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Oxnard staff recommends ordinance to reduce Library Board to five members after state opinion
Summary
Library Manager Kathleen Ashmore told the Oxnard City Council staff recommends first reading of an ordinance to amend the Oxnard City Code to return the Library Board to a five‑member body, citing the California Education Code and a February 2025 Attorney General opinion.
Kathleen Ashmore, Library Manager for the Oxnard Public Library, recommended that the Oxnard City Council approve the first reading by title only and waive further readings of an ordinance to amend the Oxnard City Code so the Oxnard Library Board is a five‑member board.
Ashmore said the recommendation follows an opinion from the California Attorney General and a review of the California Education Code. "The Attorney General opinion was received in February of 2025 stating that the Library Board must remain a five‑member body consistent with the guidelines outlined in the CEC," she said.
The matter matters because the California Education Code requires municipal libraries to be managed by a board of trustees consisting of five members serving three‑year staggered terms. Ashmore told the council that the Library Board was originally established on Dec. 20, 1906, was updated in 1998 to an advisory board to the council, and was changed in 2019 to a seven‑member board to align with council districts. "While this shift was consistent with the spirit of the CEC, the current structure does not stay entirely consistent with the guidelines of the CEC," she said.
Ashmore summarized the ordinance language staff is proposing and the operational details that would follow if the council moves forward: appointments would be made by the mayor with City Council approval; members would serve three‑year staggered terms; meetings would be monthly and comply with the Brown Act; an annual report would be provided to the legislative body by Aug. 31 each year; tentative meetings would be the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30 p.m. at the main library; and recruitment for vacancies would be coordinated with the mayor to bring nominations to the council.
Ashmore said the recommendation is intended to ensure compliance with state law pending the Attorney General's guidance received in Feb. 2025. She concluded the presentation and made herself available for questions. The transcript of the meeting does not record a council vote or other formal action on the proposed ordinance.
