Editor's note: This story is one in a series on the Nov. 5 general election. For more coverage, visit vcstar.com/news/elections .
Ojai is a place where everyone wants housing they can afford. But few want large construction projects to build condos, homes and apartments.
No one in this city of about 7,500 people wants residents to live in tents in a parking lot. But they also don't want their backyards to border a planned compound that would provide tiny homes for the homeless.
Everyone wants to voice their most passionate opinions. Few want the division that has come with unbridled disagreement.
The community of contradictions faces a Nov. 5 mayoral election that will shuffle the leadership of an embattled City Council that has waded into controversy repeatedly. It has made headlines with the City Hall tent encampment , alleged Brown Act violations and Gaza ceasefire demonstrations that have erupted during council meetings, including an incident when a man covered in fake blood pretended to die.
Incumbent Mayor Betsy Stix is not seeking reelection. She won a highly publicized race for office two years ago, beating actor Anson Williams by 42 votes. Williams, who played Potsie in the “Happy Days” series, is also not running again.
Two candidates are vying to succeed Stix. Michelle Pineiro, a marketing consultant who also founded the nonprofit Sustainable Ventura, ran for the District 1 city council seat two years ago. She lost by 17 votes to Leslie Rule and now has her sights on the mayor’s position. She declined to be interviewed by The Star.
Her opponent in the mayoral race, longtime Ojai resident Andy Gilman, has never run for office before. He leads the nonprofit Agora Foundation that hosts great books seminars. Agora also operates an Ojai Chautauqua organization that promotes civil discourse on high-charged issues.
In a race that focuses on emergency preparedness, water and restoring decorum to City Council meetings, affordable housing may be the most prominent issue. Both candidates have complained about housing prices that are often too high for the middle class and seniors on fixed incomes.
On her campaign website, Pineiro said the city has met its state-mandated goal for affordable housing, pointing at more than 150 multi-family units approved in recent developments. She said challenges remain, including making sure pricing levels do more than just meet the definition of affordable housing but provide real options to people.
She cited the importance of rental protections for people with jobs, retirees and young people just entering the workforce.
“I think the first thing is making it a priority to protect people already in their houses,” she said in a video interview with the Ojai Valley News.
Gilman and his wife own a home in Ojai. He said they would still be renting without the help of an inheritance from his late father-in-law.
“It’s almost impossible for a middle-class person to buy here,” he said, asserting that taking no action on housing will bring its own change. “We’re going to become a retirement community of upper-class people.”
He said the city needs to pursue more public housing and also cited the possibility of forming a trust dedicated to housing assistance. He pushes too for the city to support the Ojai Unified School District in its efforts to provide housing that will allow more school employees to live in Ojai.
He said he would be happy with housing options that allow 50 more commuters to live and work in the city.
"I'm not talking thousands. I’m talking dozens," he said.
Encampment becomes issue
Homelessness is on the center of the election stage, too. In January, the city started moving about 35 homeless people who were living in the city’s community garden into a tent encampment in a City Hall parking lot.
The city won a nearly $13 million grant to build a complex of tiny homes for people living in the encampment. The City Council voted to buy property on Ojai Avenue for the project. The property owner rejected the idea when he learned of the intended use.
The current plan involves building the tiny homes project on a city-owned public works yard off Signal Street. That project is set for a public hearing in front of the planning commission in November.
Gilman said he wants to know more about Bryant Street sites that were considered by the Ojai Valley Board of Realtors but not presented to the City Council.
He said one of his first actions as mayor would be to call a town hall meeting to gather information and perspective about the tiny house complex. He said a spending cap is needed on the city’s plan.
“Nobody really wants it across the street from their house, which is understandable,” Gilman said. He asserted the complex needs to be built. “I believe it’s our obligation to respond to their situation just in the sense of human suffering."
Pineiro doesn’t address the encampment on her campaign website but makes a general reference to the “unhoused” in Ojai. She said the issue should be addressed with “proven models of success.”
Both candidates have focused on the sometimes rancorous council meetings. In her video interview, Pineiro called for designating a council member as civility champion in a position that would rotate for each meeting.
“That person’s role would be to maintain decorum through the meeting, helping keep each other be accountable,” she said.
Gilman said the polarizing division pushed him to run for mayor. He cited the national attention that came with the City Council's decision to support a ceasefire in Gaza, asserting “it tore the city apart.” He advocates change, including limiting votes at city council meetings to city government issues.
“I hope the City Council becomes so boring that no one watches them anymore,” he said with a laugh. “That’s a dream.”
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com .
SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: To see more stories like this, subscribe .
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Affordable housing, homeless encampment factor into Ojai's mayoral race
Local News
