Tri County Sentry

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TRICOUNTY COUNTY TRI

ENTRY ENTRY VOL. XXVI NO. 29

MAY 4, 2018

Health Care Is New Front for Transgender Rights Under Trump n See page 6

Experts: State Ruling to Give More Workers Benefits By Sudhin Thanawala

Oxnard incumbents coast to victory By Chris Frost, Special to the Tri County Sentry The City of Oxnard's May 1, Special Election was a significant victory for city council incumbents, Mayor Tim Flynn, Councilman Bert Perello, Mayor Pro Tem Carmen Ramirez and Councilman Oscar Madrigal, as all four coasted to convincing victories.

M

AYO R A L Candidate Aaron Starr collected the signatures to prompt the election after four members voted to raise

wastewater rates through 2022. The website Ballotpedia reported on its website that Starr was the driving force behind Measure M, which repealed the rate increase.

Councilman Bryan MacDonald was not subject to the recall, because he voted against raising the rates. With 100 percent of the ballots counted, the unofficial results had the recall effort against

Flynn failing 5325 to 4475. The recall effort against Ramirez failed 5662 to 4,038. Councilman Bert Perello's recall effort failed 5769 to 3936, and Oscar Madrigal's recall failed 5565 to 4048.

Council Reviews the Budget First of two parts

By Chris Frost Special to the Tri County Sentry The Oxnard City Council took a look at it budget for the upcoming fiscal year and revealed opportunities for additional revenue and challenges ahead. Interim City Manager Scott Whitney said the item was not originally scheduled for the council meeting. “This is part of our budget process,” he said. “We’re doing these presentations throughout the months of April and May.” He said they’ll be done through the neighborhood council meetings and each one is a little bit different. “We learn from them based on feedback, he said. “We’re not throwing two days of information at you and then asking you to vote on a budget.” He said the goal of the presentation is presenting

Oxnard Interim City Manager Scott Whitney information on the challenges and opportunities in the city, create a common understanding of Oxnard’s financial condition, explain the gaps

in services and capital assets and receive feedback. “I don’t have anything to sell, I just want to share with our community from a lot of different perspectives,” he said. Whitney said he planned to raise flags over he next few years, particularly over the pension costs. He said Oxnard is at the low end of per capita income. “They are listed at $19,450,” he said. “I hear this often I’m fiscally conservative and I’m always looking for efficiencies.” Whitney said people tell him to be more efficient with the money the city gets and that will solve the problem. “If you have a family of four in Thousand Oaks, you have a household income of $180,000, I guarantee you that I can find efficiencies to squeeze out from a family that’s making $180,000,” he said. “It’s harder when you have

a family of four and you’re over here in Oxnard and you have a family income of less than $80,000, it’s harder to squeeze out those efficiencies.” Financials He said the current budget for the city is $414 million. “That’s what the council adopted,” Whitney said. “That’s the entire city as a whole.” He said most of the discussion surrounds the general fund, which pays for police, fire and parks. “Then we have three utilities, he said. “You talk about a full-service city, generally we’re talking about the utilities, water, wastewater, environmental services or trash and recycling.” He said the utilities have to stand om their own and you can’t comingle funds. “You can’t use general fund n Budget, see page 7

SAN FRANCISCO—In a big win for labor advocates, the California Supreme Court on Monday limited businesses from classifying workers as independent contractors who can't receive key employment protections. Experts expect the ruling to expand the number of workers eligible for minimum wage, rest breaks and other benefits under a state wage standard. The court unanimously adopted a broad definition for those who qualify as employees in a lawsuit that drivers brought against package delivery company Dynamex Operations West Inc. Attorneys involved in the case said the ruling will affect other workers listed as independent contractors in the so-called sharing economy, including drivers in ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. An attorney for Dynamex, Robert Hulteng, declined to comment. Michael Rubin, who represented labor unions that argued on behalf of Dynamex drivers, said the court adopted “the most worker protective standard available.” Massachusetts and New Jersey have similar standards, he said. “It makes it far more likely than before that in California, the Ubers and Lyfts will have to begin treating the workers as employees,” Rubin said. But he cautioned that cases would have to be decided on an individual basis. To list workers as independent contractors, businesses have to show they don't control and direct the work, that the duties fall outside what the company normally does and the worker is “customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business,” the California Supreme Court said. That independent trade also must encompass the same type of work performed for the business. The previous standard to determine whether workers were employees or independent contractors focused primarily on whether the business controlled how the work was performed. As an example, the court said a plumber hired by a retail store to repair a bathroom leak is not performing work that is part of the store's usual business. But when a bakery hires cake decorators, “the workers are part of the hiring entity's usual business operation and the hiring business can reasonably be viewed as having suffered or permitted the workers to provide services as employees,” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote.

‘Black Panther’ Actor Boseman to Deliver Keynote Speech at 150th Howard University Graduation By Lauren Victoria Burke Howard University alumnus Chadwick Boseman, 40, will give the keynote address at the school’s 150th commencement ceremony on May 12. The star of the movie “Black Panther” will also be presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. “I’m excited to return to the Mecca in celebration of the achievements of our illustrious s t u d e n t s ,” Boseman said

in a statement announcing the keynote address. “Let’s listen, learn and build with one another.” The movie “Black Panther” has become a worldwide phenomenon. It has now grossed more money than the hit movie “Titanic.” “Black Panther” has now grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide and is the highest-grossing film of 2018. The movie is also now the third-highest-grossing film ever in the United States and the10th-highest-grossing film of all time. Boseman graduated from Howard University and

His words as one who has walked the same halls as our graduates will truly resonate and inspire them to reach for the stars attended the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford. Boseman can currently be seen starring as T'Challa/

Black Panther in Marvel Studios' "Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” He made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the African superhero in Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Civil War,” in May 2016. Boseman's breakout performance came in 2013 when he received rave reviews for his portrayal of the legendary Jackie Robinson in Warner Bros’ “42” opposite Harrison Ford. He also portrayed James Brown in Universal Pictures’ “Get on Up.” n Boseman, see page 2


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