Mayor Tim Flynn’s official candidate statement for the November 2018 election begins with a wonderful platitude:
“Several years ago, I promised the residents of Oxnard honest, competent and transparent government at City Hall. I also asked you to Believe in Oxnard.”
Is he keeping that promise? Judge for yourself!
Consider just this recent example:
The City hired a consulting firm to audit and report back on the landscape maintenance districts (LMDs). These districts charge property owners millions of dollars for extra services … services many residents say they weren’t actually receiving. Some citizens investigating what happened with their own landscape maintenance districts report that large amounts of money are missing.
Recently the Ventura County Star ran a story … and it appears that the audit report’s findings may not exactly relay good news. And it seems likely that Oxnard City Hall was not particularly competent … or even honest when it comes to spending millions of your tax dollars on behalf of your neighborhoods.
But instead of being transparent, the actual contents of that report are hidden from the public.
Members of the public and neighborhood council leaders have demanded that the council release the report, but it has only been shared with the Mayor and City Council … behind closed doors, where 3 of the 5 council members voted to keep the report secret.
Oxnard’s residents deserve management that respects its fiduciary duties when they are managing our money. We deserve leadership that believes enough in Oxnard (and you) to speak the truth about how well the city is doing … even when it’s not flattering.
You paid for that report. You deserve to know what is in it, and what happened to your money.