Oxnard committee reviews whistleblower hotline; majority of recent tips tied to housing authority

The Oxnard City Finance & Governance Committee on July 22 received an update on the city's whistleblower hotline, which staff said logged 11 contacts in the six-month reporting period and included multiple submissions about the Housing Authority.

The report, presented by Eric Sonstegard, Assistant Senior Manager in the City Manager's Department, noted a discrepancy between the written staff report and the table included with the packet: the narrative referenced 11 reports while the table listed 10. Sonstegard told the committee the missing item "was not really a submission. It was somebody using the portal to get a staff member to call them about something." He added that about half of the submissions "had to do with the housing authority. So 6 of our 11 reports had to do with the housing authority."

The update described a range of contacts received through the hotline. Some entries were code-compliance or customer-service issues that staff routed to the appropriate department; one item Sonstegard called a "very racist and bigoted rant" did not prompt follow-up. Sonstegard and committee members discussed how submissions are categorized in the portal's drop-down menu and noted the categories are sometimes imperfect. Committee Member Starr asked for clarification about entries listed under fraud and said he found it "odd that somebody would talk to us about fraud that had nothing to do with the city." Sonstegard and other staff explained that the internal auditor and department leads screen and forward items that do not involve government misconduct.

Committee discussion covered outreach and use of the hotline. Sonstegard said the hotline is promoted on the city website, included in new-employee onboarding and HR communications, and visible in employee break rooms. He said he is not aware of a formal employee survey measuring staff comfort with the hotline and suggested adding such a question to any future internal surveys. The presenters told the committee that when complaints concern outside jurisdictions, they are forwarded to the relevant agency, and that housing-related tips are referred to the Housing Department's investigative staff for follow-up.

Committee members did not record extended public comment on the item. After discussion, a committee member said the appropriate action was to "receive" the report; the transcript does not show a formal roll-call vote on the whistleblower item.

The meeting also approved the minutes of the June 24 and July 8, 2025 Finance & Governance Committee meetings by a recorded vote of 3-0.

The committee adjourned after briefly asking for items for future agendas.