Klaif Supporters Request Recount
Strobel, citizens back request to verify
final City Council vote tally is correct
By Logan Hall
The ongoing saga of the race for Ojai City Council continues as supporters of Lenny Klaif and a group of citizens led by Pat McPherson, including elected Councilwoman Carlon Strobel, have officially requested a recount of City Council votes.
The trouble began when Klaif noticed an irregularity in the polls after the election. County officials say they found a clerical error, fixed it and Klaif’s loss by four votes to Carol Smith was accurate. To those who signed the recount request, that’s not good enough.
“The results may be accurate,” said Strobel, “but I don’t feel confident about this. I see one candidate ahead by seven votes, then next day, the other candidate is 52 ahead. Every vote represents a citizen. We need to make sure everything is done properly.”
Klaif says he stands behind the decision of McPherson and the others. “There’s no question that they screwed up the vote,” he said. “These people don’t trust the explanations the county is giving.”
McPherson says that when he spoke with the county they assured him that they made adjustments after uncovering the error, and everything was OK. Like Strobel, McPherson isn’t relying on the county’s word. “They made a mistake and it was certified anyway,” he said. “It made me question everything they do.”
One of the problems facing the group is the inevitable cost of a recount. McPherson says an official recount could cost more than $15,000. The question that he has is whether or not the county will be willing to pay for it. “Here we are as citizens, and we’re having to request a recount and pay for the thing,” he said. “We are paying for someone else’s mistake. Everyone that signed for the recount thinks the county should pay for it.”
Strobel who has worked for the city for 20 years, 10 of that holding the position of city clerk, agrees with McPherson’s reasoning. “The county is being asked to do a voluntary recount,” she said. “We are their clients, and they need to stand by their product.”
McPherson further explained that this wasn’t personal. He wants to feel confident that the results have been reached without error. “In my opinion we didn’t have a fair election,” he said. “This is not a Carol vs. Len issue. The issue is about our election process. If we don’t fix this, no one can trust the results.”
Isn’t this Kliaf’s fifth attempt (in five elections) at getting elected. Maybe it’s him…
Is it too late for Anon.5 to request a recount?
Pat, could you look into that. It appears to be a vexing anomaly.
Youre a sock puppet? Hmm I overheard a conversation about a sock puppet once.
I and ONLY I know all of the deep, dark secrets that stink and fester in the slimy folds and crevices of this evil and putrid Valley! I will allude to these horrific truths and claim to have the ability to name names but I will never come across with anything! Why? Why?! WHY??!!, you might ask?
Because I’m a full-o-beans (and something else) sock puppet, that’s why.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHcoughcoughcough……..
I find it offensive anyone would question my integrity or others for signing the request for re-count. I would have done it if Carol Smith were behind, or anyone else. I just happened to be keeping track of the daily tallies and noticed the anomalies and conveyed what I found to the public. Believe me, this is not how I wanted to spend my time, and I was unable to spend quality time with family and friends this Thanksgiving holiday.
It should be noted that Len Klaif was NOT one of the signers of the re-count request. Some that signed felt Len Klaif did a poor job campaigning which explained his loss. But they signed the re-count request because they believe the process is in question.
If anyone is interested, my motives for the recount were put on the Ojai Post today. I honestly believe there have been anomalies we should all question. If you disagree, say why, but don’t question my integrity. Also, you should hope me and others like me will be around if you are not treated squarely.
Klaif supporters, take your losing medicine like men. It might cure your whining.
Irregularity in the polls this is only the tip of the ICE BERG Start melting the rest of this beast the flood waters that could result can in fact turn this Valley upside down . Question is will those who know the truth sacrifice what they have for the community as a whole?
how much do they make, somebody list titles and salaries, we should have that info
ADMIN NOTE: Council Member Pay & Compensation
City Council Members are paid a stipend of $475 per month. They also receive $30 for every meeting they attend of the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Board. The RDA Board meets about twice a month, and rarely more often than that. In addition, Council Members are entitled to receive the following benefits: medical, dental and vision insurance, medical insurance for eligible dependents (the City pays 80 percent of this cost), life insurance (a $30,000 policy), and eligibility after five years of service to join PERS (the Public Employees Retirement System) and receive a pension upon retirement. The City will also match any funds they contribute into a retirement account, at up to 3 percent of their monthly salary (a maximum benefit of $14.25 per month).
Mel, it does not matter who you voted for. It is not who casts the vote that is important, it is who counts the votes that is important. BTW, I voted for Paul Blatz only (to answer your straw poll question).
oh Mel, stop acting like such a pud.
I can’t seriously believe anyone would have voted Carol over Klaif. I mean really, lets have a show of hands here. I voted for Klaif, how about you Donna? Anonyous, ???? ?? ? , Grandma Winnie and Mr. Johnson? Oh I forgot, most of the people tht post here don’t even live in Ojai so stupid question.
I agree with Mr. Johnson. Carlon is a person of integrity and belongs on the council with Lenny.
Mr. Johnson, you and Carlon Strobel have been feeding at the public trough for more than 30 years and walked away with an “unseemly” retirement package. Now the former public servant is a politiican, a game changer, and no one enters that without getting soiled. It just started much sooner than one would have expected.
If Carlon Strobel is guilty of anything it’s her unswerving dedication to that which is seemly. As our City Clerk that was basically her job to make sure procedure was “on the straight on narrow”. This is her world view. I don’t think she’s on anyone’s side except that which is “proper”. Call me naive, but knowing each and everyone of the players I believe she would do the same for anyone–because it’s the right thing to do. I’m glad she’s going to represent us because frankly there has been too much “loosy goosey” and “playing fast and easy” with the peoples’ rights, money and the way city hall has been run by those in charge. She’s doing what she does best, calling people out on the carpet for not doing the job right. The woman is “public servant” in the true definition of the term; something we’ve forgotten because we so often don’t get to experience it. If there is a doubt in the way the County conducted the election then the vote should be recounted–15k is a cheap price for democracy in action. Thanks Carlon as our public servant for looking out for us. Pure and simple!
Perhaps it is political naivete’, but Ms. Strobel’s involement in the request for the Klaif recount is unseemly. Ms. Strobel you are now councilperson elect and your participation in the details of a recount could be interpreted as an unholy allegiance to Mr. Klaif that goes beyod the norm. Additionally should Ms. Smith hold on to victory you have possibly tainted that relationship and the voters that supported Ms. Smith. Please take a step back and let the process continue without you.
Yawn. Voting is for idiots.
I voted for Suza (former mayor and NHS cheerleader) Go honey!!
Hanging chads again!!!!! If you want a recount, pay for it yourself. By the way, saw the website that lists the saleries of the Ojai “Management/Council”. I am appalled!
First of all, how many ballots were submitted that were eligible to vote in the Ojai City Council election?
Some 6,800 votes were cast for the six candidates, but this does not mean there were 6,800 ballots because one could vote for up to three of the candidates running for the office. So the number of ballots would be considerably less than the number of votes.
I won’t guess what it might be, but regardless, how much work would it be to set up four tables, one each for:
those that didn’t vote for either Len or Carol
those that voted for Len
those that voted for Carol
those that voted for both Len and Carol
and recount the votes with some sort of independent committee overseeing and / or participating in the recount?
And this has to cost $15,000??
That’s a half year’s pay for me. And I certainly do quite a bit of work for this amount. Quite a bit more that it would take to do a recount. And 15K for counting several thousand ballots? It would take what … a day? How much did it cost the County to count them wrong in the first place? And then badly rectify it. Where is the accountability?
Can someone from the County of Ventura Elections Division adequately address this?