The Moorpark Chamber of Commerce has a variety of committees, please contact the Chamber for further information.
View the Event Calendar for committee meeting schedule.
Our Shop Local Committee is chaired by board member Chris Barrett.
We have not had a recent meeting, but plan to start regular meetings soon. Please reach out to the Chamber Office if you want to be on our list to be included.
The Government Relations Committee would like to invite all to attend our monthly meeting to discuss the topics that concern our community on an Economic and Government level. Representatives from local official’s offices will be in attendance to update us on actions that concern the business community of Moorpark.
Please see our calendar for our meeting schedule.
Updates from Our April 3, 2024 Meeting
FEDERAL
Congress Member Julia Brownley’s Office: Armondo Gonzales – Absent from Meeting
The following information was sent out from Congresswoman Brownley’s office within the last few weeks.
March 6th Press Release
Brownley Secures $10.3 Million for Community Projects in the Fiscal Year 2024 Spending Package
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) announced the inclusion of 13 community projects totaling more than $10.3 million that she secured in the Fiscal Year 2024 funding bills for the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. This legislation will ensure the federal government remains open, and it also includes targeted investments that address the climate crisis, strengthen critical infrastructure, provide essential resources to our local law enforcement agencies, and create good-paying jobs.
“Today, House Democrats fought hard to pass long-overdue bipartisan government spending bills that continue to invest in America,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “The investments delivered today will provide critical funding for important community projects throughout Ventura County and the Conejo Valley.
“From a state-of-the-art telecommunications network for local law enforcement to municipal water and sewer pipeline replacements to building a new public library to implementing a bikeway connector to improvements to our transportation system, these community projects will not only meet the unique needs of our region, but they will also bolster our local economic growth and create good-paying jobs.
“I am proud of the work that has been done so far to move this diverse slate of community projects forward. As these bills continue through the appropriations process and closer to the President’s desk, I look forward to the swift delivery of these resources to communities throughout Ventura County and the Conejo Valley and their immediate impact on our region as a whole.”
The FY2024 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies funding bill includes:
- $963,000 for the Ventura County Regional Public Safety Radio Project
- $963,000 for the City of San Buenaventura (Ventura) Public Safety Communications System Upgrade Project
- $67,000 for the City of Simi Valley 911 Live Implementation Project
The FY2024 Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies funding bill includes:
- $500,000 for the Santa Clara River Levee System (SCR-1) Rehabilitation in Santa Paula
Congress Member Julia Brownley’s Office continued:
The FY2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies funding bill includes:
- $959,752 for the City of Oxnard for Water Pipeline Replacement Project
- $959,752 for the City of Santa Paula for Mesa Tanks Replacement Project
- $959,752 for the City of Thousand Oaks for Stormwater Capture and Diversion Project
The FY2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies funding bill includes:
- $1,616,279 for the City of Agoura Hills Bikeway Master Plan Implementation
- $850,000 for the City of Camarillo Bridge Replacement at Las Posas Road and Ventura Blvd.
- $850,000 for the Port of Hueneme Zero Emission Street Sweeper
- $850,000 for the City of Moorpark Library
- $500,000 for the City of Oxnard Santa Clara River Levee 3 Project
- $268,283 for the City of Simi Valley Barnard Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project
Congresswoman Julia Brownley will host four press events across California’s 26th Congressional District to present $6.4 million in community project funding to the County of Ventura, City of Oxnard, City of Agoura Hills, and the City of Simi Valley. Each of these projects makes vital investments in critical infrastructure across the region to better our communities and best serve our residents. Specifically, Brownley secured funding for the upgrade of the county-wide communication system for law enforcement, public safety personnel, and first responders; the replacement of aging pipelines to ensure reliable access to clean water; the development of a cleaner and disaster-resilient energy system; and the widening and rehabilitation improvements to local road and bridge infrastructure.
STATE
Senator Henry Stern’s Office: Absent
California Highway Patrol: Lieutenant, Jeremy Key/Absent
Assembly Member Jaqui Irwin’s Office: Joel Price
Mr. Price reported on the following bills that have been introduced by Assemblywoman Jaqui Irwin.
AB 1779
Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin has once again introduced legislation that would re-enact a lapsed jurisdictional statute (Penal Code 786.5) allowing county prosecutors to charge related incidents of Organized Retail Theft (ORT) in a single county superior court. AB 1779 would restore prosecutorial discretion and allow a county prosecutor to file charges in a single county for offenses committed in another, or multiple other county jurisdictions.
Previous efforts to re-enact Penal Code 786.5 in 2022 (AB 1613) were watered down by the Assembly Public Safety Committee who amended the initial language of the bill, removing county prosecutors as the prosecutorial agency replacing it with the Attorney General.
This bill is expected to pass through the Public Safety Committee at it’s April 9th hearing.
Assembly Member Jaqui Irwin’s Office continued:
AB1999 repeal of AB205
AB 1999 seeks to repeal portions of AB 205, a budget trailer bill that was passed a couple of years ago. The bill had cleared the Assembly and was sent to the Senate where some reportedly minor amendments were made before returning to the Assembly for concurrence. It was later found that language was added that would authorize the CPUC to institute an income-graduated fix charge fee upon ratepayers of the three investor-owned utilities (IUO’s).
This fee would not only be extremely difficult to implement but also unmanageable given the fact that every ratepayer’s income would have to verified annually. There are some privacy concerns with this as well.
AB 1999 that would repeal this ill-conceived fee and allow the legislature to take a deep dive into the issue. If allowed to be implemented this would likely result in less conservation and would negatively impact middle- and lower-income Californians.
Another bill, AB 2635, deals with Agritourism, and was the direct result of a conversation with a Moorpark business owner, Craig Underwood. The bill seeks to limit premise liability for agricultural and farming activities on farms hosting agritourism activities for the public. Think about a ski resort where people are required to adhere to posted signage. This would implement similar language describing the inherent risks involved in the activities. Because the attorney’s lobby is extremely vocal, it is expected that this bill will face significant opposition as it works it’s way through the legislative process. Stay tuned!
AB2854 – tax reform bill. Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law Bill. This has to do with sales tax distributions and the issues faced by cities who have seen significant reductions in sales tax revenues due to agreements made between cities and certain large scale businesses. One local example would be Cemex in Simi Valley where the city has seen significant reductions in revenues because of such an agreement. Other examples involve Amazon warehouses that are set up as the point of sale resulting in losses of sales tax to the cities where the actual purchaser of the items reside and the items are delivered. This bill would require a more transparent process where cities entering into such agreements would have to disclose such arrangements
VENTURA COUNTY
Supervisor Janice Parvin’s Office Mike Kort
Mr. Kort reported on the following:
Representative Brownley will be presenting a check tomorrow to Ventura County First Responders for a new communication system.
There will be a Town Hall Zoom call tomorrow at 5:30pm PST regarding the Cancelation of Fire Insurance issues hosted by Assemblywoman Irwin. Cancelations from Insurance Companies have been sent out and many will go into effect July 1st. Not much choice is left for homeowners other than the California Fair plan.
Supervisor Parvin has sent a letter to AT& T. AT&T is trying to eliminate land lines a large part of her district which includes Bell Canyon. During the Woolsey fire, landlines were the only way to communicate.
Supervisor Parvin is working with a non-profit called Operation WARM. This involved getting shoes to low-income children in Moorpark and Simi Valley. The schools will be receiving 800 pairs for shoes, TK-3rd grade. Moorpark Morning Rotary will help distribute them.
On April 30th there will be a meeting to help educate the public on bringing a Family Justice Center Community to the East County. Mr. Kort will send the Chamber information on this to distribute to Chamber Members.
Ventura County Council of Governments: Hugh Riley
Please see the report attached at the end of the minutes.
CITY OF MOORPARK
Mayor: Chris Enegren/absent
Assistant to the City Manager: Brian Chong
Mr. Chong reported on the following:
Congress Woman Brownley’s office was able to secure $850,000 for the City of Moorpark’s new Library from the recently passed Federal Budget.
Congresswoman Brownley is trying to get money to every jurisdiction in her district.
The Metropolitan Water District (MWD), which brings water to Southern California from the Colorado River via the California Aqueduct, is currently going through their biennial rate-setting process. Here in Moorpark, the water utility is operated by Ventura County Waterworks District No. 1, which buys most of its water from the Calleguas Municipal Water District, which in turn buys most of its water from MWD. Thus, any MWD rate increases are eventually passed on to Moorpark residents and businesses – really, anyone who consumes water.
Metropolitan is proposing very large water rate increases, as much as 29% over the next two years and 61% over the next five years. Across the region and state, the water business is changing as water usage decreases from its peak levels in the early 2010s and modern conservation efforts take hold. Less water being consumed means less revenue for water purveyors, yet the fixed costs of bringing water (pipe replacement, treatment plant equipment, etc.) remain the same. Only certain other operating costs are reduced when sales are reduced (pumping costs, chemicals, etc.). In an environment where fixed costs stay the same and water sales are decreasing, the cost per unit of water necessarily goes up. These market forces will be the predominant driver of rates for the foreseeable future.
Last month, Calleguas, Ventura County, and numerous other water purveyors balked at the massive rate increases and demanded that MWD identify other alternatives. MWD’s response was to point out that Calleguas and its allies identified a problem but didn’t propose a solution. Now, Calleguas and its partners are pushing on a particular way to decrease the rate increases that would affect their customers, including those in Moorpark:
DISTRIBUTE FIXED TREATMENT COSTS ACROSS ALL MWD CUSTOMERS: Purveyors can buy either untreated or treated water from MWD. Treated water is, of course, more expensive because there are costs for MWD to treat it. Calleguas buys only treated water from MWD. MWD notes that the costs for them to treat water are 85% fixed costs and 15% operational costs. Rather than assigning all of those fixed costs to just the treated water customers, Calleguas wants MWD to distribute a portion (or all) of those fixed costs across the full MWD customer base, thereby increasing the untreated water costs and decreasing the treated water costs.
This solution would effectively increase MWD’s pricing for untreated water in order to decrease MWD’s pricing for treated water (which is what Calleguas buys). This is an uphill battle politically, as water purveyors who buy untreated water (including LA’s DWP and the San Diego County Water Authority, who comprise roughly 40% of the MWD voting power) would be opposed to such an action. Nevertheless, local water purveyors are making the effort.
Mr. Chong noted that even if Calleguas lobbying efforts succeed, water rates will still rise dramatically because of the underlying market forces. Current estimates for the “best-case” scenario anticipate increases of 17% over two years and 45% over five years. That’s much less bad than 29% and 61%, but still rather shocking. Bottom line, expect water rates to rise dramatically in coming years despite local water purveyor advocacy.
Assistant to the City Manager’s Report Continued:
The following is the active California Legislature that the City of Moorpark is currently following:
- Organized Retail theft bill – AB1779
- Fentanyl & Opioids – update to city council tonight on the 2024 legislative platform which will include this.
Economic Development Manager: John Bandek
Mr. Bandek reported on the following:
- Doug Spondello was named Moorpark’s new Community Development Director taking Carlene Saxon’s place.
- The Moorpark State of the City event is scheduled for May 13, 2024
Police Department of Moorpark Capt. Darin Hendren
Captain Hendren reported on the following:
They received a grant to have a Sargent and three additional investigators in place. They are partnering with Oxnard, Port Hueneme, and Simi to work tougher on this task force. They are also working with CHP and their task forces to track these individuals and work to get them into custody. Unfortunately, are not a lot of penalties once they are taken into custody so there is no incentive for them to stop stealing.
Tomorrow Sheriffs Foundation state of law enforcement – Breakfast with Sherrif Fryhoff in Camarillo.
There has been a lot of personnel movement in his office with retirements. They hired a new Traffic Sergent.
They will be shorthanded this Summer due to two new units coming onboard but they are continuing recruiting efforts.
The Sherriff’s Department got approval for 30 extra help positions (cash paid positions for retirees) that will not affect their retirement benefits.
April13th, PD and CHP Open House organized by Supervisor Parvin’s Office.
CSU CHANNEL ISLANDS
Executive Director, Community & Government Relations: Celina Zacarias/absent
Press Release from CSUCI:
CSUCI annual State of the University address will review enrollment, new construction, the Santa Barbara Zoo partnership, and more
Camarillo, California (April 4, 2024) – Plans for a new conservation center at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) – to be built in partnership with the Santa Barbara Zoo — are progressing quickly with the conceptual design already complete.
Construction progress also continues for Gateway Hall, along with several other new initiatives, programs, and partnerships that CSUCI President Richard Yao will review on Friday, April 19 during the annual State of the University address, sponsored by the West Ventura County Business Alliance (WVCBA).
The public is invited to attend this address, which is part of the WVCBA’s CSUCI Connection Breakfast. It will be held from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at CSUCI’s Grand Salon. Tickets are $45 for WVCBA members and $50 for non-members and may be purchased online.
“This is my third year as president of CSU Channel Islands, and we’ve had challenges, to be sure. We’ve also had tremendous growth in cooperation with the surrounding community and our valuable business partners,” Yao said. “The State of the University event provides opportunity for us to share what our community partners have enabled us to accomplish on campus, not only with our academic and scholarship programs, but with the brick-and-mortar construction to give us the physical capacity to keep growing. The dedication, support, and level of collaboration we enjoy with the communities we serve has been extraordinary.”
The breakfast will begin with Yao’s presentation covering updates on current and future enrollment plans, programs with community partners, and more. Awards will also be part of the presentation, with the Parker Hannifin Corporation named Business Partner of the Year, Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) named Non-Profit Partner of the Year, and CSUCI Professor of Biology Ruben Alarcón named Faculty Partner of the Year.
Other community sponsors in partnership with WVCBA for the event are Premier America Credit Union, Harrison Industries, Southern California Edison, Dignity Health, and UCLA Health.
Additionally, an update on the CSUCI conservation center from Professor of Anthropology and Executive Director of Regional Education Partnerships Jennifer Perry, and President and CEO of the Santa Barbara Zoo Rich Block, will also be provided.
The conservation center will be the first of its kind in the nation as a Zoo-accredited and managed facility at a public university. Designed to be welcoming to animals, students, and community members alike, it will be located behind Modoc Hall near the main entrance to campus.
The Zoo works with many government agencies to save threatened species. One urgent need is a place to house snowy plover eggs, which have been abandoned on California’s beaches north of Pismo because of human activity.
“The Zoo will take those eggs and incubate them and hatch the little birds,” Perry said. “The Zoo in Santa Barbara is completely out of room and having to turn these eggs away, which is part of the urgent need for CSUCI’s conservation center.”
The red-legged frog is another endangered animal significant to the region, appearing in Chumash rock art and still honored in the artistic and ceremonial traditions of the Chumash people.
Next Meeting May 1, 2024 @12:00 noon – High Street Arts Center Board Room
Ambassadors help with Chamber events and get extra exposure for their business. This Committee is lead by board member Eric Arnaud. To learn more or to become an ambassador please call the office. Click Here to see current ambassadors.
Please see our calendar for our meeting schedule.
We have not had a recent meeting, but plan to start regular meetings soon. Please reach out to the Chamber Office if you want to be on our list to be included.