Camarillo’s Sanctuary SB54 Saga

By Staff Writers

As of Wednesday, the Camarillo City Council had not yet placed an SB54 opt-out ordinance vote (or equivalent) as an agenda item — even after repeated requests made to the city prior to the Friday before. Rejecting SB54 appeared too controversial an idea for the council at that time. The real reason takes a different form, and it did come out… But not before an interesting exchange immediately following the close of open comments.

Before then, at the starting point of open comments (7:37pm), Mayor Charlotte Craven obligatory rules-setting statement, “We’re here to hear how all the people of Camarillo feel.”

Craven got more than she may have bargained for. And so it went for the other four councilmembers — plus the one unelected ‘wild card’ sitting beside them who didn’t have to ante-up Camarillo’s SB54 debate so soon (but did!).

Now before the juicy details of the council meeting can be understood, the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind SB54 cities being kept SB54 cities is important. SB54, the ‘California Values Act’ (read: Sanctuary State Bill) is controversial both locally and nationally. Warning: longer-than-desirable background on the SB54 saga follows, courtesy of Sacramento’s endless war with itself.

SB54, as written, de-facto shields all criminal illegal aliens residing in SB54 cities from ICE jurisdiction: it prevents local law enforcement from remanding such criminals to federal custody. Thus, all California cities that have not opted-out of SB54 are —by default— safe havens for criminal illegal aliens run amok. Though SB54’s harms haven’t yet changed Camarillo’s look and feel, they likely will if Camarillo’s city council refuses to reject SB54.

To wit, SB54 violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause (Art. VI, Para. 2), pitting all SB54 cities alongside the State of California against the U.S. Government. This smacks of civil war, but it is SB54’s dangerous consequences that make it so contentious and alarming to Camarillo’s largely peaceful residents. Among these are an expected major increase in the city’s (currently low) violent crime rate.

And we can know this, because this has already happened (and is happening) in SB54 cities all across the state. Camarillo has a low crime rate, a clean looking atmosphere and residents who generally wave to the police with more than one finger. Also notable is that Camarillo is a Ventura County Sheriffs Office (VCSO) contract city. SB54 will wipe out all but the last of those realities, and to shocking effect. Ironically, it will also shock the deputies there who are already pulling 12-hour shifts (Sheriff Geoff Dean, are you listening?)

Now Sheriff Dean could have opted the VCSO out of SB54, thereby releasing all VCSO contract cities from SB54’s expected (and increasing) damages. But he just couldn’t honor his oath. Dean just couldn’t be like the courageous Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who opted Orange County out of SB54 (and is now in danger of arrest by state authorities as a result).

Sheriff Geoff Dean has chosen to defy the U.S. Constitution in favor of enforcing SB54 (though he didn’t say it quite like that at a public speaking engagement at Los Robles Greens in Thousand Oaks last year). Dean is an invisible player in Camarillo’s needless SB54 saga — despite having only his own reckless abandon to lose by refusing to enforce SB54. Apparently, that is still too much to ask.

With things as they are, it falls on the Camarillo City Council to opt-out of SB54, or keep imperiling the city and its people to violent illegal aliens.

For those outside of Ventura County, California, just know that Sheriff Geoff Dean will not protect the people of Camarillo, California any better than Sheriff Scott Israel protects the people of Broward County, Florida — and for all the same reasons. All that stands between the people of Camarillo and SB54’s harms is their city council, as is the case for all other Ventura County SB54 cities.

SB54 is —and should be seen as— a failure of county law enforcement in every jurisdiction it is allowed to metastasize. Camarillo’s city limits should be, now and forever, beyond SB54’s reach.

Suffice it to say, there was a sizable, diverse showing of SB54 opponents at Wednesday’s city council meeting. Some had promised in advance to descend upon the council, and they did. And then came the ‘mic drop’ moment — At 8:27pm, Councilmember Mike Morgan, to his credit, motioned to have an SB54 opt-out placed on the next meeting’s (May 9) agenda. And Mayor Craven, undeterred, denied it. To which Councilman Morgan replied,

“I’d like to refer this to our next meeting (or whenever the city attorney feels he’s prepared), to come back and give us some options on this SB… this, this thing… uh and let you know I, I’m very much against that [SB54]. But that so is this council: we’ve already said we were. But I’d like to put it on our calendar…” (emphasis added).

Spoiler alert: for those who are wondering, Camarillo City Attorney Brian Pierik is the aforementioned, unelected ‘wild card’ in Camarillo’s dangling SB54 saga. Councilmember Morgan prompted Pierik to let slip the ace up his sleeve, and he did — all of six seconds later (during which Morgan received much applause):

“Yes, um, what I can do, um, it’ll take some research obviously: um, there are lawsuits pending on this as mentioned by many of the speakers —one by the United States Government; I know the City of Huntington Beach filed a lawsuit earlier this month— um, so, um we’ll need to do, uh, some research with respect to the requirements of SB54, and also, uh, the impact of how SB54 would affect the City of Camarillo. And, uh, we can complete that research and I’ll, um, let the council know as soon as that’s been completed, and available to be on your agenda.” (emphasis added).

Mayor Charlotte Craven gave the last word: “Okay: so stay tuned — it will be on the agenda sometime soon.” (emphasis added).

It is not known as of press time what Craven means by “sometime soon.”

Moreover, it is also not known what “research” city attorney Brian Pierik needs to do, for an SB54 opt-out ordinance (or equivalent) to be put on a future city council agenda. Nor is it known what more he needs to know, regarding “the impact of how SB54 would affect the City of Camarillo” after such specific, moving comments were presented by so many concerned citizens. This is aside from the data presented here, which should already be known to Mr. Pierik.

Whatever City Attorney Pierik’s rationale for attempting to research SB54 in lieu of letting the city council agenda-item, deliberate and vote (as though he authoritatively can)… Too much is left to imagination here, even if Pierik is well-intentioned.

This looks like an unintended fumble by the Camarillo City Council, intercepted at the last minute by their city attorney quarterback. It is time for this council to take back the ball, and run it to the end zone like it should have last November when SB54 passed!

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