Oxnard—The Finance and Governance Committee, Tuesday, October 13, chose the Direct to Council structure unanimously.
ASSISTANT City Manager Eric Sonstegard said the Staff recommends the Finance and Governance Committee discuss the Council Committee Structure, evaluate any alternative Governance models and provide direction to Staff.
In November 2018, he said, the City transitioned from a Mayor and four at-large Council members to an at-large elected Mayor and six elected Council Members. They did this to process the high amount of business volume without glossing over important items.
“The Council created standing Committees, and those Committees were created in November of 2018 and occurred during the day and into the evening hours on alternate Tuesdays,” he said. “In November of 2020, Measure M was passed, which capped the meeting start times.”
That meant no City or Governing body meeting could start before 5 p.m., so the City Council consolidated the five committees into three to accommodate Measure M.
“On April 1, 2025, the bylaws were amended for the Committee clarifying some new exceptions for the Committees,” he said.
He said the Brown Act is based on the Sunshine Ordinance, which requires the state-mandated meeting notices at least 72 hours prior to…
