OJAI : Child-Care Center Plan Is Debated

Opponents and supporters of a proposed child center in downtown Ojai squared off Tuesday during a public hearing before City Council and school board members.

Child care is lacking in Ojai, so city and school officials should support the creation of a center on school district property downtown, proponents said.

Opponents said they did not want taxpayer dollars to finance the child-care center and questioned why existing facilities fail to meet the community’s needs.

The public comments came during a joint meeting of the council and the Ojai Unified School District board of trustees.

It was the first opportunity for the public to respond to a joint subcommittee of council and school members that is studying a child-care center for downtown.

The City Council voted earlier this year to conceptually support the plan. Also, the Ojai Redevelopment Agency has reserved $60,000 in its 1991-92 budget as seed money for the latchkey children’s center, and the school board has approved in concept placing the center on district-owned property.

“I feel very strongly that people of all income areas need suitable, reliable, quality day care,” said Karen Corrington of Ojai.

Some residents, however, opposed the center.

“I understand the need for child care, but I also feel strongly that public money should not be spent on it,” Bill Lotts, an Ojai resident, said.

Ojai Unified Supt. Andrew C. Smidt said the proposal was not unusual. “It is becoming increasingly common for school districts and other public agencies to provide child care,” Smidt said before the hearing.

Smidt added that a survey of parents conducted last year showed that there is a need in the district for such a center.

Smidt’s sentiments were backed by Dana Huffman, a first-grade teacher at Meiners Oaks Elementary School.

Huffman initially proposed the Smart Start Child Development Center, which would serve about 60 students in its first year of operation.

“Ojai is a community, and I feel the community as a whole needs to pay some attention to its children,” Huffman said before the hearing.