Tonight’s City Council meeting was a great one…government in action, with a full room of energetic Citizens. We heard proclamations to the group behind our local Arbor Week activities and to the 2010 Census, some salient public comments dealing mostly with small business signage (specifically, being able to have a small display or sandwich board out to advertise specials or sales), and a quickly approved Consent Calendar totaling $429,714.62 and approving the minutes of six meetings. Discussion Items 2 and 3 dealt with the City’s use of pesticides and the proposed purchase of a City-wide phone system, respectively. Public Works Director Mike Culver gave what i thought were brilliantly coherent and detailed reports on both these topics and the research and planning that he and his staff had put together at the Council’s direction (short version: the City uses some pretty low-impact herbicides a few months a year and will be putting together a comprehensive Integrated Pest Management program with direction from a task group to include diverse Citizenry and mindful via public comment of instances in which killing “weeds” might be completely unnecessary. Councilwoman Betsy Clapp playfully urges the use of goats for weed control. The current phone system is physically broken and antiquated and splits the City into three departments…the new one funnels all calls through City Hall and connects the public with the department they’re after with an extension after that, makes interdepartmental communication easier, and will pay for itself – $40,623 – after 14 months, saving us $5,000 per year after that on our phone bills.)
Then we got to the main reason i was there: the proposed repeal of the City’s ordinance regarding leaf blowers.
City Manager Jere Kersnar made a verbal appeal to revise the tone and intent of his Administrative Report to say that we should either not differentiate leaf blowers from other yard maintenance machines (and combine those separate parts of the Municipal Code), or ban ALL leaf blowers outright in order to most effectively address the noise, pollution, and enforcement concerns.
Public comment on this issue was energetic and diverse, from scientific testimony to anecdotal evidence…all citing the various harms of leaf blowers and all in favor of a total ban. David Moody asked Council to direct Mr. Kersnar to revise and clarify his position and recommendations in writing, rather than entering a verbal “update” on the eve of discussion, and Suza Francina called his report “an embarrassment”.
Council unanimously agreed not to repeal the current ordinance, and in the discussion that ensued – citing heavily from articles and resources send them by Suza – they finally wound around to what action to take on the issue. A total ban had been floated in the Administrative Report, supported time and again by the public, and kicked about by the Council, but there were still concerns about the impact on our professional gardeners and building in exceptions. Mayor Joe DeVito lives in a condo complex with apparently acres of concrete and asphalt that apparently must be blown off twice a week, so he wants an exception for that. Councilwoman Smith owns a tiny electric blower that she uses to clean out her own garage, so she wants an exception for private owners on their property, and made a motion to that effect which died with no second. The public grumbled audibly at all of this, and then new Councilwoman Betsy Clapp, not knowing why we have to delay this any longer, made a motion that Council direct the City Manager’s office to draft a new ordinance banning all leaf blowers – gas and electric – within the City. Carol Smith seconded, and after some confusion (mostly on Mayor DeVito’s part) about whether they were voting on such an ordinance right then and there, all Councilmembers except DeVito approved the motion.
So the issue isn’t over, but it has leapt forward with an informed and vocal public and the bold leadership of Ms. Clapp. Stay tuned for your next City Council meeting date where the fate of the blowers will be decided!
(there was a little more on the agenda, but to this point the meeting had run two hours, and i needed to get home. anyone have anything juicy to report about the Code Enforcement item?)
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m happy to report the leaf blower ordinance we worked so hard on in the 90′s was not repealed. In fact, it appears it will be strengthened!
Thank you to Marleen Luckman, Meg, evan, Dennis, David, Alan, and Kenley (for your letter), Tyler (for the great links!) and everyone else who spoke up. And thank you to Betsy for making the motion for staff to draft a new ordinance possibly banning all leaf blowers and for the council members who supported Betsy’s motion.
Namaste and Happy Full Moon!
Way to go evan for a succinct and informative report to those unable to attend the Council meeting last night. I am reassured by the community involvement and the leadership of Ms. Clapp to place such a proposal on the table and for the remaining council members voting to move this forward. No doubt a long discussion will ensue, but that is democracy in action.
Thank you to the Suza for the background material and to the Ojai Post for providing a forum for the community to be involved leading up to the meeting.
Good report, evan.
As this was the first City Council meeting I’ve ever been moved to attend, I was struck by how small the room was and relatively intimate the setting. Far different from the large impersonal space I had imagined. It’s easy to see how a good-ol’-boy, don’t-rock-the-boat feeling gets established among Council members.
Congratulations to Betsy Clapp for proposing a clear and simple solution to the whole issue — just ban all leaf blowers, gas and electric, in residential and non-residential areas, period. The audience was told to keep quiet, but when Betsy said this, the sense of elation in the room was palpable!
Hoop-de-do. LA banned leaf blowers years ago. That didn’t stop them from being used plus the Mexican gardners fought for their right to use them. Good luck Ojai.
Wow, evan, very impressive report! Thanks for keeping us all informed.
OK, but what about enforcement? There is already an ordinance in place. There are people who have been demanding enforcement for years. When one of those finally went before the city council over it, the result was: repeal the current ordinance.
Now we are elated that the repeal effort seems to have been set back, and a more comprehensive ordinance, banning the quiet leaf blowers as well as the loud ones, will take up the energies of our officials. Thousands of dollars to the city attorney’s private law firm to draft an ordinance when we already have one on the books is a win for someone, but let me suggest: Not us.
Ms. Clapp is new at this, so let’s give her a break. But friends, what you are describing is the “two steps back for each step forward” strategy that has brought us such disaster on the national level, as employed by the Republicans.
May I modestly suggest that the motion Ms. Clapp should have made, for second by Carol, was: Order staff to report in the next two weeks on enforcement of the current ordinance. Answer the following questions:
1. How many complaints has the city received?
2. What has staff done to act on the complaints?
3. How prevalent are violations of the existing ordinance?
4. How could staff make reporting and enforcement easier and more effective?
5. What would be required to fully enforce the existing ordinance?
6. Could the city staff set up a leaf-blower violation hotline, to record complaints, asking for the property address, date and time of violation, photos by reporting citizen, name and address of citizen, and similar details? With such a hotline, what would it cost, financially and in terms of staff time to enforce the existing ordinance in response to complaints received? (I.e., what would a complaint based enforcement policy cost to actually enforce?)
5. Should the minimum fine for violation be increased, as a way to better deter violation as well as help finance the cost of enforcement? Based on staff’s estimate of the number of violations and complaints received, as well as cost of enforcement, advertising the ordinance to property owners and similar measures, what is staff’s recommendation as to the proper amount of fine to both deter violations, and support the cost of enforcement so that the city budget will not be adversely impacted?
Just some early morning thoughts.
There are plenty of non-impact herbasides available to the city.
Steam spray breaks down the cell walls of weeds and allows bacteria to kill the week. Takes several weeks for the results to been seen.
There are several new non-toxic pesticides that have been approved for use in organic farming, for a complete list Google OMRI.
The most popular non-toxic herbicide is grain vinegar. It kills the weeds but the people who are applying it need to take precautions so they are not burned my the mist.
There really is no need for the city to use chemical herbicides.
Great writeup, evan, and thank you to everyone who participated.
thanks, all! i was excited to be there. that was really your first Council meeting, david? i’m so glad you were there…great comments!
Anonymous 7:59, you raise good questions. i’m hoping someone who stayed for the “Code Enforcement” discussion item can speak to what was discussed/decided (it was curious to many that repealing one ordinance citing enforcement issues was on the same docket as potentially increasing staff for code enforcement). generally speaking, Council agreed that a total ban is much easier to enforce than an ordinance that allows/restricts only certain things at certain times in certain places. Council – specifically cited by Sue Horgan, in reference to part of the Administrative Report in question – agreed that an educational component would be funds/time/staff well-spent in order to inform the professional gardeners of the new code and alternatives to blowers.
for me, it’s less about police and fines (punitive punishments) and more about understanding and respecting our environment and each other. difficult to enforce? SURE!…which is why an education-supported ban is the answer.
you know, one comment that sticks with me as especially poignant was made without preparation by Alan Thornhill. Citing the flyer posted right outside on City Hall’s window regarding the upcoming Arbor Week for which a proclamation had JUST been given, and our Council’s expressed desire to join the “Tree City USA” designation offered by the Arbor Day Foundation, Alan read some of the values that Arbor Week promotes (a similar list can be found HERE), which include healthy ground and trees, clean air, and harmonious communities…ALL of which are the exact opposite conditions that leaf blowers create.
good on ya, Alan. we can’t talk out of both sides of our collective mouth like this.
Wow!, evan, fabulous report, so good to see this. Am in midst of teaching but will comment on Code Enforcement later (I left around 10:15, just before the vote was taken).
George, I hope you will send your Comment #7 on non-toxic herbicides to the city. Or I will do it.
Each Thursday morning at 6:30 am, we are treated to the soothing sounds of the machines being used to blow out the parking lots at Lomita and El Roblar, just 1500 feet from the city limits. A quarter mile too far.
Hi Robert,
I’m working on an editorial on the issues that are bound to come up in future public hearings on the proposed ban, but I’d be interested to know what are the noise regulations in Meiners Oaks and other areas outside the City limit.
Seems like common decency to at least wait till after 8 am to make any noice at that level, but they are probably wanting to do this when there are the least amount of cars.
Who owns these parking lots at Lomita and El Roblar? The stores?
i just sent a nice little note to Supervisor Steve Bennett asking what regulations might exist for that kind of activity in the unincorporated areas of the Valley. i’ll report on any response here.
Thanks evan, I think that would be of interest to many people (including my 88-year old parents who live in Meiners Oaks.)
I wasn’t kidding (ha ha) about the goats.
Betsy
That would be sooo Ojai!
If we had goats eating the weeds I’m sure Sunset would send a reporter…
whether the goats happen or not, it’s precisely that kind of outside-the-box thinking and leadership that makes me so proud of my vote for you, Betsy!
think of it: Ojai’s official weed-control goats could be a Green Coalition entry in the Independence Day parade!
…in other news, the following is a portion of an email commnication between myself and City Manager Jere Kersnar (which i understand becomes part of the public record, and is therefore appropriate to share here):
He also said the new ordinance proposal will be submitted to Council as soon as it’s prepared by the City Attorney. i urged minimal time and expense at this stage, since the requested ordinance should only be a line or two long.
Steve Offerman from Supervisor Bennett’s office sends THIS PDF about noise regulations in the unincorporated communities of our valley, dated December 10, 1996.
thanks!
-evan
It was said that years ago there was a gentleman of years and wisdom who brought his goats to graze on the Ojai Community Demonstration Garden’s open spaces.
Hope the ban on leaf blowers would not mean a return to hosing down parking lots, driveways, sidewalks.
Anonymous: i very much agree regarding water use…thanks for folding that critical topic into this discussion as well!
And if businesses used brooms and dust pans
maybe there would be less plastic and cigarette
litter in our streets. Is there so much more cigarette butts because ban on indoor smoking? Diners walk outside the eateries to smoke and throw their cigarettes on the sidewalks, parking areas, etc.. No ashtrays provided around establishments. Street sweepers cannot take care of this problem because
No-Onstreet Parking on sweeping days is unenforceable, according to Ojai police, without posted street signs. SurfriderFoundation currently has “Hold On To Your Butts: The street and the beach are not your ashtray” campaign. See http://www.surfrider.org for some surprising and horrific facts. Also, the YouTube titled “Plastic Sushi” video from marine biology researchers sailing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which shows why, hungry as they were after two months at sea, they threw back into the ocean a fish they’d caught.
Thursday I watched the hispanic man with the leaf blower “dust” the driveway of the attorney across the street from me. He knows I’m watching him. We both know it is a useless task. What kind of human being asks someone to blow leaves from a gravel driveway? (I know this worker cannot speak up. He is grateful to have a job. He cannot risk his livelihood. But I will speak for him as I have nothing to loose.)
Friday morning I observed the hispanic workers blow the leaves and dust from the estate of the retired doctor, also living across the street from me.
Friday afternoon, after about 20 minutes of the inevitable high pitched leaf bowers from the parking lot of the Presbyterian church behind my house, I thought I would have a look. A young hispanic man with that dreadful backpack on his back, blowing leaves around the lawn of the church. What kind of Christians demand that someone remove the leaves that God meant to be nourishment for the trees and shrubs?
I feel so sad for these workers. When this issue is on the City Council agenda again I will ask Joe Devito to spend a few days with that horrid pack on his back, and blow leaves around town…”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…”
Annecdotal evidence shows that years of leaf blowing results in loss of hearing…
I don’t mind noise if it has a purpose…but this is useless…
on a walk down Signal Street today, my infant daughter and i approached a cloud of debris (which we now know to contain particles of bacteria, fungi, and fecal matter, among other things) being pushed around and into the street by a gas-powered backpack leaf blower, in the parking lot of an apartment complex. to test the enforceability of the municipal code, i called the Ojai Police Department, who sent an officer right away.
i had crossed the street and continued walking, and was probably two full blocks away when the officer arrived, but i stopped to watch from a distance as he spoke to the young hispanic man operating the blower. the officer retrieved something from his car that for a moment i feared was a ticketbook (i didn’t really want the guy to be cited…just informed by an authority figure), but it seems that it was simply a copy of the municipal code. then he got out his phone, and mine rang (i had given the number to dispatch and told them that it was fine for the officer to contact me if HE felt like it, but that i didn’t require it).
the officer told me that the code he was looking at simply said that the blower could only be operated between 9am and 4pm, and i responded that it was my understanding that there is also a distance requirement for all blowers all days from residential buildings. he wasnt seeing that part, so i just thanked him for responding. he said the young man’s responsibility was to clean it all up once it was in the street, but that “he was just trying to get it all into one place”.
My read of the City’s Municipal Code (linked so many times and places on the Ojai Post alone that it’s getting ridiculous), yields the following in Section 5-11.05(e)(iv):
seems pretty clear to me. alas, the Police Department doesn’t seem to have a contact email where that could be sent quickly and easily. any suggestions?
if this IS to be enforced (unless or until there’s a total ban, and even then…), the Citizens and the Police need to be on the same page. the value of City Manager Kersnar’s education component (cited and supported specifically by Councilmember Horgan) is readily apparent.
Evan my lungs squeezed just reading this.
Hi evan, just finished teaching, looks like you found the answer to your question.
I too do not want to see any of the Hispanic workers given a ticket. That’s why all these years I’ve never called the police on the workers in my neighborhood. But now when they see me approaching they know to stop and wait for my students to leave. (I think they’ve adjusted their schedule somewhat around my yoga classes which are usually over by 10:30 am.)
What we need, for starters, is an English/Spanish pamphlet or large postcard that explains as clearly as possible the City’s position on leaf blowers (not just the code but education about pollution, health, hearing loss, etc.)
These should go to homeowners and owners of gardening/landscape services, as well as the workers.
Ojai gardeners and landscapers may not be aware that there is a growing movement among the gardeners themselves to ban leaf blowers. Some are using the use of brooms and rakes as a marketing tool, part of green, organic, sustainable gardening practices.
The leaf blowers have been going around my neighborhood this morning –usually it’s Thursday and Friday. Even when it’s quiet, I find myself living with a sense that I can never count on it (except Sundays)–they could start up again anytime.
To the best of my recollection, the orginal ban that Ellen Hall and I proposed in the late 1990′s included apartments and condos. I think it was Joe Devito who weakened it so leaf blowers could be used at Creekside and Hitching Post condos, where he lives…
re: email, we all know Sgt. Joe’s email address, maybe start with him?
that might be a place to start, Lisa…although Sgt. Evans’ County affiliation seems maybe just one hair distant from the issue. i just called the Ojai station and a woman told me that there are no email addresses for the station – in a tone that suggested it was a ludicrous and never-before-heard request.
so i guess i’ll get out my quill and ink well, scribe the Code on some parchment, slap a wax seal on it, and Pony Express it right down to the station!
But sgt. joe might know who to send the email to
good call, Lisa! i sent the good Sgt an email.
i also called the PD again today when i saw a guy using a gas-powered backpack blower at Aliso and Ventura Streets. i don’t know whether a deputy responded this time, and i recieved no call.
i also printed the relevant section of the Municipal Code, highlighted the part that says “no gas blowers allowed in residential zones, EVER” and took it down to the station.
Where can I get an evan austin bobel-head?
Thank you evan. These experiences will be good to share at the podium when this item is on the city council agenda again!
bobble-heads coming soon!
Sergeant Joe Evans has proven to be tremendously supportive and helpful already. He appreciates Citizen support in educating deputies and making enforcement easier, and he spoke with Police Chief Dunn just this morning about this issue specifically. Of course they’re aware of the recent and pending actions currently wending their way through the City Hall machine, and the Chief’s recommendation at this moment is to file written complaints with the City when violations are seen/heard (the PDF form is HERE, and the Unit’s phone number is 640-2555), which will be handled by Brian Meadows of the Code Enforcement Unit. Important information to include in the report are dates, times, and all “suspect” information. Naturally this is in a law enforcement frame…i think it’s clear to those active on this issue that the [usually young Hispanic male] persons using the blowers are not criminals, nor do we seek a punitive solution to this issue. My understanding of the role of submitting reports is that it creates a record of the scope and nature of the problem, which my experience tells me is something the Council ALWAYS needs to know before it makes decisions.
Since the majority of leaf blower operators are good Mexican folks cleaning whiteys yard,how about a beaner-ban in the bucolic Ojai valley?
Speaking as a former gardener, how about we show a little respect and compassion for those who do our yard work and read up on hearing loss and other health issues resulting from the irrational demand of leaf- free lawns and driveways.
The new leaf blower ordinance was on the agenda last night.
OPTION A: Banning All Leaf Blowers within the City
OPTION B: Banning Gas or Fuel Powered Leaf Blowers
Betsy Clapp made a motion to ban all leaf blowers within the City, as over 300 cities across the US have already done.
Sue Horgan was absent so the vote was a tie:
Mayor Joe Devito and Steve Olson voted No!
Betsy Clapp and Carol Smith voted Yes!
In past meetings there were numerous members of the public who spoke up in favor of a ban. At last night’s meeting this was item #9 on the agenda and the hour was late. This time only Marleen Luckman and I spoke up in support of a ban.
Marleen addressed the many health and environmental issues. I spoke abou the health and safety of the workers. There is ample anecdotal evidence that the workers suffer hearing loss and other seious health issues.
One man (an attorney) said leaves were a fire hazard and for safety reasons we need leaf blowers to clean roofs and gutters.
Steve said it would be a hardship for the elderly who are too feeble to pick up a dustpan.
In the course of the discussion Mayor Devito rightly pointed out that it was wrong to have an ordinance on the agenda tat affects the lives of many people without adequately notifying the public.
There was virtually nothing in the paper even though many citizens spoke up in a previous meeting when it was recommended that the original leaf blower ordinance be repealled. (Thank to the public speaking out gas powered leaf blowers are still banned from residential neighborhoods in the City limit.)
Many questions come to mind which I plan to address under Unscheduled Items at the next City Council meeting:
Whose responsibility is it to publicize items that so obviously require a public hearing?
Is it the City Managers responsibility? The mayor? The whole City Council?
Isn’t it the City Manager responsible for writing press releases if an item of this nature is not reported in the paper?
I agree with Mayor Devito that the public should have had more notice.
The other question is:
When there is a tie, does the motion always automatically get dropped?
What would have happened if the Housing Element had been split 50% 50%? Would they have had to bring it back?
I don’t think if it was something Joe and Steve and the City Manager cared about that it would have died on the floor.
When there is a tie, under what circumstances can an item be revisited at a future meeting when all five members are present?
I am sure I speak for many people that we are disappointed that Joe and Steve are unwilling to adopt a policy that would make our town a more environmentally healthy community in which to live.
God you are so right! Im in! Ban them blowers. I live in a neighborhood in Glendale, Ca. where the fornt yards of properties are less than 25′x 50′ and yet 2 to 3 times a day I hear those things for an hour or more. Theres also a cloud of dust that blows from property to property on every occasion. I have to close doors and windows. 2 hours later the other gardner shows up. I rake and sweep my yard in 15 minuts and I consider myself lazy. Why dont they do the same. The other day it was raining and I heard one, went outside with a camera, they stopped cuz they saw how stupid they looked. I believe a Greener planet starts with everyone pitching in some way. If the government is planning on lowering c02 levels, 3 million leaf blowers is a great start.