The Ojai Post

Since it's a city ordinance, you need to call the cops. You should probably call them and show them your picture with the time stamp, though it wouldn't be admissible in court, and file a formal complaint. Then when the gardeners come back with the blowers next time, call the cops.

thanks, spk! although i believe that's the correct technical response, would it be more direct to address the Housing Authority? i don't want the maintenance contractors to be slapped so much as the AHA...

Either way the contractors will be hit. The cops are the ones who are supposed to uphold the ordinance, so they will most likely ticket the gardeners. The housing authority is not on the hook, they only hired the contractors and they don't seem to care that their contractors break the law. If you complain to them, they might change contractors but probably not.

evan,
pick up a rake or move-out of state subsidized housing.
best,
your love rhino

Thank God you live in Ojai and not Iraq or let's say... somewhere along the Gaza Strip. Poor fella, my heart goes out to you and your family.

rhino: i would totally pick up a rake, but that's not the point. the AHA has contracted these folks to do this...it's not something i chose, but it does affect me. i'm content with that beautiful blanket of leaves laying right where it falls!

Petty: you're right. as long as someone, somewhere is suffering more than i am, i shouldn't complain about anything.

Why didn't you go talk to the gardners or call the cops? You can't just whine about things. You have to be active!

I work for the city HA, so I say definitely call the Area HA, and speak to whoever supervises the landscape crew (which is probably contracted out and has no idea about the ordinance). A little personal communication will go a lot further than blogging or calling the PD!

Blogging doesn't solve ALL of our problems??!! I'm packing it in...

everyone, thanks for your input. buried within, however, are jabs at being whiney and passive. to get us all on the same page:

• my fellow residents and i have been dealing with the AHA on a variety of issues for a long time, and we know that it's a big bureaucracy that even evidence has a hard time penetrating. hence the photograph.

• please note that the language and intent of the original post is to solicit ideas for ACTION. i don't intend that this thread serve that role or result in any resolution on its own (but it does serve to show that there are as many "solutions" as there are commenters).

shoot, i misspoke, yes, blog AND call!

hmmm...

tatiana posted a similar, longer remark on Howard's thread (with a jab at all Ojai residents - or at least its blogging community - whom she suggests need to get a life and stop whining, etc. etc.) but her comment was apparently deleted - as was mine. (Am I in the Twilight Zone, here?)

My comment went something like this:

tatiana, I have been away from the OP for a while so I'm not sure if you post these types of comments regularly, but I just want to point out how absurdly ironic your words are. Howard and evan are two of the most active and socially responsible citizens of the Ojai Valley (and I would suggest that there just may be more per capita of those types of people in Ojai than most places I've lived). Do you even know anything about them?

Perhaps they are not the ones who need to "get a life".

LTOR
as always, nourishing.

LTOR,

Thanks for rising to our defense, though from what I know of evan, he does have a pretty full life and does a fairly good job of defending himself.

Mine life is all too full and having been through all too many wars, this old dragon has a pretty tough hide.

And no, your comments on STT site and Tatiana's were not deleted... (you may have been looking back in the wrong place)

The world is filled with strange people with often obtuse self-serving motives.

Maybe Tatiana is one of them... She obviously enjoys gravel in her face... Diesel exhaust in her lungs and dirt as the dressing on her salad.

Bless her tiny little head - at least she knows how to type.

Call Council Woman Betsy Clapp. She cares.

hjs,
you are the don rickles of ohi...

My bad cat spilled a cup of coffee on my keyboard so my laptop is in the shop. I can't dig up past Posts on this popular issue on my friend's computer, but there might be some helpful hints if you search leafbowers on the Ojai Post. The noise ordinance is meant to prevent this type of intrusion and I hope you follow up and let us know how it goes.

hjs looks like don rinkles only w/ more botox...

Suza, your cat was clearly rebelling against her enslavement. take the hint! lol

i'll letcha know how it goes, for sure. i have a very nice letter drafted to the AHA, including details for how the contractors can take advantage of a County program to get nice rebates for trading in their gas engines for electric ones.

Could you post a link about the county program? So many gardeners in town don't get paid much and are probably trying to just make ends meet. I assume they either don't know about the ordinance or know but are faced with financial woes. Basically they might not be able to upgrade equipment, or switch to a rake - which would take many more man hours that they couldn't really pass on to their customers without losing business. I think if they knew there was county support it might encourage local gardeners and landscapers to change their gas-powered ways.

evan,
Imagine there are no leaf-blowers it easy if you try...

Thank you evan for doing your HWK on rebates and to miss fix-it for understanding the landscapers financial side. Having worked landscape crews, I know that gas powered blowers are more convenient to use -- no time wasted looking for outlets and messing with long cords, and they are more powerful and therefore more efficient. Landscapers make their profit from the number of jobs/day. Yea for the county rebate program, and although it still would cost time and $$ to "trade up," I would be willing to distribute info about the program to landscapers in my neighborhood. If they are seriously threatened with enforcement and fines, they would go for it. Both the police and the citizens need to be involved. A city ordinance is only as good as its enforcement.

I seem to remember some interesting articles a few years ago, but this post has turned to complete nonsense and has been hijacked by BS topics and pictures of so called shaman feeding wild animals. I'm packing it in too.

they were here again this morning, even earlier than last time, revving their gas engines literally outside my bedroom window (i know, i know...poor low-income white Ojai elitist...). So i called the cops (who didn't come) AND the Housing Authority (which is closed today).

i am sensitive to the maintenance folks probably not being aware of the municipal code AND being paid to do as many jobs as possible. my beef is certainly not with them, and i very much resonate with judy's wisdom that an ordinance is only as good as its enforcement.

i also agree that electric yard machines have been a hassle in terms of power and cord-requirements. my understanding is that that's becoming increasingly not so as battery technology improves. my official plea to the AHA is to ditch the blowers completely (partly on principle, partly for practicality) and trade up to a cordless electric mower as offered by the County in partnership with Lowe's (ack, a giant warehouse store that donates to the Republican Party!).

As so often happens, this morning my yoga students were in Savasana (Deep Relaxation Pose) and the leaf blowers across the street started up. The only solution I have come up with in my own situation is that I walk up to the gardener and ask him nicely to wait five minutes. Today I happened to catch him when he had the blower off for a moment, but it's harder to get their attention once they've started.

By now they know me and they willingly cooperate and turn the blower off till they see my students leaving.

Evan, this is a nation- wide problem and there are web site with information on how cities/gardeners around the country are dealing with it. With more and more people working at home or living in mixed use neighborhoods--and thus more disturbed when the blowers go on for hours around apartment buildings or from house to house in ones neighborhood, the level of complaints has increased over the years.

Suza,
Were you wearing your Zena boots??

Yes, ofcourse!