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Articles by Jon Drucker
OPINION | Ojai should wait before approving a $500,000 Settlement
Photo provided Jon Drucker The Ojai City Council should delay approval of its settlement with Councilmember Leslie Rule until after the court hears my summary-judgment motion on Oct. 12. That hearing comes less than a week after the Council’s next meeting. If the court grants my motion, Rule could join it and seek dismissal from the Byrne lawsuit too. The Council should wait to see whether the case — and the proposed $380,000 payment tied to it — still makes sense.
Your letters — July 3, 2026
By Jordan Garst, Jon Drucker, Joel Fox, Richard Handley, Nancy Mauthe and Jodine Hammerand Five days after the Ventura County Civil Grand Jury issued a damning report on Ojai’s Cabin Village project, the City plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony.It should be canceled. The Grand Jury found that Ojai awarded DignityMoves a $9.5 million contract without the legally required fair and competitive qualifications-based process.
OPINION | Rancor and vindictiveness regarding Mayor Pro Tem
Photo provided Jon Drucker The OVN report, “Disagreement over mayor pro tem appointment turns rancorous,” from Jan 29, 2026, tells a sad tale that needs more background. Having served as one of Councilmember Leslie Rule’s attorneys from 2023 through 2025, I am in a unique position to provide that background.
Letters - Nov. 14, 2025
By Robin Streichler, Jim Bailey, Raymond Smith, Jon Drucker and Ginny Rockefeller On Oct. 31, at approximately 1:55 p.m., there was a sonic boom so loud that it not only shook my downtown Ojai apartment, but my ears are still ringing. How are these sonic booms affecting other residents, infants’ and children’s developing auditory and nervous systems, pets and wildlife? How are veterans with certain forms of PTSD reacting to something that sounds like large explosion? These are not a new concerns.
Letters - Aug. 15, 2025
By Starchild Weivoda, Lori Siegmund, Larry Steingold and Jon Drucker There is a housing shortage in Ojai which forces working families to stay in smaller homes, even as their families grow. Those fortunate enough to own homes still face hard choices: cramped quarters; buying a larger house at an inflated price, at a higher interest rate; moving out of town; or expanding their house to accommodate their family.
OPINION | Ojai City Council and staff love secrecy
Re: your Oct. 11 article on the Ojai Valley News website, “Secret city memo outlines ‘phase-out’ of city ‘subsidization’ of gymnastics program”: The Brown Act, also known as the “Sunshine Law,” mandates the basic rule that government must conduct the public’s business in the open. “Closed sessions” are exceptions, rarely justified on narrow grounds.
Letters - June 7, 2024
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Letter to the Editor - March 15, 2024
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OPINION | Council meeting disruptions could have been avoided
Reg: your Dec. 23 article, “Pandemonium at City Council,” and Jan. 11 article, “Ceasefire protest disrupts special council meeting”: It could all have been avoided had our mayor displayed any common sense, decency or commitment to the “decorum” she often pays lip service to. On Nov. 28, the council entertained a Gaza resolution that Councilmember Rachel Lang proposed and hoped everyone in our “City of Peace” could support. But it triggered vehement opposition — from both sides.
OPINION | Decry the loss of all life
Unbeknownst to the casual observer, the resolution uses suspect numbers from terrorist organization Hamas; it treats Israeli collateral casualties as morally equivalent to Hamas's targeted intentional rape, torture, kidnapping and murder of civilians; it implies that Israel is responsible for providing utilities (and “shutting off” utilities) to Gaza; and after Hamas announces that it will repeat such an attack again and again and hides behind Palestinian civilians, the proposed resolution...
Letter to the Editor | Aug. 3, 2023
By Jon Drucker Ojai Mayor Betsy Stix apologizes Re: your July 28 article, “Ojai Mayor Stix apologizes for forwarding privileged emails”: Mayor Stix so mischaracterizes her breach of fiduciary duty to the people of Ojai as to render her so-called “apology” meaningless. Last year, she shared two attorney-client privileged emails with three of her friends at Simply Ojai, who are mounting a referendum and a lawsuit against the city.
Letters - May 26, 2023
By Jon Drucker, Candace Hull, Darris Lange, Chris King and Carl F. Enson Legal charade The Ventura County District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit has asserted that the Ojai City Council violated the Brown (“Sunshine”) Act in all three closed sessions held in December and January and to “cease and desist” from committing such violations in the future.
WeHo cannabis store sued for not paying back $1 million loan
Aeon Botanika Los Angeles LLC and Golden Phoenix Holdings LLC — the organizations behind cannabis business Aeon Botanika, which was approved to open in West Hollywood but never did — are being sued over nonpayment of a $1 million loan by Cutter Miller LLC. Cutter Miller made the loan in March 2021 and gave the borrowers 48 months to repay. At the end of the year, an extension was granted, and the borrowers were lent an additional $305,000.
68th Street Surprise
Early on the morning of my father’s funeral, I was standing at the corner of 68th Street and Second Avenue thinking about how much he loved the many surprises and small pleasures that New York City has to offer. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the man standing next to me was carrying a satchel that was wide open — an invitation to a skilled pickpocket. Without looking directly at the man, I told him his bag was wide open.
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