From Palestine to Pickleball

Ojai City Council Series Lucky Number XIII on the Eve of Mercury Going Retrograde

Picasso’s Guernica

What could go wrong?

When we got there, we could not park in the lot due to the number of cars already there. I almost turned around and went home at that point, but I had asked Jon to come with me to this one because I knew the Ceasefire Now group would be there in full force and this would be another heavy meeting so I stayed the course and found a spot.

This is Part XIII of my continuing series on Ojai Politics. (If you’re just coming into this series, you can start here with Part I - Pluto Misogyny Showdown at City Hall)

We circled and parked elsewhere and then walked through the mass of people lining up outside and in the vestibule of the council. They were all there to demand our council put a Ceasefire-in-Gaza Proclamation on the agenda. This is the third meeting they have been present at, and this was the biggest showing.

The only empty seats in the room had “reserved” signs on them. We said, “Hi” to a few people and then went outside to the viewing area set up there, a holdover from COVID. It was cold, and I was not dressed to sit outside, and the outside was just about as crowded as everywhere else due to the number of people there to weigh in on the fate of the pickleball courts located on the City Hall campus.

Two unusually large groups for our small town meetings, each segregated to either side of the outside of the building with the council chambers and other agenda items smashed in between. The contrast was stark and deafening to me, one side was there to beg for the lives of people in a land far away from being slaughtered and the other was there to beg for the privilege to continue to be able to play pickleball. Pickleball was on the agenda. Palestine was not. Most of the people there for either issue are not normally at our meetings weighing in on the many other important issues we as a community are facing. I hope they will bring their voices to these other issues in our town.

“This meeting is going to go until 1:00am,” I said to Jon. “Let’s leave,” and we did.

It’s currently 1:20am, and the meeting ended twenty minutes ago. I watched it on my computer on and off after arriving back home. I viewed the first section of public comments, almost all on the ceasefire. The council had wisely decided that for this meeting they would reduce each comment from three to two minutes maximum otherwise the meeting would have gone a couple of hours longer. I observed many people speak after the chimes sounded telling them their time was up, as Mayor Stix again and again had to interrupt them and ask them to stop.

The outcome of this meeting regarding Palestine/Israel and the ceasefire is that there will be a special meeting of the council on Wednesday, December 20th at 6pm (this meeting date and time have changed more than once and I blame Mercury completely) as the council once again drafts and then presents a proclamation to the community.

There were four items on the agenda relating to housing sandwiched between Palestine and Pickleball. There is a special meeting happening on Monday, December 18th at 7pm concerning the Becker housing development proposals. The good news is that the city council at this meeting on Dec 12th approved not one but two affordable housing projects, a Habitat for Humanity project on a city-owned lot and the Cabrillo development which will offer 50 units once completed. A fire safety building code ordinance for the city was approved. Locations for our unhoused community’s encampment were identified and approved along with approval to move ahead with seeking a grant to fund transitional housing for these beings. All excellent work on housing by our council!

Okay, buckle up, it’s about to get weird.

Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the USA and has been for five years in a row. In 2019, the City Council received a recommendation from the initial Pickleball ad hoc committee to designate the unoccupied courts at the City Hall campus for use as Pickleball facilities. The City Council approved the recommendation and designated $10,000 in funds for the overlay of the courts. The courts were paved and shortly after, Pickleball began there. The issue on tonight’s agenda - either maintain or modify the current use of the courts or eliminate court use due to noise complaints from the neighbors.

THWACK!

Yeah, that’s what the neighbors have been listening to now for years since the courts were built. The campus is located in a neighborhood of our small town, and although the campus is a park, it’s not the kind of park meant for loud sports activities.

THWACK! while eating.

THWACK! while hanging out.

THWACK! while trying to get work done for those who work from home. The city staff and commissioners have to close the windows when the courts are being used to get their work done.

THWACK! Coupled with the sound of VOICES! Pickleball is not only noisy as a sport but also those who play are loud and boisterous.

Frankly, it does sound like a lot of fun to me. I am loud and boisterous, so this seems right up my alley court. I also would not want my fun to intrude on my neighbors, a friend of mine who plays there said as much.

Councilmember Rule is an avid pickleball player and word has it that pickleball and the health of the sport locally is one of the main reasons she ran for city council. She began showing up at city council meetings as a new Ojai citizen just a few years ago in support of the expansion of pickleball courts and facilities.

Have I said Ojai is small? Our population is under 8000 people in the town proper and about 30,000 people valley-wide. We have a movie theater that shut down in 2014 due to a flood from a burst water main and it has yet to reopen for numerous reasons. We have NO public swimming pool for the community and ONE off-leash dog park which is located in a county park on the east end of town, a county park one must pay to have access to. The dog park was funded by individuals in the community and only came into existence about sixteen years ago. There are pickleball courts located in this same county park, and yet they need some repair. There is also a potential plan to create whole new pickleball courts there as well.

The city manager gave a presentation to the council and all attending regarding some new equipment, including paddles and balls that have been rated as quiet, and went over the options the council was to explore that evening regarding the courts.

Public comment was largely comprised of the pickleball community in support of keeping the courts as they are. Those who live nearby gave statements on the noise, its intrusion, and how the courts have negatively affected their everyday life. They have spoken at other meetings about the same.

“Ojai’s pickleball courts are renowned around the world and people travel here to use them,” was one that stuck out to me (I am paraphrasing). Ojai’s main source of income is tourism. Our tourism has spun out of control according to anyone who does not directly benefit from it. So, this point fell flat to a lot of us, probably even some there in support of keeping those courts.

Councilmember Rule began the council discussion, speaking for seven and a half minutes, on the joy and love of the pickleball community, and all things fabulous about pickleball. She also shared a video she had put together sharing images of the smiling faces of the people who are using the courts. She talked about why moving to Soule Park was not a workable solution at the moment. Included in her comments was this reminder, “We were elected to support the community and to represent the community and I do actually have a screengrab of your constituents (pointing at Stix, Francina, Lang, and Whitman) and where they live, because they actually, there was a petition of 150 people that put their addresses there, and I mapped them all out for you. All of them, a lot of them are your constituents, and you need, we need to know that we’re here to represent the community.”

She closed with, “Now that I’ve taken the moral high ground, which everyone hates, I am going to pass it over to the council.” This was after talking about how the park was not going to be quiet anyway due to the unhoused encampment there, a point she would make again later on.

It’s not the moral high ground she is taking. It’s simply her attachment to wanting to get her way which was on display. Deflecting the civic responsibility of the pickleball crowd by conflating the noise of the unhoused as being on equal footing is disgusting.

Mayor Pro Tem Francina said that she was going to vote to close the courts and that only one week after deciding to allow the courts there back in 2019 she publicly admitted that decision had been a mistake. She felt the trial had been successful in determining that the city hall campus is NOT a proper location for the sport.

Councilmember Rule began to simmer in her seat as she could feel herself losing something she held dear.

“These people bought houses and built investment properties across from a public park!” she had spat out earlier. “What did they expect?”

This is true, and yet, it’s not that kind of park. It’s not a sports park or a recreational park. It’s a quiet park and houses our city hall and all the important work they do. It also currently houses our ever-growing encampment of unhoused people. That tent camp is on the other side of the building where the city chamber sits. Pickleball to the left of me, unhoused to the right, just beyond where the people who came to speak in support of the ceasefire in Gaza were gathered.

Councilmember Whitman felt that the courts needed to close, that it was not the right location for something so noisy, and that Soule Park would be the best option. There was talk of new quieter equipment and building an acoustical wall to deaden the sound at the city hall campus to be funded by the pickleball community. Councilmember Whitman suggested that with the need now created by the city hall courts closing, the money for the courts at Soule Park would likely be found by the pickleball community. He also did not want to see that community pour money into something like a sound barrier wall only to find that it did not do the job of eliminating the noise issues for the neighbors.

Councilmember Lang also initially said that the courts needed to close and that Soule Park was the best option, but with a caveat. Her wife plays pickleball, and they inspected the Soule Park courts together. There are some problems with them in the condition they are in and repairs will need to be done to make them usable.

Mayor Stix thanked everyone for coming out and supported them in their enjoyment of the sport. She pointed out that it is about the pickleball people coming together and they will continue to do so as the community they created. She encouraged everyone to get behind Soule Park as the solution since Soule Park is the only place that has been deemed appropriate due to the noise issue. She then asked for a motion.

At hour 6:09:24 into the meeting, Councilmember Rule said she was not ready for a motion and began to talk nonstop, reiterating the same points over and over as she became more upset, heated, and accusatory in her tone toward her fellow Councilmembers. Seven minutes later, Councilmember Whitman quietly and clearly said, “Point of order (something I have never seen him do before), we’ve heard all of this three or four times.”

There was a bit of cross-talk as Mayor Stix then said to Rule, “Could you wrap it up, please?”

“I could wrap it up. Umm, if you would like to interrupt me, I think the proper procedure would be to say ‘point of order’”, Councilmember Rule clapped back to Councilmember Whitman. She often is the one shouting “point of order” when she does not agree with what is being said by someone (usually the mayor).

”I did,” said Whitman.

“Councilmember Rule, can you finish, please?” Mayor Stix jumped in.

“Yeah, I can. I didn’t hear, ‘point of order’, and I didn’t hear you (meaning Whitman) acknowledge to speak. That having been said, I hope everybody out there is really aware of the behavior that’s going on in this City Council!” said Rule as she looked out at the gallery and to all of us watching from home. (Oh yes, Councilmember Rule, we are. We are all watching. We are watching your rude, disrespectful, subversive, and mean behavior.)

“Excuse me, Councilmember Rule,” said Mayor Stix, “there was a point of order, so can you please wrap it up?”

Councilmember Rule made a motion to do further studies on soundproofing and quieter paddles. The motion died without a second.

There was more discussion between all of the members and then Mayor Stix asked for a motion.

“Are you really going to close the courts?” asked Rule.

Councilmember Whitman made a motion to close the courts at the end of January with the new quieter paddles and balls required as of January 1st.

Councilmember Rule got angrier and angrier in her response as she tried to fight for her sport and the continuation of it there at City Hall. “You’re Ojai Magical Thinking!” she said to Whitman at some point at the idea that new pickleball courts could be created at Soule Park. (Soule Park is a county park and not a city park. The city council can not make decisions about Soule Park).

Councilmember Lang then made a substitute motion to close the courts at the end of January as well with a promise to revisit this in four or five months giving the pickleball community a way to fix the noise issues at the city hall campus.

Councilmember Rule seconded it. There was then some back and forth about the purpose of the motion.

Councilmember Lang was asked whether she would like to amend her motion at that point.

“No.”

Lang’s motion stood and was defeated four to one.

Back to Councilmember Whitman’s original motion (close the courts at the end of January) - seconded and passed with Stix and Francina as “yeses” and Lang and Rule as “nos”. Councilmember Lang took a minute as she voted, looking down, displaying this did not feel simple to her nor easy.

“I told them you would never do this,” Councilmember Rule repeated a couple of times as the mayor tried to call her back to order.

Then Councilmember Rule started speaking directly to the pickleball crowd in the room expressing her disbelief, “Really awful! I know, unbelievable!” The pickleball crowd’s voices were getting louder and louder from their seats in the gallery while Mayor Pro Tem Francina was telling Councilmember Whitman how reasonable he seemed and how sound his argument was.

Mayor Stix hit her gavel and said to the crowd, “We’re still having a meeting. So we’ll continue. Thank you all for being here.”

Councilmember Rule once more to the crowd in sympathy, “I know,” completely disregarding process and procedure, a process and procedure she was elected to participate in.

The mayor started with the final item of the night, the approval of the new interim city manager’s salary.

Suddenly, Councilmember Rule got out of her seat, marched over to Mayor Pro Tem Francina, bent down, grabbed her shoulder, and quickly whispered something in her ear. The MPT Francina’s head shot up with a, “What did you just say to me?” look on her face, and Councilmember Rule then pushed her before walking back to her seat.

THWACK!

Mayor Stix called the meeting back to order, proceeded with the approval for the new interim city manager’s salary, which was approved, and then asked for council member reports and future agenda items. A couple of things were mentioned by Councilmember Whitman and Mayor Pro Tem Francina.

Councilmember Rule then shared the picture of the valley denoting where everyone who plays pickleball lives, I guess as a final attempt at shaming the three on the council who voted against her, claiming it was a report when it was just her wanting to have the last word.

Mayor Pro Tem Francina mentioned a safety issue with kids on bikes and the close calls motorists are having with them. I have had one of these close calls myself.

Councilmember Lang suggested adding pedestrian safety to the agenda.

Councilmember Rule wanted to add a mobility study re: valet parking. She also wanted council protocols on the agenda. This will be separate from the ethics code Councilmember Lang is working on. I find this ironic since she is the one who is often out of order and was wrongly using “point of privilege” in meeting after meeting.

Mayor Pro Tem Francina’s future item is the extension of the bike trail.

And then, Councilmember Rule launched her final salvo for the night, “I have one more agenda item. I would like to bring back the ATP. I think we need to reevaluate that.”

The ATP (active transportation program, or in layperson’s terms - making the city more bike-friendly, environmentally sound, and walkable) is Mayor Pro Tem Francina’s big project.

Suddenly it seems that new battle lines have been drawn.

This is not the first time Rule has gone head-to-head with a fellow council member, it happens in almost every meeting. A failed recall attempt was recently mounted against Councilmember Whitman.

Councilmember Rule was seen going door to door in an attempt to unseat Councilmember Whitman by asking people to support the recall.

Our ex-interim City Manager, Mark Scott quit amid a closed session. Only those present know what happened in the council chambers that night.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason he left was that he finally reached his limit with the obstructionist and discordant behavior of Councilmember Rule.

If this is true, he is doing the community a disservice by keeping this piece of information to himself. If this is the reason, I would hope that he would share it for the health of the community and as a way to counter the narrative that somehow Mayor Stix or even the entire council is to blame for his hasty exit.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Palestinian people are dying by the thousands and being displaced by over a million while the right-wing government of Israel funded by the U.S. launches attack after attack against the terrorist group Hamas operating within Gaza, while also indiscriminately bombing the hell out of Palestine, a territory and its people torn to pieces for decades, whose Hamas-run government launched a deadly attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

“This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning—from "I" to "we". If you who own the things people must have could understand this, you might preserve yourself. If you could separate causes from results, if you could know that Paine, Marx, Jefferson, Lenin were results, not causes, you might survive. But that you cannot know. For the quality of owning freezes you forever into "I", and cuts you off forever from the "we".” - John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Read Part XIV Here

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