Ventura Mayor, Dr. Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios, speaks with Sandra Siepak about her first year in office, her priorities for the city, and her vision for the future.
Key Highlights and Initiatives
Accessibility: Mayor Sanchez-Palacios emphasizes the importance of being accessible to the community. She and the deputy mayor have held informal gatherings at local ice cream shops to hear directly from residents, address their questions, and provide updates on city matters.
Housing Affordability: Recognizing housing affordability as a major issue, the city council recently passed a first-time homebuyer assistance program to support residents in purchasing their first homes.
Water Sustainability: Since Ventura depends on local groundwater and is not connected to the state water project, the mayor highlights the “Ventura Water Pure” initiative. This innovative project aims to recycle wastewater to provide 20% to 25% of the city’s future water supply.
Arts and Culture: The city has prioritized support for arts and culture, recently increasing funding from $90,000 to $200,000 to foster inclusion and support local artists.
Youth Engagement: The mayor is dedicated to engaging younger residents, including mentoring high school and college students through informal internships to prepare the next generation for civic leadership.
Future Outlook and Civic Involvement
Looking forward, the Mayor aims to foster collaboration to create a successful downtown area and improve connectivity between different city districts through planned trails. She encourages residents to get involved by volunteering for city boards and commissions and sharing their ideas.
TV broadcast week beginning 04/26/26
Producer: George Alger
Sponsor: NONPROFIT FIRE, Google Ad Grants Community Building NonProfitFire.org
Sponsor: SKYWORKS MARKETING, Performance Advertising SkyworksMarketing.com