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

Thank you Tyler. That is so beautiful!

The OVN reports on a new group calling themselves "Citizens for a New Vision for Ojai".

The organizer, Peter Strauss, takes a potshot:

"Strauss said another consideration was to create alliances rather than adversarial confrontations between the public, council, planners and other government agencies. "The council is clearly fearful of the tyranny of the minority — who often threaten recalls and lawsuits. And it has been made clear by council members that the 'good guys' are rarely there to stand up against that vocal disparaging minority. We intend to change that and be accountable'" Strauss wrote in a statement."

Might I offer an observation that citizens who have attempted to get policy enacted and legislation passed have on some occasions found the city to be adversarial as well. In fact, it was the city that initiated declaratory relief (a lawsuit) against a citizen, not the other way around, in one noted instance.

Another note regarding the "tyranny of the minority" - an assumption that doesn't stand up to scrutiny. To assume that the Council's position is always reflective of the silent majority, and anyone who vocalizes opposition is disparaging and in the minority is just flat out wrong.

Sometimes the city is on the right side of the issue, sometimes they aren't, but to launch an organization identifying who you feel are good guys and bad guys is a poor way to build a coalition.

Peter Strauss himself seems like a really great guy - talented, successful and a long history of service to Ojai. I just don't understand how taking this tone right from the onset is the way to build consensus across a very diverse community.

Speaking of Easter......

Political guru and Clinton advisor James Carville compared Gov. Bill Richardson to Judas Iscariot for his endorsement of Obama......

“An act of betrayal,” said James Carville, an adviser to Mrs. Clinton and a friend of Mr. Clinton.

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week.

Here's what Richardson wisely said in response to Carville's idiotic remarks:

"I'm not going to get in the gutter like that," he told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace.

"And you know, that's typical of many of the people around Sen. Clinton," he said. "They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency."

"Sometimes the city is on the right side of the issue, sometimes they aren't..."
and of course tyler you and the other "authors" will continue directing us as to the right and wrong!

I'm not claiming to have any moral absolute. We all have our opinions. In this instance, my opinion is that on a number of occasions, citizens have shown leadership on issues the council could have taken the lead on. Sometimes the council follows the lead of that citizen, sometimes they take an adversarial position. I think its fair to say that whatever position the council or a citizen takes does not make one side de facto "good guys" or "bad guys". It is that artificial dichotomy which stands in the way of truly effective coalition-building.

Is it true that Ojai's Ms. Jen walked into St Thomas Aquinas during mass naked?

no, it was richard powers. ez mistake to make though...

I didn't know that St. Thomas Aquinas had such a thing as mass naked.

Hmmmm...Perhaps the tyranny of the East End is more what Mr. Strauss has in mind.

From the OVN story:

One key concern of the effort is to make sure that people who live outside Ojai’s city limits are heard about decisions made inside the city that are bound to have an impact — whether it be development, water use, traffic and affordable housing. “The unincorporated areas are just not represented, period. This is a huge undertaking and needs much advisement. We’re not sure where to begin ... but it needs to be looked at!” he said.

If Mr. Strauss is seeking representation in local Ojai city politics, I trust his first order of business will be to incorporate the unincorporated areas into the city of Ojai.

The usage of the term "tyranny of the minority" is an interesting tell with regard to Mr. Strauss' position. Ordinarily the term refers to minoritarianism which in a democracy usually presents itself as a minority voting block that is able to block change through parliamentary rules like the Republicans in the Senate blocking the majority by forcing everything to go to a supermajority vote requiring 60 votes. Mr. Strauss' usage of the term with regard to a citizen movement that garnered hundreds of signatures of citizens living within the city limits of Ojai for an initiative restricting formula business bespeaks a serious lack of understanding.

Other than our own sorry Senate, there's a good example much closer to home of the "tyranny of the minority" of which Mr. Strauss misspeaks. The single vote against a temporary moratorium by council person DeVito would be a classic example of minoritarianism. When Mr. DeVito single handedly blocked the efforts of citizens to address the formula business problem, a recall effort began. When a compromise was reached in the form of the ordinance that now stands, the recall effort was ended.

If Mr. Strauss wants to be the leader of a new citizens group in the Ojai Valley, good luck to him, but he really should do his homework before he allows the OVN to quote him.

Comment #10 was mine.

As a test of the authenticity of Mr. Strauss' "new vision for Ojai," let's see how long it takes him to reply to some of the questions that have been raised here.

First post on this subject by Tyler was on March 23 at 1:30 p.m.

We are all waiting, Mr. Strauss, to hear what you have to say.

"before he allows the OVN to quote him"
sean, kinda like you & that recall fiasco...

Peter Struass is not progressive. He does not read the Ojai Post.

I concur with the above comments by Tyler and spk.

There's also the possibility that the OVN's misquoted Peter Strauss. If so, I hope he sets the record straight!

"In a more enlightened era, a place as beautiful as Ojai would have the same level of protection as a National Park. Its mountains, creeks, fields and groves would be regarded as a treasure that should be preserved and protected for future generations. Our valley would be regarded as holy, as a healing place."

That's a quote from an editorial I wrote in 2000, when I served as mayor. The source of that quote was Fred Volz, the visionary editor of the Ojai Valley News, and Jiddu Krishnamurti who describes the immense beauty of Ojai in many of his books.

http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/01/ojai_is_still_a_place_that_upl.shtml

"... Strauss wrote in a statement."

Whoops! I just noted that the OVN's was quoting from a written statement, so unfortunately, it appears he was not misquoted.

Not a visionary, but I wouldn't characterize the recall effort as a fiasco. Pressure was applied and an ordinance now stands on the books regarding formula business in this city. Further, I disagree that the people in favor of such an ordinance are a minority of the citizens within the city limits on Ojai.

By the way, soon the appellate court will be making its decision on the lawsuit against Jeff F. What will the OVN, the city council and those that denigrated Jeff and the people who were trying to exercise their rights under California Constitutional law do by way of apology when the court declares the lawsuit to be a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation(SLAPP)?

One more thing, I think Mr. Strauss' Vision group is a good thing. I'm all for people working together to have their voices heard. I'm just a little confused that a new citizens group would decide to characterize another citizens group as "bad guys". Does that make them the "good guys"?

I think what must be happening is that Strauss is trying to curry favor for the auditorium the Vision group is pushing. Perhaps the calculation was that by throwing the "radical" citizens group under the bus, they could gain more allies on the council. That said, I think the auditorium is a very interesting idea. I'm a little leery of the vaguely elitist tinge to the whole thing, and I'm not at all sure the OUSD is interested in giving up their district offices. All of the public schools in California are suffering from the state of the economy in general and more specifically the governators poor fiscal management. Ojai has been suffering a double whammy because of the declining enrollment in the Ojai Valley over the past few years, but should we be taking advantage of that fact by eliminating the district office? Despite the recent decline in the number of students and the question of affordable housing that is driving up the median age of Ojai residents, there is another demographic bubble coming that will push the number of potential students in the valley up by a lot. Will the OUSD be up to that challenge if we start selling it off? I wonder what percentage of the Vision group have school age children? What percentage of those children actually attend public school?

I also note that the OVN article also mentions retail spaces at that location. That's another interesting idea, as long as it conforms to the new formula business ordinance.

suza,
you were mayor??!!

good grief love rhino.....

don't you know? suza is the Mayor for Life of Ojai.......

yes, she was Mayor..... served on the City Council for several years.... not that long ago.......

I prefer earth muffins with my organic coffee beans still to be
found at Ojai Roaster instead of McStarbucks, and a vision statement
offering discernment over New Vision Group L.A. Paveaway on the installment plan.
Their idea needs discussion- especially by those outside the city council special interests. Most of the adversary comes from monied interests who assume to speak for the majority of residents. The “ tyranny of the minority” are in fact the same citizens groups that have been cosistently weighing in for a good while, as it should be, resulting in a community that intergrates into the decision making process. The threats and lawsuits have been filed by the city and are on public record- check the chain store and affordable housing inniated by citizens that were first opposed by the city. It would seem that proposals of an over-scale art center with traffic issues “easily mitigated" which means ignored, is coming from a minority of proponents who would like to have their cake and eat it too. You cannot ignore traffic congestion the valley now sees during peak hours and resulting from the ill-conceived Bryant Street Industrial Plan. Peter Strauss and company can conceive large commercial projects and enjoy building them, and then escape back to their estates and quiet lanes to pretend the traffic and small town ambiance is not disappearing because of over-building, big buildout and special interest projects not supported by the majority community.The current “stagnant reactive stance” is the best grass-roots civic response citizens can muster. Would a new art center complex be replacing the Ojai Art Center? How about expanding or enhancing what already exists? More inclusive community dialogue please,like the FLOW water citizen meeting response to Golden State Water billing campaign.Keeping Ojai a small town tourist destination compared to a roadside attraction is wisest use of a finite valley. And incorporation of outlying areas into the city open them up to exponential growth further impacting limited natural resources.