Diversifying Our Economy

• Launched a three-year Economic Development Action Plan (2026) focused on diversification. About a quarter of our city revenue comes from tourism through the transient occupancy tax, and an economy that depends on one industry is one bad season away from crisis.

• Built economic diversification into the General Plan update, with a data-driven review of opportunities beyond tourism and hospitality aimed at broader employment options for residents and making sure the community gets its fair share relative to tourism's impacts.

• Put residents at the center of the process: a community-wide feedback survey, open houses, and pop-up events replaced the old model of small focus groups. The economic future of Ojai is being designed by Ojai residents.

• Made the arts part of our economic strategy. The Arts Commission's five-year strategic plan positions Ojai's creative life as economic development, including work toward a city-sponsored art center with studios, galleries, and performance space.

Managing Tourism So It Serves Us

• Budgeted tourism revenue conservatively, planning on cautious projections rather than hopeful ones, so a slow season never becomes a budget crisis.

• Kept our short-term rental policy strong, protecting neighborhoods and housing stock from being converted into de facto hotels.

• Procured an EV trolley — moving visitors through town cleanly, without adding car trips to our streets and parking to our neighborhoods.

• Set the standard in the General Plan: tourism should pay its fair share relative to its impacts. Visitors are welcome in Ojai, but community comes first.

Supporting Small Businesses

• Secured a contract with the Ojai Chamber of Commerce to support local businesses with a focus on long-term businesses and Ojai-based entrepreneurs. I've worked personally with the Chamber's Executive Director on these efforts, because watching local businesses get priced out demanded action.

• Protected Ojai's independent business character, upholding the Formula Business Ordinance that has kept our downtown free from big chain stores.

• Restored the downtown that small businesses depend on: resurfaced parking lots, repaired sidewalks, and brought back the Arcade's signature red tiles — because foot traffic is the lifeblood of every shop on the street.

Building Vital Infrastructure

• Repaved 22 streets totaling 18 lane miles under an aggressive plan to have every street in Ojai paved by 2029, after years of deferred maintenance.

• Began modernizing our storm drainage system and launched curb and gutter repairs — the unglamorous work that keeps streets usable and homes dry.

• Opened the first 1.5 miles of a shared bike and pedestrian path along Highway 33, the start of a network connecting our valley for people.

• Broke the logjam on lighted crosswalks across Ojai Avenue, connecting Caltrans directly with city staff to move stalled safety projects toward construction.

• Invested in the places where community happens: community swim at the new aquatic center through our pilot with OUSD, the Pickleball Paradise at Soule Park, and hundreds of new native trees keeping our streets shaded and our 95% healthy canopy intact.

What's Next

• Turn the diversification plan into action. The next term is implementation: identifying the industries that fit Ojai's scale and character and removing the obstacles that keep them from growing here. Success looks like the share of Ojai households who can earn their living without leaving the valley.

• A balanced tourism framework. Tourism will always be part of Ojai's economy. The goal is to manage tourism. I'll work to formalize what our General Plan promises, including managing visitor volume around peak weekends, directing tourism revenue visibly into the neighborhoods that absorb tourism's impacts, and continuing to hold the short-term rental line.

• Keep local business local. I'll push to deepen the Chamber partnership into concrete tools, helping new entrepreneurs navigate permitting, connecting small businesses with county and state programs they're currently leaving on the table, following through with access to Broadband, and exploring a legacy business program that recognizes and supports the long-standing establishments that define Ojai's character.

• Finish what we started, on schedule. Every street paved by 2029! Alongside it: complete the storm drainage modernization, get the lighted crosswalks built, and extend the bike and pedestrian paths.