How to resolve AdBlock issue? OVN EDITORIAL: Casitas conundrum: Don’t feed the sharks
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- Published: Saturday, 31 July 2021 16:00
The city of Ventura has come to Casitas Municipal Water District asking for $10 million — about the same amount Ventura has paid the Walnut Creek legal gang of Best Best & Krieger to attack our dear valley in the adjudication lawsuit.
Case Dismissed. So why is Ventura still suing us?
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- Published: Friday, 02 July 2021 08:53
Ojai Valley News
The launch to nowhere: The stairs to Lake Casitas now go to dry ground. Effective July 1, Ventura City Council rescinded its Stage 2 water-shortage event, “based on current supply,” while Casitas users remain in Stage 3.
The Santa Barbara Channelkeeper complaint against the city of Ventura has been dismissed. Ventura was taking too much water from the river and has now agreed to take less during the dry months.
The share for sheriff services
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- Published: Friday, 28 May 2021 09:20
When will the Ventura County sheriff and Ventura County Board of Supervisors stop making excuses to explain how charging Ojai residents double what residents of any other city pay is justified?
What does it mean to be a local citizen?
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- Published: Friday, 21 May 2021 09:03
Laura Ward
Given the times, it is hard not to get sucked into the turbulence of our national politics.
Passion for the topic du jour quickly bubbles to the surface as people share the latest facts or their personal outrage. Too often, national news is presented on television as entertainment, leading some to get caught up in the newscycle not as participating citizens, but as fans ... hobbyists. Think Raiders vs. Broncos. Polarized political “teams” create the black-and- white thinking that has splintered the nation as well as small-town communities. Ojai is not im-mune. (One example is the vitriol over a half mile of roadway — the ATP.)
The fandom created by national politics and sports teams generates little to no effect on outcome. “Engaged” participants merely shout opinion and advice at the TV and their social media echo chamber, gaining the emotional reward of being a part of a group.
The opiate of national news overconsumption can lead to feelings of disconnection, depression and helplessness. Such national political hobbyism only promotes division and discourages problem solving.
To the overexcited news junkie, reading about local water, economy, school, infrastructure and government is boring in comparison to drama on the national stage. Finding solutions to these pressing local issues requires a different mind-set because it’s easier to state an opinion than to take action.
However a lack of understanding of local laws, policies, government process or the history of an issue can sometimes cause setbacks to local progress. For evidence look to the Ojai City Council negotiation of the city’s contract with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The effort to update the 40-year contract could save our cash- strapped city more than $1 million annually. The sheriff has miscalculated the city’s responsibility and the county saves money by looking the other way. Those complicating the negotiations with the subject of police conduct reform are giving them more cover. For a tiny city to make a roar, an informed, active citizenry is essential.
Instead of being negatively affected by national politics, over which we have limited control, we can more effectively channel our collective energies here at home. One way to tune in is to do what readers of the Ojai Valley News are doing now, subscribing to their local news source, volunteering for worthy causes, and participating in City Council, school board and other agency meetings, to name a few. Local news readers are committed Ojai Valley citizens.
We recommend residents leverage their local newspaper. The OVN covers meetings many may not have time to attend, and our news reporters objectively unpack it for you. We are your advocate. Help us to ask the right questions and dig up the truth. Share the tips and the triumphs .... You can also read or share issues on the Opinion page and in the “Thumbs” column.
Local government may not offer the allure of constant national scandal and intrigue, but it is exactly where informed citizens can make the most difference. Your local newspaper is offering up our Ojai Valley story every week. The OVN — the valley’s record for 130 years — strives every day to be a resource, “reporting for the people.” Hand in hand we create the Ojai Valley we deserve. The Ojai Valley News ... if you live here, you get it. Subscribe at: https://www.ojaivalleynews.com/contact-us/subscriptions.
Believer in local news,
Laura Rearwin Ward
EDITORIAL on OPINION Page: Brown Act fades to black in OUSD handbook
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- Published: Friday, 23 April 2021 09:26
Ojai Unified School District should not waste any more time discussing its proposed “Board Governance Handbook.”
OUSD Superintendent Morse thanked
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- Published: Friday, 23 April 2021 09:09
Bob Daddi and the Ojai Valley News want to personally thank and commend Ojai Unified School District superintendent, Dr. Tiffany Morse, for partnering with the city of Ojai and being instrumental in solving some of the ATP project engineering deficiencies at Nordhoff High School related to lanes and bicycle circulation.
Ojai Valley News' editorial response to Sheriff Ayub's 4-9 Op-Ed
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- Published: Friday, 09 April 2021 08:51
Ojai Valley News’ editorial response to Sheriff Ayub’s Op-Ed:
Why does Sheriff William Ayub believe that the city of Ojai should pay the equivalent to a city twice its size, with twice the crime rate, and 10 times the violent crime (Fillmore)?
Demand equal treatment 'under the law enforcement'
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- Published: Friday, 12 March 2021 09:01
Two separate issues are going on related to police reform in Ojai — financial reform and conduct reform. Critical to the city right now is financial reform.
EDITORIAL on Opinion page: Autopsies go underground
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- Published: Friday, 05 March 2021 09:25
Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, has reintroduced a bill — California AB 268 — to keep all autopsy reports in the hands of families whose relatives have died as a result of a criminal act.
OVN editorial on OPINION page: Ventura council hooked by BBK
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- Published: Friday, 12 February 2021 09:00
At the status conference for the Ventura water lawsuit this week, Scott Slater, a 36-year-veteran water litigator for one of the most powerful lobbying firms in the country, representing the Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, which owns approximately 8,000 acres of land in Ventura, schooled Judge Highberger, who is new to water law.
OPINION page: City of Ventura in hot water with attorney general over water lawsuit
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- Published: Thursday, 04 February 2021 22:04
OVN Editorial:
Ventura in hot water
with attorney general
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has leaped into the water lawsuit adjudication pool with a resounding splash, ripping the proposed "Physical Solution" (a step, not an end, in the water adjudication process) with a letter vigorously admonishing the city of Ventura, on behalf of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Resources Control Board.