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Rumor has it Ojai may lure governor
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AP file photo Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver are reported to have made an offer on a property in Upper Ojai listed for about $6 million.
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More from County NewsGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — the cigar-chomping, Harley-riding, Terminator-starring, ber-Republican he-man — may have found Shangri-La.
Over Memorial Day weekend, the governor, wife Maria Shriver and at least two of their four children were in Ojai — and they weren't just taking in the scenery.
"Yep, I saw him riding his bike with Maria and their kids," said Joe De Vito, Ojai's mayor pro tem. He's also heard the persistent talk that the family wasn't just cruising the bike path and window shopping along the arcade, but also checking out homes.
"I'd heard he put an offer on a house, but I can't verify that," De Vito said.
The Sacramento Bee recently reported that the couple made an offer on a property listed for about $6 million in Upper Ojai. It didn't name an exact location. That story also cited a similar report in the Pacific Coast Business Times newspaper earlier this month.
Neither the governor's office nor the real estate company said to be handling the transaction would comment. But the news has been bouncing around town since the power couple rode through three weeks ago.
According to a Realtor in the Santa Ynez Valley, the governor and his family also looked at properties there, but found none to their liking before heading to Ojai.
The town of 8,000, with a long tradition of attracting the spiritual, also has a certain nonchalance toward celebrity, the mayor said.
"No one bothers them," said De Vito, who noted that actors Peter Strauss, Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen and Anthony Hopkins walk the streets largely unmolested.
Still, there was a certain incongruity with the five-time Mr. Universe being drawn to the valley bordered by the Topatopa mountains and named after the Chumash word for "moon" or "nest."
One blogger suggested that if Schwarzenegger decides to move to town, he could enroll in the Lulu Bandha Studio's "Yoga for Stiff White Guys."
But the town has always had a sort of double attraction — a magnet for celebrity and spirituality.
When Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti was first discovering Ojai in the 1920s, boxing great Jack Dempsey was using the locale to train for his next fight. Frank Capra used the valley as a backdrop for his 1937 film "Lost Horizon," giving the city its mystical "Shangri-La" reputation.
Dave Ray, owner of the Ojai institution Bart's Books, a one-of-a-kind outdoor bookstore, doesn't think that the idea is all that hard to get your head around.
"This is definitely not Mayberry," Ray said. "Mayberry is an hour-and-a-half from Mount Pilot. Ojai is an hour-and-a-half from Los Angeles. But it feels like a million miles away. You're close to L.A., close to the ocean. It's sunny 330 days a year."
Ray said the town is a lot closer to being like the rich enclave of Montecito up the coast than any place in middle America.
When he was in town, the governor dropped into the store and browsed the bookshelves sheltered under the canopy of trees, said Ray, who wasn't in the shop at the time.
"I heard he said, Ah'll be back,' " Ray said.
Resident Howard Smith took the news as a chance to lobby the governor to do something about a plan to haul massive truckloads of gravel down winding Highway 33 from mines up in the Cuyama Valley. Smith said he sent a letter to the governor because the issue might be more relevant to him now that he and Shriver might be house-hunting in town.
De Vito, mayor of one of the most liberal cities in Ventura County, said he doubts that people care much about the governor's politics.
"Nobody asks about that — it doesn't seem to come to the fore," De Vito said.
CORRECTION: A story Friday on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger possibly buying property in the Upper Ojai incorrectly identified Joe De Vito's position. He is the mayor pro tem of Ojai.
Posted by rebel123 on June 22, 2007 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ugh. Just what we need in Ojai.....another wealthy idiot driving a Hummer.
Posted by sunnbear on June 22, 2007 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ojai's not a big Republican town. Just a bit more liberal than he will be able to stand, I think. I'm not really sure how I feel about this information...
Posted by Ambz on June 22, 2007 at 2:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
oh come on ya hippies!! Isnt his hummer the hybrid version?? heheeeeeeheeeeeeheeeeeeee
Posted by garnowich on June 22, 2007 at 2:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh Come on.....You guys are lame. He's a great guy.
Posted by heyniceart on June 24, 2007 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wonder if Arnold's Harley has those horrendously loud illegal exhaust pipes... God knows we need another one of those in town. How about a hybrid Harley... do they make those? Or maybe an electric one :-) Silence... ahhhhhhh.....
Posted by Ambz on June 25, 2007 at 9:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
but he doesnt have a bike lisence right?? or did he get that all sorted out?? Personally I could care less. As long as he doesnt bother me Im all good, and trust me it takes alot to bug me, I have 2 kids!!
Posted by ThinkingForMySelf on June 25, 2007 at 4:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ventucky, was that a typo. Regardless, I'm adopting that name for use-thanks, that was funny.
Ojai is not so riled up about his potential move there. But everyone has a point of view of this guy, so many can't resist commenting on him as I am.
As far as his politics go, he is much closer to a liberal than a conservative. He is an opportunist and joined the republican party when he did, for it made sense for him, it allowed him to climb faster socially. It worked. I don't think he is one of those who believe everything liberal is good. Nor do I think he always believes being a republican is in his interest any more. The only high office left for him is to be a Senator for California. If he does, I bet he switches to the Democratic Party.
If he moves to Ojai, I'm sure it will be upper Ojai, away from the lower valley and downtown. Ojaians wouldn't see him and his family all that much, as it is with many of the other celebs that live there.
His living there would bring in more tourist dollars that Ojai relies on, so those in Ojai should at least think of that before going off half-c---ed. I clearly see him as an asset for a variety of reasons, and don't think he would become a constant distraction that I feel some are hinting at.
Posted by iusedtano on June 26, 2007 at 8:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ventucky? I'm sitting here, bare-foot of course, petting my pig, patting my pregnant wife's behind, and wondering, " What did Ventura do to deserve that?" Ha Ha I love Californians.
Posted by Metalhaid on June 26, 2007 at 10:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BAW HAW HAW VENTUCKY Yew awl rewl.
Posted by caragirl73 on June 26, 2007 at 1:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think this would be GREAT!!!! Arnold will soon discover the Hummer will have to go because the locals will let him know how we feel about the obscene gas guzzler PLUS the best bonus would be that he will be neighbors with celebrity / environmentalist Ed Beagley Jr. and hopefully Mr. Beagley can give him some pointers on how we can save the environment and be political at the same time!
Posted by lifelong_pet_lover on July 11, 2007 at 3:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hmm...
Hispanic people make up a large part of the population in Ojai. I'm hoping that Arnie will allocate funding for housing so that 15-20 of them won't have to live in a home.
I'm hoping Arnie can solve the crime issue along with the gangs, which are a more recent thing in Ojai. Perhaps he can do a "terminator thing" and stop them from shooting each other up, and tagging around town and in the canyon.
I'm hoping Arnie doen't get the ridiculous notion that Ojai is elitist. You see, some people tried to turn it into Montecito but it didn't work. Now we're left with a bunch of empty real estate on Ojai Avenue because the so-called tourists don't actually buy much in Ojai. They complain about the prices more than anything. Heck, I can't even afford to shop in my own town. Thank God for Amazon.com.
I hope Arnie will do something about the gas prices, so that the tourists keep coming here (and complaining).
I'm hoping Arnie will build some low income housing, so that we can stop prending like we're Beverly Hills and the artists, and others on limited income (like the elderly who have lived here for years) have somewhere to go.
I'm hoping Arnie will stop the mobile home parks in the area from selling off plots of land that no one, except the person who has been living there for years would want.
I'm hoping Arnie will stop the trucks, and the ridiculous increase in water prices for those who live on the east (santa paula) end of town.
These idiots think we're rich. Ha ha.
I'm hoping Arnie will notice that the air quality is pretty funky here in Ojai, and will do something about that before we all have to resort to gas masks.
I'm hoping Arnie is a giver as much as a taker in the community, because if he isn't he won't last long. Part time residents aren't respected much because they don't contribute to the community. We know who you are.
I hope Arnie isn't like Clint, who moved to Monterrey, and the best Clint could do for Monterrey was carve up more of nature to turn into another golf course that we don't need.We got one that is struggling enough as it is.
I hope Arnie can stop the global warming that's battering Ojai in floods and fire, or at least get FEMA's attention so that we don't have to quit our jobs because we can't get to work.
I hope Arnie is God, don't you? Because otherwise, who needs another movie star...I mean politician in Ojai?
Posted by Egalitarian on April 27, 2008 at 6 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I can't tell you how sick I am of seeing Ojai always referred to as a "spiritual" mecca. Every time I see something written in the press about Ojai they drag out this same old tired, incorrect, hackneyed piece of mis-information about Ojai. What horsecrap. I've lived in Ojai for 34 years. It is no more spiritual than anywhere else. It is no more artistic than anywhere else, it is no more politically conscious than anywhere else.
It just thinks it is. Ojai votes 50% Republican,
SUV's abound and we have horrible air quality but you don't notice the smog because the rampant allergens, molds, spores and pollens have already shut down your sinuses such that you can't smell anything anyway. There are very, very, few african americans, but the Mexican population is sizeable in spite of the fact that
this is as bigoted a community as any in the southwest. I have a black friend in Ventura and I asked him why I never see him in Ojai any more and he said: "The last time I went to Ojai, I got called "n*gger", 30 times". Did I mention the sizeable white-power skinhead white trash types we have here in Ojai, the "spiritual community"? Yeah, we got em. One of our local skinheads has a lifesize portrait of Adolph Hitler tattooed on his chest. Please, members of the press, please stop referring to Ojai as a "spiritual" community...we don't live up to that. We are just another small town with the same problems, prejudices, and assorted nutballs and idiots that you can find in any other town.
There are a few spiritual people here....but they don't get any press and don't want any.
Oh, and as for celebrities...ya ever eat with one? Yeeesh!!
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