Citizen in a Strange Valley
Lots of people travel out of the Ojai Valley on business or pleasure, and we sometimes are the beneficiaries of the insights that they gain upon their returns. Since i live, work, and - to a large extent - shop here, i seldom need to leave the nest, and when i do it's not for very long or far. But i've been away from the Goddess Moon for nearly a week as my wife and i gave birth to our beautiful daughter Noa at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, connected to Ojai only by the ash that rained gently down onto both places. We're glad to be home, and i noticed a few things upon our return:
• Someone (presumably the City) painted nearly all our sewer covers white. When i suggested that it might help City workers find them better, Jessie countered that it simply might have helped them find something to do.
• The new development going in at Ojai Avenue between Cañada and Blanche Streets has been named E' Bello, which my state-of-the-art language translating widget says means "Beautiful E'", whatever that means. At any rate, the current list of businesses who've staked out spots in the new building is as follows:
- Jim & Rob's Fresh Grill
- Curves Fitness for Women
- Troop Real Estate
- Tobi Redlich, DC (currently the resident Chiropractor at the Day Spa of Ojai)
- John Maggio, Allstate Insurance (also sits on the Advisory Council of the Ojai Valley FireSafe Council)
- Noah's Apothecary
- Body Essentials
- Ojai Business Center
- Ojai Valley Directory
i'd heard some time ago that Jim & Rob's wanted to move so that Sea Fresh could expand into that adjacent spot, and i spoke with the folks at OBC yesterday who confirmed the move not for a bigger space, but for better location (specifically, according to one young copyist, next door to Jim & Rob's). The phone-answerer at Curves also confirmed a move, not an additional location. Putting all of these diverse services and products into one building sounds convenient, but i'm left wondering if it's very "Ojai", and just what may fill all the vacancies left by the businesses that move there. Check out my map to see where the holes will be. be mindful also that Ojai Creates! is moving into the former location of Cardinali Brothers Music, and the Brothers are moving into the Smart Start building in Meiners Oaks.
• The Zaca Fire continues to rage, although the Valley doesn't appear to be in imminent danger as such. even so, an Ojai Community Meeting will be held this Friday the 10th to discuss the particulars. There's also a kiosk outside Starr Market with maps and in-your-hands info printed on actual paper.
• The County's approved a new traffic signal to be built by Caltrans on Highway 33 at Villanova Road, with a price tag of $750,000, up from the $175,000 that it would have cost if it'd been approved when originally proposed in 2004. This increase is being attributed to sharp rises in the costs of building materials above all else, especially as related to tougher federal construction standards that mandate the signals withstand 100 mph winds. Come the apocalypse, at least our traffic signals will still be standing.
• The Planning Commission is still delayed in deciding on just how far to take the proposed and popularly-supported restrictions on formula retail businesses, although the Commissioners seems responsive to public opinion and are considering the issue very responsibly, if slowly. Kenley Neufeld, author of the 600+ signature citizens' initiative featuring a City-wide ban on chain stores, plans to turn his ordinance in as a ballot initiative by October 13th if the City hasnt drafted one of their own by then.
• Ojai Playwright's Conference runs August 7-12, overlapping the Shakespeare Festival at Libbey Bowl from August 9-12, this year featuring "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Glenn would have loved it.
• the Ojai Post hashes out firefighting, censorship, and public breastfeeding, all of which seem to have deep connections to partisan politics on the national (and even international) level. Who knew?
• The Ojai Valley Dog Park Fund, aimed at creating a canine-friendly area at Soule Park near the tennis courts, will have a fundraiser and raffle at Soule on Saturday August 18 at 4pm. they're looking to raise $20,000, and are challenging every dog owner to donate $5 per dog to the fund. EMAIL NANCY for more info.
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Comments (11)
Very funny! "Come the apocalypse, at least our traffic signals will still be standing." As Beatrice Wood used to say," What can one do when one is up against the absurdity of life but laugh..."
Comment #1 Posted by: Suza | August 9, 2007 02:23 PM
The manhole covers were painted white by the Ojai Sanitary District, and it happened -- or will happen -- everywhere. Ojai San plans on mapping their system by air.
Pardon me for asking what will probably be an unpopular question, but does anyone here really know enough about what the City workers do to be able to imply that they don\'t perform useful work and earn their money?
Comment #2 Posted by: phalarope | August 9, 2007 06:57 PM
Well phalarope, you do yourself an injustice by your "unpopular question", given your normally strong posts. Evan was just trying to report a little clever reparte between him and Jessie (his wife?). Nothing to get too twisted up about. I am sure no disparagement of city workers was intended, and certainly no reason for any to be taken.
Comment #3 Posted by: philiprope | August 10, 2007 12:36 AM
indeed, my wife and i enjoyed some good-natured and gentle ribbing at the generic "City-worker"'s expense, with no serious disparagement intended. on its face, painting the covers white certainly seemed like an amusing task without an immediately obvious goal.
however, generally i say bravo for asking unpopular questions, phalarope...so keep on it! without sacrificing your anonymity, how did you know by whom and why the covers were painted?
Comment #4 Posted by: evan | August 10, 2007 02:47 AM
how did you know by whom and why the covers were painted?
I called and asked. When I saw that the manhole covers were painted white in the County as well as in the City, I was pretty sure that Ojai Sanitary District was the responsible agency.
I've been a blue collar worker almost all of my working life (and that working life started -- for real -- at age 8) and have experienced -- on several memorable occasions -- disdain and ridicule from people who disliked my employers. When it happens to you, you see it as the kind of prejudice and bigotry that it really is. (It isn't always done with humor.) As a worker, you might not care all that much for your employers, either, but there you are working your butt off in 105 degree weather/pouring rain/snow/smoke/whatever AND getting tarred with the same brush as someone else for their mistakes.
You have commented on violence in speech here, and I agree with you. Therefore, I don't think it's too PC to avoid stereotyping and disparaging strangers who have done you, I assume, no wrong.
While violence is not the issue here, I would like to say a few more things, because attitudes can eventually become behaviors, and one kind of behavior can lead to another:
I don't know the exact number, but I do know that more than a few road workers are hurt or killed each year by enraged drivers who swerve to graze or hit them or who throw articles at them from moving vehicles, and you know that those workers don't wake up each morning and say things like "Hey, let's go shut down a lane of the 405 during rush hour and piss everyone off." Someone in an air-conditioned office sends those folks out there, and those workers don't have much choice about it. The machinery takes as long to work as it takes, and they're stuck standing there watching it work. The number of people on site is decided, usually, by CAL OSHA and/or insurance company rules, and if there are too many people hanging out it's not because 8 guys wanted to stand there eating smog, insults, and threats all day long.
I always give a little wave to the person with the Stop sign when they finally let me drive through a work area, and I drive slowly until I get out of the work area, rather than burning rubber and spraying gravel and making it unmistakably clear how angry I am that they impeded my progress, as some drivers do -- right here in Ventura County. It's the way I'd want to be treated if it were me out there.
Do I make sense?
Comment #5 Posted by: phalarope | August 10, 2007 10:32 AM
phala, (can i call you that?) :)
i hear you very well, and you totally make sense. i'm not feeling defensive or hurt at all by what you've said, while at the same time recognizing that it was my innocent joking that touched off this topic for you. great discussion, and so nice to have your perspective available to us!
i, too, am a Stop-sign-holder-waver. thanks for reminding us to appreciate those services!
Comment #6 Posted by: evan | August 10, 2007 02:54 PM
Very thoughtful, poignant commentary, phalarope. I, like you and evan, also always smile, wave and say thank you to these workers as I drive by - slowly, with courtesy and concern for their safety. I am more than appalled that your experience has shown that quite the opposite is sometimes the case.
Comment #7 Posted by: LTOR | August 10, 2007 03:42 PM
Thank you for bringing up this issue. I am one woman who is in love with Caltrans and always have been.
I'm on the road a lot and every day I am fascinated by what these men and women accomplish for us in California. I can hardly stomach sitting safely in a broken down car on the freeway, so when I see these hard working people out there risking their lives, I am amazed! Since you are one of these people, phalarope, I thank you too!
Watching the recent "remodel" of 101 has been a joy and a delight to see the pieces come together day after day, month after month, year after year. Yahhhh Caltrans!!!! Yahhh City and County Workers too!
Comment #8 Posted by: Coleen Ashly | August 10, 2007 09:20 PM
Thanks for letting me have my say, and thanks for the positive feedback. I've been flamed before (although not here) for saying a lot less.
I no longer work with a road crew, so I can't take any credit for what the CalTrans folks and other agencies are doing.
Comment #9 Posted by: phalarope | August 11, 2007 12:04 AM
I always drive with care when approaching these guys working on the roads. AS bad as California roads are, I'm appreciative to see any work being done. Also, I usually give a nod or wave as well.
Courtesy of the road is a good thing, for we all are there, just as we are when we stand in line in the supper market. ?Would you stomp your feet(spin-wheels) while in line because it takes a little longer to get through the line, or would you wack(flip-your-finger-at) the customer ahead of you or the cashier to show your disgust and frustration?
It's amazing to me how different our behaviour can be in a car as opposed to standing in line at the store or at the gas station.
Another bit of courtesy I extend is when I approach an intersection, if I see a trash truck or school bus pulling up, I usually wave them on through, it makes their route a little bit easier that day.
Comment #10 Posted by: Dana and Alyeska | August 11, 2007 05:51 AM
I guess our car culture can't be all that bad if it produces courtesy and humor. Still, I dislike it and am gently disengaging myself from it.
Comment #11 Posted by: Dennis Leary | August 11, 2007 10:08 PM