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

...Alary said she's particularly concerned that the committee isn't supporting Berg's recommendation to hire a land-use ombudsman, a high-level person outside the Resource Management Agency who would deal with citizen complaints.

There's also some skepticism from players in the process who aren't developers. Howard Smith is a founding member of Stop the Trucks, a group in Ojai that has filed complaints with the county against the companies that send trucks through the Ojai Valley from the quarries and gravel mines to the north. He was interviewed for Berg's report and he has spoken to the Board of Supervisors about the proposed reforms...

...Smith said he's worried that his group's concern — the lack of attention paid to enforcing the conditions of permits granted to the gravel mines and other companies — will be pushed aside.

"I don't sense any willingness on the part of the mid-level staff to actually deal with this," he said. "The notion of having to discipline someone seems like an anathema to them..."

We need the continued support of everyone in Ojai to see that these past travesties do not happen again. Please send your donations to the Stop The Trucks! Coalition – c/o The Ojai Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 1134, Ojai, CA, 93024, or you may also walk your contribution into the Chamber’s offices anytime during the business week, at 201 S. Signal Street -- in the Ojai Festivals building -- in downtown Ojai.