Smith wins final tally for council seat
by Lenny Roberts

The County of Ventura has certified Carol Smith as the winner in the recent election for the Ojai City Council seat vacated when Mayor Steve Olsen did not seek re-election.
Smith, who finished behind incumbents Mayor Pro Tem Joe DeVito and fellow council member David Bury, had garnered 10 more votes than Bruce Roland before the provisional and absentee ballots had been officially tabulated. That number increased to 32 votes after all the votes were certified Monday morning.
"I kind of felt pretty secure after the absentee ballots came in," Smith said. "I'm very pleased. The campaign was intense, and now, I have to get on with the job of learning how the council works."
Smith said she's excited about the prospect of serving on Ojai's governing board, and is setting dates to meet and get to know the various heads of committees and other council members. She described Bruce Roland as an opponent who campaigned hard.
"I saw it coming down to the wire. I think we both would have added insight to council because we think a lot alike on many of the issues. Bruce and I have similar ideas, but some issues of vision of where we'd like to be in five years are quite different.
"I love my town and want to do a good job. I hope we get a lot of citizen input from people who want to be involved in helping help solve traffic issues."
DeVito said, "I really don't know much about Carol because she's new to the public arena. But we welcome her and will do everything we can to work with her."
Smith, along with DeVito and Bury, will be sworn in during the regular council meeting Dec. 10.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

Back to the news