Ojai council reverses staff recommendation, appoints two residents to finance and budget committee

The Ojai City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint two residents, Clay Creasy and Renee Roth, to the city’s finance and budget committee, reversing staff’s recommendation that the panel be limited to city staff and council members.

Interim Finance Director Christy Billings presented staff’s recommendation at the start of the discussion: “The staff is recommend[ing] that the committee be comprised of staff and council members and no community members,” she said, citing experience in neighboring jurisdictions and concerns about committee composition.

Several public speakers and council members disagreed. Public commenters and applicants argued that citizen oversight improves transparency and brings substantive expertise to the review of city finances. Starchild, an online commenter, said he shared “my neighbor’s dismay and a little bit of outrage” at the staff recommendation and urged public participation. Other commenters, including Jeffrey Starkweather, Larry Steingold and retired finance professionals, argued for maintaining public members on financial oversight committees.

Council members debated whether one or two resident seats were appropriate and discussed setting clear expectations for committee scope and frequency of meetings. The council directed the committee to meet at least once per fiscal year for budget adoption and to determine a useful meeting frequency at its first meeting.

By roll call the council appointed Clay Creasy and Renee Roth to the finance and budget committee. The vote was unanimous.