Board OKs district to move ahead with plans to lease out nearly eight acres in downtown Ojai
By Sondra Murphy
On Tuesday, Ojai Unified School District took an official step in its efforts to be less reliant on government sources for its funding.
With continued budget uncertainties looming on the horizon, the OUSD board approved the distribution of the Request for Qualifications-Proposals for joint occupancy lease and development of the district office and Chaparral High School property on East Ojai Avenue and North Montgomery Street. OUSD board members and administrators see lease options as one way to establish both short-term and long-term control revenues.
The stated intent of the RFQ-P is, “To enable the district to identify highly qualified and capable entities with experience in commercial and mixed-use development that can evaluate and carry out development strategies pursuant to a joint occupancy ground lease with the district.”
“The market and economy has sort of been on again, off again,” said OUSD superintendent Tim Baird, “but we feel like we just need to see what the market is like right now for this very unique piece of property.”
“This is very exciting,” said board member Rikki Horne.
“How do we get the word out?” asked President Steve Fields.
“Anyone may request a copy of the RFQ-P,” said Baird, adding that the district would advertise in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas to alert developers to the opportunity.
“How much interest do we have?” asked member Pauline Mercado.
“I’ve had about five people who have expressed interest,” said Dannielle Pusatere, assistant superintendent of business and administrative services. She pointed out the estimated timeline in the RFQ-P packet named Jan. 5 as the response deadline in order to bring any submissions to the board by the pending Jan. 13 meeting.
Clerk Kathi Smith cautioned administration not to hurry through the application process. “I’m very concerned about having staff rush through looking at RFQs in a week,” she said. “I would much rather have administrators and attorneys comb through them. We don’t want to get stuck with something buried in the wording.” Vice President Linda Taylor agreed.
“It’s not like it’s going to be money in the hand,” said Mercado.
“We were trying to get it to the board before you start to make budget decisions,” explained Baird. “We could change the dates to whatever we want.”
According to the RFQ-P approved Tuesday, the downtown property in question is about 7.88 acres in total and OUSD would require about 1,000 square feet of building space, if developed. In addition to the administrative offices and Chaparral, the property currently houses infant and preschool centers, nutrition services, a community auditorium, garden and maintenance and transportation yards and offices. OUSD is waiting until any submission is accepted and proceeds before determining potential relocation of any department or center.
The site is currently zoned for Public-Quasi-Public Use (P-L) and surrounded by Village Mixed Use (VMU) zones to the west and north, and medium and high-density multi-family (R-2 and R-3) zones to the east and south.
The district also owns the attached site of the Park & Ride and Skate Park areas, which the city has leased through 2023. Community members, especially those involved in building a permanent skate park at the location, have voiced concerns about the future of those leases in light of the district’s development efforts.
If the plan plays out, a ground lease for a maximum of 66 years would be negotiated and any selected development team would be subject to obtaining necessary entitlements subject to approval by the city of Ojai and OUSD and state boards of education.
Lessees would be responsible for all facets of development, including any governmental issues that impact development, such as zoning, land use policies, environmental review and political or social implications of developing the sites, arranging financing for any development and all costs and risks associated with the design and construction processes.
Submission requirements are detailed as to communicating development team qualifications, approach to development, project schedule, financial and legal declarations, and district compensation. In the compensation section, OUSD specifies, “The compensation proposal must include: (1) an up-front/on contract payment at the commencement of the development process; and (2) annual ground lease rent and how rent will be calculated … The exact terms of the ground lease would be negotiated between the district and the selected responder if the necessary entitlements are obtained.”
The district also reserves the right to reject any and all submissions at its sole and absolute discretion with our without cause, change the submittal requirements, or terminate the process at any time.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Ojai Commits To Skate Park
Staff, council find common ground with Skate Ojai on costs, construction issues
By Nao Braverman
City staff and council members came together Tuesday night to mend the rift that has drawn them apart from members of Skate Ojai and local skateboarders over the past few weeks.
“We are here to build a park,” said Mayor Sue Horgan. “It will not be easy, there will be bumps in the road, but we are going to do it.”
The special City Council meeting was scheduled to clarify some misunderstandings and give council members an opportunity to respond to issues regarding the skate park that they weren’t able to address at the previous council meeting a week prior.
Difficulties arose earlier this month when city staff received an estimate for the skate park from Site Design Group that was nearly $200,000 over budget. While city staff and members of Skate Ojai have committed to working through the budget discrepancies as quickly as possible, city manager Jere Kersnar said that the skate park’s completion date would be delayed several months at the very least, until August 2009.
Kersnar admitted to members of the public Tuesday that he had seen the estimate before the design was presented to the public at the Oct. 1 Planning Commission meeting. But it was only two minutes before the meeting, so he had decided to go forward with the presentation, he said.
The Site Design Group representative who presented the design to the Planning Commission was only a junior designer at the firm, and could not answer budget questions regarding the increased costs the night of the meeting, said Kersnar.
The estimate which came in an e-mail before the meeting was $533,430 instead of the budgeted $360,000, Kersnar said. It was unclear and apparently incomplete, he added, which means that the numbers could get even higher once public art and other costs that hadn’t been included in the estimate were factored in.
“In any event we are committed to getting this back on track as soon as possible,” he said.
When city staff finally spoke with the lead designer, Kanten Russell, on Oct. 6, Russell had agreed to give the city a design which was built to budget. Kersnar said he received the rough downsized version at 5 a.m the next morning. The designer had subtracted a bank with ledges on the east side of the property, eliminated one of the main elements, shortened a half pipe and cut off two corners to make the park smaller.
“Part of the problem appears to be that too many people were giving directions to the design group,” said Kersnar. “It was a process that wasn’t being well controlled.”
Although he conceded that the firm should not have been taking directions from just anyone, he decided to direct all communication to Site Design through the city’s recreation director, Dale Summersille.
‘“I was frustrated and I do not doubt that I was curt,” said Kersnar regarding his communication with members of Skate Ojai. But he affirmed that the city’s goal was congruent with that of Skate Ojai’s, and that the park would get built, though not as quickly as staff had hoped.
City attorney Monte Widders confirmed that volunteer labor could be used for the construction of the skate park.
Public Works director Mike Culver said that he had misunderstood and mis-represented the prevailing wage requirements of the labor code, which mandate employees working on public projects be paid prevailing wage.
Widders said that an exception to the law, which allows volunteers to work for free on public projects for a government agency or (501)c3 nonprofit organizations, had been extended, and would allow volunteers to work on the skate park construction.
“It seems this opens the door in a wide way to allow volunteer labor,” said Horgan.
Sasha Wolfe, a consistent advocate for the Ojai community garden, lamented the loss of 60 percent of the existing garden to make room for the skate park.
Skate Ojai member Bob Daddi assured council members and the public that members of Skate Ojai would gladly extend a hand to Wolfe in revitalizing the garden. “There is plenty of land back there and we will be happy to volunteer and help,” he said.
At the next meeting, set for Oct. 27, city staff, members of Skate Ojai, and a City Council representative will meet with Site Design Group to review the estimate in detail and try to bring down costs.
Kersnar said that members of Skate Ojai have indicated that the estimate by Site Design Group may have been too high. Council members also agreed that the use of volunteer labor might bring down expenses.
Ojai resident Pat McPherson asked that ongoing meetings regarding the skate park be recorded, and the minutes made public on the city web site, to prevent further mis-understandings.
Kersnar was not in favor of the idea, but agreed to consider posting updates and bullet points on the city web site regarding the skate park’s progress.
By Nao Braverman
City staff and council members came together Tuesday night to mend the rift that has drawn them apart from members of Skate Ojai and local skateboarders over the past few weeks.
“We are here to build a park,” said Mayor Sue Horgan. “It will not be easy, there will be bumps in the road, but we are going to do it.”
The special City Council meeting was scheduled to clarify some misunderstandings and give council members an opportunity to respond to issues regarding the skate park that they weren’t able to address at the previous council meeting a week prior.
Difficulties arose earlier this month when city staff received an estimate for the skate park from Site Design Group that was nearly $200,000 over budget. While city staff and members of Skate Ojai have committed to working through the budget discrepancies as quickly as possible, city manager Jere Kersnar said that the skate park’s completion date would be delayed several months at the very least, until August 2009.
Kersnar admitted to members of the public Tuesday that he had seen the estimate before the design was presented to the public at the Oct. 1 Planning Commission meeting. But it was only two minutes before the meeting, so he had decided to go forward with the presentation, he said.
The Site Design Group representative who presented the design to the Planning Commission was only a junior designer at the firm, and could not answer budget questions regarding the increased costs the night of the meeting, said Kersnar.
The estimate which came in an e-mail before the meeting was $533,430 instead of the budgeted $360,000, Kersnar said. It was unclear and apparently incomplete, he added, which means that the numbers could get even higher once public art and other costs that hadn’t been included in the estimate were factored in.
“In any event we are committed to getting this back on track as soon as possible,” he said.
When city staff finally spoke with the lead designer, Kanten Russell, on Oct. 6, Russell had agreed to give the city a design which was built to budget. Kersnar said he received the rough downsized version at 5 a.m the next morning. The designer had subtracted a bank with ledges on the east side of the property, eliminated one of the main elements, shortened a half pipe and cut off two corners to make the park smaller.
“Part of the problem appears to be that too many people were giving directions to the design group,” said Kersnar. “It was a process that wasn’t being well controlled.”
Although he conceded that the firm should not have been taking directions from just anyone, he decided to direct all communication to Site Design through the city’s recreation director, Dale Summersille.
‘“I was frustrated and I do not doubt that I was curt,” said Kersnar regarding his communication with members of Skate Ojai. But he affirmed that the city’s goal was congruent with that of Skate Ojai’s, and that the park would get built, though not as quickly as staff had hoped.
City attorney Monte Widders confirmed that volunteer labor could be used for the construction of the skate park.
Public Works director Mike Culver said that he had misunderstood and mis-represented the prevailing wage requirements of the labor code, which mandate employees working on public projects be paid prevailing wage.
Widders said that an exception to the law, which allows volunteers to work for free on public projects for a government agency or (501)c3 nonprofit organizations, had been extended, and would allow volunteers to work on the skate park construction.
“It seems this opens the door in a wide way to allow volunteer labor,” said Horgan.
Sasha Wolfe, a consistent advocate for the Ojai community garden, lamented the loss of 60 percent of the existing garden to make room for the skate park.
Skate Ojai member Bob Daddi assured council members and the public that members of Skate Ojai would gladly extend a hand to Wolfe in revitalizing the garden. “There is plenty of land back there and we will be happy to volunteer and help,” he said.
At the next meeting, set for Oct. 27, city staff, members of Skate Ojai, and a City Council representative will meet with Site Design Group to review the estimate in detail and try to bring down costs.
Kersnar said that members of Skate Ojai have indicated that the estimate by Site Design Group may have been too high. Council members also agreed that the use of volunteer labor might bring down expenses.
Ojai resident Pat McPherson asked that ongoing meetings regarding the skate park be recorded, and the minutes made public on the city web site, to prevent further mis-understandings.
Kersnar was not in favor of the idea, but agreed to consider posting updates and bullet points on the city web site regarding the skate park’s progress.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
City Council Candidates Debate
From left, challengers Suza Francina, Mike Lenehan, incumbent Sue Horgan, challenger Betsy Clapp and incumbent Rae Hanstad spent more than two hours debating a wide range of Ojai-related issues.By Daryl Kelley
In spirited exchanges that revealed sharp differences, five candidates for Ojai City Council sparred Monday evening before a nearly full house at Chaparral Auditorium just 15 days before the November election.
While incumbents Sue Horgan and Rae Hanstad calmly defended the city’s performance during the last four years, challengers Betsy Clapp and Suza Francina aggressively pressed the need for change at City Hall.
A third challenger, Mike Lenehan, rarely engaged in the sharp exchanges, choosing not to “second-guess” the incumbents while stressing his own background as a coach in youth activities.
The incumbents laid out their platform of experience and collaborative problem-solving during tough financial times and noted the knowledge they had gained on numerous city and countywide boards.
They cited a list of accomplishments — new parks and community improvements and plans for more, finances allowing — even as they had struggled to replenish city budget reserves depleted by taxes lost during lengthy renovation of the Ojai Valley Inn, the city’s largest taxpayer.
Horgan said the city was in better financial shape now than the vast majority of other California municipalities.
Hanstad said she ran initially “to restore a spirit of consensus to our council,” and felt she’d been “drafted” by Ojai residents again to complete an ambitious agenda as the council attempts to balance local business and community concerns while maintaining the small-town character of Ojai.
Indeed, all of the candidates said keeping Ojai an oasis of livability and citizen involvement was a main goal.
But Clapp, in particular, took the fight to the incumbents in a wide-ranging, respectful and even-keeled forum hosted by the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Ojai Valley Board of Realtors and the Ojai Valley News.
Clapp, a small business owner, criticized the City Council for supposedly not listening to citizens, failing to implement environmentally sensitive programs and wasting money to fight a citizen initiative through a costly lawsuit.
“I believe Ojai needs change, and I believe I can help bring that change,” Clapp said in her opening statement. “Our current city government is not doing enough …”
Horgan, who responded most often to Clapp’s criticisms, said the City Council had done a good job pulling the municipal government out of a financial mess in recent years. She and Hanstad both said their response to financial crisis, which saw city budget reserves fall from $4 million to nothing, was their proudest accomplishment in the two full terms they’ve served on the council.
“You can be sure my position was arrived at after careful consideration,” Horgan, a former business banker, said in her opening statement, describing her decision-making process in general. “We need the steady hand and balanced approach that I bring.”
Typical of the exchanges were answers to a moderator’s question to incumbents about what decisions they regret most and of which they are most proud. Conversely, the challengers were asked what City Council decision they disagreed with most and to cite one they agreed with.
Francina, a former mayor, yoga instructor and author, rapped the council for approving a 2006 lawsuit in support of the city attorney’s decision not to place on the city ballot two citizen’s initiatives he found too vague to be constitutional. The ensuing legal battle, in which the city prevailed on appeal this week, has now cost taxpayers almost $100,000 (see accompanying story).
“It’s a huge waste of money and sends the wrong message to Ojai’s citizen activists,” Francina said.
In turn, Clapp blasted the city for not accepting activist Jeff Furchtenicht’s offer to withdraw his own suit challenging the rejection if the council would put the two measures on the council agenda for discussion.
The proposed initiatives were in favor of affordable housing and against chain stores, both issues addressed this year by the council. The council restricted chain stores in the downtown core and is now considering what to do about a state mandate that the city provide more affordable housing.
“It’s horrible to sue a private citizen,” Clapp said. “(Furchtenicht) was reaching out the olive branch.”
In response, Horgan explained that city attorney Monte Widders could not legally prepare the initiatives for the ballot because they were unconstitutional, and since Furchtenicht refused to withdraw them, Widders had to sue to protect the city’s legal position. Now, the state appellate court has found the form of the initiative petitions “unconstitutional on its face,” Horgan said.
But when a questioner from the overflow audience asked whether the candidates would vote to fight the lawsuit further if the American Civil Liberties Union appeals to the state Supreme Court on behalf of Furchtenicht, both Horgan and Hanstad said they would not.
Clapp and Francina also criticized the incumbents for not doing more to implement a plan Francina helped draft while on the council nearly a decade ago to encourage bicycle riding in Ojai instead of driving.
“Where’s our bike plan developed 10 years ago?” said Clapp. “It’s gathering dust somewhere in City Hall.” That’s true, she said, even after a $22,000 rewrite of the plan two years ago by a consultant. Fifty bike racks purchased by the city remain in storage, she said.
But Hanstad and Horgan said they had served the city well, tackling complex issues in a productive four years since they ran unopposed.
Just this year they approved a “Roadmap to a Sustainable Ojai,” embracing the broad guidelines of an emerging worldwide movement and a new Ojai Valley Green Coalition, while also pledging funds for a new skate park for local youth and a successful grass-roots effort to limit the number of gravel trucks that use state Highway 33 through Ojai.
The council has also begun planning a $3-million, public-private effort to rebuild Libbey Bowl, a centerpiece of the city, they said.
“The list (of council accomplishments) is huge for a city this small,” Horgan said.
Clapp said a current dispute over skate park construction, and whether it should be a $350,000 project or cost $550,000 with add-ons, shows “how broken down the communication is” between the city and the community, which led fundraising for the skate park.
But Hanstad said the fact that Horgan, as mayor, had called last night’s special council meeting to discuss the issue showed how responsive the city is to community concerns.
In answers to other questions, the candidates expressed diverse opinions.
When asked whether a fully staffed visitors’ center should be in place to support tourism, the city’s largest revenue producer, the candidates said they supported such a center. The center is staffed by volunteers now, and not open every day. But Horgan and Hanstad opposed dedicating a portion of the city’s hotel-motel bed tax to that effort. And both said they’d worked with business leaders in recent months to piece together a coherent plan to bring tourists to town.
But Francina and Clapp noted that the city had withdrawn money it had once given to the Chamber of Commerce to support the center.
“Why is it that our visitors’ center closed down?” Francina asked. But she also said, “It’s a mistake to put all of our eggs in the tourism basket.”
Clapp said the city needs a fully staffed visitors’ center since 28 percent of its revenue comes from tourism.
Horgan said the city did not close the visitor’s center by withdrawing financial support for it during tough times. They stop funding the chamber for providing visitor services.
“When we had a financial crisis we cut funding to many entities,” Hanstad explained.
But the council, with the city now flush with a surplus each year, hopes to restore some of that support, including funds for a visitors’ center, she said.
The city’s annual budget surplus is more than $500,000 out of a budget of about $8 million, but an emergency reserve of $4 million has not been fully restored yet. It was that reserve, Horgan noted, that carried the city through tough times during the Ojai Valley Inn’s lengthy expansion and restoration.
Lenehan said the other candidates had all made “great points.” He noted that business operators east of Montgomery Street tell him they feel ignored by the city. “They have doubts they value much” to city officials, he said. Officials have said that East End improvements, including placing power lines underground, are part the redevelopment plan for the city.
All candidates said they thought the city was served well by the Sheriff’s Department, which functions as the local police agency, and that a local police department would cost more for less service. About one-third of the current budget goes to the sheriff’s contract, candidates said.
Lenehan, a federal investigator and Army reserve officer, said the city gets lots of costly sophisticated services from the sheriff’s contract that a small city police force could not afford — such as major crime investigation, gang suppression and emergency response. Yet, Clapp called for a police oversight committee to better involve the community in law enforcement issues.
A question about a potential conflict of interest by Jere Kersnar because he is both city manager and planning director, sparked a pointed exchange.
The incumbents said Kersnar functions in both capacities because belt-tightening eliminated the top planner’s position, but that the post might be re-established if there’s enough money in the future.
“The real issue is the city manager effectively runs the city of Ojai, because the City Council does not provide leadership …,” said Francina.
But Horgan and Hanstad said the council makes the final decisions. And the real concern about Kersnar, Horgan said, is that he may work too hard.
Clapp said city services suffer for lack of a planning director.
When asked by a member of the audience whether the city should annex surrounding neighborhoods that are now in county jurisdiction, the candidates agreed that didn’t make sense financially.
Hanstad also said there has been only “uneven” support among residents of the areas to be annexed. But she said she understood the frustration of many seeking annexation because so many issues, such as water availability and rates, overlap city boundaries.
Ojai is “a well-run city,” Horgan said. “It doesn’t make financial sense for our city to annex other property.”
But Clapp responded, “That doesn’t mean you can’t re-address things.”
Horgan agreed that issues should be reconsidered from time to time, “should something have changed. But nothing has changed” on the annexation financing issue, she said.
A Clapp recommendation that a valleywide district be formed to fund recreation programs now paid for by the city, drew support, including that of Horgan.
The candidates were asked by a member of the audience what “attitudes” made for a successful council member.
Francina said putting herself in “other’s shoes,” was a key as was in-depth research of issues. For example, she noted earlier that she’d been an expert on “sustainable communities” for more than a decade. The sustainability concept is that a society should plan its activities so they meet its needs while preserving the natural way of life, and to maintain this balance indefinitely.
Lenehan said an ability to take in a great deal of information was an important characteristic for a council member, as was understanding the need to “staff the ideas” for soundness.
Clapp said she personally offers “tremendous business skills,” and could work with others respectfully.
Horgan said always being available to constituents was important, as was an ability to listen well and respond in an analytical way to achieve consensus.
Hanstad agreed. “Most important is the ability to achieve consensus,” she said. Without that, even good ideas fall to the wayside, she said.
Monday evening’s forum was the second for City Council candidates, with another to follow at a Rotary Club of Ojai lunch on Friday before a final public discussion next Monday at 7 p.m. at Chaparral Auditorium sponsored by the Ojai Valley Green Coalition.
Judge Rules for City in Citizen Lawsuit
Furchtenicht says decision will chill initiatives
By Nao Braverman
A three judge panel in the State Court of Appeal reversed the demurrer granted to local citizen Jeff Furchtenicht in 2006, and affirmed denial of his anti-SLAPP motion against the city of Ojai on Monday.
“The appellant judges seem to say I did exactly what I was supposed to do,” said city attorney Monte Widders.
But Furchtenicht maintains that the sweeping court decision was a terrible one, that will rob the public of its right to freely propose an initiative from here on.
The dispute which began during the 2006 City Council elections, comes to surface once again in time for this year’s election debates.
The two-year-long battle began when Furchtenicht proposed two citizen’s initiatives to the city regarding chain stores and affordable housing in August 2006.
Widders declined to prepare a ballot title and summary for the initiatives, claiming that they were not submitted in the proper format, and asked him to withdraw them, rewrite them and resubmit them.
Widders had argued that the initiatives were too vague, directing the council to “consider” and take measures to address the affordability of housing, and discourage chain stores from opening downtown, instead of proposing actual legislation.
When Furchtenicht refused to withdraw the initiatives and rewrite them, Widders took him to court, stating that he needed the opinion of a judge.
In response, Furchtenicht filed a demurrer and anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion, declaring that the lawsuit was intended to obstruct his right to propose initiatives.
At the end of November 2006, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley granted Furchtenicht the demurrer on the grounds that even if the alleged complaints were true, there was no legal basis for a lawsuit. However, Riley found Widders “well within his official duties to deny Mr. Furchtenicht’s request to title and summarize the two initiatives,” according to the minutes of the hearing.
Riley also denied Furchtenicht’s SLAPP complaint. Both Furchtenicht and Widders left the courtroom believing that the decision had been made in their favor.
Furchtenicht was not pleased with the judge’s dismissal of his anti-SLAPP motion, however, and appealed that portion of the decision in early 2007, this time with the American Civil Liberties Union defending him pro bono.
ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said that the city attorney should not be able to impede in the initiative process which essentially gives citizens a voice.
In response the city asked to appeal the entire decision, not just the anti-SLAPP portion, so that the case could be reviewed in its entirety, according to city manager Jere Kersnar.
An oral argument was held on July 9, and the three judge panel issued a unanimous decision, Monday, in favor of Widders.
The written decision states that the three judge panel agreed the demurrer granted to Furchtenicht was erroneous. Since Widders did not claim the authority to make the decision himself, regarding the initiatives, but asked the opinion of a judge, he was not claiming any authority beyond his ministerial duties, according to the judges. It also adds that there is no constitutional right to place an invalid initiative on the ballot. Although characterized as ministerial, the duty to prepare a ballot title and summary requires professional skills and judgment, according to Judge Steven Perren’s written decision.
The judges accepted Widders’ claim that he could not conceive of a ballot title and summary of the initiatives that would not be misleading to voters, according to Perren’s written report.
Moreover, Perren adds that Widders was not acting on his opinion of the content of the initiatives, but the format in which they were written. Had he acted on his opinion of the content of the initiatives, that would have been unconstitutional, according to the report.
Perren also comments on Furchtenicht’s argument that if his measures were presented to the City Council prior to the 2006 election, the voters would have the opportunity to consider their council members’ positions on the issues included in his initiatives at the upcoming election.
Perren states that “if the proposed measure does not enact legislation or if it seeks to compel legislative action which the electorate has no power to compel, it should not be on the ballot.”
Ironically, the proposed initiatives and the lawsuit have been hotly debated by the council members who are running for re-election this year, and their opponents.
Councilwoman Rae Hanstad said the court decision validates the city’s position legally and logically.
Opponent candidates Suza Francina and Betsy Clapp criticized the incumbents for allowing the city to proceed with a lawsuit that has now cost taxpayers more than $93,000.
Widders maintains that he gave Furchtenicht the opportunity to avoid the lawsuit.
“I tried to negotiate with him,” said Widders. “I told him to withdraw the initiatives and resubmit them in the proper format.”
However, Furchtenicht explains that he, in turn, responded to Widders, saying that he would withdraw the initiatives if the city would have the topics he addresses in his initiatives placed on the agenda of a future council meeting. Furchtenicht says that there was no attempt to respond to his suggestion from either city staff or council members.
“I didn’t take that as a genuine offer to negotiate,” said Furchtenicht.
The topic of affordable housing has since been discussed extensively at council meetings and an ordinance regarding chain stores was passed.
“I think that indicates that we are not opposed to bringing those issues to council,” said Hanstad.
Furchtenicht said he worries that the court’s decision sets a problematic precedent. It gives the city attorney power to quell a citizen’s initiative before the public and City Council get an opportunity to see it, he explained.
“I don’t know that Widders had bad motivations or not,” he said. “But now this legislation is ripe for abuse by people who do have bad intentions.”
Furchtenicht said he was not yet sure whether the ACLU would be interested in appealing the court’s decision. Eliasberg did not return calls in time for press.
However, both incumbents said they would not vote to continue fighting the case if it were appealed.
Kersnar confirmed that the lawsuit has cost $93,000 to date and is not sure if there are additional costs for which the city has not yet been billed.
The written report states that costs on the appeal are awarded to Widders although neither Widders nor Furchtenicht are yet sure exactly how much that will be.
By Nao Braverman
A three judge panel in the State Court of Appeal reversed the demurrer granted to local citizen Jeff Furchtenicht in 2006, and affirmed denial of his anti-SLAPP motion against the city of Ojai on Monday.
“The appellant judges seem to say I did exactly what I was supposed to do,” said city attorney Monte Widders.
But Furchtenicht maintains that the sweeping court decision was a terrible one, that will rob the public of its right to freely propose an initiative from here on.
The dispute which began during the 2006 City Council elections, comes to surface once again in time for this year’s election debates.
The two-year-long battle began when Furchtenicht proposed two citizen’s initiatives to the city regarding chain stores and affordable housing in August 2006.
Widders declined to prepare a ballot title and summary for the initiatives, claiming that they were not submitted in the proper format, and asked him to withdraw them, rewrite them and resubmit them.
Widders had argued that the initiatives were too vague, directing the council to “consider” and take measures to address the affordability of housing, and discourage chain stores from opening downtown, instead of proposing actual legislation.
When Furchtenicht refused to withdraw the initiatives and rewrite them, Widders took him to court, stating that he needed the opinion of a judge.
In response, Furchtenicht filed a demurrer and anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion, declaring that the lawsuit was intended to obstruct his right to propose initiatives.
At the end of November 2006, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley granted Furchtenicht the demurrer on the grounds that even if the alleged complaints were true, there was no legal basis for a lawsuit. However, Riley found Widders “well within his official duties to deny Mr. Furchtenicht’s request to title and summarize the two initiatives,” according to the minutes of the hearing.
Riley also denied Furchtenicht’s SLAPP complaint. Both Furchtenicht and Widders left the courtroom believing that the decision had been made in their favor.
Furchtenicht was not pleased with the judge’s dismissal of his anti-SLAPP motion, however, and appealed that portion of the decision in early 2007, this time with the American Civil Liberties Union defending him pro bono.
ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said that the city attorney should not be able to impede in the initiative process which essentially gives citizens a voice.
In response the city asked to appeal the entire decision, not just the anti-SLAPP portion, so that the case could be reviewed in its entirety, according to city manager Jere Kersnar.
An oral argument was held on July 9, and the three judge panel issued a unanimous decision, Monday, in favor of Widders.
The written decision states that the three judge panel agreed the demurrer granted to Furchtenicht was erroneous. Since Widders did not claim the authority to make the decision himself, regarding the initiatives, but asked the opinion of a judge, he was not claiming any authority beyond his ministerial duties, according to the judges. It also adds that there is no constitutional right to place an invalid initiative on the ballot. Although characterized as ministerial, the duty to prepare a ballot title and summary requires professional skills and judgment, according to Judge Steven Perren’s written decision.
The judges accepted Widders’ claim that he could not conceive of a ballot title and summary of the initiatives that would not be misleading to voters, according to Perren’s written report.
Moreover, Perren adds that Widders was not acting on his opinion of the content of the initiatives, but the format in which they were written. Had he acted on his opinion of the content of the initiatives, that would have been unconstitutional, according to the report.
Perren also comments on Furchtenicht’s argument that if his measures were presented to the City Council prior to the 2006 election, the voters would have the opportunity to consider their council members’ positions on the issues included in his initiatives at the upcoming election.
Perren states that “if the proposed measure does not enact legislation or if it seeks to compel legislative action which the electorate has no power to compel, it should not be on the ballot.”
Ironically, the proposed initiatives and the lawsuit have been hotly debated by the council members who are running for re-election this year, and their opponents.
Councilwoman Rae Hanstad said the court decision validates the city’s position legally and logically.
Opponent candidates Suza Francina and Betsy Clapp criticized the incumbents for allowing the city to proceed with a lawsuit that has now cost taxpayers more than $93,000.
Widders maintains that he gave Furchtenicht the opportunity to avoid the lawsuit.
“I tried to negotiate with him,” said Widders. “I told him to withdraw the initiatives and resubmit them in the proper format.”
However, Furchtenicht explains that he, in turn, responded to Widders, saying that he would withdraw the initiatives if the city would have the topics he addresses in his initiatives placed on the agenda of a future council meeting. Furchtenicht says that there was no attempt to respond to his suggestion from either city staff or council members.
“I didn’t take that as a genuine offer to negotiate,” said Furchtenicht.
The topic of affordable housing has since been discussed extensively at council meetings and an ordinance regarding chain stores was passed.
“I think that indicates that we are not opposed to bringing those issues to council,” said Hanstad.
Furchtenicht said he worries that the court’s decision sets a problematic precedent. It gives the city attorney power to quell a citizen’s initiative before the public and City Council get an opportunity to see it, he explained.
“I don’t know that Widders had bad motivations or not,” he said. “But now this legislation is ripe for abuse by people who do have bad intentions.”
Furchtenicht said he was not yet sure whether the ACLU would be interested in appealing the court’s decision. Eliasberg did not return calls in time for press.
However, both incumbents said they would not vote to continue fighting the case if it were appealed.
Kersnar confirmed that the lawsuit has cost $93,000 to date and is not sure if there are additional costs for which the city has not yet been billed.
The written report states that costs on the appeal are awarded to Widders although neither Widders nor Furchtenicht are yet sure exactly how much that will be.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Nordhoff Suspends Seven Suspected Vandals
Police eye arrests for Oct. 3 incident at Villanova
By Sondra Murphy
Seven Nordhoff High School students were suspended this week for their involvement in Oct. 3 vandalism to Villanova Preparatory School campus. The two schools’ football teams were to play that evening for the first time in more than three decades.
Perpetrators painted Villanova’s statue of St. Thomas of Villanova, as well as offensive graffiti slogans around the school. The football field and pool were also vandalized with manure and salt.
Nordhoff administration reported that because the incidents occurred outside of school, the law is very specific about how they were able to deal with their students. Suspensions were initiated for this situation since expulsion is an option for drug, alcohol or weapon-related incidents during school hours or activities.
Not all the vandals were Nordhoff students. Both schools waited for police to investigate the incident before deciding what action to take.
The oil-based paint used has been difficult to remove from the marble statue. Villanova president, the Rev. Gregory Heidenblut, said that experts are being sought to aid in cleaning it off. So far, no product has been able to remove residual blue tint from the structure.
“I walk by that statue about 40 times a day,” said Heidenblut. “That being one of our Augustinian brothers from 500 years ago, it’s very disheartening.” Heidenblut had another company coming to Villanova Thursday to see if they could restore the statue.
The pool has returned to safe condition and was the site of an Oct. 10 water polo match between the two schools. “We have had some sporting events with Nordhoff since then, so things are looking up,” said Heidenblut. “We are letting the police do what they need to do and have not heard anything new from them.” Heidenblut said he and OUSD superintendent Tim Baird also met this week and agreed to let the police investigation continue, as needed.
Ojai Detective Steve Michalec said they will be taking the case to the district attorney’s office next week. “We’re looking at several people, mostly juveniles, to determine what arrests, if any, will be made,” he said.
By Sondra Murphy
Seven Nordhoff High School students were suspended this week for their involvement in Oct. 3 vandalism to Villanova Preparatory School campus. The two schools’ football teams were to play that evening for the first time in more than three decades.
Perpetrators painted Villanova’s statue of St. Thomas of Villanova, as well as offensive graffiti slogans around the school. The football field and pool were also vandalized with manure and salt.
Nordhoff administration reported that because the incidents occurred outside of school, the law is very specific about how they were able to deal with their students. Suspensions were initiated for this situation since expulsion is an option for drug, alcohol or weapon-related incidents during school hours or activities.
Not all the vandals were Nordhoff students. Both schools waited for police to investigate the incident before deciding what action to take.
The oil-based paint used has been difficult to remove from the marble statue. Villanova president, the Rev. Gregory Heidenblut, said that experts are being sought to aid in cleaning it off. So far, no product has been able to remove residual blue tint from the structure.
“I walk by that statue about 40 times a day,” said Heidenblut. “That being one of our Augustinian brothers from 500 years ago, it’s very disheartening.” Heidenblut had another company coming to Villanova Thursday to see if they could restore the statue.
The pool has returned to safe condition and was the site of an Oct. 10 water polo match between the two schools. “We have had some sporting events with Nordhoff since then, so things are looking up,” said Heidenblut. “We are letting the police do what they need to do and have not heard anything new from them.” Heidenblut said he and OUSD superintendent Tim Baird also met this week and agreed to let the police investigation continue, as needed.
Ojai Detective Steve Michalec said they will be taking the case to the district attorney’s office next week. “We’re looking at several people, mostly juveniles, to determine what arrests, if any, will be made,” he said.
Council To Help Fund Stop The Trucks Effort
While Diamond Rock gravel trucks slowed down for time being, new threats looming
By Nao Braverman
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting the council agreed to give financial support to the Stop the Trucks Coalition, after the a semi-victory for the citizens’ group in August.
“After this agreement has been worked out, keeping the Diamond Rock Mine’s trucks out of Ojai, it has been pretty clear to me that whatever this group did, they did it successfully,” said Mayor Sue Horgan.
The recent legal settlement granted to the coalition, preventing the Diamond Rock Mine from sending gravel trucks through Ojai until 2012, has given the Stop the Truck’s Coalition some respite.
But the Ozena Valley Ranch Mine’s expansion looms ahead, with many potential consequences endangering Ojai’s safety, tourist economy and quality of life, said Scott Eicher, a member of the Stop the Trucks Coalition and CEO of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The coalition members pleaded for some financial backing from the city to help them battle increased truck traffic from the Ozena Valley Ranch which is looking to expand.
So far the coalition has spent about $60,000, with $41,000 toward the settlement agreement with the owners of the Diamond Rock Mine, coalition representative Howard Smith told the council.
Council members were eager to support the committee.
“I think the Stop the Trucks Coalition has done all this work and the city has benefitted from it,” said Councilman Steve Olsen. “I think a financial thank-you would be appropriate.”
But since the city is not legally in the position to give a gift of public funds, council members have to come up with findings that demonstrate that the money will go to a legitimate public purpose. They would also have to do some work to come up with a specific amount to give the coalition, they decided.
“The coalition has spent $60,000, $41,000 on the agreement with the Diamond Rock Mine which was hugely successful,” she said. “I think giving anything up to $41,000 can be justified.”
But council members agreed that it would be wise to wait and meet again with members of Stop the Trucks to come up with a methodology for finding the exact amount the city should give the coalition, and a way to keep track of how the money is spent.
A motion was made for city staff to return to the council with a resolution to give financial support to the coalition, leaving the amount blank.
The motion passed unanimously.
In other council news, Public Works director Mike Culver announced that the department has $500,000 available to repave Ojai’s roads, $400,000 of which come from state funds and $100,000 allocated from the city’s general fund.
Vallerio Avenue was prioritized as the highest on the list of 12 out of Ojai’s 48 streets which are identified in a computerized pavement management system as the most in need of repairs.
The estimated cost to repair all the damage to Ojai’s 39 miles of paved roads would cost $8 million, according to the computer system, said Culver. The $500,000 should give them a start.
By Nao Braverman
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting the council agreed to give financial support to the Stop the Trucks Coalition, after the a semi-victory for the citizens’ group in August.
“After this agreement has been worked out, keeping the Diamond Rock Mine’s trucks out of Ojai, it has been pretty clear to me that whatever this group did, they did it successfully,” said Mayor Sue Horgan.
The recent legal settlement granted to the coalition, preventing the Diamond Rock Mine from sending gravel trucks through Ojai until 2012, has given the Stop the Truck’s Coalition some respite.
But the Ozena Valley Ranch Mine’s expansion looms ahead, with many potential consequences endangering Ojai’s safety, tourist economy and quality of life, said Scott Eicher, a member of the Stop the Trucks Coalition and CEO of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The coalition members pleaded for some financial backing from the city to help them battle increased truck traffic from the Ozena Valley Ranch which is looking to expand.
So far the coalition has spent about $60,000, with $41,000 toward the settlement agreement with the owners of the Diamond Rock Mine, coalition representative Howard Smith told the council.
Council members were eager to support the committee.
“I think the Stop the Trucks Coalition has done all this work and the city has benefitted from it,” said Councilman Steve Olsen. “I think a financial thank-you would be appropriate.”
But since the city is not legally in the position to give a gift of public funds, council members have to come up with findings that demonstrate that the money will go to a legitimate public purpose. They would also have to do some work to come up with a specific amount to give the coalition, they decided.
“The coalition has spent $60,000, $41,000 on the agreement with the Diamond Rock Mine which was hugely successful,” she said. “I think giving anything up to $41,000 can be justified.”
But council members agreed that it would be wise to wait and meet again with members of Stop the Trucks to come up with a methodology for finding the exact amount the city should give the coalition, and a way to keep track of how the money is spent.
A motion was made for city staff to return to the council with a resolution to give financial support to the coalition, leaving the amount blank.
The motion passed unanimously.
In other council news, Public Works director Mike Culver announced that the department has $500,000 available to repave Ojai’s roads, $400,000 of which come from state funds and $100,000 allocated from the city’s general fund.
Vallerio Avenue was prioritized as the highest on the list of 12 out of Ojai’s 48 streets which are identified in a computerized pavement management system as the most in need of repairs.
The estimated cost to repair all the damage to Ojai’s 39 miles of paved roads would cost $8 million, according to the computer system, said Culver. The $500,000 should give them a start.
Skaters, Council At Odds Over Park Cost
Skate park design exceeds budget by $200,000, prompting uncertainty
By Nao Braverman
Skateboarders and local citizens were disappointed and outraged to learn that the attractive skate park design presented to them at a Planning Commission meeting was probably too good to be true.
Council members and city staff confirmed at Tuesday night’s regular council meeting that the state-of-the-art park that Site Design Group presented to local skateboarders on Oct. 1, was not within budget.
While Site Design Group representatives maintain that they had created a design to meet the city and Skate Ojai’s $360,000 cap, the design that was presented at the Oct. 1 Planning Commission meeting had included some bonus features which would add up to around $200,000 more than the city and Skate Ojai had to spend.
Site Design Group’s lead designer, professional skate-boarder Kanten Russell, said in an interview that he had gotten the impression somewhere that the community was really excited about the project. He understood that Skate Ojai might be able to add some in-kind donations and raise more money in the future. Running on that notion, the firm had included some more costly elements, in case some additional funds and volunteer labor were added to the mix.
But if there were two designs presented to the Planning Commission earlier this month, as Site Design Group claims, vocal members of the public only saw one, and the more expensive one at that.
Members of Skate Ojai were miffed that they hadn’t heard about the fiscal discrepancies earlier, and had already presented the design to donors.
“Two weeks ago we were presented the design for Ojai’s skate park, and there was no talk of a problem at that meeting,” said Chet Hilgers, president of Skate Ojai. “I have an obligation to over 1,500 people who dug into their wallets for this park.”
Hilgers said he was called to a meeting early Tuesday morning where city manager Jere Kersnar instructed him not to speak to the city attorney, city council members or city staff regarding the subject until it had been scheduled for discussion.
Council members were also taken by surprise.
“You said that $350,000 would be more than enough,” said Councilwoman Carol Smith to Skate Ojai. “So I am angry, and I have no idea who OK’d this $550,000 number.”
Mayor Sue Horgan said that the City Council needed an update on the issue. However she wondered why, when members of Skate Ojai were invited to participate in a scheduled skate park discussion to be added to Tuesday’s agenda, they had refused.
Skate Ojai member Judy Gabriel explained that she was told that the meeting would be about taking elements that donors and local skaters are counting on, out of the park design.
“We don’t want to do that given the situation,” she said. “The kids and our donors have already seen this design. Now that we are in this position we are trying to see if we can get in-kind donations to build the park that was presented.”
But while Skate Ojai seems to be counting on in-kind donations in the form of volunteer labor, Horgan said she is still unsure if the city can legally accept such gifts.
The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act requires that anyone working on Public Works projects be paid no less than the prevailing wage.
But city attorney Monte Widders said that there is an exception to the law that allows volunteer laborers to work for free, for city projects, and (501) 3c nonprofit organizations, such as Skate Ojai. The only problems that might come up are if a concrete company offers to donate concrete, he said. Then the company employee who delivers the concrete would likely not be paid prevailing wage. But there are a number of ways to get around such an issue, he added. For example, the owner of the business could pour the concrete himself, and not get paid.
Horgan said she had asked Widders to prepare a written analysis of the issue so that the City Council could understand it.
Members of Skate Ojai who felt they were being accused of instigating the more expensive skate park design, argued that they had not even been invited to participate in the city’s negotiations with Site Design Group, let alone dictate the park’s price.
“The city contracted the designer, yes, Skate Ojai has been invited to some of the conversations, but we were not allowed to be involved in the contract,” said Gabriel. She added that there was nothing in the contract, drafted by city staff, that requires Site Design Group to build to the $350,000 budget.
“That is not good management,” she said.
Horgan reminded Skate Ojai that the City Council and members of the community had the same goal.
“I am sorry we are in this position and we need to find a way out because we owe it to our kids,” she said.
A special council meeting is scheduled for this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers to discuss financial issues the skate park is facing.
By Nao Braverman
Skateboarders and local citizens were disappointed and outraged to learn that the attractive skate park design presented to them at a Planning Commission meeting was probably too good to be true.
Council members and city staff confirmed at Tuesday night’s regular council meeting that the state-of-the-art park that Site Design Group presented to local skateboarders on Oct. 1, was not within budget.
While Site Design Group representatives maintain that they had created a design to meet the city and Skate Ojai’s $360,000 cap, the design that was presented at the Oct. 1 Planning Commission meeting had included some bonus features which would add up to around $200,000 more than the city and Skate Ojai had to spend.
Site Design Group’s lead designer, professional skate-boarder Kanten Russell, said in an interview that he had gotten the impression somewhere that the community was really excited about the project. He understood that Skate Ojai might be able to add some in-kind donations and raise more money in the future. Running on that notion, the firm had included some more costly elements, in case some additional funds and volunteer labor were added to the mix.
But if there were two designs presented to the Planning Commission earlier this month, as Site Design Group claims, vocal members of the public only saw one, and the more expensive one at that.
Members of Skate Ojai were miffed that they hadn’t heard about the fiscal discrepancies earlier, and had already presented the design to donors.
“Two weeks ago we were presented the design for Ojai’s skate park, and there was no talk of a problem at that meeting,” said Chet Hilgers, president of Skate Ojai. “I have an obligation to over 1,500 people who dug into their wallets for this park.”
Hilgers said he was called to a meeting early Tuesday morning where city manager Jere Kersnar instructed him not to speak to the city attorney, city council members or city staff regarding the subject until it had been scheduled for discussion.
Council members were also taken by surprise.
“You said that $350,000 would be more than enough,” said Councilwoman Carol Smith to Skate Ojai. “So I am angry, and I have no idea who OK’d this $550,000 number.”
Mayor Sue Horgan said that the City Council needed an update on the issue. However she wondered why, when members of Skate Ojai were invited to participate in a scheduled skate park discussion to be added to Tuesday’s agenda, they had refused.
Skate Ojai member Judy Gabriel explained that she was told that the meeting would be about taking elements that donors and local skaters are counting on, out of the park design.
“We don’t want to do that given the situation,” she said. “The kids and our donors have already seen this design. Now that we are in this position we are trying to see if we can get in-kind donations to build the park that was presented.”
But while Skate Ojai seems to be counting on in-kind donations in the form of volunteer labor, Horgan said she is still unsure if the city can legally accept such gifts.
The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act requires that anyone working on Public Works projects be paid no less than the prevailing wage.
But city attorney Monte Widders said that there is an exception to the law that allows volunteer laborers to work for free, for city projects, and (501) 3c nonprofit organizations, such as Skate Ojai. The only problems that might come up are if a concrete company offers to donate concrete, he said. Then the company employee who delivers the concrete would likely not be paid prevailing wage. But there are a number of ways to get around such an issue, he added. For example, the owner of the business could pour the concrete himself, and not get paid.
Horgan said she had asked Widders to prepare a written analysis of the issue so that the City Council could understand it.
Members of Skate Ojai who felt they were being accused of instigating the more expensive skate park design, argued that they had not even been invited to participate in the city’s negotiations with Site Design Group, let alone dictate the park’s price.
“The city contracted the designer, yes, Skate Ojai has been invited to some of the conversations, but we were not allowed to be involved in the contract,” said Gabriel. She added that there was nothing in the contract, drafted by city staff, that requires Site Design Group to build to the $350,000 budget.
“That is not good management,” she said.
Horgan reminded Skate Ojai that the City Council and members of the community had the same goal.
“I am sorry we are in this position and we need to find a way out because we owe it to our kids,” she said.
A special council meeting is scheduled for this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers to discuss financial issues the skate park is facing.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Two Casitas Incumbents Challenged
Two directors on Ojai Valley’s largest water supplier each face challengersBy Daryl Kelley
Two veteran directors of the Ojai Valley’s largest water district face familiar challenges this fall as they take on the same two opponents they defeated handily in 2004.
And the winners will be faced with a host of important decisions over the next four years, as the Casitas Municipal Water District decides what to do about a costly federal lawsuit, expansion of the Lake Casitas Recreation Area, boating restrictions prompted by an alien mussel and the cost of water farmers use to irrigate Ojai Valley crops.
As they seek another term on the board of directors, Jim Word and Pete Kaiser are opposed again by David Norrdin and Jeff Ketelsen, a pair of perennial candidates for elective office in Ventura County.
There are sharp contrasts between the incumbents and the challengers.
Word, a 71-year-old Ventura resident, is a retired department store manager who has served as president of several Ventura public service agencies. He is now president of the Casitas board.
Kaiser, 52, of Mira Monte, was a police officer and county employee for 34 years and now runs his own consulting firm. He, too, has been active in community service, including as a coach in Ojai youth sports. He is also a three-term director of the Ojai Valley Sanitary District.
Conversely, Norrdin, 49, stocks shelves at the same Ventura department store – JC Penney’s — that Word managed for many years. Norrdin lives in a Ventura motel. He is a self-described “political junkie,” who has run for public office nine times in the last decade, never winning more than 10 percent of the vote.
Ketelsen is a 47-year-old Mira Monte resident who occasionally works as a substitute teacher. He has also worked as an usher at Magic Mountain and was employed last summer as a “wildfire crew member” for the city of Oxnard.
With his run for the Casitas board and the Ojai Valley Sanitary District board this fall, Ketelsen has sought public office 11 times in nine years, winning only an uncontested race for the Ojai Valley Municipal Advisory Committee.
The Oak View-based Casitas district provides water for about 65,000 people and nearly 5,700 acres of farmland in the Ojai Valley and Ventura.
The district draws most of its water from Lake Casitas reservoir storage, but also has deep wells to pull water from Ojai Valley aquifers.
Word and Norrdin are vying for a directorship in a district that encompasses part of central and west Ventura. Kaiser and Ketelsen are seeking a seat that represents a swath running from Mira Monte to the Avenue area of Ventura.
A third director, Russ Baggerly of Meiners Oaks, will be returned to the board in the Nov. 4 election, because he is unopposed.
Long operated without much dissent and by the same veteran general manager, the Casitas board has become a lightning rod for debate in recent years, as newcomers have defeated long-serving board members and hired a new general manager.
Word, with 11 years experience, has straddled the old and the new.
Kaiser, with six years on the board, generally represents the new majority. He has served as the swing vote on two large issues during the last two years.
Kaiser voted with Word and longtime director Bill Hicks to continue a federal lawsuit to gain reimbursement for money spent to save the endangered steelhead trout. Last month, a federal appeals panel reversed a lower court decision and found that Casitas was entitled to payment for water it uses to run the fish ladder the federal government forced it to build and operate.
But Kaiser voted against Word and Hicks on an initial vote to ban outside boats from Lake Casitas to make sure the damaging quagga mussel would not infect the lake. The full board later voted to impose less stringent controls of boating while setting up an inspection system to keep the invasive mussel out.
Now, as the once-divided Casitas board has begun to agree more consistently on big issues, both Word and Kaiser say they’re running for another term because future decisions are so important and complicated they require seasoned directors to make them.
Chief among those decisions is how the half-century-old district can pay millions of dollars to overhaul its aging pipes, pumps, tanks, wells and reservoirs.
“I certainly have the experience to help the district try to rebuild its infrastructure, solve the issue of invasive species and hold down water rates,” Word said. “I certainly know what it takes to make the water district run efficiently.”
Word, in fact, boasts on his election ballot statement that many water district customers are paying lower rates than before. He doesn’t note the sharp increases in rates imposed by the board to irrigate cropland in the Ojai Valley.
“We’ve come together on tough issues,” Word said of the board. One big issue was imposing huge water rate increases on farmers, a move directors said they were forced to make because of state law they said requires districts to charge all customers the full cost of water delivery.
On the other hand, Norrdin said that while he thinks Word has done a good job as director, the Casitas board needs to plan better for drought by storing water in underground aquifers. He said the fact that there is no single large aquifer in the Ojai Valley in which to store water does not deter him. A foundation in India stores water in man-made aquifers, and the Ojai Valley should do the same, he said.
“The main reason I’m running is water banking,” he said. “It would cost a lot of money, of course. But it’s better than running out of water. Where do we put it? I don’t know. Where do we get the money? I don’t know. But we need to think ahead.”
When running against Word in a three-person race in 2004, Norrdin got 181 votes, while Word received 1,770. Norrdin has also run unsuccessfully for state Assembly, Ventura city council and Ventura school board and the county board of education.
In the 2004 Kaiser-Ketelsen race, Kaiser received about two-thirds of the vote in a two-person race.
Kaiser said he ought to be returned for another term because he has shown an ability to think issues through, and even to change his mind after listening to his constituents.
That occurred, he said, last year, when he first favored dropping a federal lawsuit that had already cost Casitas about $400,000 to press, but changed his mind when constituents supported continuing the suit.
Now, with an appeals panel backing his position, Kaiser said he feels vindicated.
“Our primary objective is to our local ratepayer,” he said. He said he did not believe that a Casitas victory in the case would undermine the federal Endangered Species Act, a claim of opponents to the suit, including Baggerly.. “Everyone should pay for this (fish ladder project). Not just our ratepayers. It’s a more balanced approach. This is a burden we’ll be saddled with from now on.”
Kaiser said he felt he has been a force for change. He and other board members applied pressure to change water agency general managers, he said, encouraging veteran John Johnson to retire.
Johnson had a problem cooperating with other water agencies and there were morale problems on his staff, Kaiser said.
New general manager Steve Wickstrum has solved those problems, Kaiser said.
Now, Casitas is a leader on issues such as the quagga mussel and water conservation programs, he said.
But Ketelsen, who is also running against Kaiser for a seat on the Sanitary District board, said it’s time for a change.
He said he disagreed with board decisions on the quagga mussel and on hikes to recreation fees at the lake.
“I’m running because user fees keep going up, and a lot of people didn’t like that ban on boating,” Ketelsen said.”A lot of people are still upset about the costs in that. They have businesses and they lost money on some other things out there too.
“There’s this guy, a friend of mine, and he’s not the only one, and he told me he lost money because they canceled his yearly pass (because of the quagga restrictions),” he added.
Casitas has lost recreational customers to other local lakes – Cachuma, Piru and Castaic – because of quagga restrictions that force owners to lock their boats to a trailer when not at the lake, or face a 10-day quarantine before re-entering.
“Those other lakes have been welcoming people who used to come to Lake Casitas,” Ketelsen said. “They say like, ‘look, you idiots who run Lake Casitas.’ And they put out their welcome mats.”
Word said that setting up a screening system to keep out the quagga mussel, which could do millions of dollars in damage, was a wise decision by the board, and one that is now being modeled around the state.
“We have a very dedicated board that has been able to work out most of our differences,” Word said. “We have dealt with some very tough issues very effectively.”
Stars Tee It Up For Breast Cancer Research
Celebrity Golf Classic added to event lineup for 9th annual Ojai Film Festival, Nov. 6-9
By Sondra Murphy
This year’s Ojai Film Festival has a philanthropic spin to it. Festival organizers, together with the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, will host a Celebrity Golf Classic Nov. 6. Honorary Chairman Malcolm McDowell, as well as stars from the film and music world, will participate in this kickoff event for the 2008 Film Festival set for Nov. 6 through 9.
Confirmed participating celebrities for the golf event include Bruce McGill (“W” as Bill Tenet, “Animal House”), Mickey Dolenz (of the Monkees), Ray Manzarek and Robby Kreiger (former Doors), Joanna Pakula (“Space Cowboys”), Dennis Franz (“NYPD Blue”), Bobby Herbeck and Robert Hayes (“Airplane!”).
Proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Resource Center at Community Memorial Hospital and the Ojai Film Festival (a 501 3C tax deduction).
The $275 entry fees include a day of golf, coffee, lunch, prizes, awards, cocktail reception and “Movie Under the Stars.” The shamble format begins at 9:45 a.m. with a call to cars and shotgun starts at 10 a.m.
Steve Thomas BMW has donated a car for any talented golfer who shoots a hole in one during the benefit.
The ninth annual Ojai Film Festival spools out its programs Nov. 6 through 9 at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Honorees are American sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, who gets feted on Nov. 8, while the highly acclaimed directing-producing team of Lauren Shuler Donner and Richard Donner will be honored on Nov. 7.
The Donners have asked to screen “Ladyhawke” and Bradbury asked to screen “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit,” the latter of which was never released theatrically.
Ojai’s 2008 program consisting of invited films, as well as films submitted to the festival, will give moviegoers a choice of nearly 50 films to see in addition to the special events, seminars and Golf Classic. Ojai Film Fest’s tagline is “Enriching the Human Spirit through Film,” and it’s getting noticed by the Hollywood elite — in fact, producer Peter Guber, who ran Columbia Pictures in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, announced on the stage last year at the Toronto Film Festival, “The Ojai Film Festival is becoming the next Telluride.” Telluride is considered by many to be one of the best fests in the United States.
VIP Packages are on sale now at ojaifilmfestival.com.
Golf Classic sponsorships are available. For more information, call 640-1947 or visit ojaifilmfestival.com.
By Sondra Murphy
This year’s Ojai Film Festival has a philanthropic spin to it. Festival organizers, together with the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, will host a Celebrity Golf Classic Nov. 6. Honorary Chairman Malcolm McDowell, as well as stars from the film and music world, will participate in this kickoff event for the 2008 Film Festival set for Nov. 6 through 9.
Confirmed participating celebrities for the golf event include Bruce McGill (“W” as Bill Tenet, “Animal House”), Mickey Dolenz (of the Monkees), Ray Manzarek and Robby Kreiger (former Doors), Joanna Pakula (“Space Cowboys”), Dennis Franz (“NYPD Blue”), Bobby Herbeck and Robert Hayes (“Airplane!”).
Proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Resource Center at Community Memorial Hospital and the Ojai Film Festival (a 501 3C tax deduction).
The $275 entry fees include a day of golf, coffee, lunch, prizes, awards, cocktail reception and “Movie Under the Stars.” The shamble format begins at 9:45 a.m. with a call to cars and shotgun starts at 10 a.m.
Steve Thomas BMW has donated a car for any talented golfer who shoots a hole in one during the benefit.
The ninth annual Ojai Film Festival spools out its programs Nov. 6 through 9 at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Honorees are American sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, who gets feted on Nov. 8, while the highly acclaimed directing-producing team of Lauren Shuler Donner and Richard Donner will be honored on Nov. 7.
The Donners have asked to screen “Ladyhawke” and Bradbury asked to screen “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit,” the latter of which was never released theatrically.
Ojai’s 2008 program consisting of invited films, as well as films submitted to the festival, will give moviegoers a choice of nearly 50 films to see in addition to the special events, seminars and Golf Classic. Ojai Film Fest’s tagline is “Enriching the Human Spirit through Film,” and it’s getting noticed by the Hollywood elite — in fact, producer Peter Guber, who ran Columbia Pictures in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, announced on the stage last year at the Toronto Film Festival, “The Ojai Film Festival is becoming the next Telluride.” Telluride is considered by many to be one of the best fests in the United States.
VIP Packages are on sale now at ojaifilmfestival.com.
Golf Classic sponsorships are available. For more information, call 640-1947 or visit ojaifilmfestival.com.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
City Wants Full Mallory Way EIR
Owners want to destroy 18 of 25 former motor lodge turned rental units, remove 35 healthy trees
By Nao Braverman
After substantial opposition from local residents, the city of Ojai has decided to require a full environmental impact report for the Mallory Way bungalows project, according to city planner Katrina Schmidt.
“This gives us a broader forum for the public to comment on the process and we thought that would be a good thing,” said Abe Leider, a planning consultant with Rincon Consultants, who is the project manager for the EIR. As a result the Mallory Way project won’t appear before the Planning Commission until early 2009, he said.
Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood surrounded by oak, California pepper and eucalyptus trees, the Mallory Way cottages have been among Ojai’s few moderately priced rental units for years.
Just walking distance from downtown, the modest homes, clustered together in a friendly semi-circle, were among Ojai’s best-kept secrets until about four years ago.
In 2004, a project to tear down the majority of Mallory Way rental units to make room for brand-new two-story condominiums was met with controversy at a Planning Commission meeting. The item subsequently dragged on for four years, and drew public attention to Mallory Way, especially during the 2006 City Council elections.
While some Eucalyptus Street residents applauded the suggestion of the so-called upgrade to their next door neighborhood at a 2006 Historic Preservation meeting, the majority of attendants rebuked it.
Opponents of the project cited the historical significance of the community, which was originally built as an auto court in the 1940s, with each cottage named after a racehorse. In 1997 the cottages also appeared in Oprah Winfrey’s movie, “Before Women Had Wings.”
Members of the public also raised a number of complaints about losing much-needed affordable rental units in Ojai.
The city’s initial study of the Mallory Way project states that buildings on the site could be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historic Resources and the City of Ojai Landmarks as a remnant of the post-war automobile tourism era in Ojai. Those impacts will be studied further in the EIR, according to the initial study.
Pat Doerner, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, said that commissioners had decided in 2006 that the Mallory Way cottages had veered far from the motor court that was built in the 1940s. They had been turned into family homes and the swimming pool that was once part of the motor court had since been filled with cement. If it had been declared a historic landmark long ago, it would have been protected. But since it hadn’t, some pictures of the cottages for the Ojai Valley Museum would suffice.
Jeffrey Becker of the Matilija Investment Group said that an exhibit will be created for the Ojai Valley Museum, not only telling the story of the Mallory Way Motor Court, but also of post-World War II tourism in the Ojai Valley. In addition, the group is preserving and restoring six of the cottages, and adding an onsite commemoration plaque and garden area telling the history of the site.
As to the loss of affordable housing, city manager Jere Kersnar stated in an interview in July that while the existing units are often referred to as affordable housing, many of them are studios that are listed at higher than the affordable bracket.
Matilija Investment Property LLC, the ownership group, has proposed to destroy 18 of the 25 existing rental units and construct 23 new units in their place, with the result of the 30 total homes in the proposed Mallory Way community.
While the unofficial affordable rentals will be destroyed, the owners plan to provide seven affordable units, two for moderate-income tenants, and five designated as affordable housing for very-low-income occupants. Those seven are not only considered a sufficient replacement, but also grant the applicants a density bonus for making 24 percent of the housing units affordable, according to the initial study. With that density bonus, they are allowed to build two more housing units than the city’s general plan normally allows in the 3.58-acre Mallory Way property.
The recent study has also raised some concern about the project because it calls to remove 49 of the 88 trees at the site. While 14 of them were found to be unhealthy or unsafe by the consulting arborist, Paul Rogers, 35 of them are healthy trees to be removed to make room for the development. Of those 35, 11 are Ojai’s cherished oak trees. According to the trunk diameters of those oaks which range from about 5 to 19 inches, the trees probably range from around 4 to 40 years old according to Mark Crane of Mark Crane’s Tree and Arborist services in Ojai.
The applicants propose to plant 116 new trees as a mitigation measure, 34 of which are native oaks, according to Becker. But Crane said that volunteer trees are much more likely to survive than those that are grown in a nursery. Trees that have sprouted from acorns have survived natural selection and tend to survive well without human interference, he said.
The initial study of the proposed project also notes that while the site has not been officially identified as a migration corridor, a concentration of birds have been seen around Mallory Way. The EIR will further analyze the impact that removing the trees would have on other wildlife species, according to the study.
Rincon Consultants is currently accepting comments from the public for the EIR for the Mallory Way Bungalow project until 5 p.m. on Nov. 3. Comments can be mailed to Schmidt at the Community Development Department, 401 S. Ventura St., e-mailed to schmidt@ci.ojai.ca.us or faxed to the city at 640-1136. For more information call the City Planning and Community Development Department at 640-2555.Members of the public also raised a number of complaints about losing much-needed affordable rental units in Ojai.
The city’s initial study of the Mallory Way project states that buildings on the site could be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historic Resources and the City of Ojai Landmarks as a remnant of the post-war automobile tourism era in Ojai. Those impacts will be studied further in the EIR, according to the initial study.
Pat Doerner, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, said that commissioners had decided in 2006 that the Mallory Way cottages had veered far from the motor court that was built in the 1940s. They had been turned into family homes and the swimming pool that was once part of the motor court had since been filled with cement. If it had been declared a historic landmark long ago, it would have been protected. But since it hadn’t, some pictures of the cottages for the Ojai Valley Museum would suffice.
Jeffrey Becker of the Matilija Investment Group said that an exhibit will be created for the Ojai Valley Museum, not only telling the story of the Mallory Way Motor Court, but also of post-World War II tourism in the Ojai Valley. In addition, the group is preserving and restoring six of the cottages, and adding an onsite commemoration plaque and garden area telling the history of the site.
As to the loss of affordable housing, city manager Jere Kersnar stated in an interview in July that while the existing units are often referred to as affordable housing, many of them are studios that are listed at higher than the affordable bracket.
Matilija Investment Property LLC, the ownership group, has proposed to destroy 18 of the 25 existing rental units and construct 23 new units in their place, with the result of 30 total homes in the proposed Mallory Way community.
While the unofficial affordable rentals will be destroyed, the owners plan to provide seven affordable units, two for moderate-income tenants, and five designated as affordable housing for very-low-income occupants. Those seven are not only considered a sufficient replacement, but also grant the applicants a density bonus for making 24 percent of the housing units affordable, according to the initial study. With that density bonus, they are allowed to build two more housing units than the city’s general plan normally allows in the 3.58-acre Mallory Way property.
The recent study has also raised some concern about the project because it calls to remove 49 of the 88 trees at the site. While 14 of them were found to be unhealthy or unsafe by the consulting arborist, Paul Rogers, 35 of them are healthy trees to be removed to make room for the development. Of those 35, 11 are Ojai’s cherished oak trees. According to the trunk diameters of those oaks which range from about 5 to 19 inches, the trees probably range from around 4 to 40 years old according to Mark Crane of Mark Crane’s Tree and Arborist services in Ojai.
The applicants propose to plant 116 new trees as a mitigation measure, 34 of which are native oaks, according to Becker. But Crane said that volunteer trees are much more likely to survive than those that are grown in a nursery. Trees that have sprouted from acorns have survived natural selection and tend to survive well without human interference, he said.
The initial study of the proposed project also notes that while the site has not been officially identified as a migration corridor, a concentration of birds have been seen around Mallory Way. The EIR will further analyze the impact that removing the trees would have on other wildlife species, according to the study.
Rincon Consultants is currently accepting comments from the public for the EIR for the Mallory Way bungalow project until 5 p.m. on Nov. 3. Comments can be mailed to Schmidt at the Community Development Department, 401 S. Ventura St., e-mailed to schmidt@ci.ojai.ca.us or faxed to the city at 640-1136. For more information call the City Planning and Community Development Department at 640-2555.
By Nao Braverman
After substantial opposition from local residents, the city of Ojai has decided to require a full environmental impact report for the Mallory Way bungalows project, according to city planner Katrina Schmidt.
“This gives us a broader forum for the public to comment on the process and we thought that would be a good thing,” said Abe Leider, a planning consultant with Rincon Consultants, who is the project manager for the EIR. As a result the Mallory Way project won’t appear before the Planning Commission until early 2009, he said.
Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood surrounded by oak, California pepper and eucalyptus trees, the Mallory Way cottages have been among Ojai’s few moderately priced rental units for years.
Just walking distance from downtown, the modest homes, clustered together in a friendly semi-circle, were among Ojai’s best-kept secrets until about four years ago.
In 2004, a project to tear down the majority of Mallory Way rental units to make room for brand-new two-story condominiums was met with controversy at a Planning Commission meeting. The item subsequently dragged on for four years, and drew public attention to Mallory Way, especially during the 2006 City Council elections.
While some Eucalyptus Street residents applauded the suggestion of the so-called upgrade to their next door neighborhood at a 2006 Historic Preservation meeting, the majority of attendants rebuked it.
Opponents of the project cited the historical significance of the community, which was originally built as an auto court in the 1940s, with each cottage named after a racehorse. In 1997 the cottages also appeared in Oprah Winfrey’s movie, “Before Women Had Wings.”
Members of the public also raised a number of complaints about losing much-needed affordable rental units in Ojai.
The city’s initial study of the Mallory Way project states that buildings on the site could be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historic Resources and the City of Ojai Landmarks as a remnant of the post-war automobile tourism era in Ojai. Those impacts will be studied further in the EIR, according to the initial study.
Pat Doerner, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, said that commissioners had decided in 2006 that the Mallory Way cottages had veered far from the motor court that was built in the 1940s. They had been turned into family homes and the swimming pool that was once part of the motor court had since been filled with cement. If it had been declared a historic landmark long ago, it would have been protected. But since it hadn’t, some pictures of the cottages for the Ojai Valley Museum would suffice.
Jeffrey Becker of the Matilija Investment Group said that an exhibit will be created for the Ojai Valley Museum, not only telling the story of the Mallory Way Motor Court, but also of post-World War II tourism in the Ojai Valley. In addition, the group is preserving and restoring six of the cottages, and adding an onsite commemoration plaque and garden area telling the history of the site.
As to the loss of affordable housing, city manager Jere Kersnar stated in an interview in July that while the existing units are often referred to as affordable housing, many of them are studios that are listed at higher than the affordable bracket.
Matilija Investment Property LLC, the ownership group, has proposed to destroy 18 of the 25 existing rental units and construct 23 new units in their place, with the result of the 30 total homes in the proposed Mallory Way community.
While the unofficial affordable rentals will be destroyed, the owners plan to provide seven affordable units, two for moderate-income tenants, and five designated as affordable housing for very-low-income occupants. Those seven are not only considered a sufficient replacement, but also grant the applicants a density bonus for making 24 percent of the housing units affordable, according to the initial study. With that density bonus, they are allowed to build two more housing units than the city’s general plan normally allows in the 3.58-acre Mallory Way property.
The recent study has also raised some concern about the project because it calls to remove 49 of the 88 trees at the site. While 14 of them were found to be unhealthy or unsafe by the consulting arborist, Paul Rogers, 35 of them are healthy trees to be removed to make room for the development. Of those 35, 11 are Ojai’s cherished oak trees. According to the trunk diameters of those oaks which range from about 5 to 19 inches, the trees probably range from around 4 to 40 years old according to Mark Crane of Mark Crane’s Tree and Arborist services in Ojai.
The applicants propose to plant 116 new trees as a mitigation measure, 34 of which are native oaks, according to Becker. But Crane said that volunteer trees are much more likely to survive than those that are grown in a nursery. Trees that have sprouted from acorns have survived natural selection and tend to survive well without human interference, he said.
The initial study of the proposed project also notes that while the site has not been officially identified as a migration corridor, a concentration of birds have been seen around Mallory Way. The EIR will further analyze the impact that removing the trees would have on other wildlife species, according to the study.
Rincon Consultants is currently accepting comments from the public for the EIR for the Mallory Way Bungalow project until 5 p.m. on Nov. 3. Comments can be mailed to Schmidt at the Community Development Department, 401 S. Ventura St., e-mailed to schmidt@ci.ojai.ca.us or faxed to the city at 640-1136. For more information call the City Planning and Community Development Department at 640-2555.Members of the public also raised a number of complaints about losing much-needed affordable rental units in Ojai.
The city’s initial study of the Mallory Way project states that buildings on the site could be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historic Resources and the City of Ojai Landmarks as a remnant of the post-war automobile tourism era in Ojai. Those impacts will be studied further in the EIR, according to the initial study.
Pat Doerner, chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, said that commissioners had decided in 2006 that the Mallory Way cottages had veered far from the motor court that was built in the 1940s. They had been turned into family homes and the swimming pool that was once part of the motor court had since been filled with cement. If it had been declared a historic landmark long ago, it would have been protected. But since it hadn’t, some pictures of the cottages for the Ojai Valley Museum would suffice.
Jeffrey Becker of the Matilija Investment Group said that an exhibit will be created for the Ojai Valley Museum, not only telling the story of the Mallory Way Motor Court, but also of post-World War II tourism in the Ojai Valley. In addition, the group is preserving and restoring six of the cottages, and adding an onsite commemoration plaque and garden area telling the history of the site.
As to the loss of affordable housing, city manager Jere Kersnar stated in an interview in July that while the existing units are often referred to as affordable housing, many of them are studios that are listed at higher than the affordable bracket.
Matilija Investment Property LLC, the ownership group, has proposed to destroy 18 of the 25 existing rental units and construct 23 new units in their place, with the result of 30 total homes in the proposed Mallory Way community.
While the unofficial affordable rentals will be destroyed, the owners plan to provide seven affordable units, two for moderate-income tenants, and five designated as affordable housing for very-low-income occupants. Those seven are not only considered a sufficient replacement, but also grant the applicants a density bonus for making 24 percent of the housing units affordable, according to the initial study. With that density bonus, they are allowed to build two more housing units than the city’s general plan normally allows in the 3.58-acre Mallory Way property.
The recent study has also raised some concern about the project because it calls to remove 49 of the 88 trees at the site. While 14 of them were found to be unhealthy or unsafe by the consulting arborist, Paul Rogers, 35 of them are healthy trees to be removed to make room for the development. Of those 35, 11 are Ojai’s cherished oak trees. According to the trunk diameters of those oaks which range from about 5 to 19 inches, the trees probably range from around 4 to 40 years old according to Mark Crane of Mark Crane’s Tree and Arborist services in Ojai.
The applicants propose to plant 116 new trees as a mitigation measure, 34 of which are native oaks, according to Becker. But Crane said that volunteer trees are much more likely to survive than those that are grown in a nursery. Trees that have sprouted from acorns have survived natural selection and tend to survive well without human interference, he said.
The initial study of the proposed project also notes that while the site has not been officially identified as a migration corridor, a concentration of birds have been seen around Mallory Way. The EIR will further analyze the impact that removing the trees would have on other wildlife species, according to the study.
Rincon Consultants is currently accepting comments from the public for the EIR for the Mallory Way bungalow project until 5 p.m. on Nov. 3. Comments can be mailed to Schmidt at the Community Development Department, 401 S. Ventura St., e-mailed to schmidt@ci.ojai.ca.us or faxed to the city at 640-1136. For more information call the City Planning and Community Development Department at 640-2555.
Seized Horses Strain Humane Society
Three family members arrested on suspicion of cruelty to animalsBy Sondra Murphy
After acquiring 14 horses in late September from a Lockwood Valley ranch, trepidation over the safety of the remainder of the animals compelled officials to return with a search warrant Wednesday.
“The Ventura County Humane Society was very concerned about the remaining horses,” said spokeswoman Kathleen Kaiser. “When the sheriffs arrived, they found an additional 38 neglected horses, as well as carcasses of dead horses in the nearby forest.” Of the original 14, one mare has died.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Ross Bonfiglio, deputies served the search warrant as part of an ongoing investigation and made three arrests in a cruelty to animals case involving malnourished and emaciated horses on a 21-acre Lockwood Valley ranch.
The joint operation included the use of four veterinarians as well as members of the U.S. Forest Service, Ventura County Animal Regulation, the Ventura County Humane Society, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Emergency Evacuation Rescue Team, and several volunteers.
During the search of Cochema Ranch, located in the 16,000 block of the Curtis Trail, deputies recovered evidence and arrested Ernie, Joan and Cecelia Bor. They were arrested on suspicion of numerous counts of felony cruelty to animals, according to Deputy Bill Hollowell of the Lockwood Valley Station and each has posted $10,000 bail. After an assessment of the animals, 38 more horses were deemed to need off-site care. Some were voluntarily relinquished by ranch owners and others were impounded by the Humane Society. The remaining 57 horses were left at the ranch and the area was designated as a temporary animal shelter with those horses held under the care of Ventura County Department of Animal Regulation until the ranch owners returned Thursday. According to director Kathy Jenks, the care of the remaining horses will be closely monitored.
Shelter officials estimated that it would take a minimum of $100,000 to bring the horses back to health. “We have 38 new horses on shelter grounds right now,” said director Jolene Hoffman at the Ojai shelter. “There are a lot of pregnant mares and we’ll have to put together more piping to secure them. We’ll also need horse shelters and funds to provide veterinary care and food.”
The time factor for recovery is a significant part of the cost. “This could be six to nine months of trying to get these horse back to health. The weight goes off fast, but you have to be careful about putting it back on to avoid colic,” said Hoffman. The shelter also must take care in how they supply the corrals, avoiding shavings or hay bedding usually provided. “When they’re starving, horses are going to eat anything they can get.” Hoffman said they also need manure scoopers known as “apple pickers,” large wheelbarrows and large water containers able to hold about 500 gallons.
Kaiser added that the Human Society property has the space to accommodate the horses, but pipe corral and supplies would be needed to tend to the animals. “We usually board horses, like in cases of fire, and take care of them until we can evacuate them out, but we’ve got to keep these now.”
The cost will create a burden on the Humane Society, which relies completely on public donations for the services it provides. “We really need the support of horse lovers and horse groups in the area to get their help,” said Kaiser. Due to the wild nature of the rescued horses, the shelter will not be able to use volunteers during the rehabilitation of the animals.
The horses had grown feral and proved hazardous to round up. “When you’re dealing with starving horses that have not had proper care, it becomes very dangerous,” said Hoffman. “All of a sudden, this head mare shifted and came so fast that a forestry officer was hit full on and she went down. All of us are absolutely devastated. She’s a great lady and we were standing right next to her when it happened. The Sheriff’s Department officers were incredible, the way they took care of her.”
Injured was Heather Campbell, Forest Service special agent, who was airlifted to Ventura County Medical Center. Campbell, who serves the Pacific Southwest Region and is assigned to Los Padres National Forest, was knocked to the ground and suffered a head injury during the incident. “She is in stable condition and is most likely going to be in the hospital for several days while being evaluated,” said Kathy Good, Forest Service public affairs officer. “Heather is a character and a lovely person.”
Despite Campbell’s injury and the sad state of the horses, Hoffman was pleased with the dedicated group effort of so many agencies in the rescue. “It was incredible working with such a great group,” said Hoffman. “(Ojai Police Chief) Chris Dunn was there too. We are very, very fortunate here in Ojai to work with him.”
For more information about assisting the Ventura County Humane Society with this horse rehabilitation effort, call the shelter at 646-6505.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Extensive Vandalism Found At Villanova Prep
Suspects named, arrests expected soonBy Sondra Murphy
Renewing a football rivalry can be good for a small town like Ojai, but the return of Villanova vs. Nordhoff competition has also brought out an unpleasant side in a few people.
Vandalism against Villanova Preparatory School's quiet campus in the early hours Friday morning has the valley talking about the spray painting of a statue of St. Thomas and other destructions perpetrated. Extensive graffiti insults referenced NHS and the football game and Villanova's pool and football field were also damaged.
Sheriff's Detective Mark Burgess said Monday that, contrary to rumors circulating throughout the community, the FBI is not involved in the investigation and it is not considered to be a hate crime. As many as eight suspects have been identified as participants in the vandalism and will be interviewed later this week. Details were not released pending inquiry.
"We were investigating the whole thing on Friday," said Nordhoff High School assistant principal Susana Arce on Tuesday. "We're letting the police take the lead because it is a criminal investigation. Today, the detectives are on the way up from Ventura. We do intend to see that justice is done. No one is trying to sweep anything under the rug. The school will act appropriately."
Burgess said Villanova officials would determine what legal action is pursued. "It will depend on what the prosecution wants," said Burgess. "We want to investigate kids who are possibly involved and see what their part is and then see what Villanova wants to do."
Materials used in the vandalism were salt, manure, bleach and paint — -notably Nordhoff's colors of blue and gold. Most everything had been cleaned up by Monday and no permanent property damage was reported.
"We were appalled by what we saw and ashamed that anyone from Nordhoff was involved in this," said Arce. "I can tell you there are some very ashamed students and parents. We talk to the kids about pranks, especially around the end of the year. We tell them things that start off as kind of a joke can end up being very damaging. This is really ugly."
The disappointingly puerile incident taints an otherwise healthy competition that culminated in the first cross-town football game in 33 years and brought the community together at Ojai Valley Community Stadium to root for their teams.
The type of paint used on the statue is proving troublesome to remove. "It looks like they used an oil-based paint that leached into the marble of the statue and the blue tinted into the marble," said the Rev. Gregory Heidenblut, Villanova president. "It's just a statue, but to us it's very special. It could be compared to how we might feel if someone desecrated a statue of Abraham Lincoln."
Nordhoff's athletic director contacted Villanova Friday offering help in cleaning up the mess but, according to Arce, was told the Villanova campus staff had the cleanup under control. "It was a gesture of good will," Arce said.
Heidenblut said that they were initially most concerned with the safety of students in light of the graffiti subject matter. Particularly upsetting to the Villanova population were the sacrilegious comments left about Jesus Christ and Jews. "If someone is capable of doing this, are they also capable of doing violence to our students?"
Security had been arranged for the 131-acre Villanova campus and school officials are looking into what broke down. Heidenblut said that they, too, are waiting for police to finish their investigations before deciding what action they would like to pursue. "On Friday, when we talked with our students, our headmaster handled this very well. We prayed for the students, faculty and families to start a healing process. The whole community is affected by this unfortunate incident."
Still, Heidenblut is optimistic. "From the first minute, the olive branch was there between (Nordhoff principal) Mr. Musick and me," said Heidenblut. "We're thinking of ways to put this behind us now and how students can learn from this experience. I truly believe that good will come out of this. I hope that this will be a thing past and Ojai will never experience this kind of thing again."
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Gypsy Moth Threat Seen In Ojai
Inspectors step up hunt for feared pest, seven found in Ojai Valley so far
By Daryl Kelley
State inspectors began this week a survey of the Ojai Valley to determine the extent of a summer infestation of gypsy moths, a pest that can devastate oaks and other hardwood trees, officials said.
Seven alien gypsy moths, apparent hitchhikers on recreational vehicles from the northeastern United States, were discovered in traps north of Baldwin Road between June 17 and July 22, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
No more have been found since, officials said.
But the summer catch was serious enough to prompt this fall’s survey to find out if gypsy moths are laying eggs locally, then to kill them before the resulting baby caterpillars eat many times their weight in leaves.
Since the summer discoveries, the number of traps in the four-square-mile area around the catches has been increased from 14 to 144, said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the Department of Food and Agriculture. The state usually maintains two traps per square mile in the Ojai Valley, he said.
In addition, there will be 10 state inspectors assigned to the survey, he said.
A single gypsy moth caterpillar can eat 1 square foot of leaves every day, experts say. And they have wrought devastation on vast swaths of woodland of the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes regions since migrating from Europe in the 1800s.
Once a tree is repeatedly defoliated, it is susceptible to disease, and often dies.
Two gypsy moths were discovered in Meiners Oaks in 2000, and eradicated by the state before establishing a permanent population. Four more were discovered in the Ojai Valley last year, Lyle said.
“It is important to detect and eradicate gypsy moth infestations while the population is still small,” says a Food and Agriculture flier announcing the survey that was recently sent to local residents.
“If a larger infestation were to develop in Ojai,” the flier says, “the gypsy moth caterpillars would threaten oaks in this region as well as other hardwoods, evergreens, man-zanita, cottonwood, willow and others.
It is also a threat to forests and agri-cultural crops such as fruit trees.”
Generally, however, gypsy moths are not a big problem for farmers in California, said Susan Johnson, Ventura County’s chief deputy agricultural commission. So far, every outbreak of gypsy moth infestation in this state has been eradicated, state officials said.
“It’s not an agricultural pest, it’s a pest of open spaces and viewsheds,” Johnson said. “It infests oaks and hardwood trees.”
Masses of eggs, appearing as buff-colored felt, are found on trees and on transportable items such as RVs, outdoor play equipment, barbecues and campers, according to state officials.
New infestations are primarily caused when these items are moved from infested areas such as the eastern United States, where millions of gypsy moths strip broad stands of trees and bushes each year.
The moth threat has prompted concern among local landowners, such as the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, which oversees more than 1,930 acres of open space.
“It’s definitely worrisome,” said Stevie Adams, a biologist who is project manager for the conservancy. “One reason these non-native invasive species are so successful is that other local plants and animals haven’t evolved to compete with them.”
Still, at this point, the number of moths discovered — and the fact that none has been found recently — indicates that they’re “still controllable,” Adams said. “But if something isn’t done to make sure they don’t establish a population here, then we’re very concerned.”
That’s because the moths tend to target the very types of native trees the conservancy is spending its time and money trying to restore.
The state is moving on the problem. Adams said she was contacted early this week by Food and Agriculture inspectors asking permission to inspect for moths on conservancy property along the Ventura River north of Baldwin Road.
“We really hope everyone gives them permission to do that,” she said.
If they’re still around, gypsy moths should be laying their eggs right now on trees and on “almost any outdoor object,” according to the state flier.
The eggs are laid in masses that are light yellow-orange in color, often on the bark of trees. Any sighting should be reported to a state pest hot line at (800) 491-1899, officials said.
“What will determine if there’s a breeding population is the egg mass survey,” said Johnson of the county agricultural commis-sioner’s office. “They lay their eggs right now and they generally hatch in the summer.”
If a population of moths is found, it can be attacked with an organic insecticide, she said.
“That is the standard if you have a breeding population,” she said.
Also, a quarantine may be established against the gypsy moths, Johnson said. That would amount to inspecting motor homes at the California border if they are arriving from infected areas, she said. And local inspectors would follow up in Ventura County to make sure none of the pests remain on the vehicles or equipment that were in infected regions. Those areas stretch from Maine to Wisconsin to Virginia.
“They may do visual inspections on mobile homes and patio furniture,” Johnson said.
If 10 moths or more are found in a breeding season in one area — such as the Ojai Valley — and there is evidence that the moth population is growing, a quarantine may be imposed, said the state’s Lyle.
In the Ojai Valley, as inspectors call for permission to scan local property, they will be armed with government identification, officials said.
“Property owners will be notified in advance,” the Food and Agriculture flier said. And they were this week.
By Daryl Kelley
State inspectors began this week a survey of the Ojai Valley to determine the extent of a summer infestation of gypsy moths, a pest that can devastate oaks and other hardwood trees, officials said.
Seven alien gypsy moths, apparent hitchhikers on recreational vehicles from the northeastern United States, were discovered in traps north of Baldwin Road between June 17 and July 22, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture.
No more have been found since, officials said.
But the summer catch was serious enough to prompt this fall’s survey to find out if gypsy moths are laying eggs locally, then to kill them before the resulting baby caterpillars eat many times their weight in leaves.
Since the summer discoveries, the number of traps in the four-square-mile area around the catches has been increased from 14 to 144, said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the Department of Food and Agriculture. The state usually maintains two traps per square mile in the Ojai Valley, he said.
In addition, there will be 10 state inspectors assigned to the survey, he said.
A single gypsy moth caterpillar can eat 1 square foot of leaves every day, experts say. And they have wrought devastation on vast swaths of woodland of the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes regions since migrating from Europe in the 1800s.
Once a tree is repeatedly defoliated, it is susceptible to disease, and often dies.
Two gypsy moths were discovered in Meiners Oaks in 2000, and eradicated by the state before establishing a permanent population. Four more were discovered in the Ojai Valley last year, Lyle said.
“It is important to detect and eradicate gypsy moth infestations while the population is still small,” says a Food and Agriculture flier announcing the survey that was recently sent to local residents.
“If a larger infestation were to develop in Ojai,” the flier says, “the gypsy moth caterpillars would threaten oaks in this region as well as other hardwoods, evergreens, man-zanita, cottonwood, willow and others.
It is also a threat to forests and agri-cultural crops such as fruit trees.”
Generally, however, gypsy moths are not a big problem for farmers in California, said Susan Johnson, Ventura County’s chief deputy agricultural commission. So far, every outbreak of gypsy moth infestation in this state has been eradicated, state officials said.
“It’s not an agricultural pest, it’s a pest of open spaces and viewsheds,” Johnson said. “It infests oaks and hardwood trees.”
Masses of eggs, appearing as buff-colored felt, are found on trees and on transportable items such as RVs, outdoor play equipment, barbecues and campers, according to state officials.
New infestations are primarily caused when these items are moved from infested areas such as the eastern United States, where millions of gypsy moths strip broad stands of trees and bushes each year.
The moth threat has prompted concern among local landowners, such as the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, which oversees more than 1,930 acres of open space.
“It’s definitely worrisome,” said Stevie Adams, a biologist who is project manager for the conservancy. “One reason these non-native invasive species are so successful is that other local plants and animals haven’t evolved to compete with them.”
Still, at this point, the number of moths discovered — and the fact that none has been found recently — indicates that they’re “still controllable,” Adams said. “But if something isn’t done to make sure they don’t establish a population here, then we’re very concerned.”
That’s because the moths tend to target the very types of native trees the conservancy is spending its time and money trying to restore.
The state is moving on the problem. Adams said she was contacted early this week by Food and Agriculture inspectors asking permission to inspect for moths on conservancy property along the Ventura River north of Baldwin Road.
“We really hope everyone gives them permission to do that,” she said.
If they’re still around, gypsy moths should be laying their eggs right now on trees and on “almost any outdoor object,” according to the state flier.
The eggs are laid in masses that are light yellow-orange in color, often on the bark of trees. Any sighting should be reported to a state pest hot line at (800) 491-1899, officials said.
“What will determine if there’s a breeding population is the egg mass survey,” said Johnson of the county agricultural commis-sioner’s office. “They lay their eggs right now and they generally hatch in the summer.”
If a population of moths is found, it can be attacked with an organic insecticide, she said.
“That is the standard if you have a breeding population,” she said.
Also, a quarantine may be established against the gypsy moths, Johnson said. That would amount to inspecting motor homes at the California border if they are arriving from infected areas, she said. And local inspectors would follow up in Ventura County to make sure none of the pests remain on the vehicles or equipment that were in infected regions. Those areas stretch from Maine to Wisconsin to Virginia.
“They may do visual inspections on mobile homes and patio furniture,” Johnson said.
If 10 moths or more are found in a breeding season in one area — such as the Ojai Valley — and there is evidence that the moth population is growing, a quarantine may be imposed, said the state’s Lyle.
In the Ojai Valley, as inspectors call for permission to scan local property, they will be armed with government identification, officials said.
“Property owners will be notified in advance,” the Food and Agriculture flier said. And they were this week.
Ojai Public TV Access May Be Over
Fate of local cable programs in hands of city as providers now franchise with state
By Nao Braverman
Beginning in January, Ojai’s public access station will be in the hands of the city, which still has little if any spending money to spare.
Local public access Channel 10, offering everything from John Wilcock’s low-budget video travelogue, to lectures by the late philosopher and spiritual speaker J. Krishnamurti, may be showing nothing except government meetings in the coming year.
Public access cable services provided by Time Warner, which have dwindled over the years, will be terminated at the end of December, according to Time Warner’s spokesperson Patricia Fregoso.
While the city will administer airings of local City Council and Planning Commission meetings on Channel 10, no specific plans have been made regarding what will happen to the rest of the channel’s airing time in 2009, according to city manager Jere Kersnar. Time Warner Cable will still provide the channel capacity on Channel 10, but the city is responsible for managing that. With little funding for such an operation, the city’s options are limited, added Kersnar.
AB 2987, the 2006 Digital Infrastructure and Competition Act had consequences unforeseen or overlooked by the legislators who passed it.
The 2006 bill, which proposed to equalize competition among cable providers by allowing them all to franchise with the state, instead of its cities, will result in wiping out a number of public access stations in California. It will take nothing short of a huge community effort to cooperate with the city and resurrect Ojai’s public access station, which has been minimizing services over the years, according to Carole McCartney, who coordinated Ojai’s station for many years before leaving her position in May 2007.
The new legislation, often referred to as DIVCA, offers a sweet deal to telephone companies and cable providers, allowing them to access new customers without having to deal with city officials. But, in turn, cities such as Ojai can no longer ask much of cable providers that serve them, according to Randy VanDalsen, vice president of the Buske Group, a telecommunications consulting firm.
Over the years Ojai’s public access station has diminished from a full studio with cameras and editing equipment for members of the public, to one Time Warner employee who transports DVDs and SVHS tapes to the public access station in Westlake Village.
Before Time Warner had the option of a state franchise agreement with the Public Utilities Commission, it would have had to create an agreement with the city of Ojai. City officials could then have the power to negotiate certain local services such as the maintenance of Ojai’s public access station. But with the new legislation, all Time Warner owes Ojai is 5 percent of its revenues, minus local costs, from Ojai customers, and an additional 1 percent of these profits to be used specifically toward public access.
Kersnar said that the city has been getting about $70,000 each year from Time Warner’s franchise fees. The additional 1 percent, or about $14,000 a year, won’t amount to much, and is certainly not enough to run a public access station.
Time Warner’s franchise agreement with the city, which has been extended time and again, expires in November. In January, Fregoso told an Ojai Valley News reporter that the company was still deciding whether or not to sign a franchise agreement with the city or the state. But now, with their new interpretation of the legislation, she says the company has no choice but to go with the state.
While cable companies can legally sign an agreement with a city, there is no reason why any of them would choose to do so, said VanDalsen. It’s much easier for large corporations not to deal with the financially burdensome local requirements of each California city if they can forge a simple agreement with the state. VanDalsen says he expects to see a number of California’s public access stations close in the coming years.
Lee Fitzgerald, who has been airing a local news show on Ojai’s public access station for about 14 years, said that while city officials knew about the legislation, local residents were kept in the dark.
William Roberts, president of the American Vedic Association, said he found out about the closure just recently when he brought his regular Vedas philosophy videos to the public access studio to be aired on Channel 10.
“I brought in six months’ worth of videos to be aired and I was told that they would only be showing them for the next three months,” he said. “After that they weren’t sure what was going to happen to Ojai’s public access.”
There certainly isn’t want for material on Ojai’s station. The local shows aired on Channel 10 include “Truth for Living” from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Ojai, the “Dr. Lee Fitzgerald Show” and a disaster preparedness program sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ojai-West, to name a few.
But Kersnar says that he is not even sure if the city will have the resources to manage a bulletin for local events without Time Warner’s public access station.
So anyone who wants to post an announcement or event on television might have to run their DVD all the way down to Time Warner’s station in Westlake Village, where the announcement will be aired on Channel 25, after Westlake Village runs its programs.
Kersnar said that decisions will be made at a discussion regarding the future of Ojai’s public access station scheduled for the City Council meeting on Oct. 28.
Nothing can be done unless the community rallies together and organizes their own station, said McCartney.
Fitzgerald also airs his show out of CAPS, a nonprofit-run public access station in Ventura. That station, which is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and updated equipment is a nonprofit that partners with the city for public access television services in Ventura.
“It’s definitely possible to do the same thing in Ojai, we just have to have cooperation from city officials,” he said.
Fitzgerald said he plans to propose plans for such an endeavor at the Oct. 28 meeting.
Public Works director Mike Culver said that AT&T has also shown interest in breaking into Ojai’s market but with a state franchise agreement they won’t have to provide any public access television services to Ojai either.
By Nao Braverman
Beginning in January, Ojai’s public access station will be in the hands of the city, which still has little if any spending money to spare.
Local public access Channel 10, offering everything from John Wilcock’s low-budget video travelogue, to lectures by the late philosopher and spiritual speaker J. Krishnamurti, may be showing nothing except government meetings in the coming year.
Public access cable services provided by Time Warner, which have dwindled over the years, will be terminated at the end of December, according to Time Warner’s spokesperson Patricia Fregoso.
While the city will administer airings of local City Council and Planning Commission meetings on Channel 10, no specific plans have been made regarding what will happen to the rest of the channel’s airing time in 2009, according to city manager Jere Kersnar. Time Warner Cable will still provide the channel capacity on Channel 10, but the city is responsible for managing that. With little funding for such an operation, the city’s options are limited, added Kersnar.
AB 2987, the 2006 Digital Infrastructure and Competition Act had consequences unforeseen or overlooked by the legislators who passed it.
The 2006 bill, which proposed to equalize competition among cable providers by allowing them all to franchise with the state, instead of its cities, will result in wiping out a number of public access stations in California. It will take nothing short of a huge community effort to cooperate with the city and resurrect Ojai’s public access station, which has been minimizing services over the years, according to Carole McCartney, who coordinated Ojai’s station for many years before leaving her position in May 2007.
The new legislation, often referred to as DIVCA, offers a sweet deal to telephone companies and cable providers, allowing them to access new customers without having to deal with city officials. But, in turn, cities such as Ojai can no longer ask much of cable providers that serve them, according to Randy VanDalsen, vice president of the Buske Group, a telecommunications consulting firm.
Over the years Ojai’s public access station has diminished from a full studio with cameras and editing equipment for members of the public, to one Time Warner employee who transports DVDs and SVHS tapes to the public access station in Westlake Village.
Before Time Warner had the option of a state franchise agreement with the Public Utilities Commission, it would have had to create an agreement with the city of Ojai. City officials could then have the power to negotiate certain local services such as the maintenance of Ojai’s public access station. But with the new legislation, all Time Warner owes Ojai is 5 percent of its revenues, minus local costs, from Ojai customers, and an additional 1 percent of these profits to be used specifically toward public access.
Kersnar said that the city has been getting about $70,000 each year from Time Warner’s franchise fees. The additional 1 percent, or about $14,000 a year, won’t amount to much, and is certainly not enough to run a public access station.
Time Warner’s franchise agreement with the city, which has been extended time and again, expires in November. In January, Fregoso told an Ojai Valley News reporter that the company was still deciding whether or not to sign a franchise agreement with the city or the state. But now, with their new interpretation of the legislation, she says the company has no choice but to go with the state.
While cable companies can legally sign an agreement with a city, there is no reason why any of them would choose to do so, said VanDalsen. It’s much easier for large corporations not to deal with the financially burdensome local requirements of each California city if they can forge a simple agreement with the state. VanDalsen says he expects to see a number of California’s public access stations close in the coming years.
Lee Fitzgerald, who has been airing a local news show on Ojai’s public access station for about 14 years, said that while city officials knew about the legislation, local residents were kept in the dark.
William Roberts, president of the American Vedic Association, said he found out about the closure just recently when he brought his regular Vedas philosophy videos to the public access studio to be aired on Channel 10.
“I brought in six months’ worth of videos to be aired and I was told that they would only be showing them for the next three months,” he said. “After that they weren’t sure what was going to happen to Ojai’s public access.”
There certainly isn’t want for material on Ojai’s station. The local shows aired on Channel 10 include “Truth for Living” from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Ojai, the “Dr. Lee Fitzgerald Show” and a disaster preparedness program sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ojai-West, to name a few.
But Kersnar says that he is not even sure if the city will have the resources to manage a bulletin for local events without Time Warner’s public access station.
So anyone who wants to post an announcement or event on television might have to run their DVD all the way down to Time Warner’s station in Westlake Village, where the announcement will be aired on Channel 25, after Westlake Village runs its programs.
Kersnar said that decisions will be made at a discussion regarding the future of Ojai’s public access station scheduled for the City Council meeting on Oct. 28.
Nothing can be done unless the community rallies together and organizes their own station, said McCartney.
Fitzgerald also airs his show out of CAPS, a nonprofit-run public access station in Ventura. That station, which is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and updated equipment is a nonprofit that partners with the city for public access television services in Ventura.
“It’s definitely possible to do the same thing in Ojai, we just have to have cooperation from city officials,” he said.
Fitzgerald said he plans to propose plans for such an endeavor at the Oct. 28 meeting.
Public Works director Mike Culver said that AT&T has also shown interest in breaking into Ojai’s market but with a state franchise agreement they won’t have to provide any public access television services to Ojai either.
Ojai Skate Park Plans Ramp Up
Next step is for design to go back for planners’ approval
By Nao Braverman
If the Ojai’s skate park is being built for local skateboarders, then the skaters themselves should be involved in critiquing the park’s design, planning commissioners agreed at Wednesday night’s planning meeting.
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on a skateboard,” said Commissioner Troy Becker. “I would look to working with the kids in the community and whatever elements that they think are necessary.”
Fortunately Site Design Group staff already had planned to coordinate with Ojai’s youth.
The preliminary design presented to both the Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation Department Wednesday night had been scrutinized by a number of local skateboarders during two workshops on Sept. 13 and Sept. 22, where participants told Site Design Group staff what they wanted in their park.
The design they came up with was a transition-style park with street plaza-style features. A transitional park allows skateboarders to skate their way between various elements, within the park, explained Jeff Gibson, a Site Design Group representative.
Ojai skaters also wanted features that you might find in the street so it feels like they are skating a plaza or some other urban scape.
As an in-ground park, it is designed to begin 1 foot below grade, so skateboarders would skate down into the approximately 12,000-square-foot area.
While planning commissioners were interested in incorporating landscaping, Gibson explained that skateboarders wanted to get as many elements in the space they were given as they possibly could. Landscaping could be added to the surrounding areas to provide some shading for spectators, however.
With Ojai’s style and aesthetics in mind, the proposed design includes an entry wall with a community-donated art piece.
As the park is below grade, spectators entering the park would get an optimal view from above as they walk in, said Gibson.
Sasha Wolfe, the only voice of dissent, brought a bag of fresh vegetables to protest the loss of more than half of the community garden with the skate park’s expansion.
Skate Ojai member Wendy Hilgers assured her, however, that she and some skaters would be glad to start a new and improved community garden after construction of the park.
The existing garden could use a fresh start, she told commissioners.
Bob Daddi, another member of Skate Ojai added that the entire area surrounding the community garden needed to be cleaned up, and that the skate park remodeling would offer a good opportunity to do so.
Commissioners agreed. Always concerned about fencing, the planning commissioners said they would be in a better position to comment on the skate park barrier when they had a better idea of how it would be used. That depends on how the park will be managed and whether it will be supervised, said Becker.
But such decisions will have to wait until the skate park’s design is reviewed by the City Council.
“I think what we need is a sub-committee of kids,” said Commissioner John Mirk. But Gibson said they already had the whole skateboarding community involved.
One local skateboarder attended the planning meeting to urge Gibson to include one popular element that wasn’t in the design presented.
Local residents can review the design by visiting the company’s web site at sitedesigngroup.com.
By Nao Braverman
If the Ojai’s skate park is being built for local skateboarders, then the skaters themselves should be involved in critiquing the park’s design, planning commissioners agreed at Wednesday night’s planning meeting.
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on a skateboard,” said Commissioner Troy Becker. “I would look to working with the kids in the community and whatever elements that they think are necessary.”
Fortunately Site Design Group staff already had planned to coordinate with Ojai’s youth.
The preliminary design presented to both the Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation Department Wednesday night had been scrutinized by a number of local skateboarders during two workshops on Sept. 13 and Sept. 22, where participants told Site Design Group staff what they wanted in their park.
The design they came up with was a transition-style park with street plaza-style features. A transitional park allows skateboarders to skate their way between various elements, within the park, explained Jeff Gibson, a Site Design Group representative.
Ojai skaters also wanted features that you might find in the street so it feels like they are skating a plaza or some other urban scape.
As an in-ground park, it is designed to begin 1 foot below grade, so skateboarders would skate down into the approximately 12,000-square-foot area.
While planning commissioners were interested in incorporating landscaping, Gibson explained that skateboarders wanted to get as many elements in the space they were given as they possibly could. Landscaping could be added to the surrounding areas to provide some shading for spectators, however.
With Ojai’s style and aesthetics in mind, the proposed design includes an entry wall with a community-donated art piece.
As the park is below grade, spectators entering the park would get an optimal view from above as they walk in, said Gibson.
Sasha Wolfe, the only voice of dissent, brought a bag of fresh vegetables to protest the loss of more than half of the community garden with the skate park’s expansion.
Skate Ojai member Wendy Hilgers assured her, however, that she and some skaters would be glad to start a new and improved community garden after construction of the park.
The existing garden could use a fresh start, she told commissioners.
Bob Daddi, another member of Skate Ojai added that the entire area surrounding the community garden needed to be cleaned up, and that the skate park remodeling would offer a good opportunity to do so.
Commissioners agreed. Always concerned about fencing, the planning commissioners said they would be in a better position to comment on the skate park barrier when they had a better idea of how it would be used. That depends on how the park will be managed and whether it will be supervised, said Becker.
But such decisions will have to wait until the skate park’s design is reviewed by the City Council.
“I think what we need is a sub-committee of kids,” said Commissioner John Mirk. But Gibson said they already had the whole skateboarding community involved.
One local skateboarder attended the planning meeting to urge Gibson to include one popular element that wasn’t in the design presented.
Local residents can review the design by visiting the company’s web site at sitedesigngroup.com.
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