Election: 2 vie for Ojai mayor's seat share thoughts on water, housing and more

Editor's note: This story is one in a series on the Nov. 8 general election. For more coverage, visit vcstar.com/news/elections.

Two candidates are running for Ojai mayor in November.

All registered voters in the city can vote in the mayoral contest. The mayor serves a two-year term. By contrast, Ojai's four City Council seats are divided into districts, with members serving four-year terms.

Incumbent Mayor Betsy Stix, who appears on the ballot as Elizabeth E. Stix, has served in the post since 2020. She faces a challenge from director and producer Anson Williams.

The Star asked each candidate questions inspired by feedback from the public. Below are their responses in their own words, which have been edited for clarity and space. To read more of their answers, visit vcstar.com.

Betsy Stix

Age: 58

Occupation: Teacher

Education: Bachelor's degree in English, master's degree in education

What three ideas do you have to address housing affordability and homelessness? 

We must realize that the belief that nearly any new residential development is good regardless of the details is misguided. This belief often leads to support of false solutions such as high-profit speculative real estate developments that do little to serve those most in need and sometimes displace the less advantaged from their homes or workplaces that are inconveniently located in the path of the new development. 

Here are three real solutions:

• An amendment to the ordinance in Ojai that allows tiny home pads in backyards. This would limit the amount charged for rent of tiny home pads to reasonable levels.
• Homesharing: OjaiShares, a new program kicked off by a local nonprofit, assists folks seeking ways to reduce monthly living expenses by matching them with compatible roommates using a safe and confidential process, including background checks.
• The Ojai Home Preservation Trust: This trust will seek donations from community members and grant funding from foundations and state and federal agencies to purchase and protect existing multifamily buildings so that the rents will remain reasonable for those already living in the buildings or for the less advantaged needing a space. 

Ojai is lucky to have two incredible nonprofits providing services to the homeless: Help of Ojai and the Ojai Valley Family Shelter. Thank you to these outstanding groups! Ventura County’s Continuum of Care receives several million dollars a year for the homeless from both federal and state funding. Their next round of grant applications are due in October. I will do everything I can to help secure the funding needed to help our homeless community. Housing that people can afford is a right, not a privilege.

What are your plans to supply adequate water to our area? 

All of us in Ojai are concerned about our water supply future. We need to accept the reality of our acute water supply crisis and lean into the solution, which includes acting on what scientists are telling us by practicing water supply sanity.

Water supply sanity in Ojai means:

• Continuing to conserve water along with finding new ways to conserve more.
• Replenishing our aquifers and Lake Casitas with any extra water we might gain through conservation or rain, rather than committing more water to new demand (development).
• Performing scientific analysis of human-caused climate-driven aridification of the Ojai Valley and how this will impact our water supply over the long term so that we can make informed decisions about how best to secure a reliable water supply future for all who live here.

We’re presently experiencing extended drought that is worsened by human-caused climate-driven aridification. Unlike extended drought that lasts for a period of time and is followed by wetter times, aridification is the gradual change of a region from a wetter landscape to a drier one. I am not aware of any formal study to date that addresses how aridification will impact our water supplies and natural landscape here in Ojai over the long term.

Science helps us make important decisions that we will not later regret. Therefore, I support allocating sufficient city staff resources to aggressively pursue emergency state and federal funding to implement science-driven solutions to climate change and the resulting dryness that we are presently experiencing.

I am hopeful that earnest investment in practical adaptive strategies will increase our chances of enjoying a secure water supply future for our community, while also allowing adequate water to sustain the beautiful trees and shade canopy in our valley and the wildlands around us.

How are you going to combat divisiveness in politics?

Tackling the challenges facing Ojai calls for a deep understanding of the subtleties that make Ojai such a special place. Approaching every situation with kindness, compassion and mutual respect is crucial. As mayor, and as a member of this community, I bring an open mind and active listening to all that I do. If we want a more civil community, then we ourselves must model civility.

I am known for speaking the truth. Our biggest challenges are: 1) taking action on climate and our water supply problems, 2) keeping renters in our community from being gentrified out of their homes, 3) protecting the quality of life of residents while also fostering a vibrant tourism economy and 4) fully preparing our community to withstand wildfire and other natural disasters.

Addressing these issues in an open and transparent method brings us together as a community. I conduct City Council meetings in a welcoming, kind and democratic manner. My goal is for members of the public to feel appreciated and have an equal opportunity to be heard. It is my observation that when special interests in our community seek council approval for a project and are met with dissent, this dissent is erroneously labeled “division.” We live in a democracy, and citizens’ rights to disagree should not be misconstrued as “division."

Acting in the world in accordance with our values is an act of love and personal responsibility. Finger pointing, toxic communication and greed make matters worse. Kindness always makes things go better.

My campaign is 100% positive, as was my first mayoral campaign in 2020. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the need for a qualitative change in the soul. It starts with each individual. We truly are connected, and we need to treat each other with mutual respect. 

Anson Williams

Age: 72

Occupation: Director/producer

Education: Four years college

What three ideas do you have to address housing affordability and homelessness? 

• Create a public housing commission to study our community's needs and make common-sense recommendations to City Council.

• Consider possible solutions such as a public housing trust to generate government subsidies and private funding to create a more livable, sustainable Ojai.

• Identify city property that could accommodate affordable housing constructed in partnership with experienced groups such as Self-Help Housing and Habitat for Humanity.

What are your plans to supply adequate water to our area?

The city does not supply water to our area. However, with drought and climate change a constant threat, we need to work with all stakeholders to employ technologies that help us regenerate, recycle, recapture and recharge our water supply.

Recycled groundwater runoff and treated sanitation water are the future of saving and replenishing water in Southern California.

As mayor, I will strengthen the city’s partnership with the Ojai Basin Groundwater Management Agency and the Casitas Municipal Water District to promote water conservation by incentivizing drought-tolerant landscape, removing water consuming vegetation, helping the water agencies communicate facts about our water supply and supporting the water agencies’ efforts to improve our supply.

How are you going to combat divisiveness in politics?

The best way to combat divisiveness is to promote transparency in government and the effective communication of facts.

We need to put an end to backroom politics, bring our discussions to the front lawn and shine a light on solutions that the community can take part in and feel good about.