Over the past six months, the Guadalupe City Council has discussed its intention to form a Brown Act advisory committee to oversee the Royal Theater revival project multiple times.
In September 2025, the council voted 4-1 (Councilmember Christina Hernandez dissented) to appoint a five-member board.
On Feb. 24, Councilmember Whitney Furness motioned to uphold that decision, after staff presented an alternative route to form a two-member advisory ad hoc—not subject to Brown Act rules—instead.
Furness’ motion failed without a second from any of her peers.
“The Brown Act would actually force it to not be behind closed doors, … agendized and open to the public,” Furness said about the public meetings that would take place if the council stuck to its original plan.
“I still stand firm that we need an agendized oversight committee that can come ask the questions,” she continued. “I understand it could be time-consuming to city staff, but I also think, like I said before, you could utilize the resources of those folks that are joining the committee to do some of the things that city staff does not have time for right now.”
As part of the agenda that evening, staff noted in its report that it did “not see a significant operational advantage to establishing an oversight committee.”
Interim City Administrator David Trujillo expanded on staff’s stance during the hearing.
“We’ve tried to, I guess, kind of sway council to just, … give us a chance,” Trujillo said. “We are by no means saying don’t elect an oversight committee or establish an oversight committee. It has both its pros and its cons. That’s why we let you guys make the policy and we just enforce it.”
After Furness’ motion to uphold the five-member Brown Act board failed, she motioned to move forward with an ad hoc committee that included two council members. She also volunteered to serve as one of those members.
Mayor Ariston Julian seconded the motion, which passed 3-2 (Councilmembers Hernandez and Amelia Villegas dissented).
“I’m not in favor of either at this point,” Villegas said.
Hernandez said she would have preferred if staff presented the council with quarterly updates about the Royal Theater project, rather than form an ad hoc to privately meet with staff.
“What I think is the community doesn’t trust us, so let’s create that trust. Let’s open the doors and invite them in, whether it’s quarterly or every six months,” Hernandez said. “I think everybody should have the opportunity to come ask questions.”
In response, Mayor Julian said he doesn’t believe that “the whole community says that they don’t trust us.”
“If they don’t trust us, there’s upcoming elections,” he said. “If they don’t like the way we’re operating, vote us out—some of us.”
This article appears in March 5 – March 12, 2026.