Hearing scheduled for CPO vs. city lawsuits
by Chris Wilson

As part of Ojai City Council's lengthy meeting Tuesday evening, closed session discussions continued on a number of pending lawsuits in which the city is embroiled.
And while the city saw an increase of approximately $90,000 in the past year for Monte Widders' legal services, he remains tight-lipped about the details of the closed session discussions.
What has been revealed is that a hearing for the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai lawsuits, that challenge the Ojai Land Use Element and the Los Arboles condominium project, was rescheduled from July 1 to August 16. According to Dan Singer, city manager, the CPO requested a continuance so they could have more time to prepare their case.
As for the lawsuit filed in June by attorneys David and Cathy Jones who are representing Arcade Plaza businesswomen Lisa Clark and Lisa Sauvageau, a hearing could occur in August before a superior court judge, Singer said.
David Jones told the OVN that he's filed a demand for settlement, but was unwilling to disclose the cash terms of the legal request. He did divulge that the settlement demand requests a sum of money, seven days notice if the Arcade Plaza construction will block customers from Clark's business Busy Babes Beauty Supply and Salon and a request to pay damages if the business is completely closed for any period of time.
Jones, who along with attorney and wife Cathy Jones is representing the two business owners for free, said the construction terms would likely be agreed to, but doesn't expect the City to cough up any cash unless a judge rules in his client's favor.
Busy Babes and Studio Sauvageau are the only businesses slated to have access directly impaired during the $1.2 million facelift, construction process.
"For the amount of money the City is paying Monte Widders to defend this lawsuit, they could have settled 5 to 10 times over," Jones said.
While the case is in litigation, Singer said he was unwilling to comment further on the details of the lawsuit.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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