“In the last six months
we’ve had very little gang activity,” said Norris. “Early
in 2006 we had a rash of gang activity, we arrested some associates
and since then it has been very slow. But we are hoping this is an
isolated incident.” Several residents agreed.
“I do think this is
an isolated incident and I do feel safe where I live,” said
Fulton Street resident Linda Harmon. “I think there is a very
confusing image being put out about our neighborhood.” Others
were still unsettled.
“There has been an
alleged rape, two gunshots and a shooting six months ago on our block.
I don’t think this is a string of events that can be dismissed,”
said Drown Street resident Jammie McCourney. “Just hearing those
gunshots while I’m holding my baby ... this is not the Ojai
I grew up in.”
Residents and council members agreed that the Police Department had
been quick to respond. Five major crime investigators were immediately
called to the scene and a suspect was identified within three hours.
But the consensus was that in order to tackle violent crime, the community
needed to do more than just rely on enforcement.
Several residents felt it was important to investigate local violence
at its roots.
“The emphasis should
be put on the causes rather than the cure,” said Ojai resident
Joseph Gilbert. “Putting a lid on something that is festering
isn’t going to help. We need to look at what leads up to the
incident.”
With a 24-year-old suspect, residents considered the influences of
education, and upbringing, and societal issues on the perpetrators
of violent crime. Ojai resident Dennis Leary said that violence occurred
because of the anger generated by economic and class divisions in
society. Others felt that violence often begins with abuse at home,
and should be addressed in schools. Some considered the influence
of drugs and alcohol.
Norris said he did not know whether the suspect was under the influence
of drugs when he allegedly fired the gunshot Council members expressed
interest in Norris’s suggestion to coordinate a Neighborhood
Watch program. The program, an organized cooperation of local law
enforcement, and citizens to reduce residential crime was created
by the National Sheriff’s association in 1972. Neighborhood
Watch involves everything from educating residents on crime prevention
and reporting suspicious activity, to creating a system of community
patrol and increasing communication and cooperation among neighbors.
Dramatic decreases in burglary and related offenses are reported by
law enforcement professionals in communities with active Neighborhood
Watch programs, according to the National Sheriff’s Association’s
Neighborhood Watch manual. Though it does not address violent crime
specifically, council members agreed that implementing a system where
neighbor’s are looking out for each other might be helpful.
Councilwoman Rae Hanstad said that she had started a Neighborhood
Watch program about 10 years ago when she lived on Golden West Avenue,
and her neighborhood had been hit with a series of petty crimes. She
organized a meeting with all the neighbors and they put up signs on
the street indicating that they had a Neighborhood Watch program and
the community was on the look out. “It was very effective and
decreased the petty crime immediately,” she said.
The involvement of a neighborhood watch group can be as simple as
a having community members on the look out or can even involve volunteer
members alternately patrolling certain areas. The level of involvement
is up to the community.
With recent budget cuts,
the police department would not be able to offer as much assistance
as they would like, but could certainly help a community get started
with a program said Norris. “Unfortunately we don’t have
the personnel to get involved long term but we will act as advisors
as often as possible,” he said.
Drown Street resident Eric Scott said he would feel safer on his street
with a program like Neighborhood Watch. “In addition to the
recent crime, we’ve had some cars broken into, “ he said.
“I think it would be a good thing and I’d support it.”
Councilman Steve Olsen suggested that the recent crime should also
be discussed in schools. “It’s something that I dealt
with a lot teaching at Chaparral,” he said.
As with crime, no news is also good news when discussing Ojai’s
finances. Fortunately there was not much to report from the city’s
first quarter fiscal review, said city manager Jere Kersnar. The city
is financially on track to gradually restoring reserves despite the
closing of the Ojai Ford dealership, the Day Fire in September, and
the recent wind in December.
Sales tax revenues were
only off the predicted sum by 1.1%, a surprisingly small portion considering
the closing of the Ford dealership.
Property tax revenues came in 3.2 % short for un
known reasons. Since assessments
have gone up the collections might be off, said Kersnar. “Sometimes
when the assessments go up people are less likely to pay them, he
explained. Fortunately transient occupancy tax revenues, a large portion
of the cities income had come in 2% more than expected despite the
fires in September. Other miscellaneous revenues had increased by
18%.
The only change to the current budget was a $22,178 increase in expenses
due to tree-cutter and clean-up fees from the recent wind storm. Kersnar
recommended putting $618,000 towards reserves, $14,000 more than the
first fiscal quarter’s contribution of $604,000. He also reported
that an analysis of the amount of city funds that would be required
in a worst-case-scenario from a fiscal perspective, found that the
city would need 3.6 million. Fortunately it was close to the city’s
current reserve goal of 3.55 million.
With $790,000 in reserves at the end of the 2005-2006 fiscal year,
we will increase the total to 1.4 million by the end of this year,
said Kersnar. “We are right on track but it’s a multi-year
effort and it will take a while before we have our reserves back entirely
so we will have to continue to watch everything closely,” he
said.
Toward the end of the meeting council members voted three to two to
create a housing element task force comprised of decision makers and
local residents to discuss the housing element. “We have such
talented people here that are dedicated to the town, why don’t
we involved them in the process,” said Ojai Mayor Carol Smith.
Hanstad and Olsen agreed. Council members Joe DeVito and Sue Horgan
voted against it because they felt that it would just create another
layer of government and slow down the process.
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