Chains, Drains, and Getting the Lead Out
A Report from Tonight's City Council Meeting
The Ojai City Council met tonight per their regular schedule (second and fourth Tuesdays of every month, at City Hall), and i arrived just a few minutes before the published start time of 7:30pm -- just enough time to fill out my speaker card and find my seat.
After most in the room pledged their allegiance under god, the first order of business was Public Communications. i rose to ask the Council to issue a proclamation for the City's recognition of and support for the International Peace Day on September 21 and the local efforts being made to celebrate it. Council agreed to add this as an agenda item to their September 11 meeting. Dennis Leary had submitted the only other card, and used his 3 minutes to submit a Formula Retail Ordinance of his own drafting, using what he considers to be the best of the original City draft, the Planning Commission's recommendations, and the 600+ signature Citizens' Initiative drafted by Kenley Neufeld.
The Consent Calendar (a-h of rather mundane items such as payment of warrants, approval of past meeting minutes, and authorization of projects) was approved in total in one motion, and we leapt right into the Public Hearing on the Ordinance for Formula Retail Businesses which had been held over from the Council's August 14 meeting. Since that time the Planning Commission, in a meeting still celebrated for its integrity and length (just over three hours), rejected the City staff's proposed ordinance, which prominently features the controversial Historical Commercial District.
(Get caught up on the whole issue - complete with maps - at the Ojai Post's Chain Stores Resource Page)
i'm certain that someone more well-versed on this issue and with more logged Council Chambers time than myself will flesh out the subtleties and projected outcomes of the hearing (i'd keep an eye on the OVN blog and the Ojai Post), but here are the main points as i saw and heard them (not necessarily in chronological order):
• Councilmember Rae Hanstad urged a combined meeting of the Planning Commission and the City Council, framed as a public "workshop", to get everyone on the same page on the issue. She used the analogy of the Council and the Commission each painting a house from opposite ends and hoping to have the same color of paint when they meet in the middle. (During public comment Dennis Leary suggested that while the analogy is good, it's possible that they're painting the wrong house.) The workshop idea was never explicitly rejected, but did receive some scrutiny from both sides of the table as to its necessity. As it stands now, the Planning Commission will be made aware of the Council's desire to be present at their September 19 meeting (most of the City Council will be out of town during the Planning Commission's September 5 meeting), which may be billed as a workshop.
• Councilmember Sue Horgan iterated that while there are differences regarding the specifics of how to protect our City, it's important to recognize that we all share the goal of protecting our City's integrity and character. She personally has some specific questions and issues with the proposals that she didn't go into in depth, but wanted assurance that they'd be addressed before their next meeting.
• Mayor Pro Tem Joe DeVito talked for a while, and honest-to-goodness i could not understand a thing he said except that he moved to suspend further Council consideration of the Formula Retail issue and to let the Planning Commission continue their task of drafting a proposal to replace the one they rejected from the City. The rest of the Council agreed, and Mayor Carole Smith confirmed that the City Council was indeed honoring the Planning Commission's recommendation to reject the HCD ordinance.
• The public comment period featured the likes of developer Ron Polito (E' Bello), Ernie Salomon (Matilija Plaza), Dee of Noah's Apothecary, Kenley of the Citizens' Initiative, and a few other community members. Most of the comments were unprepared, but all were impassioned and fairly articulate.
• Kenley expressed concern over the considerable time that was elapsing while local government churned slowly to produce a policy, and was urged several times by Council to honor "his" 600+ signatories and continue the process if Council had not adopted a suitable proposal by the October 19 deadline (at which time the Citizens' Initiative gets submitted as a ballot measure requiring a special election). Joe DeVito warned that such an election would drain the City to the tune of $50,000.
After the public hearing was officially closed, we heard "reports" from Council Members, which i gathered to be a slightly more casual and free-form sharing period. From this we were treated to two gems:
• Fresh from a Sanitation District meeting, Rae urged us to be aware of which things belong in the trash versus down the drain. Turns out those little stickers on your apples and pears literally inhibit the processing of our waste water.
• Carole made us aware of the frequency of death by lead poisoning in our local condor population, which has been carefully restored of the past 25 years. Apparently the scavenging animals can eat a significant amount of lead in the form of bullets in dead deer, prompting recent exploration into lead alternatives such as copper. As a conscious and voting public in a condor area, we are urged to be aware of this issue...particularly those of us who are hunters.
Following the oral report by the City Manager, Mayor Smith invited a Captain from the Fire Department (i missed his name, and i apologize) to address us, at which time we were informed that the Zaca Fire is considered 95% contained, though a threat to Ojai still exists. He praised the tremendous work of the many firefighters who'd worked on this blaze, many of whom in recent weeks were our local Ventura County crew.
Police Chief Norris was invited to speak next, and he informed us of a CalTrans-sponsored guardrail project to be taking place between Casitas Springs and Meiners Oaks (and further into the Lockwood Valley area) for the next week which would require some traffic regulation including occasional reduction to one lane. The project is scheduled from 9am to 2pm through Friday. No mention of recently deceased long-time Ojai transient Victor Keith Stolz, who was found dead two weeks ago in front of the public library. The death's been ruled as accidental, but some aren't convinced.
i walked home through the warm evening bathed in the light of the post-eclipse moon, pausing at the wide open doors of the Wesleyan Church where a brass-heavy band was rehearsing a catchy jazz/swing tune. i could hear it all the way to our nice, socialized, non-chain Post Office.
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Comments (5)
Thanks, Evan, for that interesting report. It was great to have you at the meeting, and speaking for peace right up front. Ojai can claim a major victory insofar as the HCD idea was flatly rejected and for good reason. Interestingly, Carol Smith placed the blame for the whole debacle on Katrina and herself who one day just happened to notice an old map of Nordoff and came up with the brilliant idea of combining history and commerce with the Historic Commercial District. If you believe that story, I've got a bridge to sell you. The point is, I believe, there has to be a scapegoat, and it sure as hell isn't going to be the attorney or staff or council who have managed to waste thousands of taxpayer money and time, and now have come up with yet another draft which we have yet to see. Remember, they get paid and we don't. They can't lose financially no matter how long this thing drags out. -- There definitely is a huge elephant in the room nobody wants to acknowledge. I don't see it clearly yet either but we're making progress as several people noted. -- I think the star of the show was Maria Thompson, the young woman with the baby in sling who has been showing up lately for both council and planning meetings. She sees the elephant and the emperor without his clothes better than anyone. It could be her baby who is the real master of the situation. She alluded to the elephant when she mentioned the high rents that prevent small business people from having a chance. She also spotted the elephant when she referred to the folks of the stockholder class in Delaware or New Jersey who don't care a bit for Ojai and may end up ruining it. -- I never before saw so many high end property owners present and speaking: Polito, Salomon and couple of others. They are clearly in panic stage, using scare tactics such as the empty stores and not being able to get loans and insurance. The latter really lit up my brain cells as an alert to what is really going down. The bankers and insurance folks are driving this inflationary bubble and it's going to eventually burst, after they've got their money out. I note with interest MT's thread here on the 911 banksters' trick but unfortunately I don't have time to comment; I've got to catch a ride to LA in a few minutes. A few fat cats were let out of the bag last night and I hope to connect the dots inside my own head. Gives me something to think about today in LA. -- I really appreciate people like Evan and the others who showed up last night. It is such a learning experience when the people speak. The truth is in ordinary people's experience and when you put it all together, we're getting somewhere. Like I said, I see real progress being made now at city hall. It's frustrating as hell but the work is necessary. The real work of saving ourselves takes place or not in the halls of power whether here in little ol Ojai or in Washington. -- Another recollection was of Mr. Kersnar being all smiles as a lone citizen extolled the virtues of the HCD and chains such as Trader Joes and Whole Foods, and the benefits of climbing the corporate ladder. I think he and Mr. Kersnar are barking up the wrong ladder but I've got a ways to go in understanding just why that is. -- I was up all night watch the red moon eclipse a couple nights ago; I think she's got the answer; she's given me hints but not the whole story yet. In short, Ojai is all womam: you can't live with her and you surely cannot live without her. Figure that riddle out and you've untied the Gordian knot. Thanks to all in this crazy quilt town of small town characters and big city slickers. It's some wonderful Shakespearean comedy-tragedy, historical comedy tragedy, oh well you know the line. God to run...
Comment #1 Posted by: Dennis Leary | August 29, 2007 05:34 AM
Thanks for covering the meeting, evan! Good writeup.
Comment #2 Posted by: Tylerr | August 29, 2007 06:13 AM
Yes, Evan, thank you. Informative AND Funny at the same time. Now I won't worry if I miss seeing it on TV tonite.
Alas, I see DL still doesn't believe in pausing to create a paragraph break. Too bad, I spotted something interesting about an elephant in the council chamber as I scrolled down. It reads like a long exhale without pausing to inhale.
Comment #3 Posted by: Suza | August 29, 2007 08:13 AM
thanks all...the OVN's report is up at the OVN blog, and is already receiving some scrutiny.
one thing i think it is important to pluck from Dennis' report is that the strangely-shaped and seemingly-arbitrary HCD is/was supposedly based on the area of the original town of Nordhoff. whether true or not (Dennis doesn't believe it, but i have no reason to doubt it), i know that many critics of the HCD have mentioned confusion over how the District was decided on.
(by the way, Dennis: thanks for wearing your Ojai Peace Coalition tshirt last night! it was great to have support in that way.)
Comment #4 Posted by: evan | August 29, 2007 09:44 AM
I have been worried since I started watching council.
They have a way of voting from monied interest side no
matter what public position they hold.What about
getting legal direction from Water or Truck coalitions
since all are up against growth influencing decision
process?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 water&gravel truck
increase?Same quality of life issues, environmental
protection that can galvonize community quickly. If
the city and attorney 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.
Comment #5 Posted by: pete lafollette | August 30, 2007 11:23 AM