Save Libbey Bowl from the City Council
How to Demolish a City and Not a Bowl
After being given a gift of 2.8 m dollars from the people of Ojai, the city council last night voted 2 to 2 to delay for at least another week the decision to move forward with construction of the new bowl. This delay has put the entire project in jeopardy. The two council members, who abstained from support of the motion made by Councilwoman Carol Smith to move ahead with the project, gave “insufficient information” as the reason for the additional delay. In fact, adequate information has been provided for several weeks to both City Council and City staff.
The core problem is this: 2.8 million dollars have been raised, 1.8 of that is in the form of pledges which will come in over the next 1-4 years. The two abstaining Council members felt it would be “imprudent to move ahead” because they did not trust that their constituents would honor their pledges.
This decision to delay again puts the entire project at risk and shows a profound failure of vision, leadership, and confidence from the city council. The meeting held on Tuesday evening had been postponed twice due to the schedule needs of the council and requests for further analysis from staff. In just the past three weeks alone, over 60 hours have been spent by the Save the Bowl leadership to provide analysis and answer questions to City staff, with no further questions posed from City staff.
The actual situation is straightforward: The cost of the project is $2.65. $1 million is available now in cash and $1.8 million is pledged to be paid over the next 1-4 years. History proves that pledges are honored; in addition, a contingency fund has been established in case there are uncollected pledges.
In fact, the greatest risk is not to move forward and leave the heart of our community deteriorating behind a chain link fence. Revenues generated by a new Libbey Bowl will provide needed City services for the community for years to come.
We respect the City Council’s responsibility to make prudent financial decisions; however, over 700 households in the Ojai Community who have the same responsibilities to their families, have made the investment in Libbey Bowl in recognition of the fact that the Bowl is the single most effective economic driver the City owns.
A Last Gasp celebration party to say goodbye to the old Bowl and celebrate raising the money for the new Bowl is scheduled for this Saturday, June 19th at 4:30pm. It will most certainly be a party to say goodbye to the Bowl one way or the other. The Bowl, our Bowl, this beautiful open forum for our school’s performances, our children’s events, our music, our plays, our City celebrations and our City sorrows, the heart of our Hamlet, cannot denied.
This is the last gasp to save Libbey Bowl. If you care about the heart and soul of Ojai, be there with us to rally the City Council to action.
