Rift Widens on Ojai Skateboard Park Proposal

When Ojai Mayor Nina V. Shelley walked into City Hall for a council meeting Tuesday night, she thought she and the supporters of a proposed skateboard park could finally reach a compromise and start working together on the divisive issue.

But by the time she walked out of City Hall that night, she knew something had gone terribly wrong. Nothing had been resolved. Not only had more feelings been bruised than before, the council and skateboarders still hadn’t made it beyond the first baby step toward creating a skateboard rink: commissioning a study of Sarzotti Park to determine whether a skateboard park would fit.

Instead of funding the study--a sign of good faith that Shelley believed was so desperately needed--the council issued an ultimatum and a group of teen-age skateboarders left City Hall in disgust.

“I did my best,” a weary Shelley said later that night. “The problem is I can’t seem to get any dialogue going with the skateboard people.”

It wasn’t the cost of the $4,800 study that kept a cautious council from funding it this time--the kids had already shown they could raise the money to pay for it. It was that pesky but expensive initiative that council members can’t make go away.

The recreation initiative, which is being pushed by the skateboarders, would mandate the city spend an additional $125,000 a year on building the skateboarders’ paradise and several other capital projects and programs to keep teen-agers occupied.

And so Shelley’s peace offering was quickly ignored as council members irretrievably linked the study to the recreation initiative: The study would be funded if, and only if, the initiative were dropped.

“I absolutely won’t vote for the study so long as the initiative is on the table,” said Councilman James D. Loebl, who delivered the ultimatum. “I’d rather spend the money elsewhere.”

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The skateboarders and their adult supporters got the message, but insisted they would not budge. No way.

“It’s not even an offer,” said Craig Walker, whose group has already collected 1,000 signatures--far more than the 480 needed to bring the initiative to a vote. “A quarter of Ojai’s voters already support us and want to vote on it. It’s not appropriate to tear up an initiative just to get funding for something we’ve already raised the money for.”

As the council members inside the building switched the topic, a group of teen-agers, dressed in T-shirts and holding skateboards, gathered outside to express their frustration.

“It seems to me they tried to blackmail us in there,” said Matt Stallings. “I’m 17 and I want them to know I’ll be voting next year.”

Many of the kids were particularly upset with Councilman Joe DeVito’s admonition that the skateboarders be on their best behavior while the skateboard park issue is still in limbo. “I’m challenging you not to skate in the road and I know you can do it,” DeVito said. “Show the community you deserve a park.”

He was just so out of touch, they said.

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“The reason they have to swerve by us is because we don’t have a place to skate,” said Mike Smith, 17. “It’s like they don’t get it.”

“I don’t think they understand skateboarding is a sport and not a trend,” Matt said. “A sport needs a place to be practiced that’s safe and out of people’s way. A place where parents know where their kids are.”

Amun Levy, 14, summed up the mood of the group as they left for the night.

“We’ve had so many meetings and haven’t gotten anywhere,” he said. “It just keeps getting delayed and delayed.”

But Shelley said she wouldn’t give up.

“I still want to try and work with them and see if we can’t get some of the things they’re asking for. I’m not accustomed to doing business like this. I’m used to seeing the community work together.”