Elderly woman in mobile home jam
7-1
To the editor:
Our family is hoping that you will publish this. I am writing
you this as Ojai has the reputation of being a caring, nurturing
community.
A family member from back East purchased a mobile home over a
year ago in one of your senior mobile home parks. But the major
adjustments both to California ways and mobile home park living
were too much for her, and after only five months she wished
to sell her home. She listed with the same real estate agent
who had sold her the home. After an interminable four months
the real estate agent presented a buyer who offered less than
what had been paid for the home almost one year prior!
As this is a woman alone, on a limited fixed income, she was
trying to minimize her already unfortunate economic losses. We
found it dismaying that the very same agent who had sold the
home for $55,000 almost one year earlier was not able to find
a buyer for - at the very least - that very same prior selling
price.
Since then she has listed with another real estate agent, but
has also found no buyer. It has been suggested that she could
lower the price of her home to $50,000! As Ojai's real estate
market, even in mobile homes, has supposedly gone up it is very
confusing and dismaying to our family that a mobile home bought
in Ojai in April 2001 for $55,000 cannot now sell for that price;
and, even further, is suggested to be lowered by $5,000 so as
to sell. As agent's commissions would yet further reduce what
is received the economic losses become still greater. This becomes
a path toward homelessness for an elderly woman whose only asset
is her home, and who needs to obtain her money out of that home.
This has become a very distressing situation.
I am already helping out as she has a negative cash flow, so
that the situation is increasingly grim and frustrating. As,
supposedly, mobile homes have not gone down this past year our
family member's lack of business sense and staying in a hotel
must have been taken advantage of when this mobile home was sold
in April 2001 for $55,000, since now in July 2002 they are unable
to find a buyer at that price, but suggested it sell at $50,000.
She is willing to sell it by herself for $52,000: a loss of "only"
$3,000.
This is a very fair price (probably below market value) for anyone
interested in a nice mobile home in a beautiful senior park.
As the folks in Ojai are supposedly human and caring, hopefully
there will be responses to this plea, so that there can be closure
to a situation which is becoming increasingly ugly and oppressive.
With thanks for your, hopefully, publishing this. Our local phone
number is 640-9356.
Fred Zelman
Kent, N.Y.
Housing prices problem for all
7-7
To the editor:
Thank you for the succinct and thought-provoking editorial on
Ojai's housing issue.
When I first noticed that one-bedroom "fixer-up" cottages
were selling for over $200,000, I knew it wouldn't be long before
young people would stop coming to Ojai to live. We are losing
young families to more affordable communities. With this exodus,
Ojai is certain to suffer a loss of vitality, energy, creativity,
economic viability, sense of joy and any other life-affirming
descriptive you can think of. The question looms large - what
can we do to encourage young families, as well as our teachers,
firefighters, police, and oh so many others who have modest incomes,
to live here?
This is a community problem and we must treat it as such. If
Ojai citizens can raise hundreds of thousands to beautify a tiny
plot of ground, we should be able to do something about the housing
problem. We should be able to think of creative solutions. I
invite anyone who wishes to be part of the solution to join in
a community "think tank." Let's test our mettle on
this huge issue and come up with a plan of action toward the
goal of gaining 1,000 students by 2005! Call me at 646-5874 and
let's make it happen.
Beverly Rose
Ojai
Second Helpings worth first visit
7-8
To the editor:
I would like to let you and your readers know about something
new at the Second Helpings Thrift Store on Fox Street.
In Store "A" beautiful dolls are for sale at more-than-bargain
prices! The Barbie dolls are particularly exquisite!
I hope more people visit Second Helpings. The variety of terrific
merchandise (especially all kinds of handsome and/or beautiful
clothes) is extensive and downright fabulous!
Jeannie Cromie
Ojai
Radioactive waste not, want none
7-8
To the editor:
The nuclear power industry claims, in its push to open the flawed
Yucca Mountain, Nev., nuclear waste dump, that it is better to
consolidate the nation's waste at one site, rather than leave
it at nuclear reactors across the country. The industry also
argues that it is essential to get the radioactive waste out
of California.
The problem is that even if Yucca Mountain opens, high-level
nuclear waste will remain at every operating reactor site (unless
the industry plans to permanently close its reactors - an unlikely
scenario), including in California. According to the Department
of Energy's Environmental Impact Statement, there currently are
2,040 metric tons of lethal high-level radioactive waste in California.
Following a 24-year waste shipment program, which would include
anywhere from 13,690 shipments (if primarily by rail) to 14,479
shipments (if primarily by road) in California, we still would
have 1,681 metric tons of this waste within our borders!
This is because Yucca Mountain is limited, by law, in how much
waste can be placed there. This scenario also does not include
the current proposal to ship highly radioactive nuclear waste
on barges down the Santa Barbara Channel from Diablo Canyon to
Port Hueneme.
Clearly, Yucca Mountain would not solve the nation's radioactive
waste problem, it would just spread it across our highways and
railways (and along our coastlines). The Senate should reject
the earthquake-prone Yucca project and begin work on a real solution
to nuclear waste.
Pamela Murphy
Ojai
Never know who you'll meet
6-10
To the editor:
On the avenue, Fifth Avenue, who will you see as you stroll along
this famous New York street? Or go in a Fifth Avenue store? The
famous Saks Fifth Avenue.
Who is that tall slim redhead, all dressed up like the mannequin
she once was? Why, it's Lucille Ball at the cosmetics counter.
Lucille was even wearing a hat and gloves. The perfect lady.
It was at the very start of her famous "I Love Lucy"
TV show.
Maybe not quite as famous, but out in front of the Fifth Avenue
hotel, there was Tom Ewell of "The Seven Year Itch"
fame. He was on the corner, standing kind of lopsided with his
head looking upwards. No, Tom, a taxi won't emerge from where
you're looking.
Where was I looking one day on Fifth Avenue? In the direction
of Washington Square Park. What surprised me? The one and only
Eleanor Roosevelt in a long white gown, leaving her apartment
building to get in a limousine. How tall she was, I was amazed.
And slim as a reed.
The park was safe and lovely when I lived in New York's Greenwich
Village, then went through a rough time, but today it is better
than ever, so I have read. New York has had some good mayors.
Now, the late great, the other female redhead of some renown,
Ann Sheridan. What was she doing on the Fifth Avenue bus? Yes,
it was her, a beautiful actress. She had a very wealthy New York
boyfriend and a great career. Why the bus? One of life's mysteries.
Now, Park Avenue. How could the famous model-getter stroll past
me and stare at me, as he did, and not hire me on the spot? I'm
kidding, of course. I like to think it's because I wasn't tall
enough to be a "Power's model."
She was tall enough, the star of the '30s and '40s, the absolutely
gorgeous Anita Louise, looking for a taxi to appear on a corner
of Park Avenue. It never took long in New York City.
Anita was married to the head of Republic Studios, and he was
important enough to be one of the greeters of Kruschev when he
visited here. Herbert Yates was his name. Anita was great in
1937's "The Green Light" with Errol Flynn. (I was 9
years old.)
Down to the village, its beloved Eighth Street. As I strolled
along Eighth Street who should be tall and straight, walking
in my direction, but the famous supporting actor in so many movies,
and father of Keith and David, stars in their own right - yes,
John Carradine.
Yes, he gave me a big smile, he knew I recognized him. He was
wearing a big coat with a big cape, a big floppy hat, and carrying
an umbrella, although not a drop of rain in sight. He looked
just like you'd expect him to look - eccentric - and like you
wouldn't expect (Dr. Frankenstein, I assume), warm and friendly.
Going uptown on Fifth Avenue, to the Copacabana nightclub to
catch the Lena Horne show, it was a nice treat to run into an
old friend from Minneapolis. Jane Larrabee was a vocalist with
Benny Goodman, a best friend of Peggy Lee, and married to the
late and famous music critic, Leonard Teather. You saw his columns
in the newspapers and The New Yorker magazine. They lived in
a penthouse.
You could hear a pin drop. The year was 1948, and we were all
watching the most beautiful woman in the world, and a great vocalist.
Yes, Lena Horne. She now lives in Santa Barbara, or should I
say Montecito? I'll never forget her beauty.
Montecito, where Robert Mitchum lived. I had the honor of introducing
his son, Christopher, a movie star himself, to the Ojai Rebublican
Club. That's a whole other chapter, "stars" in Ventura
and Santa Barbara counties.
Remember the silly, zany Ritz Brothers? I saw their act, too,
in a New York nightclub. No, I wasn't a night owl, not at all.
Night after night caught me doing homework. You don't learn the
Spanish language without studying.
Anne Youngdale
Oak View
Living Treasure well chosen
7-8
To the editor:
I would like to comment about a couple of the choices presented
by the Ojai Rotary Club as "Living Treasures."
I personally know two of these people and would like to throw
in my concurrence of their selection.
As a former youth pastor and youth counselor I understand all
too well the value of positive role models for kids. I have on
many occasions had the opportunity to speak about two men who
helped shape an Ojai kid, and made me the man that I am today.
I will never forget my first day in high school football camp,
also coach Jack Smith's first day in 1970. Although I was too
small and too slow to really amount to much, coach Smith encouraged
me to continue with my training and even spent his own personal
time to see that I had someone to assist me - (usually him!)
Although football never became my sport of choice, coach Smith
remained a respected teacher and trusted mentor to an insecure
high school kid.
At 8 years old I met my new Little League coach, Mike Jauregui.
He remained my coach until I was old enough to leave the league.
Every kid I knew was envious of those of us on that team because
they knew the value of our coach. Coach Mike taught me how to
play baseball to such a level that I was able to play for the
U.S. Army while stationed in Europe. Besides basic baseball,
"Coach" taught me that there was no need to show all
of that anger stuff on the field, but to always conduct myself
as a "gentleman." No bench clearing, jeering the opposite
team, or poor sportsmanship was ever allowed nor tolerated on
his team. I always knew that Mike was not in it for himself,
but for all of us kids. He only "won" a game when we
played our best. Period.
Both of these men cared about me as a person, not just an "athletic
position" and I knew it. The qualities that I learned from
these men shaped my character and stayed with me throughout the
years. I am happy to say that I always endeavor to pass those
qualities on to the next generation. Hopefully the process will
continue.
I hold these two men in the highest esteem and whole-heartedly
congratulate them and the Rotary Club for "a job well-done."
Mike, Jack, thank you!
Pastor Paul Leon
Hope Chapel
Ontario, Calif.
Sounds off about fireworks show
7-8
To the editor:
Back in the late 1980s, "The Star Spangled Banner"
was still sung as it was written, like it or not. But then some
high-paid entertainer at a well-attended sporting event took
it upon him or herself to personalize our national anthem. And
why not? We'd been hearing it the same old way our whole lives
and it can be dull. So a little double octave here a wang-dang-doodle
over there and the crowd loved it. Why? Because the first one
to do it was going out on a limb.
Since then, it seems like everybody improvises it. The problem
is it's still a hard song to sing without missing a note or two.
If they sing it straight and hit one of those bloopers the crowd
understands.
But when the singer's up there doing a lounge act version of
"Oh say can you see" and then blows it, they've really
stepped in it. It not only embarrasses the singer but the rest
of us in the stands as well.
Which brings me to my next point. According to the polls, approximately
49 percent of Americans like or tolerate Neil Diamond and 51
percent do not. So why risk alienating over half the crowd at
Nordhoff's annual fireworks display by blasting his voice through
the speakers while lighting off the skyrockets. (God help the
4 percent who are actually moved to nausea at the sound of his
voice.)
The point of this letter is that not all of us feel patriotic
by simply hearing studio recordings of pop singers stylizing
"God Bless America" and such. The fireworks are great,
and for some people they really do inspire a feeling of patriotism.
But do we really need a musical backdrop through the whole thing?
The "1812 Overture" is always appropriate, but how
'bout leaving the rest of it at home.
You can't impose a feeling of patriotism by playing it over the
P.A. system. Although I guess it worked in Hitler's case.
Mike Moshofsky
Ojai
Raney fan gets on with show
7-8
To the editor:
The individual talents of the Henry Mancini Alumni Big Band,
conducted by Patrick Williams, deserved the standing ovations
received July 4, 2002 at Libbey Bowl.
Featuring Sue Raney was a special gift to the grateful audience.
Truly, she is the very best song stylist and "mistress of
her craft." Bravo! May Sue Raney continue to enjoy her success
and accolades.
With appreciation to all the sponsors and dedicated people involved.
Roz Tuttle
Ojai
© 2002 The Ojai Valley
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