OJAI : Council Delays Merger of Valley Communities

The Ojai City Council on Tuesday voted not to pursue plans to merge the communities of the Ojai Valley into a single city and instead will look for cheaper ways to coordinate activities in the area.

The 5-0 decision was based on an 11-month, $15,000 study of the impact of combining valley resources to increase the area’s influence on land-use and other countywide issues. The valley includes the city of Ojai and the unincorporated areas of Oak View, Casitas Springs, Meiners Oaks and Mira Monte.

Of a projected annual budget of $6.3 million, a valleywide city would have an operating surplus of only $28,000, the study found.

“The economic crunch in the state and county have made a valleywide city fiscally irresponsible right now,” said Mansfield Sprague, chairman of the 30-member Ojai Valley Local Government Committee, which reviewed the study before it went to the council. The committee includes residents from throughout the area.

The study recommends that valley residents focus on merging the communities into a single planning area, establishing an areawide planning commission to run it, and forming a valleywide parks and recreation committee.

Members of the 30-member committee and the council will now begin meeting with county officials to discuss forming a valleywide planning commission, City Manager Andrew Belknap said.