PORT HUENEME : Officials Develop List of City Goals

More employees, better communication with constituents and a community celebration could be in Port Hueneme’s future if a wish list devised by city officials comes true.

City Council members and staff came up with priorities for the city during a weekend workshop led by a Northern California consulting group.

The list of priorities includes filling seven city positions, putting on a festival that would encourage residents to celebrate the community and starting a city newsletter.

Also on the list--to be published in a book at the end of April--are expanding the city’s redevelopment zone, improving blighted areas and working on existing projects such as a crackdown on gangs and plans for Navy land adjacent to the Port of Hueneme.

Mayor Toni Young acknowledged that the city did not know how it would fund most of the projects.

“That’s another process altogether,” she said. “We’ll submit our list to the Finance Committee members during the budget process, and they’ll tell us what is realistic and what’s way out there.”

At the retreat, the consultants also tried to bridge a gap between council members and staff. Young said the result was better rapport between the groups.

“We’ve had a tenuous situation because staff didn’t know how to react to the new council members,” she said.

“This meeting made it clear that I can call the city manager 24 hours a day if I have a question, and I should expect people to call me.”

Young said officials will hold more joint meetings in the future.