Ojai Brainstorm, June 24, 2023

– Summary of Meeting Activities and Results –

At this Kent Hall workshop and potluck dinner, we enjoyed a fun and engaging evening of creative imagination and food while we focused on ideas to create a thriving, resilient, and regenerative …

Ojai Valley

In a World Cafe format, small groups of five to six participants sat together at each of three tables, and they rotated among the tables over the course of the meeting. Participants were able to write, doodle and/or draw as much as they wished on large sheets of paper on the tables. 

The first question was: What do we appreciate about our community? to which participants wrote the following notes on the paper at the tables:

        • Manageable scale – not too big, not too small
        • Small town vibe
        • Meeting friends everywhere
        • Quiet
        • Vegetation – chaparral, oaks, coastal influence
        • Nature – creeks, rivers, mountains, hills, trees
        • Agriculture – farms and orchards
        • Arts and music
        • The people
        • Locally owned stores (like Barts Books) and restaurants
        • “I appreciate Ojai cuz it’s surrounded by beautiful mountains; it’s not too big; there are lots of artists; two farmers markets; and a bike path”

Participants then rotated among tables and continued their discussion in response to the following question: How can we strengthen the health of our community? … with the word ‘health’ as being understood to be within the realms of social, ecological, environmental, economic, and spiritual … and ‘health’ as being associated with resilience and thriving.

After some time, participants offered their summary, highlights, and main points of their responses within their group, and these were captured as a list of suggested ways to strengthen the health of our community. These were posted on the wall, for participants to use up to five of their sticky dots as votes to identify which strategies were most important to them. 

The list below organizes the answers loosely by category and shows the number of votes each answer received; the highest vote getters are bolded and italicized.

Government

  • Re-establish City Council trust (6 votes)
  • Have ordinances that expire after X years (2 votes)
  • Eliminate City Council districts (1)
  • Simplify City processes (3)

Communication

  • The newspaper needs to be more balanced (0 votes)
  • Create a neutral “issue” website to educate and communicate (2)

Traffic

  • Establish traffic speed of 25 miles/hour throughout town (8 votes)
  • Make town more walkable and bikeable (2)
  • Reduce cars from out of town (trolley, shuttle etc.) (2)

Food

  • Re-open the Little House Kitchen as a community kitchen (3)
  • Provide meal support and education (1)
  • Do food and agriculture potlucks with recipes/homegrown food (1)
  • Raise food at the Demonstration Garden (1)

Housing

  • Create affordable housing with infill densification (5 votes)
  • Have a year round homeless shelter (5)
  • Rethink housing sizes/styles/incentives (5)
  • Create small house “model” homes (2)
  • Address homelessness (2)
  • Address senior affordability (1)

Other

  • Electrification – go solar and local (6 votes)
  • Create an Ojai Volunteer Day (6)
  • Lessen waste by exchanging and sharing resources (5)
  • Have a Visitor Center/Hub with good signage and education (0)
  • Create a Community Event Hub website (2)
  • Do block parties and “adopt a neighbor” program (0)
  • Tax second homes substantially (1)
  • Decide best pickleball location (3)

Next Steps:

  1. Please let us know if you believe that anything is missing or stated incorrectly so that we can assure the accuracy of these notes.

  1. Let’s figure out what already exists to address any of these suggestions. Tell us about partner organizations, groups, individuals, and other resources that are pertinent to any of the proposed remedies. Strengthening the health of our community is a communal, multi-dimensional process, and we need to work together!

  1. Tell us if you are already involved in addressing any of these ideas or if you would like to be involved. Also let us know if you would like to be part of a shared email group list.

  1. After reflecting on the ideas that emerged during the meeting, the Ojai Valley Green Coalition is interested in taking on the suggestion to “Lessen waste by exchanging and sharing resources”. It occurs to us that this idea can include a wide range of activities associated with strengthening community cohesion and care. Let us know if you would like to work on this topic with us, and stay tuned for more information!