OJAI : Panel Considers Ban on Alcohol in Parks

Police and other supporters of a proposed ban on alcohol in Ojai parks squared off with angry softball players at an emotional public hearing this week.

After a two-hour debate Thursday, the Ojai Parks and Recreation Commission voted 4 to 3 in support of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s position that the city needs to control drinking in the parks.

However, the commission postponed making a recommendation on an all-out ban on alcohol until its next meeting April 4.

During the testimony, Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Weimer accused the softball players of lying and misrepresenting facts about incidents in the parks.

Bob Colker, president of the 600-member Ojai Valley Men’s Softball Assn., wants alcohol allowed in the parks. “If there’s a problem, prove it to me. I haven’t seen it with my own eyes,” said the four-year league president.

Weimer documented about six alcohol-related problems at Sarzotti Park in 1990, but said the number is probably higher, since some incidents didn’t include arrests.

Both sides agree that the Sheriff’s Department proposed the ban after an incident last July.

Weimer said a crowd of 50 people at a softball game cursed and threatened a deputy attempting to arrest a shoplifting suspect fleeing from a local market.

Colker said the police disrupted the game by walking out on the field and leading a police dog around the dugouts and bleachers in a search for a second suspect.