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Ojai City Council, District 1

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City of Ojai

Ojai City Council, District 1

This person represents one of Ojai's four numbered City Council districts. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land-use decisions. A citywide-elected Mayor also sits on the council. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. Ojai moved from at-large to district elections in 2018, under Ordinance 889. This followed the California Voting Rights Act. The term is four years.

Leslie Rule holds the District 1 seat and is seeking a second term. She faces Jordan Garst. Garst is a first-time candidate. They have criticized how the city handled a homeless housing contract. Rule has held the seat since 2022.

This person represents District 1 on Ojai's five-member City Council. The city created four numbered districts in 2018 under Ordinance 889. Before that, Council members were elected at large. The term is four years. The Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer are still elected citywide.

Two names are on the ballot for one seat. The winner is whoever gets more votes. There is no ranked-choice voting and no runoff. Whether Ojai should keep district elections at all is itself contested this cycle. Rule's platform backs a ballot initiative. It would let voters decide whether to restore at-large elections. Mayor Andy Gilman is not on this ballot but is active in the debate. He has been linked with favoring at-large elections outright.

Leslie C. Rule

Leslie C. Rule has been on the Council since 2022. She grew up in San Francisco and performed in the city's 1980s music scene. She later earned a teaching credential. She spent three decades in education, including PBS digital storytelling workshops. She has a long history of animal rights activism. She sponsored Ojai's 2024 ordinance granting elephants 'bodily autonomy' and habeas corpus rights. The city calls it the first of its kind in the country.

Jordan Garst

Jordan Garst is a first-time candidate. Their ballot title is 'Research Finance Administrator.' Their clearest public stand is about government accountability and process. In July 2026 they co-signed a public letter to Ojai Valley News with five other residents. It criticized the city's sole-source pick of DignityMoves for its Cabin Village supportive housing project. The letter followed a Ventura County Civil Grand Jury report.

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A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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