The Ventura County City Selection Committee on Jan. 24 elected committee member Kildee as chair, named a vice chair, approved an amendment to the committee’s bylaws and appointed representatives to several county boards and commissions.

The actions were taken at the committee’s annual meeting, held in person and by Zoom. Committee staff said the appointments and the bylaw change will fill vacancies that affect regional governance on air quality, water, local agency formation and transportation.

Amy Martinez, chief deputy director of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and secretary to the committee, presented the bylaw amendment. “We would like to amend again and to allow us to provide notice of the meeting place annually when we receive your first notice,” Martinez said, describing the change as a way to allow staff flexibility to list a meeting location each year rather than amend the bylaws repeatedly. The committee voted unanimously to adopt the amendment.

Appointments and key votes

- Air Pollution Control Board (two regular member vacancies, no term end dates): Candidates Mikaela Perez and Pedro Travis were appointed by unanimous vote after the committee followed its established selection procedure and recorded each city’s selections.

- Association of Water Agencies (regular director and alternate director, term March 6, 2025–March 4, 2027): Pedro Chavez was elected director by a recorded city-by-city vote (7 votes to 3). David Tennyson, who was unable to attend, was appointed alternate director by a unanimous recorded vote of 10.

- Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) (regular commissioner to fill unexpired term ending Dec. 31, 2025): After an initial round of voting and then a runoff limited to the top two candidates, Bert Perillo received the required majority (6 votes) and was appointed to the regular commissioner seat.

- Remote Access Network Board (regular mayoral member, no term end date): Janette Sanchez Palacios was nominated and appointed by unanimous vote (10), the committee noted.

- Ventura County Transportation Commission (regular citizen representative, term Jan. 31, 2025–Jan. 31, 2029): Danny Anderson was appointed by a unanimous recorded vote of 10.

Elections of officers

As the meeting opened, the committee elected committee member Kildee as this year’s chair and chose a vice chair by unanimous voice vote. The committee then turned routine administrative business over to the new chair.

Candidate remarks and public comment

Candidates for the various vacancies addressed the committee briefly in turn. Pedro Travis said he sought appointment to the Air Pollution Control Board because of the region’s diversity and local air-quality issues: “I tried to get on this committee 2 years ago. I really just kinda liked it. It's important for me, especially representing a region that is heavily diverse and we have an airport in our region,” Travis said.

Several local elected officials and candidates described personal qualifications and local issues during deliberations. Rocky Rhodes, a Simi Valley council member who sought the LAFCO seat, said the commission’s decisions affect local annexations and property commonly referred to in Simi Valley as “islands”: “we have, in our city, what we call islands... These are county properties surrounded by our city,” Rhodes said, describing why LAFCO matters to his jurisdiction.

Danny Anderson, a candidate and long-time advocate on accessibility issues, told the committee she brings the perspective of frequent transit users and people with disabilities: “I was a perm a full time public transit user, and during that time very quickly realized that there were a lot of things that could be improved for accessibility and user friendly, experiences in our public transit system for people with disabilities,” she said. A public speaker, Mike Pettit, urged the committee to consider Anderson’s lived experience, describing her as “a bright light to work with” with “contagious enthusiasm.”

Discussion versus formal action

The committee separated candidate statements and public comments from its deliberations and then conducted recorded votes as required by its adopted process. Where votes were taken city-by-city, the secretary called roll and recorded city selections; where a single-candidate appointment was presented, the committee confirmed the appointment by voice vote. The committee noted when an appointment would create a subsequent vacancy (for example, promoting an alternate to a regular LAFCO seat would open the alternate slot) and structured agenda items to allow the committee to fill open alternates immediately when possible.

Terms and next steps

Appointments that carry set terms were recorded in the meeting minutes: the Association of Water Agencies terms run March 6, 2025–March 4, 2027; the Ventura County Transportation Commission term runs Jan. 31, 2025–Jan. 31, 2029; the LAFCO appointment fills an unexpired term through Dec. 31, 2025. Several other seats were filled with no term-end date, per the committee’s agenda. The committee secretary said minutes and appointment paperwork will be circulated following the meeting.

The committee concluded its business and posed for a group photo before adjourning.