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

Wow. I hope the man is okay. On reading this, I have made many assumptions about the nature of the event and who might have participated. I think of myself as fairly open minded and I am not proud of my assumptions. I hope that this is not gang-related, that it is a blip on the screen not an indicator of the direction our town is heading in. And I hope that, if my assumptions are accurate, this event does not escalate the tensions beteen Mexican-Americans and Caucasian-Americans sharing life in the Ojai valley. Please take this opportunity to go greet your neighbors and, if you don't know them, go meet them.

Yikes! Isn't that the second shooting on Drown in less than a year? We used to live on Drown, and friends of ours just moved in to "upper Drown" (North of Grand).

Very glad the family is safe... we heard the helicopters circling overhead this afternoon on Eucalyptus St.

OVN has some photos...

Yes, it's the second shooting in this neighborhood in less than a year. The last one was on Oak near Montgomery.

We're still pretty shaken up over here. The Crime unit just left about a half hour ago.

of course it's gang related. Why else would someone get shot in broad daylight in front of their own house? I agree with you, Heather - everyone should make an effort to know their neighbors. We know these people well enough to know that they're really nice people. The man who was shot has a young son - about two years old. I'll be breathing for him tonight and hoping that he makes it. He was shot in the chest. It's so so so sad. Although I am also struggling with the urge to go over there and ask them what the f*!@ is going on.

It was an incredible community response on Drown Street. Within about 15 minutes of the shooting I'd spoken to all my neighbors, who'd spoken to all their neighbors. One big phone tree up and down the street.

Dear Neighbors:

The recent violence in front of my house has me calling upon my principles of non-violence and pacifism. Can I really respond as my heros Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Aung San Suu Kyi would respond? Don't I have two small children that I need to protect? One of the reasons we were fine with living on Drown in the first place is because it is one of the few diverse neighborhoods in Ojai.

The problem of gangs is so deep and complicated that it cuts deep into the core of our society. I am not a firm believer in the criminal justice system, especially for young people, and yet that seems to be the easiest response. But Ojai is a community, a small community, we should be able to address this as a community. In recent years I have worked as a volunteer for an organization called Victim Offender Reconciliation Program. It is a program that brings together young people who are offenders and have them sit down at the same table with their victim. The results of this program are truly amazing. I believe in the inherent good nature of people and know that we can come up with a positive response to this violence.

I have started my research, and found several leads for us to explore.

• Hating Gangs Not the Answer
• Buddha and the Gang bangers
• To Address Gang Problem, Abandon Ageist Ideas
• Beloved Community
• Cease Fire
• Five Core Concepts
• Barrios Unidos

As I find more resources, I hope to share them with you here. Though I have anger, I also have compassion and love. I know these people, my neighbors. I want us all to be safe.

Thank you for reading.
Kenley

We heard that Hugo is in intensive care, but is doing well.

Thank you for giving him a name.

I'm interested in the language used by authors here: "we were fine with living on Drown" says to me it was acceptable to you, not that you embraced the opportunity to live in a diverse neighborhood.

"It was an incredible community response on Drown Street." said to me that people went to the family of the shooting victim, reading further it sounds more like community gossip. For the second time in this thread, I hope I am wrong. I hope I am misinterpreting Leslie's words.

I expect that I will be attacked here for being divisive. Honestly, that isn't my intention. My intention is that we all question our assumptions, our values, and, if we find it, our internalized racism.

I am glad that Hugo is doing well, and I hope the neighborhood is feeling safe to you all.

You lefties are all alike! Always trying to coddle the criminal element. Wondering if you might have "internalized racism". Get over it! It was gang related and that's all there is to it. The only answer is to arrest the scumbags and deport them it we can or jail them if they're suposed to be here.

This is shocking news. What a horribly sad day for all of us. Our safe little city is in jeopardy. The answer to the graffiti and gang violence is simple. "Nip it in the bud." Ojai must NOT sit back and allow this. ZERO tolerance! It is well within our power to turn this around. Starting NOW. Case in point: In Singapore, the punishment for stealing is having one's hand cut off. Burglary rate is 0%. 1 or 2 examples is probably all it took.
Wake up, Ojai.

I agree. It is simple (in theory). Regardless of the basis and causes of gangs, it is still virtually indiscriminate violence with little concern for anyone's rights. I do not ant these "scumbags" in my neighborhood. I have 0 tolerance and anyone who is gang affiliated should be removed one way or another. A message needs to be sent to these sick evolutionary failures. They need to be punished to the full extent the law allows.

Just an update to say the police have taken someone into custody who is suspected to have been involved in the shooting:

http://ojaivalleynews.blogspot.com/2007/02/drown-street-shooting.html

GOOD. Will it be a slap on the wrist or can we run him out of town? ZERO tolerance is the answer...The bottom line for me is: How dare he (they) jeopardize you, me, our families, our peace and freedom and our little bit of heaven, Ojai? It sucks!

Its all about law and order. I'm glad they caught the scumbags who shot somebody. Now it's time to interrogate their frineds and families and round em up if they are involved.

Yes, I agree that the young men who are guilty of this crime should be arrested, brought to trial, and possibly rehabilitated. And yes, I am a 'lefty' too. This may solve our current incident, but the problems are much bigger than what happened on Friday afternoon.

The real question, in my opinion, is what do we do to prevent this from happening in the future and how, as a small community, do we want treat the people who live in the Ojai Valley. We all are interconnected and we all are responsible, to some degree, to what happens in Ojai. Problems of violence, gangs, poverty, broken homes, joblessness, etc. are systemic problems in our nation and our world. I think some of the models mentioned in my comment earlier are worth exploring for Ojai, as it relates to gangs. There is no easy or a quick fix; if there was, we would probably already be doing it.

Heather,
Your recent post has us both feeling hurt and angry. Perhaps your intentions were pure, but they did come across as divisive and not productive at this time. Whatever your intentions, it'll likely be a long time before our "neighborhood is feeling safe" again.

The residents of Drown are in crisis and are grappling with a very serious and dangerous crime. Take a moment and close your eyes, imagine the face of your neighbor across the street. Now, imagine how you would feel if s/he was shot in the chest a mere 25 feet from your own front door? Imagine your front yard taped off for hours as part of the "crime scene." Can you imagine it? We can hardly imagine it and yet we lived it on Friday afternoon. Victims of violent crime include the witnesses.

When we open our front door, look out our front window, or we see a car drive by, we're reminded of what happened on Friday afternoon. It doesn't even feel right to hang out in our own front yard. Let's be real. No, we don't feel safe. No, we weren't gossiping. There was a genuine concern being expressed up and down this street during a real crisis. Several neighbors rushed over to help assess the situation before the police and paramedics arrived. We spoke to Hugo's sister and his parents. One neighbor called Nordhoff to reach his younger brother. We were all pooling together what we saw and heard to help the investigation.

A critique of our words may be important for a debate, but now isn't the time.

Drown Ave is our home, we love living here, and we have good neighbors. We embraced living in a diverse neighborhood when we lived in San Francisco for 9 years, one block from the projects and three blocks from the Fillmore District where we often heard gunshots at night. We embraced living in a diverse neighborhood in Fresno when we chose to live "south of Shaw Ave." which is the racial and class dividing line in that town. Ojai isn't a very diverse population. We choose to live on Drown Street because of many factors - some within our control and some not.

We hope that feeling safe will come with time.

Kenley and Leslie,

I am sorry. I've never had a shooting across the street from my home and I don't have children. I have lived in places that were less safe than my Meiners Oaks haven and I have known people directly affected by violence, including gang and drug related violence. Now is not the time for the semantic points I made.

I am sorry.

Heather

Heather, thank you for responding. Apology accepted.

Something to consider: In colonial America, the stocks were used primarily to induce shame. Hawthorne described the shame punishment of wearing clothing or emblems designating the crime in the Scarlet Letter; (hmmm, the gangs may welcome this) What can be done so that shootings like Friday afternoon in Ojai just don't happen...

Paradise lost?
As a former Ojai resident who tries to stay up to date with Ojai goings on, I am amazed that drive by/gang related shootings don’t happen more often in Ojai with the proximity to Oxnard and LA etc. These kinds of incidents were bound to happen in Ojai sooner or later (sadly). Since leaving Ojai I have lived in some very violent larger cites and I realize how desensitized I have become to the every day violence and conversely how safe Ojai is/was. Now that I have children my wife and I have made conscientious decisions not to live in such areas even if that means commuting. I find it depressing that this kind of thing has seeped into my little home town. I admit I don’t know where to place the blame. Gangs? Illegal aliens? MTV? Rap Music? Poor parenting? Regardless it seems there is plenty of blame to go around, as evidenced by all the blog entries. When first reading of this shooting my cynicism came through, and I said bitterly to myself “welcome to the rest of America Ojai”. Then I thought to myself, Ojai isn’t like the rest of America, and that it is a special place. I think that anyone who has lived elsewhere will admit that Ojai is a pretty special place. After doing some reflection as to what makes Ojai special, to me at least, I kept coming up with the sense of community that I felt growing up in Ojai. Such as being able to walk the streets at night and feel safe, not locking your doors, knowing about 5 people at every (Non chain) establishment you would walk into and I could go on and on. It seems as though Ojai is becoming less and less special as the years pass, and that’s is not due to the kind of merchants that wish to open up businesses in Ojai . I hope that is just my cynicism and not the stark truth. If Ojai is to remain a safe special “Mayberry” type community then perhaps this could and should serve as a wake up call to get to know your neighbors and renew efforts to keep Ojai a safe little community. How? I don’t claim to know, but perhaps enough open minded neighbors getting together and concentrating efforts could get things back to where they used to be in my little hometown.
Just my two pesos.
Skip Allen

A WAKE UP CALL...!
Very nicely put, Skip. But I'm afraid Ojai is going to hit the "snooze" button one time too many...
p.s. Now that the initial shock is over, look at how few folks are putting in their two pesos...I think we can all tend toward looking the other way and hoping unpleasant things will have disappeared by the time we peek back through our fingers.

I heard sirens today and wondered if there had been another shooting or stabbing....not the kind of consciousness I want to have to have....Leslie, Kenley, other Drown Street residents...been thinking about you and wondering if there is anything that I can do for you or with you....Any news on Hugo?

Thank you, Heather. Very thoughtful.

We heard from Mayor Carol Smith that Police Chief Norris will speak to this issue at the beginning of the city council meeting tomorrow night. Tues. 27th at 7:30. City Hall.

We've heard that Hugo was moved out of intensive care and is doing well.

Regarding one of my earlier posts: It's Hugo's older brother who has the 2 year old. Originally, I thought he was the victim.

Where is City Hall, please?

City Hall is at 401 S. Ventura Street. Coming from the Post Office, take a left on Ventura (either the first or second street after Signal - I'm sorry I can't remember exactly).

I WONDER... I overheard a conversation recounting a stabbing (gang related)which took place several years ago and the police's reaction to it...They were "ON IT". They did not hesitate, immediately investigated, and hauled 12 suspects away. I hope this is accurate. That's the way to prevent future problems.

A THOUGHT: It has been shown that the immediate removal of graffiti is essential in preventing more. If it remains, rival gangs respond with their spray cans next to the original graffiti and in other locations.

MORE importantly, it is gang rivalry in action; brewing to the boiling point and certain to escalate! This is what it's all about-drawing attention!

I began thinking about the great amount of press devoted to this area recently. Some quick research proved me out. According to Newslibrary.com (since Dec 2006)The Ojai Valley News cited gang activity 19 times and graffiti 27 times!

This seems elementary, but if attention is the goal,why give it to them in the form of the newspaper everyone reads. That can only be feeding the source of the problem.

Hello to my former neighbors on Drown. I heard from my brother who attended Hugo at VCMC about the shooting. Hugo has been in a lot of trouble in the past, but I heard he is making a big effort to clean up. I hope so. For I have talk to him a few times and he has a more than a good chance to prove himself worthy.
I was there when the last shooting occurred on Oak, with connections to two families on Drown and Waite.
I remember the unease that brought to our neighborhood. ?What do you do about it?
Personally I believe we need to start holding families accountable for their children behavior from the beginning. I always get yelled at for this belief but, I think if you Barney Fife the situation, that is "nip it in the bud", involving the whole family, parents will make sure they know where there kids are, who they are with, make sure that homework is done. Knowing all the while that there freedoms are at risk. ?Is it so harsh to make parents responsible and accountable?
In the end it comes down to choices. I choose to be involved in my kids lives and I expect a lot from them and they know it. They get mad at me but they usually say thanks-just not right away.
Well if I manage to piss anyone off, I don't want to hear about it-the kids wore me out today.
?Leslie, are your kids C and M?

HOORAY! Good ideas! Thanks!

What shooting on Oak!? When?

Thanks for the comment Tina.
Mary, I can't say what month the oak street shooting occurred. I moved here (Philadelphia) in Sept. 06. I want to say it happened within the few months before that.Two people were shot, minor wounds. One of the victims is related to people on Drown and Waite, no connection with Hugo's family. That's pretty much all I can say.
Then there was the shooting at Drown and Waite about the same time. That one involved a car and people on the street-no one was hurt. There has been a lot of trouble coming out of two homes on Waite. Ask any cop.
Another solution I saw when I lived in Sacramento: People got together and started law suits to force home owners to pay damages for their actions degrading the neighborhood. Their is nothing like holding people accountable by way of their wallet and home. Some neighborhoods turned around due to those suits.
TTFN Dana and Alyeska

The OVN for 21 Feb. 07 has an article about Ojai gang problems, listing several instances, including the Oak St. shooting.
It turns out that the victims were not victims at all-but perpetrators shot by a fellow Mexican who for some reason didn't want to be robbed by these two kids who's parents, I guess, chose not to teach them a Work ethic, not to mention a few other things.
It's about choice.
?What path are you choosing for your children and how are you preparing them for it?
?Are you willing to make the sacrifices to get them there?
Not everything goes as planned, but the idea is to get our kids (and ourselves) as ready as possible for life's opportunities as they come up and jump in.
?Will someone please turn me off? bla bla bla

Boy, you are up early (4:31 am)and ready to go! Good for you. Can you channel some of that energy towards implementing your good ideas?

SHOOTING SUSPECT FAILS TO APPEAR IN COURT;
Cops search Ventura residence, arrest another man
From the Ventura County Sheriff's Department
Narrative:
On 2-23-07, Jimmy Villalpando was arrested for attempt murder after shooting a motorist in the City of Ojai. On 2-27-07, he posted bail and was released. Villalpando failed to appear for a court appearance on 3-1-07 and a warrant for his arrest was issued.

On 3-10-07, The West County Gang Unit went to 285 W Harrison (in Ventura) in an attempt to locate Villalpando. When Gang Officers knocked on the front door, Rene Alamillo ran out the rear door carrying a loaded handgun. Alamillo was confronted by deputies maintaining a perimeter and a short foot chase ensued. During the chase, Alamillo dropped the gun and he was apprehended a short distance away. Allamillo, a Ventura Avenue gang member, was found to have an armed-and-dangerous fugitive arrest warrant for violation of his parole terms. He was also found in possession of a small quantity of methamphetamine.

The West County Gang Unit is tasked with gang enforcement in the unincorporated area of Ventura County.

Officer Preparing Release: Sgt. Schierman

Kenley, where did you get this info. I've not seen it in the papers, maybe I just missed it. I did learn about the no show at court, but no info on activity and this arrest in particular.

Dana