Backers Defend Ojai Mayor, Ask Council to Get Along

Hoping to head off the removal of Mayor Suza Francina after just five months in office, scores of supporters packed the City Council meeting Tuesday night asking the panel to work harder to get along.

“How do you resolve a conflict? By choosing a scapegoat?” resident Clive Leeman asked. “Children do that. Primitive people do that. Let’s accept some responsibility.”

After listening to more than two hours of speakers defending the 50-year-old mayor, Councilman Steve Olsen suggested a vote to have Mayor Pro Tem David Bury replace Francina.

Olsen’s motion died for lack of a second, which prompted the council to postpone any reorganization plans and unanimously agree to further discuss their differences at a later public session.

“I feel so loved and supported,” Francina, a yoga instructor and mother of two, said after the voting. “The people of Ojai are wonderful.”

Francina’s troubles began last month when she attempted to change her vote in favor of cutting down three dying oak trees at Libbey Park. Although the city removed two of the trees, several public protests persuaded the council to spare the third oak and attempt to return it to health.

During a subsequent meeting, Councilwoman Sue Horgan attacked Francina, saying Francina’s quest to rescind her vote showed that she did not understand council proceedings and did not have the skills needed to lead the panel.

More than 70 people packed the tiny council chambers Tuesday to protest what they feared would be an attempt to oust Francina from the position to which her colleagues appointed her in November.

Resident Neva Williams told council members that they should each consider attending a June conference on conflict resolution sponsored by the California League of Cities: “I would urge all of you to attend as a group and get to know each other.”

The council voted 5 to 0 to attend that conference in Bass Lake, which runs June 7-9.

Tensions among council members have been brewing for months, according to Councilman Joe DeVito.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, he said there have been several times in the past few years when Francina came to meetings ill-prepared and sometimes asked to change her vote.

Four weeks ago, Olsen asked his colleagues to discuss their working relationship after the public protests about the oak decision.

When asked about his motion receiving no support Tuesday, he said, “I thought it was best for the working relationship of the council, and the council thought that wasn’t necessary.”

Francina said before the meeting that she was being singled out because she does not hold the same views as the majority on the panel.

“Because I express myself differently is no cause for removal,” she said.

Francina’s supporters said removing her from the mostly ceremonial post would only exacerbate tensions on the council and in the community.

“This seems like a very bad time to do this disruptive thing. We’re still all healing form the whole oak tree thing,” said John Christianson, who protested the council’s original oak tree decision by tying himself with rope to one of the trees.

Francina, author of the book “New Yoga for People Over 50,” joined the council in November 1996, running on an environmental platform.

Francina, who gets around town on an electric bicycle, has promoted alternative forms of transportation and more bicycle paths in Ojai.