2002 Year in Review;
July-December

JULY:

An Orange County murder suspect surrendered to sheriff's deputies in Ventura Sunday night after a two-hour, slow- and high-speed pursuit began in Oak View.

Adelphia Communications Corporation, the sixth largest cable operator in the nation, and the only operator in Ojai, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

It is beginning to look a lot like Ojai in Santa Paula; litigation-wise, that is. The Pinnacle Group, an Arizona-based developer looking to build some 2,000 homes and an as-yet-to-be determined number of commercial properties in Adams Canyon, is threatening the city with a lawsuit.

Ojai's Fourth of July parade and related events drew record crowds.

The Ojai City Council and Redevelopment Agency, aware of potential local revenue shortfalls in the coming year, and breathing a collective sigh of relief to have finished the 2001-02 fiscal year in the black, approved a projected $8.4 million total budget and, excluding redevelopment, projected expenses of about $8.7 million in the year ahead. In addition to the general fund, which is expected to see revenues and spending in the $5.8 million range, the total budget also contains a number of special funds for specific spending purposes.

A Saturday morning fire caused an estimated $35,000 in damage at a Sisar Road residence. No one was at home at the single-family home at 12190 Sisar Road at the time of the fire, which was reported by several 9-1-1 callers at 10:15 a.m.The $200,000 structure suffered a $20,000 loss, and damage to the contents was reported to be $15,000.

A handful of North Blanche Street residents protested again before the Ojai Planning Commission Wednesday but did little to sway the opinion of the seven commissioners who voted unanimously to approve a resolution reducing the minimum stay requirements for the Emerald Iguana Inn. The resolution approved unanimously by the commission now permits the Emerald Iguana Inn to book guests for a minimum two-night stay. A minimum four-night stay had been required.

The people of Oak View have much to be proud of these days. Not only did they come together to save their school - on July 23, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a citizen-initiated property tax assessment to facilitate the purchase of the old Oak View School - their very efforts are being heralded as a model of community spirit.

AUGUST:

1980 was a bittersweet year for Vince France. The then-Ojai police chief was elected to the Ojai Unified School District board the same day Ojai voters turned over their policing to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
"I got the school board seat and they did away with the police department," he said. So after nearly 23 years on the board, France is calling it quits. "It's time for new blood on the board," he said. "I need a break.

After soul-searching prompted by the recent relocation of his architectural firm, David Bury will seek a second term on the Ojai City Council.
"This is an important time in our city - it's a time for experience, continuity, perspective." It wasn't a sure thing. He did consider opting out of the race, which pits a growing list of contenders for three open seats. Bury and Joe Devito are seeking re-election, while four-termer Steve Olsen is not.

A 21-year-old Oak View woman with a reported criminal history in Antioch, Calif. was arrested on several charges Monday afternoon after she allegedly tried to escape pursuing sheriff's deputies. Heather Arriola was taken into custody at gunpoint after the pursuit, which reached high speeds on Creek Road, Highway 33 and the Ojai Freeway when Deputy Joe Preciado "t-boned" her 1988 Toyota near the Casitas Vista Road off-ramp to stop her from heading back on to the rush-hour traffic on the northbound lanes of the Ojai Freeway.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors denied an appeal by William Kaddis Tuesday morning and upheld the Planning Commission's April decision that the Los Angeles man is responsible for the removal of 301 oak trees and illegal grading on a 44-acre property that he owns adjacent to Rancho Matilija on Baldwin Road.

He ran in 1994 and again two years ago, now Bruce Roland is driving his shoot-from-the-hip sensibility onto the City Council racetrack again. Living in Ojai since 1966, Roland holds that Ojai is not the mythic and mystic Shangri-La it's been purported to be in legend. Instead, he sees it and wants to keep it as the bedroom community he's come to know and enjoy.

Pending actual construction permits, Rains Department Store will soon begin remodeling their downtown location thanks to a nod from the Ojai Planning Commission Wednesday evening. Back for yet another architectural review, Alan Rains, with representatives Jeff Rains and architect Jon Dieges, received mostly positive feedback from the commissioners. A dilemma over roofing tile, however, took some additional consideration and thought by the commission before they granted their approval for the store's 1,878-square-foot expansion.

A Sheriff's Ford Crown Victoria cruiser was damaged Monday night as a short but high-speed pursuit ended in the 10400 block of Santa Ana Road in Oak View. Neither the deputies involved or the suspect, 33-year-old Lance Anderson, of Ojai, were reportedly injured.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Department has released its semi-annual list of reported crimes within the Ojai city limits, and both misdemeanor and property crimes show a substantial increase. And, violent and property crimes reported in the unincorporated areas of the Ojai Valley for the first half of this year showed a moderate 6.9 percent increase.

Ojai's local government and environmental group Citizens to Preserve the Ojai faced off over three different issues in Ventura County Superior Court Friday.
While a handful of valley residents waited in Judge Melinda Johnson's courtroom for the bundled Los Arboles and Housing Element proceedings to begin, in another courtroom, Judge Steven Hintz was hearing Traffic Initiative arguments that had been filed just days before.

Local attorney Leonard Klaif in his bid for City Council wants to avoid what he sees as a potential disaster for Ojai.
In his recollection, he said, he doesn't remember any community members coming forward in a public forum and suggesting that townhouses on South Montgomery Street were a good idea for the city. Defeating Los Arboles, before it is built, is one of his top priorities.

SEPTEMBER:

A Casitas Springs man, 43-year-old Michael Back, succumbed to injuries suffered in an accidental shooting Tuesday night. Back, after hearing noises outside his Park View Drive home, placed a .22 caliber handgun in his waistband and stepped outside to investigate. According to a preliminary report filed by Ventura County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Ron Nelson, the gun accidentally discharged.

Enthusiastic developers, architects, artists and residents packed the city chambers at Tuesday night's City Council meeting to support the Public Arts Ordinance. The new ordinance proposes a Public Arts Program that will increase art in public places in coordination with new development projects. A Public Arts Fund financed by new development projects will fund this art.

When artist/book maker Bobbi Boschan's trip to France last September was canceled because of the tragedies of Sept. 11, she created a photo-essay of the people, places and things in Ojai that were affected by the attacks. Judges at the Ventura County Fair awarded her first place in their non-fabric bound album competition this summer for the book she created that featured these memorable photos.

The Ojai Valley League of Women Voters held a closed meeting Tuesday morning at the Ojai United Methodist Church as they heard arguments for and against Measure C - the Traffic Initiative, which will go before the voters of Ojai on Nov. 5.

The Ojai Valley News has won two national awards, taking first place for best sports column and for best serious column in its circulation category for all non-daily newspapers between 3,000 and 6,000 circulation. The awards will be presented today at the National Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest ceremony in Portland, Ore., during their 116th annual convention.

There were no big surprises at Tuesday night's presentation on test scores at the Ojai Unified School District board meeting; Ojai students continue to outpace their peers in the state and nation.

A 61-year-old Ojai man was killed Sept. 10 after he lost control of his motorcycle in clear and dry conditions on Ojai-Santa Paula Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. Earl Thomas Jones had just come out of a curve westbound on Highway 150 just east of Osborne Road at 6:50 p.m. at an unknown rate of speed as 74-year-old Barbara Jane Cullisson was turning left onto Osborne Road at a slow rate of speed, according to the report.

Having been at the center of many an "upstream" battle, the alternative swimming facility proposed for the recreation area at Lake Casitas has earned the right to relax - or to at least become a Lazy River.
At its Sept. 11 meeting, Casitas Municipal Water District's board of directors voted unanimously in favor of the project, "finding no significant environmental impact," adopting a formal resolution (negative declaration of environmental impact report) to that effect, and authorizing General Manager John Johnson "to release the project for bid."

Bruce Wallace, longtime Ojai resident and Amgen pioneer, the world-renowned biotechnology firm headquartered in Thousand Oaks, died in a paragliding accident Friday in Inyo County. He was 54.

After a couple of years of not finding any marijuana plants in forest areas north of town, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department began eradicating several cultivation sites in the Los Padres National Forest Tuesday afternoon in what authorities are describing as two unrelated incidents.

The Ojai Unit of the League of Women Voters of Ventura County has announced its opposition to the Traffic Initiative or Measure C that will be on Ojai's ballot on the Nov. 5 election.

A crowd of 532 people attended the second annual "Taste of Ojai" event at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa Saturday evening.
With more than 20 chefs serving up specialties of every kind, it was likely that no one went away hungry, except the host.

OCTOBER:

Despite the brisk weather, speakers and listeners filled the terrace of the Ojai House on North Montgomery Street Wednesday evening to hear about a proposed independent police oversight commission to examine police behavior and over-enforcement.

Some people have a knack for being where the action is. Dwayne Hall, longtime Ojai resident known affectionately as "Long Ball" to his golf buddies, was the man of the hour Sept. 22 while vacationing in Anchorage with his family. Hall, 54, was credited with recovering $33,000 in jewelry allegedly stolen from Captain Cook Fine Jewelry when he chased down a suspected thief.

Once again, City Chambers were bursting with supporters for the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa at Tuesday night's City Council meeting when the council overwhelming approved the inn's expansion plans. And also once again, Ivor Benci-Woodward, president of the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai was the sole dissenter.

The Nordhoff High School flag was lowered to half-mast Tuesday morning after word spread around campus that longtime favorite teacher Deno Lepas had died.
Diagnosed with a liver ailment two years ago, the 58-year-old, 35-year NHS veteran metal shop, auto shop and sculpture arts teacher died at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles Medical Center Monday after it was learned that he had developed pancreatic cancer last week, according to assistant principal Susana Arce.

Two crying infants competed with City Council member Rae Hanstad while their foster mothers hugged them tightly at Tuesday evening's City Council meeting. Hanstad was presenting a proclamation signed by Mayor Steve Olsen affirming Ojai as a city that cares for its children and recognizes the important contribution of 38 Ventura County foster families who take care of the county's abused and neglected children.

In a five-page opinion, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Melinda Johnson has kicked out the environmental review report for the 23-unit Los Arboles condo project and sent it back to the drawing board. Stan Greene, administrative director of the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, said he was overjoyed with the results of the court's finding to halt the Los Arboles project. And though the judge wrote, "The city can only approve the project if it complies with all elements of the city's General Plan. It does not do so." City Attorney Monte Widders said he, too, was pleased for the most part.

In what local attorneys Cathy Elliot Jones and David Jones called a "a good day for the good guys," Superior Court Judge David Long ruled on Oct. 15 that "the city's challenges to five of six causes of action" (in their client, Lisa Clark's, complaint for damages against the city of Ojai, Dan Singer, et al) "were without merit." Basically, said Jones, "The City had asked the court to dismiss Clark's complaint in its entirety."

Rolling away from Ojai's west and north flanks in rippling valleys of green and gold, Ojai's largest remaining privately owned open space will remain open space "in perpetuity," it was announced Monday.
The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, after seven months of negotiations and 16 years of planning, has entered into a purchase agreement with Intell Management and Investment Company for 1,416 acres with an additional 150 acres protected with conservation easements.

More than 70 people came to hear the six candidates running for Ojai City Council at Wednesday night's forums at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.

On Oct. 15, Ventura County Judge Melinda Johnson rejected the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai's case challenging the city's five-year housing plan, and their demand requiring an EIR on the proposed Housing Element.
She ruled that the Ojai City Council complied with the law when it adopted its state-mandated Housing Element, which had been approved by the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Legendary singer and actress Shirley Jones will be one of the film professionals whose works are celebrated at this year's Ojai Film Festival.
One of her seminal films, "The Music Man," will be screened in Ojai's Libbey Bowl on Saturday and Jones will be on hand to answer questions from the audience.

As Casitas Municipal Water District reviewed bids submitted for the construction of an approved alternative swimming facility - the "Lazy River" - the Ventura Audubon Society, with support from the Ventura-based Environmental Defense Center, was appealing to Superintendent Steve Bennett's office for "timely intercession."

It began with Jocelyn Somers' interest in Colby Chapman, the Ojai boy stricken with bone-marrow leukemia. Somers, an Ojai Property Shoppe real estate agent, has been visiting Chapman at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, where he has been receiving treatment for his illness.
While there, Somers learned that there is a major need for games of interest to the scores of kids who, hopefully, are making the institution, their temporary home. By this edition of the OVN, Chapman, a 9-year-old San Antonio School student, should be back in Los Angeles for more chemotherapy after a few days at home.

Disappointed yet optimistic. That's how Ojai City Council candidate Bruce Roland summed it up the day after he finished fourth out of six contestants for the three available seats on Ojai's governing board.
"I guess I'm not going to Disneyland," he said.
But is he really out of the race? Only time will tell - specifically the time it takes for the Ventura Registrar of Voters Office to count absentee and provisional ballots, which they have set at Nov. 26.

Harry Bodell, executive secretary of the Ojai Basin Groundwater Management Agency, has some good news and some bad news concerning groundwater levels and upcoming water bills for ranchers and growers in Ojai.
Extraction charges are being dropped nearly 17 percent for local growers, from $6 to $5 per acre-foot, though the latest agency figures show the static water level at Southern California Water Company's Ojai Mutual No. 4 well is down to 152 acre-feet, a record low for the past 10 years.

Excessive speed has apparently claimed the life of a Camarillo motorcyclist who died Saturday on Santa Ana Road near the entrance to Lake Casitas.
California Highway Patrol investigators said that Alan Daniel Black, 26, lost control of his 2001 Suzuki before it failed to negotiate a right-hand curve at an estimated 80 mph.

For insight into Joan Kemper's life, you merely need to witness the teetering stack of bulging file folders, blueprints and correspondence piling up on and around her kitchen counter. It's no wonder then that on Nov. 15, National Philanthropy Day, Kemper will be honored by the Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties Association of Fundraising Professionals as its volunteer of the year, along with her friend, Marion Stewart, who will represent Santa Barbara County.

NOVEMBER:

Despite being $1.2 million short because of higher-than-expected bids, the Ojai Unified School District voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with construction of the $6.2 million Nordhoff High School expansion.
The recent passage of state Proposition 47, which puts the district in line for $14.8 million in construction bond money, was the deciding factor. "We will know the afternoon of Dec. 11 exactly when our checks will arrive," said Superintendent Van Riley. That's when the bond committee meets, and it has already voted to fund the entire list of construction projects.

With Mayor Steve Olsen casting the sole "no" vote at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, the council again approved the Los Arboles project.
The Planning Commission had unanimously approved the project on Nov. 5.
The 23-unit mixed-use Los Arboles condominiums are located on 3.13. acres on the east and west sides of South Montgomery Street, at 203 to 307 S. Montgomery Street , approximately 500 feet south of Ojai Avenue.

The Los Arboles condominium saga continued at Wednesday night's Planning Commission meeting. Once more the commission voted unanimously to approve the project and sent it off to the City Council for its endorsement.
Again, City Chambers were full to capacity with those supporting Lance Smigel's redevelopment of the former blighted area on South Montgomery Street, as well as the ever-faithful opponents to the project, the Citizens to Preserve the Ojai and the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County.

An 18-year-old Ojai man was arrested Saturday night following what authorities described as a dangerous pursuit down Ojai Avenue and through the Arbolada that ended when a deputy forced the suspect's 1980 blue Mercedes off the road in the 200 block of Church Road.
Cameren Brand Kahler was taken into custody and charged with brandishing a weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, evading arrest and driving on a suspended license, according to the police report.

The city of Ojai has created an art object, a community gathering place, a rest area, and a center for outdoor dining and concerts. After five years in planning and $2.5 million, a few finishing touches are all that remain to be done when the fences come down on the Arcade Plaza today. According to project manager Neva Williams, all of the central plaza from Rains Department Store and the service alley to Rupp Studio will be available to the public late this afternoon.

More than 125 people packed themselves into city chambers Thursday night at a special City Council meeting to review a traffic circulation study prepared by Austin-Foust & Associates, Inc.
This public workshop was to be the first of many dealing with solutions to the traffic and circulation problems besetting Ojai. The city hadn't anticipated the crowd of neighbors from Creek Road and Casitas Springs. Although both areas are outside of the city's jurisdiction, their residents were alarmed that they would be impacted by any decisions that the city made.

William Kaddis, the Los Angeles man authorities claim illegally bulldozed 301 oak trees on a 43-acre parcel of land he purchased in March 2001, has been hit with more charges.
Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Karen Wold said Tuesday that additional charges of filing a false police report and maintaining an illegal dog kennel at the Baldwin Road site near Lake Casitas have been filed.
Wold said the false filing report was based upon an allegation Kaddis made in July that he had found an envelope on his property containing a suspicious or threatening letter, which prompted him to call sheriff's deputies.

Like many an Ojai Valley resident, Jurgen Gramckow was nothing short of delighted when the fate of 1,566 acres of fertile, undeveloped land adjacent to Rancho Matilija, the so-called "Farmont property," was at last decided.
The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, after more than a decade's worth of hands-on negotiating between two different developers and the county of Ventura, is now that land's official steward, having successfully gotten it legally decreed a "conservation easement, in perpetuity."

The staff of the OVN has devoted many hours conducting interviews of teens and adults, compiling facts and statistics, and preparing this detailed report on drug use in the valley. Perhaps the recent deaths of young people are a lesson from which we all can learn. Perhaps if just one young person or parent is reached by this report, the renewed efforts of many to find a solution will not have been in vain. Ojai is not immune to drug use. In fact, it is the most drug-active area in Ventura County in which the Sheriff's Department enforces the law.

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.

DECEMBER:

A community moved into action Monday night as The Nordhoff Parent Association convened for its third General Meeting of the 2002-2003 school year. Students, parents and community members packed the Nordhoff cafeteria to take part in the discussion to find some solutions to the drug abuse problem plaguing Ojai's youth.
There weren't quite enough chairs to go around for an estimated 250 to 300 people, who first murmured and applauded the various presenters and later took part in a lively discussion.

Andy Hernandez, described by those who know him as "full of energy," is typical of most 13-year-old boys in many respects. He is also atypical in many respects, because few, if any, of his friends were born with small, weak kidneys; fewer still have to connect to a dialysis machine six nights a week - for up to 10 hours a stretch - which Hernandez has been doing for the last two years.
Hernandez's last surgery, on Nov. 29, 2000, cleared the way for him to start the intensive dialysis

Law enforcement officials say identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States, and Ojai residents are far from immune.
In this report, we examined the ways it occurs, how you can lessen the odds of becoming a victim, what to do if you suspect that someone is using your identity, and how much financial responsibility is yours if you are a victim.
We'll also talk with local victims who will explain how they were defrauded.

The long-awaited traffic signal on Highway 33 at Loma Drive used daily by nearby Mira Monte Elementary School students should soon become a reality.

Newly re-elected council member Joe DeVito took the reins as mayor at Tuesday night's City Council meeting while retiring mayor and longtime council member Steve Olsen received a standing ovation and many hosannas for his long service to the city. Also Carol Smith, newly elected to her first term on the City council, joined re-elected councilmember David Bury. The new mayor pro-tem is Council Member Sue Horgan. Olsen was born and raised in Ojai and has served on the council for the past 17 years.

The Casitas Municipal Water District hosted a public forum Wednesday night at Sunset Elementary in Oak View to discuss the proposed and planned, but as yet unbuilt, fish ladder at the Robles Diversion Dam in Meiners Oaks. The cafeteria was packed with about 175 people, some in the day's work clothes, some in business suits. The diverse audience included ranchers and farmers, typical water users, Ojai City Council members Carol Smith and David Bury, environmental activists and Michael Jackson, an executive with the Bureau of Reclamation.

The Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce has announced its selection for youth, Andrew Neslons, educator, Denise Thomas, and citizen, Larry Hartmann of the year. The following essays about the selectees are written by people who know them well.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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