Ojai City Council, Regular Meeting

Yeah,

check, check. Hello. Welcome here, everyone. Thanks for coming.

Thank

you. What did she say? Oh, okay. Well, welcome to the Tuesday, September 9th regular meeting of the Ojai City Council. And I gotta hit this first. Thank you. And roll call, please. Mr. Montgomery.

make a quick announcement. Council Member Rule is participating remotely under Government Code Section 54953B3, and that has been noticed on our agenda today. And all City Council actions will be taken via roll call.

riders, just over 1.7 increase from last year. We carry about almost 20 passengers. Our goal is 20. We're at 19.7 passengers per hour. So for every hour operation, we're almost there. And we've also made improvements on our on-time performance. Over the years, you can see the impact of COVID. This snapshot here shows a 25-year ridership history. This past year, we finally exceeded our pre-pandemic ridership. We had a big drop during 2020-2021. We're now back up to over 3.5 million for last year.

Serving Ojai, as I mentioned, Route 16 serves downtown Ojai going all the way to the Pacific View Mall, with stops in between. We also connect to the trolley at Miramonte and Highway 33, and also to the regional services. To ride the bus, it's $2 a ride, and you can ride for up to $2. It's $1 if you are a senior over 65 or you have a disability, or if you are over 75, the bus is free. We also offer free rides for youth who are under 18, and all local college students with ID can ride the bus for free. We operate seven days a week from about 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.

And this is just a little advertisement to promote the Youth Ride Free program. And this is a program that's not just on Gold Coast Transit bus, but on all transit in Ventura County. We also offer a curb-to-curb service for seniors and people with disabilities who are unable to use the fixed route service. And it's a reservation shared ride where you can call in and have a ride come to where you're at, your home or work or wherever you need to go. You have to call the day before by 5 p.m. and make a reservation. And it's, again, only open for seniors over 65 and persons who have a disability. And that's $4 per rent.

And then just a couple other services we offer. We started this service during the pandemic as a way to utilize our fleet during late night hours. And it's been, I think, very well received. It's called Safe Rides. So during the late night after 7 p.m. or before 7 a.m., The general public can use the curb-to-curb service for $5, and this is also a call ahead and make a reservation, but it's a way for if you're stranded and the bus has stopped running or you don't want to wait in the dark, you can call and request a safe ride during the evening or early morning hours. And then lastly is our health zone service. And this is a service for people who may not qualify for the curb-to-curb. Maybe they don't meet the age criteria of 65 or they have a temporary disability.

They're also able to use the curb-to-curb service, but paying a higher fare, zone-based fare. How to schedule a ride, you can call our number at 805-485-2319, day before, and we will, if possible, provide same-day service if there's space available, but I do encourage calling ahead. Our contact information, you can call our general question line at 487-4222, or you can also email us, customerservice at gctd.

Or you can also contact me directly. Anytime, my email is vanessa at gctd.org. And with that, I'll thank you for the opportunity to give an update on Gold Coast. Lots going on, and if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them, or you can always email me if you think of something later on.

Thank you so much. I have two quick questions. And first off, let me say, I was a scat bus rider as a kid going to the beach every week from here, so thank you for that. Do you anticipate any federal either funding cuts or interruption? Is that something that your boards anticipated?

We are, you know, we are not anticipating any cuts at this time. Although each, every five years, the federal government reauthorizes the surface transportation bill. So the process for that reauthorization is going on right now. The current five-year reauthorization will fund us for the next year. And so we are cautiously optimistic that the funding levels will stay at least to the level that they are. If they do get reduced, obviously we'll have to address that. So we're cautiously optimistic that at least funding will stay to the same levels that they have been. And we are in close contact with our congressional representatives who sit on the Transportation Committee. And so, so far, the feedback has been, you know, don't panic yet.

No, thanks. And then my last question. I might be wrong about this, but the last bus leaves here like around eight o'clock or something like that. Are you getting feedback that people want a later bus? A

little bit? Yes, we do get some feedback. People who work in primarily, you know, service, retail industry, you know, a lot of restaurants close at nine o'clock, right? And so getting home at the last, after restaurants might close and things like that. So we get a lot of feedback. It's hard for people to get home.

Okay. Thanks. That's good for me to

know.

Yes. I might have missed it, but how much do you collect in fares per year?

So our fare is, the fare we collect is $2, but the actual amount we collect, I'll go back to that slide so you can see the number. So you can see here's our revenue sources. So passenger fare is just over $2 million. If you count our paratransit fares, about $2.5 million in fares. So it's less than 10% of our overall budget is fares. I will note that a large part of the state funding that we get is actually reimbursing us for the fares of the youth ride-free. So while the fare percentage number looks very low, it's actually being supplemented by state cap-and-trade, the greenhouse gas fund at the state. It's reimbursing all of those youth fares. Youth fares, youth right now are about 30% of the riders. So if that funding were to go away, that program were to go away, that would definitely impact us.

But the fares number, I will note, includes that fare reimbursement.

Thanks. Anything else? Okay, thank you so much for being here. Sorry, I misunderstood

you. I just want to say Ms. Rauschenberger is such a conscientious leader, and the climate among the employees, among everyone who works there, it's just there's really a sense of community. That I think your leadership has fostered. And it's really been a joy to serve on the board. And yeah, it's just professionalism at the utmost level. So I really love, I love all that you do. Thank you for all your service and for all that you do for our community. Thank you. Thank you.

All right.

Thanks for being here. Mr. Montgomery, any commission reports today? Okay, thank you very much. City manager's report.

Thanks, Mayor. Just two very quick items. One, you, Mayor, are aware of this, as is Councilmember Whitman. On Friday this past week, the City had a meeting with the school district, with the non-profit grassroots organization, and with Channel Islands YMCA on the topic of trying to jumpstart the community aquatics program. We left the meeting basically with the city, taking the lead, working with the YMCA, trying to see what would be involved with staffing from the YMCA to get the community aquatics program going. Since the meeting, I've been in communication with the YMCA and waiting for a response back. We provided them with the hours that might be available. We're waiting to hear back what that may cost. We will be coming to you, the City Council, with a proposal so that we may decide if it's something that the Council wants to embark upon or not.

So that's one part of my update. The second part, I failed to mention in my weekly update to you all this past week, that this agenda packet was created in our new agenda management system. So kudos to our Chief Deputy City Clerk. It all came together. We were able to crank out this packet using our new system. It's going to be terrific once we all get the hang of it. And soon there will be benefits for the community and for the council to enjoy as well. So just kudos to Mr. Montgomery. Big effort and we got there. Thank

you. Wonderful. Thanks. Great. Okay, let's move to public comments. Ron Salarzano, please, Leonard Claife, and then Renee Roth.

Hello. Thank you so much, members of council. My name is Ron Solorzano. I am the regional librarian for the Ojai Valley. Two things I wanted to share with you today. I may have already mentioned one, because it's a big one. One County, One Book, the Ventura County Library's community reading program, is underway as of this month. This year we are reading The Art Thief by Michael Finkel. The subtitle there is a true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsession. The Art Thief is about Stefan Breitweiser, who in the early 1990s and 2000s stole from more than 200 museums and galleries across Europe, amassing a collection worth an estimated $2 billion that he kept in his mother's attic for his own and his girlfriend's enjoyment. He stole for The Love of Art, as he puts it, the book is about him and his journey there.

In addition to just having the book available in our libraries, we have copies that you can take. We picked up extra paperbacks. This is what the book looks like here. We have copies at the Ojai Library, copies at the Oak View and Miner's Oaks Libraries, all of our locations. We're going to have a book discussion later this month at the Ojai Library, but the big event is on Saturday, October 11th, when we're going to have Michael Finkel joining us at the Museum of Ventura County in downtown Ventura, 2 p.m. Saturday, October 11th, for a talk about the book itself. So very exciting. You can visit our website for more information on that as well. We're really looking forward to it. And the other thing I wanted to mention is an event happening at the Ojai Library.

This is for children. We are doing a storybook mailbox. It's set up right now at the library. This is for kids to write a letter to their favorite storybook characters and tell them about how they maybe have enjoyed their stories or how they may have changed their lives. So you can drop off a letter and then the children will receive a letter back from the characters. I believe that's going to be happening on September 28th. So you can stop by the library now to drop off your letter. It should be a lot of fun.

All this is going on in addition to our regular programming. We have story time Wednesday mornings. We have our Enrichment Center in the afternoons, Monday through Thursday, and just a bunch of other things going on all the time at the Ojai Library. That's all I have for now, and thank you so much.

Good question. The construction that you guys are endeavoring to do, what's the

schedule? Yes. So, as is often the case with construction, it's hard to say for sure, but this is where we are right now. We are hoping to be able to submit the initial plans for consideration either this week or next. Once that happens, I'm being told that conventional wisdom is maybe six to eight weeks before actual work can begin at that point. So we're still at least a couple of months out, I would think, before we have to start that project. And once that does happen, the Ojai Library will be temporarily closing for a few months while that goes on. During that time, we're going to have the Mobile Library coming out more regularly, joining us at the Farmer's Market every Thursday afternoon for story time. And of course, the Miner's Oaks and Oak View libraries will still be open and available.

I appreciate that. Of course. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Leonard Claife, please, Renee Roth, and then Kim Barnes.

Hi, Leonard Claife. I live in the city of Ojai. First, we're very fortunate to have the library that we do have, and Ron is fabulous, so thank you, Ron. I stopped by the police station the other day intending to drop off some unneeded prescription drugs and found that the canister that used to be there is no longer there. And one, why not? And two, what are we supposed to do with the drugs that we no longer need?

Second is, I've raised this periodically for about 25 years. The majority of the council probably has not heard this spiel. I will try one more time. The speed limit in downtown Ojai, heading eastbound, is 25 miles per hour until you get to Clough Vista Park. The speed limit through downtown Ojai heading eastbound is 35 miles an hour until you get to the Bank of America. People, generally speaking, do not really start to slow down until they see the sign that says, slow down, here's the speed limit reduction. So people will be going 25, 30, 35 miles an hour until you get to the library. There is no reason for that. It's absurd. It's clearly a mistake. I know of no other location in the United States where the speed limit differs depending on whether you're going east or west.

Please try and do something about that. So, that's two. Three. Bicycles. Some idiot adult on a bicycle was driving on the wrong side of the road, speeding down Montgomery, made a left turn at Oak. I was about 15 feet from the corner and almost hit the guy because he made such a sharp turn without bothering to look. I don't know why anybody expects kids to drive their bikes safely when adults are lunatics. I really do not want to kill anyone. I really ask the police to make a concerted effort. You know, you don't have to stop people if they slow down and look both ways, but people who speed through intersections without looking are a menace. So please make that a priority.

Last but not least, I have 45 seconds, I'm going to do it. I heard last meeting, I listened to the meeting about the travel allowance suggestion was made by one of the council members that in the future the city allot a certain amount of money divided by five and council members can use the money for whatever they want. Council member rules trip to England to me shows that more supervision is needed other than go wherever you want, whenever you want. So whatever you all decide to do, I hope there's some discussion that's had before a council member can spend the city's money on some journey. Thank you.

You're welcome. Chief, do you want to talk about the canister? You don't have to stay up, but there was the canister there that's not there anymore for unused medications?

Yes, so that was taken out. It was not my decision, it went above me, because I liked having it in there and collecting the prescription drugs. So, to add to that, after we took it out, I inquired, well, where in the valley can we take prescription medications? I found out several of the pharmacies that used to do it no longer do it. And so the nearest location that I have found is a CVS in Ventura. And so that is an issue. So, I think it was a monetary decision made on our department, the Sheriff's Office, because when you add up all the boxes and all the collection, and it does cost a significant amount of money to collect those and dispose of them correctly.

Yes, sir. I just, I don't have the specifics, but I can certainly provide them to the Council and the community again. I remember Mr. Clay's question previously, shortly after I came on board on the varying speed limits downtown. At the time, I tasked Ms. Rivera to work with Caltrans to sort that out. She put together a detailed map that explained all the different speed limits and the reasons. I believe that she So how's that, Matt? She met with Mr. Claife. We could make that public again, but it's not an accident. It's not a mistake. There are a variety of reasons as to why the speeds change, and we'll make that public again.

We're also engaging in a general question around speed limit for citywide, so that's part of our conversation. And I guess one thing just that seems important to say is we will bring up our travel policy at some point soon. We have a lot going on, but that is one. As far as the bicycles go, I wanted to actually commend you to say, Chief, that I'm seeing a dramatic difference in the bicycles around town, and part of it's probably that school's in session, I guess, that's part of it too, but I would just want to applaud the effort. So I'm seeing some change there. Okay.

Go ahead, please. I've heard from a number of people about not having a place to dispose of their drugs. And the reason that you have that is so that people don't put them into the water supply and the ground. And so not to have a disposable place for that in the valley, to me, seems a huge oversight. Actually, people at the hospital have asked me about it.

I don't know What the answer is, but it just simply can't be that hard to whether the city has to take it on or not. I think that, you know, the return on investment is great. People need a place to dispose of their unused and their unused prescription drugs. You know, I'm driving around in my car with, you know, canisters.

So

I

think it's really important, really important, actually.

Understood. Yes, sir. So again, I'm in support of having a place people can bring medications to because for various reasons. If you don't mind, I would like to look into that and find some solutions. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

OK, moving on. Renee Roth, please, and then Kim Barnes and then Clay Creasy.

Good evening, members of the Council and staff. I love that we can work it out and we are going to solve problems and find solutions. I love that attitude and that approach. I want to say I listened in to the artistic community discussion with the Art Council. I thought that was so interesting. My husband even said, wow, I didn't know there was so much to talk about with the art community in Ojai. That was very interesting. I'm really glad that that all happened. I do think there's an artistic economy, but there's also a non-profit economy. There's other groups, so I really do hope you roll that into that economic development enhancement thing that you're talking about later.

Okay, so first I want to talk about, I've got two minutes left now, safety element of the Ojai Valley General Plan. I submitted a public comment, I followed up with emails to many members of the council with more details, and it ended up by saying, and I realize the apex of all of them are many of my concerns for our community. Our safety, our well-being have to do with the safety element. I did a little research and I discovered it's the safety element of Ojai is 35 years old.

For a general plan, that's really, really old. And it needs to be updated. And you have taken on responsibilities to identify hazards such as flood and fire and fire mitigation and flood mitigation. So I just want to read a little bit. First of all, Ojai adopted the Ventura County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan in 2022. And that was adopted recognizing and accepting the hazard analysis of our community for wildfire, earthquakes, drought. So let's be clear, what is a mitigation plan? It really is a process where communities assess risks, they identify actions to reduce vulnerabilities, and this is not optional. This is the law. This is good governance. This is what you should have been doing for the last 35 years in your focus on what your priorities are.

So I kept thinking, why aren't the city's priorities defined somewhere? And for safety, the safety element really should have been updated to include what your goals Your tasks, your priorities were for fire, for flooding, for all of these things. And it really needs to be looked at. So I really hope you will take some action on that tonight. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Ralph. Kim Barnes, Clay Creasy, and then Starchild. I don't know how to pronounce your last name. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. When we evaluate a site, and I'm talking about the maintenance yard now, it isn't just about square footage or hookups. It's about whether the land itself supports stability and well-being. In traditional design principles, we ask, does the land gather energy in a way that nurtures people or does it scatter and resist them? The proposed maintenance yard has several serious disadvantages. First, its setting. It lies in a narrow gulch between two busy streets.

In, let's say, feng shui terms, this creates rushing, unsettled energy. It is a place of noise and pressure, not rest and refuge. It's like trying to plant a garden in the middle of an intersection. Things cannot take root. Second problem is access. The only way in and out is through heavy traffic and a steep ramp. This means constant strain for residents, service providers, and emergency responders. Instead of flow, there's friction. Third, the ground itself. This is industrial land with a long history of heavy use. Ground like this carries a harsh memory. In feng shui, this means the chi is unsettled and people will feel it.

Fourth is fire. The yard sits in Ojai's highest fires hazard zone. 30 residents, 30 homes there, and fire is already the dominant element here. To place a permanent supportive housing in that spot is to multiply volatility and risk. And finally, symbolism. A maintenance yard is where broken tools and discarded materials are kept. That may be fine for storage, but it's not the place to build permanent homes. To place supportive housing there sends the wrong message, that people meant to find stability and dignity are instead being asked to live among the city's castoffs.

By contrast, the Honor Farm offers the opposite qualities. Open, stable land. Calmer surroundings. Safer access, a place aligned with feng shui principles where energy gathers, stability is possible, and dignity is supported. It is the difference between a garden planted in an intersection and a garden planted in a meadow. And I would simply ask, is this maintenance yard where you would want your own mother to live?

The choice is clear. If we want Cavern Village to succeed, we must place it on land that welcomes stability, not on land that resists it. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Barnes. Clay Creasy, Starchild, and then, let's see, it looks like possibly Lawrence, Adamo,

sorry, Clay. Good evening. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. For starters, I noticed Kim was exactly on time with three minutes. I hope to come close to that. We'll see. Anyhow, I recently heard the Executive Director of the Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council describe a study that they are doing to assess the feasibility of doing a community resilience center at the Honor Farm. The study is funded by a grant from the state of California. If approved, the construction of the center would also be grant funded. Here is a 72-page report on that program. If you haven't read it, I recommend that you do. Many groups in Ojai are rallying around this concept, and I think it really has leg. That gave me the idea that if we were to co-locate our cabin village with a community resilience center at the Honor Farm, we could save millions of dollars in construction and ongoing operating costs for the cabin village.

This would greatly reduce the budget pressure that the cabin village project is currently suffering from, as we all know. When I suggested this idea to Mayor Gilman, and by the way, it's not a new idea as we all know, he reminded me that it was his impression that our County Supervisor, Matt LeVere, had stated that he was against that idea. However, Mayor Gilman encouraged me to talk to Matt directly, which I did.

Matt wrote back to me, and I will quote his response to me. I would not say I'm opposed to this site, as I know some in Ojai are saying. I have just provided this feedback on the challenges with the site, which show that it would be nearly impossible to use the cabin village, the site for the cabin village, given the strict rules and timelines associated with the ERF grant. But here's the good news that we only discovered a few weeks ago. Just last June 30th, the state relaxed the strict rules timelines that Matt referred to, and they are now giving us until April of 2028 to build the cabin village. Combined with the fact that Dignity Moves now has delayed engaging a general contractor for the maintenance yard until next year, as Rachel would say, it's as if the stars are aligning.

We've suddenly got a real window here. Saving millions on the cabin village would help fund many things in addition to the original specs of the village. Now is our chance to do something awesome for Ojai, for all Ojai citizens, be those who are unhoused as well as citizens in general. And if we all leaned in together, I think we could make this happen. If we link arms, we're going to get there. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Starchild Wivoda and then Lawrence, but I think I must have the first name wrong, Adamo. Oh, it is. Thanks. Okay.

Good evening, I'm Starchild Vyvoda, President of the Ojai Valley Democratic Club, the longest serving democratic club in the Ojai Valley. There's a moment in a community's life when its true character is revealed, not in the times of ease and comfort, but in the moments when our neighbors are afraid, when families are breaking, when children are crying for parents who may not come home. We're living in one such moment in Ojai.

There are families in our community tonight, working families, families whose children go to school with ours, whose hands pick the fruit we eat, whose labor sustains our valley, and they live each day with the shadow of fear. Fear that an ordinary morning will end with a knock on the door, fear that they'll come home to an empty house. When immigration enforcement tears a mother from her children, when a father disappears overnight, when a child wakes in the morning to a world where nothing is safe, nothing is certain, nothing is familiar, this is not just their tragedy, this is our tragedy.

Because we're not just residents, we're neighbors, we're a community. And in Ojai, we don't turn our backs on each other when the storm comes, when the fire comes, when ice comes. Help of Ojai's Emergency Assistance Program is one of the lifelines in this storm. Helping with food, utilities, transportation, legal help, whatever is needed. Right now, that lifeline is stretched thin. I ask you on behalf of the Ojai Valley Democratic Club to extend our city's help to fund $25,000 to help with Ojai Emergency Assistance Program, not as a charity, but as an act of justice. Because when a child in this valley goes to bed hungry, we're all diminished. When a mother cannot find shelter, we're all less secure. When fear divides us, we're all less free.

If we believe in compassion, this is the moment to act. If we believe in justice, this is the moment to act. If we believe in community, this is the moment to act. As Senator Kennedy said, each time we stand for an ideal or act to improve the lot of others, we send forth a tiny ripple of hope. You have the power to send that ripple through the valley, to stand not for politics, but for people, to choose compassion over indifference, community over division, dignity over fear. History will not remember the dollars we spent, but will remember the lives we touched, the families we kept whole. Let Ojai be remembered for its courage. Let us be remembered for our compassion. Send this donation. Stand with your neighbors. Be that ripple of hope.

Thank you. Lawrence Adamo, please.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak. My wife and I, Stevie, we're the newbies in town. We've been living here for about two and a half years. But about four and a half years ago, we bought a property in Persimmon Hill, wanted to be our retirement sanctuary where we can build something beautiful. Where our friends and neighbors can come and visit and stay with us. Our property lines along Montgomery. It's that big white fence, and it goes all the way down to that fence. And we've spent a considerable amount of money cleaning that out. The prior people that lived there never touched it.

And one of our concerns is, obviously, we've had a number of homeless people jump the fence and live on our property. We've had the police come a number of times. And it's a little bit disconcerting for us to know that there might be a cabin village so close to our home and our property. We put up signs. They ripped them off. Everything was bent. And from our standpoint of view, This was, for us, a two-and-a-half-year project to build, and now we've been living here for two-and-a-half years. And for us, we're a little concerned, like the rest of our neighbors are, about where the location is. And I know I have a minute and 42 seconds left. But for me, I just have to say one thing. I second what Clay and Kim said. They couldn't have said it more eloquently about how our neighbors in the Persimmon Hill community feel and a lot of other our neighbors in the Ojai area.

So with that, you know, I'll hopefully leave it to your good judgment and listen to what we have to say about where we think the best place for the cabin should be built, not only for us, but for the people that are going to live there. Because that's the most important thing. By God's grace, we have a beautiful home and a place to live in. Some people don't have that grace. And we want to provide that to them in a manner that they have a place to live and love in the same area and have a beautiful place to live rather than in a maintenance yard. So with that, I'll close and thank you.

Thank you, sir. Mr. Montgomery, anything online?

Yes, Mayor, we have one raised hand from Mike. Speaking to our Zoom participants, we're taking public comment on our general public comment period. Mike, you have the floor.

Thank you. My name is Mike Donahue, and we've lived in Ojai, my family and I, for over 20 years. First, I want to begin with a shout out to the Ojai FireSAVE Council. The more I learn about their work, the grants they've secured with the state of California, and the partnerships that they have built, The more impressed I am. Recently, I've been hearing and reading about their progress on what they call, quote, full community disaster evacuation centers, or resilient centers. These centers, as you may know, and check out their website, provide public emergency communications, animal sheltering, heating and cooling facilities, and mass care shelters.

They're in the midst of planning and are funded by over a half million dollar grant. Thank you. I also want to recognize and give a shout out to the County of Ventura and Matt Levere. From what I understand, they're working closely with the Fire Safe Council, I couldn't be happier, and other Ojai leaders to explore the potential of the 100 plus acres on the Honor Farm, as well as the Summit School property for evacuation centers. Honor Farm in the west, Summit School in the east. The Honor Farm, as you know, is part of this valley, our valley.

Just like the residents that live outside the city limits, they are Ojai. They are Ojai residents. And that honor farm should be utilized to its fullest potential. It's part of our valley. And provide quality services to all of the citizens in Ojai. So I want to offer the shout out and thanks in advance to the County of Ventura. We need the county's help. And thank you in advance. And so do many seniors and some that are mobility challenged. Thanks a ton.