Oxnard City Council Discusses the Future in Televised Retreat : Government: Leaders ponder a new restaurant row, punishment of neglectful landlords and after-school services for teen-agers. The broadcast comes in response to complaints by the mayor.

A restaurant row spotlighting Oxnard’s popular Mexican eateries, ordinances to punish neglectful landlords and citywide after-school programs were a few of the plans discussed Tuesday during the Oxnard City Council’s third attempt to hold its annual retreat.

The session, held at the South Oxnard Center, was televised in response to complaints by Mayor Manuel Lopez that previous retreats allowed the City Council to make major decisions away from the public eye.

Only two residents attended the retreat, which included Police Chief Harold Hurtt, Fire Chief Randy Coggan and half a dozen other department heads in addition to the City Council.

Seven hours into the session, Councilmen Tom Holden and Andres Herrera engaged in a spirited but civil discussion with Lopez on the openness of Oxnard’s retreats.

“The only difference between today and other retreats is that we are on television,” Herrera said. “There isn’t anything nefarious (or) devious about this process, and there never has been.”

But Oxnard leaders, assisted by retreat expert David G. Jones, spent the majority of the session doing what they had first attempted to do in March: Talking about the issues affecting Oxnard and crafting strategies to deal with them.

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Council members and city staff divided themselves into subgroups on topics such as downtown revitalization and public safety, taking notes and tossing around ideas in an informal, freewheeling chat.

Because the television crew could only air one discussion at a time, the on-air coverage routinely switched from one of the subgroups to another.

The city’s growing youth population became an early point of discussion, as recreation Supt. Karen Burnham discussed plans for a youth master plan, a “holistic approach” to providing services for young people.

“Any teen you talk to right now, the first thing he’ll tell you is, ‘There is nothing to do in Oxnard,’ ” said Councilman Bedford Pinkard, a retired city recreation official.

Under the master plan, which will be discussed by the council next month, city officials would study what private organizations are doing to benefit youth in Oxnard and poll young people on what they need.

The city would then establish a comprehensive system in which it would provide some services and connect youths with programs provided by other organizations.

Neighborhoods would have satellite youth centers, located at the nearest school. And Oxnard would build a massive central facility, possibly including a gymnasium and swimming pool.

The resuscitation of the downtown was another retreat subject, as council members discussed ways to erase the perception that the area is an unsafe ghost town flooded only with homeless people.

Holden said that one of Oxnard’s claims to fame is its reputation as a mecca for Mexican food, and he proposed moving some of the city’s top Mexican eateries to A Street, the heart of the once-booming downtown district.

Community Development Director Richard Maggio, who is in charge of the downtown face lift, said he has had discussions with two developers about building movie theater complexes in the area. One of the builders wants a parking garage and the other has said he could operate without it.

“Hopefully we’ll get both,” Maggio said.

But improving Oxnard’s rundown districts and making the city look better was the chief topic of the retreat. Council members and the city’s lawyers discussed what could be done to force landowners to fix up their property without impinging on their rights.

Hurtt said there are many out-of-town property owners who don’t care about the appearance of Oxnard, and the city needs to find them.

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City Atty. Gary Gillig said the code enforcement division is overwhelmed with complaints about rundown buildings and overcrowding, but needs stricter ordinances to take offenders to court.

“Then we can nail them,” Gillig said.

Oxnard’s retreats have been criticized by some residents, who say the sessions allow the City Council to make important policy decisions in a place citizens are not likely to attend.

The original session at the River Ridge Golf Course clubhouse was scheduled for March, but was postponed because Herrera was ill. Meanwhile, Lopez criticized the meetings, saying the “real decisions” were made after the press and public got bored and left.

At last month’s reconvened retreat, Holden and Herrera criticized Lopez for his remarks, which they said were politically motivated.

They asked for the retreat to be postponed again until it could be televised, so residents could see that “nothing nefarious” was taking place.

The price tag of the retreat rose with each cancellation. Originally expected to cost about $11,000, the total price will come in at $14,000 to $15,000, said City Clerk Daniel Martinez. The money is needed to pay for facilitator Jones and catering, he said.