Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Art Mural topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council authorizes mural committee to refine design after residents say appointees were sidelined
Summary
After months of vetting, council authorized the mural committee to proceed with a revised design but directed staff to include the five council-appointed community subcommittee members in public outreach following concerns those appointees were excluded from later selection stages.
The Port Hueneme City Council on July 15 authorized staff and the mural committee to proceed with revisions to a proposed public mural and to conduct outreach including the five community appointees named earlier in the process. The council action follows sustained public and council concern that the residents each appointed to review artist proposals were not fully involved in later design decisions.
Tony Stewart, Community and Economic Development Director, outlined the revised design elements: move the stylized cranes to a corner and make them more realistic; replace lemon blossoms with California poppies; add Snowy Plover imagery and add a silhouetted Channel Islands watermark; wrap wave elements into the corner facing Park Avenue. Stewart said the project is funded from the joint City-Port community benefit fund and the final design will return to council on Sept. 3 for final approval.
Several council members and community panelists said they believed their appointees were intended to guide the full process and were surprised to discover their role had been limited to initial vetting. Denise Sindelar (OPAC) explained the subcommittee vetted 38 applications down to a shortlist, then the mural committee and library representatives selected three finalists. Multiple public commenters described the current concept as scattered and not sufficiently Port Hueneme–specific; they urged stronger Chumash representation and a design that tells the city's story.
Council members agreed to keep the primary elements already agreed upon while expanding outreach. The council motion authorized the mural committee to coordinate public outreach for fine-tuning the design and explicitly directed staff to include the five council-appointed subcommittee members in that outreach process. The final design will be returned to council for approval; staff said the artist has begun logistical work and installation is planned for early fall, pending final adjustments.
