The Ojai Post

While my first choice is the appointment of attorney Lenny Klaif, the only candidate who has a long history of regularly attending city council meetings and voicing his opinion at the podium, to be fair, all five candidates have qualities that could be useful on the city council. I applaud them all for stepping forth and hope they run next November, when there will be three open seats. (Even if someone is appointed tonight, he will still have to run for election in November 2010.)

The agenda is posted on the City website.

The first thing I noticed was that there is no staff report on this item (#4). I expect that the reason for this will be made clear tonight.

The following is the suggested Seven Step procedure for attempting to fill the Council vacancy.

According to the city manager, “…this [seven steps] is designed to eliminate the candidates without broad support first, leaving, hopefully, only potential compromise candidates for the final vote.”

Step 1: Ask each Council member for their nominations to fill vacancy and
ask for a second. This is done to assure possibly two favorable votes.
Those nominated will comprise the slate.

Step 2: Ask all nominated candidates to speak to Council (if they are
present). Allow five minutes each.

Step 3: Ask anyone from the public who wishes to speak on that matter to do
so for three minutes.

Step 4: Council votes on all candidates one at a time. The Council members
may vote for more than one candidate.

Step 5: If no candidate receives three votes, a motion for a special election should be made. The special election must be held at the next regularly-scheduled City election no earlier than 114 days from the January 12, 2010 Council meeting. (Gov. Code Sec. 36512.) 114 days ends on May 6,
2010. Therefore, the election should be held on the June primary election date already scheduled by the County.

Step 6: If only one candidate receives three votes, he or she fills the vacancy. If more than one candidate receives three votes, hold a second round of voting for those who received three votes or more.

Step 7: In second round of voting, each Council member may only vote for one candidate. Any candidate who receives three votes fills vacancy. If no candidate receives three votes, make motion for election.

My first reaction upon reading this was, “This sounds like something you would do in Elementary School to appoint someone to the Student Council!” But after awhile I calmed down and began to see the pros and cons to this interesting method. However, it still seems unecessarilly complicated.

I recommend reversing Steps One and Two. There are only five candidates (at least so far — there is no deadline for submitting application. There could be a last minute stampede of applicants). It seems to me to be more fair that any candidate that has taken the time to write a five-minute speech should be allowed to speak (if he wants to).

I’m VERY curious about the thinking behind this extra step that is tagged onto Step 4: “The Council members may vote for more than one candidate.”

As far as I know, this means the four council members can each vote for one, two, three, four or even all five candidates in the first round of voting.

I'm thinking, "There is only one vacancy. Why muddy the waters by allowing more than one vote the first round?"

Related to this, last night I received the following update from the Ojai Chamber:

Chamber Members,

Tomorrow night [Tuesday] the City Council meeting, Council will vote on filling the seat vacated by Joe DeVito. There are five candidates for the position. Originally, the Chamber endorsed a special election feeling it was proper for the voting residents to control their own destiny. However, the Council voted to appoint. The Chamber asked all five candidates for an opportunity to interview them before Tuesday’s meeting.

Of the three who responded, we feel Paul Blatz and Leonard Klaif would best represent the interests of the Chamber members.

City Manager Jere Kersnar has suggested a publicly vocal voting system for the appointment. It is somewhat convoluted, but doable. (It is attached to this email.) We will urge one change: that the Council members write their votes on seperate pieces of paper, pass those slips to the City Clerk and have her read the votes of each member aloud. This would forestall the undo extra influence on the outcome the last one or two votes would have if all were vocalized sequentially, yet let the public know for whom each Council member voted.

The Chamber has shown its strength over the last two years. We endorsed and worked to pass the Formula Retail Ordinance. We endorsed Betsy Clapp for City Council and she was elected. We worked for and gained the right for merchants to have outdoor displays of their merchandise. We worked for almost three years on a destination marketing plan for Ojai and just last December, the Council voted to fully fund that proposal beginning this month. None of this would have been accomplished without the support of our members. Tuesday’s meeting will be important for the future of our town. Keep in mind that even after this vacant seat is filled, there will be an election for this seat again in November, along with two, and possibly three, additional City Council seats, so we could have an almost completely new City Council in January 2011.

I urge you to attend the Council meeting on Tuesday and speak for the candidate of your choice.

Scott Eicher, CEO,Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce

Some background information to tonight's meeting:

On Dec. 8, the Ojai City Council voted 3-2 in favor of appointing a replacement for the position vacated by Joe DeVito, whose term would have naturally expired in November of this year. At that time, it was the council’s hope that they would have enough qualified applicants from which to appoint the replacement on Jan. 12, but they would also be within the appointment time line if a choice was made at the Jan. 26 council meeting.

With DeVito gone, who voted with the majority for appointment, there is a possibility that the seat will go to special election. The council has not yet established dates for such an election. If embedded in the June primary ballot, the city has estimated the cost to be about $6,000. As an independent ballot, the cost to the city could be as high as $36,000.“

Following are brief bios of applicants, listed alphabetically.

Paul Blatz, age 58. Occupation: attorney. Education: George Washington University, B.S.; Ventura College of Law, J.D. 26-year Ojai resident. Affiliations: Rotary Club of Ojai-West; Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce; Ojai Valley Living Treasures board; Ojai Performing Arts Theater Foundation; Ojai Pergola Committee; California and Ventura County bar associations; and Ventura County Superior Court Judge Pro-TemConcerns: Assuring fiscal responsibility while protecting the character of Ojai through preservation of open spaces, addressing traffic impacts and supporting youth programs.“I felt the council, in terms of who they appoint, should have as many applicants as possible. And I truly believe that my presence on the council would help assure the sustainability of the community.”

Demitri Corbin, age 48. Occupation: Professional actor. Education: Illinois State University, B.S. in theater; Chautauqua Professional Actor’s StudioEight-year Ojai residentAffiliations: Ojai Arts Commission; Virginia Avenue Project; Peachtree Theater Company; Cardboard Fairytale Theater; Ojai Playwrights Conference; Ojai-Ventura Film Festival; Theater 150; Ojai Shakespeare Festival; Ojai Performing Arts Theater Foundation; Ojai Valley Youth Foundation; and Ojai Library After School Homework LabConcerns: Better utilization of the city’s nonprofit status in applying for public and private funding for artistic and educational projects to help promote tourism to Ojai. “I want to be on City Council because I think I would bring insight into the arts community when decisions are made. All of these things lend to the profile that Ojai has as an artists community."

Leonard Klaif, age 61. Occupation: criminal attorneyEducation: University of Iowa College of Law, J.D; State University of New York at Buffalo, B.A. in economics; Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing, massage technician certificate17-year Ojai residentAffiliations: Ojai Art Center; Theater 150; Ojai Film Society; California Appellate Project; California State Bar; California Appellate Defense Council, South Bay and Ventura chapters; and Los Angeles County Juvenile Bar AssociationConcerns: Fostering the arts, supporting local businesses and protecting the valley’s beauty and open spaces.“I believe that I can make a valuable contribution as a member of the City Council. I am familiar with the issues as I regularly attend council meetings … We have incredibly interesting, smart, caring people in our valley and the city needs to better harness this most valuable resource."

Mike Lenehan, age 49. Occupation: federal investigatorEducation: University of California at Santa Barbara, B.A. in law and society; Santa Barbara City College, A.A. in law and society; U.S. Army Command and General Staff College graduateNine-year Ojai residentAffiliations: Ojai Parks & Recreation Commission; U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, retired; Ojai American Legion; Veterans of Foreign Wars, Ojai; Knights of Columbus, Ventura; Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; Emerald Society of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies; Santa Barbara Irish Festival; and Nordhoff High and Villanova Preparatory schools, coach. Concerns: Promoting youth recreation programs while offering a conservative perspective to the collective decisions made by the city.
“I have a common person perspective that I think appeals to people who are in a like situation.”

John Mirk, age 58. Occupation: IT support technicianEducation: William Marsh Rice University, B.A. in architecture16-year Ojai resident Affiliations: Ojai Planning Commission; Housing Element Task Force; Ojai Public Art Review Committee; Libbey Park Public Art Selection Committee; Ojai Raptor Center; Theater 150; Patagonia Environmental Grants Committee; Nordhoff High School music department; Volunteers in Service to America; and Channel Islands Bike ClubConcerns: Affordable housing and developing standards and programs to enhance the city’s future while maintaining Ojai’s special character. “I’ve enjoyed my service on the Planning Commission and am ready for new challenges. I consider service on the City Council to be one of the most demanding duties in our town, and see the chance to be directly responsible for the well-being of Ojai as one of the most rewarding opportunities in public service.”

Related Links:
Lenny Klaif
http://www.ojaipost.com/2009/12/ojai_city_council_vacancy_lett.shtml
Demitri Corbin
http://www.ojaipost.com/2009/12/demitri_corbin_files_for_counc.shtml

Note: The other candidates did not submit their application or letter to the Ojai Post. Interviews with all the candidates can be found on the Ojai Valley News and Ventura County Star website.