City Council — 2024-10-22

Good evening everyone. If you could take a seat please, we have a quorum and come to quiet.

We're

going to start so if you can all take a seat and come to quiet please be much appreciated thank you so much. Good evening everyone and welcome to the Tuesday October 22nd regular meeting of the Ojai City Council Thank you again for joining us tonight. We have an important agenda tonight ahead, but before we dive in and take roll call I want to take a moment to address an upcoming discussion regarding one of our most popular recreation department programs, gymnastics.

We know this program holds a special place in the hearts of many in our community and we want to ensure that we give it the attention it deserves. To that end, we'll be holding a special meeting dedicated solely to this topic on Tuesday November 19th at 6 p.m. in this same room at Kent Hall During this special meeting of the Ojai City Council, we will discuss its future, gather feedback and explore ways to enhance our overall recreation offerings.

If you would like additional information on what will be covered at this special meeting, please grab a copy of the press release and the newsletter available in the back of the room outlining the discussion to take place on November 19th. For today's meeting, I kindly ask that you hold your comments on this program until that special meeting on November 19th.

Your input is valuable and we want to make sure- excuse me could we have quiet please? Thank you. We want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to share their thoughts in the right setting. Thank you for your understanding and for your commitment to our community. I look forward to our discussion at the upcoming meeting. With respect to this evening, we are implementing the new City Council member timed comment period in accordance with the Code of Conduct recently adopted by the City Council. Council members will have five minutes at a time with each council member receiving an opportunity to comment.

The council may cycle back through for an additional five minutes each on a debatable motion after being recognized to speak. This will allow priority given to council members who have not yet spoken on the matter under consideration. If there are any questions about this new process, Assistant City Manager Taylor Anderson is available to address. Now unless there are any council member questions on this new process let's move forward on today's agenda All right Chief Deputy City Clerk, roll call please.

Since the late 80s, he has been working as a Native American cultural resource monitor, working solo as well as with archaeologists to discover, define and protect native Chumash sacred sites and village sites. He also does educational programs honoring his Chumash heritage. It is Patrick's goal to protect what is natural in the way Native people would want, and he says we have to remind ourselves that we are the gatekeepers of the world in all its glory and beauty and not take Mother Earth for granted. I know Patrick was very key and very involved in rewriting the cultural guidelines for the valley a number of years ago. So thank you, Patrick. Thank you for being there to preserve what came before us so we can truly know of it and enjoy it and be grateful for it.

So I'm going to turn you over to the mayor.

I just want to say thank you to Patrick for reminding us that we are the gatekeepers of the world, so important. Thank you for preserving that and reminding us and keep reminding us please. Thank you so much.

Well, first of all I want to thank past and present council members for helping us adjust to the culture and the preservation and protection of our cultural resources. You know as you know thousands of years we have lived here and occupied this land and it's my goal and my interest in trying to preserve all that. Ojai is a beautiful place and I love it And what really reminds me of a lot of things, and I see it ever so often is this bumper sticker that says don't change Ojai let Ojai change you.

And it's very appropriate for this valley. It's a beautiful valley and I cherish it and I hope that each and every one of you do the same. So thank you. Thank you for all the help everybody has assisted us in and I truly appreciate it. Like I say, I love this town so thank you.

And I can't let him go to a seat without acknowledging your sister who did make it tonight. Julie Tumamite Stensley is a Lifetime Achievement Award for this, well-deserved for both of you and I'm glad that we got to where we have recognized the two of you and your family for all that you've done for our valley for generations and generations, centuries. Thank you.

More to come, okay. Okay, Lifetime Achievement Award this year is going to a gentleman who went off on vacation to Europe. I traveled with her. I called him a couple weeks ago when you all agreed to his award he said hey Brian what are you doing? I just got out of the theater in whatever city in England he was. I'm like why did you call me then? So he got back last Friday, again traveling for 25 days with his wife and yeah he caught the cold on the plane on the way home. So Tony Thatcher who is our Lifetime Achievement Award winner is not here tonight I will make sure he gets the award Tony Thatcher and his family have been an integral part of Ojai history since 1887 when his grandfather, Edward Thatcher came to the valley to manage Ojai's first orange ranch.

The Thatcher family has established citrus olive industries. The Thatcher School, you might have heard of that. Founding of Nordoff High School in 1909, George Thatcher Memorial Library, 1893. I challenge you to go find it. Hasn't moved in a long time, right Susan? Incorporation of the City of Ojai and founding of the Ojai Tennis Tournament in the 1890s. Tony wrote a great book on that. He's helped Rotary Managed Affairs Ranches, Ojai Pixie Growers, Civic Association. He does so much. We are very grateful for all that Tony and his family have done for our valley and on behalf of Tony I thank you all for your support, for the Thatcher family, for Tony and very much appreciate that.

So

sure absolutely.

When I talked to Brian yesterday, I think, Brian said Tony is everything. Which I thought was great and Tony is everything. Tony's done so much over the decades and always such a community minded and generous person. I've had the opportunity to be in meetings with him in the last four years and he always brought tangerines which was so lovely. So congratulations Tony out there and we love you and we're so grateful to you.

Okay. And many thanks to Chair Akins for all your hard work and for making that happen. Appreciate it. We have one more presentation. It's from TRC companies, and they will present the city grant status update regarding energy efficiency. He's after.

Yes, Mayor. We have Walker Wells and Myra Vega who will present on Zoom. And Walker, you have the floor. We have your slides up here in council chambers and you're ready to go.

Okay, great. I wanted to be able to see the slides. I can't see them right now though.

I see typos everywhere. It's everywhere!

Okay, thanks for the opportunity to present on the Energy Efficiency Code for the City of Ojai and the progress that's been made since May with the TRC team. My name is Walker Wells I'm with Ramey Associates part of that team just wanted to walk you through the progress has been made to date and go to the next slide. And I'm actually not able to see this slide so let me Okay, all right. I can just follow along here so on this timeline this is just here to remind us all that this is a continuum of effort that started 2017 but really picked up a lot of speed and emphasis with Ojai joining the Clean Power Alliance and having them be your electricity provider And you can see a number of steps on city policy, electrification of city facilities new construction code.

Moving us up to 2024 when we focused on existing buildings and really existing residential buildings. Uh, with the code that goes beyond state minimum standards. Next slide we looked at the characteristics of housing in Ojai and determine that the vast majority is single family 78%. And that there's a relatively even split between. Renters and owners, which makes us recognize and reminds us that there's sort of equity concerns in here and protecting.

Renters from displacement and not having energy efficiency being used as a vehicle of displacement. And then also relevant is that 93% of the housing stock was built before 1990, which means that a good portion of it could be ready for some type of upgrade whether that's adding installation to the attic changing out windows changing the water heater or the system.

So there can be a intersection of the intent of this policy with. The renovations that people may be undertaking next slide. So, what are local energy codes and why are they done? These codes will be adopted by local governments that want to exceed the state's minimum standards for green building and in the Title 24 Part 6 Energy Code. The cities that we're working with are doing this largely as part of their climate strategies whether it's a Climate Action Plan or Climate Emergency Declaration And by using less energy and certainly less fossil-based energy, we're reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There's also a co-benefit of improving air quality.

By improving energy performance there is also an economic benefit. Using less energy means you're buying less energy. And then from a bigger picture standpoint there is the benefit of increasing grid resiliency by using less energy and potentially making energy through photovoltaic panels on the building. Next slide please. So, the approach that we've arrived at over the past 6-7 months has been named FlexPath and that's because it gives people flexible pathways for achieving this higher level of energy efficiency.

And a key component of its design is to respond to the 9th circuit ruling on the Berkeley gas band and that ruling basically upheld The perspective that local governments are not allowed to regulate certain appliances and building systems, like hot water heaters and like air conditioners. So we have to ensure that people can comply with this ordinance without necessarily having the install those things that are regulated by the federal government.

We also need to make sure that there's a pathway that meets the cost effectiveness tests that are put in place by the State Energy Commission. So this approach does all of that. The intent is to let people pick what fits for their project, again whether it's insulation or heat pump hot water heater or photovoltaic panels and so they can select what works for their budget, the scope of their project, the relative age of systems in their building A positive element is that the administration process can be fairly streamlined and just fold it into the regular plan check process. It's basically a checklist where you would tick off the items that you're going to use, each has sort of a point value associated with it. You need to get a certain number of points and include those features in your project.

We're also seeing a number of peer cities adopting this approach. San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz have adopted it without any legal challenges and we are currently working with West Hollywood and Santa Monica on a similar approach So, next slide and also last slide just to kind of give you a sense of the timeline. You know, we kicked off in May did some of this analysis I've talked about conducted 2 rounds of stakeholder engagement. In August with the business community and with the environmental community starting in September, we started drafting the ordinance that draft ordinance has been submitted to the city and an initial version for review. We're here today for the information session and the intent The rest of October, November and December is to finalize the ordinance and bring it back to you for 1st and 2nd readings.

Before the end of the year, um, once it's been approved at the local level that needs to go to the energy commission building standards Commission for approval. And usually go in that usually takes 2 to 3 months so likely would be able to go into effect sometime sometime in late February or March. And the last slide just says questions if you have any, and if there's an opportunity to take some. So thank you for your time really appreciate it.

Thank You Walker much appreciated any questions from Council? Well thank you again and we're really happy and grateful for your work and excited to see the ordinance so much appreciated All right, thank you very much. And we have now commission reports. We have a report from Chair Smitty of the Arts Department of Commission. Sorry.

I think it's great these kids are here, isn't it? They're gymnastics kids. I'm your arts commissioner and I say gymnastics are an art. Thank you liaison Whitman for checking in last week before we had our presentation 21 grant applicants this year so we're really excited to be in that process. I want to thank Councilperson Rule for kind of giving us a guidance that we were trying to follow to the number. Thank you for that. You'll hear more about that later. I will mention that on behalf of Commissioners Wright, Grouse, Steiner, Leeds and myself we're excited about moving our plan forward now one of the next One of the next steps in our plan was going to be a analysis and measurement of what the arts impact is in the valley, and that the county Department of Arts and Culture alerted me to grant opportunity available called a catalyst grant from the state.

For the central coast they include Ventura County in the in the Central Coast as well and he recommended that I apply so I got application in last week for an $250,000 accelerator grant it's called and we're going to be We'll be working on that over the next few weeks. So I just wanted to give you a quick little primer on What this is about? So the county's undergoing a high-level economic impact study of the creative economy across the county. The study will be a starting point for communities to understand and to nurture local quality jobs in the sector, especially for underserved constituents.

The creative economy, just a quick primer here refers to the economic activities that are driven by creative industries and occupations. It encompasses a wide range of sectors including the arts design media film and other industries that embed original ideas into the products or services is characterized by the economic value associated with goods services and intellectual property born of created work It's often grossly overlooked by government and school programs. So our catalyst grant is gonna have four parts, one will be actually undergoing a study to try to measure collect data surveys, economic indicators, social impact measurements, environmental benefits of what the arts are in our valley.

Two it's called an acceleration grant since we already have a plan and a grants program We're going to apply for $100,000 as part of this for our existing arts grants applicants as well over a three-year period to be able to augment or match with what the city is generously providing. And we want to also apply $50,000 to our mentorship program. We've recently formed an ad hoc committee for our... I wanna thank all our ad hoc committee members, our grants applicants, our murals and now our mentorship program. Every time we form a committee of artists professionals from the community To help us in making recommendations to council it really helps kind of pull and glue together our community, especially with our creative economy.

And then lastly and I will come revitalize our arts economy through better use of our existing resources if you were a little town. Somewhere out in Ventura County that said, oh we'd like a Libby Bowl and 2,000 art professionals so that we can be like Ojai. All right? You can't you can money can't buy that but we already have that and so we want to use it well I'll come up later during public comments on the on the bowl itself But I just wanted to give you an idea of what we're up to over at the Arts Commission

Thank you, Chair Smitty. Much appreciated and great plans. We're excited. Thank you for all your dedication. All right, we will give a hand. Yeah exactly Thank you and thank you for making our community more beautiful all right We'll move on to public communication And just a reminder that these this is the time for members of the public To address the City Council and items of business that are not on the agenda We can agendize these items for the future and we appreciate your input and participation Members of the public, while we value your enthusiasm please refrain from making side comments, clapping or of course booing. Please help model civility and respect even when we disagree and make it about policy and not personality. And just a reminder, we have a half an hour of public comments at the beginning.

So I'll take the first 10 cards that I received and then they will take the rest after our first discussion item. So we'll begin with Jolene Catlett, then Amelia Catlett and then Steve Quillacy.

Catlett, just for the record. That's OK. My daughter's experience in the Ojai Gymnastics has been a shining example of empowerment through passion and supportive community. My daughter, now 10 years old, started at the age of two and has blossomed over the years. In the past year she's advanced two levels in nearing competition status. The gymnastics program supportive staff and community has fostered her dedication.

Her collegiate and Olympic ambitions underscore her remarkable progress for dedication. This journey showcases the resounding impact and the unwavering enthusiasm and supportive direction from the Ojai Valley Gymnastics. My daughter's story serves as one of hundreds of compelling arguments for preserving or improving the current gymnastics program. Ojai parents were surprised on October 11th when an email from Mr. Davis, head of the rec center revealed the city's plan to reduce the classes to two days a week this decision made without consultation And community input affects a vibrant program catering from ages two through adulthood and is always high in demand. We recognize its potential for development, connection and community.

We should be enhancing existing successful programs rather than diminishing them. Council members, Mr. Harvey I urge you to examine the Ojai Rec Center and ask the new manager about his modifications under his guidance flourishing programs have scaled back all of a sudden adult softball games necessitate staff supervision in a long established gymnastics program is being diminished with the intention of donating key equipment Over the past week and a half, I've engaged in numerous in-depth discussions in person and over social media with Valley residents. And not one individual expressed support for reducing our program.

Your ethics meeting this month highlighted proactive transparency where the assistant city attorney made the analogy if there's no dogs you don't build a dog park. I loved that by the way. Our community wants this program. Why dismantle programs enriching hundreds of youth and families annually instead of augmenting investments? Why conceal plans for months our valley prosperity hinges on cultivating youth let us advocate for their interest Lastly, to quote Mr. Randy Haney from the most recent article in Ojai Valley News, we demand the Recreation and Parks Commission to be fully staffed and engage in all discussions about the future of our programs. Thank you.

Thank You Julie

And once again, we do appreciate your enthusiasm. I'm going to ask everyone please no clapping. You can always do jazz hands if you agree. Thank you very much. Next we have Amelia Catlett and then Steve Quillacy and then Peyton Stafford.

Hi my name is Amelia and I am in gymnastics at the Rec Center. I'm in Superstars and I heard you're canceling that class after New Year's. I have been doing gymnastics since I was in Kinder Gym. Gymnastics has made me more strong brave and more independent. Me and my teammates are very sad and disappointed about your decision. Please keep everything the same and don't change it.

Thank you, Amelia. Next we have Steve Quillacy and then thank you for the jazz hands and then Peyton Stafford and then Maya Snowbarger.

Good evening. I come to you tonight as the commander of the Ojai Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11461, and I want to thank you. First, I want to thank Christy Rivera for making it possible for us to have a dunk tank at Ojai Day. I know some of you saw it. Others of you participated. In particular, the mayor, the city manager and council members Lange and Rule all volunteered to be dunked.

And while I understand it violates your rules, I think you four are such good sports that you deserve a round of applause from this audience. Thank you.

Thank you, Steve. And I thank you, Duji, if you're out there. It was really, really fun and we got some kids with some good arms in this town. All right. Next, we have Peyton Stafford. Peyton here and then Maya and then Christina Snowbarger. Hi, my name is Peyton.

Hi, my name is Payton and I've been doing gymnastics for a while now. And it would be sad for you guys to take it away and if you did me and other friends of mine would be really sad of your guys's decision. And if we had like if you took away gymnastics, we would only have a certain amount of sports left. Thank you.

Thank you, Peyton. Next, we have Maya. Then we have Christina and then Steven Snowbarger.

Hi, I am Maya and I am a superstar in gymnastics. I have been going to Ojai Valley Gymnastics since I was two years old, and I'm asking you guys to please not get rid of some of the equipment and not cutting tumbling open gym and days off of gymnastics. I love gymnastics. It means so much to me and all of my friends that do gymnastics with me. And I am so sad that you are doing this

Thank you, Maya. Next we have Steven then Jamie Jones and then Holly Jones.

Well before she said Christina Snowbarger and then Stephen.

Oh yeah, Christina first then Steven.

Hi, it's an honor to be here before you guys and thank you for all that you do. This is great for the children just to have this experience. I looked something up from the American Psychological Association on resilience, and there are variables for children growing up in this complex world. It can be hard for them to thrive. School-aged children are not only facing peer struggles but also unseen emotional pain, stress and even trauma that can be detrimental at a time where they should be having fun.

It's our job as parents and as a community to build resilience in our children Providing an opportunity for our children to connect with their peers so they have a network for social support strengthens resilience. Whether they realize it or not, children crave structure and we're obligated to provide opportunities for them to develop a regular routine. Rec Center activities teach our children the basics of self-care while implementing exercise and participation in activities they enjoy.

They provide opportunities for self-discovery which help our children to figure out what they're made of and who they are. Specifically, resilience facilitates balance and enables children to be more resilient during stressful times. As a community, oh wait specifically the gymnastics program is one that sets the children up with reasonable goals and helps them to move toward them one step at a time. They also work together and volunteer with lower levels to support each other in accomplishing and establishing goals.

As a community we need to be in collaboration to provide a variety of activities to cater to the likes and interests that are in demand for all of our children As a community, we have had our rights violated and we are determined to be able to come to the table to collaborate, navigate barriers and accommodate the community as a whole in addition to maintaining the healthy well-being of our children.

The REC department has been unjust and has already begun to cut programs and do away with program equipment before allowing the community an opportunity to come to the table for collaborations. We ask that no changes be made to the current program prior to the due process we're entitled to for collaborations that you guys are giving us on November 19th. We know that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and we ask that we're not forced to deprive our children when there's likely another way.

Thank you.

Thank you, Christina. Next, we have Steven, then Jamie Jones, then Holly Jones.

Thank you all for letting us be here tonight and wonderful to see our kids here too as well. I'm speaking on behalf of our daughters and the Ojai Valley Gymnastics Program through the City Rec Department, I'm sorry I had to write this because i'm not real good at speaking often anyway I was sad to hear that the decision was made to dismantle and scale down the gymnastics program without seeking input from our community and the people involved in such programs.

I have seen the way it just the announcement has affected our daughter Maya and her friends and the parents of this for this decision. I pray for all of you quiet your minds and soften your hearts. It's I would pray that you would quiet your mind, soften your hearts for our children because these type of programs have been the cornerstone of this valley for over 30 to 40 years now.

And I heard a great saying when I first walked in here it was from the mayor and she was saying while she was giving an award. She said we are the gatekeepers of the world but we're also the gatekeepers of our children in this community Please don't forget that and we are also the gatekeepers together to watch out for our children. Our children are the future by making these type of decisions you'll be causing damage to our children and our community, that's all I have thank you.

Thank You Steven next we have Jamie Jones then Holly Jones then Scott Miller

Hi, my name is Jamie Jones. I'm eight years old and I'm on pre-team. Please keep the equipment and we can share the gym. And we would be really disappointed if you would take away some of the equipment. Thank you.

Thank you, Jamie. Next, we have Holly Jones. And then Scott Miller.

Hi there, I just want to speak on the most important thing is the fact that you guys are planning to get rid of the equipment. So if you guys get rid of the bars and the beams and the vault we'll just be left with mats which turns gymnastics into a tumbling class and I want to remind you guys that Matt Davis is getting rid of the tumbling class So I don't know what you plan to call this program without any equipment, but it doesn't make any sense. I urge you guys to come watch, come to a tiny tumbling class. See all those new parents meet other new parents that live in the valley.

Come watch these girls put equipment away at 730 PM after two and a half hour class. They're exhausted but they're putting the equipment away. Just come out, come see what these girls do. And also if you take this away we don't have softball. We don't have cheerleading. We don't have youth football anymore or baseball is down in Oakview now. We are so limited and also gymnastics isn't at the high schools. You can go play basketball, you can go play soccer, you can go play all these sports for middle school and for high school. You can't go play gymnastics at Nordoff.

So if you eliminate it, you're completely taking it out of the valley. And sometimes it's impossible for families to get to Ventura. Okay? Thank you. Thank you Holly. Next we have Scott Miller.

Hi there, my name is Scott Miller. I'm working with Brian Johnson to hopefully make Ojai a Don't Die City. I know this sounds kind of strange but he has dedicated his life to improving everyone's life and we're in a really delicate stage in our evolution or transition from AI to the environment and all kinds of challenges that we're facing And the Don't Die philosophy is basically going to a vegetarian diet and protecting our environment and working together. And I'm personally working with him, and I would like to encourage everybody to take the time to understand his philosophy of don't die.

And I'd like to leave some paperwork for the City Council. Thank you.

Thank you, Scott. All right. That was a 10 comments. So we will take the rest of the comments after our first discussion item. So right now we will move on to consent calendar. Mayor. Yeah.

What? There were a lot of really short.

OK. OK,

five more.

Five more than more. OK because the comments were so short, we're going to take five more. First, we have John Boetti then Tina Abbey and then Camille Holly.

Good evening Council. At the mayoral candidate debate held by the League of Women Voters a few weeks ago, the subject of the City Hall encampment came up. Specifically, the subject of the locations suggested by the OI Board of Realtors was mentioned. Mr. Gilman, one of the candidates running for mayor made a comment that I found curious he said quote Some of the locations that were presented by the Ojai Board of Realtors were omitted from consideration and we don't know why I would like to know why that is unquote That surprised me because I was under the impression that all the recommendations were considered.

So, I'm asking that the City Manager shed some light on Mr. Gilman's comment? I think it would be what the public would like to know.

Thank you John.

Thank you.

Mr. City Manager could you shed a little light on that please?

Sure, Mayor. So the direction from the City Council what I recall and you can check the minutes on this if you want to confirm it was that the city manager was supposed was directed to work with the Board of Realtors to vet a list of potential properties and so to that end I met with the Board of Realtor's probably three or four different times going through a list of properties that they had come up with Some properties that were on their initial draft list were removed for a couple of reasons. One of the instructions that I gave the realtors was that if there were property owners who were not supportive of the proposed project, we shouldn't have them on the list because this was going to be a very public process and you know their name was going to be out there and if they weren't behind the project, there just was no point in subjecting the city or them to that.

The other thing that we talked about as far as properties on the list was there were some that were in the industrial area of the Bryant Circle area town and I told the realtors I'd been approached before this project independently by a number of different council members on their desire to not have additional housing in that area so Knowing that council members had talked to me about that. I didn't see a reason to bring forward Properties in that area either so with that we ended up with the properties that were brought to the council and Having been involved in this project for a long time I can tell you That I'm not surprised that there were very short list of properties because it's not an easy thing to cite Thank you very much

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Next we have Tina Abbe and then Camille Hawley and then Lenny Leonard-Claife.

Hi my name is Tina Abe and I just want to make sure you all know how vital the gymnastics program is to the youth of the city of Ojai. My daughter Cammie has participated since 2014, first as a gymnast in the STARS program then a team member and now as a coach when she comes home from school. She can't be here tonight because she's a junior at Cal Poly Pomona.