Blatz, Klaif, Three Others Enter Race
Speculation ends as Francina does not pull
papers for November City Council election
By Mary M. Long
The papers are filed and the race is on. Wednesday at 5 p.m. was the filing deadline for the upcoming Ojai City Council race, which will be on the Nov. 2 General Election ballot.
The deadline was extended from Friday when incumbent Mayor Steve Olsen decided not to run for re-election. There could be a major shake-up at City Hall because seats currently held by Carol Smith and Paul Blatz are also up for grabs.
Candidate Lenny Klaif, who was defeated by Blatz in a June special election for the seat vacated by longtime Councilman Joe DeVito, will again enter the race, along with Blatz, Smith and challengers Carlon Strobel, Dennis Leary and Demitri Corbin. Speculation that Suza Francina might be a challenger ended with the filing deadline.
Strobel is stepping down from her position as records manager and city clerk to make a run for City Council, with veteran Cynthia Burrell taking the position as city clerk in Strobel’s absence.
Strobel leaves her salaried position of $87,669 to be a newcomer in the City Council race for a position that pays $5,700 annually. She describes her decision as sort of an epiphany. “One day I was telling a citizen who was complaining, ‘If you don’t like the way the city is being managed then step up to the plate and do something.’ Then I thought, why don’t you take your own advice? I was absolutely certain, and I’ve been certain ever since,” Strobel said.
The position of records manager is mandated to be objective, and Strobel felt that the voice of the citizens of Ojai was just not being heard. One of her complaints was the lack of transparency in the city manager’s office. She said the Skate Park and Libbey Bowl projects were taking too long to be completed, and the city and the public were not interacting in a way to move things forward. “When the public asks for documents or information, our priority as servants is to get that information to them immediately,” she said. “I felt like I was spending a lot of time dragging records out of people.” She made it clear that 98 percent of city records, including financial records, are public. “It’s almost as though we have forgotten that we are stewards, servants. We are not the owners of the city, the citizens are,” said Strobel.
She has a positive opinion of interim city manager John Baker, and had experience working with him when he filled the gap between outgoing Dan Singer and incoming Jerry Kersnar in 2005. She describes Baker as a bottom-line kind of guy who likes to get thing done, claiming, “We can have an hour’s conversation in 30 seconds. I think he is very skilled and has a tremendous amount of expertise,” she added.
Qualifying for the November ballot for the position of city clerk, which pays a stipend of just $350 a month plus benefits, are Cynthia Burrell and Shari Herbruck. Burrell is currently acting as interim city clerk for the outgoing Strobel, resuming a position that she held for 20 years. Burrell said, “Right now, people are not happy and it’s time to get it back,” naming the years between 1989 and 2001, under city manager Andy Belknap as years of teamwork. “I must love this city,” she said, citing her reasons for running for office and wanting to be part of the upcoming city government team she describes as “exciting.”
Herbruck will be retaining her present position of planning and building technician for the Community Development Department which has an annual salary of $48,470, and cites her reason for running for city clerk as a desire “to keep the city running smoothly while in transition.” The position of records manager vacated by Strobel, with compensation ranging from $72,126 to $87,669 annually, will be filled through a process of interviewing and processing applicants by the city manager’s office. Interim city manager Baker is currently out of the office, but is expecting to announce his appointment for the records manager position as early as next week.
In November, the wild card in the elections may just be the luck of the draw. Yesterday, the State of California was expected to draw for the order that the candidates will appear on the November ballot. Studies have shown that candidates whose names are listed first on the ballot have an advantage in the voting. The results of this drawing will be available on the California Secretary of State’s Election Division web site at sos.ca.gov.
To see the county’s filing list, click HERE
Gortex take your weiners and go home.
All candidates for Ojai City Council (Anglo settlers) must adhere to the “Plan de Aztlan.” Our land will someday be reclaimed. We are cops and lawyers now. Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa (UCLA MECHA) is our leader. A narco
ballad will soon be written about the son of Fabian Nunez. He is a hero to our people.
Does Blatz know its a political race and not a Kielbasa eating contest!
Gortex,
Get a life! You’re an idiot! When you bring something to the table, come back to the blog. Otherwise, just stay home and do what you do best: Getting face spackled.
Anon.5
I’m not worried about a job here in Mayberry.
Suza is a hottie!
There are about thirty new jobs listed in Ojai on Craigslist in the last ten days or so…
“Everyone in Ojai is either unemployed, on a trust fund, or works for the city or the Ojai Valley Inn. There are no new jobs!”
Yes. Right. You bet. Does your uninformed pronouncement include everyone who works at Vons & the other businesses at the Y; Starr Market; Ojai Community Hospital; the churches; the various medical and dental offices; all of the businesses in the Arcade and the Plaza; all of the businesses on Bryant Street; the Racquet Club; the various eateries; Ojai Valley School; Ojai Unified School District; Golden State Water; the veterinary clinics; the banks; the coffee shops; the hair and nail salons; the many private contractors; the motels and small inns; and a long list of other small and medium-sized businesses?
As I said before, I think that you live in Ventura, and your image of Ojai exists only in your prejudiced and fact-challenged imagination. Just because you don’t see jobs advertised in the paper doesn’t mean that they don’t exist — most job openings are NOT filled through newspaper ads; they are filled via word-of-mouth, or they are given to people who bothered to put applications on file at businesses that weren’t currently hiring. Jobs that you find in newspapers are frequently jobs that are hard to fill for various reasons, like high turnover, low pay, and miserable working conditions.
What’s your idea of a “new job”, BTW?
Everyone in Ojai is either unemployed, on a trust fund, or works for the city or the Ojai Valley Inn. There are no new jobs!
Meg Whitman? Who is she? Someone has been listening to Fox News again
“We have jobs in Ojai if you want to be an indenture servant to the Hollywood elite.”
Written by someone who lives in Ventura and believes in an Ojai that only exists in the comments section of the VCStar.
Gortex,
Those are some pretty white cheeks you have. Maybe you ought to wipe off the face spackle.
The dirty thirty? What exactly is that? Sounds like you’ve been eating alot of side salads.
Anon.5
We have jobs in Ojai if you want to be an indenture servant to the Hollywood elite. Or take the bus up from Oxnard because you can not afford to live here.
“Does not look to be anyone who supports jobs or growth in Ojai.”
I am completely against jobs, as many people are. What kind of idiot would be for jobs? Please join me and all other right-thinking Americans in being against jobs.
(As for growth, I think you ought to have that little mole checked out ASAP.
Where is Suza when you need her?
2010 Election, which candidates would those be? Lenny the hothead attorney, Strobel the career government employee with the oversized pension. Leary a loose cannon, or Demtri Corbin, who is that? Does not look to be anyone who supports jobs or growth in Ojai.
Meg Whitman will bring jobs and prosperity back to
California. Vote for city council members who support
this agenda.
“Done that already”
Really? Cool. I invented oxygen.
(One can say anything online without offering a shred of credible proof.)
Done that already
Mary needs to try public service.
Carol Smith needs to go
If we are paying the city clerk almost $90,000 plus benefits, maybe we need to look at all the salaries of the city officials. City Attorney, City Manager, Finance Director, Recreation Director, Public Works Director, and don’t forget City Manager.
Whadda ’bout Carol Smith?
Whadda ’bout Suza?!
Dennis Leary is clearly not the person for this very important position. Lenny Klaif is a hard worker and will do what is best for the city.
oh, no, not the perpetually jobless and homeless Dennis Leary again!?
the city clerk is nowhere near an administrative assistant! and it’s not even close to a City of Bell salary. it’s certainly in line and comparable to what other city clerks get.
Suzina & Dennis, Yes!!
Mas trabajos.
We have been paying City Clerk Strobel $87,669/year for what is basically an adminstrative assistant’s job?
Nothing gets done because the City Attorney of 30 years isn’t doing anything to write ordinances that will give us the tools to remove the BLIGHT, time for him to go, along with a bunch of other that get nothing done in this town. Carol Smith has been on council for 8 years and is running again, what will she do in the future that she couldn’t have done for 8 years. We need new blood. Carlon Stroble and Lenny. Paul got in and something got done quickly.
By the way, winter is almost here, where is the shelter for the bus people? Why does the City have a tarp on the roof. Who ever runs public works needs to be gone. If you think that BLIGHTED buildings are out of town slumlords. Look at the BLIGHTED City Hall Building!
Why didn’t Anon. 5 run for a Dirty Thirty?
Okay..before anyone mentions it…boy did I not spell check my last post!!
I hope I’m reading this wrong, but…it seems like the above article is descriving “shuffle board” ala Ojai style.
A goes to D and D goes B etc etc etc….
Every “candidate” as listed says “they” are for more interaction with the citizens, yet…where is the info on what is to happen to the old Ford dealership building, and the old old one too!! How about that little many years now closed gas station near the “Y” and…the bowling alley..(the longest running blight and eyesore in the city so far?)
Oh yea..the old gas station…that just gets weeds removed now and then??!!!
Just a few thoughts running around.
How about as a suggestion: the OVN runs an “update” as to what is really going on with various items that need attention, rather than putting in another crosswalk to the tune of thousands per crossing, or another traffic light to add to the already huge traffic mess. Or..gulp those stupid “shallows” to the tune of thousands!! You get the picture!!