ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

I was there. Phew! A long haul. During the trucks topic, I was struck when Lenny Klaif spoke, laying out in three minutes what none of the councilmembers could wrap their hands around through the entire hour and a half or so of that topic. I am sure I'm not the only one who was thinking that one of those seats ought to be traded to Lenny right now.

Same for Dennis Leary's comments. Whatever some may think, those meetings at least would be more interesting if Dennis Leary were on the council side of the table. (And I suspect we'd be seeing more progress on the things that are important.)

Re the affordable housing topic:

Jere Kersnar started with a 45-minute powerpoint presentation on the concept of supply and demand. He gave a timetable for addressing the topic of Ojai's upcoming housing element update: data collection by late June, then development of a revised draft Housing Element by December. (The city is required to adopt a new housing element in 2008.) Until 2008, his prescription was: do nothing. Local government has a very "limited role".

Evaluation: A third-grade level analysis of supply and demand as it theoretically relates to the concept of housing prices in a free market. And a complete failure as a presentation on the subject of affordable housing in the City of Ojai. (Query whether Kersnar even knows what the concept of affordable housing is).

The public then spoke. Three minutes at a time, Kersnar's presentation was panned as the waste of all our time that it was, and real ideas and proposals were raised, one after the other.

This topic clearly is not going away.

As the meeting progressed, I couldn't help being reminded of the old story of the blind men and the elephant. Remember that? One feels the trunk and says its a snake. One feels the ear and says its a bird. One feels the leg and proclaims its a tree.

The elephant in the room tonight was the stifled initiatives on affordable housing, which contained six specific proposals that were almost all raised by one member of the public or another as a proposal to consider to address affordable housing. The blind councilmembers proclaimed most as good ideas (with the notable exception of anything to do with renters or rent stabilization - papers shuffled and note-taking pencils stayed on the table anytime that subject was raised!). But the council studiously avoided any mention of the initiatives. Kersnar never mentioned the initiatives in his presentation - he described the genesis of his presentation as the council requesting he prepare a presentation, as if they did it out of the blue. The councilmembers all averted their eyes every time a member of the public mentioned the initiatives.

One could not help but think how much further we would be along this path if the city had permitted those initiatives to proceed in the normal course. At the very least, perhaps our councilmembers would have been able to recognize the elephant by now.

I think the best suggestion that came out of the affordable housing discussion was that in 30 days the city could pass an ordinance requiring any new developments to provide a certain amount of low income rentals. Does anyone know the who spoke about this at the meeting? This seems like the best hope to salvage something out of the Mallory Way project, since I doubt it would be stopped completely. There could also be something in the ordinance about requiring the developers to provide "same rent" units for those displaced by the development. Is there anyone out there who would work on this with me?

I believe that was Tom Bostrom who suggested an ordinance (he's listed in the phone book). Also, I think the City Manager or City Attorney had said it could be done within 60 days. Either way, with some pressure, things could move quicker than mid-2008.

To: Jere Kersnar, Ojai City Manager

“The number of zoning regulations that “feel” inappropriate may be indicated by the number of requests for variances we receive; variances should be reserved for the truly unusual case. Therefore, if we are granting a good number of variances (and we have), it may be an indication that our regulations are not meeting our needs.” -from your “quilt report”

Maybe laws that “feel” inappropriate to the people who break them could be “indicated” by the number of crimes that take place. Drug possession, a lot of people are going to jail for it, should we make drugs legal? No. Robbery, theft, corporate crimes, there have been a lot of those, shall we make them legal? No. Murder, rape, kidnapping, they happen all the time, should we make them legal? NO.
Your logic does not make sense. Zoning regulations are there to protect the character of the city, not to lessen the number of variances granted by the city.
You talk of quilts, touchstones, etc.; maybe you should give up politics and start writing children’s books or maybe take up quilting. The imagery used in your “report” is hackneyed and stilted. Ojai is a small, progressive community, but I don’t think anyone who lives here feels warm and fuzzy about what you are suggesting.
If you have your way, soon there will be strip malls up and down the east side with more franchise food stores like Jersey Mike’s. Stop trying to make the city something it is not.
People like you overestimate their importance, Jere. You have ONLY been here a short time, in the capacity of another political appointee who is hell-bent on doing something “big.” When your contract is up, you will move on to another city, and try to put your misguided ideas into practice somewhere else, leaving the residents of Ojai to gaze upon the ruin you have caused.
Your vision is not the people's vision.

"My own opinion, formed with many years of planning/land use experience, is that the picture is much more complicated than it might appear. Nonetheless, I agree that too many formula businesses, developed in the wrong way, would undermine Ojai’s success, namely its uniqueness. We (and our predecessors) have done a good job in creating a commercial area that residents and visitors enjoy."

Actually, Jere, Ojai's success will be undermined by ANY formula business, developed in any way. Chain stores/franchises are dangerous to a small community like Ojai. With the exception of stores that have been here for five or more years, all franchise retail and restaurant applications for business licenses should be outright denied by the city. You, Jere, have not created anything more than a poor image of yourself.

"The rapid surge in housing prices that has pushed many Ojai homes toward the upper end over the last several years now threatens the wholeness of Ojai’s community character. Some people have expressed the fear that we are quickly moving to become an enclave only for the rich, who will be the only ones who can afford the high housing prices."

Ojai is an enclave for the rich, and they are the only ones who can afford to buy a house in Ojai. In California today, the affordability index shows that, depending on whose numbers you look at, only 13 to 20 percent of the population can afford to buy a median priced home in California. The minimum household income required to buy a median priced home hovers around $100K. Although supply and demand affect price, they do not determine it. The interaction between market participants determines price in the housing market. Greedy realtors and mortgage brokers also determine price. The latter being the cause of the recent spike in housing prices. Every realtor in CA was telling their prospective buyers, "you had better buy now, or you'll be priced out of the market forever." They were telling their sellers, "let's ask some ridiculous amount because someone will pay it in this market." Mortgage brokers broke records in interest only loans, qualifying people for money that they could not afford. Now that housing prices are declining, many of those poor fools are upside-down on their mortgages, and soon the foreclosure rate will be at an all-time high.

"The reason Ojai and many other places have an affordable housing problem (high prices) is that more people want to live here (demand) than there are housing choices available (supply)."

Your argument that the lack of affordable housing is a consequence of success, and that no one is to blame is flimsy and reeks of haute bourgeoisie. High real estate prices do not have anything to do with the lack of affordable housing. The city is fully to blame. In your vast experience, Jere, I'm sure that you have encountered cities that have affordable housing programs. The city of Ventura provides incentives to builders to offer a certain number of units at prices limited by a negotiated contract for a certain number of years. There is an application process, during which the applicant's income and resources are examined to determine eligibility for the program. The qualified applicant then finances the reduced sales price, using all available sources of help, federal, state, and local. The city therefore creates opportunities by leveraging builders who apply for building permits with incentives to allow everyone(even the poor, Jere) to enjoy the joys of home ownership.

"The foregoing discussion leads to the second point, which is that no one is to blame for the lack of affordable housing. That lack is an inevitable consequence of our economic system, and for the common and understandable desire of communities to become enviable places to live. Rather than acknowledging the negative consequences and looking for ways to minimize them, some people spend a great deal of energy trying to affix blame for this unwelcome situation. But it is far better, I believe, to understand the market forces that have created the problem, so that we might consider methods to influence the market in ways that constructively address it, rather than assigning blame to municipalities for forces largely outside their control."

It is up to the city to create affordable housing supplies. Market forces affect housing prices, not the supply of affordable units! To say that it is out of the control of a municipality is a cowardly statement of untruth. In any case, if the city is not responsible for creating more affordable housing opportunities, who is? And please do not villainize people who question your infinite knowledge and experience. This is America, Jere, not 18th century France, although the working classes are still taxed heavily to pay for foreign wars and a rising national debt.

"Since municipalities don’t control very much related to supply, and virtually nothing related to demand, it is hard to argue that we are responsible for the high level of housing prices."

Housing prices are not the issue here! A working affordable housing program is the issue. No one is saying that the city is responsible for the level of housing prices. Everyone knows, however, that it is the responsibility of a competent city manager to try and develop an affordable housing program that works! Please realize, Jere, that it is YOUR job to figure these things out. Please contact the city of Ventura and ask them for some tutoring in the administration of an affordable housing program.

In your "report," you provide three examples of solutions that you apparently believe will not work. Your "dead man walking" attitude is not going to get anything done! Why don't you try coming up with ideas that you believe will work, instead of espousing a very pessimistic view of the situation, and blaming the city residents for complaining too much. In my opinion, Jere, you enjoy making excuses.
It seems that you have no idea what affordable housing is or who is responsible for it. Go back to school, Jere.

This was by far the most productive grass roots assembly the council could
of not asked for. Hopimg one of us can get the
tape put on YouTube to
revisted the many solution
oriented ideas from the public. Despite the attempt
to wear down everyone, the
only success the council and city manager got was
a more determined and results priented group.
oriented

It was kind of amazing that they never once mentioned the lawsuit they lost against Jeff. The fact that they have to make their housing report to the State by July of '08 might have been reason enough to hear that ridicules report by Mr. Kersnar, but agenda number 6 about chain stores can only have been in response to the initiatives. And pairing them as they did is a dead giveaway that they were hoping to simply gloss over the issues and be done. Also, the fact that there was no communication to the community that the issues from the initiatives were even up for discussion goes to prove that the city council would just as soon do nothing about these important issues. The turnout last night will serve to give them pause. That said, I was struck by the issue of the trucks. This is a classic NIMBY(Not In My Back Yard) response at which Ojai is very good. The most interesting thing to me was seeing the "Cato Institute - http://www.cato.org/" set and the free market, republican-leaning people like Kersnar and the majority of the city council get all progressive and interested in regulation and perhaps even, yes, ordinances when it came to the issue of big dump trucks barreling through Ojai from mines in the back country. I wonder why they can't seem to see the adverse effects of big capitol in the form of formula businesses, primarily restaurants but also some retail, on Ojai. The issue is really one and the same. Big capitol seeking to externalize costs and ruthlessly seek profit to the detriment of what Mr. Kersnar calls a "Real Town". This scalar myopia needs to be remedied and I look forward to advancing Mr. Kersnar's and the City Council's education level on economics and market forces beyond ECON 101. A nice set of class analysis glasses should do the trick.

Beyond all that, I would like to commend Carol Smith on her emerging leadership skills. Now if we can only get her to recognize that the people in this town really do have good ideas and that they often coincide with her own professed liberalism, we might get somewhere.

BTW, what's up with Horigan's preoccupation with Der Governor? And how 'bout DeVito's praise of that sack of crap Galleghy.

Last night’s meeting was a trip to the twilight zone.

Regarding the truck issue, I was dumbstruck by Joe DeVito’s forceful call to action, that of writing a futile letter of complaint, spiced with edgy language like “shall” to replace whatever word he felt was less forceful than “shall,” which DeVito repeated ad nauseam like some municipal mantra. “Shall” – ooh, that hurts – “shall” will definitely get those trucks turned around.

I had the same impression as anonymous regarding Lenny’s brilliant appearances at the podium. It was simply painful to be reminded that only 76 votes stood between the council we observed last night and one which would have included someone as smart and articulate and willing to act as Lenny in place of DeVito, who was busy dithering his truck letter.

Kersnar’s latest PowerPoint extravaganza was excruciating. Up to that point, I would never have thought it possible that a human being could have taken longer to explain the concept of supply and demand than my macro economics professor. He burned up nearly his entire presentation explaining why housing is expensive in Ojai. Brilliant. Though I think what we were all looking for was not the reason why housing is expensive in Ojai, but instead some creative ideas for what can be done about expensive housing in Ojai. Kersnar simply turned to the next page in Adam Smith’s playbook and reported that it is necessary to increase supply, yet the city can’t afford to increase supply, so we have to “do the best we can.” Swell.

Numerous citizens followed the presentation with trips to the mike with specific suggestions to fill the gaping crater left by Kersnar’s presentation. These included suggestions made in Jeff Furchtenicht’s affordable housing initiative, a topic that council members seemed incapable of acknowledging.

All in all, a pretty strange experience. My takeaway impression from the meeting is that Ojai’s citizens are beginning to move ahead of their leadership in terms of creative ideas as well as the will to execute them.

Tuesday's council meeting was not just a trip to the twilight zone, it was a back to the future twilight zone, where nothing is quite what it seems, a sort of Alice in Ojai Wonderland.

I'm beginning to see that the figures behind the dias are not real people. They are actors, reading from a prearranged script, written by their handlers. Little is real about what happens in the council chambers. It is mostly pretense, designed to appear real. The reality behind the scenes is the Ojai power complex, not their puppets on strings.

What we see is a back to the future repeat of four years ago. The Citizens to Preserve the Ojai had 450 members; they produced petitions by the thousands; spoke at meetings and in the press; took the city to court; won every battle and lost the war. Los Arboles was the symbol of that time as Mallory is today. The CPO was humiliated and routed; members left town in disgust; and the organization dissolved.

The Ojai oligarchic power complex is untouched and unchanged. It doesn't live in the same world or play by the same rules that most of us who use this post do. What we do doesn't matter to them; we are simply irrelevant; we don't show up on their balance sheets; we're invisible somewhere far below the bottom of the bottom line.

The council and their two hired hands are lackeys of this power complex, either consciously or unconsciously or both. That is why it is important to distinguish personalities from complexes. As individuals, the council members may be good people, and even likeable. I personally like them; it's like watching a shakespearean play, very enjoyable, but it's not real. The real reality is the complex that controls them, and that's always hidden in the background, because it draws much of its power from secrecy. That's why open, direct democracy is such a threat to them.

The pencils stop (as noted above) and the eyes glaze over when democratic initiatives are mentioned. The only way to have any effect on the complex is to forward citizen initiatives and bypass the complex, if possible. As noted, the council will not even acknowledge the fact of the DOES initiatives, much less apologize. The complex slappsuited the DOES because the initiatives were a threat to its power. The courts went along for the ride, because they are in the same complex car.

The slappsuited citizen initiative would have made Mallory difficult to pass, a direct challenge to the developer-banker-government complex that runs the city. It's a matter of power: "The commoners are not going to tell us what to do. If Mallory is stopped by initiative, it will set off a domino effect, and give them the idea they can actually do something. This has to be nipped in the bud." And so on.

I will give an example. The first thing out of the mouth of Carol Smith on Tuesday was a warning to the commoners that the council could not respond to their comments during public communications. This is a false interpretation of the Brown Act, which I have repeatedly brought to their attention over the last few months. I will attach the full text of my address Tuesday to the council on this matter of public communication, which directly contradicts what Mayor Smith said.

In other words, our mayor was not being honest. She knew or should have known that the council can respond briefly to questions or comments during public communication. Why would she deny, either consciously or unconsciously, the truth. Because part of her is a well programmed robot that runs on cue; and public communication is the essence of democracy, which is directly opposed by the council's hidden handlers.

The preset programming of the power complex is so overwhelming in the chambers that you can cut it with a knife. It affects everything the council, counsel, and staff say; and especially what they don't say. They won't talk about the slappsuited initiatives, Mallory Way, or anything of subtance. They love to fill the verbal space with fluff; go on and on for hours like Kersnar, or demand useless facts like Horgan, or stats like Smith, or word pick like DeVito's "shall's". They are not real people, who can stand up to the complex. They can't see that they are part and parcel of it.

The devil is in the details because he (the complex) can use details to avoid, deny, subvert, co-opt, and spin any near approach to general truth. A good example of this is in law, where the general plan's mandate for a "small town character" is ignored. The details of law are used to co-opt the general intent.

I will here attach my talk to the council on public communication, which as I said, the power complex avoids like the plague, and tries to suppress, like Mayor Smith attempted to do. Notice that at the meeting, the council did exactly what the mayor said they could not do. If there is anything I have accomplished, it is changing the council's former practice of simply stonewalling the public during public communications; and that was done by knowing and using the power of law.

PUBLIC COMMUNICATION 1/9/07 CITY COUNCIL

"I want to talk about public communications. We need to lay to rest once and for all the misconception that public servants cannot participate in public communication, according to the Brown Act. Clearing up that misunderstanding will help democracy.

"The Brown Act states that communication between the public and public servants should be brief, which is put into practice by the three minute rule. If three minutes is the rule, then you too, could each take three minutes to respond.

"I think the fear is that public communication could turn into just that--public communication, and that can get messy and long. The desire to control, save time, and avoid confrontation results in the convenient but false belief that you can't respond during public communication.

The planning commission's agenda reads: 'Matters raised at this time [public communication] may be briefly discussed by the Commission, and will generally be referred to staff and/or placed on a subsequent agenda.' That statement is omitted from your agenda and should be reincluded, if at one time it was dropped.

"What about proper noticing? To support mistaken policy, you have argued that you can't respond because someone who wasn't present because a matter was not agendized and noticed would have their rights violated. By that argument, there could not be any public communications because public communication is precisely for matters not on the agenda.

"If anyone is really concerned that a non-agendized matter might be discussed in their absence, he or she should attend the meetings, or have a proxy. In an active democracy, more citizens would attend all meetings. In any case, there is the safeguard that no action can be taken on matters brought up at public communication. This should allay the fear of anyone who might miss it.

"It may be irritating, taxing on our time, and challenging to our relationship skills but public communication could be a sort of mini town hall meeting. Three minutes twice a month is not much but over time it could result in better understanding and democracy."

I'm sorry about the length of this, and doubt that many, if any, read it all, but it's important for me to get it out on the public record somewhere. As I become more of a thorn in the side of the establishment, it removes me as an irritant.

I appreciate the above comments. I've read them a couple of times, and intend to go over them again. They are important as a paper trail and public record.

What impressed me most at the council meeting was the brilliant, clear, and persuasive remarks by so many speakers. If I have the time and stamina, I'll get the tape, and transcribe some of the gems. What a contrast between the two sets of truths that were advocated. There a chasm that separates people from their government, but truth will out if enough of us come out and speak our truth.

My theory about power complexes is partly psychological. I am not a psychologist, and may be in error, but the theory does seem to hold a lot of water when it comes to understanding why such strange behavior goes on with people who are supposed to be leading us. It's time for the followers to take the lead.

To: Jere Kersnar, Ojai City Manager

“The number of zoning regulations that “feel” inappropriate may be indicated by the number of requests for variances we receive; variances should be reserved for the truly unusual case. Therefore, if we are granting a good number of variances (and we have), it may be an indication that our regulations are not meeting our needs.” -from your “quilt report”

Maybe laws that “feel” inappropriate to the people who break them could be “indicated” by the number of crimes that take place. Drug possession, a lot of people are going to jail for it, should we make drugs legal? No. Robbery, theft, corporate crimes, there have been a lot of those, shall we make them legal? No. Murder, rape, kidnapping, they happen all the time, should we make them legal? NO.
Your logic does not make sense. Zoning regulations are there to protect the character of the city, not to lessen the number of variances granted by the city.
You talk of quilts, touchstones, etc.; maybe you should give up politics and start writing children’s books or maybe take up quilting. The imagery used in your “report” is hackneyed and stilted. Ojai is a small, progressive community, but I don’t think anyone who lives here feels warm and fuzzy about what you are suggesting.
If you have your way, soon there will be strip malls up and down the east side with more franchise food stores like Jersey Mike’s. Stop trying to make the city something it is not.
People like you overestimate their importance, Jere. You have ONLY been here a short time, in the capacity of another political appointee who is hell-bent on doing something “big.” When your contract is up, you will move on to another city, and try to put your misguided ideas into practice somewhere else, leaving the residents of Ojai to gaze upon the ruin you have caused.
Your vision is not the people's vision.

"My own opinion, formed with many years of planning/land use experience, is that the picture is much more complicated than it might appear. Nonetheless, I agree that too many formula businesses, developed in the wrong way, would undermine Ojai’s success, namely its uniqueness. We (and our predecessors) have done a good job in creating a commercial area that residents and visitors enjoy."

Actually, Jere, Ojai's success will be undermined by ANY formula business, developed in any way. Chain stores/franchises are dangerous to a small community like Ojai. With the exception of stores that have been here for five or more years, all franchise retail and restaurant applications for business licenses should be outright denied by the city. What happened in Carmel???? You, Jere, have not created anything more than a poor image of yourself.

"The rapid surge in housing prices that has pushed many Ojai homes toward the upper end over the last several years now threatens the wholeness of Ojai’s community character. Some people have expressed the fear that we are quickly moving to become an enclave only for the rich, who will be the only ones who can afford the high housing prices."

Ojai is an enclave for the rich, and they are the only ones who can afford to buy a house in Ojai. In California today, the affordability index shows that, depending on whose numbers you look at, only 13 to 20 percent of the population can afford to buy a median priced home in California. The minimum household income required to buy a median priced home hovers around $100K. Although supply and demand affect price, they do not determine it. The interaction between market participants determines price in the housing market. Greedy realtors and mortgage brokers also determine price. The latter being the cause of the recent spike in housing prices. Every realtor in CA was telling their prospective buyers, "you had better buy now, or you'll be priced out of the market forever." They were telling their sellers, "let's ask some ridiculous amount because someone will pay it in this market." Mortgage brokers broke records in interest only loans, qualifying people for money that they could not afford. Now that housing prices are declining, many of those poor fools are upside-down on their mortgages, and soon the foreclosure rate will be at an all-time high.

"The reason Ojai and many other places have an affordable housing problem (high prices) is that more people want to live here (demand) than there are housing choices available (supply)."

Your argument that the lack of affordable housing is a consequence of success, and that no one is to blame is flimsy and reeks of haute bourgeoisie. High real estate prices do not have anything to do with the lack of affordable housing!! They are the impetus behind an affordable housing program!!!The city is fully to blame. In your vast experience, Jere, I'm sure that you have encountered cities that have affordable housing programs. The city of Ventura provides incentives to builders to offer a certain number of units at prices limited by a negotiated contract for a certain number of years. There is an application process, during which the applicant's income and resources are examined to determine eligibility for the program. The qualified applicant then finances the reduced sales price, using all available sources of help, federal, state, and local. The city therefore creates opportunities by leveraging builders who apply for building permits with incentives to allow everyone(even the poor, Jere) to enjoy the joys of home ownership.

"The foregoing discussion leads to the second point, which is that no one is to blame for the lack of affordable housing. That lack is an inevitable consequence of our economic system, and for the common and understandable desire of communities to become enviable places to live. Rather than acknowledging the negative consequences and looking for ways to minimize them, some people spend a great deal of energy trying to affix blame for this unwelcome situation. But it is far better, I believe, to understand the market forces that have created the problem, so that we might consider methods to influence the market in ways that constructively address it, rather than assigning blame to municipalities for forces largely outside their control."

It is up to the city to create affordable housing supplies. Market forces affect housing prices, not the supply of affordable units! To say that it is out of the control of a municipality is nonsense and absolutely untrue. In any case, if the city is not responsible for creating more affordable housing opportunities, who is? And please do not villainize people who question your infinite knowledge and experience. This is America, Jere, not 18th century France, although the working classes are still taxed heavily to pay for foreign wars and a rising national debt.

"Since municipalities don’t control very much related to supply, and virtually nothing related to demand, it is hard to argue that we are responsible for the high level of housing prices."

Housing prices are not the issue here! A working affordable housing program is the issue. No one is saying that the city is responsible for the level of housing prices. Everyone knows, however, that it is the responsibility of a competent city manager to try and develop an affordable housing program that works! Please realize, Jere, that it is YOUR job to figure these things out. Please contact the city of Ventura and ask them for some tutoring in the administration of an affordable housing program.

In your "report," you provide three examples of solutions that you apparently believe will not work. Your "dead man walking" attitude is not going to get anything done! Why don't you try coming up with ideas that you believe will work, instead of espousing a very pessimistic view of the situation, and blaming the city residents for complaining too much. In my opinion, Jere, you enjoy making excuses.
Get a clue as to what affordable housing is and who is responsible for it. Your ignorance is embarassing to the city! Educate yourself before you speak!

Sincerely,
Ed Fitzhenry

I'm not sure which is worse, the psuedo-intellectual rambling from that windbag Leary or the socialist dribble from the rest of you. I never knew we had so many crackpots in Ojai. What a town!

By the way Evan, how many employees do you and Rains provide with health insurance? Thats what I thought........

To Bill: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=935607276

In debate, the ad hominem attack is the last resort of the debater who has neither facts nor arguments remaining in his favor.

Thanks Clinton for helping confirm that your side is out of facts, argument and ideas.

I thank (Bill) Clinton for the compliments. I admit to being a pseudo-intellectual and a windbag. I do not wish to be associated with intellectuals since they have done more harm than any other class of pretenders, in my opinion. An aboriginal has more intelligence, as a rule, than "the best and the brightest," and their military-industrial patrons. As for being a windbag, I'd rather be a balloon filled with hot air than an unfilled bag on the ground. The view is great from the higher elevation.

I take an interest in the Ojai council for its entertainment and instruction value. Ojai is a microcosm of the nation; the council is a small scale example of national leaders. For example, the voters were against the war, but did that make any difference to the national oligarchy? No, it proceeds with its agenda as if the people were non-existent. The Ojai constitution calls for a "small town character." Does this make any difference to the Ojai oligarchy. No, it proceeds as if there were no general plan, and that the people who spoke so eloquently at the council meeting did not exist. The council, staff, and lawyer go through the motions of supporting a small town character, but it's a farce. They act with impunity because in their view, the people voted them in. And it's true. The majority of Ojaians and the council go together like hand in glove. But, ah, that minority; there's the rub.

Mallory Way is the key to unravelling the fixed stares and glazed eyes that appear when it, or Frostie or the DOES initiatives are mentioned. These, and other subjects of substance, are taboo to all but the highest levels of the oligarchy.

I'm going to append here the talk I gave to the planning commission on 1/3/07 about Mallory Way. At the council meeting, Sue Horgan said the usual obfuscation about not receiving the plans for Mallory yet. This may be technically true because the plans were sent to the planning department, and not to the council. But to pretend unawareness of the importance of the city in fact receiving the new plans is part of the strategy of non-action necessary to smooth the way for the development to go through. The most logical explanation for the council's suppression of the DOES initiatives is that it is a favor given to the developer. Passage of the housing initiative would have made it more difficult for the Becker project to pass. The hands of the Ojai oligarchy are all over the suppression of the initiatives. Nothing can be proved of course, because the modus operandi is secrecy and unstated or read between the lines double talk.

TALK TO PLANNING COMMISSION 1/3/07

"The Becker plans are back in the Ojai planning department and would demolish Ojai's Mallory Way cottages. In my opinion, you should not pass this project, but if you do, the council should bring it to themselves on appeal, but will they? [Mr. Kersnar stated later in the meeting, that according to the application, it will come to council.]

"The Becker project violates Ojai's general plan, mandating a 'small town character,' violates state mandates to preserve historic resources, violates city responsibility to protect low cost housing stock, and violates the conscience of any reasonable person.

"Mallory used to be called Troy Lodge or the Outpost. Mallory is Ojai's last stand against unsustainable overdevelopment, and out of place money speculation. Fort Becker, deceptively called Bungalows, is another Los Arboles, only ten times worse, because the Becker project will destroy an historic resource, and thereby an economic resource, plus low income housing.

"Jeff Becker, brother to planning commissioner Troy Becker, brings a Troy horse to the gates of the former Troy Lodge, in the form of 'mitigation.' Mitigating in itself admits Mallory is an historic resource but tries to slip the mitigation horse through the Ojai gates anyway by fooling the public and giving you a phony excuse to pass it. Integrity is one requirement for an historic resource, and Mallory's integrity should be preserved in its entirety.

"Look this gift horse in the mouth. State guidelines provide for mitigation only when destruction of a resource cannot be avoided. The destruction of Mallory can easily be avoided by admitting it is a landmark, which it is, and cancelling the project on that basis. If it weren't for a biased council, Mallory would have been an official landmark a long time ago, and a developer would have to maintain Mallory as it is.

"Mitigations were designed to preserve sites and buildings for the public good, not for private financial gain. If you allow this project to pass, you are accomplices in defrauding the public of a precious resource, and betraying Ojai into the hands of short sighted money interests which are in conflict with the long term interests of Ojai.

"If you want to know what Mallory is about, follow the money. In a company town, money is the crown jewel. It's time to stop passing the buck to the same deep pockets. It's time to make love for people, not money, the jewel of Ojai.

"You did a good job of scaling down Politoville. Fort Becker is a bigger challenge because it needs to be cancelled entirely."
__________________

To get to the bottom of the affordable housing issue, of which Mallory is a symbol, and the chain store issue requires pseudo-intellectual acuity and windbag alacrity. For intellectualization, read the Nation or the National Review or the mainstream pundits. If I want to know what's real, I listen to real people speak at the council meetings; and conversely, watch our leaders dance around what they bring up. The best show in town is every other Tuesday in city hall chambers.

What I think is needed is to go back, way back to fundamentals. It's possible to do that in Ojai because Ojai is small. If I can grasp immediately, not intellectually, what is really going down in Ojai, it will open up the national and world pandora box; all those evils with hope at the bottom.

"Bill",

my post to which you are "responding" no longer appears, but i appreciate the clarity that you've helped me to find. i will remember in the future to put a nice bold SARCASM ALERT at the beginning of posts in which i'm not being literal.

for the record, Rains is a great (if mildly expensive for me) store, and is very much a part of Ojai's rich history and present.

I would like respond but I'm late for my "Ojai Power Structure" weekly conspiracy meeting. We are trying to pave Libby Park. Wish me luck..........

American Heritage Dictionary
sar·casm (sär'k_z'_m)
n.
0. A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.
0. A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.
0. The use of sarcasm.

American Heritage Dictionary

Noun
witty language used to convey insults or scorn; "he used sarcasm to upset his opponent"; "irony is wasted on the stupid"; "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do discover everybody's face but their own"--Jonathan Swift

WordNet -
glib

adjective
1. marked by lack of intellectual depth; "glib generalizations"; "a glib response to a complex question"
2. having only superficial plausibility; "glib promises"; "a slick commercial"
3. artfully persuasive in speech; "a glib tongue"; "a smooth-tongued hypocrite"

WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University

American Heritage Dictionary
na·ive or na·ïve (n_-_v', nä-)
adj.
0. Lacking worldly experience and understanding, especially:
Simple and guileless; artless: a child with a naive charm.
Unsuspecting or credulous: "Students, often bright but naive, bet—and lose—substantial sums of money on sporting events" (Tim Layden).
Not previously subjected to experiments: testing naive mice.
Not having previously taken or received a particular drug: persons naive to marijuana.
0. Showing or characterized by a lack of sophistication and critical judgment: "this extravagance of metaphors, with its naive bombast" (H.L. Mencken).
Not previously subjected to experiments: testing naive mice.
Not having previously taken or received a particular drug: persons naive to marijuana.

n. One who is artless, credulous, or uncritical.

Dennis - those are truly eloquent and right on comments. I appreciate every word. Keep it up, you do Ojai good.

I just posted my thoughts on chains and housing on the thread about the same. The thread is listed at the top of the home page under top stories, and at the bottom of the home page.

I mention this because of the importance of the topic, and as a follow up to the meeting of minds last night concerning Ojai politics, a formative citizen group, and the issue of housing and business and other related topics which fit under this city council open thread.

Dennis, I appreciate your diligence. Douglas Rushkoff has an excellent article on a phenomenon that has been occurring on 'threads' called 'sock mobs'. I am inclined to believe that you as well as others might enjoy it: http://www.rushkoff.com/2007/01/sock-mobs.php

Thanks for the reference to Rushkoff. To me, this medium is rather shallow, except for some saving graces. 1) The Ojai Post is local. I know the owner, and many of the posters, so I can easily separate the wheat from the chaff. 2) It is a community of sorts, and reflects the diversity of a community, nuts and dolts included. 3) It is one more tool in the search for truth, which I surely will get little of from mainstream communication. 4) It is a powerful tool for change because of its freedom of expression. The twisted elites have not yet been able to figure out how to suppress a democratic internet, although I'm sure they're trying. 5) Even with a sock mob, there's a level of intelligence; at least they know enough not to buy entirely into the sheeple silent majority herdlike mentality.

A recent editorial of the OVNews as an endagered
species can be seen as an omen on further dismantling
Ojai. In a related piece the writer asserts that the public has calmed down about Polito project replacing the Ojai Frostie-not accurate.A symbolic loss has happened to a small town- kids and others have lost a gathering spot that doesn't resemble yet another chain store franchise, as well as a safe place to gather and relax. It has been the practice of city council to look back on these kinds of looses to our communuty as mistakes that
cannot be reconciled-(sorry but that's progress.) The larger mistake is the loss of small town charm that attracts visitors and gives locals a sense of ritual in a town that feels small still, like reading news from the town newspaper and taking comfort in truth and accuracy. With the Frostie, locals have'nt forgotten or moved on to the next road side attraction project being built. More like they hold a candle and send out prayers and healing that there won't be anymore deaths to Ojai that could have been avoided,as well as attending city council meetings to remind staff of their duties to safeguard what here that is still worth preserving.What if city council put as much dedication into preventing chain franchises and protecting small town feel from over-development
and big buildout,developer interests, as they did on the gravel truck increse? Same quality of life issues, environmental protection that can galvonize community quickly.If the city were serious about addressing these issues, that would be effective. It took a citizen lawsuit and a court battle to put them on the table for discussion, only after the elections,at that.
Pete Lafollette, Ojai