An Open Letter

To the Voters of the City of Ojai and the people of the Ojai Valley:

I will be a again be a candidate in the November 2nd election to fill one of threeupcoming vacancies on the Ojai City Council.

I moved to Ojai some seventeen years ago; I had come up to explore Rose Valley Falls at the suggestion of a friend. I immediately fell in love with Ojai, came back the following weekend looking for a place to live, and moved here shortly thereafter.

The protection of our physical beauty and our open spaces, the fostering of the arts, and support for our locally owned businesses, have always been important to me as a resident of this City.

The first time I spoke at a Council meeting was in opposition to the efforts of the Krishnamurti Foundation to subdivide and build a number of residences on a portion of their Besant Meadow property. Since then I have appeared before the Council and/or the Planning Commission on countless occasions in support of efforts to preserve our beauty and open spaces, and our small town charm.

In addition, I have spoken in other venues in support of our Valley. When Nextel attempted to put up a series of sixty foot towers in the Valley, then Mayor Nina Shelley invited me to be part of a contingent she put together, representing a variety of Ojai interests, to address the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in a successful attempt to have the County reject the application.

More recently my wife, Linda Harmon, and I drove to Santa Maria for a Santa Barbara County Planning Commission hearing, where I spoke in opposition to a Cuyama Valley gravel mine’s attempt to get a permit allowing their trucks to travel through Ojai.

With respect to the arts, I have been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ojai Art Center for nearly the entire time I have been in Ojai, serving as Board President for five years. During my tenure as President, we worked with the City and other organizations to build the footbridge linking Libbey Park with the Art Center and Montgomery Street, a project that has been part of the Art Center’s plans since its birth in 1937. I am also a long time member and/or supporter of the Ojai Film Society and Theater 150, among other arts organizations.

One of the aspects of Ojai that attracted me was that we are the home of unique, independent businesses, not chain stores. When Rite Aid attempted to move into the old bowling alley, I formed “Citizens for a Chain Free Ojai.” This was an organization in name only, but gave my singular voice added weight. With the support of a couple of local business owners I flew to Boston to attend a “big box store” conference sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I shop Ojai as much as possible. Over the years, I have volunteered my time in support of downtown events coordinated by Dale Hanson, Jody James, and Haile Katz, including Ojai Day. I strongly believe that our merchants are an integral part of the community and support City involvement in Chamber and/or merchants associations efforts to bring in tourist dollars and keep local dollars in our community.

Last November, I attended the Art Center’s 70th birthday party. The next morning the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, was sponsoring a clean-up of the creek running through Libbey Park, as part of their creek restoration project. These two events got me thinking about all the amazing organizations we already have to further the arts, protect the environment, and strengthen our community. I cannot begin to estimate the number of volunteer-hours people in the Valley pour into these organizations, or the amount of money that is donated to keep them all going strong.

Behind each of these organizations are, of course, people. We have incredibly interesting, smart, caring people in our Valley, and the City needs to better harness this most valuable resource.

I believe that I can make a valuable contribution as a member of the City Council. I am familiar with the issues as I regularly attend Council meetings, and have done so since I moved here. As an attorney I have the skills to read and understand relevant documents in a relatively short period of time to quickly get up to speed. I have no problem asking questions to fill in the gap when I am missing information. As an attorney, and as President of the Art Center Board, I have demonstrated the ability to work with a variety of people, some of whom agree with me, some of whom disagree. I will always strive to reach a positive solution that will work for all.

I welcome any questions that any of you might have concerning my position on the issues, my background, and my ability to serve effectively as a member of the Council.

I thank you for your courtesies and consideration.

Very truly yours,


LEONARD J. KLAIF

 

MY POSITIONS ( in a nut shell)

SKATE PARK

I am a long-time supporter of Skate Ojai and its efforts to build a permanent skate park. Over the years, I have always responded to requests by Skate Ojai for me to speak at City Council meetings, and have assisted in answering any legal or quasi-legal questions that have come up.

I applaud the recent progress in building the Skate Park, but find it an embarrassment that for so many years the City did nothing to move the project along.

In my mind, the main reason that the skate park project is still alive and finally moving forward is the people who comprise Skate Ojai refused to give up and refused to go away. This is a sad comment on the relationship between Ojai citizens and their City government.

OPEN SPACES

Ojai’s great physical beauty is one of the many factors that make our city so special. Our open spaces are an integral part of that beauty and should be protected.

The first time I chose to speak at a City Council meeting was to oppose the efforts of the Krishnamurti Foundation to subdivide and build homes on a portion of their property that lies at the entrance to our City, land on which Krishnamurti himself spoke many times. Years later, I also spoke against the efforts to develop what is now the Ojai Meadow Preserve.

I also opposed Nextel’s efforts to build 60 foot towers along our view-shed and at the invitation of then Mayor Nina Shelley; I was part of the delegation that addressed the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. Thanks to the efforts of Nina Shelley and others Nextel towers were not built. In my mind, protecting Ojai’s beauty takes vigilance and a pro-active City Council.

My Response to questions posed by Ventura Star ( May 21 )

I will be 62 on June 16th; I was born in New York City (Queens); moved to Buffalo to go to school (SUNY at Buffalo, B.A. Econ, 1969); went to law school in Iowa City, Iowa, (J.D. University of Iowa, College of Law, 1972); I returned to Buffalo where I practiced law from 1973 through 1982. I moved to Los Angeles in 1983 and to Ojai in 1991.

Criminal defense work has always been my primary focus, trial work in Buffalo, mainly appeals with some trials since passing the California bar in 1987.
Between 1983 and 1987, I took a sabbatical from law and worked in a B. Dalton Bookstore and studied massage.

My wife, Linda Harmon, is an Ojai artist and free lance writer. Between us we have five children and two grandchildren.

My website is klaif4ojai.com

There are many issues/challenges facing Ojai and which I think is the biggest, the most important changes from day to day. In part that is because so much of life in Ojai is interconnected.

Today, in considering this question, I would say that the biggest challenge facing Ojai is how do we change, for change is inevitable, and keep our uniqueness, our village atmosphere.

As a member of the council, I would carefully consider whether any particular project was consistent with our General Plan, requiring that each project be respectful of our small town village atmosphere. I would work with groups such as the Ojai Land Conservancy and the Ojai Green Coalition to preserve our open spaces, find ways to make transportation alternatives safer, more convenient, and accessible, and groups like Stop The (Gravel) Trucks to keep out of town developers and big business interests from destroying what we hold so special.

I am frequently reminded how many interested, caring, and knowledgeable people we have in our Valley, people who are more than willing to contribute their expertise for the greater good. It is important that the City Council welcome the input of these folks.

Other issues of importance obviously include
1) budgetary woes, which are tied to the economy in general and the budgetary ineptness in Sacramento;
2) the need to update the housing element in a way that does not lead to massive development, and recognizes the need for affordable housing;
3) the need to figure out how much water we have in the Valley and the related questions of how to deal with Golden State Water, their poor quality, and their ever increasing prices.

If elected I will bring to the City Council proven leadership skills, a demonstrated commitment, and a passion for Ojai. An important part of leadership is being able to work well with many others. I served five years as President of the seventeen member Board of Trustees at the Ojai Art Center. During my tenure, we came together and completed the first renovations to the Art Center in decades. In addition, we built the footbridge linking Libbey Park to the Art Center and Montgomery Street, a footbridge that was part of the original 1937 Art Center design. This was accomplished in a cooperative effort between the Art Center, the City of Ojai, the Civic Association, and dedicated residents of the Valley such as Joan Kemper.

My love of Ojai has taken me to Boston, Massachusetts, to attend a conference on keeping chain stores out of small towns, and to Santa Maria to speak at the Santa Barbara Planning Commission hearing on the gravel trucks. I was part of a delegation put together by then Mayor Nina Shelley, addressing the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in a successful effort to keep Nextel from placing 80 foot towers along our view shed. Over the past fifteen years, I have attended more City Council meetings than any "civilian" and have not missed a meeting since announcing my candidacy (although I may miss the next Council meeting due to my Dad's illness).

With the vast and quickly changing technology predicting ten years into the future, let alone 25 years, is a tricky business. However, I would like to see a community that values its children and its seniors, its educators and its artists. I would love to see a community that is powered by the greenest technologies available, that has clean air and clean water, and where people care about each other.

The best thing about Ojai is all the people who care about Ojai...the number of organizations from Skate Ojai to the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, from the Libbey Bowl Restoration Committee to the Rotary Clubs, from the Art Center and Theater 150 to Help of Ojai, ad infinitum, is astonishing. I suppose it is our natural beauty and relative isolation that has worked both as a magnet and a filter, attracting people who care about such things and who are willing to work to preserve them.

Your Voice on the Council.

 

 

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