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Oceanside adopts five‑year age‑friendly action plan and directs staff to restart senior commission
Summary
The council unanimously approved a community‑driven five‑year Age‑Friendly Action Plan after staff outlined outreach and priorities; council also directed staff to return with a proposal to reestablish a senior commission to monitor implementation.
The Oceanside City Council unanimously approved the ARP Age‑Friendly Network five‑year action plan on March 25, 2026, endorsing a community‑driven set of immediate and longer‑range actions to help older adults and people with disabilities age in place.
Manuel Gonzalez, director of parks and recreation, and Michelle Matter, chief operating officer for the Center for Excellence in Aging and Longevity, presented an action plan grounded in community outreach: more than 800 survey responses, listening sessions in English and Spanish, targeted interviews and community action planning workshops.
“Age friendly planning is really about something simple but powerful: creating communities where people can live safely, stay connected, and maintain their independence as they age,” Matter told the council.
The plan prioritizes seven domains (housing, transportation, outdoor spaces and buildings, health and community services, community engagement and social connection, disaster preparedness, and communications/digital access) and emphasizes immediate, low‑cost measures such as information campaigns, transit‑use workshops, and neighborhood walking groups.
Public commenters strongly supported adoption and pressed for specific follow‑ups. Multiple speakers, including long‑time residents and volunteers, urged the council to reestablish a senior commission to provide community oversight. Councilmembers seconded that direction: Deputy Mayor Joyce moved approval of the plan and added direction for staff to bring back a proposal to reconstitute a senior commission whose charge would be to monitor, promote and update the action plan.
Why it matters: the plan formalizes priorities and a near‑term implementation path for issues residents identified as barriers to aging in place—affordability, transportation access, safety in public spaces, social isolation and disaster preparedness. Staff said most near‑term actions can be absorbed in departmental operating budgets, while some items will require future budget requests.
What happens next: staff will implement immediate actions, provide annual updates on progress, and return with a work plan and bylaws for a senior commission per council direction.
Provenance: Topic introduced SEG 762; public comment and council action concluded SEG 2790.
