OXNARD : Council to Discuss Cruising Complaints

After nearly a monthlong postponement, the Oxnard City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday to discuss the cruising along Saviers Boulevard on Sunday nights.

The council had set Dec. 18 as the date to decide whether to tolerate the cruisers or try to eliminate the weekly practice along the stretch of road between Iris and Yucca streets.

The council, however, decided to postpone the matter after Jean Joneson, a vocal critic of cruising, disputed the conclusion that police officials reached in a report to the City Council.

The report said a survey of neighborhoods around Saviers Boulevard indicated that residents do not have a problem with the cruisers.

Joneson, who lives near Saviers Boulevard, said she has talked with several residents who complain about noise, traffic and litter generated by the cruisers.

In the report, James Willis, a management analyst for the Police Department, said efforts to eliminate the longstanding practice might prove costly and difficult.

For example, if the city passes an ordinance prohibiting drivers from passing a particular location frequently, the city would have to pay police officers to monitor the cruisers and cite violators, he said.

Also, he said, such an ordinance “may not pass Supreme Court scrutiny and may in fact be unconstitutional because it prohibits conduct that can well be consistent with innocent, non-cruising behavior,” Willis said in his report.