King recognizes Ojai's own

12-8
To the editor:
On the "Larry King Show," Nov. 26, the famous talented star, Bette Midler, mentioned the name of Ojai's own Ray Ellis, four times, how about that?
Of course, Bette sings, and Ray is a musician, composer, and I don't know all of his accomplishments in the music field, but what an honor it was for him, and I know he deserves it.
Ray and Yvette have been two of Ojai's leading residents.
They had a beautiful home in East Ojai and gave many parties. Yvette is a great cook, and Yvette and Ray make a great hostess and host. They both also did much volunteer work to help various organizations.
I have always been proud to count them as friends, as Bette Midler does, she said she was so glad to see him recently, or words to that effect.
I know Ray has a Gold Record. I played bridge once in the room it's in.
Anyway, our Ojai, never boring, is it?

Anne Youngdale
Oak View
P.S.: And guess what for me? They always liked my poems, and even kept them. See what I mean? Great people.

See and be scene at Vons manger

12-11
To the editor:
There's a manger at the mall
Where shoppers bustle about,
Joseph, Mary and Jesus portray,
A peaceful scene in a tiny stall.
Today, much like yesterday,
In the midst of a crowded town,
Love and Joy and Peace are born,
Those who seek will find the Way.

Gwen Powers
Ojai
P.S.: See the manger scene in the Vons' parking lot Dec. 15 through 25. Children will be singing on Dec. 19.

Support strike, lose Vons support

12-11
To the editor:
I went into the Vons store a few weeks ago to see how the strike was affecting it. The store looked good, but there were very few customers.
The community has been very good in supporting the strike. Too bad for the manager, who has always supported the community and is now caught in the middle. This strike is between the Union officials and the Food Employers Council.
Neither the manager nor the picketers have any say in it. Support the strike if you like, but at least have the class not to ask the manager to support your events when the strike is over.

Sherry Smith
Ojai

D.A.R.E. to be great, if elected

12-12
To the editor:
It is very disturbing to see the latest string of articles and letters to the editor concerning the increased usage of harder drugs in the Ojai Valley.
As a school board candidate, I fought to keep the D.A.R.E. program in our schools and to promote a healthy lifestyle.
My daughter prominently displays this certificate from the OUSD and the Sheriff's Department on her bedroom wall.
If I am elected supervisor I will fight to bring back this great and necessary program carried out by our understaffed and underfunded sheriff's deputies.
Family and community is what my campaign is all about. I will fight for every possible federal and state dollar to combat poverty and drug usage in the 1st District.
I went to school here, my kids went to school here, and I am fighting for all the children of the 1st District.

Jeff Ketelsen
Mira Monte

Country ruled by scofflaws

12-12
To the editor:
Re: Bush's view of international law.
The United States has decided to exclude countries that have not supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq from bids for multimillion-dollar contracts to rebuild Iraq. When informed that this decision could violate international law, George W. Bush scoffed:
"International law? I better call my lawyer. I don't know what you're talking about, about international law."
We can only infer from this response that, as far as Bush is concerned, international law doesn't exist, or, if it is does, it is only there to be flouted, just as he disdained it by invading Iraq in the first place.
His mocking dismissal of international law strongly suggests that he is a scofflaw, somebody defined by Webster's as "a contemptuous violator of the law."
In the face of this attitude toward international law, one has to wonder what Bush thinks of domestic law.
His buddy, "Kenny" Lay, disgraced chief of Enron, has not yet been charged with a single crime; his vice-president (emphasis on the vice), DIck Cheney, is still being paid $150,000 by his former employer, Halliburton, which is busy looting Iraq's oil and reaping obscene profits in Iraq under the guise of "reconstruction"; and his attorney general, John Ashcroft, has not stopped shredding the Bill of Rights since he assumed office nearly three years ago.
Is it possible that this country is being ruled by a bunch of scofflaws, a gang of men whose mentality is no different from that of punks on the street?

Clive Leeman
Ojai

Traffic comments misinterpreted

12-15
To the editor:
After reading Suza Francina's and Ivor Benci-Woodward's responses to my last letter to the editor, it has become clear to me that some people have misinterpreted one of my comments. The comment in question is: "The bottom line is that there is no way that the City Council can legally or morally exert enough control to reduce the number of cars on our streets. This can only be done by all of us making different choices."
Ms. Francina had the respect and grace to quote me in context, for which I am grateful; but I think she has misinterpreted the statement nonetheless. I agree with many of the points made in her editorial but have to take issue with the fact that she seems to think that my statement implies that the city government cannot influence traffic.
My letter never denies that policy decisions can influence traffic through incentives and disincentives.
It only points out that there are other incentives at work that are far beyond the scope of city government. While Ms. Francina correctly points out that, "Present travel habits were not formed in a vacuum," I must point out the fact that local governmental policies are not formed in a vacuum either.
Mr. Benci-Woodward, on the other hand, stated that I had asserted that "... the City Council is powerless to change our future ..." - something that I never stated or even implied. If I meant the word "powerless" I would have used it.
The more sagacious of readers would have noted that the operative word in my statement was "control"; not "influence" or "power." The city government obviously does have a limited amount of power to influence traffic through incentives and disincentives. This power is strictly limited by property rights, federal laws and mandates, state laws and mandates, local political pressures, and issues of jurisdiction.
Control and influence, though both are forms of power, are two distinct concepts. A free society attempts to vest as much control in the individual as possible while bestowing upon government limited powers of coercion. To confuse influence with control is a grave political mistake.
The point of my letter, for those who missed it, was that the number of cars on our streets is a cultural phenomenon. The government (even the local one) can enact policies that will influence the decisions we make within our culture, but cannot force us to make better choices. Such force, even with the best of intentions, leads to tyranny.
If Mr. Benci-Woodward would like to debate the impact of local policies on air quality, more power to him. If he wishes to continue his attempt to twist people's words, he has the right to do so. If he really wants to improve traffic, he needs to ask himself why he continues to drive in it.

Matthew Sewell
Ojai

Solstice light shines in dark

12-15
To the editor:
This weekend of the winter solstice people from all cultures will be paying tribute to the returning sun and the light in a variety of ways, just as they have through the centuries.
In a recent "Essence of Ojai" program at the Ojai Valley Museum, Julie Tumamait said that the Chumash have considered the solstice to be their most important ceremony. In the Ojai Valley there are three events of light that are worthy of mention.
On Saturday evening the 20th at 5 p.m. there will be an Interfaith Service of Light at the Jewish Community of the Oaks at 530 W. El Roblar Drive in Meiners Oaks.
On Sunday the 21st at 5 p.m. the internationally acclaimed Rebekah is giving what promises to be an outstanding concert at The Ojai Retreat. If anyone can radiate light into the atmosphere with exquisite vocals, Rebekah is the one! Following her concert at 7:30 is a Celebration of the Winter Solstice Festival at Meditation Mount with group singing and ceremony, together with poetry, myth and meditation. Hooray for the solstice! The light shines in the darkness!

Jean M. Bates
Executive Director
Meditation Mount
Ojai

Hanukkah about seeking light

12-15
To the editor:
During the week I work at UCLA Medical Center, and there is something about leaving an institution abuzz with fluorescent lights after a long day at this time of year and seeing the beautiful sunset. A rush of awe overwhelms me as I see the streaks of light mixed with clouds, and while it may not be an Ojai "pink moment," it is one that always warms me and reminds me of the grandeur or nature and the mastery of creation.
So I was shocked this week when I stayed a bit longer than normal and left the building to be surrounded by darkness, pierced only by artificial street lights and no sun. Where is my moment of grandeur? Where is the light? My shock turns to a primeval panic: that's it. It's winter. No more sun, we have entered the time when days become only work and I will not see those magentas and persimmon hues that lifted me through so many experiences.
We are nearing the winter solstice, and many traditions bring light into our darkness at this time of year in order to continue the contract between humanity, nature and the divine that guarantees that there will be light after the darkness, and even light within dark times. While I may miss the longer days, they remind me I must forge other ways of bringing the quality of light into my everyday evenings. Light can come from so many sources: interaction with other people, the warmth of family or looking with open eyes at other wonders of nature that do not overwhelm me like a sunset, but provide quiet comfort, like a candle in the night.
Hanukkah (Dec. 19 through 27) is about a miracle of oil that lasted for eight days to light the temple in Jerusalem. This can be a metaphor for any of us. We all run low on oil, and the sources of light that we grow dependent on for enrichment are not always there. Where do you find those alternative sources of spirit? To make light where there is darkness reenacts the first action of the divine: Let there be light. We all need to search for new ways to illuminate our world.
Our synagogue, K'hilat H'Aloneem, is hosting a Festival of Light Saturday, Dec. 20, at 5 p.m. We invite people of all faiths to share their rituals and experiences of light in their tradition and to add their illumination to our own Hanukkah candles as we celebrate as a community. There will be latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil to remember the oil that lasted eight days), songs, joy, and, hopefully, another example of light that can give our community something to savor while our days feel shorter but our spirits aim high.

Rabbi Micah Hyman
Ojai

Join the effort to end drug abuse

12-16
To the editor:
The excellent Ojai Valley News issue, "The Truth About Drugs and Ojai's Youth: One Year Later," serves as an important reminder that our community has a serious substance abuse problem. Three to five nonfatal overdoses involving opiate-based narcotics each month in a community of our size is clear evidence.
The more than three-fold increase in narcotics arrests in the past five years should serve as a call for us to continue - if not double -our efforts to turn this problem around. As the articles in this issue made clear, substance abuse tears at families, at young lives and, ultimately, at our entire community.
In the past year, our community has risen to meet this call in many ways. We now have voluntary drug testing for Nordhoff students, substance abuse education classes, parenting classes and support groups, more intensive youth supports, and more targeted enforcement, among many other activities.
In addition, five key agencies from the Ojai Valley have joined forces and over the past year have been working toward a comprehensive effort - the kind of response that has proven to make a measurable impact on substance abuse in other communities. A grassroots group of local citizens called the SAFE Coalition ("Substance Abuse Free Environment") has begun meeting regularly, and, with support from the County of Ventura's Office of Drug and Alcohol Prevention, this effort is now fully under way.
Starting in January, concerned Ojai Valley residents of all ages and walks of life are strongly urged to participate in SAFE Coalition task forces. These task forces will gather data about the Ojai Valley's overall patterns of substance abuse, with a focus on youth. Rather than focusing on individuals, the task forces will be seeking information on where substance abuse is happening, the circumstances, sources and environments.
After the data is collected and analyzed, the approximately 20 diverse members of the SAFE Coalition, representing youth, parents, educators, health professionals and others, will report the results, receive community input, and use this specific and reliable information to make recommendations and take actions.
The SAFE Coalition expects that this effort will complement what is already under way to deal with this issue in the Ojai Valley. By specifically identifying and targeting the environments where substance abuse is occurring, we aim to reduce the availability and circumstances that have fed the problem.
Those who are interested in joining this important effort should call Ruth Cooper at the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation, 640-9555.

Gary Pentis, Ojai Chief of Police; Rae Hanstad, Ojai Mayor Pro Tem; Tim Baird, Superintendent of Schools; Dan Singer, Ojai City Manager; Cindy Cantle, Supervisor Steve Bennett's office; Caryn Bosson, Executive Director, Ojai Valley Youth Foundation; Ruth Cooper, SAFE Coalition Coordinator

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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