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

"Ojai is a place that people come to from around the world to get away from Subway." That is absolutely correct and bears repeating. Previous posts have also stated that BOTH residents and visitors are here to GET-AWAY-FROM-SUB-WAY. That could be our mantra.

I had to read that a few times, I couldn't believe one would travel from eh town to go to a $400 a night Inn then go out for Subway. Unbelievable. ?Does the Inn promote vendors in Ojai?

Theres no accounting for taste.

Theres no accounting for Joe.

Hi Dana and Alyeska, I did not understand your post. I think you may have misunderstood the previous posts. Or can you clarify?

I've got a better mantra for us:

Subway Joe Has Got To Go!

Hi Suza: I believe I misunderstood as you say. I thought the writer was saying after the flight, coming into Ojai had an over priced Sub, but I see it was still the food(menu) upon the plane the writer was referring to. Thanks for pointing that out.

So strike my No accounting for taste remark. Apparently there is plenty there. But I'll keep my no accounting for Joe.

Subway Joe Has Got To Go!
I like it

This is Dennis. Happy Earth Day.

I have been criticised for being too wordy, even for highjacking the Post. I thought Suza's idea about an ordinance limiting posts to 800 words, or Lisa's amendment to much less than that were jests, but now I am not so sure. If these are serious concerns, they smack of censorship and/or the inability to digest information that exceeds modern media's short attention span capacity.

There are serious issues on the table which Evan highlighted above: chains and trucks. These cannot be handled with a TV consciousness. Sorry, but I must do my best to get to the truth, and take as much space as is necessary.

I will indentify myself at the top so those of you who have me pegged as a blah, blah on and on'er can skip what I have to say.

I have reviewed the comments on chain stores and intend to continue the discussion here on this most recent post. I commend the Post for keeping this item on top because it can quickly get buried in what I view as less important concerns to the community.

Many people wish to avoid politics, especially when it strikes close to home. It's a nice protective device but not one I need or think useful in saving Ojai, as most of us say we do. It's downright painful to face the truth about what is happening to Ojai, and many do not wish to expose themselves to that painful reality.

At the moment, Subway is on the front burner, and Joe DeVito is taking the heat.

I have learned that I must look deeply into what happens politically here in Ojai because very often things are not what they seem.

Kenley notes that "Mr. DeVito was alone in the room on their vote." Spk wonders if it wasn't a "talented bit of political kabuki," adding it might have been a "bit of theator." Anonymous wonders whether "the council's 'moratorium' was worth the paper it was printed on," and if "DeVito may be the fall guy."

I raised the question of who first suggested the moratorium. Rae Hanstad was quoted in the OVN a week beforehand as floating the idea.

This is important for the public to know. For example, did Joe express his opposition to the moritorium to anyone before the meeting. If he did, then those persons knew beforehand that the moritorium was dead, if they also knew that Sue was going to miss the meeting.

In other words, the public needs to know precisely how the moratorium meeting came to be, and why. The record shows Rae Hanstad talking about it about a week before. Were other council members aware of it? Was the manager and the attorney? Were they communicating with each other and why?

Was the moritorium part of an overall strategy? How does it relate to Kenley's initiatives and to the arrival of Subway? When did the manager or any of the council members first learn of Subway's intention?

On this Post, Rae quotes the California Government Code Section 36937 on ordinances to explain why a 4/5 vote was necessary. Interesting. She was apparently ignorant of Ojai's municipal code about chains but took the time to look up the state code on ordinances. Did she talk to Mr. Widders or Mr. Kersnar about it or was this her own research?

Does Rae's response really answer the question first posed by Chain Free Ojai regarding why a 4/5 vote was necessary? Rae quotes from the state code on ordinances. But we are talking about a moritorium.
The code Rae references is about ordinances, not moritoriums. Are we talking about the city passing an ordinance about moritoriums?

I looked up the Ojai municipal code online but unfortunately it does not seem to include the index. It seems to me there is something in the city's ordinances that speaks to moritoriums but I'm not sure. I intend to go to city hall tomorrow and look in the book myself.

It's important to distinguish ordinances, initiatives and moritoriums. Mayor Smith had trouble confusing them at the moritorium meeting. We need to know the precise law on moritoriums and how that relates to an ordinance to answer Chain Free's question.

There is now confusion also on the chain free ordinance itself. There is Kenley's ordinance which is now awaiting a title and summary. There is the city's which it says it is preparing, based on Kenley's it appears. And then there is the one Mr. Widders says he can make stronger.

If there is any truth to a city strategy to co-opt or weaken Kenley's initiatives, causing confusion would be part of it. Anonymous asks if "the city is planning a competing ordinance." He or she had previously stated that "Kenley's initiative is the only thing on the table." As I said earlier, Kenley has done all the work so far and it looks like the city is trying to get in on the action and take the credit for it.

As Anonymous says, "The city drafting their own now looks like just another SLAPP--an attempt to silence what the people are doing," and "The last thing we need is Widders telling the public that he has drafted a 'stronger ordinance'".

Spk adds that "The city will drag its feet and stall the whole time. They will probably even draft a competing, weaker initiative that they will tout as stronger."

As I told the council on Tuesday: "I hope you've had a change of heart but I don't trust you." The jury is still out. If the city has truly changed and does really want to restrict chains, then I will acknowledge that when it is proved.

In the absence of city input on this Post, I am forced to speculate on the evidence we do have. Rae has participated but only to attempt to answer the question about the 4/5 vote...

...and then she made this statement just before quoting the California Code about ordinances: "Thanks, Tyler, for the clarification."

What clarification? There was no clarification that I can see. There was certainly confusion. Whether it was purposeful is another question.

Here's the background. I said that at the moritorium meeting I recalled someone on council saying they didn't know there was no ordinance protecting Ojai from chains. I thought it was Rae. Rae apparently communicated by email to Tyler that my statement was a misstatement. Tyler then gave Rae's actual statement after apparently reviewing the tape. Tyler said that Rae had pointed out Dennis' misstatement [to Tyler?]. Tyler then said that Dennis had misinterpreted Rae's statement. Dennis then replied that he did not believe he misinterpreted Rae's statement. Tyler then said: "I'm done with this conversation. I was in ongoing (email) dialogue with Rae, which I have already detailed. No, she did not askk me to correct anything whatsoever...What you attributed to her was in quotes, and it wasn't what she said." Tyler further remarked that he was "Trying to open dialogue, where ONLY tension exists now. In retrospect, I shouldn't have typed a thing, because this is what I get for it."

I think it's a good thing Tyler typed what he did because he asked for dialogue, and thanks in part to him, we now have this dialogue. I am not particularly tense about it. Who is tense?

I am going to tease apart this dialogue because it is instructive about a pattern of communication that is preventing us from really connecting.

I have to go to a meeting so I must continue this later.

Thanks to all for participating. This question of chains is part of the process of saving Ojai which many of us say we want to do. I want to save Ojai from chains and over forms of misdevelopment. To do that I need to connect in a meaningful way with those of you who also want to do that. My posting here is my contribution. I thank Tyler and the Post for the opportunity to help save Ojai. I am convinced the only way to do that is to get at the truth and use that truth to actually save Ojai. I believe there are some dark truths under the surface which are not going to be pleasant to look at but they simply must be faced, or Ojai will not be saved.

Day Six: Has Mr. Widders returned the ballot title and summary for Kenley's initiatives yet? If not, why not?

Even odds bet he's going to take all fifteen days if he returns it at all. We just need to be ready to jump on it on the 24th. Publish on the 25th, and file notice with Carlon on the same day. Collect 800 - 1000 signatures by the 30th, then we get to wait another 30 days before the signatures are validated. After that, the city can vote NOT to adopt the initiative and they will be forced to call a Special Election. That takes 88 - 103 days. All this time, the city will do NOTHING. There won't be an election until September--Mark my words.

Sean,

what needs to be prepared prior to the 24th so that we literally can "jump on it" as you suggest? i'm talking about petition forms already printed, etc. We can have some people ready for shifts outside of Starr and other (non-chain) places in the days immediately following, including the Farmer's Market on the 29th.

Unfortunately, can't make the actual petitions until we have the title and summary. There are very specific guidelines (including font size and margins) that must be adhered to prior to collecting signatures. I will begin working on creating the petition form this week so we can plug the title/summary right into the document.

Also, it is imperative that the people getting signatures follow specific guidelines. ALL signers MUST be registered to vote in the OJAI CITY LIMITS. No other signers count, and errors can slow the process. However I fully expect the city to take the full 30 days to validate our petitions regardless.

Evan, glad to see you care about this issue. Thought you were only concerned with national.

A thought here, even though Ojai is small and news travels fast, and though we our talking about this issue, and thanks to The Ojai Post, many others our aware of this issue, would it still be prudent to advertise or have The Ojai Valley News donate some space for announcements of where and when people can go to sign the petitions to speed up signature gathering process.

Lots of subterfuge at special meeting-from Sue
Horgan's absence so not to have a quorum, to Widders offering to rewrite inniative using stronger language. Their deception grows,not in effectiveness,but exposes
desperation that so many are watching and intervening.Not a good move by Devito but a telling and transparent one-how one minority vote can lead the city council around by the nose when vested interests are involved. Sure shows where the hearts and minds of city of Ojai are truely
located.Time for a change of course and leadership-akin to when the entire council voted a SLAPP to stop the inniative process. PL

Tyler- great post. A great article. And there are scores of them out there.

Ojai has been lucky to receive this type of free promotion in the media over the years. In the marketing world this is called "branding". If Ojai were paying an advertising or marketing agency to develop its brand, one of the main things they would do is develop a "key message" or "positioning statement" for Ojai, akin to a company's elevator pitch.

Ojai is on the brink of tarnishing it's brand. Once Subway goes in to downtown Ojai, as well as having Jersey Mike's on Ojai Ave., we will no longer be able to say we're a town without cookie-cutter chain stores. The journalists will be losing their hook as well.

Dear Tyler:

I want to inform you that one of your metally ill followers defaced our building last night.

If destroying property is the object of your crusade against Subway, then I suggest that you use the following as your slogan:

WE HAVE TO DESTROY IN ORDER TO BUILD!

Wow Ernie.

"Mentally ill followers"?

I'm sorry to hear your building was "defaced." Not to excuse the vandal (if it even was vandalism - what did they do, put a pen to the Subway sign?), but you defaced your own building and our whole town by bringing Subway in. Who do you think you are anyway?

Acts have consequences. While we all might wish that vandalism will not result from your gratuitous act of defacing all of Ojai with a Subway, the reality is that is among a number of consequences you unfortunately have to expect. You should also expect your existing tenants to want out of your building - who wants to be next to a Subway in Ojai? You should also expect the neighbors of your building to be very unhappy with you. You should also expect that people will protest, picket and boycott the Subway, making your other tenants I am sure very unhappy. Ultimately, the market will speak, and you may find you will suffer the consequences of more vacancies, more costs in dealing with the fallout from your hubristic decision, and yes, as much as we all hope otherwise, even "vandalism" to your building.

Don't get me wrong. I do not mean to excuse vandalism in any way, and frankly, count me as someone pissed at you for provoking it in Ojai, if that is indeed what happened. All I am saying is, don't be like George W. Bush in Iraq, shocked at the "criminals" resisting his occupation and unable to connect the dots between his own actions and the entirely predictable consequences, as unfortunate as those consequences are.

Now, what is really crazy is that you would blame this on Tyler or readers of the Post. Sir, you need help.

Two of the aspects of my life that I love are the fact that my job takes me all over the world, and second, that when I come home, I come home to Ojai. I think the thing I like the most about Ojai is the people, followed by the beautiful unique setting. One thing that makes it unique, is that fact that the stores and restraunts are unique, not exactly the same that one might find in LA, Detroit or Maimi.

Last summer I had the pleasure of traveling to Frankfurt, Germany. It was the first time I had been there in 24 years, but even after all that time, I could still find my way around town. The old city center, know as Roemer Platz, was a one of my hang-outs when I was there in college. I remember a fantastic Beer garden, Kondetori (bakery) and coffee house in Roemer Platz. When I returned this year, I found that those fantastic establishments were gone. In there place was a McDonalds, a Starbucks and yes - a SUBWAY. Oh joy, travel all the way to Frankfurt when I could stopped in Flint Michigan! (and had a V8) Pretty soon the proliferation of such American institutions will eliminate the need and desire to ever travel anywhere.

I want to keep Ojai unique, though my libertarian leanings make me shudder when I hear about another ordinance or law. I don't think chain stores should be outlawed. If someone does not want any store for any reason, they should not go there. Personally I will always prefer places such as, but not limited to, Ojai Coffee Roasting, Seafresh, Jim and Robs, Azu...etc and opposed the the national homgenized alternatives.

David Byrne

this thread is off the main page, but i want to say thanks to Sean for acknowledging my interest in a local issue.

i'm not all about national issues, although in many ways they're easy to know about and respond to. local ones can get a little more tangly and require more energy (for me) to figure out a response to, but i CERTAINLY recognize that the kind of sustainability, justice, and Peace that i value and work for MUST begin right here at home.