New Post has been published on Citizensjournal.us
New Post has been published on http://citizensjournal.us/oxnard-council-5-12-15-spend-a-thon-consultants-and-more-consultants/
Oxnard Council 5-12-15 Spend-a-Thon- consultants and more consultants
By George Miller
On this segment (5-13-15) of the Good Morning Oxnard Show- Host Peter Godinez interviews George Miller, Publisher of CitizensJournal.us on Oxnard News, consisting of: 5-9-15 Ambassadors of Peace march and rally; major consulting money spent on Management Partners, KEH, Aecom; Oxnard seeking CA Prop 1 “Water Bond” grants; $200K for Oxnard Beach parking lot repairs;$100K+ Downtown Management district funding was appropriated.
Also, Port Hueneme resident Gordon Bohn was interviewed on City of Port Hueneme budget issues by Good Morning Oxnard Host Peter Godinez and CitizensJournal.us Publisher George Miller. This will be on a separate posting to be released soon.
The Good Morning Oxnard show is recorded most Wednesday mornings (usually available as video on demand on kadytv.net within a couple of days), offering local personalities, issues and events- Hyper-local news, in the KADYTV tradition! Past shows archived on the web site and via Citizensjournal.us.
http://kadytv.net
Video: 5-13-15 Good Morning Oxnard CitizensJournal.us news segment
Advertisement: How about a nice meal at a beautiful historic site downtown?
Show script notes:
Good Morning Oxnard- 5-13-15, KADYTV, CitizensJournal.us, CitizensJournalVC on Facebook Sponsor- Tomas Cafe
5-9-15 Ambassadors of Peace March and rally was held. This group was formed after a meeting with the Police Chief’s council with the aim of helping to reduce violence and restore peace in all of Oxnard, “neighborhood by neighborhood,” as their Facebook site says. We ran a feature on it in CitizensJournal.us which provides the details and great photos. Some ringleaders were Freda Wiggins, Rev. Greg Runyon, pastor Edgar Mohorko, Pastor of Messiah Foursquare Church, newly minted resident activist Vera Vega, Pablo Ortiz and many others.
The idea was to bring people together to promote the idea of peaceful solutions to violence in the community and offer solutions they did, including everything from headstart schools for 3 year olds to prison release re-entry programs, such as promoted by Eileen Tracy via All Saints Episcopal Chuch, right around the corner on C St. PAL, police prevention, intervention and enforcement.
Major consulting money handed out at last night’s council meeting. In addition to the $1.4 million already appropriated to Management Partners and Renne Sloan (HR/Legal), millions more were approved last night. It was presented as a fait accompli. (note: We have seen no reason to question quality or integrity of these firms.)
– A half million in additional monies to be spent by City Manager Greg Nyhoff for management consulting and legal work to address the 129 deficiencies uncovered by an audit. with no spending controls and accountability in the resolution approved. This was easily the most controversial item of the evening, but the outcome was never in doubt and there was only grousing from Councilman Bert Perello — and some of the folks who would pay for it all. Al Velesquez, who’s been on the GMO show more than once, was particularly vocal.
– Millions more will be spent on consultants KEH (for wastewater and stormwater) and Aecom Technical Services (for water) to keep essential, life supporting wastewater and water utilities running, in the wake of depleted management, deferred maintenance and extensive new capital projects needed to serve this growing city of 200-235,000, depending on who you ask. A major factor is absence of a Director, for 2 1/2 years and vacancies in 9 key management and technical positions. Grade 5 Operator job description requires both Gr 5 and BS- MacDonald questions this.
Oxnard angling for CA Prop 1 “Water Bond” grants, known as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, for water recycling.
The Treasurer’s report was postponed due to absence of the Treasurer for personal reasons. The was some Council and public discussion about the actual balance in the treasury- whether it was $98 million or $123 million and whether some of those funds could be used in lieu of the $16MM loan from Measure O and Water funds, as has been proposed.
Oxnard Beach parking lot repairs, upgrades and addition of parking collections was approved- almost $200K. Everyone just loves that park, well developed and in a spectacular beachfront dunes location. Big enough for major events and very well-utilized.
Downtown Management district funding was appropriated- over $100K annually. It was presented as a fait accompli to the Council, which may be less inclined to spend money.
5 year, $3MM contract for fuel and car washes awarded to Shell Fleet Card Services. also mentioned that city is increasingly switching to CNG and that we need infrastructure to provide rapid fueling. Councilman MaDonald, who is on the transportation board, suggested that we cut a deal with the new transportation center being built on Auto Center drive. Applies to all city depts except FD, which has a separate bulk fuel contract.
We’re giving you lots of advance notice of the Salza Festival, to be held 7/25-26 in Plaza Park. Summer Concerts start on Friday nights weekly, starting 6/19- 8-28- Heristagesquareoxnard.com/concerts.
Strawberry Festival is THIS weekend. (Not covered in video):
California Strawberry Festival in Oxnard
Event Announcement 32nd California Strawberry Festival this weekend – May 16th and 17th! The belle of all things “berrylicious,” the California Strawberry Festival this weekend May 16 & 17 in Oxnard celebrates 32 years of serving up all day fun with delicious eats, entertainment and fine arts. Featuring 50+ food booths, contests like the tart […]
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This week’s show location:
Tomas Cafe, main dining room
Show venue was Tomas Cafe. Food was good, place is roomy & squeaky clean, with an extra banquet room. Menu: viewmenu.com
622 South A Street, Oxnard, CA 93030 ph: 8054836633, fax: 8054834439 [email protected] http://tomascafe.com/
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