Ojai City Council directs staff to contact OUSD about potential public uses for property

At a special meeting March 10, the Ojai City Council reported that it instructed the city attorney and city manager to contact OUSD to explore options for potential public uses of a property discussed in closed session.

"In closed session, the city council provided direction to the city attorney and city manager to reach out to OUSD to discuss options for potential public uses of the property that was the subject of the closed session, subject to an open public discussion," said Miss Burgess, reporting out after council returned to open session.

Mayor Gilman called the meeting to order and asked Miss Mara to take roll. Miss Mara recorded that Mayor Gilman, Mayor Pro Tem Ming, Council member Ruhl and Council member Lang were present; Council member Whitman was listed as absent but "on his way." The council approved the meeting's single agenda item by unanimous consent after a motion and a second; no roll-call vote was recorded.

Council members asked for public comments online; none were recorded. The meeting then adjourned into closed session to consider the single agenda item; the council returned and Miss Burgess delivered the report out, saying only that staff were to contact OUSD and that any resulting options would be discussed publicly at a later time. The transcript does not identify the property discussed or provide further details about the potential uses.

The council did not take a public vote on the substance of the closed-session discussion; Miss Burgess's report indicates the council gave staff direction rather than adopting a formal public action. The city did not specify a timeline or next meeting for those public discussions.