Property may go toward $5.25 million jury award for failure to protect victims
By Daryl Kelley
The former wife of an admitted Ojai pedophile is faced with losing her $1.2-million home near Ojai after a Ventura County jury found that not only her husband was responsible for the sexual assault of two young sisters, but that she was also negligent.
A Superior Court jury found late last month that Maxine Wiley, the third wife of former truck salesman Carl Wiley, had failed to protect the girls from being molested by her husband, who is now an inmate in state prison.
During the civil trial, attorneys presented evidence that Maxine Wiley had known of the assaults, which she denied, and that Carl Wiley had been a child molester for more than a half century.
The jury awarded $5.25 million in damages against the Wileys, although attorneys think their assets are far less than that.
“The jury found that Maxine was negligent in supervising the kids,” said attorney John Howard, who represents the two victims, now aged 21 and 10.
Carl Wiley, now 79, has admitted sexually assaulting both sisters when they were very young and visited the Wileys’ home in the hills near Ojai.
“The message here is that if you are a pedophile, or if you know something like this is going on, then you better stop it,” Howard said. “The effect on these kids is devastating.”
Both sisters are being treated for psychological trauma, he said.
Howard said he will now target Maxine Wiley’s assets, including the modular home on five acres near Ojai and a duck hunting preserve in Kern County, to satisfy the civil award. She had gained ownership of those assets in a divorce after her husband’s arrest.
“We contend that the distribution of assets was done to protect the Wileys from having to pay a civil judgment to these kids,” Howard said.
Moves to collect the award will not occur until the Wileys’ attorney, Howard Cho, decides what legal steps to pursue.
“There’s always an appeal,” Cho said this week. “And we’re looking at other options — a new trial, because I think there was an error in law here.”
Cho declined to discuss that purported error. But he added that his client was not negligent.
“Mr. Wiley was dead wrong, and he pled guilty,” Cho said. “But I did not think Mrs. Wiley was negligent. All of that was denied ... Carl always had good excuses, and he was good at covering up stuff. He had everyone snookered, including Maxine.”
Carl Wiley was arrested in July 2004 on suspicion of nine counts of molestation against the two sisters in the early 1990s and between 2001 and 2003. The arrest followed a year-long investigation by the Sheriff’s Department, which uncovered a string of allegations of molestation by Wiley dating back five decades, as he moved from Hayward and Livermore in the Bay Area to Santa Paula, Oak View and finally Ojai.
He is now in Soledad state prison after pleading guilty in 2005 to three felony counts, including “continuous sexual abuse” of children. During the recent civil trial, Howard presented evidence that Wiley had molested at least eight girls, including his own two daughters in his first marriage, since 1948.
One of Wiley’s daughters, who testified against him at the civil trial, said she’d told Maxine Wiley that her father had molested her and her sister when they were children. Defense attorney Cho said the daughter’s testimony was fabricated.
But Howard said that it was a key part of establishing that Maxine Wiley was negligent. Additionally, Howard said, the testimony of a Santa Paula father that his daughter had been molested by Wiley in 1988 was also persuasive.
But Cho said the Santa Paula father’s claims were inconsistent, and that the mother of a second girl who was there during the alleged molestation did not believe the claim and continued to allow her daughter to visit the Wiley home.
Another piece of strong evidence against the Wileys was that sheriff’s deputies found a book on sexual disorders in the couple’s dresser drawer when they arrested him in 2004.
In addition, the oldest of the two girls suing the Wileys testified that she had told Maxine Wiley of the molestation in 2001 or 2002, during the same time period when her younger sister was being assaulted by Carl Wiley.
The girls finally told their parents of the sexual assaults in 2003 after psychological therapy, Howard said. But it took a year to put the case together against Carl Wiley.
In the civil trial, the jury also found the two sisters’ parents had been negligent. But they were not defendants in the lawsuit, so were held responsible for damages.
How Wiley got away with molestation for six decades is a good question, Howard said.
“What happens is that when children do report the crime, it becomes their word against a responsible adult’s. So it doesn’t get filed,” he said. “And most children are even afraid to report it.”
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
County Gives Green Light To Traffic Signal
Caltrans plans to install a traffic signal on Highway 33 at Villanova Road. Signal would be fourth in Mira MonteBy Daryl Kelley
A fourth traffic signal will be installed on state Highway 33 in Mira Monte under an agreement approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors. But construction probably won’t begin until next year, officials said.
“It’s a Caltrans project, and when you’re dealing with Caltrans, you never really know,” said county transportation director Butch Britt.
Indeed, Tuesday’s approval marked the second time county supervisors have signed off on the same traffic light at the junction of Highway 33 and Villanova Road, next to the Rite Aid store.
The first time around, Caltrans intended to erect the light by 2006. But the project was allowed to languish due to an “administrative error,” Britt wrote in a memo to the board.
And now the cost has skyrocketed from about $175,000 to about $750,000, with the state paying two-thirds and the county the rest.
While the costs are high, Britt said the county didn’t have much choice but to approve the project again, because traffic counts and rush-hour congestion show it is needed, and the county and state have the funding for it. So government might be held liable if officials failed to move forward.
“If somebody had an accident there, they’d probably end up going to court,” he said. “And we’d end up answering questions about how much a person’s life is worth.”
The fourth Mira Monte traffic signal — augmenting those at Woodland Avenue, Baldwin Road and and Loma Drive — costs more than four times as much today as when the project was when originally approved in 2004, Britt said, because material costs have exploded and federal construction standards have become more stringent. Labor costs are also up sharply, he said.
“Traffic signal costs are way up all over Southern California,” Britt said. And the principal cause is that the steel arms that hold up signals must now be designed to withstand 100 mph winds, instead of 80 mph.
“It doesn’t seem like much, but it means they have to use more steel and more concrete and more heavy welds, and that makes a big difference in cost.”
In addition, the price of copper for wiring the light has soared, as has that of asphalt because it is an oil-based product.
“We haven’t changed the project’s scope much,” he said. “It’s just that everything costs more.”
The project has been broadened to include a cable connecting the new light with the one at Baldwin Road, so the signals will be coordinated. It has also been upgraded to include a signal-controlled walkway across 33 to the Ojai Valley Trail.
Despite a relative lack of population growth, Britt said Caltrans keeps adding traffic signals in the Ojai Valley because traffic keeps increasing.
“There hasn’t been much new development out there,” he said. “But there has been more and more event traffic, because people like to see Ojai. It’s Shangri La, right?”
Social Host Law Earns National Award
Ordinance gets credit for drop in underage drinking
By Nao Braverman
At a recent award ceremony in Orlando, Fla., the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Underage Drinking Training and Enforcement Center acknowledged that, with Ojai as a role model, Ventura County has really toughened up on youths and adults who allow underage drinking in their homes.
Ojai’s Chief of Police Bruce Norris and Council Member Rae Hanstad accompanied 30 other Ventura County community leaders to the Orlando reception ceremony, Saturday, to accept an award for the county’s recent efforts to curb underage drinking.
Presented by the JJDUDTEC, the award was based on countywide enactment of the Social Host Ordinance, first adopted by Ojai in 2005 and enacted early in 2006.
Spearheaded by the local Substance Abuse Free Environment Coalition, the local ordinance gives law enforcement officers the authority to cite both juveniles and adult hosts of parties where minors are drinking. The the offense is civil not, criminal, but violators are charged an irrefutable $1,000 fine, regardless of their age.
Though some of the violators and their parents disagreed with the imposition of such a high fine, the new ordinance has already been enforced eight times in Ojai. While it is too early to reference official statistics, Norris told council members that local police officers had noted a recent decrease in local parties where underage drinking occurs.
That was the S.A.F.E Coalition’s goal, when they discovered that surveys showed binge drinking among high school students and youngsters who reported riding with a driver under the influence in Ventura County were higher than the state average.
But, most importantly, they also learned that an overwhelming number of youth were using alcohol compared to other drugs and gained access to it at homes or private parties, according to Ruth Cooper, program coordinator for the S.A.F.E Coalition. The latter gave community leaders the incentive to push forward an ordinance that targeted home parties with underage drinkers throughout the city.
Ojai’s ordinance was thus introduced on Jan. 24. Following Ojai’s lead, other Ventura County cities, one by one have enacted their own version of the Social Host Ordinance, charging violators between $500 and $2,500 depending on the local jurisdiction. So far Fillmore has issued one citation, Camarillo 12, Thousand Oaks nine, and Moorpark three.
“I’m very proud that Ojai’s was the leader in enforcing a countywide ordinance that helps deter underage drinking countywide,” said Hanstad who is also a S.A.F.E Coalition member.
Cooper said that after receiving media attention for the success of Ojai and Ventura County ordinances, the local coalition had been contacted by numerous representatives from other cities throughout the country looking to formulate a similar ordinance of their own.
“We are very pleased that our city can work as a role model to assist other communities in passing similar ordinances,” she said.
Part of the effectiveness of the ordinance, has come from all the media coverage which has prompted parents to warn their teens.
“It can’t work as a deterrent if parents and their children don’t know about it,” said Cooper.”
By Nao Braverman
At a recent award ceremony in Orlando, Fla., the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Underage Drinking Training and Enforcement Center acknowledged that, with Ojai as a role model, Ventura County has really toughened up on youths and adults who allow underage drinking in their homes.
Ojai’s Chief of Police Bruce Norris and Council Member Rae Hanstad accompanied 30 other Ventura County community leaders to the Orlando reception ceremony, Saturday, to accept an award for the county’s recent efforts to curb underage drinking.
Presented by the JJDUDTEC, the award was based on countywide enactment of the Social Host Ordinance, first adopted by Ojai in 2005 and enacted early in 2006.
Spearheaded by the local Substance Abuse Free Environment Coalition, the local ordinance gives law enforcement officers the authority to cite both juveniles and adult hosts of parties where minors are drinking. The the offense is civil not, criminal, but violators are charged an irrefutable $1,000 fine, regardless of their age.
Though some of the violators and their parents disagreed with the imposition of such a high fine, the new ordinance has already been enforced eight times in Ojai. While it is too early to reference official statistics, Norris told council members that local police officers had noted a recent decrease in local parties where underage drinking occurs.
That was the S.A.F.E Coalition’s goal, when they discovered that surveys showed binge drinking among high school students and youngsters who reported riding with a driver under the influence in Ventura County were higher than the state average.
But, most importantly, they also learned that an overwhelming number of youth were using alcohol compared to other drugs and gained access to it at homes or private parties, according to Ruth Cooper, program coordinator for the S.A.F.E Coalition. The latter gave community leaders the incentive to push forward an ordinance that targeted home parties with underage drinkers throughout the city.
Ojai’s ordinance was thus introduced on Jan. 24. Following Ojai’s lead, other Ventura County cities, one by one have enacted their own version of the Social Host Ordinance, charging violators between $500 and $2,500 depending on the local jurisdiction. So far Fillmore has issued one citation, Camarillo 12, Thousand Oaks nine, and Moorpark three.
“I’m very proud that Ojai’s was the leader in enforcing a countywide ordinance that helps deter underage drinking countywide,” said Hanstad who is also a S.A.F.E Coalition member.
Cooper said that after receiving media attention for the success of Ojai and Ventura County ordinances, the local coalition had been contacted by numerous representatives from other cities throughout the country looking to formulate a similar ordinance of their own.
“We are very pleased that our city can work as a role model to assist other communities in passing similar ordinances,” she said.
Part of the effectiveness of the ordinance, has come from all the media coverage which has prompted parents to warn their teens.
“It can’t work as a deterrent if parents and their children don’t know about it,” said Cooper.”
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Ojai Pursuit Ends In Arrest Of Oregon Man
Clarence Darold Haws arrested by Ventura Police for local burglaries, failing to register as sex offenderIn the early morning hours of July 28, Ojai deputies were involved in a pursuit of a vehicle that had committed a traffic violation.
During the pursuit, the pursued vehicle left the roadway and rolled several times on Creek Road north of Country Club Drive. After the accident, the driver fled the scene and the passenger was detained. Inside the vehicle, deputies discovered a large quantity of stolen property from recent burglaries in the Ojai Valley and identification information for a Clarence Darold Haws, 24, from Lincoln City, Ore. The Ojai deputies conducted a search for Haws, but were unable to locate him.
On Aug. 1, officers from the Ventura Police Department contacted Haws at a motel in Ventura regarding an incident unrelated to the vehicle pursuit on the 28th. The Ventura Police Department arrested Haws for failing to register as a sex offender, resisting arrest, and a misdemeanor warrant from San Bernardino County.
Ojai detectives were notified Haws was in custody at the Ventura County Main Jail and interviewed him regarding the vehicle pursuit, stolen property, and the recent reported burglaries. After the interview, Haws was arrested for five counts of residential burglary, felony evading with a vehicle, possession of stolen property, and resisting arrest. Haws was booked on the above charges at the Main Jail.
Ojai City Crime Report Shows Mixed News
Felony assaults drop in the first half of year, but Ojai crime rate highest in county
By Daryl Kelley
Serious crime in Ojai continued at last year’s high level during the first half of 2007 as thefts and residential burglaries increased again, but criminal violence fell as felony assaults were down more than half, according to a new police report.
“The news is mixed,” city manager Jere Kersnar said Wednesday. “But I think there has been progress, because I worry most about (violent) crimes, and those are down.”
There were 148 major crimes in Ojai from January through June, up nine offenses compared with the same six months last year, the Sheriff’s Department reported this week.
That follows a sharp hike last year, when crime in Ojai reached its highest level since 1995. Still, violent crime was down from 11 to eight for the first half of this year.
“Except for an increase of 12 thefts from last year, this report shows no alarming pattern,” wrote Sheriff’s Capt. Bruce Norris, who serves as Ojai’s police chief, in a report to Kersnar. “Detectives and patrol deputies continue to work to reduce thefts. Recent significant arrests of local thieves and drug users have curbed the thefts somewhat from the first three months of this year.”
The biggest spike was in grand theft, which is defined as a loss of property worth $400 or more. That more serious theft increased from 18 to 26, while petty theft was up from 84 to 89, and home burglaries climbed from two to seven.
In his report, Norris noted the same trends that prompted a dramatic increase in crime last year, the theft of valuables from cars and citizens’ relaxed attitude about securing their property.
“Theft from vehicles, theft of bicycles and theft of landscape equipment account for many of our theft cases,” Norris reported.
Kersnar said thieves had been particularly active in parking lots.
“There have been break-ins at trailheads,” he said. “People leave valuables on their seats when they go hiking, and that’s not a good practice.”
Conversely, the actual theft of autos and trucks were down from five to three and burglaries of businesses were down from 19 to 15.
The best news in the report was that aggravated assaults — a telltale sign of gang activity — dropped from nine for the first six months of 2006 to four this year. A spate of gang-related violence prompted the conviction of a dozen youths last year.
But a new sheriff’s anti-gang unit began operations this spring in western Ventura County, including the Ojai Valley, and authorities credit that with a sharp reduction in assaults. The most serious gang-related violence locally this year was a drive-by shooting in February, when a shooter from out of town wounded an east Ojai resident.
“In my opinion, a decrease in gang-related incidents has helped to keep that (assault) number down,” Norris wrote.
Overall, violent offenses fell by three, with no murders, one rape, four felony assaults and three robberies. The robbery number was up from one for all of 2006 to three for the first six months of this year.
“There seems to be an overlap from the increase in thefts to the robberies,” Kersnar said. “I know there are drug issues here, and I presume there is some relationship.”
When all eight serious property and violent crimes for Ojai are taken together, the number of crimes per resident — or crime rate — increased 7 percent for the first half of the year, from 17.06 to 18.20.
That’s more than twice as high as the overall crime rate for all five cities and the unincorporated area that the Sheriff’s Department patrols. By comparison, Moorpark had a crime rate of 6.86 crimes per resident, Thousand Oaks 8.59, Camarillo 9.27 and Fillmore 11.0 .
By Daryl Kelley
Serious crime in Ojai continued at last year’s high level during the first half of 2007 as thefts and residential burglaries increased again, but criminal violence fell as felony assaults were down more than half, according to a new police report.
“The news is mixed,” city manager Jere Kersnar said Wednesday. “But I think there has been progress, because I worry most about (violent) crimes, and those are down.”
There were 148 major crimes in Ojai from January through June, up nine offenses compared with the same six months last year, the Sheriff’s Department reported this week.
That follows a sharp hike last year, when crime in Ojai reached its highest level since 1995. Still, violent crime was down from 11 to eight for the first half of this year.
“Except for an increase of 12 thefts from last year, this report shows no alarming pattern,” wrote Sheriff’s Capt. Bruce Norris, who serves as Ojai’s police chief, in a report to Kersnar. “Detectives and patrol deputies continue to work to reduce thefts. Recent significant arrests of local thieves and drug users have curbed the thefts somewhat from the first three months of this year.”
The biggest spike was in grand theft, which is defined as a loss of property worth $400 or more. That more serious theft increased from 18 to 26, while petty theft was up from 84 to 89, and home burglaries climbed from two to seven.
In his report, Norris noted the same trends that prompted a dramatic increase in crime last year, the theft of valuables from cars and citizens’ relaxed attitude about securing their property.
“Theft from vehicles, theft of bicycles and theft of landscape equipment account for many of our theft cases,” Norris reported.
Kersnar said thieves had been particularly active in parking lots.
“There have been break-ins at trailheads,” he said. “People leave valuables on their seats when they go hiking, and that’s not a good practice.”
Conversely, the actual theft of autos and trucks were down from five to three and burglaries of businesses were down from 19 to 15.
The best news in the report was that aggravated assaults — a telltale sign of gang activity — dropped from nine for the first six months of 2006 to four this year. A spate of gang-related violence prompted the conviction of a dozen youths last year.
But a new sheriff’s anti-gang unit began operations this spring in western Ventura County, including the Ojai Valley, and authorities credit that with a sharp reduction in assaults. The most serious gang-related violence locally this year was a drive-by shooting in February, when a shooter from out of town wounded an east Ojai resident.
“In my opinion, a decrease in gang-related incidents has helped to keep that (assault) number down,” Norris wrote.
Overall, violent offenses fell by three, with no murders, one rape, four felony assaults and three robberies. The robbery number was up from one for all of 2006 to three for the first six months of this year.
“There seems to be an overlap from the increase in thefts to the robberies,” Kersnar said. “I know there are drug issues here, and I presume there is some relationship.”
When all eight serious property and violent crimes for Ojai are taken together, the number of crimes per resident — or crime rate — increased 7 percent for the first half of the year, from 17.06 to 18.20.
That’s more than twice as high as the overall crime rate for all five cities and the unincorporated area that the Sheriff’s Department patrols. By comparison, Moorpark had a crime rate of 6.86 crimes per resident, Thousand Oaks 8.59, Camarillo 9.27 and Fillmore 11.0 .
Planners Delay Decision On Chain-free Downtown
Staff presents plans to establish Historic Commercial District
By Nao Braverman
Eager to move forward on the issue, city staff members presented their first stab at writing a statute to keep chain stores from ruining Ojai’s small-town character, at Wednesday night’s Planning Commission meeting.
But after much deliberation, the planning commissioners, who had not participated in the six previous City Council discussions of the subject, decided that the issue was too complicated and delicate to rush into, and voted to consider the ordinance at yet another meeting.
City staff’s statute proposal included a prohibition of any new chains within the recently established Historic Commercial District, which runs roughly from Cañada Street to Drown Street along Ojai Avenue and from Aliso Street to Topa Topa Street. A second zone outside that district would be regulated by new policies that would limit formula retail establishments to one per lot less than 40,000 square feet, and one per 20,000 square feet for lots that were more than 40,000 square feet. Moreover, new developments in the second zone would be limited to a total floor area of 2,000 square feet and no more than 25 linear feet of frontage. Formula retail would be limited to one per building to prevent the standard “anywhere USA” strip mall look. This, according to staff, would limit formula retail outside the HCD and make it very difficult for them to open without prohibiting them entirely. However, parcels that front Maricopa Highway, north of the “Y” intersection, would not be regulated at all.
The latter was of greatest concern to the handful of community members who voiced their concerns at the meeting.
“I think it might be more fruitful to try a regulatory moratorium that covers the entire city limits,” said Steve Sprinkel, an Ojai Valley resident and small business owner. “It keeps me out of the car and spreads my money around town.” At least seven other residents echoed his desire for a citywide moratorium and Scott Eicher, CEO of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce, said that a the majority of people who responded to a local chamber of commerce survey said they didn’t want chains in the city at all.
Though most commissioners said they were initially pleased with the proposed ordinance at first glance, many were swayed by the slew of public speakers who urged them to consider a citywide ordinance.
City manager Jere Kersnar said that though other cities had passed citywide ordinances addressing chain stores, none of those cities had prohibited them completely.
Planning Commissioner Cortus Koehler who had carefully researched the legal implications cautioned staff that he had discovered a national chain store association that had been contributing thousands of dollars to a legal defense fund for years, and would have a bottomless pit of money with which they could litigate.
Commissioner Troy Becker countered that it was somewhat misgiving to rely completely on the city attorney.
“I don’t think we should not do it just because it has never been done,” he said.
Commissioner Susan Weaver raised the concern of providing for local residents as well as tourists. With the high prices and small variety of small businesses, locals would have trouble finding what they need in town.
“I think we should keep Ojai a living city,” she said, referring to the streets of Solvang where locals are scarce. She and other commissioners were also concerned about already existing chain businesses such as Radio Shack and Exotic Thai, that would not be able to develop or expand, with the proposed ordinance .
“If you can’t expand or improve your business you’re on your way out,” said Commissioner Paul Crabtree.
Weaver suggested writing an ordinance similar to the one used in Sausalito which regulates chain stores to fit with local aesthetics, but does not prohibit them.
Local resident Leslie Davis said that as a local she was able to get her shopping needs met in Ojai.
“If locals are willing to make certain concessions they can get most of what they need here, though they would occasionally spend more money,” she said. “But I grew up here and I am willing to go to Ventura for some things. We are a small town and sometimes you have to go out of town to shop.”
Most commissioners expressed interest in an approach similar to that of Sausalito’s which would regulate chain stores citywide without prohibiting them.
Becker said, however that since Sausalito’s ordinance does not outright ban chains, the public might be displeased.
Kersnar agreed to continue the discussion and invite the city attorney to answer legal questions since legality seemed to be an overarching concern in the debate.
Though he said he was pleased to see the commissioners’ careful consideration, Kenley Neufeld, author of a similar chain store ordinance that has already received 600 signatures from registered voters, urged the Planning Commission not to take too long in approving an ordinance.
“On Oct. 13 I will be turning in my ballot initiative if the city hasn’t drafted their own,” he said. “Personally I would love to see the city pass an ordinance beforehand and I would love not to turn mine in,” he said.
If his ordinance is not handed over to the city on the Oct. 13 deadline, Neufeld will have to start the process all over again, according to procedural regulations.
As Kersnar explained at a previous meeting, if the city authors the ordinance it is more malleable. However, a citizen’s initiative must be voted on each time a variation is made, at great cost to the city.
Though he would prefer the city to pass their own ordinance, if one is not in place by the October deadline, Neufeld said he will turn in his initiative as a responsibility to his supporters.
The topic of chain stores will be brought back to the next Planning Commission meeting, hopefully with the participation of the city attorney, said Kersnar.
By Nao Braverman
Eager to move forward on the issue, city staff members presented their first stab at writing a statute to keep chain stores from ruining Ojai’s small-town character, at Wednesday night’s Planning Commission meeting.
But after much deliberation, the planning commissioners, who had not participated in the six previous City Council discussions of the subject, decided that the issue was too complicated and delicate to rush into, and voted to consider the ordinance at yet another meeting.
City staff’s statute proposal included a prohibition of any new chains within the recently established Historic Commercial District, which runs roughly from Cañada Street to Drown Street along Ojai Avenue and from Aliso Street to Topa Topa Street. A second zone outside that district would be regulated by new policies that would limit formula retail establishments to one per lot less than 40,000 square feet, and one per 20,000 square feet for lots that were more than 40,000 square feet. Moreover, new developments in the second zone would be limited to a total floor area of 2,000 square feet and no more than 25 linear feet of frontage. Formula retail would be limited to one per building to prevent the standard “anywhere USA” strip mall look. This, according to staff, would limit formula retail outside the HCD and make it very difficult for them to open without prohibiting them entirely. However, parcels that front Maricopa Highway, north of the “Y” intersection, would not be regulated at all.
The latter was of greatest concern to the handful of community members who voiced their concerns at the meeting.
“I think it might be more fruitful to try a regulatory moratorium that covers the entire city limits,” said Steve Sprinkel, an Ojai Valley resident and small business owner. “It keeps me out of the car and spreads my money around town.” At least seven other residents echoed his desire for a citywide moratorium and Scott Eicher, CEO of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce, said that a the majority of people who responded to a local chamber of commerce survey said they didn’t want chains in the city at all.
Though most commissioners said they were initially pleased with the proposed ordinance at first glance, many were swayed by the slew of public speakers who urged them to consider a citywide ordinance.
City manager Jere Kersnar said that though other cities had passed citywide ordinances addressing chain stores, none of those cities had prohibited them completely.
Planning Commissioner Cortus Koehler who had carefully researched the legal implications cautioned staff that he had discovered a national chain store association that had been contributing thousands of dollars to a legal defense fund for years, and would have a bottomless pit of money with which they could litigate.
Commissioner Troy Becker countered that it was somewhat misgiving to rely completely on the city attorney.
“I don’t think we should not do it just because it has never been done,” he said.
Commissioner Susan Weaver raised the concern of providing for local residents as well as tourists. With the high prices and small variety of small businesses, locals would have trouble finding what they need in town.
“I think we should keep Ojai a living city,” she said, referring to the streets of Solvang where locals are scarce. She and other commissioners were also concerned about already existing chain businesses such as Radio Shack and Exotic Thai, that would not be able to develop or expand, with the proposed ordinance .
“If you can’t expand or improve your business you’re on your way out,” said Commissioner Paul Crabtree.
Weaver suggested writing an ordinance similar to the one used in Sausalito which regulates chain stores to fit with local aesthetics, but does not prohibit them.
Local resident Leslie Davis said that as a local she was able to get her shopping needs met in Ojai.
“If locals are willing to make certain concessions they can get most of what they need here, though they would occasionally spend more money,” she said. “But I grew up here and I am willing to go to Ventura for some things. We are a small town and sometimes you have to go out of town to shop.”
Most commissioners expressed interest in an approach similar to that of Sausalito’s which would regulate chain stores citywide without prohibiting them.
Becker said, however that since Sausalito’s ordinance does not outright ban chains, the public might be displeased.
Kersnar agreed to continue the discussion and invite the city attorney to answer legal questions since legality seemed to be an overarching concern in the debate.
Though he said he was pleased to see the commissioners’ careful consideration, Kenley Neufeld, author of a similar chain store ordinance that has already received 600 signatures from registered voters, urged the Planning Commission not to take too long in approving an ordinance.
“On Oct. 13 I will be turning in my ballot initiative if the city hasn’t drafted their own,” he said. “Personally I would love to see the city pass an ordinance beforehand and I would love not to turn mine in,” he said.
If his ordinance is not handed over to the city on the Oct. 13 deadline, Neufeld will have to start the process all over again, according to procedural regulations.
As Kersnar explained at a previous meeting, if the city authors the ordinance it is more malleable. However, a citizen’s initiative must be voted on each time a variation is made, at great cost to the city.
Though he would prefer the city to pass their own ordinance, if one is not in place by the October deadline, Neufeld said he will turn in his initiative as a responsibility to his supporters.
The topic of chain stores will be brought back to the next Planning Commission meeting, hopefully with the participation of the city attorney, said Kersnar.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Kunkle Recalls 68 Years In Oak View
Zelda Kunkle, at home, arrived in Oak View during the Great Depression. She remembers when the community boasted two businesses, Thomas’ Grocery and the Hill Top Roadhouse.By Laignee Barron
On July 19, Zelda Kunkle celebrated her 92nd birthday and 68 years in Oak View.
When she and her husband arrived in Oak View in 1939, it was a quiet town with only a few hundred residents. Little did they expect at the time that they would remain in the town for nearly seven decades and establish much of what residents today take for granted.
Kunkle was born and raised with her older sister Hildred in San Luis Obispo, where their parents owned and ran the local store, Del Monte Grocery.
“I never was into sports but I loved the outdoors,” Kunkle recalled. She discovered a passion for art while at school, particularly still life oil paintings, a love that has continued to this day. At the time she cherished ambitions of attending art college, but out of high school she ended up marrying her childhood sweetheart, Chris Kunkle, and they moved together to the valley.
The tiny town of Oak View had few merchants or stores when they arrived. In fact, Kunkle recalled just two; Thomas’ Grocery on Olive Street and the Hill Top Roadhouse, which remains today.
“We could’ve gone anywhere I guess,” she said. “But we liked the quietness here.”
Shortly after they moved here, Kunkle’s husband got a job working for the new water company. They counted themselves lucky for the opportunity because it was around that time the Great Depression started to affect the valley.
“During the Depression there weren’t a lot of the really nice homes like you can see now, but there were a lot of little shacks,” she said. “It dragged on for a while. It wasn’t something that you could just snap your fingers at and have fixed.”
When the Depression ended the Kunkles bought the Oak View water company. She recalled they were able to check the water tanks from their house by looking through a pair of binoculars. They also had an unorthodox method of billing customers, going door to door and asking how many dogs or chickens or other animals people had, and then adding the approximated cost of each to a flat rate.
One of the original 30 or so members of the Oak View Civic Council, originally United Neighbors, Kunkle has always loved the community spirit of Oak View and has looked for ways to help out. In 1947, the Kunkles saw the need for a post office when mail was often confused, coming to residents through both Ojai and Ventura. The Kunkles didn’t hesitate, but created the first Oak View post office.
“It was a challenge but always really interesting,” Kunkle said. “We started it and eventually hired two or three others to help when the town was growing.”
One of the big town changes occurred when Lake Casitas was built. “There weren’t too many homes destroyed down there, but there were a few,” she said. “The old Santa Ana School is in the middle of the lake now. We used to have to drive by it all the time and I still have a painting of it.”
In honor of their dedication to the community, in the 1960s the Kunkles had a street named after them.
Now, after nearly 70 years of service to the town, several members of the community have expressed that appreciation for the hard work Kunkle has put into the community
Ojaians Hoping To 'Fair' Well
Amy Duncan of the Mira Monte 4-H club prepares her hog for a fair showing with a feeding of goat milk. The Mira Monte 4-H group is entering 32 hogs in the Ventura County Fair, which opens today at the Ventura Fairgrounds.By Sondra Murphy
For many people, the Ventura County Fair is more than just carnival rides and funnel cakes. The livestock buildings attract both sightseers and buyers wanting to look at the animals.
Two families in the Mira Monte 4-H Club have pooled their efforts to raise four fair pigs. The Duncan family lives on half an acre and shares space with Erika and Kayla Mandell. Besides care, feeding and cleaning, club members have to keep careful documents on their porcine projects.
“We got the pigs in Somis on April 21, 2007,” said mother and record-keeper Lisa Duncan. “They’re real sweet little animals and like to be around people.” The pigs weighed about 50 pounds at pickup and now range in weights between 230 and 250 pounds. “Each family gets a week of duty,” she said. The pig area of the property takes a lot of water to help the pigs stay cool in the summertime heat. “The pigs have made a big, giant mud hole,” Duncan said.
Caring for swine involves frequent monitoring. “They have three feeders, which means I don’t have to go out and feed them every day. They can feed whenever they want to, which is all the time,” said Sean Duncan, a freshman at Villanova, This is the second year he has been involved with a 4-H project. The young farmers put on their rubber boots to clean the pig pens and usually use a pooper-scooper to eliminate the waste materials and add clean wood shavings for warmth at night.
After checking the feeders and making sure to give the pigs fresh water, “I play with them and walk them around the cage to keep them in shape.” The pigs’ diet consists of pellets, fruit from the Duncans’ plum and apricot trees, scraps and goat’s milk. “Every month we de-worm them so they don’t get sick,” he added.
“My pig is a Hampshire,” Sean Duncan said. “He likes goat’s milk and it helps make him grow. I’ve also heard it makes the meat taste better. I’m told he has the nicest butt, or hams,” he said.
Fifth-grader Amy Duncan is raising a Yorkshire for her first 4-H project. “They like to blow bubbles in their mud holes,” she said. “When we first got the pigs, the biggest female knocked me down, so you learn how to walk with them,” she said. “We use PVC pipe and tap them to get them to go where you want.”
Getting the pigs to cooperate in the judging ring is crucial for maximum investment return. “They like to lay down when you’re walking them. They like you to rub their bellies.” Amy Duncan said that the pigs seem to like leftover bread the best, “But they’re not too big on zucchini.”
The families plan to take the pigs to the fair on Monday. In the meantime, they have more work to do. “We are practicing luring them into a trailer because they’re not used to it,” said Sean Duncan. “When they stress out, they lose pounds.”
Since livestock is sold by the pound, top weight is an important element to maintain.
After the trailer ride to the fair, they will place two pigs per pen and be watchful of potential buyers. “Every day you have to scoop out all the junk and waste products, then get a new bag of shavings and stay to talk to people walking by,” Sean Duncan said. “Last year, I just met someone who ended up buying my pig.”
The Ventura County Fair, “An Old-Fashioned Fair” starts today and runs through Aug. 12. Admission tickets and presale carnival ride tickets and wrist bands may be purchased online at venturacountyfair.org.
The many events and choices in entertainment may also be viewed at that web site.
For more information, call 648-3376.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
New Owners Plan To Keep Playhouse Open
By Nao Braverman
With the proliferation of Century Theaters and Cineplexes, local movie goers know that Ojai’s old fashioned single screen movie theater is a treasure and anomaly.
Many locals who patronize the Ojai Playhouse have grown fond of the swank black-and-white portraits of great actors Omar Sharif, Robert Redford, and Elizabeth Taylor, among them, staring down from the theater walls. In contrast to the prodigious, modern and impersonal architecture of newer corporate establishments, the Ojai Playhouse is a cozy size with comfortable cushioned seats, and the same vintage velvet curtain that has been draped over the movie screen for years.
Despite the competition of bigger theaters in Ventura County and developments in the home theater industry, the local Al-Awar family has kept Ojai’s only theater running since 1983.
“But it’s time to pass the baton,” said Khaled Al-Awar.
Also owner of the Primavera Gallery and other buildings in the Arcade, Al-Awar not only kept the theater running, but also made the most of the central building on Ojai Avenue, hosting various community events and benefits.
“That won’t change with the new ownership,” he assured.
Al-Awar said that as the owner of a building in such a prominent downtown location he has felt like a custodian to the community. When he made the decision to sell it, he was careful to chose a proprietor that he was sure would take care of it properly and tend to the needs of the community just as his family has done.
And the Hartley family, owners of the Lavender Inn, are certain to do just that, he said.
Kathy and Mark Hartley, who opened the successful and tastefully decorated Lavender Inn four years ago, are purchasing the theater, and will put their son, Jamie, a recent business graduate of California State University at Northridge, in charge.
Al-Awar said that before he purchased the Playhouse 25 years ago, owning a theater was the last thing on his mind.
When he arrived in Ojai, the previous owners had shut down Ojai’s only movie theater, so he decided to get it going again, premiering with the memorable Dustin Hoffman flick, “Tootsie.”
Thanks to extensive community support, the establishment reeled in a reasonable profit for some time, he said. But with an increasingly competitive market, the theater is not doing as well as it once was. Currently in need of some fresh changes, a little refurbishing and remodeling, a change of ownership could do the trick, he said.
Mark Hartley, who has been in the entertainment business for years, managing prominent recording artists Olivia Newton-John and Dwight Yoakum also has an interest in keeping the integrity of old buildings, and has worked on several such establishments in Ventura’s historic downtown.
Kathy Hartley said that her family was excited about enlarging the movie screen, improving the theater and adding some more concerts and cultural events. The improvements will take some time, but they will happen, she said.
“I am positive that the Hartley family will continue to support the community, and they will need the community’s support, Al-Awar said.
The first movie screened under the Hartley’s ownership will be “The Simpsons,” which opens tonight.
With the proliferation of Century Theaters and Cineplexes, local movie goers know that Ojai’s old fashioned single screen movie theater is a treasure and anomaly.
Many locals who patronize the Ojai Playhouse have grown fond of the swank black-and-white portraits of great actors Omar Sharif, Robert Redford, and Elizabeth Taylor, among them, staring down from the theater walls. In contrast to the prodigious, modern and impersonal architecture of newer corporate establishments, the Ojai Playhouse is a cozy size with comfortable cushioned seats, and the same vintage velvet curtain that has been draped over the movie screen for years.
Despite the competition of bigger theaters in Ventura County and developments in the home theater industry, the local Al-Awar family has kept Ojai’s only theater running since 1983.
“But it’s time to pass the baton,” said Khaled Al-Awar.
Also owner of the Primavera Gallery and other buildings in the Arcade, Al-Awar not only kept the theater running, but also made the most of the central building on Ojai Avenue, hosting various community events and benefits.
“That won’t change with the new ownership,” he assured.
Al-Awar said that as the owner of a building in such a prominent downtown location he has felt like a custodian to the community. When he made the decision to sell it, he was careful to chose a proprietor that he was sure would take care of it properly and tend to the needs of the community just as his family has done.
And the Hartley family, owners of the Lavender Inn, are certain to do just that, he said.
Kathy and Mark Hartley, who opened the successful and tastefully decorated Lavender Inn four years ago, are purchasing the theater, and will put their son, Jamie, a recent business graduate of California State University at Northridge, in charge.
Al-Awar said that before he purchased the Playhouse 25 years ago, owning a theater was the last thing on his mind.
When he arrived in Ojai, the previous owners had shut down Ojai’s only movie theater, so he decided to get it going again, premiering with the memorable Dustin Hoffman flick, “Tootsie.”
Thanks to extensive community support, the establishment reeled in a reasonable profit for some time, he said. But with an increasingly competitive market, the theater is not doing as well as it once was. Currently in need of some fresh changes, a little refurbishing and remodeling, a change of ownership could do the trick, he said.
Mark Hartley, who has been in the entertainment business for years, managing prominent recording artists Olivia Newton-John and Dwight Yoakum also has an interest in keeping the integrity of old buildings, and has worked on several such establishments in Ventura’s historic downtown.
Kathy Hartley said that her family was excited about enlarging the movie screen, improving the theater and adding some more concerts and cultural events. The improvements will take some time, but they will happen, she said.
“I am positive that the Hartley family will continue to support the community, and they will need the community’s support, Al-Awar said.
The first movie screened under the Hartley’s ownership will be “The Simpsons,” which opens tonight.
Trout Kill Blamed On Dam Testing
Pictured are seven of the 11 trout killed below Matilija Dam during a seismic test of the dam that dried up a pool in the Ventura River.By Daryl Kelley
Eleven endangered Southern steelhead trout, or their more common rainbow trout relatives, were killed in the Ventura River last month, when an earthquake safety test of Matilija Dam and dry weather conditions stranded the fish without water in the upper Ventura River, officials said this week.
“It was a combination of those factors,” said Steve Wickstrum, general manager of the Casitas Municipal Water District, which shut off the flow of water from the dam’s reservoir for a few hours on June 14, so a county agency could test it for structural safety.
It was the largest of kill of steelhead or rainbow trout in recent memory, Wickstrum said.
Seven dead fish were found the day after the dam water was shut off, and four more died after they were relocated to river pools.
Casitas has asked federal and state agencies to investigate the incident, and to determine whether the dead fish are actually the ocean-to-river southern steelhead, a unique form of rainbow trout, or the freshwater rainbow.
The fish look the same when the steelhead are young. And none of the dead fish — between 5 and 10 inches long — was large enough to be immediately identified as the larger steelhead. Lab tests of the dead fish’s earbones will show their type.
“They were just too stressed out to survive,” said Scott Lewis, fisheries program manager for Casitas, of the four fish workers had tried to save. Two did survive.
Lewis reported the deaths this week in a report to the Casitas board of directors, some of whom were concerned that they were not told of the incident before.
“This is significant,” said Director Richard Handley in an interview. “Here we are spending $9 million on a fish ladder and this happens. We need to be more vigilant about what we do in the river. These fish should have been trapped and moved ahead of time.”
In his report to the board, Lewis said: “The cause of the mortalities was most likely due to the lack of water as a result of the water flowing through Matilija Dam being shut off on June 14.”
The water was shut off at the direction of the county Watershed Protection District, Lewis wrote, so the agency could test the dam’s safety. Vibrations from flowing water near test points would have disrupted the procedure, he said.
Since the fish deaths, Casitas has asked county officials if they could move the test points away from the dam’s release pipe, so the water flow would be maintained at all times, Wickstrum said.
The water agency has also asked federal officials who oversee the southern steelhead recovery program for guidelines on whether to save stranded fish and how to handle the recovery, he said.
“We’ve asked for direction, but there has been no protocol to date for rescuing the fish when the river runs dry, or where to rescue them to,” he said.
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service oversees the steelhead program. And Casitas biologist Lewis said the federal agency is apparently attempting to address the rescue question on a regional basis.
“There’s a question of whether we can rescue (them),” Lewis said. Because of record dry conditions on the river, “we asked many weeks before this incident if we could do that, and they didn’t have a plan. It sounded like they wanted to work on a more regional approach.”
The southern steelhead was declared an endangered species in 1997, after its numbers dwindled from thousands to a few hundred from Santa Barbara south. Only about 100 adult steelhead remain in the Ventura River watershed, federal officials estimate.
A key question is whether the dead fish were, in fact, steelhead, officials said.
That is important, partly because the federal government has required Oak View-based Casitas to spend $9 million to build a fish ladder so the steelhead can migrate up the Ventura River and then return to the ocean. Casitas must also provide between $1 million and $2 million worth of water a year so the fish can migrate. A costly federal lawsuit to reimburse the water agency for the expenditures is before a federal court.
Considering efforts and money to save the steelhead, Wickstrum said federal government’s lack of a plan to rescue the fish when stranded “is ironic.”
As for county dam testing procedures, watershed protection director Jeff Pratt said he’d heard nothing about the fish kill, but would look into whether his staff can change procedures so water is not shut off during twice-a-year seismic testing.
“We’d do anything we can not to kill the fish,” he said. “We’re going to do anything in our power not to kill the fish.”
Arrest Request Enlivens City Council Meeting
Cooperative independence’ seen as best
approach to join in fight against truck traffic
By Nao Braverman
Ventura County resident Carol Dean Williams strutted to the City Hall podium at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting and told the City Clerk Carlon Strobel that he was going to arrest her, to the dismay of council members.
“Any person who reports to a police officer that a crime has been committed can make a citizen’s arrest and she has committed a crime,” he said. “I have a recording of it right here.”
But by the time Williams had exhausted his three minutes of public comment, he had not made clear the crime of which he was accusing her.
Ojai Police Capt. Bruce Norris came to the podium and clarified that no such arrest would be made.
Up until recently, the penal code mandated that law enforcement take any citizen’s arrest. Though the validity of the arrest would be determined in court, the initial arrest was required. But a supplement added in 2002 gives officers the discretion not to accept the citizen’s arrest, said Norris. In this case he did not find an appropriate cause for arrest.
Strobel explained later that Williams had visited the City Hall earlier regarding his concern about the flood control berm west of the San Antonio Creek that is currently being raised to safe guard Casitas Springs from flooding. He was concerned that raising the berm would endanger a nearby bridge, she said.
When he asked Strobel if the city would intervene, she told him to speak with the city manager to see if he would consider placing the item on the agenda, according to Strobel. Then he got very upset and pulled out his tape recorder, she said
“I think that’s when he got sidetracked.” she explained.
After an extended, slightly confrontational conversation at City Hall that day, Williams had been escorted out of the administrative office by Norris, said Strobel. That incident, she speculated, was the cause of his attempted citizen’s arrest at the meeting Tuesday night.
In other City Council news, council members directed city staff to continue to work on the issue of Ojai’s gravel truck traffic independently but in cooperation with the citizen’s group, the Committee to Stop the Trucks.
Council members had agreed that the city should get involved in the battled against increasing truck traffic in mid-June. On Tuesday they decided that “cooperative independence” was the best approach, to start.
Other ways to address the gravel truck issue would be to offer a cash contribution to the citizen’s group. Such a donation would not be considered a gift of public funds as long as the city could show that the gift would have a definite effect on the community. City manager Jere Kersnar explained that such an effect could be demonstrated.
Kersnar also offered the option of creating a consortium but warned that it might be difficult to administer and might require a long-term commitment from the city.
Also during the meeting S.A.F.E. Coalition representative Ruth Cooper announced that the percentage of local 11th-graders being very drunk went down 16 percent since 2002 and the percentage of 11th-graders being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at school went down by 10 percent, according to a California Healthy Kids Survey. Ninth-graders under the influence of drugs or alcohol at school went down by 6 percent. A 2007 survey of seventh-11th graders showed an overall increase in substance abuse among seventh graders however.
The S.A.F.E Coalition plans to focus on implementing and enforcing the new Social Host Ordinance which penalizes anyone hosting a party with underage drinkers and educate parents in substance abuse prevention particularly among young teens, said Cooper.
approach to join in fight against truck traffic
By Nao Braverman
Ventura County resident Carol Dean Williams strutted to the City Hall podium at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting and told the City Clerk Carlon Strobel that he was going to arrest her, to the dismay of council members.
“Any person who reports to a police officer that a crime has been committed can make a citizen’s arrest and she has committed a crime,” he said. “I have a recording of it right here.”
But by the time Williams had exhausted his three minutes of public comment, he had not made clear the crime of which he was accusing her.
Ojai Police Capt. Bruce Norris came to the podium and clarified that no such arrest would be made.
Up until recently, the penal code mandated that law enforcement take any citizen’s arrest. Though the validity of the arrest would be determined in court, the initial arrest was required. But a supplement added in 2002 gives officers the discretion not to accept the citizen’s arrest, said Norris. In this case he did not find an appropriate cause for arrest.
Strobel explained later that Williams had visited the City Hall earlier regarding his concern about the flood control berm west of the San Antonio Creek that is currently being raised to safe guard Casitas Springs from flooding. He was concerned that raising the berm would endanger a nearby bridge, she said.
When he asked Strobel if the city would intervene, she told him to speak with the city manager to see if he would consider placing the item on the agenda, according to Strobel. Then he got very upset and pulled out his tape recorder, she said
“I think that’s when he got sidetracked.” she explained.
After an extended, slightly confrontational conversation at City Hall that day, Williams had been escorted out of the administrative office by Norris, said Strobel. That incident, she speculated, was the cause of his attempted citizen’s arrest at the meeting Tuesday night.
In other City Council news, council members directed city staff to continue to work on the issue of Ojai’s gravel truck traffic independently but in cooperation with the citizen’s group, the Committee to Stop the Trucks.
Council members had agreed that the city should get involved in the battled against increasing truck traffic in mid-June. On Tuesday they decided that “cooperative independence” was the best approach, to start.
Other ways to address the gravel truck issue would be to offer a cash contribution to the citizen’s group. Such a donation would not be considered a gift of public funds as long as the city could show that the gift would have a definite effect on the community. City manager Jere Kersnar explained that such an effect could be demonstrated.
Kersnar also offered the option of creating a consortium but warned that it might be difficult to administer and might require a long-term commitment from the city.
Also during the meeting S.A.F.E. Coalition representative Ruth Cooper announced that the percentage of local 11th-graders being very drunk went down 16 percent since 2002 and the percentage of 11th-graders being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at school went down by 10 percent, according to a California Healthy Kids Survey. Ninth-graders under the influence of drugs or alcohol at school went down by 6 percent. A 2007 survey of seventh-11th graders showed an overall increase in substance abuse among seventh graders however.
The S.A.F.E Coalition plans to focus on implementing and enforcing the new Social Host Ordinance which penalizes anyone hosting a party with underage drinkers and educate parents in substance abuse prevention particularly among young teens, said Cooper.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Cinnamon Found, Suspect Arrested
Jolene Hoffman, director of the Ventura County Humane Society Shelter in Ojai, checks out the collar of Cinnamon, a 4-year-old red Pomeranian, who was returned to the shelter yesterday. Cinnamon was stolen from the shelter July 2.Report, photo by Rob Clement
Cinnamon, a 4-year-old Pomeranian, was reported stolen from the Humane Society of Ventura on July 2 by Humane Society employees. She was found at a residence on Santa Ana Boulevard in Oak View Monday morning, following five separate phone reports from anonymous sources in the area. Shelter director Jolene Hoffman brought a microchip scanner to the residence to confirm the dog's identity. "As soon as I saw her, I knew it was her. The scanner confirmed it. She seems very relieved not to be around the larger dogs, it was very frightening for her. She's still in my arms."
Thomas Petropulos, 28, was arrested on suspicion of stealing Cinnamon, and booked into the Ventura County main jail. He was released on his own recognizance July 24, but due in court to answer the theft charge Aug. 10.
As for Cinnamon's adoption status now, "She's been through two homes before she got here, then spayed here, and then stolen from here. Cinnamon's been through so much. She's a special needs dog now, she needs someone who is soft-spoken, gentle, and who has a lap to offer her. It will take a lot to prove worthiness for this little pup." Hoffman said.
Hoffman also stated that a gentlemen offered a consideerable amount of money as donation towards surveillance equipment. " We are so very thankful to him for that, but we still need help towards that goal."
To donate, call the Humane Society at 646-6505.
Ojai City Aid Sought For Truck Fight
Staff recommends regular briefings on Diamond
Rock Mine and its potential impacts on Ojai
By Nao Braverman
With the Diamond Rock Gravel Mine recently recommended for approval, the city of Ojai has finally decided to formally step in and get involved with the issue of gravel trucks traveling through the Ojai Valley.
At Tuesday night’s Ojai City Council meeting, city staff recommended that staff continue to monitor the Diamond Rock Mine project proposal and report back to the council on further action to be taken by the city, including possible legal procedures.
The proposed Diamond Rock Gravel mine in Cuyama Valley could significantly increase the already burdensome truck traffic along Highway 33 through the Ojai Valley, degrading Ojai’s environment, safety, and subsequently its tourist economy and quality of life, according to critics of the project.
Though City Council members agreed to get involved in the battle against increasing truck traffic in mid-June, they expressed uncertainty how the city should focus their efforts.
City staff offered two other paths of action to be considered: One approach would be to write a check from the city to the local citizen-formed Committee to Stop the Trucks. Another would be to call for an ad hoc committee of council members and local representatives to consider the issue. The latter would be complicated because everyone’s interests are different and it’s hard to get a unified voice, said city manager Jere Kersnar. People in Cuyama are against the mine proposal itself while Ojai residents are primarily concerned about the routes that trucks take, he said.
After discussing the issue with city attorney Monte Widders, Kersnar decided to recommend that staff continue to work on the issue as a separate entity, cooperating and communicating with the citizen’s Committee to Stop the Trucks.
The proposed plan of action was modeled after the successful dispute against the Weldon Canyon dump site proposal in the early 1990s.
In that case both the city of Ojai and a citizen’s group sued the trash company and won,
though both entities worked very closely with one another, said Widders, who represented the city in the Weldon Canyon lawsuit.
With the battle against the Diamond Rock Gravel Mine proposal, the city and committee must exhaust all administrative remedies before filing any lawsuits, said Widders.
That means waiting for the proposal to be reviewed by the state government before returning to the Santa Barbara Planning Commission for approval, said Jan Chatten of Chatten-Brown & Carsten’s, currently representing the Committee to Stop the Trucks.
If Santa Barbara Planning Commission approves the project, with no adequate mitigation measures to protect Ojai from a huge influx of truck traffic, then the city of Ojai can appeal the decision to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors under the California Environmental Quality Act. If their appeal is rejected, then the city and the citizen’s committee can sue.
“We are at a similar stage in the Diamond Rock mine proposal to the stage when the city got involved in the Weldon Canyon dump site proposal,” said Widders.
“It was a successful model in that case,” he said.
Rock Mine and its potential impacts on Ojai
By Nao Braverman
With the Diamond Rock Gravel Mine recently recommended for approval, the city of Ojai has finally decided to formally step in and get involved with the issue of gravel trucks traveling through the Ojai Valley.
At Tuesday night’s Ojai City Council meeting, city staff recommended that staff continue to monitor the Diamond Rock Mine project proposal and report back to the council on further action to be taken by the city, including possible legal procedures.
The proposed Diamond Rock Gravel mine in Cuyama Valley could significantly increase the already burdensome truck traffic along Highway 33 through the Ojai Valley, degrading Ojai’s environment, safety, and subsequently its tourist economy and quality of life, according to critics of the project.
Though City Council members agreed to get involved in the battle against increasing truck traffic in mid-June, they expressed uncertainty how the city should focus their efforts.
City staff offered two other paths of action to be considered: One approach would be to write a check from the city to the local citizen-formed Committee to Stop the Trucks. Another would be to call for an ad hoc committee of council members and local representatives to consider the issue. The latter would be complicated because everyone’s interests are different and it’s hard to get a unified voice, said city manager Jere Kersnar. People in Cuyama are against the mine proposal itself while Ojai residents are primarily concerned about the routes that trucks take, he said.
After discussing the issue with city attorney Monte Widders, Kersnar decided to recommend that staff continue to work on the issue as a separate entity, cooperating and communicating with the citizen’s Committee to Stop the Trucks.
The proposed plan of action was modeled after the successful dispute against the Weldon Canyon dump site proposal in the early 1990s.
In that case both the city of Ojai and a citizen’s group sued the trash company and won,
though both entities worked very closely with one another, said Widders, who represented the city in the Weldon Canyon lawsuit.
With the battle against the Diamond Rock Gravel Mine proposal, the city and committee must exhaust all administrative remedies before filing any lawsuits, said Widders.
That means waiting for the proposal to be reviewed by the state government before returning to the Santa Barbara Planning Commission for approval, said Jan Chatten of Chatten-Brown & Carsten’s, currently representing the Committee to Stop the Trucks.
If Santa Barbara Planning Commission approves the project, with no adequate mitigation measures to protect Ojai from a huge influx of truck traffic, then the city of Ojai can appeal the decision to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors under the California Environmental Quality Act. If their appeal is rejected, then the city and the citizen’s committee can sue.
“We are at a similar stage in the Diamond Rock mine proposal to the stage when the city got involved in the Weldon Canyon dump site proposal,” said Widders.
“It was a successful model in that case,” he said.
Sewer Water Use Defended
By Daryl KelleyUnder sharp questioning, Ventura city representatives defended this week a plan to use treated sewer water to flush oil wells and irrigate orchards along the lower Ventura River, instead of using all of the effluent to bolster the river’s flow and maintain its plants and animals.
In a presentation to directors of the Ojai Valley Sanitary District, a scientist who studied the potential diversion said half of the 2 million gallons a day that flow from the Ojai sewer plant near Foster Park could be diverted elsewhere without harming the river.
That level of reuse “appears feasible from the environmental and cost-benefit analysis,” said biologist Howard Bailey, a consultant for the city of Ventura. A full environmental review would have to be completed before any diversion could take place, he noted.
Ventura is considering such a plan because reuse of sewer effluent would save 1 million gallons a day of clean drinking and reservoir water that the city now provides to Aera Energy to pump into oil wells and to citrus farmers for irrigation, officials said. State policy favors conserving clean water by replacing it with recycled wastewater whenever possible.
Ventura has first claim on Ojai’s treated effluent because it owns the sewer plant site and leases it to the Sanitary District. But the city can divert the effluent only if that does not harm the habitat of river plants and more than a dozen birds, fish and other animals protected by a variety of state and federal programs — including the Southern steelhead trout, the tidewater goby, the Least Bell’s vireo and the California least term.
That possibility of harm prompted pointed questions by OVSD directors, who were concerned that diverting any flow in drought years could cause the river to nearly dry up.
Director Stan Greene, a former president of Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, said he was not satisfied with the environmental analysis in the city’s draft report, scheduled for submission to state water officials by mid-September.
“What are the real needs of all the (river) ecosystems in terms of water?” Greene asked. “You started with that, but I get the feeling somewhere along the way you started playing with numbers.”
Directors Russ Baggerly and Pete Kaiser also questioned Bailey and Ventura officials about the study.
Kaiser asked how pollution that’s often washed into the river would be diluted if the effluent flow – which provides almost all of the river’s water in very dry summers – was cut in half. And he wanted to know whether the endangered steelhead trout would be stranded in shallow pools if the water was diverted.
Bailey said the pollution issue would have to be addressed in a subsequent detailed study. But he said that the steelhead could find safe haven in five or six deep pools along the lower river, and that they would be cloistered in river pools in dry years even if all the sewer wastewater was still flowing into the river.
Kaiser asked how the aesthetics of five miles of river from the sewer plant to the ocean — fed by sewer effluent since 1964 — would be changed by the reduction in flow.
“Is this (plan) feasible even though there are all of these uncertainties?” he said.
Bailey said the project could not go forward without addressing all of the uncertainties.
But the primary unknown, he said, is not the effects of diversions on animals and habitat, but what it might mean to the supply of groundwater in the river basin. He said water rights claims by downstream users might also foil the reuse plan.
Bailey insisted that changes in the river’s width and depth would be “relatively small” because of the diversion. “And as far as change in the aesthetics,” he said, “it’s not likely to be large.”
But Baggerly, a former chair of the county Environmental Coalition, wasn’t buying it.
He noted that a 1940s state Department of Fish and Game study reported that the lower Ventura River and its estuary were suitable habitat for 1,000 steelhead trout, and that the same estimate had been repeated in reports in recent years.
“So it has a lot more need for water than I think you’re giving it,” Baggerly told Bailey. “If you reduce (the effluent) flow by half, you don’t know what it’s going to do to the size or depth of the estuary.”
Bailey insisted that the estuary was more suitable for dozens of steelhead, not 1,000. “The idea of 1,000 spawning there is not feasible.”
But Bailey acknowledged that the report’s analysis of the diversion’s effect on the spawning, rearing and migration of steelhead was prepared without the comments of the trout expert the city hired for that purpose. That report from biologist Matt Stoecker of Ventura was late, Bailey said, so the draft report was written without it.
The report’s conclusions that the diversion would have no effect on steelhead migration and little impact on spawning were based on interviews with other experts, he said.
He insisted that Stoecker agreed with the report’s main conclusions. But he acknowledged that Stoecker, like Baggerly, thinks the estuary is a good place for raising young steelhead, while other experts focus on the upstream for rearing the fish because of contaminates in the lower river.
Another surprise from Monday’s meetings in Ojai and at Ventura City Hall was that Aera Energy, which would use 90 percent of the diverted effluent, was considering drilling deep wells to get water to inject into its oil wells.
Ventura officials said it was the first they’d heard of Aera’s plans, and that they were counting on the energy company to be the primary buyer of the diverted effluent.
But Ted Witt, manager of operations at Aera, said in an interview that the company had not yet decided whether it would sign an agreement with the city to purchase the treated wastewater.
“We’re considering whether we want to sign a memorandum of understanding on that,” he said. “And drilling a deep water well could offset what we need to purchase from the city.”
In a separate communication, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, which has led a water-quality monitoring program of the Ventura River for six years, recommended against any diversion of effluent unless that water is fully replaced.
“Channelkeeper finds that there is currently not enough information regarding Ventura River water resources to make any determination that moves this project forward,” a spokesman said in a letter to the city.
Along with the water users, Ventura officials are also asking the Sanitary District to sign an agreement about the effluent diversion. That needs to occur as the city submits its report in September to the state Water Resources Control Board. Then, if all agree, the proposal would receive a full review under California’s strict environmental protection laws.
“This is definitely not the end of the analysis,” Bailey told the Sanitary District directors, most of whom had not yet read the report.
He asked that the board formally respond to the report by mid-August.
In a presentation to directors of the Ojai Valley Sanitary District, a scientist who studied the potential diversion said half of the 2 million gallons a day that flow from the Ojai sewer plant near Foster Park could be diverted elsewhere without harming the river.
That level of reuse “appears feasible from the environmental and cost-benefit analysis,” said biologist Howard Bailey, a consultant for the city of Ventura. A full environmental review would have to be completed before any diversion could take place, he noted.
Ventura is considering such a plan because reuse of sewer effluent would save 1 million gallons a day of clean drinking and reservoir water that the city now provides to Aera Energy to pump into oil wells and to citrus farmers for irrigation, officials said. State policy favors conserving clean water by replacing it with recycled wastewater whenever possible.
Ventura has first claim on Ojai’s treated effluent because it owns the sewer plant site and leases it to the Sanitary District. But the city can divert the effluent only if that does not harm the habitat of river plants and more than a dozen birds, fish and other animals protected by a variety of state and federal programs — including the Southern steelhead trout, the tidewater goby, the Least Bell’s vireo and the California least term.
That possibility of harm prompted pointed questions by OVSD directors, who were concerned that diverting any flow in drought years could cause the river to nearly dry up.
Director Stan Greene, a former president of Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, said he was not satisfied with the environmental analysis in the city’s draft report, scheduled for submission to state water officials by mid-September.
“What are the real needs of all the (river) ecosystems in terms of water?” Greene asked. “You started with that, but I get the feeling somewhere along the way you started playing with numbers.”
Directors Russ Baggerly and Pete Kaiser also questioned Bailey and Ventura officials about the study.
Kaiser asked how pollution that’s often washed into the river would be diluted if the effluent flow – which provides almost all of the river’s water in very dry summers – was cut in half. And he wanted to know whether the endangered steelhead trout would be stranded in shallow pools if the water was diverted.
Bailey said the pollution issue would have to be addressed in a subsequent detailed study. But he said that the steelhead could find safe haven in five or six deep pools along the lower river, and that they would be cloistered in river pools in dry years even if all the sewer wastewater was still flowing into the river.
Kaiser asked how the aesthetics of five miles of river from the sewer plant to the ocean — fed by sewer effluent since 1964 — would be changed by the reduction in flow.
“Is this (plan) feasible even though there are all of these uncertainties?” he said.
Bailey said the project could not go forward without addressing all of the uncertainties.
But the primary unknown, he said, is not the effects of diversions on animals and habitat, but what it might mean to the supply of groundwater in the river basin. He said water rights claims by downstream users might also foil the reuse plan.
Bailey insisted that changes in the river’s width and depth would be “relatively small” because of the diversion. “And as far as change in the aesthetics,” he said, “it’s not likely to be large.”
But Baggerly, a former chair of the county Environmental Coalition, wasn’t buying it.
He noted that a 1940s state Department of Fish and Game study reported that the lower Ventura River and its estuary were suitable habitat for 1,000 steelhead trout, and that the same estimate had been repeated in reports in recent years.
“So it has a lot more need for water than I think you’re giving it,” Baggerly told Bailey. “If you reduce (the effluent) flow by half, you don’t know what it’s going to do to the size or depth of the estuary.”
Bailey insisted that the estuary was more suitable for dozens of steelhead, not 1,000. “The idea of 1,000 spawning there is not feasible.”
But Bailey acknowledged that the report’s analysis of the diversion’s effect on the spawning, rearing and migration of steelhead was prepared without the comments of the trout expert the city hired for that purpose. That report from biologist Matt Stoecker of Ventura was late, Bailey said, so the draft report was written without it.
The report’s conclusions that the diversion would have no effect on steelhead migration and little impact on spawning were based on interviews with other experts, he said.
He insisted that Stoecker agreed with the report’s main conclusions. But he acknowledged that Stoecker, like Baggerly, thinks the estuary is a good place for raising young steelhead, while other experts focus on the upstream for rearing the fish because of contaminates in the lower river.
Another surprise from Monday’s meetings in Ojai and at Ventura City Hall was that Aera Energy, which would use 90 percent of the diverted effluent, was considering drilling deep wells to get water to inject into its oil wells.
Ventura officials said it was the first they’d heard of Aera’s plans, and that they were counting on the energy company to be the primary buyer of the diverted effluent.
But Ted Witt, manager of operations at Aera, said in an interview that the company had not yet decided whether it would sign an agreement with the city to purchase the treated wastewater.
“We’re considering whether we want to sign a memorandum of understanding on that,” he said. “And drilling a deep water well could offset what we need to purchase from the city.”
In a separate communication, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, which has led a water-quality monitoring program of the Ventura River for six years, recommended against any diversion of effluent unless that water is fully replaced.
“Channelkeeper finds that there is currently not enough information regarding Ventura River water resources to make any determination that moves this project forward,” a spokesman said in a letter to the city.
Along with the water users, Ventura officials are also asking the Sanitary District to sign an agreement about the effluent diversion. That needs to occur as the city submits its report in September to the state Water Resources Control Board. Then, if all agree, the proposal would receive a full review under California’s strict environmental protection laws.
“This is definitely not the end of the analysis,” Bailey told the Sanitary District directors, most of whom had not yet read the report.
He asked that the board formally respond to the report by mid-August.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Soule Park May Go To Dogs
By Nao Braverman
Ojai’s friendly dogs have few places to meet each other. The vacant, often empty grassy fields of Soule Park would be a good spot for Ojai’s canine residents to socialize, according the Ventura County Parks Advisory Commission.
Though they were initially planning to occupy a portion county-owned land near the old Honor Farm property, the local Dog Park Committee recently obtained permission to construct their facility at the west side of Soule Park, near the tennis courts, approximately a quarter-mile from the closest resident. County officials asked Dog Park Committee members for $20,000 to cover construction and offered that any additional expenses would be absorbed by the park’s fund, said Ventura County Park’s manager Ron Van Dyck.
The Dog Park Committee members have drawn plans for an 800-foot double-gated fence area with benches, extra dog-waste bags and a water fountain.
Two designated arenas will be divided to separate the large energetic dogs from those who are shyer and less active.
Nothing is expected from the Dog Park Committee members other than the $20,000 community contribution for initial fence construction costs, according to Van Dyck. The Ventura County Parks employees will take care of maintenance, he said.
With a $2 entrance fee during the week and $4 on the weekends, the Dog Park is expected to increase Soule Park’s revenue and pay for any increased maintenance costs, which aren’t expected to add up to much, said Van Dyck.
Soule Park’s maintenance crew already irrigates other areas of the park and will be able to water the park whether it is to irrigate the lawn or for dust control if some other material is used for ground cover. Park’s staff is still not sure what material to lay on the 800-foot area but they plan to use what ever is most cost effective, said Van Dyck.
Jim Ruch, a Boardman Road resident and neighbor, is skeptical of the benefits of a having a dog park at the Soule Park location.
“I would feel much more comfortable if a little more thought was put into it,” he said. Ruch wonders why the committee and county officials did not consider a location closer to town that people could walk their dogs to without getting into a car.
Soule Park is not close enough to any pedestrian sidewalks and is not walking distance from most of Ojai’s residential areas.
Still the Dog Park Committee members insist that many people who travel all the way to Ventura to take their dogs to a park would have a significantly shorter drive.
Ruch suggests the open space on the west side of San Antonio Creek in Libbey Park. People could walk their dogs down the bike trail to get there, he said.
But putting it in Soule Park is much more convenient for dog park committee members who only have to raise money before handing all other responsibilities over to Ventura County Parks.
Van Dyck said that a dog park at Soule Park had been in consideration since 2001 and was approved as a deferred maintenance item in 2006. Such a park had already been considered for the future though they were waiting to secure more funding. Since the Dog Park Committee offered to provide those funds, county parks was willing to speed up the process.
Ruch also said he noticed that Soule Park’s staff has not been able to keep up with current maintenance needs let alone take on a whole new project.
But Van Dyck said that the park has a routine maintenance crew, and that the new dog park is not expected to offset their routines.
The increased revenue from dog park visitor fees should help the county parks fund recover costs over time, he said.
Ruch also suggested the committee or park staff send a crew to take make sure that garbage is being cleaned up and that dog owners are keeping their furry companions on a leash in other areas of the park.
Dog Park Committee member Nancy Brough said that she had obtained more than 500 signatures in support of the park and expected it would have frequent visitors from the community. So far, the committee has raised almost $1,800 for the Ojai Valley Dog Park Fund at the Ojai Community Bank. Supporters can make donations at the bank or leave them in collections cans at veterinary offices and local feed stores.
Ojai’s friendly dogs have few places to meet each other. The vacant, often empty grassy fields of Soule Park would be a good spot for Ojai’s canine residents to socialize, according the Ventura County Parks Advisory Commission.
Though they were initially planning to occupy a portion county-owned land near the old Honor Farm property, the local Dog Park Committee recently obtained permission to construct their facility at the west side of Soule Park, near the tennis courts, approximately a quarter-mile from the closest resident. County officials asked Dog Park Committee members for $20,000 to cover construction and offered that any additional expenses would be absorbed by the park’s fund, said Ventura County Park’s manager Ron Van Dyck.
The Dog Park Committee members have drawn plans for an 800-foot double-gated fence area with benches, extra dog-waste bags and a water fountain.
Two designated arenas will be divided to separate the large energetic dogs from those who are shyer and less active.
Nothing is expected from the Dog Park Committee members other than the $20,000 community contribution for initial fence construction costs, according to Van Dyck. The Ventura County Parks employees will take care of maintenance, he said.
With a $2 entrance fee during the week and $4 on the weekends, the Dog Park is expected to increase Soule Park’s revenue and pay for any increased maintenance costs, which aren’t expected to add up to much, said Van Dyck.
Soule Park’s maintenance crew already irrigates other areas of the park and will be able to water the park whether it is to irrigate the lawn or for dust control if some other material is used for ground cover. Park’s staff is still not sure what material to lay on the 800-foot area but they plan to use what ever is most cost effective, said Van Dyck.
Jim Ruch, a Boardman Road resident and neighbor, is skeptical of the benefits of a having a dog park at the Soule Park location.
“I would feel much more comfortable if a little more thought was put into it,” he said. Ruch wonders why the committee and county officials did not consider a location closer to town that people could walk their dogs to without getting into a car.
Soule Park is not close enough to any pedestrian sidewalks and is not walking distance from most of Ojai’s residential areas.
Still the Dog Park Committee members insist that many people who travel all the way to Ventura to take their dogs to a park would have a significantly shorter drive.
Ruch suggests the open space on the west side of San Antonio Creek in Libbey Park. People could walk their dogs down the bike trail to get there, he said.
But putting it in Soule Park is much more convenient for dog park committee members who only have to raise money before handing all other responsibilities over to Ventura County Parks.
Van Dyck said that a dog park at Soule Park had been in consideration since 2001 and was approved as a deferred maintenance item in 2006. Such a park had already been considered for the future though they were waiting to secure more funding. Since the Dog Park Committee offered to provide those funds, county parks was willing to speed up the process.
Ruch also said he noticed that Soule Park’s staff has not been able to keep up with current maintenance needs let alone take on a whole new project.
But Van Dyck said that the park has a routine maintenance crew, and that the new dog park is not expected to offset their routines.
The increased revenue from dog park visitor fees should help the county parks fund recover costs over time, he said.
Ruch also suggested the committee or park staff send a crew to take make sure that garbage is being cleaned up and that dog owners are keeping their furry companions on a leash in other areas of the park.
Dog Park Committee member Nancy Brough said that she had obtained more than 500 signatures in support of the park and expected it would have frequent visitors from the community. So far, the committee has raised almost $1,800 for the Ojai Valley Dog Park Fund at the Ojai Community Bank. Supporters can make donations at the bank or leave them in collections cans at veterinary offices and local feed stores.
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