OJAI VALLEY : Few Attend Study Group’s 1st Meeting

Voicing fears of rampant growth without more local control, two dozen Ojai Valley residents began a study to determine if Ojai could become a valleywide city.

The study group has an open deadline to make its recommendation to the Ojai City Council and welcomes public comment, chairman Mansfield Sprague said.

“If it takes us two years, that’s what it takes,” Sprague said. “What we are discussing is important to every citizen of this valley.” He said he was dismayed that the group’s first audience at City Hall on Thursday consisted of the spouses of three members and four reporters.

With its 7,601 residents, Ojai claims only about one-fourth of the valley’s population of 33,000. Most are governed by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors because they live in rural areas such as Casitas Springs, Oak View, Mira Monte, Meiners Oaks and the upper Ojai Valley.

City Manager Andrew Belknap said county officials support Ojai’s annexation study because their policies encourage urbanizing large population areas.

Following the agenda the council set Feb. 5 when it appointed 29 of 80 applicants to the committee, panelists introduced themselves and told why they volunteered for the job.

Many said Ojai needs to blanket more of the valley with its strict slow-growth policies. Others said they are keeping an open mind until consultants help determine the economic, legal and political impacts of a larger city.

“We have our work cut out for us. I hope we can let our reason and logic control our emotions and passion,” Sprague said.

The group briefly debated language in a request for consultants’ proposals and agreed to approve the document as Belknap proposed. After receiving bids, the panel will recommend three consultants, and the council will select one.

The Ojai Valley Unified Local Government Options Study Committee also agreed to continue meeting at 5:30 p.m. and to rotate sessions around the valley, although no meeting dates were set.