Ojai's finances can get boost at ballot
Anyone who attended Ojai’s recent city budget meeting can gather that Ojai has a long list of goals that an infusion of funds can help achieve. Among them: citywide wifi, solar-powered city facilities, improved water dependability and delivery, disaster preparation, more sidewalks, a city swimming pool, bike lanes and more.
Case in point: Our streets will take 29 years to pave and bring up to acceptable standards. There must be a math problem, because they only last 15.
Wake-up shake-up
If people at the Ojai Parade on July 4 felt the magnitude 6.4 earthquake close to Ridgecrest at 10:33 a.m., they might well have mistaken it for the marching band. A few people posted notes on the Ojai Valley News Facebook page saying they felt a gentle rolling or their cupboard doors opened or their pools sloshed.
From zero to 60: Buckle up, Ojai
Tiffany Morse, our new Ojai Unified School District superintendent, isn’t just moving to town and into her new office. She is embarking on a journey and taking all of us who care about education in the Ojai Valley with her.
We cannot imagine a more dynamic jump-start to her new job than the first of three community forums June 30, called “Impact to Engage,” a summer series on growth and innovation in Ojai public schools.
More than 90 people jammed the offices of the Agora Foundation on Ojai’s Bryant Circle, showing the interest and concern of parents, educators and community members in the education we are providing students today and in the future.
Easy call for OUSD board
The Ojai Unified School District Board of Education has dedicated and sincere trustees who have the best interests of all the students at heart and deserve our gratitude. They do not have an easy job. Their actions are governed by complex, sometimes overlapping, rules regarding conducting the people’s business in public and avoiding conflicts of interest.
Parking problems need fix, not study
We all know the more things change, the more they stay the same.
That is why Ojai resident Drew Mashburn’s latest find in the newspaper archives is so timely and welcome.
Heat a reminder to be prepared
It has been a sudden change from a cool spring, intermittent rains, bursting flora and fauna and masses of butterflies to temperatures over 100 degrees and wind.
This glorious season brings with it more summer/fall fire fuel than in recent years.
Ojai solar farm is the next step
For a community that considers itself forward thinking, the city of Ojai must continue to take action to deserve that reputation. We adopted strict lighting regulations, removed plastic bags before the state required it, cut back dramatically on water usage, adopted green energy as the provider of choice at a large premium, and removed our major water supplier, at another large sacrifice.
Brown Act matters
The 63-year-old Ralph M. Brown Act — California’s open meeting law — is as relevant today as when it was written, as long as its value is recognized and public officials adhere to it.
It is rare that a government code is eloquent, but the Ralph M. Brown Act reads:
Ojai roads must be made safer
The death of 83-year-old Edith Rubaloff on April 21 in a crosswalk on Valle Rio Avenue is a tragedy and with it comes a warning.
It is, sadly, not the first fatality on the wide road that has several crosswalks with no flashing lights in a busy area, most especially Nordhoff High School. Adding to the danger is the very poor visibility from the road's alignment with the sun.
Ojai teens strike for action on climate
Sixteen-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg, asked students worldwide to hold a school strike on Friday, March 15, as part of a Friday for Futures movement to combat global warming. The next worldwide strike is May 24 and Kristofer Young, D.C., of Ojai is hosting it.
Here in Ojai, Thunber’s message was taken to heart by Micaela Ellis, 13, and Bella Mooga, 15, both Lighthouse School of Ojai students, who stood at Libbey Park on March 15 with double-sided, homemade signs reading, “The Oceans are rising and so are we,” and “I’m with her,” referencing their teenage counterpart, Thunberg.
Ojai Unified Superintendent choice is critical
Ojai Unified School District’s board faces its biggest task this month choosing the next superintendent to navigate the school district at a most critical juncture. It meets Saturday, March 23, at 10 a.m. in the district board room in a closed-session meeting to interview three finalists.
Joining them in interviewing the candidates are community members: Alyssa Duclos, Amber Christensen, Angie Genasci (president of the Ojai Federation of Teachers) Blair Braney (Mira Monte parent volunteer), Severo Lara (member of Ojai Alliance for Education Equity), Shannon Hull (Meiners Oaks School Site Council), Chuck Crawford (California School Employees Association president), Javier Ramirez (Matilija Junior High School principal), Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Fryhoff, Lori Hamor (Food for Thought Ojai executive director), Sal Rivera (Ojai Education Foundation member), Sherilyn Wheaton (Mira Monte Parent Teacher Organization member) and Linda Taylor (former OUSD board member). We hope they ask the hard questions and don’t fall into a groupthink trap. Community members are there to provide additional perspective and input and that is especially needed with this insular school board.