2002 Year in Review;
January-June

In January, a dozen or more boulders weighing as much 15 tons were moved into artistic place by OST Trucks & Crane of Ventura at Ojai's newest park. The behemoth stones have been placed around what will be the park's central water feature and as part of a dry stream bed.

A team of psychologists from Patton State Hospital has recommended in January the release of Miguel Hugo Garcia, the man who was found not guilty by reason of insanity after he admitted killing an Upper Ojai man and his daughter in May 1997.

Despite Stuart Rupp's ongoing pleas that the Arcade Plaza fountain not be destroyed or moved, the City Council moved forward on the redesign of the Arcade Plaza at Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

The City Council authorized the city's Senior Planner Doug Hooper to be interim community development director. Bill Prince resigned from this office this month to take a position with the city of Santa Barbara.

Five students on their way to Nordhoff High School Friday morning were injured when the vehicle in which they were riding veered off the road and overturned off Ojai-Santa Paula Road near Happy Valley School at 7:10 a.m.

Ken Reeves, 16-year cross country coaching career at Nordhoff High School, has hauled a lot of trophies back to Ojai. Since he's been training runners, NHS has had the winningest high school cross country team in state history.

Two masked and armed men, believed to have been in their mid-20s, are being sought by authorities for allegedly robbing two men inside their Crestview Drive home late Sunday night. According to Sheriff's Detective Joe Evans, conflicting statements by homeowner Bruce Ditchfield and 20-year-old renter, John Reason, indicate that there may have been a third person involved in the 10:30 p.m. robbery.

Although many came to support the Los Arboles project at Wednesday night's Planning Commission meeting, once again the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai and the Environmental Defense Coalition came to protest.

The main item on the agenda was the architectural review of the Los Arboles condominium project at 203-307 S. Montgomery St. Those residents whose homes abut the proposed housing applauded the work of architects Marc Whitman and Tom Bostrom, and developer Lance Smigel.

FEBRUARY:

Narcotics detectives from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the Ventura Police Department completed a month-long investigation into the street-level sales of cocaine in Oak View when José Luis Gutierrez, 25, was arrested last Wednesday during the execution of a search warrant at his home in the 500 block of Mahoney Avenue.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedies, organizations from around the country mobilized their resources to come to the aid of the families of the victims, as well as the fallen heroes in the New York City Police and Fire departments. To salute the work of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, the Petco Foundation is proud to announce a $150,000 grant to the organization that trained 13 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Certified Canine Search Teams deployed to the World Trade Center site.

Ojai-based rescue dogs deployed to Olympics
NDSDF founder Wilma Melville, flanked by Murphy Black, left and Murphy's daughter, Abby, who is in Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympics.

District attorney candidate Ron Bamieh took his campaign Friday into the hometown of the man he hopes to replace, Michael Bradbury, who is retiring after 24 years as Ventura County's top prosecutor.
Bamieh made several stops in Ojai, including the Rotary Club and Ojai Valley News, advocating his candidacy in what will likely be the most expensive district attorney race in Ventura County history.

Democracy in action could be seen at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. Impassioned parties on both sides of the Los Arboles project overflowed city chambers. At issue were the approval of the architectural review and environmental impact report of the 23 condominiums planned for South Montgomery Street. The Citizens to Preserve the Ojai and the Environmental Defense Coalition and allies opposed the construction of the 23 units, maintaining the project will increase traffic, pollution and noise and put Ojai on the way to becoming another Camarillo of stucco condominiums.

Del Francis has been working to get his fallen shipmates some recognition for the better part of 20 years, ever since the 1982 unveiling of "The Wall" (formally known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial).
The Colorado resident is one of the survivors of the June 3, 1969, sinking of the USS Frank E. Evans, a Navy destroyer cut in half during a training exercise in the South China Sea. Seventy-four men died, including 23-year-old Radarman 3rd Class Christopher Carlson of Ojai.

Like most of us, Nordhoff High School 10th-grader Jamie Garrett felt the pain experienced by New York City survivors in the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster, and began soliciting teddy bears to send to children whose school lies in the shadow of Ground Zero. More than 650 bears were eventually donated or purchased with contributions collected from Ojai Valley school kids through Garrett's persistence, and shipped to the Bath Beach School earlier this week.

Two Nordhoff High School girls were struck in a crosswalk Wednesday morning as they left the campus on lunch break. The driver of the vehicle, a 16-year-old, also a Nordhoff student, was not injured. According to Deputy Jeff Marrs, Ojai's traffic investigation officer, Carley Marr, 16, was knocked straight to the ground by the impact, and suffered a broken right wrist. More seriously injured was 17-year-old Lindsay Morgan, who was struck and carried approximately 30 feet from the crosswalk that crosses Maricopa Highway at Pirie Road.

After 90 minutes and 22 speakers, the Ojai Unified School District board of trustees voted 3-2 Tuesday to reject proposed changes to the school calendar, before receiving dire forecasts about the district's finances and enrollment.

MARCH:

Lifesaver
Glenda Mahon, left, holds the American Heart Association's Heartsaver Award that she presented to Emily Massey, who displays the lifesaving measure she performed on her sister, 9-year-old Heather.

The city of Ojai experienced an overall increase in reported violent crimes last year when compared with 2000 statistics, but Sheriff's Capt. Gary Pentis said the percentages can be misleading when dealing with small numbers.
Pentis, who doubles as Ojai's police chief, said he is actually pleased that the arrest rate is up.

After years of steady decline, reported crimes in the unincorporated areas of the Ojai Valley have leveled off, showing an overall decline of just 1.4 percent in 2001. The unincorporated area also includes a stretch of North Ventura Avenue east of the Ojai Freeway from Casitas Springs to the Ventura city limits.

Tire-marked, driven over and unattractive, the planters, commonly called bulb-outs, on North Montgomery Street, will soon be torn out. The Ojai City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to remove all 24 planters along the street that runs between Ojai Avenue and Grand Avenue. "These bulb-outs are a nuisance and an eyesore," said City Councilwoman Rae Hanstad. "I can't think of any of us who like them.

For his long and distinguished history of volunteering for the community, "Papa" Joe Silvestri has been named grand marshal of the 2002 Ojai Independence Day parade.
Each year, the Ojai Independence Day Committee selects the person it believes has unassumingly contributed to the community with little or no praise, according to board member Pat Bushman-Nelles.

Dealing with dropping enrollment has become the theme of recent Ojai Unified School District board meetings, as Superintendent Van Riley said Tuesday that he has a target of $2.2 million - nearly 10 percent of the district budget - to cut by June.

Oak View's Community Works! organization has taken another step toward acquiring the Oak View School property and preserving it as a community resource. About 50 valley residents came to Oak View Community Center Thursday evening to hear keynote speaker Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett. He outlined the work the county had already done, the details of a possible tax increase to buy the property, and what other steps would need to be taken before the old elementary school could be purchased.

The bad news is that Ojai's Art Workshop owners and proprietors, Kent and Sharon Butler, are leaving - and not just the building, either, but the country. But the good news, as Sharon points out, is that local artist Janis Hansen will be taking over.

A 74-year-old Oak View woman died Monday afternoon as the result of a fire at her Grapevine Road home. Mary Mortensen was pronounced dead on arrival at the Ojai Valley Community Hospital of asphyxia by inhalation of smoke and carbon monoxide, according to Senior Deputy Medical Examiner James Baroni.

It isn't quite enough that the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai saw a problem, wrote a petition, got the necessary signatures and fixed a spot for their Traffic Initiative on the November ballot. A lawsuit from the city of Ojai and its City Council, filed on March 13 and served Monday on the city clerk's office and the CPO calls into question the appropriateness of the initiative. Now a judge may decide if Ojai's residents will get a chance to vote on the proposed ballot measure at all.

The longtime Ojai softball player who managed and played for the Oak View Outlaws for nearly two decades died Saturday morning when his 1983 Mazda 626 was struck head-on by a 17-year-old Oak View girl driving a white Ford Explorer. Ironically, Daniel Thomas Fraser, 43, had left work early and planned to drive to Ventura later in the day to attend the funeral of his best friend's grandfather.

APRIL:

Twelve Matilija Junior High School students have been interviewed by sheriff's deputies following what they described as a gang initiation or "jump-in" last week at the El Paseo Road campus. The students all were willing participants, according to Senior Deputy Maureen Hookstra, and none, she believes were seriously injured in the gang-type ritual that typically involves new recruits being pummeled by alleged gang members.

No question about it, said city officials Wednesday, redevelopment plans for the Arcade Plaza are going to inflict pain on merchants. But with close communication, signs, marketing and patience, that pain can be made bearable.
"It's absolutely going to be inconvenient," said Dan Singer, Ojai's city manager. "In the long term, we absolutely believe it'll bring in more people to your business, and it'll be more beautiful.

According to a memo from Casitas Municipal Water District General Manager John L. Johnson dated March 21, the board has known for some time that MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl ether, is present in the lake, and has determined that the source of the problem is the gasoline being used by motorboats.

The already competitive world of upscale resorts has become even more fierce. To meet this challenge, The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa must go through a major expansion and renovation, said Thad Hyland, the historic inn's managing director, who gave the first public overview of their plans at the Rotary Club luncheon today. The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, Ojai's largest employer and taxpayer, is scheduled to start its $47 million expansion and overhaul in January. That amount - for the first major renovation since 1987 - is "enough to buy another resort," said Hyland.

Citizens to Preserve the Ojai has launched a second lawsuit against the city of Ojai over the approval of the Los Arboles Townhomes project.
According to a press release from the City Manager Dan Singer, even though the project has been through extensive environmental reviews, the suit alleges the city failed to follow all applicable environmental laws in approving the project.

Despite an emotional appeal by William Kaddis and his attorney, and a last-minute $40 million lawsuit against the county of Ventura attempting to force a continuance, the Planning Commission of Ventura County voted unanimously to deny an appeal of violations levied against him by the county planning director.
The decision holds Kaddis responsible or liable for the downing of 301 state-protected oak trees and illegal grading on a 44-acre parcel near Rancho Matilija. Commission chair Michael Wessner stated several times that this was an administrative hearing and not a court of law.

Jacqueline Saunders this week announced her retirement as executive director of the Ojai Music Festival following a decade of service, including six years in the top administrative job. She will step down at the end of the festival's fiscal year, July 31.

The Nordhoff High School Music Department just returned from its annual Spring Tour - this year to the lovely "City by the Bay," San Francisco.
The 30-plus schools competing at the Heritage Festival came from all over California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, and Nordhoff is proud to announce that the Nordhoff Music Department took first place in all competitions, and the Symphonic Band won First Place and a Concert Band Gold Award.
Additionally, Nordhoff was awarded the Instrumental Sweepstakes Award for the highest average score of a school with three instrumental ensembles. And they also were awarded the Overall Festival Sweepstakes Award, the final and top award of the competition, for the highest average score for the schools with combined instrumental and choral ensembles.

In honor of Earth Day, the City Council held a special gathering to praise the efforts of three Ventura County supervisors. About 50 city officials and community members gathered to share cake and Martinelli's cider with Supervisors John Flynn, Kathy Long and Steve Bennett. Each was honored with a large plaque. Don and Sheila Cluff, owners of The Oaks at Ojai and most recently the prominent contributors of land and support for Ojai's newest park, were honored officially Tuesday evening when the City Council voted 4-1 to name the park Cluff Vista Park.

The Peace Officers Association of Ventura County recognized two Ojai men - Matthew Scesney and firefighter Timothy Norcott - for bravery Saturday night at its annual awards dinner in Ventura by presenting them the Medal of Merit, its highest civilian award.

MAY:

Concerns raised by two business owners in the Arcade Plaza will likely net the city of Ojai yet another lawsuit. Attorneys David and Cath Jones, representing Lisa Clark, owner of Busy Babes Beauty Supply and Salon, and Lisa Sauvageau of Studio Sauvageau, said Thursday they will file a lawsuit to halt redevelopment construction on the Arcade Plaza because it threatens to damage business and possibly put their clients out of business.

Tempers flared and emotions ran high, but, in the end, Oak View resident Lanie Springer's peacekeeping skills were acknowledged with an impromptu round of applause. The Highway 33 Improvement Committee chair led one of the committee's most-attended meetings on record Wednesday night, when some 75 people squeezed into the Casitas Springs Community Center to get the results of Caltrans' and Ventura County Transportation Commission's recently completed studies of the proposed Casitas Springs bypass.

The Kiwanis Club of Ventura has honored Deputy Joe Preciado as Ojai's Deputy of the Year. The award is given annually to the local law enforcement officer who most exemplifies his profession, and was presented at a luncheon in Ventura last week. Preciado will have his name inscribed on a perpetual trophy on display at the Ojai Police Station. His name will follow those of many officers who have been recognized for excellence and commitment, most recently Deputies Mike Marco in 2001, Dave Sparks in 2000, Mark Burgess in 1999, and Maureen Hookstra in 1998.

A standing-room-only crowd filled Ojai Unified School District's board meeting Tuesday night to make sure that the pain of slashing the district's budget will be shared equally. Since February, the district superintendent, Dr. Van Riley, along with members of the classified and certified staff, have been seeking to cut $1,867,000 from the district's $25 million budget to offset projected losses from declining enrollment and state revenues. On Tuesday, Riley reported on the progress. So far, they have closed the gap to within $148,000 - with $1,719,000 in proposed cuts.

An artistic gate will greet visitors who cross the Libbey Park bridge to the Ojai Art Center, and the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa will soon greet guests from an information kiosk at the entrance to the resort. Ojai Planning Commissioners gave their stamp of approval to the two projects at their Wednesday evening meeting. But not before a bit of discussion.

According to a report delivered Wednesday by Casitas Municipal Water District water quality lab supervisor Susan McMahon, the levels of methyl tertiary-butyl ether in Lake Casitas have been negligible since earlier readings showed levels as high as 1.6 parts per billion, which is still well below state-mandated safety levels.

A 250-pound California black bear wandered into the Arbolada Friday morning and perched 50 feet in a tree until California Department of Fish and Game officers removed him after firing three darts from a rifle.
The first two, Fish and Game Warden Clint Garrett said, were blank, just to check the accuracy of the weapon.

Come mid-July, there will be no more bulb-outs on North Montgomery Street.
A Camarillo company won the bid to remove the awkward, tire-marked and gravel-filled planters. Stan Hakes, Ojai's Public Works director, told the City Council at its Tuesday night meeting that J & H Construction was the lowest responsible bidder. Hakes reminded the council that Public Works had estimated in March the removal could cost up to $28,000, and that he was pleased by the lower bid prices.

Nearly 40 people showed up for a public hearing on the Mitigated Negative Declaration for Casitas Municipal Water District's proposed Alternative Swimming Facility - a "lazy river" - Wednesday night, and nearly half of them had something to say about the project.

JUNE:

Onstage at the Saturday morning Ojai Music Festival family concert, Marino Formenti twice invited young people to join him so they could see up close how a piano, rigged with special devices and doodads, can make intriguing sounds.
A nervous Ernest Fleischmann stood at the foot of the steps, ordering all adults off the stage. Formenti, it was clear, was there to challenge young minds, help them learn about the way music is made and to show them the finest in performances.

A fire of undetermined origin completely destroyed Enchanted Prints on Fox Street Tuesday night, leaving its uninsured owner with nothing but 14 years of memories. Jessica Murray, who heads the adjacent Community Assistance Program at 210 Fox St., arrived at Doojie Seliger's nearby home at about 10:30 p.m. with the bad news.

The bodies of Charles and Barbara Curtis were found Friday in the wreckage of their single-engine Grumman Tiger AA-5B that had sometime earlier slammed into the side of fog-shrouded South Mountain near the Santa Paula Airport. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

At Wednesday's Planning Commission meeting, neighbors who live near the Offices at the Pew, also known as Nordhoff Hall, expressed their unhappiness with the noise and extra parking generated by public events held there.
Michael McFerrin, who owns and restored the historic building, had come before the commission to ask for an indefinite extension on his conditional use permit that would allow him to continue holding public events with up to 100 people on the property.

Under postcard skies, Nordhoff High School graduated 251 students Friday as an overflow crowd roared with delight. As if it were a baseball game, homemade signs of support popped up in sync with some graduates' appearance as the Class of 2002 paraded around the track en route to being seated on the community stadium's football field. The commencement began with performances by Nordhoff's famed Jazz and Symphonic bands before Christopher Collier, who wrote an overture specifically for the occasion, conducted the combined bands.

In light of a recent Ventura County Superior Court judge's decision to allow the so-called Ojai Traffic Initiative to appear on the November ballet, Ojai's city officials are suiting up for yet another battle. On June 6, Division 34 Judge Henry J. Walsh ruled in favor of allowing the citizens of the city of Ojai to vote on the Traffic Initiative, which removes the overriding power of the City Council to approve projects that would add more traffic to the city's streets.

As Bill Baker's transforms into a full-scale restaurant this summer, outdoor diners will be able to enjoy beer or wine with their meal. And guests at the Emerald Iguana Inn will soon have the luxury of renting rooms for just two days instead of the required four, thanks to decisions made by the Ojai Planning Commission at their meeting Wednesday evening. Despite Interim Community Development Director Doug Hooper's recommendation that alcohol not be allowed on the sidewalk so near to Chaparral School, planning commissioners approved restaurant owner Laurel Moore's waiver request.

A congregation of 80 people in Libbey Park protesting the Adventure Pass accompanied musician Alan Thornhill on Saturday as he led them in a chorus of "This Land Is Your Land." Libbey Park served as community ground for Ojai's version of a network of protests held Saturday at several dozen locations across the country. The temporary Adventure Pass program, created by Congress in 1996 and extended until 2004, has been the focus of widespread criticism.

After years of trying to balance the need for bus shelters along Highway 33 with the public's insistence to reduce visual pollution, County Supervisor Steve Bennett announced last week that the installation of 10 advertisement-free shelters has begun. "These shelters will be a big help to the bus riders of the valley, and hopefully, they'll encourage more people to get around without cars," Bennett said.

Ojai's Rotary Clubs have teamed up to recognize eight of Ojai's citizens as this year's Living Treasures. Each club nominated four people, who will then use their talents and experience to serve Ojai and its people.
Living Treasures was founded by Ojai resident Sanford Drucker in 1994 as a way to promote mentoring and sharing of knowledge. With this year's namings, there are now 132 Living Treasures. The new members of the Living Treasure roster are Martin A. Pops, M.D., Jack Smith, Larry Hartmann, Father William Victor Olivas, Dr. Mike Jauregui, Nan Davis, Austin Cline and Lavon Lucking.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

Back to the news

With the sun's rays as a backdrop, Nordhoff High School presented its 2002 graduating class.

The beginning This photo, by bicyclist Chris Kostman, was taken shortly after the Wolf Fire began more than a week ago. Winds have blown the fire away from Ojai, but there is no containment in sight, and it is expected to burn for several days or weeks before fire crews can get it under control.

Back in the U.S.S.R. Needing funds to provide them with basic food and school supplies, Ojai Police Chief Gary Pentis plans to revisit Solotcha Orphanage children in April.

Don't go to sleep, Becky Ojai's Dana Wynter, with Kevin McCarthy in the 1956 sci-fi classic, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," now focuses on animal rights.