Why Have the Ojai Valley Defense Fund?
The Ojai Valley Defense Fund provides financial support to groups undertaking legal action to protect and sustain the environmental quality of the Ojai Valley for the public benefit. The purpose of this nonprofit charitable corporation is to receive and distribute contributions from individuals, estates, governmental bodies, corporations, foundations, and any other source for the benefit of the mission of the Ojai Valley Defense Fund. The OVDF is a nonprofit public benefit Corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person. It is organized under the California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for public and charitable purposes.
MEET OUR TEAM
We are grateful for the tireless efforts of our volunteers, past and present, who work together to protect the Ojai Valley for all of us — the generations of today and tomorrow. We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. If you are interested in joining us, please do not hesitate to let us know, by clicking here!
Board of Directors
Chris Borgeson
Vicki Breen
Lisa Casoni
Jack Dyer
Greg Grinnell
Misty (Volaski) Hall
Jim Jackson
Adam Kear
Chris Land (President)
Bill Norris
Carolyn Vondriska
John Broesamle (Founder & board member emeritus, 1941-2023)
Legal Advisory Committee
Dave Neville (Chair)
Chris Borgeson
Chris Cohen
Leif Dautch
Tony Glassman
Rich Holly
Adam Kear
Rachel Kondor
Stuart Meiklejohn
Bill Norris
Kevin Ruf
Brian Segee
Sabrina Venskus
Carolyn Vondriska
Board of Directors
Chris Land became an Ojai resident in 2002 and recently retired from The Thacher School, where he served as director of communications for 16 years. His experience prior to Thacher includes teaching college English literature and composition courses, and directing marketing communications for the Illinois chapter of the Nature Conservancy. He is a featured photographer in OUR OJAI, a visual tribute to our valley recently published by the OVDF. Raised in the San Diego area, Christopher saw the trails and canyons he loved to explore as a young boy steadily replaced by roads, developments, and congestion, a fate that Ojai has worked wisely to avoid. Christopher’s wife, Margo, works at Monica Ros School. They and the six children they share love the Ojai Valley and are committed to protecting it.
Chris Borgeson is an Ojai native, a lawyer and business consultant. After graduating from Nordhoff High School and the University of California at Santa Cruz, he worked for the U.S. Treasury Department as an investigator of alleged discriminatory use of federal funds by state and local governments. He then attended law school at Hastings College of the Law and began his legal career as a civil trial lawyer with Long & Levit in San Francisco, specializing in professional liability defense and complex insurance coverage matters. He would go on to work for a large commercial insurer based in Chicago, and over 12 years hold various executive positions within the property and casualty insurance industry in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. He moved back to Ojai in 2004, and 3 years later co-founded Hiles Borgeson LLC, a Los Angeles law firm providing legal services purchasing and oversight services for insurers in high stakes litigation across the country. Chris retired from law practice in 2014 but continues to serve as a consultant and expert witness in insurance coverage, bad faith and professional liability suits and is senior counsel with the law firm of O’Hagan Meyer. Chris is married to Jill (Blumenthal) Borgeson, a social worker and consultant to Ventura County Children and Family Services.
Victoria (Vicki) Breen has been a financial advisor and active member of the Ventura County business community for over 40 years. Vicki and her mother, Marjorie Derby, were the founders of Ojai-based financial and insurance services firm Derby and Derby, Inc. in 1983. During her time as a licensed securities broker and registered investment advisor, she was a founding director of a mutual fund company, serving as board member for 20 years, was a supervising branch principal for multiple broker/dealers, and served on the investment committee of numerous schools and organizations in the Ojai Valley. Her volunteer work includes serving as the Treasurer for The Rotary Club of Ojai and the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy. Vicki and her husband Dan raised their son Zac in Ojai after moving there in 1993. Vicki’s favorite past volunteer position was learning to keep the official score book during the 10 years her family was involved with Ojai Pony Baseball. The Breen family is committed to the unique and beautiful Ojai Valley and have been supporters of the OVDF since its inception.
Lisa Casoni has a background in sales and marketing, having worked for such companies as Coldwell Banker, Giorgio Armani, and Prada. Lisa moved to Ojai in 2010 and in 2013, she was a co-creator of the Ojai Art Festival. Later that year, with Heather Stobo, she took over management of The Porch Gallery Ojai. In her own words: "Moving here in 2009, I immediately felt a connection to the beautiful environment that those of us who live here enjoy and shouldn’t take for granted. The efforts to preserve this special valley from over-development from numerous challenges and other environmental threats is ongoing. I’m proud to be working with such a dedicated group whose primary mission is a deep concern for the environment and its preservation now, and in the future."
Jack Dyer relocated to Ojai in 2014 after living in various locations around California; Ojai just felt like home. Jack started Topa Topa Brewing Company along with his business partners shortly after arriving in the valley and has grown the business to include regional distribution and a number of satellite taprooms. Jack began volunteering with the Ojai Valley Defense Fund almost immediately after moving to Ojai in 2014. Jack loves anything outdoors and spends his time hiking and biking in the hills surrounding Ojai, as well as surfing, sailing and paddling in the great Pacific ocean down the hill. In addition to serving on the OVDF Board, Jack also serves as a board member on the Central Coast Brewers Guild and as a Committee Member on the Brewers Association. Jack remains quite active in local charity work both individually and through his business, Topa Topa Brewing Company.
Greg Grinnell first visited Ojai when he was very young. Many years later, he moved his family to Ojai and realize the benefits of living in the Valley. His interest in the Ojai Valley Defense Fund (OVDF) was immediate after understanding its unique approach to looking after the interest of the Ojai Valley and its residents. His career was in the international arena, and he was able to see the effects of growth in many parts of the world. As Southern California continues to grow, the Ojai Valley is no longer considered remote. “What changes will result due to increased awareness of the Ojai Valley is what draws me to the OVDF and to participate in the organization's efforts to make sure that our small community is able to be heard and its interests respected,” he says. “Now I would like to help the residents of the Ojai Valley in looking after the spirit that is Ojai.”
Misty (Volaski) Hall has been a photographer, graphic designer, and writer in the Ojai Valley for more than 20 years. She now works in admission, marketing, and communications for Ojai Valley School. In her free time, she enjoys writing for regional publications, shooting photos, and camping as often as possible with her husband, Logan. Growing up in Ojai, Misty developed a deep love for the outdoors, and could often be found roaming the hills and creeks looking for lizards, interesting rocks, and wildflowers. Misty traces her Ojai roots back five generations, and is proud to be part of an organization working to maintain this incredible place for generations to come.
Jim Jackson is a filmmaker and owner a production company. He has won two EMMY Awards, both for PBS programs on the environment. He and his wife, Susan, have lived in Ojai since 1992. Their twin sons, Evan and Ryan, were born here in town in 1999, and graduated from The Thacher School in 2017. Jim was on the Ojai Land Conservancy Board for six years, serving as President for three of those years. As President, Jim guided the acquisition of the Ventura River Preserve, helped open Cluff Vista Park, and helped orchestrate the restoration of the Ojai Meadows Preserve. He is currently on the Board of Directors for Senior Canyon Mutual Water Company. In his free time, he is an avid tennis player. Jim joined the OVDF Board to help preserve and protect the valley and its natural resources. He hopes that his two sons will be able enjoy the valley as he and his wife have.
Adam Kear and his partner, Tony Nuccio, made Ojai their part-time home beginning in 2017 and are now grateful Ojai residents. Adam currently serves as General Counsel to the Senior Canyon Mutual Water Company in east Ojai. In 2020 Adam retired from a 30-year career with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, leaving as assistant general counsel. Adam’s legal focus at Metropolitan was in environmental and water law, where he managed legal matters concerning Metropolitan’s supplies conveyed through the State Water Project and related issues in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Adam began his career with Metropolitan in 1990 as an environmental engineer and was manager of facility planning for Metropolitan before transitioning to law. Adam is active with community interests and is proud to serve on the board of the Ojai Valley Defense Fund in protecting the valley from environmental threats and inappropriate development. Adam and Tony are passionate about native landscapes and when taking a break from working on their own garden, they enjoy running, biking, and hiking through our great outdoors.
Bill Norris and his wife, Judy, moved to Ojai 8 years ago to be closer to their grandchildren, who had moved here with their parents several years earlier. Bill is a graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy and George Washington University National Law Center. He retired from the Coast Guard after a 30-year career which included command of two Coast Guard Cutters, command of a major shore unit in San Francisco, and numerous legal assignments in Washington, D.C., Boston, and the Bay Area. Since moving to Ojai both Bill and Judy have been active in the community. Bill has been a volunteer at Help of Ojai, and serves on its Board. He has also been Chair of the Citizen’s Oversight Committee for Measures J and K. Upon moving to Ojai, Bill fell in love with the unique character of the city and surrounding valley, and is an active hiker and tennis player. He strongly supports the mission of the OVDF and is proud to help preserve the special environment that exists in the Ojai Valley.
Carolyn Vondriska is the third generation in her family to call Ojai “home.” Both sets of her grandparents split time between Ojai and Yosemite, as do her parents. Carolyn finally had the opportunity to become a full-time resident of Ojai in 2007, along with husband Gil and their three young children. She is delighted to serve on the Board of the OVDF because it is helping to ensure the environmental well-being and livability of the Ojai Valley for future generations. She sees the Ojai Valley as one of the few reminders of what old Southern California used to be, and is committed to protecting what makes it a privilege to live here. Carolyn is happiest when hiking, backpacking, and fly-fishing in the Los Padres and Eastern Sierra.
John Broesamle is the revered and much-missed founding president and board member emeritus of the Ojai Valley Defense Fund. John was a professor of history at California State University, Northridge, and the author of several books. A lifelong visitor to the Ojai Valley and resident for more than 35 years, John and others envisioned the Ojai Valley Defense Fund as an insurance policy against the large-scale development and resource-exploitation proposals that have threatened the environmental well-being of the valley for over half a century - on an average of twice per decade. John's grandchildren are the fourth generation of his family to call Ojai "home." His tireless focus was to protect the valley he loved for current and future generations. John died in June of 2023, but his legacy as "conservation giant" lives on.
Legal Advisory Committee
Dave Neville (LAC chair) has practiced law for 30 years. He earned his J.D. from University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 1990, and an LL.M. in Taxation at the University of San Diego School of Law in 1993. He represents individuals and entities in matters of business, real property, estate planning, tax and litigation. Dave also gives generously of his time in pro bono work, including not only his long-standing efforts for the Ojai Valley Defense Fund (as counsel to the Board of Directors and one of the original founders of the organization), also as former member of the Rotary Club of Ojai, and as the former Chairman of the Board of HELP of Ojai, among other organizations. Dave was raised in Malibu and fell in love with the Ojai Valley as it reminded him of what Malibu was like back ‘in the day'. Dave has lived in Ojai since 2002 with his wife and two teenage children. He is an avid hiker and surfer, and enjoys Ojai for its proximity to the wilderness and the ocean.
Chris Borgeson is an Ojai native, a lawyer and business consultant. After graduating from Nordhoff High School and the University of California at Santa Cruz, he worked for the U.S. Treasury Department as an investigator of alleged discriminatory use of federal funds by state and local governments. He then attended law school at Hastings College of the Law and began his legal career as a civil trial lawyer with Long & Levit in San Francisco, specializing in professional liability defense and complex insurance coverage matters. He would go on to work for a large commercial insurer based in Chicago, and over 12 years hold various executive positions within the property and casualty insurance industry in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. He moved back to Ojai in 2004, and 3 years later co-founded Hiles Borgeson LLC, a Los Angeles law firm providing legal services purchasing and oversight services for insurers in high stakes litigation across the country. Chris retired from law practice in 2014 but continues to serve as a consultant and expert witness in insurance coverage, bad faith and professional liability suits and is senior counsel with the law firm of O’Hagan Meyer. Chris is married to Jill (Blumenthal) Borgeson, a social worker and consultant to Ventura County Children and Family Services.
Chris Cohen is an attorney at Sustainable Law Group. Prior to practicing law, he was a government relations professional for Scripps Institution of Oceanography for nearly 10 years, where he advocated for earth and ocean science programs and acquired an in-depth knowledge of environmental science and policy issues. Chris also volunteers as Chair of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors’ Ojai Valley Municipal Advisory Council, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture. He and his wife were drawn to Ojai by its natural beauty, small town charm, and welcoming community. Chris says, “For me, Ojai is the perfect combination of, on one hand, a small, peaceful town surrounded by wilderness — and on the other, a thriving community of artists, musicians, and thought and business leaders … This balance doesn't happen by accident. It takes intention and is worth protecting.”
Leif Dautch is an Ojai native and graduate of Oak Grove School, Yale, and Harvard Law School. Since 2014, he has been working to ensure proper regulation of oil and gas development in Ventura County, particularly in and around the Sespe Wilderness. He believes firmly in OVDF's mission of finding the proper balance of conservation and development in our slice of paradise. By day, Leif is a Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice, where he is a prosecutor in the Criminal Division.
Anthony (Tony) Glassman graduated from USC with a degree in literature and political science, where he also was a member of their baseball team, including its 1960 win at the College World Series. Tony attended law school at the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley. Upon graduation, he joined the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Tony thereafter formed his own firm, where he tried both civil and criminal cases. Tony has tried over 100 civil and criminal trials to jury verdict, and has handled numerous appellate matters before the California Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth, Fifth, and Tenth Circuits. Tony's current practice focuses in the areas of First Amendment rights, media law, product disparagement, publicity and privacy rights, crisis management, and white-collar criminal defense. During his more than 50-year career, Tony has represented the tabloid, Globe, for whom he tried numerous cases, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. and its founder, Hugh Hefner. Among his many media cases, Tony successfully defended Hugh Hefner in a defamation claim and won two jury verdicts on behalf of the largest shareholder of Santa Barbara Savings & Loan against the New York Times. Tony has lived in Ojai for over 30 years.
Rich Holly is a retired attorney living in Ojai with his wife, Carol, an Ojai native. When the couple moved to Ojai in 1975, Carol showed Rich the many trails and other places where she, her sister and friends would ride their horses growing up. “Over the years, hiking those same trails with our children and living in Ojai has imprinted a deep love and appreciation for this wonderful and unique place,” Rich said. “I am very grateful to be included among the legal advisors to help defend and preserve the Ojai Valley.”
Adam Kear and his partner, Tony Nuccio, made Ojai their part-time home beginning in 2017 and are now grateful Ojai residents. Adam currently serves as General Counsel to the Senior Canyon Mutual Water Company in east Ojai. In 2020 Adam retired from a 30-year career with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, leaving as assistant general counsel. Adam’s legal focus at Metropolitan was in environmental and water law, where he managed legal matters concerning Metropolitan’s supplies conveyed through the State Water Project and related issues in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Adam began his career with Metropolitan in 1990 as an environmental engineer and was manager of facility planning for Metropolitan before transitioning to law. Adam is active with community interests and is proud to serve on the OVDF's Legal Advisory Committee in protecting the valley from environmental threats and inappropriate development. Adam and Tony are passionate about native landscapes and when taking a break from working on their own garden, they enjoy running, biking, and hiking through our great outdoors.
Rachel Kondor currently serves as Staff Attorney for the Environmental Defense Center, the mission of which is to protect and enhance the local environment through education, advocacy, and legal action, with program areas including climate and energy, protecting open space and wildlife, and clean water in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Prior to that, Rachel worked for environmental advocacy organizations in Arizona, then spent more than a decade working for federal lawmakers. As District Representative for Congresswoman Lois Capps, she developed the Congresswoman’s legislation to designate wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and the Condor National Recreational Trail in the Los Padres National Forest. She also served as legislative assistant on environmental and tribal matters to Congressman Raúl Grijalva. Rachel has been on the boards of several environmental nonprofits, including the California Wilderness Coalition and Natural Allies. She received her law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, with a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law.
Stuart Meiklejohn is a retired partner of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York. He lived in Ojai from 2005 to 2019, when, sadly but understandably, he moved to the Northeast, where he spent much of his earlier adult life. While in Ojai, he could walk out his door and be in the Los Padres National Forest, and he took full advantage of the hiking and cycling opportunities available in Shangri-La. He and Mary Ann O'Connor were early and eager supporters of the Defense Fund when John and Kathy Broesamle approached them, and have continued their support through a year that some might question on mortality table grounds. Stuart hopes Ojai manages to keep itself vibrant at the same time it retains the wonderful qualities that drew him there in the first place.
Bill Norris retired after a 30-year career as a Coast Guard officer and lawyer. He is a graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy and the National Law Center at George Washington University. His legal tours in the Coast Guard included serving as the Legal Officer for Coast Guard Districts in Boston and San Francisco, as Legal Officer to Commander, Pacific Area, as Chief of several legal divisions at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and as Military Judge for General Courts Martial. Among a number of non-legal assignments, both at sea and ashore, was a tour in Washington, D.C., as Chief Policy Officer for the then newly-established National Pollution Fund Center, which provided funding for the cleanup of oil spills nationwide. Upon moving to Ojai 8 years ago, Bill learned of the OVDF and its mission to establish resources to fight threats to the Ojai Valley, and Bill is now happy to join that endeavor.
Kevin Ruf graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan. He has worked for Manatt Phelps & Phillips specializing in commercial litigation, and Corbin & Fitzgerald (with future federal district court Judge Michael Fitzgerald), specializing in white collar criminal defense work. Since 2001, he has focused on class action plaintiffs’ law at the firm Glancy, Prongay & Murray LLP, where he is a partner and Head of the firm’s Labor and Consumer Law practice. He has successfully argued a number of important appeals, including in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and has twice argued cases before the California Supreme Court – winning both. Since 2014, Kevin has been an elected member of the Ojai Unified School District School Board. Kevin and his wife, Asli, have three children, all of whom attend the Ojai public schools, where Asli is a full-time volunteer.
Brian Segee currently serves as Senior Attorney in the Endangered Species Program at the Center for Biological Diversity. Previously, he worked for the Environmental Defense Center in Ventura County and Santa Barbara, Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C., and the Center in Tucson. He received his law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law and undergraduate degree in political science from the University of California at San Diego.
Sabrina Venskus is the principal of the law firm Venskus & Associates, a litigation practice that specializes in environmental and natural resources, land use and zoning, housing rights, historic and archeological preservation, energy regulation, and open government law such as the Federal Freedom of Information Act and California Public Records Act. Ms. Venskus has been featured on the cover of the Daily Journal and in the L.A. Weekly's annual Best of L.A. People. For the past five years, Ms. Venskus has been recognized by her peers as a SuperLawyer, an honor which places her in the top 5% of all attorneys in Southern California. She has presented at the California Bar Association’s Environmental Law Conference, Los Angeles County Bar Association, UCLA, USC, Loyola, and Chapman University on groundwater contamination, California Environmental Quality Act, land use and zoning law, government disclosure, archeological resource preservation, and housing issues. Ms. Venskus represents clients in a broad array of forums including: city and county quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial processes; proceedings before the California Coastal Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission; actions before the California superior, appellate, and Supreme Courts; and matters before federal district courts and the U.S. Ninth District Court of Appeal. Ms. Venskus graduated as a Cornelius Honor Society member from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, earning a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. She is a graduate of UCLA, where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
Carolyn Vondriska is a graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Law, where she earned membership in the prestigious Order of the Coif national honor society. Upon graduation, she clerked for United States District Judge Milton L. Schwartz in Sacramento, thereafter joining the litigation department of the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco. She went on to become a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Clark County, Washington, where she handled both misdemeanor and felony cases, including charging, trial, and appeal. Carolyn relocated to the Ojai Valley from the Pacific Northwest in 2007, where she became a third generation client at the law firm of Waite, Jacobs & Atkinson, followed shortly thereafter by her joining the firm. Carolyn has practiced in the areas of estate planning and administration since 2011. As a former litigator, Carolyn saw first-hand how expensive and consuming a legal battle can be, especially those of the scale that have threatened the Ojai Valley in recent decades. Like so many attorneys in the Ojai Valley, Carolyn is enormously impressed by the community’s forward-thinking effort to render itself ready for the next environmental threat, and the Fund’s deterrent effect in particular. The fact that the Ojai Valley appears to be the only community that has been proactive in this manner is an important example of what we as neighbors and friends have accomplished together.
FUND MANAGEMENT
At least 60 percent of the OVDF investment portfolio's net assets are invested in fixed income securities with active management of maturities. These fixed income securities are heavily weighted toward FDIC-insured deposits or government-backed Treasuries. Other fixed income securities include investment-grade quality bonds, preferred stocks, and insured money markets. Up to 40 percent of the portfolio may be invested in equities, which will be diversified primarily among mid-to-large capitalization companies. Preservation of capital will consistently hold priority over capital appreciation. The Ojai Valley Defense Fund works with local banks, financial, tax, and legal professionals.