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Carpinteria establishes ad hoc committee to advise city response to ICE activity
Summary
The City Council adopted a resolution creating a two-member ad hoc committee to investigate and recommend actions in response to recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity; the committee will coordinate with local organizations and report back to the full council.
The Carpinteria City Council on July 28 approved a resolution creating a two-member ad hoc committee charged with investigating possible city responses to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity and recommending actions back to the full council.
City staff presented a draft scope that lists investigatory and advisory duties for the committee and states it is not a decision-making body: "the roles and responsibilities of the ad hoc committee would be to investigate the possible actions for the city's response to ICE activity and provide recommendations to the city on the best path forward," a staff member told the council. The resolution includes a list of suggested actions — such as coordinating community response, supporting proposed state and federal legislation, and exploring data-privacy protections — and allows the committee latitude to recommend other options.
The council added a clarification to the scope to emphasize outreach: the resolution now directs the committee to coordinate community response "with local organizations and community members." Councilmembers said they expect the panel to do outreach, invite testimony from local nonprofits and residents, and return recommendations to a noticed council meeting for public comment before any formal action.
The ad hoc committee is advisory only and not automatically subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act; the staff report notes ad hoc groups may be exempt from some Brown Act notice requirements but can be directed to follow those rules. The committee will terminate when it completes its responsibilities or on Jan. 21, 2029, whichever comes first.
Vice Mayor Monica Solorzano and Councilmember Julia Mayer were appointed as the two council members to serve on the ad hoc committee. The council approved the resolution by voice vote.
Public commenters who spoke during the meeting urged the city both to fund nonprofits that assist immigrants and to ensure the committee includes input from community groups. Becky Norton of the Carpinteria Immigrant Rights Coalition asked the council to "allocate more funding to support the nonprofits that provide frontline assistance to community members impacted by ICE activities," and submitted a list of additional recommended actions for the committee to consider.
