales tax. It uses the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) to measure pavement. The proposal states:

• PCI of at least 65 on or before September 30, 2022 or Measure O would expire on March 31, 2023
• PCI of at least 70 on or before September 30, 2024 or Measure O would expire on March 31, 2025
• PCI of at least 75 on or before September 20, 2026 or Measure O would expire on March 31, 2027
• PCI of at least 80 on or before September 30, 2028 or Measure O would expire on March 31, 2029

Measure O is currently set to expire March 31, 2029. Under this initiative, the City Council would have the ability to extend the termination date of Measure O starting on April 1, 2028 for an additional five-year period if an outside civil engineer consultant finds that the PCI for the city-owned streets and alleys was at least 80.

Expansion of Duties of Elected City Treasurer By Appointing the City Treasurer as Director of Finance and Giving the City Treasurer Additional Duties
City regulations currently provide for a Director of Finance to be responsible for city financial reporting, fiscal and accounting duties, budget management, grants, and risk management. The elected City Treasurer performs statutory duties assigned under state law and duties assigned by the City Manager. Under this proposed initiative, the City Treasurer's existing duties would continue and be expanded to include:

• Designated as Director of Finance and would assume all statutory duties of the Director of Finance.
• Supervise Finance Department employees and have authority over the Finance Department.
• Design, implement and oversee an internal control system to safeguard assets, ensure financial statement reliability, promote operational efficiency and encourage compliance with applicable laws and City Council directives. Although the City Council could establish additional financial controls, the initiative prohibits imposition of such controls if they would undermine the authority of the City Treasurer (acting in the role of Finance Director).
• Select and oversee an internal auditor who would not be a city employee. The internal auditor would conduct internal control reviews, compliance audits and performance audits.
• Implement a program that would include monthly reports published online of city expenditures, including supporting invoices, purchase orders, submitted bids and solicitations for bids.
• Submit monthly financial reports itemizing: monthly and fiscal year-to-date revenues and expenses with comparisons to budgets and historical amounts for specific funds; estimated changes in fund balances for specific funds; and cash receipts and disbursements in excess of $10,000.
• Establish performance measurements for each city department, with separate performance measurements based on cost, quality and timelessness. Reports on measurements would be prepared monthly and submitted to the City Clerk, with copies to the City Council.
• Submit a proposed operations and capital budget to the City Council for the next fiscal year. The City Manager is currently responsible for submitting annual budgets to the City Council.

The proposed initiative also requires the City Manager and the City Attorney to cooperate with and be responsive to requests for administrative services and information made by the City Treasurer. City Treasurer's reports to the City Council are to indicate if the City Manager and the City Attorney have hindered or supported the City Treasurer's fulfillment of the Treasurer's responsibilities under state law and the Oxnard City Code (as amended by the initiative).

New Requirements Regarding the Way in Which City Council Meetings, Council Committees and Other City Legislative Bodies Are Run
City meetings are subject to the Brown Act. This initiative would impose specific new local regulations regarding the way in which the meetings of the city legislative bodies are run.

• Roberts Rules of Order – This initiative would require that the latest version of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised govern subject to certain exceptions the way the city's legislative bodies (including City Council and Council Committees) are run. In addition, the city would be required to use the services of a Professional Registered Parliamentarian.
• Allowed Start Time for Meetings – This initiative would require with certain exceptions that meetings of the city's legislative bodies could not start before 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. on weekends.
• Pre-Taping of Staff Presentations – The proposed initiative would require that staff presentations for City legislative bodies must be videotaped in advance. Such videotape must be available for viewing at City Hall at the time of posting of the agenda for the meeting.
• Public Comments – This initiative adds the requirement that each person shall have no less than three minutes to comment on an agenda item at a meeting. This requirement will apply even if the matter has been considered at a prior committee composed exclusively of members of the City Council. In addition, the city will be required to make reasonable accommodations to allow for presenters to present video, PowerPoints and similar presentations during public comments.

Expedited Processing of Certain City-Issued Development Permits
This initiative would add a new chapter to the Oxnard City Code that would set up a streamlined permit review and approval process for certain projects that meet specific criteria. The initiative calls for the city to develop a training program for specified licensed professionals (architects and civil engineers) in order to file project plans with the city.

• Under this initiative, City Building Officials would need to notify applicants (including the trained professionals) of any project plans corrections within one day of accepting the project application. Any projects rejected would also require notification within one day.
• If it is determined that all the requirements on a project have been met, the Building Official is to issue a permit for the project.
• The proposed initiative includes procedures for auditing plans that have been submitted into the program. If issues are discovered, then the professional who has been trained in the program can be issued a warning and eventually suspended from the program or permanently removed.

The five ballot initiatives were drafted and brought forth by Aaron Starr, an unsuccessful candidate for city council and mayor. Mr. Starr was also the proponent of the attempted recall of the mayor and city council members that triggered a special election for Oxnard voters in 2018.
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The Chamber will continue to follow the progress of these measures as they are filed with voter signatures, the signatures are verified, and (if applicable) which ballot they will appear on.

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