Oxnard—During its Tuesday, Jan. 7, meeting, the City Council will contemplate abandoning its current Committee System.
NEWLY Elected Council Member Aaron Starr proposed eliminating the Committee structure During its Tuesday, Dec. 11, meeting.
City Manager Alex Nguyen spearheaded the Committee system in Oct. 2018, initially, and it has been functional since 2019.
“A long time ago, the City Council had been a five-member body; all five members and the Mayor were elected at large,” he said. “Six years ago, the City Council transitioned from its five-member at-large system to seven members with six districts, each with a Council Member and an at-large elected Mayor.”
He said the change allowed Council Members more time to deliberate issues with additional discussion during each meeting.
“More deliberation makes perfect sense, especially for the more complicated issues,” Nguyen said. “This meant longer meetings into late Tuesday nights.”
With late Tuesday meetings, he said certain items were rushed, which he mostly doesn’t like.
Rushing items and delaying them adds to inefficiency and tardiness, which adds up to bad Government,” he said. “People get tired during late-night meetings.
“People get agitated, annoyed, and angry during late meetings and fight,” he said. “Committees make us efficient,…
