Ojai Valley News Blog

By Logan Hall

After Ojai’s request for a hearing with California Public Utilities Commission was rejected last year, the city has been given notice that a public participation hearing will be held in Ojai regarding Golden State Water Company’s proposal to raise its water rates.

Steve McClary, assistant to city manager Rob Clark, confirmed that the CPUC — which regulates utilities like Golden State — contacted the city this week, setting a date and time for the hearing. McClary said that the hearing will take place on Feb. 27 at two separate times — 2 and 6 p.m. — but that the location hasn’t been decided yet.

Although he said that he hasn’t seen anything in writing, McClary did receive confirmation from the office of the commission’s Administrative Law Judge via phone that a hearing will take place in Ojai. “I consider that sufficiently official,” he said on Thursday.

For Ojai residents paying Golden State for water, the decision by the CPUC offers a chance for citizens to voice their opposition to GSWC’s rate increase request. If the water purveyor gets what it is asking for, Ojai’s water rates will increase 25 percent by 2015. During the upcoming hearing, locals will get the chance to speak directly to representatives of the CPUC to state their reasons for opposing the potential rate increase.

“We’re extremely excited that the CPUC decided to hold a hearing in Ojai,” said Ryan Blatz, representative for the non-profit organization Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water. “This just shows you what everybody can achieve if they work together. It’s really amazing seeing that the people of Ojai are making a difference.”

McClary stated that the city, with recommendations from F.L.O.W., suggested that the hearing be held in Chaparral Auditorium, but the decision would rest with the commission, which will foot the bill.

Both F.L.O.W. supporters and city representatives urge the public to attend the hearing. “Now we’ve got to get everyone to show up and have good questions ready for the commission,” said Blatz.

Echoing Blatz’s comment, McClary said, “We really encourage everyone in the community to come to the public participation hearing so they can be heard. It’s really important that the commissioners and the judge hear directly from the people.”

Getting a CPUC hearing in Ojai is a step in the right direction for those concerned about steadily increasing water rates in the city. Blatz and McClary both point out that there is still a long way to go for the citizens in their fight against Golden State, a for-profit corporation. Blatz said that F.L.O.W. is continuing to increase its momentum and will be working more closely with the city in the next month. “We’re putting together some things that will further formalize the city’s support of F.L.O.W.,” said Blatz.

The city is expanding its involvement by finding out what other cities in California are doing to fight Golden State’s latest rate case. McClary said he attended a meeting in Claremont that outlined a plan for five cities to “pool their resources” together. He stated that aside from Claremont, the cities of Barstow, Cypress, Placentia and Stanton have pledged $5,000 each to support the cause. He also said that Claremont is going a step further by pledging funds to begin the process of acquiring the water company and having the city of Claremont take over. The process would be similar to F.L.O.W.’s proposal to have Casitas Municipal Water District acquire Golden State’s Ojai system through eminent domain.

Although in Ojai’s fight, the city would not be the agency taking over Golden State, McClary did say the Ojai City Council will be given the information obtained in Claremont and that the city would “Explore every possible avenue out there.” The city will also be meeting in closed session with attorney Jeffery Oderman, who won the case for the city of Felton in a takeover of their water system from California-American Water, a subsidiary of the German corporation RWE. The meeting between the city and Oderman will take place in two weeks according to McClary.

The Ojai Valley News will publish the time and location of the CPUC’s public participation hearing in future issues. Numerous attempts to get responses from the CPUC have been unsuccessful.

By Logan Hall
Citizens living in the Casitas Municipal Water District boundaries voted on Nov. 8, 1960 to approve a payment of $31.4 million to be paid over 50 years to the United State Bureau of Reclamation. The funds were allocated for building the Ventura River Project that included the Casitas Dam, Robles Canal, Robles Diversion Facility, and pipeline system. During the January 25, 2012 regular meeting of the Casitas Board of Directors, the Board signed the last payment of $943,645.96 for delivery to the Bureau.

The repayment dollars have been collected from property owners within the district boundaries as a specific tax for Casitas. Property owners will now see a decrease in the tax collected for the Casitas Municipal Water District. The remaining amount left on the property tax line item will be for the annual debt incurred for State Water, which fluctuates from year to year. In the 2010-11 fiscal year, a homeowner with a $300,000 home would have paid $56.13 on their property taxes

toward Casitas’ debt. Approximately $28 of the property tax bill, in this example, has been for the Ventura River Project repayment.

“The completion of the repayment portion of the contract does not mean that the District now holds the “pink slip” to the Ventura River Project,” said Steve Wickstrum, General Manager for Casitas.

The title for the project will remain with the United States unless otherwise provided by Congress. Casitas will continue with its contractually assigned responsibilities to operate and maintain the project. Casitas and the Bureau will continue to coordinate and cooperate under the provisions of the contract.

By Tiobe Barron

The tone of Tuesday night’s Ojai City Council meeting seemed to be that of farewells. Mayor Betsy Clapp adjourned the meeting in honor of Gary Horgan, Councilmember Sue Horgan’s husband, who died Jan. 20.

“Our thoughts are with Sue and her family,” said Mayor Clapp.

The meeting also marked the end of Steve Lee’s service to the council as interim city attorney. City manager Rob Clark brought the matter to the attention of the council, saying Lee “Has been an incredible help to me.”

“I am privileged, thankful, and proud to have served you,” said Lee of his time as city attorney.

The meeting also was the last for the Redevelopment Agency, which will be effectively dissolved by California law as of Feb. 1. Susie Mears, finance director, presented a modified Initial Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule, valid through June rather than through December per the prior draft.

“We took a very conservative approach, including all obligations, understanding that it will be challenged by the county and state,” said Mears.

“We’re trying as best we can to protect every asset we have; there are going to be challenges,” said city manager Clark.

Councilmember Carlon Strobel questioned whether the city was assured of being named the successor agency to the Redevelopment Agency once dissolved. Clark reassured her that in all likelihood that was the case. Mayor Clapp voiced concern over the property assets of the agency and what would become of them once the agency is dissolved.

“All assets in the housing fund will be turned into the new fund,” replied Mears.

“Before everyone panics, there are several kinds of assets,” clarified Clark. “There’s a lot that’s not settled yet; we have to see how it plays out.”

Mayor Clapp inquired as to who was on the oversight board for the process, and Clark answered that there are seven members, and it is heavily biased toward the agencies that would receive the liquidated assets if the city, as the successor agency, is not awarded them.

“It’s a real crime what’s happened with the state and the redevelopment agencies,” proclaimed Clark, “The state government has been really short-sighted.”

Mayor Clapp agreed. “It is. … We had the opportunity to put in senior housing units, and now we can’t,” she said before slamming the gavel down in apparent frustration, concluding the final meeting of Ojai’s Redevelopment Agency.

On a brighter note, Steve Offerman, assistant to County Supervisor Steve Bennett, made an announcement that “I come bearing good news from the County Government Center!” In an effort to improve local transit, rather than curtail it, he said, on Jan. 24 the Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 0 to approve Supervisor Bennett’s proposal the county use its surplus in transit funds to cover the shortfall in Ojai’s transit funds.

“Serving transit-dependent persons and helping get people out of their cars has long been a high priority for me and for the residents of the Ojai Valley,” said Supervisor Bennett in a recent press release. “Fortunately, the county has enough state transportation money available to bridge this funding gap, and to improve regional transit by restoring bus service to downtown Ojai. What was getting lost in all this was the riders, and we need to put them on the bus first.”

Offerman pointed out that prior to the recent cuts to Gold Coast Transit bus service to Ojai, the Ojai route was the second most heavily used route in Ventura County, with about 320,000 riders last year, and the former stop at Ojai Park and Ride was the second most heavily used stop in the county. He proposed returning Gold Coast’s route to the Park and Ride once more, and extending the hours for both the Ojai Trolley and Gold Coast Transit.

“This just shows you how great it is when we work together to get stuff done,” commented Mayor Clapp, as everyone present applauded Offerman’s presentation.

Ojai City Council members also approved a Vacant Property Incentive Program on a one-year trial basis. The program aims to provide an incentive for owners of long-vacant commercial buildings and properties to revamp them as a productive, occupied local business place. The incentive would be funded by future tax flow of up to $10,000 as decided on a case-by-case basis by city manager Clark.

“It’s kind of a carrot and stick. We have both,” said Clark. Ojai resident Bryan Crawford voiced the concern that most new businesses do not make it past the two-year mark, and if that is the case, the city would not recoup the invested money through sales tax as hoped. Clark agreed that there is a shared risk, but maintained that it is “not much.” Mayor Clapp and Councilmember Strobel both voiced opinions that the collective gain to the community from having the blighted buildings fixed up and occupied, encouraging more business in the area, outweighs the risk of the business itself failing.

Also at Tuesday night’s meeting, the city’s director of recreation, Dale Sumersille, proposed an Exchange of Services Policy, which would waive the rental fee for non-profit leagues using the fields at Sarzotti Park in exchange for services provided by members of the non-profit leagues.

Multiple non-profit organizations, including Ojai Valley Girls’ Softball Association, Ojai P.O.N.Y. Baseball and AYSO, submitted letters in support of the policy.

“I think the intangibles are priceless,” said Sumersille.

Robert Roddick, president of Ojai P.O.N.Y. Baseball, said, “I think it’s going to be a fantastic fit for our organization. I see it as a benefit … in the long run it’s going to save you (the city) money. Many projects have been identified. We have people certified and more than willing to give time. Our goal is to not leave one kid behind that fence.”

Though the city stands to lose $9,500 per year in revenue from the lost rental money, most were in agreement that the services offered in exchange potentially exceeded that amount. It was proposed the city draft a wish list of projects for the non-profits to work off of. The council approved the plan unanimously.
“This is a community of incredible people with incredible skills, and it’s just going to make the community better and better,” commented Mayor Clapp. “The skate park is a perfect example. To me, it’s just a win-win situation.”

The next regular Ojai City Council meeting will take place 7:30 p.m., Feb. 7, at 401 S. Ventura St.

George “Machine Gun” Kelly’s chrome shotgun — left behind at Ora Shannon’s Wise County, Texas ranch (where Kelly held millionaire Charles Urschel) — is now up for auction.

California Auctioneers will sell the 1930s gangster relic on Sunday online and live on premises in Casitas Springs to the highest bidder. The auction begins at 10 a.m.

“It’s a great opportunity to own a piece of American history,” said auctioneer Jewels Eubanks. The shotgun is currently owned by 2008 World Poker Tournament ladies’ champion Nancy Todd, also known as the Queen of Diamonds. Proceeds from the sale of the shotgun will be donated to the Hayden Scholarship Foundation.

California Auctioneers has documented the chain of custody, and procured a  letter of authenticity from witness and Las Vegas legend Tex Whitson. ”We were going to sell the shotgun previously, but waited to document the provenance,” said Shannon, who was Kelly’s mother-in-law and owner of the famous Wise County ranch house where Boss Shannon (her husband) and Machine Gun Kelly kept Charles Urschel when they kidnapped him.

Shannon gave the shotgun to casino owner and Texas gambling legend Benny Binion. Binion was known for bringing Texas hospitality to Las Vegas at his casino, Binion’s Horseshoe. The shotgun was kept in the vault at the Horseshoe, and shown to friends and patrons (including Mr. Whitson),  until Binion gave the shotgun to Billy Bob Burnett, of Billy Bob’s Texas, the biggest Honky Tonk in Texas,  in 1985. Later the shotgun was passed to Todd.

In the documentary included with the shotgun, Whitson recalls a trip with Binion to Texas where he drove down “many a dirt road” and found the Shannon ‘s farmhouse.

Also included in the auction is the Benny Binion collection of  gamblers guns, from the vault at the Horseshoe, confiscated from unruly gangsters, gamblers and patrons. When asked how Binion knew Machine Gun Kelly and the Shannons, Whitson replied, “Anyone who gambled or drank in that part of Texas (Dallas) knew Benny Binion, and probably owed him money.”

Additional auction highlights include estate items from the ninth governor of Louisiana, Andre Bienvenue Roman, in office from 1831 to 1835. The items include portraits by Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans (1801 to 1888). Also being offered is an important personal collection of pistols from pin-stripe legend Von Dutch, well-known for being the “King of Custom Culture.” He was also a gunsmith. Each has a custom Von Dutch handwritten tag.

For more details, visit californiauctioneers.com, or call 649-2686.

The winning entree as prepared and photographed by Ranch House Chef Stuart Farnham: Diver scallops grilled and served on lightly curried corn sauce with dry vermouth, grilled whole kernel corn and shredded bok choy.

By Lisa Snider

When Ranch House owner David Skaggs agreed to participate in the inaugural Ventura County Wine Trail Local Food and Wine Challenge last Friday night, he said that would do so on one condition: “That we be paired with Ojai Vineyard.”

His decision turned out to be a good one; the two took top honors in the competition, which pitted 11 other area restaurant and winery teams against each other in an Iron Chef-inspired showdown.

Skaggs has long featured the local winery on his award-winning menu. “We’ve had good success with their wines and they work well with the food we have,” said Skaggs.

Before a sold-out crowd of 400 hungry ticket-holders and a panel of judges at Ventura’s Crown Plaza Hotel, teams from all around the county set about to create their best dishes. Skaggs said his choice for the winning entrée was easy.

“Our diver scallops were featured on the Food Network with Iron Chef Cat Cora on ‘Best Thing I Ever Ate,’ so we decided to go with those.”

After tasting the dish against different wines from Ojai Vineyard, the team ultimately decided to present the scallops for judging with their 2008 Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County. Ojai Vineyard’s assistant winemaker Fabien Castel described the wine as, “Racy, sleek and delicate,” adding that, “we wanted to show that subtlety works well in wine pairing and that white wine and fresh seafood is one of the great subtle and simple combinations available.”

Ranch House chef Stuart Farnham grilled the diver scallops until they got nice sear marks and served them on a lightly curried corn sauce with dry vermouth, grilled whole kernel corn and shredded bok choy. The dish is a popular one and is served nightly on the restaurant’s regular menu.

Lauren Belshe, representative for the Ventura County Wine Trail, said that her organization decided to host the event to reveal the best of what Ventura County has in their own backyard. “We have 22 wineries to offer and many amazing restaurants in this area,” said Belshe. “We wanted to bring together the wineries and the restaurants and have each of them showcase their very best.”

Among the 11 other teams from Ventura, Camarillo, Oxnard and Malibu were Ojai’s own Vino V and Old Creek Ranch Winery, who joined with Ventura’s Jolly Oyster. The Ranch House and Ojai Vineyard were declared winners and each received a wine decanter with the event and their name etched on the decanter.

“Honestly, everyone was a winner there,” said Skaggs.

Castel added, “We are also glad for all the other participants and the incredible display of creativity and energy to make this event successful. We hope this event will continue and will become a tradition to further explore the variations around food and wine.”

A portion of the evening’s proceeds went to the Ventura County FOOD SHARE, a food bank that houses and distributes millions of pounds of food each year to the hungry of Ventura County.

For more information about the Ventura County Wine Trail, visit VenturaCountyWineTrail.com.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
 As expected, President Obama’s State of the Union speech contained more platitudes than concrete proposals. But that is typical of such speeches, so it came as no surprise.

There is certainly no danger of me ever holding elected office, much less the presidency, but I have composed an imaginary State of the Union speech of my own, in order to offer a few alternative suggestions. Here is how my speech might have gone:

“My fellow Americans, we face a difficult time in our country. The economy is terrible, social security and other programs are at risk financially, we have no energy policy, and we face threats from our enemies. I offer the following plans to confront these problems:

I have made a deal with Mitt Romney to drop out of the presidential race and  take a job with the government as its Investment Czar. Whether Mr. Romney would make a good president if elected is debatable. In fact, due to the reluctance of evangelical Christians to bring themselves to vote for someone of the Mormon faith, he is having trouble just capturing the Republican nomination. So, I intend to appoint him to do something he is clearly good at – investing money. He will handle all government money coming from payroll taxes for social security, and invest it. If he does half as good for us as he is doing for himself, we could pay off a significant amount of debt, and social security would be solvent. The only stipulation is that we keep the money here in America as opposed to somewhere offshore.

I have decided to kill the Keystone pipeline project. As many of you know, this proposed project would construct a 1,700-mile long pipeline which would transport crude oil from the oil sands region in the Alberta region of Canada to refineries in the Gulf Coast. Sure, the project might create jobs and lessen our dependence on oil from much less stable sources than Canada. And yes, we would be giving money to an ally rather than to those who would use that money to fight against us. But these positive factors are far outweighed by the potential downside of having former Vice President Al Gore re-emerge to fight the project. You remember Mr. Gore. He is the one that flew gas-guzzling private jets all over the country in order to tell us how concerned he is about the environment. Yes, the same Al Gore who did little or nothing about environmental issues when he was vice president, but emerged to make movies, give speeches and write books about climate change when he got paid to do so. And while he achieved much notoriety and wealth in these pursuits, he apparently lost all “global warming” for his wife of 40 years, Tipper. As president, I refuse to simply stand by and watch as the American people are subjected to another movie as boring as “An Inconvenient Truth.”

There are many nations who pose a threat to the United States by harboring and training terrorists. As the recent coup in Libya showed us, removing those in power in such countries is dangerous and messy. I have appointed Newt Gingrich to serve as a paid “historian” to countries where regime changes are needed. As you may remember, Mr.Gingrich was paid $1.6 million to serve as “ historical consultant” for Freddie Mac. He did such a good job that the government eventually spent over $100 billion to bail out this agency. If Mr. Gingrich can be just as effective globally, countries such as Iran, Syria, and Venezuela will pose no security threat to the United States.

Thank you, and good night.”

By Tiobe Barron

Ojai, like cities across the nation, may soon become a plastic bag-free zone. The city is proposing a ban on what they call “single-use carry out plastic bags.” If passed, the ban would apply to all merchants, restaurants, grocery stores, and retail shops within Ojai city limits, except in cases where it would create undue hardship, or in which the health and safety of the public might be affected. Instead of plastic bags, retailers would be required to use recycled paper bags, with no less than 40 percent recycled content, and 100 percent recyclable material. Customers would be charged a minimum of 10 cents per paper bag, though they could opt to use their own reusable bag.

The ban would not be enforceable throughout the entire valley, however, as the areas outside city limits, such as Mira Monte and Meiners Oaks, fall under Ventura County’s jurisdiction.

According to city manager Rob Clark, the proposed ordinance predates his term, and when it was originally discussed, state law stipulated that if a city wanted to ban these bags, they must first conduct a full Environmental Impact Report, which he says is very expensive. Thanks to the city of Manhattan Beach, which challenged the legislation and won, smaller towns are able to forgo the costly study, and Ojai no longer had to table the issue.

“This is a state-wide issue,” said Clark in a phone interview. “We were hoping that the state would adopt a ban. Instead we have to do this city by city. Plastic bags create an ongoing hazard; they are a source of litter that does not break down easily.”

The executive director of the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, Deborah Pendrey, claims that the impetus for the ban stems from that organization’s efforts back in the summer of 2011. She cites a heavy toll on marine life created by the use of plastic bags, and the fact that businesses have the potential of saving money otherwise spent on these bags. She says the Albertsons located in Carpinteria voluntarily stopped using plastic bags, and now the city of Carpinteria is trying to ban both paper and plastic single-use bags.

“The costs far outweigh the convenience,” said Pendrey. “We just have to get used to a new way of doing things that doesn’t harm the environment.” She also said less than five percent of plastic bags are actually recycled, and much of that is not processed in domestic facilities, but actually shipped to China.

The language of Ojai’s proposed ordinance was largely lifted from that of the ordinance passed in the city of Santa Monica. Part of the text itself states, “Plastic debris is a significant pollutant of coastal waters. Some studies show that plastic photodegrades, breaking into smaller pieces and making its way into the food chain. Reducing the use of single-use carry out bags in Ojai will likely have a modest positive impact on improving water quality by preventing the migration of plastic refuse into the storm drains and traveling to the local creeks and out to the Pacific Ocean.” The proposal also cites examples of cities that have already passed various bans on single-use carry out bags, including San Francisco, Marin, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Calabasas, Long Beach, and others.

Dean Kubani, manager of Santa Monica’s Office of Sustainability & Envrionment, said his city’s ban — which took effect Sept. 1 — is going well. “We’ve had 24 complaint calls, out of about 1,000 effected retailers … I don’t think there’s any reason this can’t be successful everywhere. It’s simply a matter of changing customer behavior, getting people to bring their own bags. It takes work initially, to get people to change, but I think soon probably this will be more the norm than the exception.”

“If this goes through, I’d be happy,” said Ernest Niglio, owner and general manager of Rainbow Bridge. “I’ve been doing this a long, long time. I tried selling reusable bags back in New York, long before it was fashionable. It’s been a long battle, and we have a big, big problem with the ocean (due to plastic bags). We keep them here because the customers harass us if we don’t. But if they decide to ban them, that would be fine with me. I just don’t want to upset anybody.”

Terry Starr, of Starr Market, said, “My main concern is how this is going to slow down the (checkout) line. It takes more time.” He also pointed out that the reusable canvas bags customers could opt to use must be washed, otherwise bacteria could become a problem.

The Ojai City Council has announced the “public review period” of the proposed ban will take place until Feb. 21, with voting on the ban slated for March 13. The document is available to the public at the Ojai Library, 111 E. Ojai Ave., and at Ojai City Hall, at 401 S. Ventura St.

By Logan Hall

Ojai Valley residents got a chance to don rain gear over the weekend for the first time this year. Small storms dumped their payloads on the valley on Saturday and Monday, and puddles began to form on street corners and gutter. As those puddles dry up however, Ojai still faces drought conditions.

National Weather Service experts from the Ventura County station say the valley has seen less than 50 percent of its average rainfall since July.

“We have La Niña conditions which usually leads to drier weather,” said NWS meteorologist Ryan Kittell. “Right now we’re running at about half of what we would normally see.”

Although a rainy weekend might be an inconvenience to some locals, seasonal rains are vital to the valley and its residents. The lack of substantial precipitation can make life much more difficult for those in the agriculture business, and can even have grave effects on the valley’s water supply in general.

“I don’t like irrigating in the middle of January,” said citrus ranch owner Jim Coultas, who has a well on his property tapping into the local aquifer. “We’re not supposed to have to do that.”

Coultas says that when the valley sees multiple dry years in a row, residents and business owners that use wells have to start buying water from local purveyors like Casitas Municipal Water District or Golden State Water Company. “The big concern,” he said, “is if the aquifer gets depleted and my well dries out, then I gotta go back on Casitas again.”

Supplementing well water with water from companies like Golden State and Casitas can get expensive for those like Coultas, whose ranch encompasses 135 acres, 60 of which are used for agriculture.

“Two or three years ago we had a real dry winter,” said Coultas who has spent his whole life working his ranch. “I had to irrigate in October and September that year. My water bill was like five-grand a month.”

The benefit of Mother Nature’s watering can goes beyond potential financial impacts.

“When you irrigate for long periods,” continued Coultas, “there will be a build-up of salts in the water — things like magnesium, calcium and so forth. When we get a lot of rain, it flushes all that out. It’s really good for the soil. Rain is the best irrigation we’ve got.”

As more and more people depend on Ojai’s groundwater, the supply will continue to be depleted faster and faster during dry years. As Coultas puts it, “The more straws that are in the drink, the more quickly it goes down.”

The NWS reports that Ojai has received 1.3 inches of rain so far in January, while statistics show that the 30-year rain average in Ojai for the month of January is 5.2 inches. The same report shows that Ojai has seen 4.9 inches of rainfall since July, while the 30-year average shows the valley should have gotten 9.5 inches in the same period. Weather experts add that there’s no rain in the immediate forecast. “I don’t see any rain in the next seven to 10 days,” said Kittell. “It’s looking like this is it for January.”

Kittell did state that February is historically the wettest month for Ojai, according to NWS stats. “There’s still hope that we’ll get significant rain in February, but we still have a lot of ground to catch up,” he said.

While ranchers and residents work behind the scenes to mitigate the effects of dry weather, the impact of drought might be more visible in an area like Lake Casitas, which according, to lake statistics, is at 81.4 percent of capacity. The lake depends on water diverted from the Ventura River to refill what Casitas water customers use. A mandate from the federal government stipulates that there must be enough water in the river to allow Steelhead Trout to swim upstream before any can be used to fill the lake.

“We usually need about six inches of rain to start diverting (water into the lake),” said Casitas spokesman Ron Merckling. “We might not have any diversions this year if the weather stays as dry as it has been.”

Those that drive Casitas Pass Road will notice a large ring around the lake showing just how far down the water level is. Although Casitas was designed to continue to supply water even during drought years, the lack of rain can take its toll.

“If we have multiple dry years, we can run into trouble,” said Casitas spokesman Ron Merckling. “That’s why we are encouraging conservation.”

Casitas officials are urging people to attend a free “gray water workshop” this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, which will help inform the public on how to utilize used water after doing laundry. Merckling says the workshop will focus on ways to recycle water from washing machines, which, if done properly, can help individuals and families cut back on water usage. Call 649-2251, Ext. 118, or e-mail rmerckling@casitaswater.com for more information on Casitas’ water conservation plans or to sign up for the workshop.

Bicycle shop will soon occupy the old Roland’s Exxon site

Chris T. Wilson
As local bicycle shop owners wait for construction permits at their new downtown location, an important environmental milestone has been crossed and a new business stimulus program is getting a boost from Ojai city officials.
For more than 16 years, the former fueling station at 110 W. Ojai Ave., sandwiched between the Ojai Valley Museum and the Oaks at Ojai Spa, has been shuttered and vacant due to a leaky underground fuel tank.
In the last week, four of the seven contamination test wells located on and near the property were capped after test results concluded that ground water was no longer in danger of being contaminated in the area.
The test well capping means the MOB Shop, currently located in Meiners Oaks, is one step closer to turning the blighted building into a viable downtown Ojai business, said John Lamar, a consultant and landscape architect who is helping the bike shop obtain permits and beautify the property.
“This is an important step for us, since for the past nine months we’ve been dealing with the (Ventura) County Environmental Health Division to get to the point where they have contractors come and complete this work,” Lamar said.
Mob Shop founder Kelly Pasco said the drill rigs and earth moving equipment has generated a lot of interest.
“I can’t go anywhere without people asking me what’s going on,” Pasco said. “I went into a restaurant last week and people were talking about it and then they started asking me about it.”
Pasco said that once the city delivers permits and construction work begins, the property will transform pretty quickly.
“We’re setting an aggressive goal for ourselves to be open by April 1,” Pasco said.
But permit fees, planning costs and inspections can run into the thousands of dollars. So Lamar has been pushing city officials to offset some of the fees based on projected sales tax revenue that the new business will generate for the city.
Ojai city manager Rob Clark said on Tuesday that he anticipated a positive response from the Ojai City Council at last night’s meeting, for a one-year trial program, which would be aimed at stimulating business growth in vacant downtown buildings. Lamar has been working closely with Mayor Betsy Clapp and city manager Clark to establish the first blighted building support program.
Clark said the council is very interested in having a program like this to get vacant properties reoccupied and back in use as businesses.
“If they don’t go back in use, then we can’t collect sales tax,” Clark said. “So we consider that found money if we can get them in use.”
Clark said he is recommending a one-year trial program that could cut initial permit and site improvement fees by as much as 50 percent. He also said that the motivated actions of the MOB Shop owners helped to spur the city forward into considering this program.
“I think it’s a great way to activate downtown and make things more interesting,” Clark said.

Thinking ‘way outside the box’ now the norm

By Misty Volaski
Nordhoff High School’s assistant principal, Greg Bayless, summed up what’s going on in Ojai schools in four words: “Sometimes, poverty spawns creativity.”

With the Ojai Unified School District losing more than $5 million from its budget over the last few years — and the possibility of losing $2 million more should various state measures fail — teachers and administrators are “thinking way outside of the box,” said Topa Topa Elementary principal John LeSuer.

Nordhoff, Topa Topa and Matilija Junior High presented their Single Plans for Student Achievement at Tuesday night’s OUSD board meeting, showcasing their school’s strategies for raising students’ academic performance.

“Anybody who has heard any one of these presentations would walk away feeling a true sense of optimism from the principals and staff and parents, in the face of several years of deep expenditure reductions,” said OUSD superintendent Hank Bangser Wednesday. “To me it’s just remarkable … After so many years of a combination of declining enrollment and marginal — at best — funding from the state, the reports this year about what’s being done at the schools academically and in so many other ways (offer) absolute evidence of the commitment to our children. We should be thrilled that we have the kind of people in our schools that can do as much as they do with so little.”

Nordhoff

The OUSD’s only high school is taking a page out of college books with the addition of “associate teachers,” high-achieving students who reteach key concepts to their peers each week. Bayless opted to “totally overhaul” the school’s existing peer tutoring program.

“They’re not just there for students to ask questions anymore, they’re actually up there teaching, calling on students, having them work out problems on the whiteboard. They’re like real TAs (teaching assistants),” Bayless said. Associate teachers make contact weekly with their “master” teachers to find out the key concepts for the week, then create lessons to help their peers understand and keep up.

Bayless said that the process of choosing associate teachers was intense. “It was a competitive process — they had tryouts where we pulled a topic out of a hat and they had 30 seconds to teach it,” he said. “We chose the best 15. These are top-achieving seniors, really smart kids — Nick Perkins is going to Stanford, another is going to M.I.T or Princeton. And they’ve really stepped up. It’s incredible. It’s been a home run. And there’s not many of those to be had these days.”

Also in Nordhoff’s SPSA was the reintroduction of The Ranger newspaper, incorporating more reading into all subject areas (even physical education), student-led writing labs, and the continuation of the Better Science Guest Lecture Series. The lecture series is a once-a-month discussion with a local scientist who helps bring the real world into students’ science studies. “The series helps make school more engaging and relevant,” Bayless said, adding that the optional series is popular with the students.

The Ranger students will also work with kids from The Thacher School to develop capstone projects. These are similar to senior projects the students already do, but instead of being for just one subject, students must come up with an in-depth project that touches on several subjects. “These really require the students to do more creative thinking and investigating … It’ll improve critical thinking and problem-solving skills,” Bayless explained.

Matilija

MJHS principal Emily Mostovoy and her staff are big on ensuring that their Eagles “feel connected to the school and responsible for their success,” she said Wednesday. That means addressing the kids’ academic health as well as their social, emotional and behavioral health. To that end, they have created the Matilija P.R.I.D.E. guidelines for success: “Positive Attitude, Respect, personal Responsibility, Developing Goals, and Enthusiasm.” This will launch next month and “sets the standard for what we as students and staff believe we are,” she said.

In addition, staff are offering interventions in English, math, science, social studies, elective and physical education. There are extra reading classes (which, while not required, are “recommended,” and take the place of a students’ elective class), and several after-school programs, such as Homework Club, Reading Plus, Math Help, and even Saturday “Got Math” programs — all of which are well attended.

Students also take part in tutorial enrichment programs once a month, which gives students the opportunity to relearn concepts within classrooms based on “certain needs,” said Mostovoy. “They’ll relearn a topic, or retake a test — even learn to organize their backpack.” For kids who don’t need the extra tutorial time, other activities are offered, such as science labs with Nordhoff’s health Sciences Academy students.

Although declining budgets mean less money from OUSD, parents and members of the community are stepping up to volunteer their time and skills. One parent, Mostovoy said, is looking into a grant that could win them class sets of Kindle e-readers. “Due to the budget, in the English department it’s been close to 10 years that they haven’t gotten new textbooks,” Mostovoy pointed out.

Another parent has already scored Matilija an $8,000 grant which is being used for the Schoolyard Habitat, where students work with members of the community to create a sustainable garden.

Mostovoy added that it’s the teachers’ commitment that keeps things running in these challenging times. “I can’t thank the teachers enough — I’m continually amazed every day with what they bring to the classroom and their commitment. The only question is, ‘What’s right for the kids?’ It’s at the forefront of every decision they make.”

Topa Topa

The OUSD’s largest elementary, like Matilija, enjoys lots of volunteer participation — as well as a strong Parent-Teacher Association and some creative scheduling — to help fill in the gaps left by budget cuts.

“We have an enrichment programs after school,” Topa Topa principal LeSuer said Wednesday. These programs are low in cost to students — only about $10 (with scholarships available to those in need) — and offer both fun and educational activities for kids.

“Science, art, computers, Spanish classes, outdoors games, yoga, drama, basketball — it’s a wholes series of classes,” LeSuer said., adding that about 75 students currently participate. “The kids really enjoy it.” Some of the teachers are members of the community, and others come from the Ojai Recreation Department, with which Topa and its PTA are partnering. “Our PTA is really wonderful,” LeSuer said.

Katie Haydon of Ignite! Learning Creative Learning is offering staff development for teachers, the Ojai Lions Club is donating funds, and the Rotary Club of Ojai is bringing in volunteers to help students with reading skills. “That’s a great program,” enthused LeSuer. There’s also the Art Trek art program, the BRAVO! music van, Ojai Quickstart Tennis, and more. Rotary is also sponsoring an after-school nutrition and cooking class to teach kids about good foods.

In the classroom, LeSuer was able to utilize some funding to bring in credentialed teachers, “So students get a lot of extra help,” LeSuer said. “It’s made a huge impact.” Further, it divides up classes, allowing the students more individualized instruction — something sorely needed with today’s large class sizes.

In the kindergarten classrooms, where class sizes are at about 30 students, half the class arrives an hour early, and the other half stays an hour later. While students end up with the same amount of time in the classroom, this system allows for more individualized attention — vital at this period in their development, said LeSuer.

“We don’t have nearly the money we used to have,” he said. “Things are definitely tough. But we’re looking at a lot of things to make this work.”

To volunteer at Nordhoff, Topa Topa, Matilija or any of the OUSD schools, call the OUSD office at 640-4300, or visit www.ojai.k12.ca.us.

By Logan Hall

Federal agents arrested local property owner John Appel last week on charges of illegally dumping debris on his 30-acre property near the Arnaz Grade.

Agents from the Environmental Protection Agency took Appel into custody on Thursday, after which he was arraigned in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and released after posting a $15,000 bond, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the court, in an E-mail. Appel pleaded not guilty to four counts of “knowingly discharging dredged and fill material into the Ventura River,” according to the indictment by the court. Mrozek said the case will go to trial on Feb. 21.

This marks Appel’s second arrest for similar charges since 1995, when he was convicted of dumping debris into the river over a four-year period.

Appel says he spent a large sum of money fighting the previous case and ended up spending time in the Ventura County work furlough program after his conviction. He claims that the government is unjustly targeting him now. During an interview at his property, Appel was asked if he had discharged debris into the river. “Heavens no,” he said while pointing at the area of the river in question. “I spent $300,000 of my own money fighting this before. Why would I just go and do it again? I can’t figure out why, but someone really wants this property bad.”

According to the U.S. court, if convicted of the charges in the latest indictment, Appel could be facing hard time. “If convicted of all charges in the indictment, the statutory maximum sentence is eight years in federal prison,” said Mrozek.

Appel says he has been relentlessly harassed by the government and by members of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy. “The guy from the Land Conservancy followed me around every day for six months,” said Appel.

“The guy” Appel referred to was Rick Bisaccia, preservation manager for the conservancy. Bisaccia, who claims he is a witness in the case against Appel, was reluctant to discuss his role in monitoring Appel’s property, but did confirm that he watched the property owner’s activities on more than one occasion. “I was monitoring some of his activities that I could see,” said Bisaccia.

The conservancy owns land on three sides of Appel’s property, according to Bisaccia, and Appel claims that the conservancy wants to acquire his land for its own purpose. “They really want to get their hands on this land,” said Appel. “They even admitted that they’re trying to own all of the land in the river bottom. I don’t know what it’s all about, but I’ll bet it has to do with the steelhead (trout). Steelhead is just another word for money.”

Bisaccia confirms that steelhead trout are definitely a major concern of the conservancy, but says that Appel’s claims of property takeover are unfounded.

“I guess he could make that conclusion, ‘cause he’s in the river,” said Bisaccia, “but that isn’t what this is about. Quite a bit of it does have to do with the steelhead.”

Repeated calls to Nadine Hettling, Appel’s court-appointed federal attorney, went unanswered. Attempts to obtain comment from the EPA were also unsuccessful. “We are unable to comment on ongoing investigations such as these,” said Nahal Mogharabi, spokesperson for the EPA.

Look for upcoming issues of the OVN for a full report on Appel’s case with the federal government.

By Chris T. Wilson

A local “Move to Amend” group will join forces in Libbey Park tomorrow afternoon as part of a national campaign to override the 2010 Supreme Court decision that established corporations as people and money as speech.

The public is invited to attend, learn more and participate.

According to current estimates from Ojai-based event organizers, more than 300 cities nationwide are hosting protests tomorrow to gather signatures and support for adding a Constitutional amendment that would end corporate personhood and “reclaim democracy.”

The national campaign is largely organized by the groups Public Citizen (citizen.org), Move to Amend (movetoamend.org) and Common Cause (commoncause.org) and many other smaller groups, organizer and local activist Bill Haff said.

Haff, a freelance graphic designer who has lived in the Ojai Valley since 2009, is one of the main local organizers. He said that over the next several months the group hopes to gather a few thousand signatures to get support from the Ojai City Council and as part of the larger national campaign for a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“We’re hoping the Ojai City Council will approve a resolution supporting the idea of a constitutional amendment that the word ‘persons’ is defined as human beings only, and not legal entities such as corporations,” Haff said. “We will also be sending the signatures we gather to the group working on the national movement.”

According to the Public Citizen organization’s website, democracyisforpeople.org, in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. FEC that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections.

“I’ve been interested in this issue for over 10 years,” Haff said. “I became involved with groups in my home state of Massachusetts who were working on it and I became more interested in it as it became more prevalent because of the Supreme Court’s decision.”

Following speeches and signature gathering by local activists in Libbey Park, the event will then move to The Village Jester, 139 East Ojai Ave., for continued live music and more signature gathering until 7 p.m. Slated to perform at the event are local musicians Patricia Cardinali, Julie Christensen and Jonathan McCuen. Los Angeles-based rock band Rooftop Revolutionaries, fronted by power vocalist Eleanor Goldstein, will also perform.

This is the only event representing the national movement in Ventura County, Haff said.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting people from all around the Ojai Valley and around the Ventura County and Santa Barbara area,” Haff said.

Write an E-mail to abolishamendment@hotmail.com to learn more. A Facebook page has also been established: facebook.com/groups/CorporatePersonhoodOjai/ or search “Abolish Corporate Personhood Ojai Valley” on Facebook or Google to find the page.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the incessant demands of cell phones, internet messages and the myriad other demands of the modern world that max out our stress levels.

Well, I found the cure. Ava and I recently spent a long weekend in the “Cowboy Cabin” at Bodee’s Rancho Grande in the beautiful Rose Valley. It was just what the doctor ordered. I don’t know if Bodee’s owner Michele Cromer-Bentivilio instructed the ranch’s caretakers, Ken and Ruby Mellinger and their daughter, Hannah, to pamper us, but they sure did.

There is no cell phone service at the cabin, so there were no annoying tri-tone signals demanding attention. The cabin does have internet service, but I pretended there wasn’t – at least most of the time. I checked my e-mail only twice that weekend, which may be a personal record for me.

Instead of being glued to the computer or television, we found other pursuits. We read a lot. We took the short walk to Lake Michael, (named for Michele’s son), past Matty’s Creek (named after her other son, Matthew). Ava cooked in our cozy kitchen, and we dined by candlelight at our own private table for two.

On Saturday, we boarded the hay wagon and went out among the ranch’s docile herd. As Ken forked hay to the cattle, we sipped wine and shelled peanuts as a beautiful, nearly full moon rose over the valley. It put me in mind of feeding the cattle with my Daddy on our small farm in Alabama when I was a little boy. When I was a kid, I used to love to go out and walk the fields with Daddy while he fed the cattle. He would call them and talk to them, and he would sometimes lift me up on the back of one of those gentle giants for a short ride, all the while holding on tight to me.

In the truck bed, ahead of the hay wagon, were the Mellinger’s two dogs; a beautiful golden retriever named Nicky, and Bandit, their intrepid Queensland heeler. When the truck stopped for Ken to distribute the hay, they were immediately on the job. Bandit diligently surveying the herd; and Nicky acting more like a headwaiter – weaving among the cattle to make sure that each was enjoying the feast. I have never considered myself much of a farm boy, but I can’t remember a nicer evening in a very long time.

On the next evening, we enjoyed a glass of wine as we watched the full moon rising over the mountains surrounding the beautiful Rose Valley. We looked up at the stars and the vapor trails of jets far above and far away, while enjoying the beautiful quiet, interrupted only by the occasional barking dog, or the clucking of a chicken, settling down to roost for the night.

In fact, the only time the quiet was really disturbed was Saturday afternoon, when I came down the mountain to make a run to the grocery store. I encountered four Ferraris tearing down the road behind me. I pulled over to let three of them pass, one guy tooting his horn in appreciation. But there was one idiot who blew around me on a blind curve, endangering both of us, not to mention anyone who could have been coming the other way. I thought about asking Michael Shapiro to consider renaming his coalition “Ojai Stop the Trucks and Ferraris!,” but that does not exactly roll right off the tongue.

I want to thank Michele, Ken, Ruby, and Hanna for the wonderful weekend. I can’t wait to  go back.

On Monday, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., a celebration was held at Libbey Park with singing, music, art, and poetry. At left, singers from the Ojai Community Gospel Choir perform songs on stage. Photo by Isaac Hsieh

By George Levin

Local teens put on an event honoring a civil rights hero this week, while other residents around the community gave up part of their valuable vacations in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

About 250 people paid tribute to King at the Libbey Park fountain Monday, according to organizers Zelda Grove, the executive chair of the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation’s MLK Day committee, and Gus Hoffman, a 2010 Nordhoff High School graduate who helps put on the event. The celebration in the park has been organized by the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation for seven or eight years, says Hoffman. The high school students put it together, and grammar school classes across the valley made posters which were hung in the park, visible from Ojai Avenue. The event included face painting, speeches, food, kindergarten choirs, and folksy resistance songs of the 1960s.

Local resident Kate Russell expressed her admiration for the students who had taken it upon themselves to commemorate the hero of their parents’ generation. She explains that the student volunteers have a saying for the day: “‘It’s a day on, not a day off,’ is what they tell each other,” she says with a laugh. She adds, “The official slogan this year is ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.’”

While many residents attended the celebration in Libbey Park, others volunteered their time at the Ojai-based Humane Society of Ventura County, the Ojai Valley Community Hospital or other locations around the valley. Their efforts are part of the nation-wide Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service initiative, an 18-year-old program designed to encourage Americans of all ages and backgrounds to use King’s legacy as an inspiration to make their communities better by working to make a difference in any way they are able. Humane Society volunteer coordinator Kate Nelson said, “There are people who come in every day of the week, though I don’t mind anything that motivates people to come out!”

By Linda Harmon

Thanks to area environmental councils and a grant from the Federal Department of Energy, Ojai residents and visitors can get their electric vehicles charged for free at either of two charging stations while visiting the downtown area.

“The upgraded charging locations are not new,” says Kent Bullard, board director with the Sustainability Council of Ventura County and an EV owner himself. ”Ojai’s existing EVS (electric vehicle service) stations were installed about ten years ago, but have just been upgraded to a meet a new industry standard.”

EVS charging equipment is located at the Ojai Park & Ride, 450 E. Ojai Ave; City Hall, 401 S. Ventura St.; and at Lake Casitas.

According to Bullard, before this standardization there were three different models of chargers out there. He feels the newly arrived chargers will eliminate one of the biggest stumbling blocks faced by EV owners — having the correct hook-up to charge their vehicle.

The new equipment has all been upgraded to the new standard, level 2 J1772 connection, by EVS company Clipper Creek. Electric Vehicle manufacturers have agreed to install compatible equipment on all future models, including Toyota, Nissan and Ford.

According to Bullard, another bit of good news is the development of high-speed chargers that work off a higher wattage system, which are currently being strategically placed in each county throughout the state.

Bullard says that these new efforts, paid for by federal and state grants, have been augmented by for-profit companies jumping into providing EVS services. Companies in the private sector are now working on plans to install “pay as you go” chargers, using either a charge-for-fee basis or club-based access, making electric vehicles more feasible for long distance commuting.

Bullard and his wife have an electric vehicle, and his wife uses it to commute to work in Thousand Oaks. They charge it at home with an “over-sized” solar system that they had installed for just that purpose.

“On average at 110 watts, an hour of charging equals four n nmjn n miles of range,” said Bullard, “So if she plugs in when she gets to work, the car is recharged by the time she leaves. The chargers at City Hall use a 220 current that gives you 10 miles of range for every hour of charging. The new high-speed fast chargers work even quicker on a higher current, 440 volt. They are looking at putting in a fast charge station at either Ventura or Santa Barbara to extend the travel range up the coast.”

For a list of regional EVS locations, go to ojaivalleygreencoalition.com/GoldCoastEVChargingLocations-11-30-11.pdf.

For information on an EVS workshop set for Jan. 29 in Camarillo, visit energycenter.org/cvrp-events.

Photos and report by Logan Hall

An elderly woman driving a white Toyota Camry crashed through the window of a business next to Nordhoff High School earlier today. The incident happened just feet away from the front door of insurance agent Bob Daddi’s State Farm office on Vallerio Avenue. Although the woman was reportedly uninjured, the crash damaged a large glass window, and a wall inside the building. “I was in the back and heard the crash,” said Daddi. “I thought it was an earthquake. The car hit the wall and shook the building.” The building’s owner, Dean Vadnais, said that the tenants of the damaged unit — formerly the Pregnancy Clinic of the Ojai Valley — were in the process of moving to a different location and no one was in the building at the time. “It’s not that bad,” said Vadnais after surveying the shattered glass and broken frame of the floor to ceiling window. “No one was hurt thankfully.” This incident isn’t the first time the insurance office has had to deal with cars crashing through walls. In 2006, another white sedan plowed through the wall of Daddi’s office, sending one of his employees to the hospital with minor injuries. Reasons for the crash are unknown at this time.

By Tiobe Barron

Ojai City Council voted Tuesday night to approve a multitude of permits which allow the Weil Tennis Academy to expand its existing facilities. The project plans include a lot expansion, the creation of four new tennis courts, and a complete revamping of the dormitories.

“I have a great staff,” said Weil Academy owner and Ojai resident Mark Weil, “but the dormitories have always been, ‘Bring the parents in with blindfolds!’ I want to make it inviting and attractive.”

Abe Leider, the contract planner, gave a presentation to the council on the project plans. Among the provisions detailed were tree permits — to remove old and diseased trees, as well as to plant new ones — the inclusion of public art in the new facilities, and allowances for parking, among many others. There was laughter from the public and council members alike as Councilwoman Carol Smith read off the extensive list of permits, amendments, and certificates to be approved.

“I want to thank you all for hearing us tonight,” said Weil, “It’s taken us 17 years to get here!”

Greg Grant, Ojai’s public works director, was quick to point out that while 17 years is indeed a long time, the Fulton Street extension has been in the making for 25 years.

“The funding is completely secured now; we’re ready to start the construction,” Grant said. Caltrans will be funding the actual road construction, and has been working with the Complete Streets Subcommittee, hammering out details to make the project safe, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing. Council members approved the resulting suggestions to the extension project, which include landscape strips to provide a buffer area between pedestrians and vehicles, narrowing the planned traffic lanes from 12 to 10.5 feet to slow traffic speed, and creating curb extensions and bicycle path crossings to increase visibility and reduce cyclist/pedestrian crossing time.

Scott Eicher, CEO of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce, proposed taking even more precautions for cyclists and pedestrians along the Fulton extension.

“Why not put a stop sign at both places?” he asked regarding a four-way stop for vehicles and bicycles at bike path crossings.

“That way no one is running through feeling like God is on their side,” Councilwoman Carlon Strobel proposed the suggestion to Grant, who agreed the idea could be considered.

Council members also closely looked at their health benefits. At council’s request, finance director Susie Mears researched other city councils; health benefits throughout Ventura County, and presented her findings. According to her research, active and retired city council members in Ventura and Filmore receive no health benefits. The city of Thousand Oaks just decreased the amount covered by their health benefits policy for active and retired council members from a maximum of $2,357 to $112 per month. The matter was brought to the attention of Ojai City Council on Nov. 8  when Dick Thompson of the Ventura Taxpayer’s Association urged council members to reconsider the use of taxpayer dollars toward this end. The issue sparked controversy, as council members sparred over who should receive coverage, and for how long.

Councilwoman Strobel said, “My position is that this applies only to incoming council members, not sitting or retired.” Mayor pro tem Paul Blatz suggested perhaps the benefits could be offered until a sitting or retired council member becomes eligible for Medicare, at which point they could elect to continue the coverage offered at their own expense, or rely on Medicare alone. He agreed with Strobel that any changes should apply only to members elected after November of 2012.

“Why is it taxpayers should pay healthcare benefits to someone who is very part-time?” asked Councilwoman Smith. “Ventura is paying nothing! How is it a little city like Ojai is paying this much? Done!”

Mayor Betsy Clapp responded, “Clearly there’s a huge problem with healthcare in this country, and everyone deserves healthcare. It’s easy to say we work ‘part-time.’ I work 30 hours a week, depending. I don’t like the work we do to be diminished. This thing we’ve stepped into deserves compensation. It’s a difficult thing to do.”

All council members, except Councilman Blatz and Mayor Clapp, moved to direct the city manager to create a resolution to change City Council health benefits.

Also on the council’s plate Tuesday night was the issue of the State of California effectively dissolving redevelopment agencies across the state. The council voted to have the City of Ojai designated as the successor agency to the Redevelopment Agency, and also to support SB 659, a bill petitioning Governor Jerry Brown to temporarily postpone the Feb. 1 dissolution of redevelopment agencies. The council also voted to approve the contract naming Joseph Fletcher the new city attorney as of Feb. 1, and to continue the current arrangement with the Ojai Valley Visitors Bureau through the end of June of this year, and provide funding to the tune of $109,000.

The next regular Ojai City Council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 24, at 7:30 p.m., at City Hall.

Haven Whipple

By Chris T Wilson

A 2009 Nordhoff High School graduate, now attending a liberal arts college on the East Coast, is about to embark on a 250-mile sea kayaking adventure. And she’s enlisting the community for support.

At 19, Haven Whipple now a junior, will the youngest among a group of six Gettysburg College students to spend six weeks on the Baltic Sea kayaking from Helsinki, Finland, to Stockholm, Sweden, as part of an experiential education program at the college. Over the next few months Whipple will continue working as a waitress near campus to raise the $7,000 she needs to fund the trip, and she’ll be seeking sponsorships from Ojai area individuals and businesses as well.

Whipple joined the Gettysburg Recreation and Adventure Board college fellowship this past semester to participate more in outdoor sport opportunities. An active backpacker, water sports enthusiast and world traveler, the G.R.A.B. fellowship also allows her to receive a small stipend to take freshman on hiking and kayaking excursions.

In addition to kayaking and mountain climbing day trips near campus, the fellowship also engages in longer adventures, spending up to two weeks climbing in Arizona, camping off the coast of Georgia, and spending the whole summer trekking through Ireland, she said. About 30 students are involved in G.R.A.B.

“I’ll be flying back to school on Saturday, and then Monday, I’m going backpacking for a week in the Appalachians,” Whipple said.

To train for the Baltic Sea Kayak trip, Whipple and her five fellow students who will be on the trip will work on endurance training, which means a lot of long distance running — and, of course kayaking.

She got her initial taste of kayaking working at the Lake Casitas Marina Café.

“I would take out kayaks almost every day last summer,” she said. “That was my first long stretch in an ocean kayak.”

During the coming trip on the Baltic, the longest stretch they will paddle in a single day is 25 miles. As an educational component of the trip, the students will study marine life and its relationship to climate change and report on that, Whipple said.

No stranger to adventure, Whipple said she has traveled to 16 or 17 countries. Last spring, she spent five months in Kenya as part of an economic development program through her college. There, she had to contend with large, intimidating gorillas and menacing monkeys and live next to one of the largest slums in the world, she said.

“I was doing a project studying the degradation of the coast in southern Kenya,” she said. In part, her task was to study the local culture there and help to create systems that could help improve environmental conditions there. As a child, she lived with her family in Bangladesh for one year. She was in first grade when she moved to Ojai with her family. Her dad, Thayne Whipple, is a past president of the Ojai Education Foundation and the newest board member of Ojai Unified School District.

Whipple said knew she wanted to attend college on the East Coast and was inspired to apply to Gettysburg by NHS history teacher Andrew Buck, an alum of the small liberal arts college.

Now involved in the G.R.A.B. program and closing in on her last year of college, she settled on globalization studies as a major and business as a minor.

“I changed my major about six times,” she laughed. “I don’t think my advisors were too happy about that.”

But she’s been inspired by her G.R.A.B. colleagues and the experiential education staff to pursue a career that involves outdoor adventure of some kind.

To learn more about this program, visit www.gettysburg.edu and search for G.R.A.B. Individuals or businesses interested in a sponsoring Whipple can E-mail her at whipha01@gettysburg.edu.

Report and photo by Logan Hall

Ojai citizens fed up with rising water rates might get a chance to have their voices heard by the government.

The California Public Utilities Commission — which regulates utilities like local water purveyor Golden State Water Company — had previously rejected the City of Ojai’s formal request for a CPUC public participation hearing regarding GSWC’s most recent rate case, in which they requested an increase of 25 percent to their rates for customers by 2015. Ojai’s rejection caused an uproar amongst Golden State’s opposition in the valley, prompting Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water representatives to say the CPUC was the real problem in Ojai’s fight for affordable water.

Help for F.L.O.W. came in the form of the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, an organization that helps keep the regulators regulated. DRA officials had written to CPUC Administrative Law Judge Richard Smith requesting that the commission hold four additional hearings in Bell Gardens, Calipatria, Placentia and Ojai.

The letter to Smith stated that DRA representatives had visited the town of Ojai, and had seen evidence that enough people were protesting Golden State to warrant a hearing in the city. The DRA had also cited that articles in the Ojai Valley News had gained their attention.

“ … DRA conducted a site visit to Ojai on October 5, 2011 and observed signs on many customers’ front lawns stating their unhappiness with Golden State’s rates.  Also, while in Ojai, DRA noticed two articles in the local newspaper and magazines regarding Golden State Water Company’s proposed rate increases,” read the email sent to smith by Selina Shek, the DRA’s co-counsel.

Smith responded by stating in a report that, “Given the widespread interest in and substantial attendance at the PPH’s (hearings) in this proceeding, the commission will consider holding additional PPH’s.”

In addition to the DRA’s support for Ojai, letters were sent to the CPUC from former mayor Carol Smith and Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett. “ … A hearing in the Ojai area is needed to properly afford local citizens the ability to participate in the CPUC process,” read the letter from Bennett.

Attempts to gain comment from CPUC spokesman Christopher Chow were met by an E-mail response giving a web link to Smith’s report. On more than one occasion, CPUC representatives — who are responsible for looking out for the public’s best interests — have refused to answer direct questions about Golden State’s current rate case.

Although the CPUC appears to be brushing the concerns of Ojai’s citizens aside, F.L.O.W. supporters believe that Ojai’s collective voice will be heard.

“Ojai F.L.O.W. is confident that a public participation hearing will be held in Ojai by April,” said F.L.O.W. representative Bob Daddi.

Golden State released a statement supporting additional public hearings. “We’re very supportive of a proposal for additional public participation hearings in Ojai as well as other communities,” said GSWC spokesman John Dewey. “These hearings are another example of accountability that is built into the process. It’s important for customers to have a voice and input into this.”

Trouble for Golden State has been mounting as two big settlements regarding violations within the company have surfaced recently. Last year, Golden State agreed to pay more than $12 million to their customers in several areas, including Ojai. The company had grossly overpaid a construction firm for projects — some of which were never even started — more than 10 years ago that sparked an investigation into the company, when it was found that company executives had deliberately withheld the information from the government. Ojai customers stand to receive $1 million in compensation from GSWC in the form of credits in coming years.

In 2010, another major blow to the company came when the California Regional Water Quality Control Board slapped them with $15,000 in violations regarding the San Antonio pump station on Grand Avenue in Ojai’s East End.

The violations were directly related to excessive amounts of chemicals and other anomalies in the water supply. The violations for the pump station were for excessive chloride, total residual chlorine and biological oxygen demand — which refers to the amount of oxygen that is consumed by bacteria in the water supply. GSWC had not properly filed with the control board regarding the violations, resulting in fines to the company of $105,000.

That fine could have been substantially more, however.

The board cited that Golden State was 1,054 days late in properly dealing with violations. GSWC could potentially have been fined $3,000 a month until the company took care of the problem, which would have added up to $216,000. If referred to the attorney general for prosecution, the superior court could have imposed a fine of $25,000 per violation for the five violations read the report. Golden State settled out of court, paying a total of $120,000 including the cost of the individual violations.

GSWC representatives claim that the company hadn’t sent the required reports properly, and therefore couldn’t prove that they had responded to the violations in a timely manner. “While we have every reason to believe the report was submitted timely,” said GSWC district manager Ken Petersen, “the Company did not send the report via certified mail and thus has no way to prove the report was received by the Regional Board.”

Petersen stated that, despite fines imposed, the company had corrected the problem. “The violations were corrected upon installation of new filter media at one of its plant sites,” he said.

The San Antonio pump station borders San Antonio Creek and is undergoing renovations that Golden State officials say will help provide a better quality of water and service for their customers. Welders from Paso Robles Tank are currently working to install a new 500,000-gallon water storage tank to replace the facility’s aging 50,000-gallon forebay tank.

“If some of our wells go down or there is a natural disaster that knocks part of our system out,” said GSWC’s Ojai area manager Del Webb, “we’ll have 500,000 gallons of stored water that we can use immediately.”

Other plans for the pump station include another well that would be drilled on the other side of the creek from the new tank.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan

If the rest of the New Year goes as well for me as Monday night did, it’s going to be a banner year. That is because my Crimson Tide soundly defeated LSU and won the national championship in college football. So at least three people in Ojai were happy, me and my friends Carl Greenfield and Mark Burgess, who are also big Alabama football fans.

I know that a lot of people do not share my enthusiasm for football, especially college football. While I have met some USC and UCLA fans, they do not seem as rabid as the fans in the South. That certainly is not a knock on them. In fact, football in the South, and Alabama in particular, is crazy. People behave irrationally, and do some bizarre things.

People gawk at me in amazement when I talk about how crazy Alabama football fans are. Alabama’s legendary coach, Bear Bryant, wore a signature hound’s-tooth hat when he coached. The hound’s-tooth design has been trademarked and licensed by the University of Alabama. Replicas of the hat are worn by hundreds of coeds at games. The design now appears on everything from cup holders to dog collars – and Bryant has been dead for almost 30 years. One Tuscaloosa couple I know illustrates the passion with which football is approached; while he is rabid Alabama fan; she pulls for Auburn. In Alabama, this is what is known as a “mixed” marriage. The rivalry is so fierce between Auburn and Alabama that this couple takes separate cars when that game is played in Auburn so the “loser” of the game will not have to make the 160-mile, two-and-a-half hour trip back home listening to the other one celebrating their team’s win.

Football is fun, and people enjoy it. It is also an economic engine in many college towns. In Tuscaloosa, the chamber of commerce estimates that each home football game generates $6-8 million in revenue for the town. Multiply that times six or seven home games, and you’re talking about major money.

But it’s even more than that.

In the early sixties, Alabama was ground zero of the civil rights movement. Terrible acts were committed by both the Ku Klux Klan, and also by those in positions of authority. Horrific images of Selma, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery were captured on film and tape, and were seen on television and in newspapers around the country and the world. Alabama became the poster child of racial prejudice and discrimination. The state was disgraced, and rightly so.

During this time, Paul “Bear” Bryant, through his successful football program, gave the state some positive press and a source of pride when those things were in very short supply. And it gave those in the state who were horrified by the racist acts that were committed, and who were embarrassed and ashamed of the state’s terrible image, a chance to restore a little bit of their self-respect, even if it was only through football. It became something positive to rally around.

So if you see me or Carl or Mark running and jumping around and acting a little crazy, it is just a little football insanity. It isn’t permanent.

But it will pick right back up again next fall.

UPDATE: Sources confirmed Sue Horgan’s husband, Gary, died this morning. Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, (date corrected) at their Ojai home.

By Tiobe Barron

At a special Ojai City Council meeting Tuesday night, Councilwoman Carlon Strobel questioned the recent absences of Councilwoman Sue Horgan, and if those absences should affect Horgan’s future on the Council.

“There was a question about vacancies on the City Council,” said interim City Attorney Steve Lee after Mayor Betsy Clapp began the regular meeting by requesting that he brief the public audience on the discussion that took place earlier. “My opinion stated was that because the Nov. 22 and Dec. 27 regular council meetings were officially canceled, the absences of all City  council members were deemed excused, and therefore there are no vacancies on the City Council created by absences at this time.”

Horgan’s absences were questioned because California Government Code Section 36513 stipulates, “If a city council member is absent without permission from all regular city council meetings for 60 days consecutively from the last regular meeting he or she attended, his or her office becomes vacant and shall be filled as any other vacancy.” According to Steve McClary, assistant to the city manager, the vacancy would occur automatically. However, because two of the regular meetings were canceled, the clock was reset, so to speak.

Ojai resident Leonard Klaif questioned Lee’s advice regarding the possibility of a vacancy. “What I’m gonna say next involves the vacancy or non-vacancy. It is not an attack on Ms. Horgan. It is an attempt to make sure the city is protected,” Klaif said. “The opinion offered strikes me as being nonsensical. It (the statute) doesn’t talk about number of meetings, it talks about number of days. End of discussion.”

Klaif further suggested a need for more transparency — more information given to the public by City Council. “There’s nothing posted anywhere that this was going to be discussed in private this evening. The agenda says ‘possible litigation.’ I didn’t think it involved this.” Mayor Clapp was quick to clarify that the matter was addressed at the beginning of the special meeting, during the public portion, and that the closed session was strictly directed toward Redevelopment Agency issues. Councilwoman Strobel added, “It was open and public. There was nothing discussed in closed session.” Klaif interjected that he did not want to argue with Strobel, but “I don’t think that resolves the situation. The public, all along, has been in the dark. And you are our representative. While you do have a private life, you are still our representative. The only thing the public knew was that when roll call was called, there was a silence when Councilwoman Horgan’s name was mentioned … Then before the regularly scheduled meeting, when people would normally show up, you discuss it and come up with this totally absurd legal opinion.”

Ojai resident and former two-term  council member Rae Hanstad offered a different perspective. “I’m, I guess, satisfied that you’ve solved the technical issues on your announcement regarding the vacancy, but I wanted to share another side of it. Which was, in my last term, I had an illness and family emergency that lasted over a month. I took a leave of absence. The city manager helped me rearrange my schedule. One  council member cooked for me. Another  council member drove my kids to school.  council members volunteered to take over some of my assignments at the planning commission liaison level, or other regional assignments. I had an FPPC tardiness and fine, and the city clerk helped me straighten that out. Everything was done by my colleagues to help me through a difficult time so that I could be of service to my constituents and still take care of family matters. What I see here and what I hear makes me wonder: If you cannot, as a body, be of service to each other, and be compassionate at a time like this, then I’m not sure how you can serve the public.”

Mayor Clapp urged the public speakers to understand the issue was not a lack of sympathy, but a need to clarify things from a legal standpoint. “We welcome Councilwoman Horgan back, and believe me, we are all wishing her well, and her family well. There was never any intention to imply otherwise.”

Reached Thursday afternoon via telephone, Strobel said, “For me, it’s about the office, not the person. If we had a vacancy, it calls into question the validity of the agenda, and might compromise the integrity of City Council … it could have an impact on all agendized items. We were never given the opportunity to support a request for leave of absence. It should have been placed on the agenda, but it was never placed. The easy thing to do would be to ignore the matter, but that’s not my way. But the city attorney’s advice is that there is no vacancy. He’s the attorney, I’m not. It was just my concern that any action we took on any issue would be illegitimate. I have a great deal of respect for Sue Horgan, I know exactly how much she’s given to this city.”

Horgan could not be reached for comment at time of publication.

By Logan Hall

The California State Assembly Transportation Committee rejected a bill that proposed a restriction on the length of trucks on Maricopa Highway on Monday.

The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Das Williams in February 2011 and backed by Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett and Ojai Stop the Trucks! Coalition members, was rejected after the committee voted 4-7 to deny the proposal during their hearing, according to Williams’ communications coordinator James Joyce.

Joyce says that problems arose when it was discovered that there were “gaps” in the law regarding state highways. “Caltrans does not have the authority to restrict trucks that are between 30 and 38 feet,” said Joyce. “They can regulate trucks that are more than 38 feet, but there is a gap in their authority.”

The rejected bill presented a restriction on trucks in excess of 30 feet, which left the gap in the proposal. Joyce said he didn’t know the reason behind the gap, and said that the transportation committee would need to look into it more.

Although the bill is dead, Williams’ cause might still be moving forward. Joyce claims that Williams and the transportation committee are working on a solution to a problem that isn’t limited to just Highway 33. “They really wanted to find a solution that is more systemic rather than looking at one road in particular. (Williams) had good conversations with the chair of the transportation committee and Caltrans and things are moving forward.”

Although a 1989 study by Caltrans claims the highway may be unsafe for large trucks, not everyone wants to see truck restrictions on Maricopa.

“All of the major industries and contractors lobbied to the state to kill this bill because it was so bad,” said mine owner Larry Mosler, whose quarry lies within the bill’s proposed boundaries. The bill would have covered Highway 33 from Camino Cielo Road (just south of the Ojai Quarry) through to the Santa Barbara County line.

Bennett was unavailable to comment Tuesday, but repeated attempts to contact his office were met with a press release, which neither confirmed nor denied the bill’s rejection.

“Following testimony yesterday from Supervisor Steve Bennett and Assembly Member Das Williams, the Assembly Transportation Committee Chair invited the introduction of a new bill to address truck size on the mountainous portions of Highway 33,” read part of the press release sent by Bennett’s assistant Steve Offerman on Tuesday.

No indication was made as to how the “new bill” would differ from the one rejected by the committee on Monday.

Although Mosler and his quarry may have dodged a bullet, the committee denied the bill less than a week after the Ojai Quarry was pulled from the state’s AB 3098 list that allows miners to accept local government contracts. The State Office of Mine Reclamation took Mosler off of the list due to a lack of an approved reclamation plan for the mine and the financial assurance to cover the plan. While off the list, Mosler will not be permitted to sell his product for government projects, a sizeable portion of business for many mines and quarries.

Ventura County officials have been working with Mosler to come to an agreement on a plan and the corresponding financial assurance after the county planning commission voted unanimously to allow Mosler to continue to operate while in negotiations with the county.

“My reclamation plan hasn’t been approved yet,” Mosler said on Tuesday. “The state had to take me off the list temporarily. As soon as we get everything worked out I’ll be back on the list.”

Mosler says he will post an additional $25,000 that he hopes will bring the financial assurance up to an acceptable level for the county. “We’re real close to working something out with the county,” he continued. “We’re making real progress.”

State officials confirm that the mine owner will be put back on the list as soon as his issues are resolved with the county. “Once he’s back in good standing with the county and they have an approved reclamation plan,” said Don Drysdale, spokesman for the state OMR, “he should be back in good standing with state. He can get back on the list but it will take some effort on his part.”

The county planning commission will conduct a hearing on Feb. 23 when commissioners will decide whether or not to revoke Mosler’s mining permit.

By Logan Hall

Warm weather is a staple in Southern California. When the East Coast is slammed by blizzards and ice storms, folks in the Ojai Valley are getting out their hiking shoes and bike helmets. Hearing a phrase like, “another summer day in January,” is not uncommon.

Warm days aren’t the only things getting people outdoors though. The valley is below its 30-year average as far as rainfall is concerned. According to the National Weather Service in Oxnard, the Ojai Valley received .28 inches of rain in December, which is about 10 percent of normal. The 30-year average for December is 2.94 inches. NWS stats also show that from July 1, the valley has seen 3.22 inches of rain, while the 30-year average is 5.9 inches in the same period of time.

Although the warmth and lack of rain may seem unseasonable, weather experts say it’s all part of the normal cycle. “Everything varies,” said Bonnie Bartling, NWS weather specialist. “It all depends on the weather patterns. A lot of low-pressure systems have stayed up north. In Southern California, it depends on whether those storm systems get all the way down here. It all averages out, though.”

Bartling says that daytime temperatures will cool throughout the week but should warm up again by the weekend. “There is a low pressure system that’s sitting off the coast in the Pacific,” she said. “The high for Ojai should get back down to 67 degrees. We have influence from a ridge over the great basin, so Thursday and Friday will be warmer again.”

Though Ojai has seen warmth during daylight hours recently, temperatures tend to cool down rapidly after the sun sets. “Ojai hasn’t had a lot of wind, so it’s been chilly at night,” added Bartling. “Also, it is winter time, and you don’t get as much warming from sun. You notice that in the afternoon the air starts chilling down because the angle of sun is going down. There aren’t as long daytime heating hours.”

A forecast of “partly cloudy” might help keep the nights from getting into freezing temperatures this week. “Over the next week the lows shouldn’t be as cold because there will be some cloud cover,” said Bartling.

Many are getting out and enjoying the warmth while it lasts. Marlene Higgins and her husband, Dave, say they are grateful they live in Southern California, soaking up the rays. “How lucky are we that we are able to do this in January?” she asked as her husband launched their boat at Lake Casitas on Tuesday morning. “I’m here to bird watch while he fishes. We’re gonna need lots of sun tan lotion for a gorgeous winter day.”

By Chris T Wilson

For anyone who believes that a good education requires a fresh, healthy and informed diet, there’s a local non-profit group for you.

Since 2002 Food For Thought Ojai has upheld the vision “to reconnect families to the earth through food, education and community.”

On Jan. 28, Food for Thought will host “Dinner & A Movie,” a fund-raising event in Ojai with a showing of the film, “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” A question-and-answer session with director Bill Paxton and actor James Paxton will follow the film. And a live auction and dinner featuring locally grown produce prepared by local chef Jeri Oshima will take place at the Ojai Woman’s Club afterward. Two items of particular interest at the auction will be a 1966 Trini Lopez Gibson Guitar and a weekend golf package at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.

At the head of the diverse group of Ojai community members involved with this effort is FFTO co-founder Jim Churchill, known for his tangerine farming expertise. Churchill said the event is set to raise awareness and money to pay for the fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as the program’s two staff members and the bussing and fuel costs associated with the field trip.

Churchill said the FFTO works with the Ojai Unified School District to educate students about food and the meals they eat.

“We do school gardens with a garden-based curriculum that allows students to get their hands in the dirt and see how their food grows,” Churchill said. “We take the fourth graders on a farm tour so they can see what their food is, and what it takes to raise it. They get to participate in the harvest and then work on a nutrition education curriculum in the classroom.”

Another aspect of the FFTO curriculum is a full school recycling awareness program where students gather all the school’s waste stream to see how it is a part of the food cycle. Students separate and weigh all the waste, and learn about where everything goes and how it all fits together as a system.

The group’s two staff members are executive director Lori Hamor and garden coordinator David White.

“He’s just a great teacher and a gardner,” Churchill said of White. “One thing we’ve learned from this program is that if there is no gardener there’s no garden. Most garden programs try to rely on volunteers and it just doesn’t work as well.”

The FFTO program has served hundreds of children over the past decade and has had support from both local donors and grant funding. Food for Thought Ojai operates on about $100,000 annual budget, Churchill said.

Ticket sales for the event began last Sunday at the Ojai Farmer’s Market. The group’s first “Dinner & A Movie” event in 2004 — with Tony Shalhoub — sold out.

The Jan. 28 event starts at 4 p.m. at the Ojai Playhouse. It will also include Claud Mann, star of TBS’ “Dinner & A Movie,” who will moderate the question-and-answer session with Paxton.

For more information about the event visit www.foodforthoughtojai.org.

By Michelaina Johnson

Meadows Montessori, a recently opened bilingual preschool, teaches students based on the Montessori teaching philosophy in both Spanish and English in order to meet the growing need for more bilingual citizens. Teaching focuses on interactivity and hands-on experiences, rather than the usual classroom method.

“Our goal is to provide a safe, loving environment for the children to grow and learn, but the core of it is to provide a place for them to become who they are destined to be,” said Jennifer Wing, teacher at the preschool.

The preschool’s faculty consists of administrator Clare Ochoa, Spanish-speaking teacher Marta Esquer, and Wing, the English-speaking teacher. Esquer and Wing both have complete ATI (Association Montessori International) training and more than 15 years of teaching experience. Wing also earned her bachelor in English at UC Santa Barbara.

The preschool teaches children ages two-and-a-half to six math, geography, natural science, music exploration and practical life skills. The staff also plans to grow a kid‘s vegetable garden. “It is all hands-on. The child gets to do the lesson right after the (demonstration). Everything is concrete; they can touch it, feel it, hear it and manipulate it,” said Wing.

Wing teaches the lessons in English, while Esquer repeats the lesson in Spanish. “Research shows that the time to learn a new language is when you are young. Before the age of 12 is the best time,” said Wing. The students learn the alphabet, counting, songs and stories in both languages. “The kids just absorb it naturally,” said Ochoa.

Bilingualism enriches a child’s mental development, teaches about another culture and broadens the possibilities for the future, added the teachers.

One native English-speaking student, age two-and-a-half, “Repeats everything that Marta says in Spanish. It is incredible,” said Wing. She added that within the preschool, “We are giving to the children the ‘keys to the world,’ as Maria Montessori said.”

For more information, visit www.ojaimeadowsmontessori.com.

Plaza Pantry owner Beryl Tognazzini first came to Ojai in 1958 to visit relatives. And though she has traveled extensively throughout the years, Tognazzini’s shop, which specializes in English goods, has remained firmly planted in Ojai. Plaza Pantry celebrates 30 years in business on Jan. 21, a milestone the shop will commemorate with an open house — complete with drinks and snacks — from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Originally a schoolteacher, Tognazzini eventually moved on to catering. Decades ago, as the expansion of businesses around the arcade and the construction of new buildings created a demand for a lunch spot for locals, Tognazzini’s friends suggested she fill this opening. And, about a year after her shop opened, a similar shop in Ventura that specialized in English goods closed down, creating further opportunity.

Today, the Pantry offers an array of English grocery goods — a broad selection of teas, English biscuits (quite different, Tognazinni points out, from American biscuits), Marmite, Birds custard powder, HP sauce, candies or “sweets” from Roundtree, among many others. The shop also has two menus, one English and one American. Specialties include scones made in-house, Cornish pasties, shepherd’s pie, and sausage rolls. The proprietress recommends newcomers try the “banger butties,” a conversation-starter hailing from North England, where “banger” means sausage, and “butties” is slang for bread and butter. In the afternoon, tarts, pieces of fruitcake, and other sweets are available to try individually for $1 a piece, and if the customer enjoys the desert, they are able to purchase a whole package from the grocery side. In addition, the first Wednesday of each month, the Pantry holds English high tea, available by reservation. Tognazinni claims hers is the only “proper” tea place this side of Calabasas.

However, it’s more than what’s on the menu that makes the Plaza Pantry unique. Tognazinni maintains she has kept her prices low for the sake of accessibility. “I want people to get out and enjoy themselves,” she says. She has deliberately created an atmosphere that is homey and casual, that friends and regulars refer to as “Mother’s kitchen.” Tognazinni says it is not uncommon for a regular to help themselves to a drink from the refrigerator, and leave the money for said beverage on the counter, an act that sometimes leaves new customers aghast. Tognazinni’s background as a school teacher translates to a love for “youngsters,” who have been allowed on occasion to come behind the counter to help with the register, offering a learning opportunity and special experience for a kid.

When asked what she hopes the coming years will bring, Tognazinni replied, “That I can continue as I’m doing, that the business will hold its own. I’m not out to be a millionaire. I just want people to enjoy and keep coming. People are very at home in my shop, its friendly, relaxed. We don’t put on airs and fancies, people can help themselves. I’m very thankful for all the good support from everyone, I’m very fortunate. I never thought we’d make it 30 years!”

Plaza Pantry is located at 221 E. Matilija Street, Suite G. For information, call 646-6325.

By Misty Volaski
Chances are good that if you grew up in Ojai or have ever been in the emergency room of the Ojai Valley Community Hospital, you’ve been treated by Dr. Tim Williamson. The Ojai pediatrician’s 33 years of dedication to children has earned him the title of finalist in Parenting Magazine’s “Peds” Doing Good Deeds Contest.

Along with 11 other doctors from around the country, Williamson has the chance to win $5,000 for the charity of his choosing should he garner the most votes.

“I don’t think I’m supposed to say which (charity) I’ll choose, but it would definitely go to a very worthy organization that supports the activities of children and infants,” he said.

Good luck determining which charity he’s referring to; the doc has worked with several in the area over the years, including the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation, the Nan Tolbert Nurturing Center, the Ojai Education Foundation, and the Boswell Clinic in Ventura, among others. He’s also volunteered with the American Heart Association and was instrumental in the installation of the OVCH’s neonatal unit (which was cut seven years ago due to budget restrictions). He said the unit was one of his proudest accomplishments. “I’m certainly not the only one who developed it, but it’s one of the things I’m most pleased with. it was one of the better delivery systems in the county, capable of taking care of and stabilizing infants. To me it was a real service to the community.”

Williamson has also underwritten the rent for the OVYF for a number of years, helped develop and promote programs at the NTNC, and works with developmentally disabled children at Boswell. “Children that come to Boswell have fairly severe developmental handicaps,” he explained, “like cerebral palsy and genetic diseases. I provide pediatric consultation for directing their treatment and medical intervention.”

But Williamson added that the work he does at Boswell is very much a team effort, crediting the whole office, including Ojai’s Dr. Al Stroberg, for making it “one of the better systems in the United States.”

His work there helped inspire a recent trip to Roatan, Honduras, where he worked in a “makeshift clinic, especially when it came to pediatrics.” What began as a hypertension and diabetes clinic for adults has expanded over the years to include pediatric services due to overwhelming need and lack of funding for such services from the Honduran government.

The work was as inspiring as it was heartbreaking. “Medically, these are very very underserved people,” he said. “With developmental disabilities and genetic syndromes, in order to maximize their ability to function, they need special diagnostic tests, special medications or treatments. Most of them need physical and occupational therapy.” He told of the 9-year-old polio sufferer who was severely muscularly disabled from the disease. “He could barely walk. He was extremely off-balance,” Williamson said. “This is a child that, if he were in California, child services would’ve been able to pull him into Boswell and he would’ve received occupational therapy and physical therapy on a regular basis, and orthotic braces.”

He said he’ll keep the child’s name with him for his next trip, which he hopes will happen soon. “That’s the difficulty with international work — identifying the need is only part of the story. Then you have to be able to have someone or an organization that can provide (ongoing) services that these children need,” Williamson said, noting that he would be searching for groups in 2012 that could help fund such a venture. “This will be an ongoing process.”

His volunteer work and 24/7 dedication to the children of Ojai — a call at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning is practically routine by this time — make it easy for his colleagues to praise him. Said Haady Lashkari, CAO of the Ojai Valley Community Hospital, “In the short time I’ve gotten to know him, he’s been very supportive of the hospital and the community. We’re proud he is practicing in the Ojai Valley.”

Fellow doctor Betsy Patterson, said, “I have worked with Dr. Williamson for 20 years in the emergency department, and he has been a dedicated physician, not only for his patients but for all the children in the Ojai Valley that come to the emergency department, with life- or limb-threatening problems. He responds to the call for help whenever needed in caring for critically ill children and is always (literally) available for advice and guidance in treatment of sick children. He has watched our two sons grow from toddlers to young men and has been a thoughtful caring physician for them.”

But Williamson brushes off the praise, saying he is simply happy to “have a real connection to the community and especially the youth of the community. It’s very rewarding watching everybody grow up.”

Vote for Williamson — and help a youth organization in the Ojai Valley earn a $5,000 donation — at parenting.com/pedsdoinggooddeeds. More than one vote may be logged per person, and repeat votes are encouraged. Voting closes Jan. 31.

By Tiobe Barron

During the time allotted for public communications at Wednesday night’s Ojai Planning Commission meeting, Ojai resident Bob Daddi urged commissioners to get a move on in reviewing the “antique and out-of-date” building codes. “It’s like mildew in the shower; it keeps coming back,” said Daddi. “We have other things we need to work on.”

After Kathy Nolan replaced Steven Foster as chair, and Marleen Luckman was elected vice chair of the commission, much if the meeting was spent reviewing the Ojai Valley Library Friends & Foundation’s plans for the proposed community meeting room. The plans, designed by architect Jon Dieges, were originally brought before the Commission at the Dec. 7 meeting, then reviewed by the Historic Preservation subcommittee. The main concerns discussed included the shape of the proposed windows, the accuracy of the interior columns, and the layout of the modified parking lot.

John Lambert, with the Ojai Valley Library Friends & Foundation, gave a Powerpoint presentation showing specifically where the trash enclosure would be moved to, what the front double doors would look like, and photos of other proposed details, such as vents and railings that will be included in the community meeting room. Vice chair Luckman and commissioner Foster had considerable reservations about approving the proposal as it stood, because of potential problems with the modified parking lot. While the law only requires one parking space be designated and designed for ADA compliance, the proposal included three. There were concerns about the logistics of one such parking space, and ramp leading into the meeting room. Lambert urged the Commission to approve the plan regardless, saying “We’d be happy to submit that in a separate time frame; we still have to go to county (for approval).”

Commission chair Nolan asked Lambert, “Do you have an estimated time for starting the project?” Lambert replied, “Ideally when the rains stop, sometime this year.”

Commissioner Foster moved to adopt the plan, with the condition that the applicant (OVLFF) submit a revised plaza proposal in May, for the parking issues left unaddressed for the time being. The motion passed with a majority vote.

Also brought before the commission by city manager Rob Clark were the City Council’s ideas to modify the current process by which a business in the community is defined as a “formula business;” in layman’s terms, a chain store. Currently a business must meet three of six criteria in order to be labeled as such. Due to public outcry over a business that had previously not met the criteria by the council’s standards — but was largely deemed by the public to be a chain nonetheless — the council is considering lowering the number of criteria to be met from three to two, or in instances of two criteria being met, having the specific case be referred to the Planning Commission for review and public input.

Said commissioner Troy Becker, “There wasn’t really a mechanism of getting here (before), I think that’s where the controversy occurred.”

Scott Eicher, CEO of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce, pointed out, “Part of the problem that came about was the applicant answers ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to six criteria, with no method to verify. That specific form, to a lot of people’s minds, was not filled out correctly, honestly.” The commission moved to continue the issue to the Feb. 1 meeting, pending more information from City Council.

In discussing the proposed Fulton Street Extension, commission chair Nolan had two items that she wants added: stops signs on Fulton for vehicles — but thru-way for bicycles — and a limit on the commercial trucks down Fulton. Public works director Greg Grant responded, “That’s certainly something we can look into.”

Commissioner Becker was concerned that while the original plan was approved in 2008, the modified plan had not been reviewed by the Planning Commission. “We need to be really careful of subcommittees and side-stepping approval. Subcommittees should not act as a de facto Planning Commission. There’s a public issue there, too. It needs to come back to us for approval. The procedure is what I’m concerned about.”

Commissioner Foster clarified that the issue was brought to the table at this meeting as a courtesy before the matter comes before City Council, at the Jan. 10 meeting, at which point there will be opportunity for public input. That meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night at City Hall, 401 S. Ventura St.

Next week, the State Assembly Transportation Committee will vote on a bill that would restrict large trucks on Highway 33.

In 2011, Assemblymember Das Williams introduced a Ventura County-sponsored bill to address truck safety on the mountainous portions of Highway 33, also known as Maricopa Highway. This state legislation, AB-538, would limit single-trailer trucks to a 30-foot trailer length from Camino Cielo Road — about four miles up Maricopa from its intersection with Highway 150 — to the Santa Barbara County line. The bill will be heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday.

This bill would implement the recommendations of a 1989 Caltrans study of highway safety as related to truck length. This Caltrans truck safety study of various California highways compared the turn radii of the highways with the turning radii of trucks. For the mountainous portions of Highway 33 in Ventura County, this study concluded that trucks with trailers over 30 feet in length may not be able to stay within their lane. This study also recommended that state legislation be adopted to enable Caltrans to make appropriate restrictions of truck size. That legislation was not adopted, and the 30-foot truck length was posted as an advisory only. AB-538 would make the Caltrans advisory a mandatory regulation.

The Williams bill grew out of discussions between Assemblymember Williams and Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, in response to citizen concern regarding truck safety, particularly following the fatal runaway truck crash on Highway 154 in Santa Barbara in March 2011.

Supervisor Bennett said, “I am very grateful to Assemblymember Williams for carrying this bill to protect the safety of Highway 33 users. I have received many complaints from highway users who have witnessed trucks driving out of their lane, reports of bicyclists run off the road by trucks, and reports of trucks in the center of the narrow tunnels. I am traveling to Sacramento to testify in support of this important piece of legislation.”

In order to proceed to a vote of the full Assembly, the bill must first be approved by the Transportation Committee, which is scheduled to vote on the bill on the afternoon of Jan. 9. If approved by the full Assembly, the bill will then move to the State Senate.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
Findings in a recent study by the Transportation Department show drivers are distracted.  “What’s clear from all of the information we have is that driver distraction continues to be a major problem,” said David Strickland, the top U.S. auto safety regulator and head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Thanks, Dave.

How much are we paying you for these astute observations?  It is certainly is reassuring to know that my tax dollars are being spent on vital research — research which provides information that everyone who has driven a vehicle in the last 20 years already knows. Yes, we are distracted. We are in constant communication with each other through e-mail, phone calls and texting. A hundred years ago, people in rural areas went weeks — even months with little or no outside contact. Today, if you don’t return a phone call or text within about 10 minutes, people start contacting local funeral homes, assuming you are dead. They send urgent follow-up “did you get this” messages, so that even more time is needed to sort and answer communications. We spend great chunks our lives sending and returning messages.

And while some messages are important, a great many are just ridiculous. For instance, I have two old fraternity brothers who forward every e-mail they receive. I get about five or six e-mails per day from each of them. These generally fall into four categories. First, there are the political ones. Since both are very conservative, these e-mails beat up on the president and all other Democrats. Then, there are the patriotic ones about supporting the troops. The next group consists of religious e-mails, also known as the “If you really love Jesus you will forward this immediately to 12,000 people.” Ironically, these are the same guys who also send dirty jokes and risqué photos. I don’t have the heart to tell them, but I just delete whatever they send before I even read them.

I have another friend who sends the same e-mails and YouTube videos you get from others, but Susan’s arrive about six months later. It is as if her computer is trapped in some type of time warp. When she was working full-time she sent these out in groups of four or five at a time. Now that she has retired, I look for that number to double.

As I enter 2012, perhaps I should consider taking a page from the playbook of an old friend I replaced as publisher in south Louisiana years ago. LaJeune, named after the Marine Corp training base, Camp LeJeune (someone in the family was not a great speller), was the definition of old school. LaJeune considered the electric typewriter hi-tech. Years ago, when the Internet was fairly new, the newspaper company I worked for held a seminar on the Internet and e-mail. I asked Tay Smith, one of the younger publishers, how the seminar went. “Pretty well,” he replied. “Some of us have been using the Internet and e-mail for some time, and so we were already familiar with it.”

I said, “What about LaJeune? How did he do?” Tay replied, “He looked like a hog staring at a watch.”

He may not have been in touch with the latest fads and gadgets, but every day, as I go through the mountain of e-mails and texts on my computer and phone, I think LaJeune may have had the right idea after all.

July

• The County of Ventura and Rasmussen Construction opened the new Old Creek Road Bridge to traffic. The entire project cost $3.4 million.

• After months of discussing the management of Libbey Bowl without taking action, the city of Ojai finally made a decision. Entering into a temporary, one-year agreement with the Ojai Valley Service Foundation, the City Council voted to sign a contract that will give the foundation control over all aspects of Libbey Bowl events.

• A feud between neighbors in the valley was finally resolved as county officials work with T.V. and movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer to settle with neighbors over a dispute about a large shrub wall that Bruckheimer installed on his Ojai property.

• A local woman was charged with elder abuse and credit card fraud. Rosalba Hernandez, 24, of Oak View, was arrested on June 29 for allegedly stealing from the 82-year-old woman for whom she was hired to provide care.

• Joel Wolfgang narrowly averted tragedy after his car flew off Dennison Grade Monday afternoon. Wolfgang was uninjured after going over the side of the road and plummeting more than 50 feet down the steep embankment and drove his battered, but otherwise intact BMW away from the scene after it was retrieved by tow truck crews.

• Golden State Water Company came under fire this month as the California Public Utilities Commission went public with information about a $12 million settlement regarding Golden State contracts that included the Ojai area. Ojai customers stand to be repaid $1.2 million by GSWC.

• A fire that started in an unattached garage severely damaged a house on the 600 block of Fairview Road late Sunday morning.

• A major showing of the public forced the Casitas Municipal Water District board of directors to postpone a scheduled presentation by Golden State Water Company at 3 p.m. on Wednesday that was set to address a proposal by Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water to oust GSWC from Ojai.

August

• More than 2,500 Ojai Southern California Edison customers north of Country Club Drive and west of Gridley Road had their power interrupted due to a “failed underground component.”

• Citizens gathered along Highway 33 and watched as dozens of firefighters and emergency personnel, including the Sheriff’s Department helicopter, responded to a grass fire near the Krotona Institute just before noon Friday. The blaze was quelled before nearby homes were damaged.

• Ojai Native Jessie Wiseman starred in the independent film “Bellflower” garnering her acclaim at dozens of film festivals including the well know Sundance Film Festival.

• A neighborhood on the East End of Ojai is reeling after a bear was allegedly shot by an area resident according to some locals and the California Department of Fish and Game.

• Lake Casitas officials are scrambling to protect one of the valley’s water sources after a recreational boat sank in 80 feet of water at an unknown location in the lake. According to Casitas representitives, a boat sank sometime on Sunday evening, and the owner, Lukas Branaham, left the scene without notifying Casitas personnel. Branaham later cooperated with Casitas officials but the boat was never found.

September

• Spraying of herbicides by Ventura County workers along California Highway 33 in Mira Monte raised concerns from local residents and activists.

• Two Ojai Valley youths avoided becoming a tragic statistic on Friday after a traffic collision sent one of the teens to the hospital with serious injuries, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

• A half-acre fire that started near Rincon Mountain on Highway 150 west of Lake Casitas was started by an unknown arsonist, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

• Locals recently noticed a giant dotted line and scissors spray painted on the wall of the Matilija Dam just off Maricopa Highway. Sgt. Pat Ruby said Ojai Police were not notified about the graffiti, and have no additional information. Some people have speculated it could be the work of environmental activists seeking the removal of the dam..

• If you haven’t heard the phrase, “Nope, Chuck Testa,” by now then you’re probably not spending enough time on the internet. In the past week, the soft-spoken Meiners Oaks taxidermist who’s had more than 4 million hits on his video on youtube.

• Southern California Edison customers, including many in the Ojai Valley, were in the dark as a major power outage left 168,000 ratepayers without electricity according to SCE reports.

• Ojai citizens were left disappointed after Golden State Water Company held a public meeting Tuesday evening. In a poorly planned effort, GSWC attempted to reach out and address the public on the company’s water management plan.

October

• Local Cameron Carlson and his Chain Link Lizard Car were featured on National Geographic Channel’s hit show, “Mad Scientists.”

• The city of Ojai, Ojai Unified School District and the Ojai Valley Sanitary District came to an agreement that will provide sinks and flushing toilets in the Ojai Skate Park Bathroom.

• On Oct. 1, the Lake Casitas began permitting bowfishing strictly for carp — a species of fish that, according to a press release from Casitas, “can have a devastating effect on the spawning sites of other fish.”

• A fire in Casitas Springs on Friday afternoon claimed the life of a 70-year-old local man in the Casitas Mobile Home Park on Nye Road. Although speculation from neighbors as to the fire’s cause was abundant, officials said there was no criminal activity involved.

• The Ojai Music Festival announced it has received a $325,000 grant from the James Irvine Foundation to “advance financial sustainability within a challenging economic environment.”

•  Ojai F.L.O.W. representatives were baffled by the Ojai City Council’s discussion of Golden State Water Company. The council discussed the potential loss of more than $40,000 a year in franchise fees from GSWC if the company is taken over by Casitas through eminent domain.

• A growing effort by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department to shut down the gardens has culminated in the eradication of more than 153,000 pot plants this year,

• Emotions ran high and tempers flared as Ojai citizens made no secret of their feelings toward Golden State Water Company at GSWC’s public meeting Monday night. More than 200 people, ranging from citizens to city officials, attended the meeting held at Matilija Auditorium.

• Illegal residential rentals in Ojai came under fire Tuesday, as City Council members discussed their stance on what they call “vacation rentals.”

City officials say they have found numerous ads online for properties that are within city limits and in violation of the city’s policy on the “bed tax,” and estimate a loss of $30,000 to $60,000 per year through the illegal rentals.

• The quiet of a peaceful Monday night in downtown Ojai was shattered by the sound of gunfire as a routine traffic stop by Ventura County Sheriff’s Department deputies quickly became anything but routine. Officials say that a man, whose name has not been released but reportedly identified as Oxnard resident Augustine Medina, began shooting at deputies after they stopped his vehicle near Cluff Vista Park on Ojai Avenue around 9 p.m.

November

• Ojai Fire Station 21 is setting an example for the community. The Ventura County Fire Department crew at 21 has steadily been transforming the station into a “green” facility by installing specialized equipment, like solar panels, new energy-efficient lighting and, most recently, by revamping the station’s landscaping that now includes plants which need little or no watering.

• On Oct. 29, 80 volunteers removed over 2.5 tons of trash from the Cherry Creek shooting area up Maricopa highway North of Ojai.

• The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy is a new nonprofit partner of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of more than 1,380 member companies in 43 countries that give 1 percent of revenues to environmental causes.

• Ojai citizens are fed up with the California Public Utilities Commission. At their water meeting Wednesday night, Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water, a nonprofit organization comprised of Ojai citizens, was clear in its message to the public agency that approves utility company rate increases.

• Ventura County District 1 Supervisor Steve Bennett announced his plan to run for the 26th Congressional District seat in 2012. After serving the county for more than 10 years as supervisor, Bennett has set his sights on Congress.

• Ventura County Fire Department Fire Chief Bob Roper, an Ojai resident, announced his bid for county District 1 supervisor at a press conference on Monday. Roper made his announcement just days after current Supervisor Steve Bennett announced his campaign for the 26th seat in the U.S. Congress.

• A major eyesore and safety hazard was removed from the side of Highway 33 Monday after a crew from Greg Rents in Oak View decided to step up and take care of business. Greg  Webster, the company’s owner, removed a small recreational vehicle shell that had been dumped on the side of the highway near Nye Road in Casitas Springs.

• Plans are approved and under way to transform the shuttered and abandoned Ojai Texaco gas station into a hub of cycling and green community transportation. The MOB Shop, a bicycle sales and repair shop in Meiners Oaks, will relocate to the presently fenced property at the corner of West Ojai Avenue and North Ventura Street.

• Senior volunteers across the valley got a letter from Help of Ojai dated Nov. 15, announcing the end of the long-running Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) as of Dec. 31.

December

• Ventura County residents in unincorporated areas are receiving a break on flood insurance.

After county officials enacted a federal program that rewards a community’s flood preparedness level, property owners in places like Ojai’s East End along San Antonio and Thacher creeks will receive a 20 percent discount on flood insurance.

• The County of Ventura is stepping up its disaster preparedness in the Ojai Valley by stationing a second cache of emergency supplies, called a Mass Casualty Trailer, in Oak View.

• County officials are preparing to hear Ojai Rock Quarry owner Larry Mosler’s case during a public hearing scheduled for Thursday morning. Among other issues, Mosler is refusing to submit financial assurance for a reclamation plan that he says will cost him almost $3 million.

• The battle for rental car safety legislation on Capitol Hill is heating up, but Ojai’s Houck family is “not going to be deterred,” said matriarch Cally.

• Ojai Rock Quarry supporters butted heads with Ventura County staff and Stop the Trucks! Coalition supporters in a seven-hour-long hearing that ended with county planning commissioners continuing the meeting to Feb. 23, to give the two sides time to work out an agreement.

• After two public meetings and much discussion, the Ojai City Council voted to increase the Ojai Trolley fare at Tuesday night’s meeting. The new rates will be $1 for general fare, 50 cents for senior citizens and children ages 2 to 5, and 25 cents for those with disabilities and children under the age of 2. The new fares will be implemented in February 2012.

• Local artist Leslie Clark and a group of Ojai residents have returned from a mission trip to Niger, where they taught natives how to fabricate solar panels to pump clean water, and taught women how to help each other in childbirth.

• Locals scrambled to rent one last movie as Blockbuster prepares to close its doors after more than a dozen years of business in Mira Monte.

• The Ojai Valley Defense Fund and the Surfrider Foundation announced that they support Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water in its bid to remove Golden State Water Company from Ojai through eminent domain.

• The Ojai City Council has selected Joseph Fletcher of Tustin to serve as city attorney after a six-month search to replace Monte Widders, who retired in May after nearly 30 years at his post.

• Local golf pro Tyson York and Soule Park Golf Course are hoping to get community support that will help York and the golf course provide free clinics and camps to junior golfers year ‘round.

By virtue of the rotation policy, Ojai City Councilwoman Betsy Clapp became mayor  on Dec. 13, 2011, succeeding Carol Smith. Ojai’s mayor pro tem is now Councilman Paul Blatz, who should become mayor in December. The following responses to questions asked by OVN reported Tiobe Barron were submitted by Mayor Clapp.

OVN: How long have you been in Ojai?

Clapp: I’ve lived in Ojai since my daughter was 13, she was born in 1977, so 21 years in Ojai, and 30 years in Ventura County.

OVN: What drew you here?

Clapp: We lived on a sailboat up north. We wanted a warmer climate, a smaller community, a smaller harbor. And that drew us to Ventura Harbor.

OVN: Where did you go to school? Which career did you dream of getting into?

Clapp: I was born in Pomona and raised in Upland. What did I want to be? Oh, a gazillion things! All kinds, from working on an airline to being a P.I. to a pastry chef, you name it! I even wanted to own a ranch. I had a very eclectic range, I was never career-oriented, more life-oriented.

OVN: How did you get into municipal work?

Clapp: I have always been very politically-minded, very aware of the importance of local politics. I moved to Ojai partly because this is an area that’s more like where I grew up. Ojai reminded me of Pomona as a little girl. And if you care about your community, you don’t just complain and not do something. So I couldn’t complain and not step forward. This is a community that deserves protection; that’s why I got involved.

OVN:How does your role as Mayor differ from Mayor pro tem, or the rest of the council?

Clapp: You don’t have any more power is Mayor. You do work with the City Manager on the agenda. We run meetings, represent the community as necessary. We’re supposed to be a figurehead or representative for the community, but there is no more power.

OVN: What, for you, is the best part of serving on council?

Clapp: The best thing is engaging with the community, and working with my constituents, to help represent them, and hopefully move forward on the things that are important to them. One of the most satisfying things is being responsive to citizens, and listening to them.

OVN: What is the best part of being a part of our community in Ojai specifically? What makes Ojai so special?

Clapp: That is one of the hardest things to articulate, because it is different things to different people. To me, it embodies the quintessential Southern California town: It is small and intimate; it has natural beauty. To me it’s really important to protect those things, and it’s challenging too, because different people have different ideas of “protecting.” To me, it’s keeping that sense of small town. And it’s a tall order.

OVN: What are some of Ojai’s biggest challenges currently? And are there any issues you’d like to see City Council address in the coming year?

Clapp:: Well, one of the biggest challenges is having the financial resources to provide citizens with services, that would be, for example, maintaining roads, the recreation department (and) parks. How can we accommodate these things on a limited budget? There are a lot of things we’d like to do, but we’re restricted by money. And there’s the question of how do you keep business healthy, support business and tourism, keep the economy vibrant; what role does government have in that?

But the No. 1 concern right now is water rates. It’s the hugest problem we’re facing. Water is becoming unaffordable. It puts businesses at risk, when your water bill is really high, sometimes higher than rent or mortgage. It really puts the pressure on them (businesses). And there are people on limited incomes — they can’t grow their own gardens. It’s an important right to grow your own food. It’s part of this community.

Then there’s also planning the building code update, which is one of those things with a lot of confusion about it. A building code comes down from Sacramento, we can adopt it or add on to it; what are we going to add? There’s the circulation element, which is huge too. It’s about how to get to school safely, get around town comfortably as a pedestrian, or for those in wheelchairs. How do we make to community more accessible to all?

So there’s a lot going on! Right now we’re establishing goals as Council — where we want to go. And then we have a clear direction to take as council. My main goal would be to get that done, so we can get those things done. Instead of sitting around chatting about it, we can implement them as a group. I’d rather work together — you can accomplish more if you’re already in agreement — so these goal-setting meetings help establish what we want. And they’ve been helpful because the Brown Act restricts us in our ability to communicate (in council meetings). It’s hard sometimes, restricts what we can say. The goal-setting meetings are more an open forum, and that’s been extremely helpful.

OVN: What are your proudest achievements as a council member so far?

Clapp: I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. It was reaching consensus on the new Libbey Bowl. It was an important community asset that will now be enjoyed for generations.

April

• Artist Trimpin designed and built the Libbey Bowl Sound Arch which greets park goers as they enter the bowl’s lawn area. The arch infused state of the art electronics with music to create a work of art that is a fitting entrance to the new bowl.

• The County of Ventura posted notices stating its intent to vacate Shelf Road. The bright yellow notice, which confused and alarmed many hikers frequenting the popular trail, was a notice that the county’s transportation department was vacating the road. The county reassured Ojai’s citizens that the trail would remain open to the public.

• A report by Chris Dunn, Ojai’s chief of police, indicated that the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s efforts seemed to pay off as statistics show a low crime rate in the Ojai Valley, particularly within the city limits. Although violent crimes rose slightly, thefts in the valley decreased substantially.

• Advocates of a pesticide free Ojai worked with city officials to use alternate methods to herbicides for weed control. Volunteers worked to pull weeds by hand from areas around Libbey Park.

• Ojai Quarry owner Larry Mosler dropped his appeal of 14 violations issued by the County of Ventura. County officials stated that Mosler entered into an agreement with county planners to abate the outstanding violations.

• A group of concerned citizens claimed that a takeover of Golden State Water Company by Casitas Municipal Water District could save local consumers $1 million in the first year alone.

Due to the continuous increase in Golden State’s water rates in recent years, the group, known as Friends of Locally Owned Water (F.L.O.W.), focused on convincing Casitas’ board of directors to hold an election among registered voters of the affected area to issue a bond not exceeding $33 million that would buy out GSWC through eminent domain.

• Valley citizens were dealt a blow when two Ojai residents were tragically killed in a traffic collision on West Ojai Avenue north of Villanova Road. Thirty-eight-year-old Sonia Miller and 54-year-old Wayne Ortman lost their lives when their Harley Davidson motorcycle collided with oncoming traffic, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and Medical Examiner’s office.

• Ventura County law enforcement officers took Ojai resident Jonathan Mosqueda into custody on Friday — twice.

After being arrested by Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies on a disturbance call in the 200 block of Summer Street, Mosqueda was being transported to the county’s Main Jail when he escaped from the patrol car according to Capt. Mike Aranda, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman. He was arrested in a neighborhood near the main jail soon after.

• The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department honored eight deputies with medals of valor of which six had worked at the Ojai Sheriff’s substation.

The 38th annual event, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, honored Ojai-based Deputies Traci Salmon, Gunnar Dike, Rolland Ogawa and Chris Loes, Senior Deputy Mark Burgess and Sgt. Luis Alvarez, specifically for their actions following the Dec. 2 officer-involved shooting that nearly cost Salmon her life.

• A proposed wedding and event center on a private olive ranch on Carne Road in Ojai’s East End caused a stir among valley residents and business owners. The owners requested a permit allowing up to 40 events to be held a year on the property. Many neighboring residence adamantly opposed the request.

• The Ojai City Council took an official stance in support of the efforts of Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water Tuesday night.

May

• More than 100 special education students from around the county competed for the gold in track and field events during the Special Olympics Ojai School Games.

• After more than an hour of deliberation Tuesday night, board members of the Ojai Unified School District made a decision on their process for replacing outgoing member Steve Fields, who is moving out of state.

The board opted not to hold an election, which would have been costly, but rather to make a provisional appointment by soliciting applications from locals residing within the school district boundaries.

• Forty percent of the 41.7 miles of road maintained by the city of Ojai are in poor or failing condition according to a report by interim Public Works manager Ron Calkins.

•  Their efforts of Help of Ojai and the U.S. Postal Service food drive helped feed an estimated 1,200 local people in need over the course of six months according to Help’s director Terri Wolfe.

• The Houck rental car bill passed the state assembly after Ojai Mom Cally Houck has relentlessly pushed for the bill since the tragic death of her two daughters when their Enterprise rental car experienced a mechanical failure resulting in a freeway crash.

• The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department arrested seven people on the 300 block of Cruzero Street on vehicle theft, stolen property and drug use charges.

• Ojai F.L.O.W. supporters handed over a stack of petitions to Casitas Municipal Water District on Monday with 1,900 signatures of concerned voters in Golden State’s Ojai district calling for the takeover of Golden State by  Casitas.

• Two teams from the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, founded in Ojai, were sent to Joplin MO to help in the search for survivors after deadly tornadoes ravaged the area.

• Longtime Ojai city attorney Monte Widders retired after 30 years with the city. Widders cited medical problems as his reason for retiring.

• Despite weather delays, Ojai’s interim Public Works manager Ron Calkins told the Ojai City Council that the new Libbey Bowl would be completed in time for the Ojai Music Festival.

June

• A DUI checkpoint held by local law enforcement agencies in Oak View resulted in one arrest out of 1,018 cars screened according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department officials.

• Even rain and chilly temperatures couldn’t keep the community from celebrating the completion of the Libbey Bowl renovation project and all of the hard work and effort by everyone.

Donning ponchos and umbrellas, people flocked to Libbey Park on Sunday to hear dozens of local musicians take the new bowl for a test drive. Ojai Valley legends like Alan Thornhill, Roger Kellaway, Jonathan McEuen and Rain Perry took to the stage throughout the day to entertain the gathered masses.

• The Ojai Valley lost an icon. Local architect David Bury, 59, died on the opening morning of the 65th annual Ojai Music Festival, hanging in there just long enough to see his final project, Ojai’s new Libbey Bowl, through to completion. A moment of silence was held in Bury’s honor before the first acts took the stage for the festival.

• After hours of deliberation Tuesday night in the Chaparral Auditorium in front of dozens of community members, board members of the Ojai Unified School District selected Thayne Whipple to replace former board member Steve Fields.

• Thousands of visitors and locals alike converged on Libbey Bowl to take in the sights and sounds of the 65th annual Ojai Music Festival; 7,100 tickets were sold for concerts from Thursday through Sunday and most of the shows sold out well in advance.

• The Ojai City Council is faced with the task of trying to reduce Ojai’s transit budget by $100,000 a year to curtail the need for using the city’s dwindling general fund for transit projects. According to city documents, $144,000 of the general fund is expected to be used for transit this year.

• The Ojai Valley Sanitary District’s board of directors has passed a new ordinance to penalize those who illegally connect to OVSD’s sewer lines.

• On May 22, 2010, 15-year-old Patrick James O’Brien was found dead of an overdose of heroin in the family home. A four-month investigation by narcotics officers and detectives from the Ojai Sheriff’s substation led to the arrest of 22-year-old Craig Steven Anderson following numerous witnesses, interviews and extensive surveillance conducted in the Ojai Valley and the city of Ventura.

• Starting July 1, the city had staff available from every department five days a week, getting rid of the four-day workweek that the City Council instituted in 1993.

• Meiners Oaks held its second annual Solstice Festival, which featured live music on two stages, fresh foods, local arts and crafts, and more than 30 vendors.

Photo by Logan Hall

JANUARY

• A large oak tree fell on the 100 block of South Lomita Avenue on Sunday night, completely crushing one car and severely damaging another, and blocking the road for more than three hours.

• A 48-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of arson on New Year’s Eve 2010 after a structure fire in the 1300 block of Orange Road was reported  by a California Highway Patrol officer.

The CHP officer had reportedly smelled gasoline on the suspect who was identified as Valerie Spencer Huntsinger, and saw that her hair was singed. Huntsinger stated that a fire she had lit in the barbecue to keep warm had gotten out of hand.

• The citrus industry in Ventura County was dealt a major blow as the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s recommendation was approved to put a countywide quarantine on growers for a small insect called the Asian citrus psyllid. The pest is known to be a carrier of the huanglongbing (HLB) disease, which kills citrus trees and has wreaked havoc on farms in southern Florida.

• John Steven Atkinson, arrested in December for the assault on Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Traci Salmon, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder last week at his arraignment.

Ventura Superior Court records show that, along with the attempted murder charge, Atkinson also pleaded not guilty to second-degree robbery, and two counts of false imprisonment of an elder or dependent adult.

• The new Libbey Bowl has taken shape after construction crews finished building the trademark shell that covers the stage. The shell consists of wood beams held up by steel supports and has a similar curved shape to the original bowl shell.

• A new project proposed by the city of Ventura to annex areas around Ventura Avenue from the county to the city, raised alarm with the Ojai City Council at its meeting on Tuesday.

• Nordhoff High School graduate Dominique Pearl David surprised her family when she came home to Ojai from New York City to watch the finale of her TV show, “The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection.”

• The arrest of a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of indecent exposure and sexual battery sparked controversy over whether the Ojai Valley Trail is as safe as it used to be.

• Ojai native Briana Faulstich is going to attempt to join the elite group of climbers who have reached the top of Everest. At 17 years old, if she succeeds, she will become the youngest American female to make the summit of the highest peak in the world.

• Help of Ojai’s Community Assistance Program has begun a renovation to their facility that will help serve the homeless and low-income, at-risk populations of the Ojai Valley. Funding comes from a $75,000 Community Development Block Grant.

• The Ojai City Council announced the hiring of a new city manager Jan. 25, as Mayor Carol Smith declared the unanimous approval of Robert Clark.

FEBRUARY

• A traffic accident on Highway 33 north of Shell Road which caused major injuries to the sole occupant of a southbound-traveling vehicle, hit close to home for the Ojai Valley News. The driver, Evelyn Cervantes, OVN intern and Brooks Institute of Photography student, was rescued by oil workers after about 10 hours.

• The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department arrested two men and two juveniles who were allegedly involved in recent Oak View burglaries. The suspects were booked for burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.

• The Ojai City Council has voted unanimously to pay $159,000 to fund the Ojai Visitors Bureau for another year.

• Interim city manager John Baker gave the Ojai City Council his mid year report on the 2010-2011 fiscal year for the city; he indicated that the city is facing a $200,000 deficit in its general fund.

• Ventura Sheriff’s Department narcotics detectives served a search warrant on a home in the 300 block of Cruzero Avenue in Mira Monte and  found two ounces of methamphetamine, a variety of prescription medications, dozens of syringes, and items that were later determined to be stolen.

• The Heart and Sole 5k and 10k in Ojai raised more than $20,000, which is a record for this benefit event.

• Ojai Unified School District administrators announced that, at best, Ojai schools will have to cut $196,339 from the 2011-2012 budget; at worst, well over a million, at $1,117,699.

• Plans to replace a bicycle and pedestrian bridge on the Ojai Valley Trail at San Antonio Creek received a green light from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

• Kevin White, teacher at San Antonio Elementary School, rowed from Anacapa Island to the Channel Islands Harbor in “Matilija,” a dory he built. White’s trip contributed $2,500 toward Food for Thought organization.

• Although the city of Ventura has slowed the process of annexing areas of North Ventura Avenue from the county, the Ojai City Council voted 4-1  to send a letter to Ventura stating the council’s opposition to any annexation of the areas in question.

MARCH

• In early March, the Ojai Valley floor experienced its first “snow” in more than 60 years. According to the National Weather Service (NWS) Oxnard office, the valley was hit with ice pellets — also known as graupel — that had accumulated due to cold temperatures.

• In a true act of brotherly love, Beth Allen successfully donated a kidney to her 38-year-old brother, Danny, in early March at Scripps Green Hospital in San Diego. The operation went well, according to their mother, Carolyn, who said she remains “very cautious and optimistic” for a full recovery for both of her children.

• Quarry owner Larry Mosler is appealing 14 violations brought on his mining operation by the County of Ventura. Mosler will plead his case to the county Board of Supervisors in a hearing set for April 12. He had lost his previous appeal to the county Planning Commission last year.

• The Ojai City Council made a move to protect the city from taking on the burden of a $5.2 million loan to the city’s Redevelopment Agency (RDA).

On March 3, the California State Legislature Budget Conference Committee voted to move Gov. Jerry Brown’s bill to eliminate RDAs to the next step.

• Several members of the community shared their thoughts and concerns regarding a proposed ordinance before the Ojai City Council that, if passed, would change building codes for the city.  Many of the changes to the code center on new requirements for construction, inspection and permits.

•  On March 11, Humane Society Ojai shelter director Jolene Hoffman was forced to make the heart-breaking decision to put down the Ojai shelter’s cat population, in an effort to end their suffering and avoid spreading their highly contagious and debilitating respiratory virus to other cats in the community.

• The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Aviation Unit as well as Search and Rescue (SAR) teams located and rescued more than 30 people from areas in Los Padres National Forest in the mountains above Ojai on Sunday and Monday. Members from the Los Padres Sierra Club as well as two other unrelated hiking groups were lifted to safety by sheriff’s helicopters after being stranded due to rising levels at water crossings. Four Sierra Club hikers also reached safety thanks to SAR ground crews.

• Ojai mom Cally Houck, California Assemblyman William Monning and several consumer advocates teamed up in Sacramento to present AB-753, a new bill which would prohibit rental car companies from “renting out vehicles that are subject to a federal safety recall, once they have received notice from the manufacturer that the vehicle is being recalled, until the vehicle is fixed.”

• The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) — more specifically in the Ojai Valley — lost an estimated 250 years of experience as some of its top personnel retired this year. Six firefighters from different departments in the valley are moving into the relative calm and quiet of civilian life: Dale Cundiff, former captain of Station 21 in Ojai; Glenn Renner, who retired from his duties at Station 20 in Upper Ojai; Mike Middough and Rick Lajoie of Ojai Station 21; Wayne Maynard of Oak View Station 23; and Kerry Ellison of Meiners Oaks Station 22.

By Myrna Cambianica

On Dec. 13, the Ojai City Council, upon the recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission, gave its first award for “Lifetime Achievement for Historic Preservation” to David Mason, and the “2011 Historic Preservation Award” to Judy Mercer — both volunteers at the Ojai Valley Museum. Each received a plaque to commemorate the awards and short biographies were read into the record at the council meeting.

Mercer, formerly of Claremont, where she was a docent and collections worker at the Alf Museum at The Webb Schools, began volunteering at the Ojai Valley Museum when she and her husband, Ed, moved to Ojai about 17 years ago to help with the family’s orange groves. She has volunteered in the OVM permanent collections room since then, cataloging and processing artifacts and archival material donated to the museum.  When the Museum installed a new moveable shelving system, made possible by the Ojai Civic Association, Judy worked full-time leading the team that cleaned up the collections room; she then re-boxed and re-organized the collection, handling problems with the expertise that makes her an invaluable volunteer. Mercer has recently stepped into the role of lead collections volunteer, training and supervising new volunteers and student interns in the computer input, cataloging, and storage processes. She was selected as the Museum Volunteer of the Year in 2005.

Mason, an Ojai native and occasional Ojai Valley News columnist, has contributed much in the way of historical awareness during his lifetime, writing many articles for publication and giving numerous talks about historical figures and events. His grasp of local history and his retention of current events and the folks who shape them are legendary. The declaration presented to Mason at the council meeting noted that writers and researchers often seek out his assistance in their studies of the history of the valley. Other comments from the meeting included the following: “Mason has … made outstanding long-term contributions toward furthering the protection of the cultural history of the Ojai Valley.”

Museum director, Michele E. Pracy, says she is delighted to have Mason as a volunteer on the staff, as he does four types of jobs at the museum seven days a week. Since his retirement as owner of The Village Florist, he works as a docent, sells in the museum store, does research for exhibits, and mans the Visitor Information office on weekends.  He has served on the museum’s board of trustees for 33 years, and is the board’s liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission.  In 1985, Mason was the original chairman of the Historical Preservation Commission, then known as the Ojai Cultural Heritage Board.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan

The following are wishes and/or resolutions I would love to see fulfilled in the coming year, but I have little hope of seeing them come to fruition, because they make too much sense to ever be passed by Congress:

• Place term limits on Congress. The President cannot serve longer than ten years. Why should Congress be any different? I would set all terms at six years for both representatives and senators. You would then be allowed to serve two consecutive six-year terms. After that, you sit out for six years before you are allowed to run again. Are we really better off with a ruling class of lifetime politicians whose constant squabbling would embarrass most two-year olds?
• Means test social programs and investigate fraud. Social programs are extremely valuable, but extremely expensive. Billions of dollars are lost through those receiving benefits that are either not needed or obtained fraudulently. Why not eliminate such benefits for people who make a lot of money? For instance, Warren Buffet will probably be okay without social security. Hire investigators to ferret out fraud and waste. Give those who are ripping off the system through criminal fraud large fines and stiff jail sentences. They are stealing from those who actually deserve and need assistance.
• Ban anyone named Kardashian from all media for one year. We could all use a rest.
• Develop a comprehensive national energy policy that actually decreases dependence upon foreign oil. We are fighting wars, losing American lives, and spending ourselves into oblivion because no one has had the common sense to establish a national energy policy. Jimmy Carter started the Department of Energy in the late 1970s. It now spends almost $30 billion a year, and we are more dependent upon foreign oil than ever. Take half of the peace dividend we should get by no longer fighting the stupid war in Iraq, and pour that money into renewable and/or plentiful energy sources. Subsidize every viable renewable or plentiful source of energy such as wind, solar, and natural gas. That would create jobs, which we desperately need, and would lessen our dependence on foreign oil – which we also desperately need.
• Fix stuff and create jobs. Take the other half of the peace dividend and repair some of the roads that make you feel like you are on a ride at Disneyworld. Fix bridges before they fall down and the cars tumble into the river. Repairing the infrastructure would benefit the country and put people to work.
• Outlaw Michael Jordan sneakers so that people don’t kill each other trying to buy them. I am not so worried about the sheep that line up hours and hours in advance to pay $180 for a pair of tennis shoes; shoes that someone paid small children in some third-world county about $6.50 a pair to make. If they only injured each other, it would just be thinning out the herd. I am worried about innocent store clerks and passers-by being wounded or trampled.
• Cut off foreign aid to Pakistan. The United States currently gives between $2 billion and $3 billion in military and economic aid annually to Pakistan. I have heard the argument that cutting funds would only worsen the relationship between the two countries. How, exactly? These are the people that allowed Osama bin Laden, America’s biggest enemy since Adolph Hitler and Emperor Hirohito, to live unmolested for years right under their government’s nose. Then they announced they would shoot down anything that entered Pakistani airspace, including American-made drone aircraft. Giving money to this country makes about as much sense as paying another guy to cheat with your wife.
• Bar Donald Trump from running for elective office in this country under any party. Instead, perhaps we could export him to other countries which have recently lost leaders who were egomaniacal jerks such as Egypt, North Korea, or Libya. He could easily fill that void.

Happy New Year.

-30-

By Logan Hall

Tyson York knows Soule Park Golf Course.

After more than a decade of professional teaching at Soule, and many more years playing at the facility as an amateur, he could probably tell you how many blades of grass are on the 18th green.

He also knows the community of people that frequent the facility. In particular, he emphasizes the importance getting the youth of the valley involved in activities like golf. York is currently running Soule’s annual free golf camp for kids. His long-term goal is to provide all of Soule’s junior programs to kids for free.

“Times are hard for people right now,” said York, after giving high-fives to the kids on their lunch break during the camp on Tuesday. “This really opens up the opportunity for kids to get involved in something that can be an expensive sport.”

The free camp that York created three years ago is held once a year for now. The other junior camps Soule Park hosts throughout the year, mostly held in the summer, cost participants $190. He hopes that he will soon be able to offer all of the camps free of charge.

“When people don’t have the time or the money to get their kids out here,” said York, “we give them the opportunity.”

York has many of the resources set in place that are necessary to see his dream come to fruition. The tough part, as is the case with many individuals and organizations that provide free services to the community, comes when trying to find funding for the program. “The big thing is that we need one or two major investors,” he said. “Money is what we really need to get this thing moving forward.”

Running a successful free camp requires many things — most of which cost money — on a regular basis. “I donate all of my time,” said York who also indicated that he has to spend money out of his own pocket to fund the current camp. “But we need to cover the food, equipment, other instructors or helpers, prizes and all of the other camp stuff that makes it all possible. We’re really looking for two or three major donors that can give a thousand to two thousand dollars or more.”

Local golfer Rick Brooks’ 12-year-old son Jessie has been participating in York’s classes, free or otherwise, for the last seven years. Brooks says he has donated to York’s cause and believes that the program is beneficial in many ways.

“It’s great to have something that’s free for the kids to do,” said Brooks after dropping off his son at the course. “It’s always tough getting the money for this kind of thing, though.”

York says that help can come in many forms, and that many who frequent Soule are interested in his junior program. “Our (Soule Park) Men’s Club donated $750,” said York, who grew up in the valley playing golf at Soule with many of the course’s regulars. He added that some of his former students, who now attend Nordhoff High School, are also helping the kids during the camps.

Keeping his resources in the valley is a goal of York who says he has leaned away from trying to land large corporate sponsors. “I’ve only approached local places so far,” he said, declining to name names at this point. “They want to see that the programs are creating something really good for the community. I think a lot of the local businesses are interested in that kind of thing. All it has to do is hit close to home for someone that is looking to make a difference in a kid’s life.”

Matt Murphy, also a teaching pro at Soule, is working as York’s assistant instructor during the current camp. He also believes the camp is a positive force in the community. “This is a good opportunity to get the kids into golf at an early age,” he said. “Then they can decide for themselves if they like it. We give them the tools to help make that decision.”

It seems that everyone involved in the program wants to see it succeed.

“My daughter loves the individual aspect of golf, but it’s great that it’s still a group environment,” said Hayley Slobodzian whose 6-year-old daughter Kaiya is in her fourth round of camps with York. “Having it for free is just such a huge benefit. I really hope that it continues.”

Chris Harvey, head professional at Soule, says there are other benefits that will help ensure that the game, and the course itself, are around for generations to come. “We’re losing golfers,” he said. “It’s important that guys like Tyson and Matt are showing how Soule Park has open arms to the kids of the valley. There has always been a consistency of locals coming out here. We need to keep that going.”

York has lived in the valley for 30 years and began playing golf at Soule Park when he was 8 years old. Since graduating high school, he says he has been at the course “all day, every day,” and says it was always his dream to be a professional at Soule. Relating to the younger generation of golfers, York sums up his thoughts on aspiring young linksman in the valley. “It’s all about the kids and the future of the game,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to give back to them both.”

For more information on Soule Park’s junior programs or donations, call the course golf shop at 646-5633.

The Ojai City Council has selected Joseph Fletcher of Tustin to serve as city attorney after a six‐month search to replace Monte Widders, who retired in May after nearly 30 years in the post.

The decision is pending final approval by the Ojai City Council on January 10, when it will consider to approve a contract with Fletcher serving as city attorney and Scott Howard as assistant city attorney.

Both men bring a long list of varied legal experience to the table. Fletcher, a lifelong city attorney, has been practicing law for more than 30 years. He served for 14 years as city attorney for Santa Ana before his retirement in 2010. A southern California native, Fletcher grew up in the Pasadena area. He received his law degree from Pacific/McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. Fletcher began his career in Modesto in 1983 as a deputy city attorney, and followed it with stints in Anaheim and Burbank. Now in private practice, Fletcher currently serves as the interim city attorney for Menifee in Riverside County.

Howard, a resident of Ventura, spent more than 34 years with the Glendale City Attorney’s office, acting as Glendale’s city attorney for 21 of those years. He retired in 2011 and is now in private practice.

Howard grew up in Culver City and earned his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law. Howard and Fletcher have a long history of working together.

Fletcher was selected after the Ojai City Council received 14 proposals and interviewed a half‐dozen firms and individuals for the position during two public meetings held this fall. The Council allowed residents to directly submit questions to be asked of the finalists. City officials said they were pleased with the high number of quality responses received during the search.

Mayor Betsy Clapp stated, “Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Howard both have a broad base of experience in municipal law and a feel for the type of issues facing our community. Thi,s along with genuine enthusiasm, and a desire to do what is best for Ojai, led us to our decision to ask Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Howard to join our team at City Hall.”

If appointed by the Council, Fletcher will begin his duties February 1. “I am honored for the opportunity to become part of the City organization and look forward to serving the Ojai community,” said Fletcher.

On May 24, the City Council announced that it had appointed Steven Lee, another member of the Widders’ firm, to serve as acting city attorney after Widders cited medical reasons for his retirement from the position. Widders had served the City since February, 1981.

Widders’ firm will continue providing services to the City through Feb. 1 in order to provide for a smooth transition from one city attorney to the next.

By Logan Hall
Locals are scrambling to rent one last movie as Blockbuster prepares to close its doors after more than a dozen years of business in Mira Monte.

Ojai Valley store manager Lupe Ruvulcava said he couldn’t comment on the situation, but did confirm that the store is closing. Representatives from Dish Network, Blockbuster’s parent company, refused to comment, and instead sent a generic email that briefly explains why any given Blockbuster store might be closing. “ … Stores can close for a number of reasons, such as the store reaching the end of its lease, a store may be too large in size, or property owners may be unwilling to reach a reasonable lease renewal,” read the email from Danielle Johnson, spokeswoman for Dish Network. “ … We remain committed to maintaining only those stores that we believe we will be able to operate profitably.”

The fate of the store’s employees remains uncertain.

In an attempt to reassure those that may be affected, the response from Johnson indicated that there might be hope for the company’s current local workers. “We intend to relocate as many employees as possible to other stores.”

Employees answering the Mira Monte store phone indicated that the valley Blockbuster will stop renting to customers on Dec. 26 and will close its doors to the public in January after selling its inventory.

Repeated inquiries for more information went unanswered, and Johnson refused to confirm or deny when the store is officially closing.

By Logan Hall
Ojai citizens pushing for an end to privately owned water are steadily gaining momentum as more local organizations are getting on board the effort.

Most recently, the Ojai Valley Defense Fund and the Surfrider Foundation announced that they support Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water in its bid to remove Golden State Water Company from Ojai through eminent domain. The Defense Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was launched by locals who understand the need for a fund set aside for legally defending the valley should an environmental threat arise and a legal battle ensue.

F.L.O.W., Defense Fund and Surfrider representatives agree that privately owned water companies can harm the local ecosystem. The three groups claim that private companies like Golden State care more about profits for shareholders than about preserving the area’s vital resources.

“Many people don’t realize that this region is not tied to the state water system and is totally dependent on what falls from the sky,” said Defense Fund president John Broesamle. “By removing Golden State Water Company and replacing it with a public entity, we can have local control and management of our watershed, and in that way we will assure that these vital water resources will be managed for the benefit of the valley’s citizens.”

Broesamle stated that he couldn’t comment on whether or not the Defense Fund will be backing F.L.O.W. financially. “This is the phase of the process that we can announce so far.”

In an email to F.L.O.W. from Paul Jenkins, environmental director of the Surfrider Foundation Ventura County Chapter, the foundation echoes the Defense Fund’s stance. “Your (F.L.O.W.) efforts to bring the community together demonstrate that the Ojai Valley is aware of the threat to our ecosystem when outside corporate interests control a water supply,” read the letter. “There are many examples from around the world and in the United States in which corporations have drastically impacted local communities through profit-motivated actions that overdraft local water supplies … With ever increasing pressure on this limited supply, it is crucial that the community is able to work together in a cooperative manner to ensure future sustainability … Recent actions by Golden State and the PUC demonstrate that they do not answer to the community.”

Golden State representatives, however, disagree.

“We’re managing the groundwater basin in the Ojai area,” said GSWC district manager Ken Petersen. “We’re studying it to make sure we use it beneficially so we don’t get overdrafts.”

Petersen added that Golden State helped form the Ojai Basin Groundwater Agency. “We’re an active participant and member of the agency,” he said.

F.L.O.W. supporters believe that the backing of organizations like the Defense Fund is a major step in the right direction for Ojai’s citizens. “Having the Surfrider Foundation and the Ojai Valley Defense Fund backing us is a big deal,” said F.L.O.W. representative Pat McPherson. “So far, along with the Surfrider Foundation and Defense Fund, we are supported by the City of Ojai, the Ojai Unified School District and the Ojai Valley Board of Realtors. This is an opportunity to control our watershed. Managing our water so we still have it later is a smart thing to do.”

McPherson also pointed out that they would like to see action taken by the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce. “The chamber is really the only one not endorsing us,” he said. “That’s important for us.”

Scott Eicher, the chamber’s CEO, responded with an email statement saying that the chamber has to follow proper procedures when taking an official stance on positions like F.L.O.W.’s. “Ojai F.L.O.W. is aware of our policy,” Eicher stated, “and knows we will hear their presentation and one from the Ojai Valley Groundwater Basin in January. After reviewing this information, the board of directors will confer and then issue a statement or position.”

The Ojai Valley News will continue to report on Ojai’s water supply in upcoming issues.

Chris T. Wilson

With the holidays here and a new year just a few days away, one of Ojai’s teaching artists continues to surround herself with creativity while reflecting on what she’s grateful for and looking forward to the opportunities to come.

In March 2012, Janis’ Art Workshop and Garden Gallery will celebrate its 10-year anniversary. In this past decade, Janis Hansen has been providing a studio space where artists of all ages and abilities can come and try their hands at a number of artistic modalities.

Located at 410 W. Ojai Ave., between Suzanne’s Cuisine and Chantico Inn, the inviting gallery is alive with activity. About 50 local artists sell their work through the gallery, so paintings, sculptures and rich colorful mosaics of all shapes and sizes share space from floor to ceiling. Inside the entrance the air is perfumed by a gardenia candle, and a burst of sunlight beckons students to pass through the front gallery and into the rear courtyard. There a garden area is lined with flagstone pathways and mosaic-encrusted sculptures are punctuated by grinning Buddha statues and trickling fountains.

The workshop and gallery specializes in glass painting, stained glass and mosaic tile work, Hansen said, but offers classes in many other forms of expression. Hundreds of students have learned here over the years. They come from the local community and from surrounding areas. Many are tourists dropping in for a few hours and others come in groups from nearby retreats and hotels. The colorful location has been used for special group events, weddings, and art birthday parties.

And when Hansen, a mother of three daughters and grandmother of one baby boy isn’t busy teaching classes or offering her services as a garden and landscape designer and consultant, she takes the time to volunteer and provide a cost-free learning place for a handful of developmentally disabled individuals from the ARC Ojai Enrichment Center, who come to the workshop to make art projects every week.

“I find a deep sense of personal well-being and joy when working with these special unique individuals who remind me of my many blessings,” Hansen said. “Their smiles of accomplishment and self-satisfaction after completing a creative project keep me inspired to continue my work with them.”

Hansen began the volunteer project not long after learning that the youngest of her daughters was diagnosed with autism. That was 10 years ago and Hansen has been donating facilities and art supplies for the weekly classes ever since.

“I wanted to create a space in our Ojai artist community where locals and visitors could experience a few hours of unleashing their own creativity in a safe and inspiring environment,” she said.

Classes happen spontaneously at times, Hansen said. Often tourists will wander in from the street and then find themselves spending a few hours working on a glass painting or stained glass project.

“Everybody who comes to Ojai wants to be an artist,” Hansen said.

Just such an occurrence recently led to the chance for the workshop and gallery to be involved with Inclusion Studios, Joey Travolta’s Film School for adults with special needs. Hansen is in the process of developing a project with the Burbank-based film school that will take place in the coming year.

Hansen said that among her goals in 2012, she will seek more balance in her life and spend more time with family members.  She is gratefully indebted to local supporters and helpers Ed and Michelle Buckman, Sheila Cluff, Janet Mahon, Debbie O’Brien and many others.

And after more than two decades as a valley resident, Hansen is still full of entrepreneurial spirit. At age 21 she started a pastry baking company in Santa Barbara called A Piece of Cake that made artistic cakes and desserts for celebrities including Michael Douglas, Heather Locklear and many more.

Called a “must stop in Ojai” by Los Angeles Times and featured in the pages of Westways Magazine and other regional publications, the workshop is open seven days a week. Visit ojaiartworkshop.com for more information about this local community resource.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
There is no other time of the year that is as special as Christmas. And it seems that there are some people that embody everything that Christmas is supposed to be about – joy, laughter, excitement, unselfishness and goodwill. Over the years I have known several such people, but the one who will always stand out in my mind when it comes to Christmas is my Uncle John. In fact, it is impossible for me to think about Christmas without thinking about him.

Part of the reason for this is that my uncle always played Santa Claus. And I have never seen anyone more perfect for the part. He was a large man with rosy cheeks, a hearty laugh, and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. But there was much more than just his physical appearance that made him personify Christmas. It was what was inside the man, not what was inside the suit.

Uncle John never had children of his own, so all children came to be his. I can remember him sitting patiently for hours at a time without t pay in a hot suit and beard (that he had paid for himself) while child after child would laugh, giggle and share with him what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas. No matter how long it took, no matter how many kids there were to see, he was always animated and jolly, as if doing this for the first time.

Wherever we went in our small town, we always saw the same Santa. Uncle John was Santa at local stores, he was Santa at our church, and he was Santa at the town’s annual Christmas parade.  Uncle John also had a great trick for those kids who were on the verge of outgrowing their belief in Santa. Before putting the child in his lap, he would conspire with the parents to find out what the kid wanted for Christmas. When the skeptical child would challenge whether he was the real Santa Claus, my uncle would say, “Well if I am not Santa, then how do I know you want a Daisy BB gun for Christmas?” The look on the stunned child’s face was probably my uncle’s favorite Christmas present.

When my sister and I were very young, my uncle started a wonderful Christmas tradition – the “Magic Tree”. About two weeks before Christmas, my uncle came to our house to have coffee with my parents. He casually mentioned that he thought one of the trees in our front yard had magical powers. When we questioned him, he said that he thought he had noticed something wedged in one of the branches of the tree, and that maybe we ought to go out and see what it was.

My sister and I raced out of the house to find some small toys – one for a girl and one for a boy. We were thrilled beyond words and raced back into the house to show our treasures. Each morning for the next two weeks or so, there was a gift in the Magic Tree. The gifts were small and inexpensive. Sometimes it was just a couple of pieces of fruit. But we thought it was wonderful, and no orange ever tasted as sweet as one that had come from the Magic Tree.

It soon became hard to sleep at night wondering what treasure would be in the tree the next morning. And each day when my mother woke us, my sister and I would race outside barefooted and in our pajamas (with my mother right behind us scolding us to put on our shoes) to see what the tree held for us.

I would not hazard a guess as to how many families my uncle brought joy to down through the many years before his death. But in a time when it is easy to become cynical about everything, including Christmas, it is a pleasure to recall the wonderful memories that we all have about this blessed season and what it means to us and our families.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus – and his spirit lives in the hearts of people like Uncle John. I wish Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays to you all.

Solar panels made by the students, pictured with the Nomad Foundation's Leslie Clark, were essential parts of the midwives equipment to charge their cell phones in their remote encampments. Photo submitted

By Chris T. Wilson

A small group of Ojai residents have returned from a mission trip to Niger, where they taught natives how to fabricate solar panels to pump clean water, and taught women how to help each other in childbirth.

Leslie Clark of Nomad Gallery in Ojai has been traveling to Niger since the mid 1990s. At first she went there in search of beautiful scenery to inform her artistic expression. But the positive impact she saw from a gift she gave years ago led her to expand her vision and found the Nomad Foundation.

Since 1996 the Nomad Foundation, with grants from Rotary clubs of Ojai and Westlake Village, as well as private donors, has set out to bring flood and famine relief, farming and technical education, medical care and instruction to one of the world’s poorest regions.

From Sept. 29 until Nov. 22, Clark, accompanied by retired Ojai obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Robert Skankey and local volunteer Sol de la Torre Bueno, traveled to a remote northern region of Niger to accomplish the solar and midwife training mission.

Skankey, who created the mid-wife training program, worked closely with five women from five different communities. He taught them hygiene and how to administer basic medications to avoid infection. Following the five-day course, each new mid-wife successfully demonstrated what they had learned and each was given a cell phone and solar charging unit so they can contact the medical clinic in Tamesna, Niger, for further guidance if needed.

Despite the language barrier and the lack of literacy among the trainees, Skankey said he was amazed and pleased at how well the women learned and were able to demonstrate their newly gained knowledge.

“I’m thrilled with how well the program went,” Skankey said. “I had to research the best approach to teaching the women how to take care of other pregnant ladies, and we got a lot of good feedback on it.”

Since this mission has been postponed twice due to security concerns, Skankey has had two full years to develop the program, which Clark said made the entire effort to go smoothly. While in Niger, Nomad Foundation volunteers are accompanied by armed security guards to thwart would-be bandits and kidnappers.

In addition to the mid-wife training, the other intent of this trip was to provide locals with the materials and skills they need to fabricate their own solar panels. Working with solar expert Richard Komp of Skyheat, Nomad Foundation volunteers and natives were able to fabricate 24 solar panels that can be used to power the Nomad’s mobile villages. They also built solar ovens they will be able to use for baking and other food preperation.

Clark said the goal of training the Nomads to use solar is so they can charge cell phones and pump clean well water. Getting uncontaminated water is one of the biggest challenges they face, she said.

“Our next big project will be well drilling,” said Clark. “The only way to get clean water is to have a sealed well. For that, you need electricity. That is really the whole reason for the solar program.”

Clark and Skankey are planning a return to Niger in February 2012. During the three-week trip, they will conduct further trainings and follow up on the work they conducted in the fall of 2011.

In the meantime, Clark is seeking financial support from the community through direct donations and the sale of goods at the Nomad Gallery. One item in particular is a solar powered goose-neck lamp from Unite To Light of Santa Barbara. For each $25 lamp purchased, one is donated to a Nomad.

For more information about the Nomad Foundation, visit the Nomad Gallery at 307 East Ojai Ave, call 646-1706, or visit nomadfoundation.org.

By Logan Hall
Ventura County officials are working with Ojai Quarry owner Larry Mosler to settle a dispute that started back in 2008. During a seven-hour public hearing by the county’s planning commission last week, Mosler and county planners agreed to work together. The commission voted unanimously to allow the mine owner to continue operating while fixing issues raised by the county, and paying the county fees and fines that have accrued — some of which Mosler had refused to pay previously.

The trouble began in 2008, three years after Mosler purchased the quarry, when the county planning division cited Mosler for violating his conditional use permit requirements by mining outside of the area permitted by the county. Although Mosler owns 90 acres of mostly uninhabited land around the quarry, which is about four miles north of Ojai up Maricopa Highway, he is only allowed to mine nine acres. If he plans on mining outside the permitted boundaries, he is required to apply for a temporary permit that must be approved by the county.

Mosler says that he was following a requirement handed down by the federal government’s Mine Safety and Health Administration. County records confirm that MSHA had ordered Mosler to remove hazardous perched boulders which were outside of his mining boundaries. County officials, however, say that Mosler never got a temporary permit from the county to remove the boulders.

“I’ve got the county telling me to do one thing,” said Mosler, “and MSHA telling me to do another.”

Other violations from the county against the mine included exceeding the maximum allowable daily truck trips, which is currently capped at 20, running non-permitted equipment — specifically, a large rock crusher — and for operating without an approved reclamation plan or adequate financial assurance that reclamation of the mining site could be paid for. Since 2008, Mosler has been issued 14 violations by the county.

Although the commission’s hearing was centered around Mosler’s lack of an approved plan and financial assurance, the mine’s other violations were brought up by Ojai Stop the Trucks! Coalition representatives during the proceedings. Coalition representative Michael Shapiro says the coalition is not happy with the county’s decision to work with Mosler.

“We’re very disappointed,” said Shapiro. “We think it was a complete whitewash. We were just shocked at the commission’s decision.”

While Mosler and the county agreed to work together to mitigate the quarry’s issues, Shapiro says the fight isn’t over for the coalition. “We’re going to move forward,” he said. “We’re going to have to continue to monitor them (quarry) ourselves.”

Shapiro claims that coalition supporters have counted trucks leaving the quarry and have found Mosler to be exceeding his maximum allowable daily truck trips on a regular basis. When asked for documentation or some kind of record keeping of the coalition’s findings, Shapiro said, “We don’t write that down.”

Shapiro claims that the efforts of the coalition are geared toward preserving Ojai’s small town feel and pushing to keep industry from the valley. “We really got moving when we were fighting the mines that were farther up the highway,” he said. “If all the mines got what they wanted, there would have been 600 trucks a day going down (Highway) 33.”

Shapiro also said that the coalition has sent many official complaints to the county by way of the coalition’s attorney. The coalition receives funding from the city of Ojai for legal fees, which, according to city records, has amounted to more than $25,000 since July 2009. “They do the work and send the attorney’s bill to us,” said Steve McClary, assistant to the city manager. “We review it and pay it.”

Mosler has until Feb. 23 to adhere to the planning commissions guidelines in working with county planners. Aside from gaining approval for the mine’s latest proposed reclamation plan and financial assurance, the county is also requiring Mosler to resume payments on $98,000 that he owes the county in fees and fines.

By Logan Hall
Ojai Rock Quarry supporters butted heads with Ventura County staff and Stop the Trucks! Coalition supporters in a seven-hour-long hearing that ended with county planning commissioners continuing the meeting to Feb. 23, to give the two sides time to work out an agreement.

Dozens of citizens and officials, including the quarry’s owners Larry Mosler and his wife Grace, were present during the planning commission hearing that entertained testimony and opinions from both sides of the issue. County planning division staff had recommended that the commission revoke Mosler’s mining permit, which would require him to cease all mining operations. After county staff issued statements saying that Mosler was operating illegally, experts opposing the county’s assessment shared their insights before members of the public and delivered their thoughts to the commission.

Mosler had been cited by the county for 14 violations of his Conditional Use Permit starting in 2008, including operating outside the mine’s permitted boundaries and operating outside of permitted hours. Thursday’s deliberations by the commission were centered on the county’s accusation that Mosler was operating without an approved reclamation plan — the plan that would be used for restoring the site should mining operations cease. County officials were also concerned that the miner was operating without financial assurance that the reclamation could be paid for.

County staff said that Mosler’s current approved plan showed the need for 285,000 cubic yards of fill material, and that he had not posted adequate financial assurance that would cover the cost of the material. County staff also stated that Mosler’s current posted financial assurance of $22,000 was insufficient, and therefore an approved plan with an adequate amount of financial assurance was needed, as required by the State Mining and Geology Board through the State Mining and Reclamation Act. The county’s argument was that state law requires the plan, along with the assurance, be current and approved by the county.

Mosler’s attorney Derek Cole and geologist Dr. Sandy Figuers outlined reasons why the county’s interpretation of the reclamation plan was flawed and said that there was no need for 285,000 tons of fill material that Mosler and Cole claim would cost $3 million to be trucked in. Although planning commissioners questioned Mosler’s numbers, they did agree the cost would be high, and expressed concern about the substantial increase from the current $22,000 posted. Mosler argued that the county has refused to look over his new plan, which he says would require the posting of a $70,000 financial assurance.

Supporters of both Mosler and the county voiced their opinions to the commission. Local construction companies, and other business owners, spoke on Mosler’s behalf and urged commissioners to consider the big picture.

“Times are tough,” said local contractor Chris Hilgers as he stood at the lectern. “I think you have some obligation to work with Mr. Mosler. There is an obligation to find an answer to preserve jobs and keep this asset.”

Long-time valley resident Ernie Ford says he lives just down from the quarry and supports the mine and its owner. “The quarry is run efficiently,” said Ford. “We can see the quarry from our bathroom window. We have seen no evidence of traffic violations or truck overloading. I hope that the county will work with the Moslers and keep the quarry open.”

Representatives from the Stop the Trucks! Coalition had less than positive things to say about the operation and its owners.

One statement given by coalition representatives told of physical abuse by the Moslers during a break in the hearing. “These people are trying to intimidate us,” said coalition chairman Michael Shapiro, who told commissioners of an encounter with Mosler’s wife outside of the hearing room. “She grabbed my hand … Mrs. Mosler almost pulled me to the ground. That was a threat and I don’t take it lightly. I would like some security when we leave.”

When asked about the incident after the hearing, Mosler laughed and said, “My wife is 68-years-old, 5-foot-3 and about 110 pounds.”

County staff supporters did make some points about the issue that gained the commission’s attention, however. “We had no problem with the quarry, provided they stay within their limits,” said coalition supporter Howard Smith. “But we began to realize there were numerous violations. If you don’t follow the rules, you don’t deserve a permit to stay in business.”

Ojai city manager Rob Clark spoke on the Ojai City Council’s behalf, stating that the council unanimously supported county staff’s recommendations to revoke Mosler’s permit. Because Maricopa Highway runs through Ojai city limits and is a trucking route for the quarry, the city took an official stance in support of the county. The city also funds the Stop the Trucks! Coalition’s legal costs through payments that Shapiro claims equal up to around $18,000 annually. City officials could not be reached before print time Thursday to confirm payment amounts to the coalition.

Planning commissioners heard both sides of the story and came to the conclusion that more time was needed for all involved to come to a conclusion. After discussing possible options with Mosler and county staff, the commission unanimously settled on a continuation of the hearing to Feb. 23, providing that Mosler update his financial assurance to cover the $70,000 specified by the new reclamation plan. Mosler is required to pay $25,000 on or before Dec. 24, with the remaining $23,000 to be paid within 30 days after that. Commissioners also required that Mosler continue to make payments on the almost $100,000 in fines and back fees owed to the county.

“I think the commission bent over backwards to get a solution to the problem,” Mosler said after the hearing. “I didn’t win what I wanted, but I didn’t lose either. The commission understands the catch-22 situation that I’ve been involved in and wants to bring that to an end. They want to resolve this.”

The final installment of this four-part series will appear next week in the Ojai Valley News. The conclusion of the series will deal with additional issues raised by Ojai Stop the Trucks! in opposing the quarry, alleged violations brought against Mosler by the County and the mine owner’s response.

By Chris T. Wilson
When local graphic artist and marketing guru Dustin Byerley won the contract to help Sony launch a new handheld video game, he turned to his local Ojai friends and fellow artisans to put the project together.

Hired by former Ojai resident Andrew Culp, the creative director at ADD Marketing + Advertising of Los Angeles, Byerley’s task was to pitch, design and fabricate several PlayStation PSVita pop-up stores set to launch in select cities nationwide. The pop-up stores are temporary stores built to allow the video gaming public a sneak hands-on peak at the new system.

The project was two-fold. The PSVita Mall Tour launched in late November and will run until the end of December at shopping malls in Santa Monica, Georgia, Illinois, Virginia and Texas.  The Mall Tour locations are set up like over-sized kiosks. The second part of the project was the Vita Hill Social Club, which is a hip indoor environment where video gamers can sit and relax and get into the gaming experience. Sony plans to duplicate the social club experience at several locations across the nation in the coming year.

“The pitch I wrote won over six other ad agencies,” Byerley said. And subsequently, he and a handful of other local talents have conceived, designed and built most of the multi-sensory experience here in the Ojai Valley.

Once Byerley learned he had been awarded the contract, he turned to local digital and fine artist Rick Monzon of monzonfineart.blogspot.com to sketch mock-ups of both the Mall Tour and Social Club.

For the Mall Tour, the majority of the fabrication was produced by an outside vendor; but, there were a few local people involved, Byerley noted. David Lenwell of the local sustainable hosting company Hostojai.com produced the data collection and pre-order interfaces for all five cities.

In need of some cut vinyl signs, Byerely chose Richard Clark of Richard’s Sign Service in Meiners Oaks, and all printing for the Mall Tour was produced by Ojai Printing with the help of Ben Skirvin.

For the Vita Hill Social Club, the majority of the art and fabrication took place in Ojai.

“The Vita Hill Social Club was designed to be a 50-50 blend of an old world social club meets the eclectic aesthetic of a DIY hipster,” Byerley said. “We wanted to create a space that we would enjoy spending time in. (The) design that called for large, opulent hotel desks, bars, literature racks, custom tables, stages and more. The first person I thought of was scenic artist Pablo Grande-Weiss because of his extensive background in theater production and work with local Emmy award winning director Jamie Caliri.”

Grande-Weiss assembled a team of eight local scenic artists to take on the job and have since produced over 100 custom-fabricated items, which are being shipped to eight Social Clubs nationally.

“The sheer volume of these large items is visually arresting, but the coolest thing of all is to see people doing what they love while stimulating the local economy,” Byerley said.

To bring the hipster factor to the space Byerley brought in artists Kesina McEuen and Clinton Burger. Kesina has fabricated a number of one-off, artsy elements for the Social Club such as custom vinyl pillows, wallpaper, a chic hand-stitched cloud mobile and a quirky tree topper satellite dish.

Artist Burger’s gentle, handmade style caught Byerley’s eye. Burger produced two original art pieces for the space, which, Byerely said, “Just blew my mind. He’s a natural talent with a unique, heart-felt perspective.”

He also worked with a number of local vendors to produce the rest of the elements. Eric Nicholson at Primarily Wood provided custom framing for a number of art pieces, which Ojai local Julie Purkerson of EXHIBIT printed.

“All in all it was a big risk, but Ojai delivered,” Byerely noted, beaming at a line of people that wound around the block at the Dec. 1 opening of the Vita Hill Social Club. “The overwhelming success of the opening night in San Francisco is a testament to the raw talent and hard work of this town.”

To learn more, visit us.playstation.com and click on the PSVita link.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
Last weekend, a woman who works at my newspaper in Tennessee lost her mother. Christy’s mother had been ill for some time, and her condition had recently worsened.  My heart goes out to her. She is a valued employee and was a dedicated and loving daughter. I know her mother’s death will be especially tough on Christy, facing the first holiday season without her mom around.

I lost both of my parents many years ago. My daddy suffered an extended illness; we watched a once vibrant man waste away to nothing as cancer wracked his body. Twenty-five years later, my mother died of heart failure. She battled cancer valiantly, but repeated chemotherapy treatments bled the strength from her heart, and she died holding my hand.

There is no easy way to lose someone you love. And though time, good memories, and the family who are still with you ease the pain, there are still moments I feel the emptiness in my life without the loved ones I have lost.

It is easy to get caught up in the rush of the holiday season. There are parties to attend, shopping to finish, gifts to wrap, plans to make and trips to take. Each year Christmas seems to come earlier, and with it, more expectations. We are stressed and harried and sometimes ready for the whole thing to just be over.

But then, something brings you back to reality and reminds you of what is truly important. For me, that came in the form of a message my sister sent last week. The message said, “Jack (her husband) told me about Ava’s idea for the adults not to exchange gifts, and I think that’s fine. I have one request from you for Christmas…come to Elba! With our aging and scattering children, it may be rare when we can all be together. It would be really special if you could also be here.”

So, Ava and I will spend Christmas Day with her brothers. Ava will fix a big meal, and we will spend the day as we have for the past three years. The next day we will travel to see my sister. And we will enjoy more good food, and I will kid my nieces and nephews and say silly things that will make my college-age niece, Meredith, giggle like a little girl. My sister will probably tell the story about how when we were kids, I took the head off her favorite doll and put a bumble-bee inside, and how she ran screaming to our mother to tell on me. We will talk about those we loved who are now gone, but remain with us in spirit.

What better gift can you receive at Christmas than being with those you love? If you ever doubt that, just ask someone who can’t.

May you have what you treasure, but more importantly, treasure what you have.

City also supports library expansion, appoints new mayor

 By Tiobe Barron
After two public meetings and much discussion, the Ojai City Council voted to increase the Ojai Trolley fare at Tuesday night’s meeting. The rate increase was deemed necessary because the Ojai Trolley is required to maintain a 10 percent operating expense-to-fare intake in order to continue receiving state funding to cover its operating costs. The new rates will be $1 for general fare, 50 cents for senior citizens and children ages 2 to 5, and 25 cents for those with disabilities and children under the age of 2. The new fares will be implemented in February 2012.

Ojai resident Kyleen Sagowski said cannot drive due to an eye impairment; yet, as she works in both Ojai and Ventura, she said “the trolley and Gold Coast are my lifeline.” She urged  City Council members to remember riders like her, who are completely dependent upon public transportation.

Jay Simons, a trolley driver for three years and a longtime Ojai resident, said, “It’s important to build on this momentum,” speaking about the Ad Hoc Transit Committee’s work. He proposed the Council make the committee ongoing, and perhaps consider modifications to the trolley route seasonally — for example, a summertime route that would carry riders to Lake Casitas. He believes there are many more issues that were tabled by the committee that still need addressing. Steve Brown, of the Gold Coast Transit Committee, said Tuesday that they are working currently with the Ventura County Transportation Department. He said that in an ideal world, the end result would be a transit district in western Ventura County, for which the funding would be pooled, would provide the coverage that’s most needed, and would give the area transportation more permanence.

Councilman Paul Blatz explained, “The city is on the lower end of the totem pole, so when it comes to funding (from the state), when they say they’re going to take it, they just take it. We share (Ojai residents’) frustration.”

Also at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the Council “re-organized,” as the one-year term allotments dictate, and Mayor Carol Smith was replaced by incoming Mayor Betsy Clapp. Blatz replaced Clapp as mayor pro tem.

In keeping with the re-organizing theme, Cynthia Burrell submitted her resignation as City Clerk, and suggested her Deputy City Clerk, Rhonda Basore, as her replacement.

Councilwoman Carlon Strobel said, “I want to thank Cynthia for her 20-plus years of service, for all she taught me, for her compassion and dedication to the job.”

Blatz reminded those in attendance that, “The City Clerk is here to represent the people, and make sure the government does what the government is supposed to do. As a public records custodian, it is important that person be impartial, not just a member of staff.”

Ojai resident Pat McPherson offered that he has worked directly with Basore, and said, “She is an excellent choice for city clerk, unbiased, totally for getting the truth.”

Basore accepted the nomination to the position, and thanked Council members for their support and confidence.

When it came to supporting the Ojai Friends of the Library’s request that City Council use some of the library funds to help in the future with the maintenance of the proposed meeting room, Councilwoman Strobel still had many questions. “Is the project approved by the county? If so, is it the county’s position that they would pay for the annex building, but not the electricity, etc.? Does it require more staff? How will that be paid for? These things have a tendency to snowball, and I want to make sure we go into this with our eyes wide open.”

Councilwoman Smith indicated that the revised plan of support, which would limit the city’s yearly and total financial contributions, was “A good deal, and these things always have unintended consequences.” The motion to support the project passed.

Jenny Newman of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board also spoke at the meeting, in regards to a legally required assessment of the Ventura River watershed total maximum daily load. The assessment needs to be completed by March 2012. So far, it has been found that the Ventura River area has increased nutrient loading — meaning nitrogen and phosphorous, primarily from agricultural runoff and animal waste, which has led to excessive algae. Excessive algae in the watershed can create myriad problems, including killing off local fish populations and harboring bacteria harmful to humans, such as E. Coli. Newman emphasized that the study is not self-implementing, and that provisions will have to be made in future to lower the nutrient content. The TMDL report will be released for public review and comment in May 2012.

By Joanna M. Iwata
Generous donations to the Ojai Education Foundation have allowed the nonprofit organization to present a check for $45,000 to the Ojai Unified School District, which will be used to pay for new laptops, projectors, speakers and interactive whiteboards in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms.

Last year, the OEF gave $37,500 to the school district to pay for new classroom technology in fourth through eighth grades that helps promote the visual learning and interactivity stressed in the enVisionMATH California curriculum recently adopted by the OUSD school board.

“The $45,000 grant to OUSD for enVisionMATH technology in grades K to 3 in 2011 is the largest grant by OEF to date, and follows our grant of $37,500 for grades 4 to 8 in 2010,” said Phil Caruthers, OEF treasurer. “We are very proud of this accomplishment and very grateful for the generous contributions of more than 200 donors and many of our community businesses and sponsors for making what we do possible. Among them, Vintage Productions California LLC has been instrumental in bringing such important resources to the school district by providing matching grants of $10,000 for the past two years.”

Hank Bangser, OUSD superintendent, noted the importance of both OEF grants. “The decision of the Ojai Education Foundation board to fund the entire K through 8 mathematics technology initiative in two years, rather than the originally planned three years, was a tremendous morale and educational boost for our faculty,” he said. “I wish every OEF donor and parent could be with me when I see how much our teachers and students are the beneficiaries of the new creative software and technology available to them now, directly attributable to the $82,500 in OEF grants for the program.”

All the OUSD school principals agree the new technology has exceeded their expectations. “Because of the generosity of the Ojai Education Foundation, our classrooms have come alive with technology,” said Dawn Damianos, Meiners Oaks Elementary School principal. “Students are engaged in the lessons and teachers are able to ‘read’ students’ faces (as they are looking up to the screen in the front of the room) and see whether or not they are understanding the lesson.”  Teachers use their new teaching tools not only for math, but for science, social studies, language arts and current events as well, Damianos added.

Parents Katie Metzger and Sandy Ulrich have seen the positive impact of the new technology in their children’s classrooms. “I am fortunate that I get to see firsthand how my kids and the rest of the children in the class become so excited and engaged in what they are learning,” said Metzger, who volunteers twice a week in her son’s first-grade class and her daughter’s fourth-grade class at Meiners Oaks Elementary School.

“I have noticed that both the kids and teachers love this new technology, especially the whiteboards,” said Ulrich, who has a kindergartener at San Antonio Elementary School and a middle-school student at Matilija Junior High School. “Since it is an electronically driven and interactive system, it instantly engages the students,” she said. Ulrich also said her daughter raves about the new handheld device that looks like a cell phone, which she uses in her life science and social studies classes. “Students can type answers right away so that the teacher and everyone can see them,” she said.

As Kathy White, Mira Monte Elementary School principal, said, “Technology as a tool for delivery instruction has become so important to the majority of our teachers that some have commented they feel like they are in the dark ages without it.”

John LeSuer, Topa Topa Elementary School principal, agreed. “Our teachers are feeling more comfortable with the technology,” he said.  “It is making such a positive difference in our schools.  Students often express that it makes learning fun and easier to follow. Teaching is also more interesting and motivating to the students of all grades and it holds their attention.”

Teacher Chris Ando at Topa Topa also concurs. “My teaching is better because I can show the students concepts and they can watch as they are presented.  I didn’t know all the benefits until I started using it and I now use their technology for all subjects, not just math.”

Special-education teachers Laura Van Auker at Meiners Oaks, and Harriet Clise at Matilija, value using the new technology to make the math curriculum accessible to students with disabilities in ways that keep them active, engaged and learning in an inclusive way with other students.

Debbie Johnson, president of the OEF, is gratified by the ongoing support of OEF donors and business sponsors. “I am proud to be part of such a hard-working, all-volunteer organization,” she said.  “I look forward to the future as we continue to work with OUSD to determine where our fundraising efforts will be put to the best use.”

“We are seeing what exciting things can happen for our young people, their teachers and our school system when we fund special initiatives that can transform how teachers teach and students learn,” said Marianne Ratcliff, OEF board member and parent of two children at Summit Elementary School in Upper Ojai. “The Ojai Education Foundation is committed to investing in our youths’ future through its annual educational grants and larger multiyear projects.”

OEF is a community-based, nonprofit organization that promotes excellence in public education by building community support and providing resources to our schools. For more information, log on to www.ojaief.org. Donations can be mailed to OEF, P.O. Box 1769, Ojai, Calif. 93024.

By Logan Hall
Part 2 in a multipart series

County officials are preparing to hear Ojai Rock Quarry owner Larry Mosler’s case during a public hearing scheduled for Thursday morning. Among other issues, Mosler is refusing to submit financial assurance for a reclamation plan that he says will cost him almost $3 million.

Staff from the county’s Planning Department say they have given Mosler many chances to comply with their need for a Financial Assurance Cost Estimate — the amount of money it should take to properly reclaim the mine if it were ever abandoned. Mosler says the county is asking for an unprecedented amount of fill material to be accounted for that would fill in mined areas of the quarry if the need arose for reclamation.

Brian Baca, the county Planning Department’s commercial and industrial permit manager, says both the county and the State Mining and Geology Board’s Office of Mining Reclamation have reviewed Mosler’s approved reclamation plan, which has been in place since 1995, and have reported that a new plan addressing the need for 285,000 cubic yards of fill material be factored into his plan. Along with the amended plan, Mosler is required by county and state law to submit his F.A.C.E. and a means of facilitating that assurance through a cash deposit, bond or other approved means.

County officials say that Mosler’s claim that the fill material could cost close to $3 million are not associated with county or state reviews, and that the mine owner is responsible for providing a professional cost estimate for the plan which, in Mosler’s case, now includes 285,000 cubic yards of material. “The county has never asked for a specific dollar amount for his plan,” said Baca. “We made our own preliminary estimate which was just over 300,000 cubic yards. The state made a review and said 285,000 cubic yards of material was necessary for the plan, so we went with the state’s estimate. As far as the cost, they (Mosler) have not given an engineer’s estimate. He (Mosler) has not submitted anything to us for review.”

Dr. Sandy Figuers, a geologist with Norfleet Consulting, was hired by Mosler to prepare reports for the county on the stability of the mine. Figuers, who holds his doctorate in geology and is a registered civil engineer, disagrees with the county’s assessment that the mine needs large amounts of fill material for reclamation. “What the county is asking for is called a global buttress fill,” said Figuers who says he has 30 years experience in the field. “The state of knowledge of how to analyze a slope is much better than it was 20 years ago. Since that time advances have greatly increased. The assumption that the slope is unstable is no longer valid.”

Figuers points out a slope cut by Cal Trans to construct Maricopa Highway. “Just look at the other side of the highway where Caltrans cut almost vertical rock slopes that are 200 feet high,” he said. “Those slopes are way more vertical than anything on Larry’s mine. All you will see there are small rock falls.”

Explaining the reclamation process, Figuers commented that reclamation plans are designed to deal with large-scale failures. “In reclamation,” he continued, “we’re looking at large failures of slopes that address major safety concerns.”

Figuers says that the bottom line is that the slope is much more stable than county officials claim. “In my professional opinion,” he concluded, “a global buttress fill is not necessary.”

Mosler gave documents to the Ojai Valley News showing statements that his previous financial assurance hasn’t been more than $48,000, and county records show his previous submitted F.A.C.E. was $22,322. Mosler questions the decision to require the large quantity of material in the reclamation plan and says his attempts to provide an updated F.A.C.E. have been ignored by county staff.

“No one has ever brought up this dirt issue in the last 16 years,” said Mosler. “I’ve been submitting new F.A.C.E. plans but the county won’t accept or reject them. Rick Goacher with RGP Planning and Development Services prepared a new F.A.C.E. In it I raised the financial assurance to $48,000. That’s when Baca came up with the plan that will cost me $3 million to import dirt.”

Cost estimates for the type of fill material required by the county for Mosler’s reclamation plan are not easy to come by. Most require an analysis of distance from the source of the material to the recipient and also depends on the specific material required. Attempts by the OVN to obtain a cost for hauling 285,000 cubic yards of fill material showed that prices could range from $3 to $15 per cubic yard depending on distance and type of material used.

State Mining and Geology Board documents regarding previous reclamation plans from Mosler have addressed many issues with Mosler’s plan, including the removal of perched boulders and hydroseeding to stabilize hillsides. None of the previous documents refer to the need for fill material in the amount specified by the county and the SMGB in the latest requirement for Mosler’s reclamation plan. Baca says that prior to his involvement with the Ojai quarry, county staff mishandled Mosler’s case and that the SMGB was not aware of the area that needed fill material. “This all came from the past year’s inspection,” said Baca. “His original plan (in 1995) shows a large fill area and he has mined extensively beyond that since then. It’s quite simple really. This is what is specifically required for his facility.”

Mosler is quick to point out that his mine is small, and out of 12 mines in Ventura County, his financial assurance is second only to one of the county’s largest mines, P.W. Gillibrand Topa Canyon mine in Simi Valley. According to county documents presented by Mosler, Gillibrand’s current F.A.C.E. is $3.1 million. “I have the smallest mine in the county,” said Mosler. “What they want me to do means I have to come up with $3 million. I can’t pay that. Who has that kind of money just lying around?”

Ojai Stop the Trucks! Coalition representatives suggest that Mosler has corporate backing and could easily afford the costs. “Mosler and his people are liars,” said coalition representative Michael Shapiro, who says that Mosler’s operation is backed by a major corporation, Tri County Trucking, and that money is readily available. “They aren’t the mom and pop store they claim to be.”

Mosler, however, says he has nothing to hide and, when asked, promptly produced the deed to the mine, which was sold to him in 2005 by Schmidt Construction for $1,003,643. Mosler pointed out that he did receive financial backing from the Marietta family, who owns Tri County Trucking, but that he doesn’t have access to funds from the company. “I used to work with the Mariettas when I had my portable rock crushing business,” said Mosler. “Schmidt wanted a million. I had $400,000. The Marietta family trust loaned me $600,000, which we have paid down to about $70,000. They played bank.”

Mosler says the Mariettas wouldn’t give him the money for a F.A.C.E., and says the mine isn’t worth enough to warrant a loan for the reclamation plan. “It’s questionable if the mine is even worth that kind of money,” continued Mosler. “No one would front $3 million for a reclamation plan. The Marietta family doesn’t have $3 million to loan me.”

If the County Board of Supervisors upholds county staff’s recommendations, Mosler would need to cease all operations of the mine within the time specified by the board. Mosler’s attorney Derek Cole has filed an appeal with the SMGB on their decision.

The board is scheduled to conduct a public hearing Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in the Ventura County Government Center supervisors hearing room. Citizens concerned with the matter are urged to attend the hearing.

By Chris Wilson
After 15 years of intimately produced live performances in Ojai, the curtain of a local theater company is about to fall for the final time.

The Theater 150 board of trustees has announced that it will cease professional theater operations on Dec. 23 following the final performance of the current production of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

In January, the theater will reopen as a non-equity company that specializes in productions and classes for children and youth. Operating under the name Ojai Yes Entertainment Studio, it will continue the T-150 tradition of classes for adults, and offer a range of music, comedy and other special performances from local groups and artists.

The OYES will be co-artistic directed by Krista Kim and Rick Kuhlman, both of whom have presented at Theater 150 and have years of experience in youth musical and dramatic productions, and classes.

Kim and Kuhlman have both said they are thrilled about the new direction the theater is taking and are hoping the community will feel the same. But Kim also says she has mixed feelings.

“I’ve been at Theater 150 for two years and I love everything about what they do and what they are working on,” Kim said. “I hate to see parts of that go away and I hope we can continue some of the great traditions that we’ve established.”

In addition to wanting to see the adult writing classes and independent projects continue, Kim said her goal is to see all age groups from the community involved in productions and classes.

The changes are blamed in part on a sluggish economy. Theater 150 board of trustees chairman Tom Krause issued a statement explaining the decision to end theater productions, which was run as a letter to the editor Dec. 7.

“A handful of dedicated donors have carried the weight of expenses, doing so with the belief that successful productions would stimulate sufficient support,” Krause stated. “This has not happened, and recent fundraising made clear that the money needed to launch a new season simply was not there.”

Outgoing producing director Chris Nottoli, who held the position of co-artistic director with wife Deb Norton from 2005 to 2010, agreed that the decision made sense.

“When it became apparent that the current model was no longer tenable we had to make some tough decisions,” Nottoli said. “The new model is a very good outcome, frankly, for the theater. Rather than closing down, selling off the furniture and abandoning the building, what’s happening is actually pretty cool.”

In spite of the face-forward fund-raising efforts Nottoli and Norton put forth, which included their wedding musical “Deb and Chris Get Married,” held in Libbey Bowl in May 2010 and other campaigns, the costs of running a small equity theater in Ojai was not sufficient to stay open, Nottoli said.

And while he plans to still be actively involved with Theater 150, he will also be independently pursuing writing and producing opportunities. “Now it’s going to be much more accessible to the community and I think you’ll see an explosion of theater in Ojai,” Nottoli said. He said he plans to bring some improv-style sketch and stand-up comedy nights to the stage of theater.

“Right now it’s wide open,” he said. “This was the right thing to do. Some of the donors might be upset by the decision, but it’s a victim of the economy like so many things are.”

The small theater was started by actors Kim Maxwell and Dwyer Brown in an abandoned pool hall on E. Ojai Avenue in 1996, and then moved to a former funeral home downtown in 2008.

The news hit donors last week, and reactions were mixed. “As a former student of Theater 150 and as someone who has believed in their cause and donated a few dollars to that cause over the years, it’s a huge blow,” said local writer Lisa Snider.“It’s a complete 180 and kind of disappointing. Where are we going to get that kind of experience again in Ojai? What they’re doing sounds great and I really hope they succeed, but it’s not what I donated to.”

For the time being, tickets are available for Theater 150′s swan song performance of “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” directed by Richard Kuhlman. It runs through Dec. 23. Tickets are available at theater150.org or at the box office. To learn more about the Ojai Youth Entertainment Studio visit oyes.org

SB-1445 seeking bipartisan support

By Misty Volaski
The battle for rental car safety legislation on Capitol Hill is heating up, but Ojai’s Houck family is “not going to be deterred,” said matriarch Cally. “We’ve got a very committed coalition and the support of some top lawmakers — (Barbara) Boxer, (Charles) Schumer, (Dianne) Feinstein, (Richard) Blumenthal, (Kirsten) Gillibrand. This is my top priority. There is nothing more honorable than to continue to participate” in getting Senate Bill 1445 passed. “It’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s ‘when.”

Houck has good reason to be so passionate about getting recalled — but unfixed — rental cars off the road. Her two daughters, former Nordhoff High School students Jackie and Raechel, were killed in 2004 in a firey car accident when they lost control of their rented PT Cruiser. The vehicle had a safety recall, but no repairs had been made; an under-hood fire caused Raechel to lose control, and the girls were killed when they slammed head-on into a semi truck. After five years of litigation against Enterprise Rent-A-Car, a jury found in favor of the Houcks, awarding them $15 million.

But for Cally, that was not justice for her girls; the only thing that can bring justice, she says, is to get legislation enacted which would force rental car companies to abide by the same recall laws that manufacturers must follow.

A California bill has already been introduced, and currently, New York Senator Schumer and others are working at the federal level to get SB-1445 attached to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s reauthorization bill.

After Thanksgiving, for the first time, Cally brought along Raechel and Jackie’s younger brother, Greg, with her to Washington D.C. to help promote the bill and gain bipartisan support. Thanks to advocate Pamela Gilbert, a well-respected lawyer and former board member at the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety group, the Houcks got access to the staffers of some key legislators. “It’s very difficult to get in to see even a low staffer,” said Houck. “Pamela opened doors for us.” Greg and Cally spoke with staffers in the offices of Arizona Sen. John McCain, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, as well as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, among others. Kerry’s staffer, Houck said, indicated that “He was going to take this directly to John Kerry. We felt we were very well received” by all the staffers they met,” she added.

Currently, the bill is in a committee, but the Houcks hope a vote will come soon to move it one step closer to law. “It’s much easier to get it attached to a bill that has bipartisan support (like the reauthorization bill),” said Houck, “but we’re willing to do whatever it takes.”

Rosemary Shahan, president of C.A.R.S. and a staunch advocate of the Houcks’ crusade, said, “Cally (met) with staff on both sides of the aisle, and she debunked a lot of misinformation. We’re rebutting what the industry is putting out. It’s really absurd stuff, pretty outrageous.”

Needless to say, the rental car companies are putting up a fight against industry regulation. Huge sums of money are at stake. “We knew they would (fight hard), going in,” said Houck. Still, she remains confident that the bill will eventually pass. After all, as several consumer safety activists have pointed out to Houck, “It took 10 years to get the airbag law passed.”

While the industry claims that pulling all vehicles with safety recalls from their fleet would be a financial burden, Houck points out that profits run into the billions of dollars for the privately-held Enterprise corporation alone. It’s not about getting back at them, she said, it’s about keeping the consumer safe. Houck explained, “Companies that put dangerous products into hands of consumers — bad food, cribs that are dangerous for infants — those companies have to take the products out of the hands of consumers. So, why are the rental car companies exempt from that? Why are they exempt from consumer protection laws?”

Shahan pointed out that she’s seen lots of contradictions from the rental car industry in D.C. “They contradict themselves all the time,” she said. “On one hand, they say they don’t need regulation because they’re already taking care of the problem. But 10 to 20 percent (of the safety recalled vehicles) even after 60 days still haven’t been fixed by their own admission. Then on the other hand, they’re saying they don’t want to ground these cars right away, that they want to have a committee to decide whether it’s unsafe enough to justify grounding them. But this is a simple idea — whenever a dealer has to ground a car because it’s so unsafe that they can’t sell it, then a rental car company shouldn’t be able to rent or sell it either.”

“It’s common sense,” Houck said. “The reaction from both sides of the aisle has been that this makes complete sense. But they said that just because it makes sense doesn’t mean it’s do-able; there’s another factor called politics. But we’re just going to move forward.”

Her son Greg, a budding songwriter, was inspired after his D.C. trip to write a song about his experiences in D.C. An excerpt follows:

“Let me tell you about rental car safety protocols

It’s a fact that there’s no protocol at all

I’m on Capitol Hill, trying to work on a bill

But the rental car companies are fighting us still …

Recalled cars rented out to us

Without us knowing, stopping it is a must

Houck Senate Bill 1445 or bust!

So then once again we can gain the trust.

Some corporations corrupt the world

A recalled car rented out is how I lost my girls.

There is no law, to stop it at all

So I’m on Capitol Hill, fighting for the cause.”

OJAI POLICE DEPARTMENT
MEDIA RELEASE

Ventura County firefighters from Ojai Fire Station 21 and Oak View Station 23 work to put out a few remaining hotspots as embers rain from the ceiling at a house fire in downtown Ojai on Thursday evening.

Report and photo by Logan Hall
An Ojai family escaped tragedy earlier today after Ventura County Fire Department firefighters knocked down a garage fire that threatened the family’s home on the 100 block of West Aliso Street. Fire crews were quickly able to douse the flames, however, and although the garage appeared to be extensively damaged, the main house remained unscathed.

According to officials, a fire engine from Ojai Fire Station 21 was passing by shortly after the blaze started. After seeing thick, black smoke coming from a residential area, firefighters from 21 managed to get to the fire just minutes after it began.

“We got the call at 5:21 p.m.,” said VCFD spokesman Capt. Bill Nash. “The fire was knocked down very quickly by about 5:27 p.m.”

No injuries were reported but some of the family’s belongings, including important business documents, may have been lost. “We have everything on our computer,” said Tammy Bernardi. “We’ll be fine.”

Quarry owner Larry Mosler heads to the top of his mine up Maricopa Highway on Wednesday. Ventura County officials are scheduled to make a decision next week that could shut down the mine owner's business.

Part 1 of a multi-
part series

Report and photo
by Logan Hall

The County of Ventura is on the verge of making a decision that could shut down a local business.

The Ojai Rock Quarry has been under fire as numerous violations have been filed by the county against Larry Mosler, the mine’s owner. Mosler and his supporters claim that the County – in particular district one supervisor Steve Bennett – is unjustly targeting his business due to unrelenting pressure from the local activist organization, Stop the Trucks! Coalition. Officials in both the county’s planning division and supervisor’s office say Mosler continues to fail to comply with required government guidelines for his mine and operating procedures, and that the County will be deciding on whether or not to uphold a revocation of his mining permit.

While Mosler points the finger at the county supervisor’s office, Bennett says that he can’t, and hasn’t acted on the issue until it goes before the board of supervisors. “There’s a clear line here,” said Bennett. “I cannot sit at the hearing of the Mosler revocation permit and represent the citizens if I have instructed the planning department what to do.”

Bennett did say that county staff has “tried to work with Mosler on this and feel they have taken the right steps.”

What, at face value, could seem like a proverbial “he said she said” argument goes much deeper.

Coalition advocates say that increasing truck trips from mines like Mosler’s are detrimental to the quality of life in the Ojai Valley and cause safety concerns to those frequenting Maricopa Highway. Mosler, however, claims to have greatly improved the mining operation since he purchased the quarry in 2005 and says he has done everything he can to comply with the County. He also has five employees that live in the Valley that depend on the mine to support themselves and for some, support their families.

Daryl Williamson has lived in the Valley his entire life and has worked for Mosler for almost 16 years cutting stone and operating a variety of heavy equipment. He relies on his salary from Mosler to take care of his family. He says that he’s just an average American that loves the town he grew up in, and is thankful to be able to raise his family here. “I have three kids and two of them live with me full time,” said Williamson, a single father and Nordhoff High School Graduate. “My family has been in the Ojai Valley since 1926. My kids go to Nordhoff. I’m just trying to get by.”

Williamson says that times are tough for him like so many other blue collar Americans in the nation’s workforce. In the harsh economic world today, he says he is grateful to have employment. “There aint no jobs out there right now,” he said. “If the county shuts us down, I guess Obama can pay for me.”

Oak View resident Jerry Jones has also lived in the valley his entire life. He’s worked for Mosler as the mine’s truck scale operator for three years and also relies on his income from his work at the quarry. “I have to pay rent like everyone else,” said Jones in between weighing trucks exiting the property to ensure they fall in line with government standards. “If this all goes down, I’ll have to start job hunting. It’s pretty slow everywhere though. There’s not much out there.”

Mosler’s employees aren’t the only locals that could be affected if the mine shuts down.

Some business owners and members of the community also believe that Mosler has been treated unjustly by the County. Long time valley resident and Ojai Rotary West member Les Gardener says Mosler is an honest businessman that has given back extensively to the community. “When we built Rotary Club Park next to the ‘Y’ intersection,” said Gardner who owns the Attitude Adjustment Shop in the “Y” shopping center, “we needed stone for the park’s wall. The planning commission said there wasn’t any money to fund the park, so we went to Mosler to see if he could give us a discount.”

Gardner says that Mosler was more than willing to help. “He donated all of the stone to the club,” he said. “It wasn’t just a little either. It was about $70,000 worth of stone and he allowed members to come up and pick it from his quarry. He’s a hard working guy trying to run his business.”

Others seem to echo Gardner’s thoughts. Cody Evans, an Ojai native who owns and operates Evans Excavating, which provides grating and underground utility service, says he also belives the county is unjustly going after Mosler. “I’m dumbfounded by how much pressure that poor man is given.” said Evans. “He’s just trying to run a business here.”

Evans also states that his own business and subsequently he and his wife and eight-year-old son, depend on the material that Mosler provides. “I buy a lot of material out of there,” he said. “It’s good quality stuff and I use it for everything like French drains, landscaping and roads. That gravel is a huge asset for the valley. The beauty is that it’s right here in town. If they shut down the quarry, it would stop my business.”

Evans says that the problem lies in the availability of the material that is vital for his operation. “Because his mine is closer,” he continued, “his stuff is more affordable for the people. If he shuts down, we’ll have to go somewhere else. The nearest rock quarry is Grimes Canyon near Fillmore. That means our trucks have to travel much farther to get the necessary material. That would effect everyone big time.”

Ojai native Blake Nielsen who owns and operates Nielsen Sand and Gravel based in Ojai, says he and his customers also rely on Mosler’s operation. “We get a lot of dirt and sand out there and it all goes to Ojai,” said Nielsen who has lived in Ojai his whole life. “If they shut him down, we’ll have to go much farther away. Everything will get more expensive and it will create more pollution.”

Greg Webster former honorary mayor of Oak View and owner of Greg Rents agrees that Mosler’s operation is a valuable asset to the community and, like Gardener, says that Mosler has given back to the Valley. “His gravel is the best,” said Webster. “All of my customers love the stuff. We need Larry’s business in the Valley. He donated the ‘Welcome To Ojai’ rock at the ‘Y.’ I don’t usually get involved in politics, but this is different.”

County officials admit that the closing of the mine could have potential negative impacts on the Valley. “There’s no doubt that there will be negative impacts on the local economy,” said Bennett’s assistant Steve Offerman. “It’s unfortunate that Mosler couldn’t meet the requirements to continue operating.”

Kim Prillhart, the county’s planning director also says that there could be serious negative impacts to the community if the mine is closed, but reiterates Offerman’s assessment that Mosler is to blame. “Mr. Mosler has a responsibility to follow the laws,” said Prillhart. “He understood that this was the way the mine needed to be operated. An employer needs to do the right thing by his employees. Mister Mosler needed to take appropriate action to protect the jobs of his people. This is not a one-sided story. The County is not trying to shut a local business down.”

David Pressey, who has lived in Ojai for 56 years and is a Korean War veteran, says he doesn’t own a business and doesn’t know Mosler, but believes the issue of the rock quarry impacts everyone. “People that do honest work keep finding that the rules are getting tighter and tighter,” said Pressey. “When I see an industry shut down and that five local families will be out of work, I need to speak up. When we fought wars, we were fighting for people like them. There’s so much hypocrisy in all of this. This goes way beyond just Ojai.”

The decision on the fate of Mosler’s operation is scheduled to be made in a public hearing On Dec. 15 at 8:30 a.m. at the County Government Center, Board of Supervisors hearing room in Ventura. Mosler supporters and county officials urge citizens to attend the hearing.

By Misty Volaski
It’s no secret by now that the state of California is having an increasingly difficult time funding education. School districts — including Ojai Unified —  have not only had to cut back services dramatically, they’ve even had to borrow to cover funds what the state already owes them (although the state legislature promises those funds will be coming next June).

At Tuesday night’s Ojai Unified School District board meeting, that lack of resources was at the top of the list of reasons why keeping scores high on standardized tests is becoming more and more difficult.

Mira Monte Elementary School principal Kathy White explained it best in her school’s Single Plan for Student Achievement presentation.

“Imagine if a significant percentage of the doctors in the valley suddenly didn’t exist, and each doctor took 50 percent more patients during the same number of hours,” White said. “Patients would have to wait for a long time to get an appointment. When the doctor examined the patient, they would be rushed because their waiting room would be full of patients becoming restless; services supporting the patients would also become overwhelmed. Wellness-type visits to the doctor would be few and far between. Some ill patients wouldn’t see the doctor soon enough, and would become so ill that they’d need hospitalization. This would be intolerable. This is what is happening with primary education.”

Despite the dismal metaphor, White said Mira Monte is dedicated to finding those at-risk students and providing intervention programs. “Many of our goals are targeted (at) the Hispanic/Latino population with a focus on those students still classified as English language learners,” she said. Like several other schools — including Summit and San Antonio, which also presented their SPSA’s Tuesday night — Mira Monte has a homework help club after school. White said her school has both paid employees and volunteers from Nordhoff’s FLAMA club assisting students in smaller groups, which will help to offset larger class sizes. Online programs like Reading-Plus, which can be accessed both at school and at home, are helping with English language arts and mathematics.

Theresa Dutter, principal of San Antonio and Summit Elementary schools, said her schools are taking similar actions. At San Antonio, second-grade students are being pulled out of class and into the computer lab for in-depth math learning with teacher Tiffany Bauer. This, Dutter said, allows teachers of the combination classes to focus on teaching just one grade level — and allows for more more individualized instruction. “It’s not optimal, but it’s working!” she said. “We’re able to deliver better math instruction through this type of creative programming.”

At Summit, the Parent-Teacher Organization is helping to fund extra hours for a teacher’s assistant that the district used to be able to pay for in better financial times.

On top of all the teachers’ and administrators’ wish lists? “I wish we could reduce the number of students in each class,” lamented Dutter. “That solves a lot of issues that come up with budget cuts — they become non-issues.”

The next meeting of the OUSD board is set for Jan. 17 at 5:30 p.m. Topa Topa Elementary, Matilija Junior High, and Nordhoff High Schools will present their SPSAs at that time.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
Syracuse men’s basketball head coach, Jim Boeheim, has come under a great deal of fire recently for defending charges of sexual abuse against his longtime assistant coach, Bernie Fine. Boeheim disparaged Fine’s accusers, claiming they were lying to extort money. Defending his actions, Boeheim asserted, “What I said last week was out of loyalty. I acted without thinking. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

Well, believe it, Jim. Unfortunately, sexual predators are all around us. Several high profile sexual abuse cases have surfaced recently. These come on the heels of the Catholic priest abuse scandal a few years ago. If it sounds like we are surrounded by cases of predators abusing children, it is because we are. They are real and they are more plentiful than many of us realize. Even when abusers are discovered and convicted, their prison sentences are often ridiculously brief.

I was visiting with friends recently, when the topic of abuse came up. Three of the women present said they had been victims of abuse. In each case, it was by someone they knew. These were not the acts of random strangers – the ones we were warned about as children. These heinous acts were perpetrated by people they knew and trusted. In two cases, adults suspected, or were told of the abuse, but failed to act. Like those in some of the high profile abuse cases, they either could not believe it or they did not want to accept it. And so the abuse continued.

I was very lucky in this instance. No one ever touched me inappropriately, much less abused me. But many, many others have not been so lucky. They have had something stolen from them that they can never replace. Their innocence has vanished like smoke up a chimney.

Sexual predators are real. They walk among us, ready to prey on those who cannot protect themselves. We must warn and educate our children, and we must be vigilant for strange and unseemly behavior. I know it is hard to accept that a trusted friend or family member might commit such an act, but sexual predators do not have “I am an abuser” tattooed on their forehead. If we are alerted to such behavior, we must see that it is investigated thoroughly, not dismiss it out of hand. Sticking our heads in the sand will do nothing but allow predators to go unchecked.

If we want to protect the innocent, the time for shocked denial is over.

By Misty Volaski
The Oaks at Ojai has gone through many renovations since it was commissioned by Edward Drummond Libbey in 1918. The latest, a restoration of the lobby, follows the mission-revival style of the building’s exterior, both of which were designed by the late Ojai architect David Bury. It began on Sept. 6 and was completed Dec. 2 — just one day behind schedule.

President and CEO of The Oaks, Cathy Cluff, said they couldn’t be happier. “It’s gone so smoothly, smoother than we could’ve predicted. It came out really well,” she said. “The staff is happy to have such a great new workspace, and it definitely has the look and feel we were trying to capture. You never know exactly until the actual materials are in place, but it’s just beautiful!”

Making the space even more special is the fact that it was designed by Bury. Cathy and her mother, Oaks founder Sheila Cluff, decided several years ago that they wanted to have Bury design plans for several renovations which would take place in coming years. “We wanted to have a series of renovation goals for the coming years,” Cathy said. “For about the last five years, we’ve been able to do one renovation project per year. We are so, so fortunate to have David’s plans for this and future renovations.”

The downtown hotel started life with Spanish-influenced architecture, but over the years that theme strayed as new additions were built. When Sheila Cluff took over the property in 1977 and transformed it into a destination fitness spa, renovations — or, more appropriately, restorations — were always on her mind.

What excites the Cluffs is that this restoration hearkens back to the building’s original style. The original stonework of the fireplace was uncovered and restored, custom-designed carpet was installed and Spanish-style arches and wrought iron fixtures were added. Cathy Cluff is particularly proud of the fact that this renovation, like the others they’ve done recently, utilized local companies.

Ojai’s Jon Hartmann installed the electricity, Alco took care of the plumbing, and the lumber came from Ojai Lumber. Wes Theis did all the custom-carpentry work. RTK Tile laid the fireplace tile, and fireplace work was done by Allen Shook. Scott Loomis Construction did the framing, Ventura’s Mark Albright did the painting, while cabinets came from Camarillo’s California Designers Choice Custom Cabinetry. The hand-loomed, super soft carpet came from Don Gil of Ventura. Local contractor Tim Droney and his wife, interior designer Maraya, also lent their services.

Many of them have worked with The Oaks in past years, as well. “We absolutely love working with local companies,” said Cluff, “primarily because they take so much pride in their work. Being that we’re right here in center of town, we’ve heard from many of the guys that it’s a showpiece for their work as much as it is for us.”

During the project, The Oaks offered all of its usual services, but due to the inconvenience of the temporary lobby and construction, the Cluffs came up with the “hard hat special,” a 25 percent discount off usual room rates. Happily, Cathy said, “we actually increased occupancy for November over this time last year.”

Cluff describes the new lobby as “understated elegance, really fitting of the mission revival style. We’re getting great feedback from guests. They said we should do yoga on the carpet!”

The Cluffs invite the public to come view their new lobby any day of the week. They will have an unofficial unveiling of the space Jan. 26, when The Oaks will host the January Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce mixer.

Report and photo
by Logan Hall
Ojai Trolley and Gold Coast Transit riders are paying close attention as the city of Ojai is trying to cut its public transportation budget by $150,000. The city needs to drastically reduce spending on public transportation in order to stop drawing money for transit purposes from its dwindling general fund.

City staff and a special transit committee are recommending to the City Council that the city no longer pay to have a GCT route that includes bus stops within city limits on Maricopa Highway. Other changes include the raising of trolley fares from $.50 to $1 for the general fare, and from $.25 to $.50 for seniors and children ages 2 to 5. Also, instead of being free, the fare for children under 2 will be $.25. City officials are also considering increasing the headway at trolley stops from 30 minutes to one hour on weekends, but since statistics indicate that the trolley is used much less frequently on Saturdays and Sundays, the impact on the community should be minimal. If adopted by the council, the changes would take effect July 1, 2012.

According to city records, the trolley’s operating cost was $822,482 for the city’s fiscal year from 2010-2011, and the transit fund is projected to have a deficit of $160,871 at the end of the current fiscal year in June 2012. “There was a substantial decrease in federal funding this year,” Greg Grant, Ojai’s city engineer was quick to point out. “That really contributed to this deficit.”

Ojai city manager Rob Clark also weighed in on the importance of eliminating the transit deficit. “The general fund is very limited,” he said. “We’re not doing things we should be doing, like paving the roads. Our roads and our recreation facilities are very neglected. It’s a matter of setting priorities. The goal is to keep the transit fund in the black and still provide good service to the community.”

City records show that for 2010 to 2011, the trolley saw 117,616 riders. Many of those riders pay a reduced fare or no fare at all. While seniors and children pay half of the general fare, infants and those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act aren’t required to pay to ride. The trolley also accepts transfer tickets from Gold Coast riders, which take the place of the rider’s fare. About 70,000 riders paid the full, general fare, while around 12,000 paid reduced rates and about 29,000 weren’t required to pay a fare according to the city’s statistics. These factors have steadily put strain on the city’s transit budget.

The potential increase in fares could force riders to find other means of transportation, but Grant says it will help the city take a big step toward eliminating the transit deficit. City figures show that fare increases would account for an additional $43,000.

The largest contributing factor to the city’s goal of a deficit-free transportation system would be the savings if the Gold Coast route were cut from the budget. Currently, the city is paying $100,000 a year for a small portion of GCT bus route 16 from Ventura to Ojai. “Our real cost-saving measures are cutting Gold Coast,” said Grant.

The Gold Coast bus route through Ojai constitutes a small percentage of the company’s business. According to GCT documents, Ojai’s route contributes 1.3 percent to Gold Coast’s overall business, with the company’s largest area of service being Oxnard. Helene Buchman, Gold Coast’s director of planning and marketing, says that GCT relies heavily on the revenue from local governments like the City of Ojai. GCT records confirm that by showing that from 2010 to 2011, revenue per passenger was $.77, while the cost of operation per passenger was $3.92.

Although Buchman assured that, if the council votes to cut the route, Gold Coast would work hard to continue the same level of service to the area, there are still many unknowns. “Anything is possible,” she said. “Because of the unique way we’re funded, a lot will depend on the city’s decision.”

Budget cuts would inevitably affect locals in the valley, but both the city and Gold Coast representatives seem to want the best for the riders, even if the future is uncertain. Gold Coast officials assure that busses, often called “the blue bus” or “the 16” by its riders, traveling route 16 should continue to haul passengers up the route despite local economic issues. “We don’t intend to strand people,” said Buchman. “As of now, we do not know what will occur. However, will work very closely with city of Ojai and the county to continue to provide the best service possible.”

Because route 16 services Mira Monte, Oak View and Meiners Oaks, the county of Ventura has also been involved in the process.

Ventura County senior transportation analyst Kathy Connell says the county is on the same page with concern for the riders. “If they (Ojai City Council) make the decision to cut Gold Coast out of the city,” she said, “something would need to be done. We don’t want to see a loss of service.”

Although Ojai’s public transportation system might be in crisis mode, city officials believe they have a solution that could end up benefiting the people. Grant says that one of the proposed changes could increase trolley operating hours, filling in the void for transferring bus riders that are left stranded and forced to walk before or after current hours of operation. “This change will actually end up increasing our level of service,” said Grant.

Riders like Meiners Oaks resident Ernest Cook hope they will still be able to rely on their public transportation system. “I use the trolley often,” said Cook, who depends on the service to get around the valley. “I’ve been riding it almost everyday for about 15 years. It always gets me where I’m going.”

Ojai’s transit committee was comprised of officials and citizens that have met once a month since July to try to figure out the city’s transit issues. The committee included a cross-section of community members, from a trolley rider and driver to Help of Ojai executive director Terri Wolfe and Ojai Chamber of Commerce CEO Scott Eicher.

City officials urge the public to attend the Ojai City Council meeting on Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Ojai City Hall, when the council is set to decide on the city staff recommendations on the transit system.

By Logan Hall
The County of Ventura is stepping up its disaster preparedness in the Ojai Valley. By stationing a second cache of emergency supplies, called a Mass Casualty Trailer, in Oak View – the other trailer is currently at Ventura County Fire Station 22 in Meiners Oaks – emergency crews will have access to crucial supplies in the event of an accident or disaster where many people need medical attention.

According to county officials, the MCT will be stocked with supplies that would not be available on an ambulance in mass quantities. Items like stretchers, bandages, medical tape and other general first aide supplies are stocked in the trailers and kept at secure locations and are ready to be deployed if needed. No drugs or needles are stocked in MCTs.

“We’ll now have a trailer on the east and west end of the valley,” said county supervisor administrative assistant Cindy Cantle. “If there’s a disaster, we’ll have the same capabilities on both ends of the valley. We’ll have those supplies right there in Ojai.”

The tandem-axle, Journey-model trailer, made by Pace American, will be under the control of the local Community Emergency Response Team, and will help with supply needs during anything ranging from a natural disaster to an accident involving multiple victims like a bus crash. Ojai resident Norm Plott, who is the Ventura County Fire Department Emergency Medical System battalion chief, says the trailers could help substantially in a major incident. “In event of an earthquake or other significant incident,” said Plott, “those trailers are designed to treat a lot of people.”

Plott also says that in the event that Ojai became isolated from outside communities, emergency supplies would already be in the area in the form of the two MCTs. “Back in the floods in the early 2000s,” he said, “the (Highway) 150 was closed and other areas near Creek Road washed out. Those trailers can help treat a lot of people.”

The County will deliver the trailer to the Oak View Park and Resource Center on Thursday.

Commentary by Lenny Roberts
It amazes me the way people have to watch what they say for fear of offending someone else. Don’t even get me started on the African-American thing. Caucasians are white, Negroes are black, and if you were born here or have become a citizen, you are an American. Barack Obama is half white, half black. He is not an African-American. He was born in Hawaii and raised in Kansas. Or vice-versa. I’m not sure and I really don’t care. End of story.

But this is not about what color the president is. This is about “the holidays.”

My intent here is not to sound like Bill O’Reilly or to upset Christians — especially the ones who go to church on more than just Christmas and Easter. But to me, Christmas is not about the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. You really think he was born on December 25? Christmas is about toys, family, and the look in a child’s eye on Christmas morning. It’s about decorating a tree and going through all the headaches of shopping, online or in a crowded store. It’s about remembering the sound your Lionel train made as it circled the Christmas tree. It’s about standing outside while it’s snowing and not being cold. It’s about the aroma that fills the house ahead of the Christmas dinner your mom has been working on for days. It’s about worrying how to pay for all the stuff you bought. It’s about hoping your choice of gifts was right, and it’s about hoping you got what you wanted. Sorry, but that’s what Christmas means to me, and probably a whole lot of other folks regardless of their religion or ethnicity.

Now we get holiday cards that provide us with holiday wishes, usually sent from people who greet you with “happy holidays” as if they are afraid to offend just in case.  My response has always been and will always be “merry Christmas.”

I will not attend a holiday party, sale or event, send holiday cards, have a holiday dinner, or, yikes, put up our holiday tree. I will not celebrate the holiday season. So let’s just call it what it is. It’s Christmas.

Photo by Logan Hall

By Misty Volaski
At the age of 8, Ojai veterinarian Steve Sallen found his life’s calling through tragedy. The family kitten fell ill and died of feline distemper. “I felt really helpless about that loss,” recalls Sallen. Their vet was a family friend who Sallen got to know well over the years with his family’s menagerie of pets — dogs, cats, fish, rabbits, even a raccoon.

He eventually attended Colorado State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree, going on to earn high honors and a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the College of Veterinary Medicine at CSU. Sallen worked in Colorado for a few years before venturing West with a fellow vet in 1979 to set up a practice in California and work for the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

By 1986, Sallen had founded his Rosemont Pet Hospital in La Crescenta, where he specialized in small animal care. He has been accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association for 20 years.

He and his family — his realtor wife, Donna, and sons Loren and Dustin — have lived in the valley since 1999, but Sallen had been commuting to La Crescenta ever since then. The practice grew, and even began attracting interest from Ojai-himarea residents, who would call Sallen at all hours of the day for help. “I picked up a number of animals in this area, transported them to (Rosemont) and brought them back,” he said.

More and more, Sallen thought about moving his business closer to home. “After traveling the three-hour round-trip for years, I finally decided to open locally,” said Sallen. “Donna’s been having me consider it for 12 years, but I’ve been considering it seriously for about the last three years.”

So Steve and Donna began looking for locations, finally deciding on one across from Cluff Vista Park, on West Ojai Avenue. “We tore the place apart, rebuilt walls, refortified it,” he said. “There’s a great parking lot, too.” Tomorrow, Sallen will celebrate the grand opening of his Ojai practice, the Ojai Village Veterinary Hospital. OVVH had a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

At his new facility, Sallen offers many services, and specializes in dentistry, skin conditions, senior pet care, and cardiology for dogs and cats. He has high-tech equipment, which allows him to better diagnose and treat his patients.

“We have a digital x-ray machine that allows us to get an image in 10 seconds, and emits less radiation,” Sallen said. “If the patient is under anesthesia, you don’t have to wait eight minutes. And, you can send it over the internet to other specialists.”

The facility also features a cutting-edge intensive care unit that delivers oxygen to the patient, and keeps the temperature and humidity controlled, among other key features. “It’s a full life-support ICU,” Sallen says. He also offers safer spay and neuter techniques, and has an in-house lab capable of producing complete lab results and chemistries in less than 10 minutes.

Dentistry, he says, is an often overlooked aspect of pet care. Many owners will take their animals to a groomer to get primped, which often includes a scraping of the teeth “To make them look pretty. But doesn’t save the teeth,” he explains. Sallen does deep cleaning under the gum, polishes, and keeps the focus on the “preservation of the teeth.”

Skin conditions are very common in both cats and dogs, and can often have to do with food, flea or pollen allergies, Sallen said. Anyone who has had a dog who scratches a lot has seen the level of discomfort it brings their pet. Luckily, Sallen said, there are many treatments to help. “Food allergies often manifest as chronic ear infections, red face, chewing paws or rear ends,” he says. “But the most common thing I see is flea allergies. I’ve seen more fleas since I’ve opened (in Ojai) than I had seen the whole rest of the year. Year-round flea control is important and we have oral and topical treatments.”

But some health problems aren’t quite so obvious, Sallen says. Chronic coughing might seem like no big deal, but it can be a symptom of heart disease — that’s why Sallen chose to specialize in cardiology.

His No. 1 tip for keeping pets healthy? “Honestly, yearly checkups, every year, are the most important thing,” he says. “Especially after 7 years old — that’s like a person in their 40s. They need to start getting routine bloodwork and checkups.”

This Saturday’s grand opening party will run from 1 to 4 p.m. at the office, 311 W. Ojai Ave., and will feature a tour of the facility, demonstrations of state-of-the art equipment (on stuffed animals), and an iPad raffle, with proceeds going to the Humane Society of Ventura County, located in Ojai.

By Logan Hall
Ventura County residents in unincorporated areas are receiving a break on flood insurance.

After county officials enacted a federal program that rewards a community’s flood preparedness level, property owners in places like Ojai’s East End along San Antonio and Thacher Creeks will receive a 20 percent discount on flood insurance. The helping hand comes at a time when some homeowners are paying large sums to protect their property from flooding costs.

“We’re paying $1,700 a year for flood insurance,” said Christine Roe, who has lived four houses away from Thacher Creek in the Siete Robles tract on Ojai’s East End since 1966. “And that doesn’t even cover what the damage requires.”

Help comes in the form of a Federal Emergency Management Agency program called the Community Rating System, which rates cities and counties that have taken action in flood preparedness. According to FEMA statistics, about 20,000 communities participate the National Flood Insurance Program. Few of those adopt FEMA’s CRS program. Even fewer qualify for the program’s 20 percent insurance discount. Out of 86 participating communities in California, only five received greater discounts than Ventura County, and most didn’t reach the 20 percent level.

“Only about one percent of communities (nationally) in the CRS program achieved the 20 percent discount level,” said county supervisor Steve Bennett. “This is the result of our county watershed district doing incredible work.”

FEMA looks at several criteria when determining a community’s eligibility for the different levels of the CRS program including the reduction of flood losses and the promotion of awareness of flood insurance. Bennett says that he and his staff began looking into the program after discussing flood issues with citizens on the East End. “I saw how high their rates were,” said Bennett of the property owners in the flood plain on the East End after touring the area. “They are going to have substantial annual savings now.”

Although the county has to spend money to make the program a success, officials believe it will be worth it and say much of the funding comes from federal grants. “There are enough people in the flood plains to justify the costs to the taxpayers of joining the program,” said county administrative assistant Steve Offerman. “There were some big-ticket items like the countywide hazard plan. That was fully covered by FEMA. Over the long term, it will save flood plain property owners a lot of money.”

Although Offerman says the county has done all it can to adopt the program, they’re still waiting on FEMA for final approval before residents can expect to see a lower insurance premium. “Judging by the slow pace of FEMA,” he said, “our staff says it could be six months before it takes effect. It’s just a matter of waiting for an under funded federal agency, but we’ve given them everything they need.”

Roe says that flood insurance is a big issue in her neighborhood, which has seen severe flooding throughout the years. “The big one was ’69,” she said. “It (flood) didn’t come into the house that time, but it went right through the rest of the property. We’ve been affected nearly every time it floods. A big discount on insurance would help.”

Log on to vcfloodinfo.com for more information on Ventura County’s CRS program.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
One of my favorite quotes, and one that I use frequently, comes from Lily Tomlin: she said, “No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.” There is no use denying that I am a cynic. In theory, I would like to be one of those people who is eternally optimistic, who is innocent and childlike in their view of the world. But my reality is something much different.

This does not mean that I am devoid of joy or enthusiasm. I consider myself a pretty upbeat person. I enjoy a good joke or a good story, and I love to laugh.

But I take a pretty dim view of some things. Politics and most professional politicians, for instance, never fail to disgust and disappoint me. Those on both sides of the political spectrum tend to speak one way, act another.

My current favorite Political Pomposity Award would go to Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who lectured the president on the nation’s finances by stating, “I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!” According to documents filed by his ex-wife in their divorce case, Walsh owes about $100,000 in child support to her and their three children. Clearly, they don’t need anything else heaped on their backs — they have enough to endure with dear old dad.

While it is easy to maintain cynicism about Congress, it pains me to be cynical about Christmas. There have always been claims that Christmas is too commercial. It is hard to argue with that. However, recent events have taken take this to a completely new and very disturbing level.

In particular, I am talking about the Black Friday incident where one Wal-Mart shopper, in order to discourage competition for a discounted Xbox video game player, apparently whipped out the pepper spray and tagged other shoppers in order to gain an advantage. The incident allegedly caused minor injuries to about 20 shoppers, among them, several children.

This is hard to fathom.  Was this a spur of the moment decision, or did the woman make a mental checklist before heading out the door: keys, check; shopping list, check; giant aerosol can of pepper spray, check?

Apparently Black Friday brings out the beast rather than the best in some people. A guy told me a story a few years ago about his wife and mother-in-law going to a Wal-Mart about 6 a.m. where a fight broke out between two women wanting the same item. He said his wife and mother-in-law looked on in horror as the two women, one of whom was pregnant, wrestled each other to the floor and rolled around until an assistant manager came and broke up the scuffle.

I don’t know which is worse — rolling around on a skanky Wal-Mart floor at 6 a.m. while wrestling with a pregnant woman over a Tickle Me Elmo doll or pepper spraying children while they shop with their mother. Somehow neither of these incidents quite conveys the true meaning of the Christmas season to me.

But maybe I’m just being cynical.

By Misty Volaski
Senior volunteers across the valley got a letter from Help of Ojai dated Nov. 15, announcing the end of the long-running Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) as of Dec. 31. Help’s executive director Terri Wolfe explained that this was due to lack of — and the potential elimination of — funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service. CNCS has supplied grant money to operate Ojai’s “clearing house” for senior volunteer opportunities for close to 20 years, and has a national budget of about $1 billion, making it a target for possible elimination by Congress. It also runs the SeniorCorps and AmeriCorps organizations.

Wolfe said the ending of the RSVP program is certainly not something Help of Ojai would have chosen to do if these were ideal financial times, but that to keep it running would have required thousands of dollars that Help just doesn’t have.

“In this time of change for all agencies receiving federal funding, we have to adapt to those changes,” she said. “And our objective in adapting is to have a minimum impact on our direct services to our clients — seniors, low income, the homeless.”

“We’re not ‘cutting’ RSVP,” Wolfe emphasized, “we’re just not able to increases our expenses” to cover the costs of the program which are no longer covered by CNCS. In the letter to local volunteers, Wolfe says, “This change should not adversely impact your work within your particular program.”

Wolfe said that when Help of Ojai’s board first caught wind of the federal budget reductions CNCS had to undergo earlier this year, they began to ask the various organizations that work with RSVP volunteers — like the Ojai Valley Community Hospital and about 14 others around the valley — whether they felt that the closing of RSVP would affect them negatively. “We asked for their input on reduction or elimination of the program,” Wolfe said, “and they said it wouldn’t impact them because they knew their volunteers were committed to their organizations, and they felt confident that they would continue to volunteer” whether or not RSVP existed.

“I think RSVP sort of legitimized what they (the volunteers) did, but it’s not why they volunteered,” said Chris Rock, executive director of the Ojai Valley Community Hospital Foundation, which has about 25 to 30 volunteers, most of whom are seniors. “Many of our volunteers are longtime volunteers, and I don’t think the program (RSVP) going away is going to change that.”

RSVP helps coordinate the organizations needing volunteers and tracks the hours of volunteers, which it then submits to the federal government to keep the grant going. “When it first started, the program was to encourage seniors to go out and volunteer in the community,” Wolfe explained. “RSVP was, decades ago, a catalyst for the (volunteer) movement. The good news is, it’s really taken on a life of its own. Volunteering is alive and well and thriving in the Ojai Valley. We’re confident that they’ll still volunteer.”

“That’s what Ojai runs on, that volunteer spirit,” said RSVP volunteer and OVN columnist Mel Bloom. “Many things would close down if it weren’t for volunteers.”

Despite the confidence voiced about the continuation of volunteerism in Ojai, Help of Ojai still looked at several other options to keep RSVP, said Wolfe. CNCS changed the way it looked at the grant period, which increased from 12 months to 15 months. That meant that sponsoring organizations, like Help of Ojai, would have been required to fill in the three-month funding gap with their own funds, something Wolfe said wasn’t possible. “That would be $15,000 for us, on the tails of our busiest time of year, and the end of the year — it would be a huge burden.” Help investigated the option of simply putting the program “on hold” for those three months, but CNCS doesn’t allow this option.

Further, even if Help of Ojai had the $15,000 to fund that three-month gap, “There’s no guarantee that there would be grant money come March or April,” Wolfe said. “Is there even going to be a program? We don’t know. We could end up continuing a program that might end up being eliminated anyway.”

The biggest regret to the ending of the RSVP program, Wolfe said, was that there was no longer funding to keep the RSVP director, Kathleen Tarrats. “That’s a great loss to us,” Wolfe said. “She’s a great champion of seniors. She’s done a really remarkable job of connecting with seniors. We’ve offered her a part-time job with Help and we hope she accepts the position.”

Bloom echoed her enthusiasm. “Kathleen has been very effective there for years,” he said. “And she’s a very neat human being.”

Volunteer opportunities still abound in Ojai. Contact Help of Ojai at 646-5122 for more information.

Ojai resident Juan Torres gets ready to board the Gold Coast Transit bus at the stop in front of the Vons shopping center Tuesday morning.

Report and photo
by Logan Hall
The city of Ojai is working with valley residents, many of whom depend on public transportation, to minimize negative effects of proposed changes to the city’s public transit system. If the City Council votes yes on recommendations that would significantly alter Ojai Trolley operations and Gold Coast Transit bus routes, changes could be implemented in July 2012.

An ad-hoc Transit Committee was formed by the city in July that consisted of various officials and members of the community. The committee has been gathering information on Ojai’s public transportation, and has decided what to recommend to City Council members regarding changes to the transit system. The changes would hopefully reduce the city’s transit costs by $150,000 a year, easing the strain on the city’s already-stressed general fund.

“Right now we have a limited reserve fund,” said Greg Grant, Ojai’s city engineer about the city’s budget. “Close to half a million dollars of the transit budget came from the general fund in the last three years. The goal is to have the transit fund be self-sustainable and take the pressure off of the general fund.”

According to a press release from Ojai’s Public Works Department, the committee will recommend that the city eliminate Gold Coast’s fixed route within the city of Ojai, raise the general trolley fare from 50 cents to $1, and that Saturday and Sunday trolley stop times will be decreased from once every half hour to once every hour. The elimination of the Ojai Gold Coast route would mean that buses would go no farther than the current bus stop in Mira Monte, but city officials say those routes would be covered by the Ojai Trolley.

Ojai resident Juan Torres says although he doesn’t usually use public transportation, he believes the recommendations could make things tougher, but might be necessary. “It sounds like it’s going to take more time to get everybody where they’re going,” said Torres as his bus approached the stop in front of the Vons shopping center. “It’s probably going to be harder for everyone, but I know they don’t have enough people and money and stuff so I hope they figure it out.”

To help appease local trolley and bus riders, the Transit Committee is also recommending to the City Council that trolley hours be increased to cover the ground of the absent Gold Coast buses. While adding more costs, Grant says those costs would be offset by saving $100,000 annually, which is what Gold Coast currently charges the city for the bus route. An added benefit would be an increase in trolley coverage during hours that Gold Coast buses operate. Currently, according to the respective websites, Gold Coast’s hours are from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. while Ojai Trolley hours are 6:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Right now the Gold Coast bus comes early in the morning and late in the evening,” said Grant. “A lot of people get stranded and have to walk into town if they get off the bus when the trolley isn’t operating. It will be a huge improvement for everybody.”

Grant also says that although trolley fares could effectively double, Ojai’s rates would still be similar to neighboring communities. “We’d still be below the other rates in the county as far as our fares would go,” he said. “So far the public that we’ve surveyed has been OK with the proposed rate increases.”

Public meetings will be held at Ojai City Hall on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. to help the city get the citizens’ outlook on the issue.  “We really want to get the public’s input on this,” said Grant. Check future issues of the Ojai Valley News for a full report on public transportation in the Ojai Valley.

By Chris T. Wilson
For nearly two decades, families and individuals in need have been offered a warm bed and hot meal when the winter season arrives in the Ojai Valley.

Starting this Thursday, the hundreds of volunteers who comprise Ojai Valley Family Shelter, will each do their part to make life as comfortable as possible for local people struggling to survive.

At the heart of the organization is shelter administrator Rick Raine, a local graphic designer for Behavioral Science Technology and member of the Ojai Valley Community Church. Raine started volunteering with OVFS 15 years ago.

“I got involved by volunteering with my church as an overnight host,” Raine recalls. “The next year I became site coordinator and then the board approached me and asked me if I was interested in running the whole program. It wasn’t exactly the thing I thought I’d be doing with my life, but it has been incredibly rewarding.”

Working closely with several local churches, the Ojai Valley Grange on Cruzero Street and Help of Ojai’s Community Assistance Program, OVFS serves between 20 and 30 individuals nightly from Dec. 1 though March 31 each season.

According to Raine, each site for the rotating shelter operates as its own outreach ministry. As the administrator Raine works closely with each site to make sure it is well staffed and supplied with food and bedding. The sites for the shelter are Sunday at the Ojai Wesleyan Church, Monday at Ojai Valley Grange Hall, Tuesday at St. Thomas Aquinas, Wednesday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal, Thursday at Ojai Presbyterian, Friday at Ojai Valley Community Church and Saturday at First Baptist Church of Ojai. About 400 to 500 volunteers take part in the program during its four-month season, Raine says.

For the past several years, Raine says, the program has instituted a locals-only policy. Many of the individuals or families who stay in the shelters are referred through the Help of Ojai Community Assistance Program run by Jessica Murray.

The C.A.P. provides free tuberculosis screenings for shelter participants, provides lunches during the shelter off-season and laundry services for area homeless.

Murray said C.A.P. has also offered a rainy day shelter in November and April to bookend the few days in late autumn and early spring when rain or cold make life particular challenging for area homeless. A week of rainy weather in November and a few late frosts in April made the program viable for those who need it, but more volunteers are needed to see it continue, Murray says.

“This year we have served 140 people in the first three months,” Murray says. “That averages to 47 individuals per month which is up from 40 per month last year.”

The C.A.P. provides lunch, a phone, laundry services once per week and a place to get mail, Murray says.

Raine says OVFS has a good supply of volunteers, but can always use money donations and blankets. Work to repair and maintain a mobile shower unit is costly Raine says.

To volunteer or donate to the Family Shelter, visit ovfs.org or call Raine at 804-7094. To volunteer or donate to the C..A.P., contact Murray by phone at 640-3320.

I live near a biz on Ojai Avenue and folks are always parking in front of my mailbox. Makes me crazy. Anything I can do about it? Karen Banfield
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If these vehicles are legally parked on a street then there is nothing you can do to prevent the drivers from parking there. When I say legally parked I refer to the vehicles being parked within 18 inches of the curb / edge of the roadway and the vehicles must be moved withing 72 hours.

By Mike Miller
The Nordhoff Rangers suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final seconds of tonight’s CIF-SS second round playoff game. After a back-and-forth game, the Rangers took a 33-28 lead with less than a minute to play. The Torrance Tartars came back to win after they threw a desperation pass for a touchdown with 16 seconds to play in the game.

Raj Rathor

By Logan Hall
Ojai residents see their share of world-class musicians perform all around the valley. Acoustic guitar master and former Ojai resident Raj Rathor is one of those musicians and after an almost 20-year absence from Ojai’s music scene, Rathor is heading back into town to perform for the citizens of the valley on Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. at the Ojai Playhouse.

Rathor’s style can best be described by calling him a one-man band. He doesn’t have a harmonica around his neck or a drum and cymbals attached to his feet, and he doesn’t play over recorded background music. When listening to some of the tracks on his new CD, “Tales of time and Eternity,” one might be fooled into believing that Rathor, who now lives and performs in Las Vegas, is accompanied by a percussionist and a bass player. At the very least, it sounds as though there are two separate guitar players.

That, however, is an illusion created by Rathor and his fret board wizardry.

The album features songs comprised entirely of one man playing one guitar. While laying down a bass line with the thumb on his right hand, he proceeds to play rhythm, and even lead guitar with the rest of his fingers —- all at the same time. Rathor’s genre of music, aptly called fingerstyle guitar, combines melodic phrasing with driving beats and often-intricate bass lines. When it comes to the composition of his songs on the guitar, he has, as he puts it, “learned to approach it as an orchestra rather than one single instrument.”

The acoustic guitar was not the first instrument that he picked up. “My parents brought me back a ukulele from Hawaii,” he said.

He said that it was while plucking away on his ukulele that he heard what a guitar could do. “When I was 9 I was up in the Sequoias in the summer,” he said. “Suddenly I heard someone playing a Martin guitar under those big beautiful trees. It changed my life and set my course from that moment on.”

With influences like guitar legends Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Bert Jansch, and John Fayhey, Rathor began tailoring his style after his heroes. “He says one musician in particular really made a mark on him. “Lenny Breau was the biggest influence on me,” he said. “There was a whole new direction to go in with Lenny.”

Rathor says that the highlight of his career was a local performance with Breau in the ‘80s back when Wheeler’s Hot Springs was called Bowman’s at Wheeler Hot Springs. “He spent some time with me in Ojai,” said Rathor. “I used to play at Bowman’s and Lenny came and sat in one night. That was the most memorable thing for me.”

Rather says he has quite a show planned for his hometown when he returns in December. With four guitars, including a 12-string guitar custom made to go along with the bottleneck he uses for a slide, and two albums of solo acoustic guitar tunes released, he says there will be plenty of guitar pickin’ and foot tappin’. “The 12-string bottleneck guitar is just a great-sounding instrument.”

Local fingerstyle guitar master Alan Thornhill has played gigs with Rathor and urges people to check out his upcoming show. “It’s just unbelievable that it’s all solo acoustic guitar,” said Thornhill of Rathor’s music. “We’re lucky to have him play here in town.”

Rathor says he will also hold a guitar workshop for aspiring musicians the day after his performance. “I’ll be there to answer questions and to help people along with their playing,” he said, adding that players who take the workshop should bring their guitars for hands-on instruction.

For more information about Rathor’s music log on to jazzcatrecords.com and call (702) 812-7957 to sign up for his guitar workshop.

This is the google site link

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Ava and I always have our “strays and orphans” gathering, which is Thanksgiving dinner with friends who either have no family, no family close enough to easily visit, or who would just rather spend the day in the company of friends. It is a great day of wonderful food, games (charades and football), laughter, and lively conversation.

But for many in our community, that is not the case. While economic times are very hard, most of us are blessed to have a warm home and enough food on the table. But there are many who do not.

I will always remember a particular Thanksgiving in 1989. When Ava and I lived in north Alabama, we volunteered at a citywide Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner started out as just that; people prepared a Thanksgiving luncheon for those who might otherwise have none. The event grew each year, and each year, more offerings were added. One year, winter coats were donated. They were hung on a rack and folks could try them on, and select one to take with them after they ate. Another year, a local band came in and played Christmas music. We brought in Santa Claus, and raised enough money to buy a toy for each child who came. The crowd grew to more than 300 people.

But I will always remember one particular woman. Each child got to choose a toy, then sit in Santa’s lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. While sitting with Santa, a volunteer took a Polaroid photo, which they gave to the child’s parent. The woman thanked the photographer profusely for the instant photo. She said, “Oh, thank you so much. My little girl is 5, and this is the only picture I have of her.” Her comment hit me like a slap across the face, and gave me a glimpse of the harsh reality many people confront every day.

Ojai is blessed with several organizations, including Help of Ojai, which do a wonderful job assisting those in need. Local banks are currently in the middle of their holiday food drive. All of the food collected stays here to help individuals and families in the Ojai Valley. If you want to help, you may drop off food or gift certificates from local grocery stores at Bank of America, Pacific Western Bank, Ojai Community Bank, Rabobank, and Wells Fargo Bank.  During this holiday season, please consider helping by donating your time, money or food items to these or other worthy causes.

Even a small gift can make a big difference to someone in need.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Students in Bronwen Cull-Michels Avid class at Nordhoff High School help prepare boxes of food for Help of Ojai that will go to needy families that need assistance during the holidays. Above, freshman Cooper Garcia tosses donated canned goods to Austin Santino to be sorted and put into boxes on Friday. Photo by Logan Hall

By Misty Volaski
Last week, members of various Ojai Valley community organizations donated dozens of turkeys to Help of Ojai’s food bank. The Rotary Club of Ojai-West, teaming up with Ojai Community Bank, donated 100, Golden State Water Company gave 52, and Troop Realty provided another 50. The Ojai Presbyterian Church, meanwhile, provided the full meal boxes for 150 families. “Any additional turkeys are now in the freezer waiting for Christmas distribution,” said Help of Ojai executive director Terri Wolfe.

“The partnership shown by the local banks — Ojai Valley Community Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Rabobank, and Pacific Mutual — the local merchants and restaurants, the Ojai schools, Rotary West, Starr Market, Troop Realty, Ojai Presbyterian Church and scores of individual donors and volunteers is invaluable as we work to brighten the holiday for over 250 Ojai Valley families.­Without their partnership and generosity, we would not be able to provide for hundreds during the Thanksgiving holiday,” added a grateful Wolfe. “Their hard work does not end with Thanksgiving, as they are committed to helping all the way through Christmas with our Adopt-a-Family project.”

Ojai Community Bank is spearheading its second annual One Ton Challenge, which it is organizing with the help of area banks Rabobank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Pacific Western. OCB is challenging the community to outdo its 2010 donation of 4 tons of food to Help of Ojai. Donations of nonperishable food items can be made at any of the banks mentioned.

The Nordhoff High School girls’ softball team is getting into the giving spirit again this year as well, hoping to surpass its 2010 donation of 1 ton of food for the challenge. They will be standing outside of Vons and Starr markets in December and will be going door-to-door in their neighborhoods looking for donations.

The Ojai Valley News has donated $100 in Starr Market gift certificates, and an OCB customer donated another $100 for Vons gift certificates Judy Gabriel, OCB director of marketing and community relations. “Ojai Community Bank is also offering a raffle,” said Judy Gabriel, OCB director of marketing and community relations. “Anyone who contributes a food item receives a raffle ticket. Prizes include ‘I Love Ojai’ T-shirts and $100.”

Ventura County Fire Chief/Ojai resident Bob Roper. Photo by Logan Hall

By Logan Hall
Ventura County Fire Department Fire Chief Bob Roper, an Ojai resident, announced his bid for county District 1 supervisor at a press conference on Monday. Roper made his announcement just days after current Supervisor Steve Bennett announced his campaign for the 26th seat on the U.S. Congress.

Roper says that he has had his eye on local politics for several years, but had to focus on his position with the VCFD, forcing him to abandon his pursuit. “I contemplated a possible run for the Ojai City Council a few years ago,” he said. “It just didn’t work out with my current job.”

He says that now he’s ready to make the move to run for supervisor. “I really feel that if I get elected,” he said, “I can keep contributing to the community and I think that position would really fit my skill sets.”

Although he has spent 32 years with the VCFD, Roper says that he isn’t retiring, but looking for a new direction to take. “It’s one of those things where you start asking if you’re still fresh in the job,” he said. “It’s just time for me to find something different. What challenges are out there that I haven’t taken on? Well — this is it.”

Roper says that he is familiar with the position of county supervisor and believes that his experience in the Fire Department will carry over if he’s elected. “I currently take policy direction from the (county) Board of Supervisors,” he said. “Oftentimes they’ll ask for input from me. We’re all in the same county family as far as rules and procedures go. I really think it will transition nicely.”

After his initial announcement, Roper’s next step will be to organize his campaign and start reaching out to the community. “First I’ll start meeting with people to figure out the priorities for District 1,” he said. “My No. 1 obligation right now is still this organization (VCFD), so I know it’s going to mean much longer hours. I realize that it will take time and dedication. This is something that you really have to work at.”

By Misty Volaski
The Ojai Valley Lions Club is returning to the “old-old Ojai Ford lot,” 821 W. Ojai Ave., again this year for its fourth annual Christmas tree sale. The lot officially opens this Saturday and runs every day until Dec. 20.

The Lions have a special three-member committee which travels to Oregon each year to hand-pick the trees. “The trees this year will be coming from Chris Eads” in Estacada, Ore., said Lions Club member Dave Hunt. “We will have top-quality noble, Douglas and grand firs from 2 to 11 feet.” The Lions will also be selling wreaths and tree stands, and will recycle old stands.

“It’s a really nice connection to the community,” said Hunt. “It’s a good opportunity for the Lions to get out there and be seen, and people like that all the money goes back into the community and that they can get their trees right here in town.”

It takes countless hours of work to get the lot ready for operation, and about 50 volunteers to man it through Dec. 20. “We set up the lot on Thanksgiving Day, build stands and, of course, purchase the supplies,” said Hunt. “It really is like running a small business!” Volunteers come from the Ojai Valley Lions Club — almost every member puts in at least one shift, said Hunt — as well as from other area clubs and the community. “Anyone who wants to help, tell them to come out and we’ll put them to work,” said Hunt with a laugh.

All of the proceeds will be donated back to the community, Hunt said. “Last year we donated $4,300 directly back to the schools’ PTOs for their participation in our presale program.” In addition, the Lions donate youth sports scholarships — 100 locals were able to play AYSO soccer this year thanks to the Lions — and college scholarships. They also participate in community projects like the construction of both the new ticket booth at Ojai Valley Community Stadium and the paddle tennis courts at Soule Park, which were built by Lions Club members. Hunt said the club also gives “Eye exams and glasses for those in need, adopts families at Christmas and Thanksgiving, and donates to several organizations throughout the valley.”

Hours of operation for the holiday tree lot are 3 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends, beginning Saturday and running through Dec. 20.

The Ojai Valley Lions Club meets the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at the Oak View Community Center. For more information or to get involved, contact alexialesliefisher@rocketmail.com.

POSTS ARE NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED FOR THIS REPORT.

By Chris T Wilson
Plans are approved and under way to transform a shuttered and abandoned gas station into a hub of cycling and green community transportation.

If all proceeds according to schedule, The MOB Shop, a bicycle sales and repair shop in Meiners Oaks, will relocate to the presently fenced property at the corner of West Ojai Avenue and North Ventura Street.

This past Wednesday the Ojai Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve plans that will see the dilapidated property improved, redesigned and opened for business by as early as February 2012, MOB Shop co-owner Kelly Pasco said.

Among the offerings planned for the building that has been vacant for about 16 years, will be retail sales, bicycle repairs, an electric car charging station and an extensive rental fleet of conventional and electric cycles.

Pasco, a former physical education teacher at Oak Grove School, is an avid cyclist with a bent for activism and alternative transportation. Along with visionary business partners, Greg Prinz and Tim Rhone, The MOB Shop plans to revolutionize how tourists and commuters move in and around the Ojai Valley.

Pasco says he sees this as a perfect opportunity to promote Ojai as a green tourist destination that will likely help local business in the process.

“The beauty of it is that we take this old defunct gas station and turn into a green transportation store,” Pasco said. “We want to really promote people getting around Ojai by bike and not by car. We’re adding a lot of cool bikes to our rental and electric fleet. So you can cruise up here from L.A. in your electric car, get around town on a bike while your car charges and then drive back.”

Planning Commissioner Kathleen Nolan said she likes how The MOB Shop plans coincide with the Complete Streets program being created for Ojai. Complete Streets will reconsider the bike and pedestrian master plan and circulation element to comply with state and federal regulations that require streets be designed for safer use by walkers, cyclists and vehicles, she said. Nolan praised Pasco’s input on the Complete Streets and the sustainable elements of the business plans.

“I love the fact that they are planning to install solar, capture rainwater on-site and have charging stations for electric cars,” Nolan said. “That site has a been a blight for years.”

Fellow Planning Commissioner John Mirk, who commutes twice a week by bicycle to work at Patagonia in Ventura, agreed.

“I’m really excited to see this happen,” Mirk said. “This will be a wonderful gathering place for people. The shop in Meiners Oaks has become that way and the new shop will be like that but even more so.”

Mirk and Nolan both quoted Commissioner Paul Crabtree who referred to the Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of The MOB Shop plans as a “love fest,” at the Wednesday evening meeting.

Behind-the-scenes landscape architect and contractor John Lamar has worked closely with the MOB Shop partners in creating and revising the plans to meet with city approval. He said a lot of the credit goes to the city officials who green-lighted the plans and helped it move through easily.

Lamar also said that the building, which has been closed since the mid-1990s from a leaking fuel tank, has been fully remediated and signed off for new business use.

“The county’s Department of Environmental Health has said that the building is ready for commercial use,” Lamar said. “We will continue to work closely with Environmental Health to monitor the situation.”

Lamar and Pasco both said that as the plans come together in the coming months that Lamar will become a partner in The MOB Shop as well.

MOB Shop co-owners Prinz and Rhone both said they’re pleased to see this big move coming together. Prinz has a vision to redefine how people see cycling.

“Our ultimate goal is get people out of cars onto bikes,” Prinz said. “It’s easy to accomplish everything in Ojai on a bike. For the most part the valley is flat. Our goal is to become known in the world of commuter cycling; to be the authority on commuter bicycles.”

Rhone brings years of retail sales experience to the team and an equal measure of vision and enthusiasm.

“This is a perfect spot for us to stage the revolution here and make this a real cycling town,” Rhone said. “If you compare to someplace like Portland, which grew its cycling community by 31 percent in the last five years, we’re pretty far away. But, I think given the availability of safe bike lanes and we’re about one-third of the way there.”

For now the MOB Shop team is seeking funds from community support, local banking and investors to help move the project forward. The new space in downtown Ojai will more than double retail, repair and rental space.

Currently located at 445 W. El Roblar Drive, The MOB Shop also maintains rental fleets of bicycles at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, Casa Ojai and Su Nido Inn.

Greg Rents worker Chris Wieser, left, Greg Webster, the company's owner, and Robin Daniels heave an abandoned RV shell onto Webster's flatbed truck. An unidentified person left the camper on the side of Highway 33 near Nye Road in Casitas Springs.

Report and photo
by Logan Hall
A major eyesore and safety hazard was removed from the side of Highway 33 Monday after a crew from Greg Rents in Oak View decided to step up and take care of business.

A small recreational vehicle shell had been dumped on the side of the highway near Nye Road in Casitas Springs recently, and had been attracting the attention of local citizens, law enforcement and trespassers. The California Highway Patrol had received calls to the public about transients using the abandoned camper as a home. “We know there was at least one person living in it,” said CHP Officer Dave Webb as he pointed toward the battered camper. “We also know whoever it was had started fires in the sink. We were just coming up here to haul it away.”

Webb says that the CHP had gotten calls about the camper and were going to have it hauled away before conducting an investigation as to who may have left it. The cost of the operation would have fallen on the taxpayers if no one was arrested and convicted for the illegal dumping of the camper. “We’re hauling this thing down to the dump,” said Greg Rents owner Greg Webster. “The people shouldn’t have to pay for this.”

Webster and his team, Chris Wieser, Robin Daniels and Gerado Estrada, arrived on scene Monday morning to begin hauling the dilapidated camper onto Webster’s flatbed truck using chains and a winch. The four citizens also shoveled piles of garbage into bags to haul off with the camper.

“It’s just hard to believe someone would just leave this thing here,” said Webster, who is footing the bill for the camper’s removal. “We’re just doing what we’ve got to do, you know? Somebody’s gotta do it.”

Shortly after loading the cumbersome camper onto the truck, Webster and his crew were busy mopping up as Webb pulled up in his patrol car. Webb told Webster that the CHP was planning on hauling out the camper later that day, but that now they would be spared the time and expense thanks to Webster’s help. “This is a good deed by the public,” said Webb. “It’s great to see members of the community willing to pitch in. I gotta give him an A-plus rating.”

Webb said that, aside from the obvious blight to the area’s aesthetic quality, the camper presented a health and safety issue. He added that the CHP would be conducting an investigation by running serial numbers of the camper, but weren’t holding out too much hope in catching whoever abandoned it. “Trailers can be tough,” he said. “There’s not much to go on as far as identification goes. That would be a nice little misdemeanor if we get him though.”

Webb provided a brief police escort for Webster as he drove the flatbed up the Arnaz Grade to his shop where he could prepare the load for the trip down to the dump.

By Tracy Wilson
Ojai Valley School recognized alumnus and former school President Michael D. Hermes last week by dedicating the central quad at the lower campus in his memory and by creating two new $10,000 scholarships for high school students who exemplify his commitment to character, community, scholarship, athleticism, and leadership.

Members of the board of trustees joined faculty and members of the Hermes family for a formal dedication honoring Hermes, who died earlier this year. He spent 65 years with the school, starting as a second-grader in 1946. His varied roles included dorm parent and coach at the upper campus in the 1960s, board trustee, and later president and chief executive officer. He served in that capacity for 34 years.

“What an honor it was to serve with such a extraordinary man,” said William H. Hair, member and former chairman of the board of trustees, during the dedication ceremony. He praised Hermes for making a difference in students’ lives for nearly 50 years through his leadership, courage and devotion to the school.

“It is mind-boggling to think of the number of problems solved and opportunities grasped in all phases of school life during the three-plus decades we worked together,” Hair said. “And, not only is OVS still here, but it is thriving as it enters its next century.”

In appreciation, Board Chairman Jack B. De Nault III announced that Hermes will join founding President Edward Yeomans as a president emeritus of Ojai Valley School, and the original quadrangle at the lower campus will be known in perpetuity as the Hermes Quad — now marked by large boulder surrounded by native plants and a plaque bearing his name.

“The quad is the ceremonial heart of campus, hosting graduation each year,” said OVS President and CEO Michael Hall-Mounsey. “And, maybe most fittingly, the quad is boisterously enjoyed by OVS students every day. The students on campus, the alumni out in the world, and all of us here today, are the beneficiaries of Mike’s courageous leadership.”

Hall-Mounsey also announced the creation of the Michael D. Hermes Memorial Scholarships. Generously supported by the OVS Annual Fund, the scholarships offer two $10,000 awards to well-rounded day or resident applicants or current students at the upper campus who exemplify Hermes’ commitment to character, community, scholarship, athleticism, and leadership.

Applicants for these scholarships must be currently enrolled or applied to OVS upper campus for the 2012-2013 academic year. Applicants will be selected on merits, including grades, community involvement, leadership potential, extracurricular activities, and a written essay. The application deadline is Feb. 1.

By Misty Volaski
Since the standardized testing results were released for Ojai’s public schools last month, administrators have been working to remedy their problem areas and find ways to meet state and federal goals on ever-tightening budgets.

At Tuesday night’s Ojai Unified School District board meeting, two schools — Meiners Oaks Elementary School and Chaparral Continuing High School — gave presentations on their plans for student achievement. The other Ojai schools will present their plans in upcoming meetings.

Meiners Oaks principal Dawn Damianos discussed the many programs her school has created and improved upon for the 2011-2012 school year. Standardized testing results for last year revealed that not enough M.O. students reached the level of “proficient” or “advanced” on the tests, putting Meiners Oaks into the classification of “program improvement year three,” (on a scale that goes up to year eight and higher).

This means that the school must set aside 20 percent of its Title 1 funds — federal funds given to schools with high percentages of low-income students — to pay for private tutoring for any Meiners Oaks family that requests it. Parents can choose from a number of state-approved tutoring service providers at no cost to the family. Damianos said last year about 40 families took them up on the offer, and that parents still have time to sign up their students for the 2011-2012 year.

Damianos echoed several OUSD administrators in saying that budget limitations will continue to create difficulties in reaching the state and federal goals. Almost half of the 11 classes at Meiners Oaks Elementary are combination classes, and “bigger class sizes present a huge challenge. But,” Damianos said, “the thing about teachers is, they’re making the best of it no matter what.”

She noted on Tuesday night that one-on-one private tutoring option is only a small portion of what Meiners Oaks Elementary is doing to reach out to students in need of academic intervention. Damianos told board members she is proud of the efforts being made in the after-school homework program, something she started after several parents of English learners approached her for help. “Some of my E.L. parents requested homework help with their students because they’re feeling that they can’t help as much at home” as subject matter becomes more complicated. Meiners Oaks offers the optional service three days a week after school for an hour and a half. Both certificated staff and an E.L. aide run the program, which has rapidly swelled to require two classrooms for the 40-plus students who regularly show up. After the holiday break, Nordhoff’s Future Leaders of America Master Achievers Club has volunteered to come provide additional assistance. “It’s a beautiful fit!” enthused Damianos. “We definitely need more people to help the kids.”

During classroom time, all Meiners Oaks students are also part of the Positive Attitude Will Succeed (P.A.W.S.) program, which provides small group instruction in math and language arts on a daily basis. P.A.W.S. allows students to move at their own pace based on their individual level of mastery in a particular subject. “It’s the same lesson at different speeds,” Damianos explained. The Ojai Education Foundation-funded enVision Math Program is also helping students make strides in math, and the overhead projectors OEF has provided have allowed teachers to provide more multimedia-rich lesson plans.

M.O. is also piloting the Reading Plus computer program, which, like P.A.W.S., allows students to move at their own pace. However, Reading Plus takes P.A.W.S. a step further, allowing students to work on the computers themselves. It also feeds instructors information on the students’ progress, allowing for more detailed interventions where needed.

“I just think that we’re always trying to be positive,” Damianos said, “to look at the data and programs and modify things, and if something isn’t working, out it goes — we’re always trying to hit that state bar and continue to work toward it.”

Chaparral Continuation High School, conversely, doesn’t have to go by the same state and federal standards as the rest of OUSD. Principal Marilyn Smith said, “Because of the alternative education environment, we really look at three indicators: attendance, exit exam pass rate, and the graduation rate.” Students do take the standardized tests that the other OUSD students take (excluding seniors, who legally aren’t required take standardized tests), but they do not have the same significance for Chaparral.

“We do really well in attendance for a continuation high school,” Smith said. “We run in the 80 percent attendance range. Many times, continuation schools run in the 70s.” Since 2004, she added, the Chaparral graduation rate has held steady at 90 percent or above, with a small dip in 2007. From 2004 to 2007, graduation rate was 100 percent, and in 2011, it was 97 percent. Almost all students passed the exit exam; only one student of the 29 graduates in June 2011 received a certificate of completion rather than a diploma.

“Our main goal — because these are students who would’ve otherwise dropped out of the comprehensive high school — is to help them earn their high school diploma, to have good attendance, and to pass the exit exam,” Smith said.

Although Chaparral doesn’t have to meet those benchmark levels that other non-continuation schools must, they must still set goals, which Smith detailed in Tuesday’s meeting: meeting state and federal requirements; improving student achievement in both English and math; improving attendance and graduation rates; and determining the best strategies in both the cognitive and affective domain for student success. “We try to capitalize on the students’ strengths,” Smith said after the meeting. “A lot of it is that effective domain that we need to build up. These kids need consistency in their lives. So we communicate about moving forward, because a lot of times, their families are under-resourced.” Among the steps being taken are continuing to implement rewards programs, having speakers, and special classes such as knitting and fly fishing. In addition, for the last three years, all students must now take a communication class, led by teacher Carole Paddock. “It teaches them … to be able to communicate with other people in a satisfactory manner. That’s been really helpful class for students.”

The next OUSD school board meeting has been set for Dec. 6 in the OUSD board room, 414 E. Ojai Ave. The public is welcome to attend.

Chris T. Wilson
The Ojai Valley Garden Club is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year.

In 1926, Mrs. Osgood — who had been asking questions about gardening and preserving local plants for a couple of years — took her curiosity to new level and initiated a campaign to protect native oaks and plant a World War I memorial for local veterans.

“Fifty-four women and one man established the original Ojai Valley Garden Club,” notes local historian Patricia L. Fry in “The Ojai Valley and Illustrated History.” Their objective? “Ojai is beautiful and we are going to work to make it still more beautiful.”

For starters, they hung a bulletin board at the post office and pinned notices and information of interest to local gardeners. And they began a tradition that has carried forward to this day — bringing a fresh bouquet of flowers to the post office.

Recently, three longtime members, Marilyn Essick, Cecily Blake and Shirley LaBarre, who all live in The Gables of Ojai retirement community, sat together and talked about their memories of years of active involvement with the Garden Club.

One long-gone tradition they recalled going out of fashion as they were joining was the exclusive, formal, highbrow nature of the club. Hats and white gloves were required attire, they recalled. And to be considered for membership into the invitation-only club, “a person had to have lived in Ojai for at least a year,” Blake said. “And you had to have two letters of recommendation to get in.” It was a pretty exclusive group.

“When we joined we had been at an exercise class for two hours, (and) most of us showed up in slacks and they frowned on us,” Blake recalled. “We had one gal show up in her work outfit and she was doing a slide presentation and nobody could see it. So she kept raising it up and up and up and by the end of it we were all leaning way back and staring at the slides on the ceiling.”

Marilyn Essick, now 92 and living in the assisted living facility at The Gables, brought in changes not long after joining the club in the 1970s.

“When I came in one of the first things I didn’t like about it was that it was handled like a sorority,” Essick recalls. “You had to be approved and you had to have two people that approved of you. That’s not gardening. I got on the board somehow and just got that wiped right off. And we made it public in the paper that you didn’t have to be approved to be a member. Anybody interested in gardening could join.”

Blake added, “When I became president in 1996, I said, ‘Why don’t we try instead of afternoon tea, why don’t we have a morning coffee that’s more informal?’ So the old-timers said, ‘You’re going to’ wreck the Garden Club,’ but it started growing.”

Nowadays, the Garden Club is going strong with about 35 members. They meet on the second Wednesday of the month at 10 a.m. at Fisher Hall at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 409 Topa Topa Drive in Ojai, for discussion and a special presentation from local or regional gardening experts. The public is welcome to attend.

“Many of us don’t work and we need people who can dig, who don’t mind getting dirty,” LaBarre said. “We need some young people who know one end of a spade from the other.”

To its credit the Garden Club has been instrumental in saving a multitude of the valley’s ancient oak trees. “In 1938 they fought to save trees at the corners of Signal and Oak streets and at Ventura and Eucalyptus streets. This was not their first, nor their last battle on behalf of native trees,” according to Fry’s illustrated history.

The club was also active in preventing a lot of billboards and advertising signs in Ojai. In addition they have built and planted flower gardens and trees around town. Their work can be seen at Rotary Park at the “Y,” the planter in front of the Ojai Valley Woman’s Club, trees and flowers at public schools, and many other projects.

All of the club’s money comes from members’ $25 annual dues and the one required day of work. That comes at the end of November each year, when in one day all the women and men who belong to the club spend one day at the Chaparral Auditorium decorating holiday wreaths. This sale of the wreaths provides funding for future beautification projects.

Other activities of the service club members include: tea tent floral arrangements at the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, table setting entries at the Ventura County Fair, and decorating a home for the Holiday Home Look In, which is this weekend.

Former NHS educator to run for Congress

By Logan Hall
Ventura County District 1 Supervisor Steve Bennett announced his plan to run for the 26th Congressional District seat in 2012. After serving the county for more than 10 years as supervisor, Bennett has set his sights on Congress.

A former educator who taught at Nordhoff High School for 20 years, Bennett says he wants to see the country start moving in the right direction. “We really need to avoid this gridlock that’s happening in the government right now,” he said. “We need to be focusing on actually getting proposals that make common sense and start moving this country forward.”

The focus of his campaign, so far, seems to gravitate around setting solid, tangible goals that can be implemented with as little red tape as possible. “We really need common-sense leadership that can take on things like job availability,” he said. “The current ideology is paralyzing so much action.”

In a press release from the county, Bennett says the economy will be one of his main focuses if elected. “Getting our economy back on track should be the No. 1 priority of all national leaders,” he said. “Politicians who block job creation policies in order to advance a narrow electoral agenda are not the kind of leaders that Ventura County needs.”

Bennett believes that he has the political background necessary to take on the congressional position. “We have made major improvements in the fiscal health of Ventura County,” he said, “When I took office 10 years ago our reserves stood at zero and today they are 10.2 percent of our budget.”

One of the better-known projects that Bennett was involved in was the Ventura County Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources initiative, which according to Bennett’s press release, he co-authored with other county officials. The plan was put in place to try to help limit the county’s “urban sprawl” throughout the area. “We had the courage to make some tough votes that were not politically popular then, but are paying off now,” he said.

Bennett has an honors degree in economics from Brown University and a master’s degree in education from Butler University. He served on the Ventura City Council from 1993 to 1997 and taught U.S. history and economics at NHS from 1980 to 2000.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
I am angry and disgusted. I didn’t realize just how angry and disgusted until last week when Jodie Miller casually asked me, “So, what do you think about this Penn State deal?”

At first, I talked about my respect for Joe Paterno and the Penn State football program. I talked about the great rivalry between Alabama and Penn State —- the classic games we had played. I went on about how nice the Penn State fans were, and how well they treated our fans when we played at their stadium.

And then I caught myself.

The sex scandal at Penn State is not about a great institution, winning coaches, classic football contests, or anything of the sort. It is about how a group of people sought to sweep a heinous crime under the rug to protect reputations and institutions. If the allegations are true, they have allowed a sexual predator to remain free to prey upon innocent children for years.

When that sunk in, my sympathy, respect and admiration for Joe Paterno and Penn State went out the window. Now that the scandal is out in the open, everyone is either running for cover, covering their own butt, or both. I am sick of hearing how people “reported the incident to their superiors” and “didn’t really know the details of what transpired.” One coach, who was a graduate assistant at the time, reported that he actually witnessed the rape of a 10-year old boy. He didn’t even tell anyone until the next day, and then he reported to coach Paterno, instead of calling the police. What was he thinking?

Incredibly, this assistant was not only retained, he was scheduled to coach last weekend until the university received threats and it was decided to pull him for his own safety. What was the university thinking?

Lying and cover-ups to protect prominent people and institutions are nothing new. History has borne out over and over again that no matter how bad the initial crime may be, the cover-up is almost always worse. Ask G. Gordon Liddy. Ask Bill Clinton. Ask the boys from Enron.

Some people have tried to justify the acts of coach Paterno, other Penn State coaches and school administrators, saying they acted in a legally correct manner in the way they reported the situation. Well, it may have been technically legal, but it was morally abhorrent. They can try to spin it and try to cover their backs and their paychecks, but the bottom line is this: These men had evidence that a sexual predator was molesting children and they did nothing to stop it.

You can justify almost anything if you want to. But it makes you want to ask these people, what if this had been your child? Would you offer up the same feeble excuses?

And how would they respond if one of the young victims asked, “Why didn’t you protect me?”

By Tiobe Baron
On Nov. 7, Ojai City Council members met to interview three more applicants for the position of city attorney. The candidates interviewed were Dave Aleshire of Aleshire and Wynder, LLP; Andre de Bortnowsky of Green, de Bortnowsky and Quintanilla, LLP; and Julie Biggs of Burke, Williams and Sorenson, LLP.

Biggs is currently serving the city of Wildomar as its city attorney. She has advised the communities of Laguna Woods, Claremont, Goleta, and others. She has worked with Ojai’s City Council in the past, on the state HUD housing element.

When asked about the contentious issue regarding Ojai trying to petition the California Public Utilities Commission for lower rates from Golden State Water Company, Biggs said, “Well, you certainly need to be heard by the CPUC, and need to have someone representing you who can, in fact, open those doors, because the CPUC kind of operates in the shadows. Good representation can at least make sure everyone’s aware of what needs to be done.”

De Bortnowsky, meanwhile, works with a firm that is strictly a public sector law firm; they don’t take private sector clients to avoid any possible conflict of interest. The firm has two offices, the main one in Calabasas, and a satellite office in Studio City. They tout themselves as being a “cost-effective law firm.” De Bortnowsky, who worked as the city attorney for Cathedral City for 16 years, Rancho Mirage for eight years, and Victorville for at least four years.

Blatz asked if the firm has any experience with quasi-public utility action, specifically condemnation, to which de Bortnowsky replied, “Actually, we have too much experience with that!”

In Victorville the firm helped the city convert an old military building into an electric utility company, and simultaneously took over the water company. “The process can be quite lengthy and somewhat contentious,” he said, “but if you do it right, certainly it can be done. You have the power and ability (to take that action) and sometimes when you do, you get a more reasonable voice at the table …”

Mayor Carol Smith wanted to know what advice he would offer when dealing with the CPUC. De Bortnowsky responded that “It’s a huge frustration for municipalities, it’s political, depends on what their affiliations are, many people (on the CPUC) have worked for water companies. It can be an expensive and consuming process.”

Aleshire is currently serving as city attorney for Banning, Signal Hill, and Bell. He says he is committed to public service, which is why he undertook, without charge, the case of Bell citizens to recall their city council. Because of the size of the case, and the time it took Ojai City Council to begin the interview process for the city attorney position, it would be Joe Pannone, another member of his firm, who would serve as primary counsel to Ojai City Council members.

Pannone, also city attorney to the city of Bell, started in municipal law in Culver City, and has been practicing public law for 18 years. He says, “I see myself as part of the city team, I do what you want to have done, but also have the ability to communicate limitations and options.”

Smith asked the firm about their experience with condemnation and eminent domain. Pannone said, “When I was with Culver City, we helped write two new franchise agreements: one with cable television, and one with what is now Golden State Water Company. We negotiated the purchase of the private water company through eminent domain, sold bonds to help fund it. The goal is to have the city eventually turn it over to another private company.”

He continued, “The fees are completely over the top, the only thing you can try to do is take it over until you get it into the hands of another entity.” He re-iterated that the firm has been involved with creative, unusual approaches, specifically with condemnation actions.

According to Steve McClary, assistant to the city manager, the City Council has decided to invite the firm of Aleshire and Wynder, LLP, as well as Joseph Fletcher, for a second round of interviews the week of Dec. 5. McClary said that this does not exclude the other applicants from consideration, but council members wished to have more information and time with these particular two.

By Misty Volaski
For those who have been in Ojai a while, it may come as no surprise to hear that Los Caporales won the “Best Margarita” and “Best Mexican Food” categories in this year’s Ojai Valley News “Best of Ojai” contest. Their original recipes and homey atmosphere — not to mention their massive collection of high-end tequilas —- answer that common Southern California craving for authentic Mexican dining.

This week, the Salinas family celebrates 20 years of sharing that experience with the Ojai Valley. A special lunchtime menu offers four of the family’s earliest dishes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the prices they charged 20 years ago. On Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. comes the big party, featuring a three-course dinner and dessert, tequila tastings, live bands and raffles.

Owners Lettie and Ruben Salinas began their culinary adventure in the East End with their Hacienda Market in the early 1990s. One Thanksgiving day, Lettie says, a family stopped at the market and asked if they offered food. “In those days everything was closed on Thanksgiving,” she says, “even McDonald’s!” So the Salinases got the idea to start a little kitchen offering food to go. Eventually, the opportunity arose to open a restaurant in the downtown area. With their family’s tried-and-true recipes gracing the menu, Los Caporales began to gain a reputation.

The Salinas crew takes pride in using only fresh ingredients. “We don’t use anything from a can or frozen foods,” said Lettie. “We make everything from scratch.” That’s the way their grandmothers — their “abuelitas” — made everything, and the tradition continues. Recipes used have been passed down from Ruben’s and Lettie’s families, some of which are more than 100 years old, like the carnitas, or the carne de abuelita, which Lettie’s family made for lunch during vacations. Other recipes are a fusion of old and new, like nectar of the gods, which includes their family’s recipe for beans, onion, cheese, cilantro, choice of meat, and a dash of hot sauce.

And then there are those margaritas. Lettie shares the Salinas family secret: Mexican limes, Ojai oranges, and good tequila. “We only serve 100 percent agave tequila,” Lettie says. Their tequila bar, located next door to the restaurant, offers 150 tequilas from which to choose. “I think we are second or third place in the number of tequilas we have,” Lettie says, adding that the restaurant also has a big selection of other alcoholic beverages.

Ruben Junior, Los Caporales’ bartender, came up with a few margaritas of his own, including the all-organic margarita and the cucumber margarita. Along with his sisters, Liz and Laura, Ruben grew up working at Los Caporales. Laura is currently the floor manager, while Liz occasionally comes up from her job in the Los Angeles area to help on especially busy weekends and holidays. Even the grandkids pitch in, Lettie says. “Sophia already has an apron and sometimes brings the menus to the tables,” she laughs. “She is our little waitress.”

The whole family will be on-hand at this Saturday’s celebration. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., attendees will be treated to appetizers and tasting of 30-plus tequilas as a mariachi band plays. Then, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Ruben Jr. and his friend will perform during the three-course dinner. From 8:30 on, a dessert buffet and dancing will be offered, as well as raffles of bottles of tequila and gift certificates. Tickets are $45 presale, $50 at the door. For reservations, call 646-5452 or e-mail info@loscaporalesrestaurant.com.

Ojai native Cindy Kemp, owner of Ben Franklin, will be the designer to bring a festive spirit to the home, Villa Ravina, at this year's HHLI.

By Denise Picard
What make the Ojai Holiday Home Look In unique is that the four houses selected for the tour are decked out to welcome the holiday season. This year, four inspired local designers will drive their talent over the top.

When you think of flowers and plants decoration, the Ojai Valley Garden Club comes to mind. From their membership comes a number of eclectic designers who will work as a team on the home, Arte et Labore. “Because the home has so many beautiful pieces, art and tile, the most stunning arrangements will be outside,” says Rena Randall, club president.­“First of all, visitors will be greeted by Santa’s car loaded with gifts — a restored 1953 Curtis Roadster!”

Copper, greens and natural colors will be used inside the house. The outdoor dining table will be set for Christmas dinner with old silver and cream colors — white lights and silver balls above in the tree.

Darwin McCredie attended Architecture School at UC Berkeley, followed by 28 years split between two large architecture and interiors firms in San Francisco. This professional experience informed McCredie’s approach to architecture and interior design as totally integrated disciplines.

Before a single sketch for the redesign of El Guardian was done, McCredie posed a question to the owner. “What is it you want from this remodel? What is the story behind it all?”

“To bring in a basket full from the garden, plop it down anywhere and have it look like it belongs,” the owner said.

And so, decorating in a harvest theme for El Guardian is as organic as the fruits and vegetables grown on the property. Pumpkins, gourds, squash, fruits and flowers (many from the garden) will fill this home with color and a welcoming feel of bounty.

Cindy Vadnais Kemp’s family has lived in the Ojai Valley since the 1940s. They established the Ben Franklin store which reflects Kemp’s passion for crafts and fabrics. As a co-host for TNN’s show “Creative Living” and serving on the board of Herr’s Crafts-Promotion’s Unlimited for three years, her specialty has been Christmas, creating more than 100 trees and themes over the years.

For her Christmas decor at Villa Ravina, there will be ravens throughout the house to carry through the theme set with the RTK entryway tiles. “The Christmas tree will be themed for a Tuscan vineyard holiday. All the ornaments will depict aspects of Tuscany from the angels to the grapes and lush fruits,” says Kemp.

After 23 years in the film business working as a set decorator and production designer, Erin Ellwood moved to the Ojai Valley in 2007. Daughter of influential modernist architect Craig Ellwood and actress Gloria Henry, design, art and beauty have always been a part of the fabric of Ellwood’s life.

Always excited by a good challenge, Ellwood chose to decorate Casa Montana this year in a holiday theme that neither she nor the Holiday Home Look In tours have ever celebrated, Hanukkah. Her vision is to fabricate and create original one-of-a-kind pieces and artfully organic decor by repurposing found and reclaimed objects from the Ojai Valley. She will be using recycled olive oil bottles, reclaimed steel, pine cones, local bamboo poles, Ojai Valley olive branches, local tumbleweed, wine bottle corks, calling her installation “Organukah.”

“I have always strived to affect all the senses in my work,” says Ellwood, who adds, “I hope that the Holiday Home Look In visitors will experience Hanukkah at Casa Montana with their ears, noses, eyes and hearts.”

The Holiday Home Look In will be presented this year on Nov. 19 and 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Advance tickets are $30 per person; group discounts are available for eight or more people. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Ojai Music Festival at 646-2094 or online at OjaiFestival.org. Day-of-event tickets will be $35 per person.

Watch Misty’s In Depth video interview with Ojai Festival Women’s Committee member Aryna Swope.

By Chris T. Wilson
An Ojai native son seeking a way to do something positive in the world decided to join the Peace Corps and is currently in Senegal, Africa helping to bring clean water to villagers there.

For the whole story about Garrison Harward’s quest to install 52 water pumps in 52 weeks, you can visit his Internet blog 52pumps52weeks.wordpress.com/ or for the synopsis: read on.

Through a couple of e-mails and a brief Skype conversation, Harward relayed the basic details of his journey to Africa and the evolution of his volunteer projects there. Working alongside his Peace Corps partner, Marcie Todd, and with the help of natives and the organization, Water Charity, Harward is busy installing one pump per week in the Fatick Region of Senegal.

“Marcie and I both attended a rope pump training put on by Peace Corps volunteer David Campbell in February,” Harward said. “It was there that we first came up with the idea for the project and started looking for funding.  We contacted Water Charity and they were immediately interested, based on their previous work with PCVs in Senegal. We spent about three months setting everything up and actually reworking a good portion of the rope pump system to make it more viable in a rural setting before we actually launched the project in late May. From then it’s been a constant learning process. We have had our fair share of trials and tribulations, spent multiple days reworking pumps, replacing broken materials, retraining our welders until now we finally seem to have a system that is both effective and sustainable.  Luckily, we learned pretty quickly so it hasn’t been too difficult to backtrack and apply our newly learned lessons to older pumps to make sure that each one works as effectively as possible. Going forward we’re still improving the system and are working with USAID to possibly receive some additional support for training.”

Harward also notes that he is enjoying putting his youthful energy into a project that makes a difference.

“Part of me wants to explore a new culture, and test my limits,” he said. “Part of me just wants the adventure.”

Born and raised locally, Harward grew up in Meiners Oaks and attended elementary school there. He also studied at Matilija Junior High. At Nordhoff High School, he was the marching band drum major, and had theatrical performances in “Into the Woods” and “Oklahoma,” where he played the roles of Jack and Will Parker, respectively.

“Being away, truly away, from home has made me appreciate our small town more than ever,” Harward states. “It truly is an incredible place filled with wonderful, caring, giving people and I know that I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today if it wasn’t for my upbringing and my love for community. The saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. That’s not a saying here (Ojai), it’s fact, and I see now how lucky I was to grow up in a place that respected that fact and gave me so many opportunities to learn and grow. I am truly grateful.”

Harward arrived in Senegal in August 2010 and will complete his volunteer tour in October 2012.

“Two years seemed so daunting at first, but now that I’m over halfway done I see that it really isn’t enough time,” he notes. “I’m scrambling to start all my projects before it’s too late.”

Harward said that each pump he and his co-volunteers are installing in Senegal costs $100 and encouraged anyone who wants to donate to the project to do so. The project is fully funded by non-profit Appropriate Projects; to contribute, visit 52pumps52weeks.wordpress.com/contribute and click on the yellow button.

Report and photo by Logan Hall
A local man sustained serious injuries Friday evening after his vehicle went over the side of Maricopa Highway near Matilija Canyon Road before hitting two trees and bringing it to a stop at the edge of an embankment. According to the California Highway Patrol, Tim Diener, of Ojai, was traveling northbound on Highway 33 when he lost control of his truck. “He failed to negotiate the curve,” said CHP officer Micah Weilbacher, who responded to the scene. “He traveled across the southbound lane and into the left shoulder where he impacted the two trees. He was transported to Ventura County Medical Center for serious injuries including a broken leg and a major head laceration.”

Weilbacher said that alcohol might have been a factor in the crash. “He was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence,” he said.

No information has been released on Diener’s current condition and a cause of the crash is under investigation.

By Tiobe Barron
Ojai City Council members briefly discussed Tuesday night the decision made at a closed-session Nov. 7 when the council met to review the language of the contract with Jeffery Oderman, of Rutan and Tucker. Across the board, council members seemed pleased with the language clarifications in the contract for the legal services, which were revised in that closed-session meeting. Council members have drafted the document to retain Oderman’s consultation in regards to Casitas Municipal Water District’s possible acquisition of Golden State Water Company, which Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water is working toward. Clark took the opportunity to further clarify a few points:

That the city as a rights holder would have the standing to protest the acquisition by Golden State Water Company; that because the city has a financial stake in the franchise, it could make a claim for the loss of revenue; and no attorney can represent both the city and Casitas Water; and this would waive the city’s right to compensation. Councilman Paul Blatz, an attorney himself, pointed out that the contract is between the city and the attorney, Oderman, not between the city and Casitas; and if Oderman declines to represent Casitas, these last points become moot.

Strobel asked acting city attorney Steve Lee if he had read the proposed contract. He affirmed that he had, and found the language much clearer than before. Mayor Smith agreed, stating, “I am much more comfortable tonight than two weeks ago as to the implications (of the document).”

Library expansion
Jon Lambert of the Ojai Valley Library Friends and Foundation came before council members to test the waters for funds to cover the operating expenses of a proposed community reading room. The reading room would be an approximately 600-square-foot structure separate from the library itself, which would serve as a meeting space for some 28 groups that currently meet in the Ojai Library, as well as the public. Because the library is linked with the used bookstore, Twice Sold Tales, there is a growing surplus of funds that should cover the construction expenses of the free-standing structure, but for the custodial upkeep, the energy and lighting it would cost about $1,950 per year to operate. City manager Robert Clark was quick to point out that though the council could decide to use funds to support the endeavor, the funding would have to be approved with each budget. Mayor Carol Smith observed that another option was to let the space be used by groups and the general public during the day, then at night it could be rented out to offset the operating costs.

Resident Pat McPherson had some reservations about the discussions. “This is the first I’ve heard of the details,” he said during the time allotted for public comments on the matter. “I’d like us to reflect back to the time when there was panic when the city couldn’t afford to keep our libraries open, and that resulted in the parcel tax. My suggestion in these times is to not spend any money. I could care less about square footage in these times.”

Mayor Smith said, “I don’t know how often you are in our library, but I’m in there quite often, and crowding is a huge problem. It would do tremendous good for the library patrons. I’d like to ask Mr. McPherson, How often are you in our library?” to which he replied he didn’t think it mattered.

Councilwoman Carlon Strobel allowed that the effort to create more space for patrons is a noble one, but “I would prefer to see the building generate its own revenue to cover operating costs. Just because we have a current surplus (in library funds), we don’t know that we will have a surplus next year or the year after.”

Chain issue revisited
Also at the meeting, council moved to send back to the city Planning Commission an ordinance regarding chain businesses within the city, in order that the commission might include a mechanism for public input in determining whether a business is in fact a “formula business establishment,” or a mass retail chain. Council members also briefly discussed the notice to the Ojai Quarry regarding numerous safety violations, and the impending Ventura County Planning Commission hearing to revoke the operation permit. Although Mayor Smith will not be able to attend the revocation hearing for Ojai Quarry, which has been moved from Nov. 17 to Dec. 15, council members seemed in agreement they are moving in the right direction on this issue.

Health care
During the public communications portion of the meeting, Dick Thompson, Ventura County resident and president of Ventura County Taxpayers Association, took council members to task for their decision on Oct. 1 to not change the policy of extending health care benefits to former council members. Said Thompson, “Every dollar spent (on former members’ health care) is a dollar not available for public service. When you are done, you should be done. Lifetime health care is not appropriate, it is an abuse of taxpayer goodwill.” Mayor Smith moved to address the issue at a future council meeting.

By Tiobe Barron
The Ojai City Council began its process of selecting a new city attorney last week with two meetings to interview six of the 14 applicants for the position. According to city manager Robert Clark, the city attorney is a position appointed by City Council to serve as the council’s direct lawyer, to offer the council legal advice in city matters, at the council’s discretion.

“Some people think the city attorney is there to advise citizens, but that is not their function,” Clark said in a phone interview. Of the 14 firms and individuals who applied, council members whittled down the possibilities to six based on: experience and ability in municipal law; accessibility to attend meetings and consultations; references from other city councils; and the cost of services, which was a large concern (the OVN reported in the May 27 edition that the city had “a contract with Widders’ firm for a $2,750 monthly retainer and an hourly rate of $175 for services provided beyond the retainer.”).

The six candidates to be interviewed included Dave Aleshire of Aleshire and Wynder, LLP; Andre de Bortnowsky of Green, de Bortnowsky and Quintanilla, LLP; Julie Biggs of Burke, Williams, and Sorenson, LLP; Joseph Fletcher of Law Offices of Joseph W. Fletcher; Steve Lee of Myers, Widders, Gibson, Jones and Schneider, LLP (acting city attorney); and Martin Koczanowicz of Law Office of Martin D. Koczanowicz. Two meetings were scheduled to interview the candidates — the first on Nov. 3, and the second on Nov. 7. Each candidate was allotted 45 minutes to offer a quick biography, answer council members’ questions, and offer any additional information they wanted to share with the council.

At the Nov. 3 meeting, Ojai City Council members interviewed three of the six candidates: Fletcher, Koczanowicz and Lee. Council members asked all the interviewees similar questions regarding planning, land use, conflict of interest, and more. Of particular interest to the council members was if any of the candidates possess a familiarity and knowledge of our unique community, and whether any of the lawyers had any experience with eminent domain, pertinent now because of the grassroots effort to remove Golden State Water Company from the city.

Of these three applicants, Fletcher was the only lawyer with significant direct experience with eminent domain. Fletcher claimed he is very familiar with the process, and has the added background of operating water departments. Fletcher, who hails from Orange, Calif., worked as Burbank’s city attorney, then was the municipal attorney for Santa Ana for 27 years. When asked his opinion of complaint-based enforcement of illegal transient rentals, Fletcher said, “If you’re aware of other violations, that’s problematic. Why would you have only select enforcement? I would have to know more from staff … Maybe that concern can be addressed using tools other than criminal action.” Mayor Carol Smith reminded him that these violators “hurt our pocketbooks,” and he stated, “It’s a very interesting code enforcement issue … ripe for creative enforcement methods, there are other ways to get compliance with the law other than criminal action; you can create a culture of compliance.”

Mayor Pro Tem Betsy Clapp said, “Ojai tends to be a little xenophobic. Your distance is an issue. How could you possibly be a part of Ojai?”

Fletcher responded, “I would expect myself to engage in the community, I’d love to live in Ojai, but I have the issue of equity of my house in Orange. But in the end it’s knowing the values of the community, and getting to know council members individually.”

The law office of Myers, Widders, Gibson, Jones and Schneider, LLP, has many years of experience working in this area. Monte Widders served as Ojai city attorney for 31 years until retiring in May.

Councilman Paul Blatz turned the questioning from Lee to Widders, asking, “Where could you have done a better job for the city over the last 20 years?”

Widders replied, “In the prosecution of misdemeanor complaints, we could have been more proactive in going to the courts themselves. You only have to show up one day a week now, the cost to the city is significantly less. We really love this town (and) understand its values. It was more than just a job, and we’ve certainly tried.”

Blatz and Councilwoman Carlon Strobel voiced concerns over Lee’s advice that the council members take no action regarding the franchise fees (from Golden State Water Company). Lee replied that there seemed to be some inconsistencies and confusion in council’s approach to waiving the fees. Clapp asked Lee, “Does your lack of experience in municipal law affect your ability to have answers for the council?” Lee replied that there was not a lack of experience, and it does not affect his ability to advise council members. “If I don’t know the answer I’m not going to give an answer just to give an answer, my ego’s not that big.”

Councilwoman Sue Horgan asked the firm, “Many of you live in the community, you know the council, you know the staff, you know the job. What should we be looking for?”

Lee replied, “It is important to look at an attorney and see what commitment they have to the city, to find a firm that is committed to the local organizations and charities. I don’t live here, but in the last 12 years when I joined Monte’s firm, and especially in the last six months, I have come to really care about Ojai … I don’t think you’re going to find a firm that cares about Ojai the way we do.”

The third candidate interviewed, Koczanowicz, has been practicing law for 27 years, and has municipal experience from Grover Beach, Fresno, and Madera. When the council brought up the issue of complaint-based enforcement of illegal vacation rentals, he suggested, “Necessity is the mother of invention, so if you lack the funds and staff to enforce unilaterally, then complaint-based is what you need to use … But the problem with complaint-based code enforcement is that residents may look to the city to handle their problems, whether tenant-landlord problems, or neighbor-neighbor problems.”

When asked his advice on conflict of interest issues for council, Koczanowicz cautioned, “Appearance can be far more damaging than the reality. If anything you’re doing doesn’t look good on the front page of the newspaper, don’t do it.”

After Thursday’s and Monday’s meetings, the City Council has narrowed the focus to two firms for second interviews, which should take place the week of Dec. 5.

“This does not exclude the others from consideration by any means,” said Clark. “Council had a strong field of applicants, with great candidates to choose from. It’s a win-win situation.”

Citizens lined up at Ojai F.L.O.W.'s information table to sign up for the organization's news letter during a community water meeting held at Nordhoff High School's gym on Wednesday.

Public Utilities Commission
refuses to answer why

By Logan Hall
Ojai citizens are fed up with the California Public Utilities Commission. At their water meeting Wednesday night, Ojai Friends of Locally Owned Water, a non-profit organization comprised of Ojai citizens, was clear in its message to the public agency that approves utility company rate increases.

“We want out of the PUC system,” said F.L.O.W. representative Ryan Blatz to the crowd of about 200 citizens and government officials who had gathered at the Nordhoff High School gym. “They are the real problem here.”

Blatz’s declaration came after F.L.O.W. found that Ojai was not included in the PUC’s public participation hearings that will be held in eight other cities in California later this month, with the closest to Ojai being in Carson. The meetings are designed by the PUC to hear the citizens’ concerns about water rate increases applied for by Golden State Water Company.

A recent series of conversations via phone and e-mail between the Ojai Valley News and PUC representatives gives some insight into the agency’s operation. Repeated attempts by the OVN beginning Nov. 3 to get a reason for Ojai’s public hearing rejection were met with resistance and hostility by PUC staff. When asked point-blank what the specific reason was for Ojai’s rejection, PUC spokesman Andrew Kotch gave a generic, confusing response that listed vague and non-specific “criteria” that the PUC looks at when deciding on where to hold hearings.

“Factors considered included: 1) letters and complaints from customers, 2) communities that represent various Golden State service areas (i.e., urban-rural, coastal-desert, northern or Southern California, etc.), and 3) proximity to other Golden State service areas,” read Kotch’s statement.

When it was pointed out to Kotch that his response did not answer the question regarding specific circumstances regarding Ojai’s rejection, he claimed that he had not been asked that question. He was then asked for the second time — along with several other questions —- why, specifically, Ojai was rejected after Ojai’s assistant city manager Steve McClary filed a formal protest with the PUC against Golden State’s rate increase application and directly requested a public hearing in Ojai. In order to clarify that he had the correct questions, Kotch was then asked to read back the questions after he claimed he would find answers. “I don’t have them written down,” he replied sharply after a brief silence.

The OVN sent the questions to Kotch’s supervisor, Terrie Prosper, the PUC’s communications director, along with a request for an explanation of Kotch’s behavior. For the third time, the PUC was asked why, specifically, Ojai’s request for a hearing was rejected. Prosper replied by giving an identical response to Kotch’s attempt. After it was brought to her attention that the question, along with others that were asked, was not answered, she was asked a fourth time about Ojai’s rejection.

This time Prosper responded by defending the PUC’s position, still neglecting to answer the specific questions asked by the OVN. “It’s not that cities were ‘rejected,’” read her response, “but rather the other cities were chosen given the criteria I outlined in my original message.”

The OVN then sent her a simple question on Tuesday afternoon: “Why is the California PUC, a public agency, refusing to give direct answers to questions that are directly regarding public concerns?” As of print time Thursday, the OVN had not received a response from the PUC.

One of the excuses given for rejecting Ojai’s request was that “many other cities” had also requested hearings and that the PUC could not hold hearings for them all. PUC documents relating to the case, however, show that Ojai is one of only four cities to formally protest and request a hearing, although eight cities were chosen for public hearings.

Members of F.L.O.W. and Ojai city officials are also quick to point out that the PUC is holding hearings at both Apple Valley and Barstow, which are about 30 miles apart. The closest meeting to Ojai, is being held in Carson, which is about 100 miles from Ojai with an estimated two-hour drive. F.L.O.W. members and city officials are also concerned that, while Apple Valley has filed a formal protest and request for a hearing, Barstow hasn’t done either. The PUC has refused to answer questions regarding these concerns.

However, there is still hope for Ojai’s bid to have a PUC public hearing.

The Department of Ratepayer Advocates, an agency that helps regulate the PUC’s decisions, regarding Ojai’s concerns sent a recent e-mail to the PUC. Salina Shek, the DRA’s co-counsel, wrote to the PUC regarding Ojai. “DRA conducted a site visit to Ojai on October 5, 2011 and observed signs on many customers’ front lawns stating their unhappiness with Golden State’s rates,” read the e-mail. “Also, while in Ojai, DRA noticed two articles in the local newspaper and magazines regarding Golden State Water Company’s proposed rate increases. DRA asks that you add the City of Ojai to the PPH (public participation hearing) list given the amount of concerns/interests regarding the GRC (general rate case).”

-McClary said that city officials are not happy with the PUC’s decision either. “We wanted a hearing here,” he said. “We asked for a hearing here. We’re very disappointed that the PUC won’t even hold a meeting anywhere close to Ojai.”

F.L.O.W. representatives told the crowd at Wednesday’s meeting that citizen participation is crucial when dealing the PUC and other government agencies. Blatz, in no subtle terms, emphasizes that people need to be sending letters to the government, to express their concerns and show officials how serious the issue is.

“Everyone needs to write those letters,” said Blatz. “Send them to the PUC. Send them to your senators and assemblymen. Tell them that we are here and we’re not going away.”

To contact the PUC, send e-mails to public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov or write to the Commission’s Docket Office, 505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102.

SUBMITTED: It bugs me that cops, including ours, don’t often signal when turning or changing lanes. Is there a reason for that?

REPLY: ”To be effective as a patrol officer you need to constantly be shifting your focus to take in all of your surroundings. Many times I have made a last minute decision to make a turn in order to follow a suspicions vehicle, to check out something I just observed or have been dispatched to an emergency call. Unfortunately last minute turns do not always allow enough time to signal the turn. This is the exception and not the rule. I appreciate your comment and while bring this up as a reminder to our deputies at our shift briefings”.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
Sadly, it looks like my Alabama Crimson Tide has probably lost its chance to play for and to win another college football national championship. I was at the game last Saturday night when they lost a heartbreakingly close game to LSU, the No. 1 team in the nation. For many Alabama football fans, losing a game is akin to the death of a family member. In some cases, depending upon the family member, it can be even worse.

That may be an exaggeration, but football is a huge deal in the South. At Alabama, losses take a terrible toll. Some people cancel social plans, or plan weddings around game days. A Southern bride knows better than to schedule her big day in direct competition with an Alabama game. Fans have been known to skip school and church in order to avoid ribbing from a rival team’s fans after a big defeat. Losses can cause our young men to cry, our grown men to curse and our women to rethink why they were ever attracted to us in the first place.

The LSU game was a national event, and television ratings were very high. It is estimated that almost 15 million people watched at least a portion of the game. I believe it — it felt like I bumped into at least that many people just walking around campus before the game. If you could have had a bird’s-eye view, it must have looked like an ant colony after someone had stirred it with a stick.  If you can imagine an ant colony wearing school colors and drinking beer.

We tried to find a friend who was tailgating from a tent, but there were more than 1,800 such tents set up on that day. It would have been easier to find an honest politician in Washington. In fact, an estimated 60,000 people came to the game just to experience the atmosphere, unable to join the 101,000-plus who were in the stadium. Those who came were there to make noise. The decibel level in the stadium was measured at over 120 — up there with sandblasting and rock concerts.

Pre-game tailgating (read: eating and drinking) has certainly evolved over the years. From my college days of a tub of Kentucky Fried Chicken and a bottle of cheap bourbon (which was later concealed in your date’s purse and smuggled into the stadium), it has grown into a full-scale event. Now people set up elaborate tents, some seating 20 to 30 people. There are grills cooking hamburgers, sausages and hot dogs, and coolers the size of small cattle filled with cold beer. Many tents also house wide-screen televisions that seem larger than some of the apartments I have rented.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the intoxication level of some of those attending. We spotted one young coed in particular who had clearly started celebrating early. She was already weaving badly at 4:30 p.m. for a game that didn’t end until midnight. I couldn’t help but wonder what the next day would hold for her. When I was in college, I had a fraternity brother who was famous for being “over-served” at games and parties. He was a decent enough guy when he was sober, but he was a truly obnoxious drunk. One night after a game, he left the fraternity house on foot and passed out on the lawn of a rival fraternity next door. They simply carried him to the back of the house and deposited him in the dumpster, where he awoke the next morning disoriented and reeking of rotting food. He took the term “stinking drunk” to a new level.

I would think that waking up on Sunday morning after a night in the dumpster might prompt you to reassess your life choices. I think Leon just took a hot shower and started all over again.

The game was disappointing, but very exciting, despite the loss. I realize that in the great cosmic scheme of things, a football game registers pretty far down on the scale of things that are truly important. But sheer passion, even for something as relatively meaningless as a sporting event, is still a wondrous thing to behold.

By Mike Miller
Having two youth baseball organizations in the Ojai Valley no longer seems feasible. Recent discussions between leaders of P.O.N.Y. baseball and the Ojai Valley Little League indicate that the two leagues appear to be headed toward a possible merger.

“There is still a lot that would need to be decided on both sides, but I think it is going to happen soon. We got a little too close to the start of the 2012 season so it would likely be 2013,” said P.O.N.Y. Board President Robert Roddick. Both sides are looking at what organization would work best for the two existing leagues. Roddick said, “The Cal Ripken baseball league is one we are exploring, but we are also looking at both P.O.N.Y. and Little League as options. As I said, there are a lot of details to work out.”

The local economy, cost of maintaining facilities, and player numbers are all contributing factors to the likely merger of youth baseball leagues. “The cost of the fields through the city is just so expensive and with the economy we are giving more scholarships to players than we ever have before. The goal is for every kid to be able to play. We simply will not leave anyone out just because their family cannot afford to pay. For all those reasons, a merger of the two leagues just makes sense looking ahead.”

Outgoing Ojai Valley Little League President Mike Burke was cautiously optimistic of a merger. “There are clear advantages and disadvantages to a merger and changing leagues. However, I really can’t say for certain what will happen in the future.” Burke did agree with Roddick that player participation is becoming an issue for both leagues. “Numbers in both leagues are dwindling, so rather than letting that happen, we have to look at creating strength in numbers.”

Burke did indicate that his time as board president was coming to an end soon, but that the OVLL would name a new president in the near future.

According to Roddick, should the merger become final, the new league would likely use fields in both Ojai and Oak View. They would also look to continue the inter-league play they have started with leagues in Ventura. “They (Ventura leagues) have been great to work with and I only see our relationship with them growing in terms of the number of games we play against them.”

In the short term, both leagues will continue to function for the 2012 season, but they both continue to need community support. “Donations, whether it is time, materials or financial contributions, are always needed and welcomed,” added Roddick.

By Misty Volaski
After five years in the Ojai Music Festival building, the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce has moved its offices to El Paseo Plaza, 206 N. Signal St., Suite P, across from Osteria Monte Grappa restaurant and The Angelic Touch day spa. The entrance faces Aliso Street. The move was officially completed on Oct. 17.

Chamber CEO Scott Eicher said he and the staff are happy with their new digs. “It’s a nice space, the location is good, and it’s easier for visitors and members to find us.”

The space is quieter, Eicher added, and there are several other chamber members in the plaza, such as Topa Topa Travel, The Oaks at Ojai business office, A Secret Beauty, Blatz Law Firm and Arroyo Interior Design.

While only moving up the street, “We were amazed at how many boxes we had!” Eicher said. “It took us about two days to move.” In a press release, the staff thanked several people and businesses who helped them in their search for a new place: Ron McCrea and Dale Hanson at Ojai Valley Real Estate, Terri Wolfe at Help of Ojai, The Becker Group, Marc Whitman, Kathy Hartley of The Lavender Inn, Allan Jacobs, “and certainly Shari Gibson at Topa Topa Travel who gave us the heads-up about 206 N. Signal.”

The move comes as a result of the Ojai Music Festival needing extra space in their building at 201 S. Signal St. “During the last festival, we realized that the festival has really grown in complexity,” said OMF executive director Jeff Haydon, adding that the number of people who are involved in OMF both in June and year-round keeps growing as well. “We’re climbing all over each other during the festival! It makes more sense to move all the business operations downstairs (where the Chamber of Commerce used to be).”

The South Signal Street building, which was gifted to the OMF “by an early donor,” said Haydon, has seen several local nonprofit organizations as tenants over the years, including the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, the Ojai Film Festival, and the Ojai Tennis Tournament, which still rents space in the building. Haydon said the time that the Chamber of Commerce spent in the OMF building was instrumental in each organization’s efforts to spread the word about Ojai. “We got more into the idea of, how do we introduce people to the community of Ojai?” Haydon said. “And the chamber was moving in that direction too, with the Visitors Bureau. So we kind of informed each other over the years. It’s been great.”

Prior to being in the South Signal Street location, Ojai’s Chamber of Commerce was located at the Ojai Valley Museum, Eicher said, and before that, at the Ojai Valley Board of Realtors office next to Chevron Gas Station.

Eicher said that the chamber will host its monthly cocktail mixer at its new location on Dec. 15. They will be co-hosting with Heritage Financial. The mixers typically move locations each month to highlight different members; the November meeting will be hosted by Keller Williams Realty on Nov. 17 at 109 N. Blanche St., Suite 102. See ojaichamber.org for more information.

In recognition of America’s military veterans, Los Padres National Forest officials have announced that Friday through Sunday will be a “Fee Free” weekend in honor of Veterans’ Day. A National Forest Adventure Pass will not be required for visitors recreating this weekend in all areas of Los Padres except for the Santa Barbara Ranger District’s Lower Santa Ynez Recreation Area, where an Adventure Pass will still be required.

“Each year on Veterans’ Day, the Los Padres and all national forests acknowledge the heroism of the veterans of our Armed Forces,” said Los Padres National Forest supervisor Peggy Hernandez. “This year we are pleased to offer fee-free throughout the weekend. This gives the public the chance to enjoy the natural treasures of our forest, and take time to reflect on the sacrifices of our past and present service members.”

“Fee Free” days are offered each year on National Trails Day, Back to School season, National Public Lands Day, and Veterans’ Day. The “Fee Free” days are observed throughout Southern California on Los Padres, San Bernardino, Angeles, and Cleveland national forests.

Visitors who inadvertently commit a Daily Adventure Pass this weekend can have it replaced free of charge. Visitors are reminded that even though the Adventure Pass fee will be waived this weekend, other fees such as campground, reservation and group site fees may still be applicable.

For more information call the Ojai Ranger District at 646-4348

For years, Cherry Creek Canyon in the Ventura County backcountry has been littered with shotgun shells, bullet casings, shot-up televisions, furniture, and other trash. It’s the result of unmanaged, unauthorized target shooting that has turned the area into one of the most trashed sites in Los Padres National Forest.

On Oct. 29, 80 volunteers removed over 2.5 tons of trash — the area’s largest cleanup effort to date. Los Padres ForestWatch — in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and local sponsors Patagonia, Matilija Pure Water, Ace Hardware of Meiners Oaks, and Lowe’s — led the cleanup effort, which took place on a fall morning 30 minutes outside of Ojai.

The entire Cherry Creek watershed has been closed to target shooting since July, when a federal judge ordered the Forest Service to close the area. The closure is the result of a lawsuit brought by ForestWatch and other conservation organizations concerned about the trash and toxic heavy metals finding their way into the nearby creek, poisoning fish and other wildlife. Unlike the three other national forests in Southern California, the Los Padres National Forest is generally open to target shooting. Specific isolated areas of the forest have been closed over the years for public safety or environmental reasons, but across the vast majority of Los Padres, uncontrolled target shooting occurs. The problem arises when shooters leave these areas littered with targets and trash.

With the Cherry Creek area now closed, volunteers had the opportunity to clean up the area before winter rains washed it all downstream into Sespe Creek — habitat for the federally endangered steelhead trout. The Forest Service also installed new signage along Cherry Creek Road to ensure that visitors to the area know that target shooting is no longer permitted, and has increased law enforcement efforts in the area. “The Forest Service did the right thing by closing this dumping ground,” said Suzanne Feldman, conservation coordinator for ForestWatch. “Now we can start to bring the Cherry Creek watershed back to its natural splendor. It really is such a beautiful area; it’s a shame that irresponsible use trashed it so badly.”

Ultimately, any long-term solution to the shooting problem at Cherry Creek will require that the gate at the mouth of the canyon be closed year-round, preventing vehicles from hauling large amounts of trash into the area.

ForestWatch urges the Forest Service to institute a forest-wide ban on target shooting, similar to what the other three national forests in Southern California have implemented. Forest officials should implement such a closure immediately so that the problem doesn’t move to some other area of the forest. Target shooters are reminded to pack out what you pack in — including all bullet casings, shotgun shells, and targets. Do not shoot at trees or wildlife. And consider shooting at the well-managed formal shooting range down the road — the Ojai Valley Gun Club in Rose Valley.

By Melody Badgett
The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy is a new nonprofit partner of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of more than 1,380 member companies in 43 countries that give 1 percent of revenues to environmental causes.

OVLC is now eligible to receive donations from 1% member companies, placing them among a diverse, global network of environmental organizations; 1% member businesses fuel this nonprofit network through their annual contributions, which totaled over $22 million in 2010. Partnership with 1% greatly expands the potential pool of funding to which OVLC can seek support.

The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy contributes to a healthier planet by protecting the views, trails, water and wildlife of the Ojai Valley and the Ventura River basin. OVLC recently acquired one mile of the Ventura River, bringing to six the total numbers of miles of the 16-mile-long river in protected status. In addition, the OVLC is hosting the regional Ventura River watershed coordinator who is playing a key role in development of a watershed management plan. Wetland restoration projects have been ongoing since 2000 and OVLC recently began planting more than 7,000 native plants near the Ventura River. For more information about the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, see ovlc.org.

More than 2,300 nonprofit groups worldwide are included in the 1% network, and over $70 million has been funneled to its nonprofit partners to date.  Ventura-based Patagonia, Inc. was the first 1% for the Planet member corporation. As a network, the 1% community has become a front runner in funding the work of environmental groups around the world.

“The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy is proud to be associated with the 1% for the Planet movement — a partnership which will result in the permanent protection of nature, open space, and trails in the Ventura River basin,” said Greg Gamble, OVLC’s executive director.

About 1% for the Planet

Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% for the Planet is a growing global movement of more than 1,380 member companies in 43 countries that donate 1 percent of their sales to environmental organizations worldwide. Each day, more than one new business joins the 1% for the Planet movement. To learn more about 1% go to onepercentfortheplanet.org.

OVN: Are rookie deputies automatically assigned to the Ojai station?

REPLY: The Ojai Police station gets the same number / percentage of “rookies” as any of our other stations. Due to retirements, transfers, and or normal attrition we periodically get deputies assigned to the Ojai station that have not previously worked in patrol and need to go through the field training process. Keep in mind that Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputies work in our custody division for several years prior to being transferred to a patrol station. Our current “rookies” have been sworn peace officers for more then five years and have already experienced challenging situations before their first day on the streets of Ojai. 

By Chris T. Wilson
A new blog has gone live on the Internet recently with the intent of bringing an open dialogue between citizens of the Ojai Valley and the Ojai Police.

Ojai Valley News senior editor Lenny Roberts said he was inspired to set up the blog following comments made by Administrative Sgt. Steve Arthur during an OVN in-depth interview conducted by managing editor Misty Volaski on Sept. 9.

The blog address, ovncops.blogspot.com/, allows readers to e-mail “legitimate questions regarding police issues,” to roberts@ojaivalleynews.com, which Roberts will then post on the blog to be answered by Sgt. Arthur.

“We often hear grumblings about the police, and maybe this will be a way to give the public the opportunity to ask intelligent questions and get them answered,” Roberts said.

Arthur said that when he was stationed in Camarillo before being transferred to the Ojai Substation recently, that he would answer questions from the public on a local television station.

“I think we can do a better job about letting the public know what we can do for the community and what the community can do to help us do a better job of policing,” Arthur said. “I want people to know that the station number, 646-1414, is a place to call in tips and that they can remain confidential.”

Capt. Chris Dunn said he’s happy to have the blog as a way to offer a greater layer of transparency for the department with the public.

“I thought this would be a nice way to have a two-way communication with the community that we serve,” Dunn said. “This is a way that we can address issues and inform people about how we operate and help them understand what we do that they may not know about.”

A link to this blog, and other informative pages — including restaurant closures, Ojai’s Wanted, CHP and Fire Department updates — is located under the “Our Community” banner on the right side of the Ojai Valley News website home page, ojaivalleynews.com.

“I think the more information we can put up for the public and let them decide what to do with it, the better,” Roberts said.

By Logan Hall
Ojai Fire Station 21 is setting an example for the community. The Ventura County Fire Department crew at 21 has steadily been transforming the station into a “green” facility by installing specialized equipment, like solar panels, new energy-efficient lighting and, most recently, by revamping the station’s landscaping that will include plants which need little or no watering.

The transformation hasn’t happened overnight though.

“We’ve been working at the landscaping for about a year,” said VCFD Station 21 Capt. John McNeil at a special barbecue celebrating the unveiling of the station’s new front yard. “It’s been a really great project.”

McNeil says that he and his crew could not have accomplished their goals without help from the community. “We owe so much to Jessica,” he said referring to Jessica Thompson, owner of Green Goddess Gardens landscaping. “She really spent a lot of time helping us and she never asked for anything in return.”

According to McNeil, Thompson had driven by the station last year and had seen firefighters working in the yard out front when she stopped and asked if they needed a hand. Thompson and the crew at 21 quickly developed a chemistry that helped set in motion a new design and look for the station.

“I had been looking for a good project that would help me give back to the community,” said Thompson. “When I drove by the station, I just thought it was a perfect place to start. I’m really glad these guys wanted to work with me.”

Thompson says she wanted to use vegetation that would thrive in Ojai’s arid climate, but that would also look good year-round. “If we used strictly native plants,” she said, “the garden would look like our hillsides. Instead I brought in mostly Mediterranean plants that will do well here. They really look great too.”

The VCFD’s Deputy Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen was on hand at Wednesday’s barbecue and gave his thoughts on the project. “I didn’t even know this was going on here,” he told those who had gathered. “I really want to thank these guys for going above and beyond the status quo. This is a really great thing they’re doing.”

By Misty Volaski
After five years, the Ojai Unified School District board members are evaluating the seven district vision statements they created in 2006 (see below for list). A Nov. 1 special meeting included all the principals in the district as well as other key administrators in a roundtable discussion on what the OUSD priorities should be and what issues need to be addressed heading into the future. Included in the current list are mentions of “student connections to school,” maximizing resources with declining enrollment, developing financial plans, expanding technology, reaching out to the community, and emphasizing a “healthy lifestyle.” The meeting was facilitated by Bronte Reynolds, former Montecito Union School District superintendent and associate professor at CSU-Northridge, who is also a 14-year resident of Oak View.

The evaluation of the vision statements will continue over the next few months, said OUSD superintendent Hank Bangser. “All constituents should have an opportunity to comment” on the list, he said, including the entire OUSD staff, parents and community members.

Those at Tuesday night’s meeting discussed the issues on the list as well as others not currently included.

Nordhoff assistant principal Greg Bayless addressed the issue of continuing to improve technology at school sites. “Nordhoff is excited about (it),” he said. “With these limited resources … we’ve done a lot. Public education is under siege, so to hold the line is good — but moving forward like this is really encouraging.”

Theresa Dutter, principal of Summit and San Antonio elementary schools, said she wanted to see the increase in technology continue. She worried that if the “paper and pencil” way of learning continues, “we’ll lose some of them.”

That brought up the discussion of connecting students to their schools. Board member Linda Taylor pointed to programs such as drama, sports, art and after-school programs as being big factors in keeping students in school. She wondered whether OUSD could use more vocational programs similar to those already in place.

Also discussed was the issue of whether blanket standards of success could be implemented for students, such as dress code, coming to class on time, etc.

“We want to send them into adulthood with the basic skills (of adults),” said Board Member Kathy Smith.

“School is their job,” said Board President Rikki Horne. “If you go to a job, you get there on time, dress well, don’t swear —- (this is) training them in the real world.”

Matilija Junior High School assistant Javier Ramirez said that he and principal Emily Mostovoy strive toward consistency with all policies. Mostovoy added that the goal of MJHS is to nurture and support the students academically and socially. “Being prepared, using their agenda — having a flash drive — these are the tools to be an academic student and successful in life.”

Thayne Whipple, OUSD’s newest board member, asked, ‘What does ‘success’ mean though? If a kid is smart, gets 100 percent on tests, but has a problem with tardies are you going to say to that kid, ‘Oh, you get a C because you’re tardy?’”

Mostovoy noted that the size of the district allows the teachers to discuss individual students more often and be ready to address their individual issues. Whipple wondered whether students could be rewarded for the things they do well individually — “instead of penalizing them.” Horne replied, “It sounds like that’s what they’re doing.” Topa Topa principal John LeSuer said, “Teachers reward students for their differences.”

Facilitator Reynolds then asked attendees which things on the vision list aren’t being done so well. Director of elementary services and Chaparral High School principal Marilyn Smith said she felt that the Latino population wasn’t being reached as well as it could be. Ramirez suggested that the OUSD reach out to churches like St. Thomas Aquinas, where the Spanish catechism classes are full. “We can use those existing channels to reach out,” he said. Also discussed was the need to speak in person to Spanish-speaking families as opposed to sending home fliers, as well as investigating the possibility of utilizing public access TV and offering potluck dinners with child care.

Horne said she felt the OUSD could do a better job of reaching out to the non-parent population; Smith pointed out that superintendent Bangser is a member of the Rotary Club of Ojai and on the board for the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation, and that both Bangser and Whipple have been involved with the Ojai Education Foundation.

Getting them into the schools to participate and volunteer is also important, said LeSuer. The Rotary Club brought in readers to elementary schools he said; why not reach out to the other groups in town “like the Optimists? We just have to ask.”

Whipple also asked the board and administration members whether they thought it would be valuable to simply ask the community for funds to help bridge funding gaps. It was determined that it would be possible and beneficial for OUSD to create a picture of what the “ideal” district would look like, what services would be offered etc., then find out the financial gap between the funding that would require and the funding currently available.

The Vision Statement issue will be an agenda item at the next school board meeting, slated for Nov. 15 at the OUSD offices.

•••

Ojai Unified School District Vision:
1. Key descriptors of the district include innovation, choice, high quality, and high performance. These attributes must be apparent in our plans, actions, and budgets.

2. Student connections to school are critical. The district needs to expand access to high quality vocational instruction, the arts, athletics, and other curricular programs that create connections among students, adults, and learning.

3. Our district must be prepared to strategically deal with being a smaller school district (2,500 to 2,700 students). Determining the best configuration of schools for student success and maximizing the use of resources and facilities will be part of this strategic planning.

4. The district must develop a long-term financial plan that ensures continuing financial solvency.

5. The use of technology to support teaching and learning and to do the business of the district must be improved and expanded.

6. The district needs to expand outreach to the community. Outreach includes public relations and a greater utilization of community resources to support our schools.

7. Students and staff need to demonstrate a healthy lifestyle, passion for learning, and high standards for character. The district will need to institutionalize these beliefs into policy and action.

Commentary by Bill Buchanan
Last week, Jodie Miller in our office asked me if I had heard the news about the new “Tattooed Barbie.” At first I thought it might be a joke, but sure enough, it turned out to be true. In fact, this is not the first time Barbie has sported tattoos. A few years ago, a collaboration between Mattel and Harley-Davidson produced a “biker chick Barbie” with pink leather chaps and a giant Phoenix tattoo covering her back.

Wow.

Barbie has undergone many transformations since her introduction in the ‘’50s. There is a Bob Mackie “Cher” doll with an American Indian-inspired headdress and outfit; a “Beverly Hillbillies Elly May Clampett” doll, complete with rope belt and slingshot. There is a Jason Wu avant-garde “Androgyny” and “Aphrodisiac” Barbie pair, which look like rejects from an old Andy Warhol film. Priced for sale at $439, they are for those with a lot of disposable income.

A few years ago, Ava bought a Barbie on a whim. The doll looked very retro, with a skintight sequined dress that flared at the hem in a mass of tulle as she clutched a sliver microphone. This Barbie was a throwback to the nightclub singers of the ‘’50s and ‘60s. She reminded me of Mary Louise Parker’s character in the film “Sugartime,” based on the allegedly true-life love affair between mafia boss Sam Giancana and chanteuse Phyllis McGuire.  So we nicknamed the doll accordingly. When my niece came for a visit, she always begged us to let her play with “Mob Girlfriend Barbie.” My sister was not amused.

Obviously this stuff sells. But I can’t help but think of what a far cry it is from the simple Barbie my sister owned as a young girl. No bells and whistles, just a simple girl in a striped swimsuit with an impossible figure and hair that looked like a football helmet. My sister also collected Ken, and Barbie’s friend, Midge. I was never very interested in Midge, but Ken served a useful purpose as he made a great punching bag for my G.I. Joe action figure when my sister was not around. I say “action figure” because in my day no self-respecting boy would ever be caught dead playing with a doll. But my friends and I sure had a lot of fun with our action figures.

Maybe I just need to get on board with the new wave. At least if kids are playing with dolls, they aren’t immersed in the inert world of computer games and are exercising their creativity. I think it is safe to say that even though the dolls have changed to reflect the times, little girls still play with them much as they always did.

I just hope they draw the line at rehab Barbie.

By Logan Hall
Larry Mosler’s rock quarry north of Ojai may have been dealt a fatal blow this month as county and Mosler representatives are gearing up for a public hearing on Nov. 17 regarding his mining operation. Decisions made during the hearing could potentially shut down the mine, located up Maricopa Highway, if county officials implement their staff’s recommendations.

According to Brian Baca, the county’s manager of commercial and industrial permits, Mosler has had many chances to fix problems that the county and the California State Mining and Geology Board mandated that Mosler fix in order to continue to run the mine.

“You have to have three things to operate a mine in California,” said Baca, who is also a certified engineering geologist. “You need a permit issued by the lead agency, which is the county in this case. You also have to have an approved reclamation plan, and financial assurance that a reclamation plan could be implemented. Mosler has none of those things.”

Baca says that Mosler and his attorney have refused to post financial assurance. Reclamation plans detail the way a mine owner will restore a mining site and are provided by the owner and are approved by governing agencies. A certain amount of money must be set aside to cover the reclamation in the event that a miner decides to shut down his business and leave the area.

“Financial assurance is required to keep the taxpayers safe,” said Baca. “If Mosler decided to leave town tomorrow, we would need the money he has set aside in order to reclaim the land. Mosler and his attorney have refused to post financial assurance mandated by the State Mining and Reclamation act.”

Mosler’s attorney, Derek Cole, claims the county is being unreasonable and is asking Mosler to set aside too much money.

The county has stipulated that Mosler’s mine will require 285,000 cubic yards of fill material to restore the site, in the event that the mine is closed, said Baca. In order to financially cover a potential reclamation process, the fill material would need to be included in the cost of a financial assurance. Cole says this creates a major issue for Mosler.

“The county is saying that Mosler will have to account for the fill material,” said Cole. “Mosler has to come up with $3 million to put into an irrevocable account. That’s not the kind of money that a small miner has lying around. If successful, what county staff is trying to do will bankrupt the Moslers. If the miner goes bankrupt, then they can’t pay for the reclamation. That’s the reality of it.”

Cole says that he has submitted a proposal from Mosler that will address the county’s concerns without the potential need to truck in 285,000 cubic yards of material mandated by the state and county, should the mine be closed. Cole and Mosler’s proposal outlines how the grooming of the upper portion of the mined area and a plan to vegetate the entire site will improve stability of the site to a safe level.

Mosler hired geological firm Advanced Geotechnical Services to put his proposal together. AGS reports that Mosler’s proposal would greatly improve the safety of the mine. “… if the recommendations presented are integrated into the financial assurance cost estimate restoration plan, the safety factor of the quarry will be improved.”

Baca, however, says that the proposal doesn’t cut it when it comes to the state’s reclamation requirements. “What Mosler’s attorney has proposed doesn’t address the reclamation plan,” he said.

The entire issue is set to be reviewed by the county’s Planning Commission Nov. 17, which will then make a decision to be approved by the county Board of Supervisors. “Any decision made requires a final action by the Board of Supervisors,” said Baca. He also said that Mosler would have the opportunity to appeal to the board if the Planning Commission decides to revoke Mosler’s permit. Mosler would be required to cease operations if the Board of Supervisors decides to revoke the permit.

In a Ventura County Star report, Mosler placed the blame on County Supervisor Steve Bennett, saying that the local Stop the Trucks! Coalition is pressuring Bennett, who is in turn pressuring the Planning Commission.

Bennett is quick to point out that he has no personal opinion on the matter. “I can’t express an opinion or take a position publicly and still represent the citizens,” said Bennett. “If I want to be there to represent the citizens of Ojai when the decision comes to the board, I can’t express any opinion about the Mosler mine at this time.”

Baca says that despite the issue’s complexity, the bottom line is simple. “If a mine can’t operate in accordance with the law,” he said, “the mine can’t operate.”

The Nov. 17 planning meeting is slated for 8:30 a.m. at the Ventura County Government Center, on the first floor of the Hall of Administration building.

By Tiobe Barron
Mayor Carol Smith was rewarded with applause when she addressed Southern California Edison representatives regarding their presentation on “Smart Meters.”

“This is absurd,” she said at Tuesday night’s Ojai City Council meeting. “The public has been well educated by Edison (in saving energy). I wish they had put the money (toward) solar panels for us.”

SCE representatives gave a presentation at the meeting on what they are calling Smartconnect, the electric company’s conversion from analog meters to Smart Meters. It’s a wireless technology similar to cell phones, which records data about utility consumption and allows two-way communication of that data.

Michael Schulte, a manager of Edison Smartconnect, said that this technology allows for “more of a two-way relationship” between the utility company and consumer. According to Schulte, as part of a state government “mandate,” between 2009 to 2012, 5 million of the existing analog meters will be replaced with the new Smart Meters, in a $1.6 billion project. Three million have already been replaced at this point in time, according to SCE representatives.

According to the representatives, there is a financial incentive for customers to avoid peak use. Schulte says the complete switch-over of all 5 million machines will create a 1,000-megawatt reduction in peak load, along with a 365,000-ton-per-year reduction in greenhouse gases.

The Ojai area, which is part of Edison’s Ventura Service District, is slated to begin the “deployment process” in March 2012. Schulte said there is an opt-out program through the California Public Utilities Commission that is set to be finalized sometime in the first quarter of next year. Edison has also implemented a delay list for those who wish to be skipped in the conversion process, until the judge-ordered opt-out program is worked out.

“Machines do not save power, people save power,” said Marleen Luckman, a certified building biologist, who says she has studied wireless technology for seven years. The billions of dollars in funds spent on meters, she said, “could have gone into public outreach and training.” Luckman asserts that according to her research, there are numerous problems with these meters — biological effects have been documented, including disruption of concentration, fatigue, insomnia, migraines, disruption of white blood cells and DNA, among other things. According to Luckman, the Federal Communications Commission acknowledges that more studies are needed on the effects of the radiation emitted by Smart Meters, and the World Health Organization classified radio frequencies as a class-two carcinogen — putting it in the same category as DDT, lead and methyl mercury.

“Current guidelines are not considerate of public health … and these are guidelines, not standards,” Luckman said, citing Dr. De-Kun Li professor at Stanford University and associate editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology. “There isn’t enough data to create a standard, and that’s kind of scary to me.”

In addition, there are, according to Luckman, incidents of fires and blowouts as well as privacy issues involved with a device that monitors every appliance in your home and sends that data back to Edison. And in order to opt out, Luckman continued, customers will have to pay a fee.

Luckman also shared with the crowd and council that dozens of counties have banned the devices, including Mendocino County, Lake County, Marin County, Santa Cruz County, and others. San Diego Gas & Electric currently has a lawsuit pending due to the new installation of Smart Meters. “I encourage everyone to do their research. Once you have it, you’re not going to get rid of it,” Luckman cautioned.

Council members had some tough questions for the Edison representatives following Luckman’s presentation.

“Ms. Luckman presents a lot of sobering information, especially in regards to the health risks, which … perhaps wasn’t mentioned in your presentation,” Councilwoman Sue Horgan said to SCE representatives.

Glenn Sias, an engineer with Edison, attempted to assuage this concern, saying the devices only emit very low-power signals, even in their peak, a fraction of the FCC standards.

Councilwoman Carlon Strobel asked, “In terms of the mandate from the California Public Utilities Commission, didn’t you file the application and they approved it as opposed to being given a mandate?”

Michael Schulte replied that was correct, adding, “‘mandate’ may have been too strong of a term.”

Leonard Klaif, Ojai resident and attorney, wasn’t shy about letting Edison’s representatives know his opinion. “I came in unopposed to the Smart Meters,” he said, “but you lost me when you lied about it being mandated, and when you lie, I have no reason to believe anything you say.”

For more information, visit Edison’s Smartconnect website: sce.com/edisonsmartconnect. For further information on Smart Meters, visit emfsafetynetwork.org. Those who would like to be placed on Edison’s delay list can call (800) 810-2369.

By Tiobe Barron
Illegal residential rentals in Ojai came under fire Tuesday, as City Council members discussed their stance on what they call “vacation rentals.”

City officials say they have found numerous ads online for properties that are within city limits and in violation of the city’s policy on the “bed tax,” and estimate a loss of $30,000 to $60,000 per year through the illegal rentals.

According to an administrative report prepared by city