ojai blog - news and events in the Ojai community

Santa Paula needs a Chief

From our neighbor Wally at Santa Paula Blog:

Police Chief Interviews
Thursday we will be holding interviews for Chief of Police. This process began a few months ago with the announced retirement of Chief Bob Gonzales. I hired an executive search firm to do the recruiting and they have identified a pool of candidates for the position. There will be three panels that will interview the candidates Thursday: a panel made up of area police chiefs and one Ventura County city manager; a panel of Police Department employees; and a panel of residents. Each panel will interview the candidates and then meet at the end of the day to rank their choices. I will then interview the top candidates and make my selection. Hope to have all this wrapped up in the next two to three weeks with the new Chief starting sometime in November.

Shangri La Gourmet: lunch only

Shangri La Gourmet, located at 219 E. Matilija next to the Panaderia, will no longer be serving dinner until they find a production facility for their on-the-shelf product, Garlic Gold.

So if you're craving one of their rockin' turkey pastrami reubens, swing by for lunch.

Ojai Chamber meeting by sunset

The Ojai Chamber held its monthly mixer this evening, hosted this time by the fine folk at Meditation Mount, with excellent food provided by Tottenham Court.  It's always entertaining mixing business and pleasure in various Ojai settings, and I received some very nice comments from regular readers of this little blog. 

If you own or manage a business in the Ojai Valley, you absolutely should be a member of the Chamber.  The staff, led by CEO Scott Eicher, works hard to represent business interests in Ojai and continue providing good value for the reasonable membership fees.  Sign up here.

Taste of Ojai

If anyone at Taste of Ojai wants to provide Ojaiblog a couple press passes, you know where to find me! 

From the Taste of Ojai website:

A Taste of Ojai
Saturday, September 24th, 2005
4 PM to 7 PM

This monumental event will be held in a beautiful, shady area on  the greens of the Golf Course at the Ojai Valley Inn. The finest foods including appetizers, entrees, desserts, and beverages prepared by leading chefs from Ojai's celebrated restaurants are accompanied by wines specifically chosen to create a gourmet experience. Musical entertainment and lively conversation will make this a unique and memorable event. Proceeds to benefit the community and youth of the Ojai Valley.

$50 per person
Tickets available at
Tottenham Court, (805) 646-2339
Ojai Chamber of Commerce, (805) 646-8126
State Farm Insurance, (805) 646-0101
Credit Cards Accepted

Participants include: Azu, Deer Lodge, Gourmet Tamales, L'Auberge, Movino, Ojai Coffee Roasting Co., Ojai Pizza, Ojai Valley Inn, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, Pangea, Q-Time BBQ, Rainbow Bridge, Ranch House, Ruben's, Sakura Ojai Japenese Restaurant, Sea Fresh, Seven Oaks Ranch, Shangri-la, Southern Wine and Spirits, Sri Thai Restaurant, Suzanne's Cuisine, Tottenham Court

Ojai Retreat celebrates Otto Heino

The Ojai Retreat invites the community to honor Otto Heino, internationally acclaimed potter, on Sunday, September 25th, from 6:00-9:00pm. The celebration includes a buffet dinner, a short film & interview with Otto Heino.  Cost is $25 per person, $40 for 2 persons. Located at The Ojai Retreat, 160 Besant Road.  Please RSVP by September 22nd by calling 805-646-2536.

Ojai Demonstration Garden & Surplus Land Sales

Over the last few days, I have received a number of private emails and phone calls, along with a handful of comments to my two previous posts here and here, regarding the potential sale of "surplus land" which may include the parking area of the Ojai Demonstration Garden, along with some other community-sensitive locations.

I encourage all Ojai residents to visit the Garden, located on Ventura St., just south of City Hall.  It seems highly likely to me that to sell the parking lot area to a private developer would essentially kill the inviting and communal nature of the Garden, allowing to it to fade away, no longer one of the jewels of our community.  Comments for or against?

Pangea hosts Katrina relief event

Pangea Restaurant is hosting a silent auction, raffle, free appetizers and an afternoon of music to benefit The Victims of Hurricane Katrina through Direct Relief International.  Come on down to Pangea (139 E. Ojai Ave. next to the Ojai Playhouse) on Sunday September 25th from 2-6pm.  Music performances by The Shawn Barry Band, The Andre Comeau Band and Nathan McEuen and Friends.

Come one, come all, reservations not required.  Anyone wishing to make a donation or to volunteer, please contact Joe at Pangea 805.640.8001.

Direct Relief International's mission statement:

Since 1948, Direct Relief International has worked to improve the quality of life for people in need. We focus on health by providing essential material resources to locally run health programs in poor areas around the world and during times of disaster.

Direct Relief International is a non-profit, non-political, and non-sectarian organization that provides assistance without regard to race, ethnicity, political or religious affiliation, gender, or ability to pay. We are committed to making every dollar count - less than 1% of our support goes to administrative and fundraising expenses.

Ojai Housing Permits

I came across a site with nationwide city data, and checked out Ojai.  The following statistic regarding new construction building permits was rather surprising to me, since my understanding was that Ojai follows a very-slow growth policy. 

Single-family new house construction building permits:

• 1996: 6 buildings, average cost: $112,500
• 1997: 4 buildings, average cost: $147,800
• 1998: 8 buildings, average cost: $255,700
• 1999: 5 buildings, average cost: $216,800
• 2000: 11 buildings, average cost: $208,500
• 2001: 4 buildings, average cost: $302,900
• 2002: 30 buildings, average cost: $167,300
• 2003: 33 buildings, average cost: $231,900

As you can see, the number of approved new construction building permits for single-family homes has skyrocketed over the last two years.

A little history (VC Star - free reg. req.): in 1979, Ojai adopted an ordinance restricting residential construction to limit the city's annual population increase to no more than 6 percent, or about 36 people a year.  (which doesn't make any sense to me, because Ojai's population was not 612 people in 1979 - maybe growth was to be limited to 0.6 percent)

In 2002, voters in Ojai rejected (65 percent) an initiative that would have prevented development of any kind unless the project could fully mitigate its traffic.

In 2003, the Ojai City Council adopted a new growth management plan that restricts housing and population growth to less than 1 percent annually through 2010.

According to a December 2001 study (pdf) entitled Smart Growth In Action by the Reason Public Policy Institute and Solimar Research Group, Census 2000 shows 3,229 housing units in Ojai, with buildout accounting for 247 additional housing units to be built by 2020. 

The study projected 11 permits in 2002 and 17 permits in 2003, while we can see above that actual permits granted were 272% and 194% above those projected levels.   

The last two years, we've averaged 31.5 new construction single-family home permits.  At 2.5 people per household (3,229 housing units holding ~8,200 people), that's 79 people per year, just shy of 1% of the population.

If the Ojai City Council adopted a growth management plan in 2003 that restricted housing and population growth to less than 1 percent annually through 2010, then we're pretty much on target for maintaining the level of growth established by the City Council.  I don't have data, however, on any multi-family homes, nursing homes, retirement facilities, etc.  Those may very well push the growth numbers well over the targets established by the Ojai City Council.

I'm the furthest thing from a math major - any other input on these numbers and the growth policy of Ojai?

Ojai Chamber Luncheon: Internet Threats

Wednesday, September 21st, the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce is presenting a luncheon at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, where host Dave Lawrence, owner of Smart Technology Enablers, will explain what Internet Threats are as well as how they infect your computer.  He’ll also present how to protect yourself from infection and how to recover if your computer becomes infected. 

This will be of great help to small businesses and sole proprietors in particular - if you are as dependent on your computer and your data half as much as I am, it will be well worth your time to learn how to protect and preserve your information.

Lunch is included in the price of admission.  Advance tickets are $15 for Chamber members and $20 for the general public.  Seating is limited so reservations are requested.  Contact the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce at 805-646-8126 for advance tickets.

Smart Women Finish Rich

Ojai-based financial advisor Olga Jones is hosting a FREE seminar on Tuesday September 20th at 6:30pm (Ojai Valley Athletic Club) that provides women with steps to help plan for financial security.  Olga tells me that its for people with and without a lot of money at their disposal - she gives you the tools to plan for savings, investment and living your life the way you want to live it.  There are only a couple spots left, so contact her and RSVP for "Smart Women Finish Rich" soon - 805-640-1651.