Climate Action
What's Next: Three Commitments
Finish the build-out. My first climate priority is implementation: to complete the solar and battery installations at city facilities, continue converting the fleet, and establish key city buildings as resilience hubs — places with power, cooling, and communications when fire, heat, or outages hit.
Make clean choices easy for residents, not just City Hall. The city has led by example; the next step is helping households follow affordably. That means expanding public EV charging, connecting residents with state and federal electrification rebates so Ojai families capture every available dollar, and extending our bike and pedestrian network toward Highway 150 so more daily trips can happen without a car.
Grow the canopy where it's needed most. Extreme heat is the deadliest climate impact, and shade is not distributed equally. I'll champion an urban forest strategy that plants and maintains trees block by block — prioritizing the streets, parks, and neighborhoods with the least cover — alongside water-wise landscaping standards that keep Ojai green through the dry years. A tree planted this term is shade for the next generation. That's the timescale this work deserves.
Grow the canopy where it's needed most. Extreme heat is the deadliest climate impact, and shade is not distributed equally. I'll champion an urban forest strategy that plants and maintains trees, prioritizing the streets, parks, and neighborhoods with the least cover, alongside water-wise landscaping standards that keep Ojai green through the dry years.
Support community garden initiatives. Food that travels fifty feet instead of fifteen hundred miles is climate policy, and community gardens are also food security, neighborhood connection, and education in one piece of ground. I'll support establishing and expanding community gardens on suitable city and partner land, with water-wise design and space set aside for school and senior programs. In a valley with our agricultural heritage and our Earth-friendly standards, residents should be able to grow food together on land managed without toxic chemicals. Every garden bed is a small vote for the future we want.
Develop a pesticide alert system for orchards. We know that what's sprayed in one part of Ojai doesn't stay there. Families living near orchards deserve to know before applications happen, so they can close windows, keep kids inside, and protect anyone with asthma or chemical sensitivity. State law limits what cities can regulate on agricultural land, so I'll work where the city has real leverage: partnering with the Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner and building on the state's new spray notification tools to create a local alert system that actually reaches Ojai residents. We hold city land to Earth Friendly standards; the least we can do is make sure residents know what's happening on the land next door.
CLIMATE ActioN
In Ojai, climate change is an existential threat we face every day. Fire weather, heat waves, and grid outages could mean devastating consequences for Ojai. Our response has to be just as concrete. Since 2022, we've made climate action a major priority.
Modernizing Our Energy
Adopted the Energy Modernization Program (2026)— this provides the framework for how Ojai decarbonizes its buildings and operations, backed by close to $3 million allocated over the coming years. The energy savings will pay dividends for decades.
Invested more than $800,000 in clean energy projects at city facilities, replacing gas systems with electric alternatives and installing battery backups so critical city functions stay powered when the grid doesn't.
Created the "Flexpath" energy policy for homeowners — residents doing major renovations can now meet energy performance goals through a practical menu of electrification measures, making climate-friendly choices the easy path instead of the expensive one.
Developed a plan with Climatec to install solar panels and battery storage at key city locations — energy independence for the buildings our community depends on most.
Cleaning Our Fleet and Streets
Electrified 20% of the city's vehicle fleet, with more conversions ahead as vehicles age out.
Procured an EV trolley — clean transit that also serves our tourism economy without adding car trips.
Opened the first 1.5 miles of a shared bike and pedestrian path along Highway 33 — the first phase of an active transportation network, giving residents a real alternative to driving.
Protecting the Living Valley
Adopted the Earth Friendly Management Policy — city staff and contractors must use non-toxic pest management first, eliminating toxic pesticides and rodenticides on city properties. If a pest problem is minor, the default answer is to leave it alone. Ojai manages its land the way we ask others to.
Planted hundreds of native trees and plants throughout town, maintaining Ojai's 95% healthy tree canopy and our Tree City USA distinction — shade is climate infrastructure, and we're growing it.
Passed a resolution opposing oil and gas drilling (2026), putting Ojai on record against fossil fuel extraction in our region.
Led the nation on animal welfare: Ojai became the first U.S. city to recognize an elephant's legal right to bodily liberty (2023) and the first to ban the extreme breeding of animals bred into lifelong suffering (2024). A city's environmental ethic includes the animals who share it.
Preparing for What's Coming
Invested $1 million in wildfire readiness and prevention, including fuel reduction on city properties — because climate adaptation in Ojai starts with fire.
Began updating our storm drainage system after years of deferred maintenance, preparing our streets for the intense rain events that now punctuate our droughts.
What Do you think? Please share!
The role of Ojai City Councilmember is about being your representative in our local government. I have priorities, but my main agenda is to serve YOU, the residents of Ojai. I’d love to hear your thoughts, concerns, and visions for our town.