I'll See Your Brown Act Violation and Raise You a Conspiracy Theory

Ojai City Council Series Part VII

Two Block Long Arcade of Shops and eateries in Downtown Ojai

“AND WHO IS SIMPLY OJAI?????!!!!!” her voice got louder as she leaned into the mic. She then listed off several people by name asking who they were!!!! One of them had literally been sitting directly behind her in the gallery from where she was speaking. Another had spoken a couple of meetings ago explaining exactly what Simply Ojai was and who she was in relation to it and to the Mayor.

“Aw, fuck, here we go”, I thought to myself as I got out of my chair, ran through the kitchen, quickly filled out a speaker card, and handed it to Carl who was running this part of the meeting that night. At this point, there was someone else talking loudly into the mic, fueling the gossip circles gathering who are continuing to fight against members of the most progressive city council that’s been seated here in my fourteen-plus years of living in the Ojai Valley.

This is Part VII 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)

Who is Simply Ojai?

Great question.

Here is the first thing you’ll see when heading to their site: https://www.simplyojai.org/
”A majority of Ojai residents do not enjoy the stability and peace of mind that comes with home ownership. It is well known that many of the renters in our community are at risk of being forced out of their town due to the fact that their wages cannot keep pace with rapidly escalating rents. The most effective thing the Ojai City Council can do to protect Ojai renters from crushing market forces is to enact rent stabilization that applies to rental units in our town where it is allowed under current state law. We support rent stabilization in Ojai, would you consider doing the same?”

I can’t imagine why some of the forces in our town are against them *sarcasm filter activated*.

A rent stabilization ordinance was passed by our council a few months ago. Councilmembers Lang and Whitman along with Mayor Stix voted in support.

The conspiracy theory goes something like this
”Mayor Stix is a puppet for Simply Ojai. Leslie Hess (one of the founders of Simply Ojai), and Tom Francis (a sometime volunteer for Simply Ojai and a political and environmental activist in the valley) are the “shadowy figures” behind her. Councilmember Whitman is also a part of this as is Councilmember Lang, unless she votes the other way, then she’s not.” These are my words about Leslie and Tom, not theirs. I did not interview either of them for this piece.

Tom and Leslie also volunteered for Mayor Stix’s campaigns. Their beliefs are aligned in many ways. This is politics. People run for office with the help of others who share similar beliefs and goals. Often, the helpers/volunteers/campaign staff are concurrently working on other projects or with other organizations that allow them to take action on their beliefs.

Mayor Stix won her first election in 2020 and again her second in 2022, both times winning against cisgender, white, male candidates. As an aside, the Ojai Police Chief is also a female. We are breaking ground here, the ground underneath the boot of the patriarchy that’s been propping up late-stage capitalism, has created the climate emergency we are in, and potentially may destroy this reality if left unchecked.

I know, I know. “NOT ALL MEN!”

Tom Francis works tirelessly to support some of the most progressive people who have recently held office in Ojai. They won and tipped the balance of power on the council from a majority cisgender, white, heterosexual male centrist and potentially right-leaning bloc to a majority white and female left-leaning to progressive bloc. It’s a huge achievement and Tom continues to be publicly denigrated by those who believe the conspiracy theories about him spread by those who are threatened by his work, meaning those whose candidates lost.

I got up and spoke about my love of this valley, the obvious love those on the dias must feel for the Valley, “Otherwise, why would you put yourselves through this?”, spoke about the disinformation being spread, did some debunking of the conspiracy theory about the Mayor and Simply Ojai, and commented on our collective need for healing in this community. It was not my best work, as I had not planned on speaking, but everyone else speaking seemed to be there to oppose the Mayor that night. Again.

Gross.

Valet parking was the hot ticket on the agenda which is what drove the detractors to the mic.

Mayor Stix, who does not regularly speak first during discussions about agenda items asked to be heard first on this one.

In the summer of 2021 she, as Mayor, had placed an item on the agenda regarding valet parking in Ojai with the intent to initiate a community discussion and invite community involvement in creating options for this issue. She referenced a previous issue where the community was polled and the council had then followed the will of the voters based on the poll results.

“So, I wanted to do a similar poll on valet. So that’s why I put it on the agenda,” said Mayor Stix. “That evening it was voted off of the agenda by former councilmembers Weirick, Blatz, and Haney. So the council could not discuss the matter or direct staff to take a poll. So that just didn’t happen. So, people who are concerned about this issue, who came to the meeting, had no option because the public process was thwarted because we couldn’t talk about it. So after that, and just for history, the proponents of the original initiative succeeded in gathering a number of signatures, 600 or a little less, which is well beyond what was required to place the matter on the ballot. Unfortunately, the proponents made an error by not submitting a proof of publication of the draft ordinance in time to the city clerk. This was legally posted in the Ventura County Star, by the way. The city clerk did not allow their initiative to go forward despite the fact that the proponents did actually post the required notice and did turn in the proof of publication to her, although it was late. Once the signature gathering of the initiative was completed and the process was brought to a halt by the city clerk, the initiative proponents were left to choose between refiling the initiative and gathering all of the 600 signatures again or entering into litigation against the city as an effort to protect the rights of the hundreds of voters who signed the initiative. So they clearly chose the latter. So here we are now, and I think it’s really important for all of us to find a solution that works for everybody. I’m very grateful to Councilmember Lang and Mayor Pro Tem Francina for meeting and negotiating and City Attorney Summers, thank you so much for your work on that.” - direct transcription from the video recording of the meeting

During that meeting in the summer of 2021, the council was comprised of The Ex Councilmembers W, B, & H, and Mayor Pro Tem Francina. We currently have zero offsite valet parking and only onsite valet parking that I am aware of (meaning contained to their property) at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. However, we do have one upcoming hotel, currently in development, which already has approval for both onsite and offsite valet parking lots.

The times they are a-changin’ as more and more wealth takes over our valley, the wealth gap increases, and more of our community becomes unhoused. The demand for offsite valet parking is increasing.

Had the three excouncilmembers in the summer of 2021 not voted to have the Mayor’s item about valet parking removed from the agenda that night, had it remained, perhaps we’d be on a different timeline with this issue. We’ll never know. They exerted their unified power and overrode Mayor Stix and Councilmember Francina that night.

Simply Ojai then created a petition and collected 600 signatures from Ojai residents asking that offsite valet parking be eliminated in Ojai. It’s important as you read this that you remember the businesses on our main street are concentrated on a two to three city blocks area with others scattered fewer and farther between as you head both east and west from the town center. Ojai is a town of just under 8000 people. However, our main bread and butter here is tourism. So Thursday through Monday, our town becomes much busier, and parking has become an issue for all of us when the tourists descend.

The petition to add the valet parking initiative to the ballot was denied by the county clerk due to the proof of publication of the Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition being filed late. The clerk chose to follow the strictest guidelines and denied the petition. She could have made an exception and allowed it to proceed. It seems that there was nothing legally preventing her from doing so. Had it moved forward, perhaps we’d be on a different timeline with this issue. We’ll never know. The clerk exerted her power and overrode the will of the 600 voters.

Simply Ojai then created a lawsuit against the city acting as the voice for the people which is our only governmental recourse (the judicial arm) when it comes to affecting our elected officials outside of voting and campaigning. I don’t really like it, but this is where we are. Lawsuits are happening as a vehicle for the will of the voters.

In February of 2023, the City Council requested that the city’s ad hoc parking committee meet to provide a recommendation regarding valet parking. On May 23, 2023, Councilmember Lang and Mayor Pro Tem Francina, members of this ad hoc committee, were authorized to meet with the proponents of the offsite valet parking ban initiative to hammer out a negotiated deal to try to avoid litigation. *See my note and link at the bottom for a full summary of this by Mark Scott, Interim City Manager and Matthew T. Summers, City Attorney. This summary includes the recent history pertaining to the El Roblar Hotel, currently in development, which applied for and was granted two valet parking lots, one onsite and one offsite*

Proposed Ordinance taken from the document referenced above that the council had planned on discussing and potentially adopting during the Sept 12, 2023 meeting:
The proposed valet parking ordinance is modeled on the original initiative, but adjusted to regulate, rather than always prohibit, valet parking. The proposed ordinance permits commercial valet parking if the cars are received and parked on the same premises as the commercial land use, i.e., on-site valet parking. The proposed ordinance prohibits commercial valet parking if the cars are parked at a different location than the location at which the cars were dropped off by the vehicle’s user, i.e., offsite valet parking. In effect, valet parking is allowed if entirely on the same premises, without requiring any travel on public rights of way or parking or storing of vehicles at a location different than the dropoff location. The proposed ordinance permits off-site valet parking at up to six special events at each property, by City permit, or events with non-commercial valet at residential uses. Bicycle parking, whether human-powered or electric, is expressly exempt from the ordinance’s provisions. The ordinance expressly applies solely prospectively, thus any project approved before it takes effect, such as the El Roblar Hotel project’s 18 space offsite valet parking lot, would not be subject to its provisions for the previously approved operations.

A deal was reached and was ready to be presented to the council that night when a representative from The Ojai Valley Inn emailed the city the day prior with their concerns about this deal and how it might negatively affect prospects for them. Meaning, they believe they are going to need offsite valet parking in the future. No one from the Inn came to the meeting. This threw a real wrench into the agenda item.

This meeting had a few moments like this along with some technical issues, and I am looking at you, Mercury, still retrograde while the meeting was underway.

Talking, talking, talking, questions, questions, questions. Again Councilmembers needed to be reminded that the beginning part was for their questions only to city staff, then public comments, and then it would be their turn to discuss. There are repeat offenders now who want to discuss before public comment and will make long-winded statements that they then try to tag a short question to at the end.

The small number of people who spoke during public comment was largely in favor of some valet parking.

Tom Francis got up and read a letter from Leslie Hess outlining Simply Ojai’s negotiations with the city along with some suggestions to alleviate the Inn’s concerns. WHO IS TOM FRANCIS!!!!! The calm and measured dude reading a written statement with the intent to avoid having to go to court is Tom Francis.

Councilmember Rule’s take, more than once was, “LET THEM SUE!”

I don’t see this response as productive or helpful nor in the spirit of democracy when one’s opponent is willing to negotiate.

I got up again to debunk the conspiracy theory and fumbled a bit when I said “Simply Ojai is not political”. What I meant to say was that Simply Ojai is not politically supporting the Mayor or any other elected official in their capacity as a nonprofit.

The next speaker called me on my dumb misstatement and then suggested that I was with Simply Ojai.

I stood up and shouted from the back of the gallery asking if I could please address this, even though I had already been at the mic regarding valet parking. You only get one comment on each agenda item, but I was determined to nip this in the bud. This is how disinformation takes hold, allowing it to spread, unchecked.

Councilmember Rule said, “Excuse me, point of order!” as a way to call out my interruption, and I was interrupting. This is true.

The Mayor banged her gavel gently, “Excuse me, I’ve got this. Council are you okay with Nora responding to that comment?”

Mayor Pro Tem Francina said, “Which comment?”

“The one that was just made,” replied Mayor Stix

“Um, yeah, I’m okay,” she said as a couple of other heads up there nodded along.

I got up and said, “Very briefly, I am not in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Simply Ojai.”

“May I ask? What do you mean by conspiracy theories?” Mayor Pro Tem Francina then asked as I was about to return to my seat.

FANTASTIC! I gladly took her question allowing me again to do some more debunking.

“The conspiracy theory that there is a shadowy group of people who are using Mayor Stix as a puppet to do their bidding. That conspiracy theory, that I’ve heard again and again and again,” I stated.

“Okay,” Francina responded.

“Thank you, Nora,” the Mayor said as I sat.

I was followed by a speaker on Zoom who thanked the council, especially Councilmember Lang for her work on negotiating an agreement with Simply Ojai and expressed her desire that the council respect the will of the voters (she was referring here to the 600 signatures collected on the issue).

Councilmember Whitman made a motion on valet parking to: “direct the city attorney to meet with the proponents of the initiative and the Ojai Valley Inn and return with an ordinance banning valet parking stands on Ojai Ave within a set distance to be determined or valet parking crossing Ojai Ave in transit and restricting valet parking on any public right of way or municipal parking lots.” - direct transcription from the video recording of the meeting

This measure passed four in favor with Mayor Stix voting “No” due to her discomfort in negating the 600 citizens who had signed the petition for the offsite valet parking ban in Ojai.

Other things of note from this night:

• There were a couple of public comments on the urgency of tending to the growing unhoused tent community on the city campus. Rachel Hunt gave a poignant presentation sharing her own experience of being unhoused here in Ojai years ago and sleeping in the gazebo in Libbey Park. There is work happening on this both by the city and an outside group and we have been told that details will be made public soon.

• The request submitted by Ray Powers who is liaison to the International Cities of Peace to raise the Peace Flag at city hall on September 24th and fly it for 30 days was granted. Discussion ensued about flying the peace flag year-round.

• The tiny house pilot program was declared a success, with some easing of some restrictions offered and a vote to continue the program.

The Mayor suggested applying rent stabilization to the tiny homes, “Clearly we need more housing for very low, extremely low, acutely low income households. So is that a possibility? I know you can’t do it currently with ADUs (accessory dwelling units), but could we make this different so that we create more homes for people who really need homes here?”

No, the city attorney informed her.

Tiny homes qualify as ADUs and are not eligible to be held to rent stabilization.

What in the ever-loving fuck, City of Ojai?! Ventura County?! California?! USA?! (I need to look into where this law sits).

The Mayor and Attorney Summers went back and forth a bit on how to potentially push the boundary of this law. The conversation also happened implying that if tiny houses were held to rent stabilization no homeowner would want to put one on their property. The Mayor disagreed citing she felt there were more altruistic people here who would be open to doing this.

• Ojai will be banning single-use plastics from mylar and helium balloons to utensils to water bottles, etc. Councilmember Lang has toured our landfill. We’ve got another 15 years and it’ll be full.

During the discussion about recycling it came out that Ojai is doing worse than many of the other towns in Ventura County.

And finally

Drumroll, please

• Elephants

Again

Four in favor of an ordinance giving elephants in Ojai personhood rights

To be clear, there are currently no elephants in Ojai.

Councilmember Rule initiated this agenda item for the purpose of trying to influence/support a case in front of the CA State Supreme Court brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project regarding the Fresno Zoo and their treatment of elephants. The Nonhuman Rights Project wants to grant the elephants habeas corpus.

Let’s apply the conspiracy theory formula to her: Councilmember Rule is a puppet for the Nonhuman Rights Project - To be clear, I do not at all believe this to be true. I am just demonstrating how simple it is to tie things/groups/people together and create something nefarious when there truly is nothing nefarious about it. She just happens to agree with the work they are doing.

Ojai has passed measures before that do not directly affect the citizens and beings living in Ojai at the moment they were passed (ie: the passing of Medicare for All). These ordinances put in place measures or protections “in the event of”.

Ojai has a ban on chain stores/restaurants/businesses. Ojai has a ban on big box stores. Many decades ago, there was a freeway planned that would have cut through Ojai and run all the way to Interstate 5. This would have destroyed our small-town life and made Ojai just one more bedroom community of Los Angeles. The community rallied and stopped it from happening. Ojai and its citizens have a long history of being out in front of issues that would have had negative consequences for the people, the environment, and all beings living here had they not been stopped.

So, in the spirit of forward-thinking, I am good with the elephants. However, the meeting ran five hours long, and there are so many pressing things needing the council’s attention that some in the community are frustrated by this use of their time. I see their point as well.

“Hey, Nora! What’s the whole deal with the Brown Act violations you referenced in your title?”

Well, that is going to have to go into my next piece or another one down the road. This piece is now running as long as the meeting ran the other night.

For now, I bid you adieu.

*Note and Link: Full administrative report on valet parking by Mark Scott, Interim City Manager and Matthew T. Summers, City Attorney; dated August 21, 2023; prepared for meeting dated September 12, 2023 https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/ojaivalleynews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/2a/22a80e1a-4915-11ee-9aa5-87c4ff9ba1b4/64f262c36cb97.pdf.pdf

Final Author’s Note: I did my best to report the facts as accurately as I could with the information I had access to and what I have observed in meetings, online, on social media, and in conversations with members of the community. I was not present at the meeting in the summer of 2021 or at the meeting where the new hotel and its valet parking were discussed. This piece took a lot of my time and energy. If you are enjoying my writing and getting something out of it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. My thanks to those of you who are reading, sharing, and already supporting my work.

Read Part VIII Here