We made it through the June 5 primary without any too-close-to-call races, recounts, or tantrums thrown by the losers. Whew, now we get to do it all again in November!
While it would have been interesting to see Sheriff Bill Brown face a challenger in November, neither Lts. Brian Olmstead nor Eddie Hsueh got the votes necessary to continue, and Brown kept his office pretty decisively.
Olmstead and his main endorser, the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, made some considerable criticisms of Brown during the race, saying that he was spending too much time in Sacramento as head of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, palling around with political heavy-hitters like Gov. Jerry Brown, who endorsed Brown during the election. Having his attention there contributed to ongoing local issues, Brown’s opponents argued, like the mandatory overtime for staff at the Santa Barbara County Jail and the generally piss-poor conditions for inmates there.
I could almost hear the groans from the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors when Brown won his fourth term as county sheriff, mostly from the 4th and 3rd Districts’ respective supervisors Peter Adam and Joan Hartmann, who came out against Brown as well. Brown and the board have played the blame game over jail conditions and other issues for years now, always pointing to the budget or each other for blame.
Those issues didn’t bother the majority of Santa Barbara County voters who supported Brown at the ballot box, though. Following the Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslides, safety is at the front of everyone’s minds after those deadly incidents, and it looks like voters were more than satisfied with how Brown’s Sheriff’s Office responded to those incidents. Brown told the Sun on election night that he was ready to move forward and “work together” on some of those contentious issues, because public safety is “the most important job of government.”
Well, the Board of Supervisors certainly agrees, if the recently passed budget is any indication. The county’s $1 billion budget shovels tens of millions to the Sheriff’s Office, the County Jail, and the soon-to-be-opened North County Jail.
Oh boy, our very own state-of-the-art jail in North County! I don’t know about you, but I’m already planning my stay there. At least we won’t be locking people up there for smoking a little pot, yah feel me?
While Santa Barbara County is home to many voters and public officials who are vociferously against legal weed (though not a majority), they sure don’t seem to be against taxing it! The county’s cannabis tax measure that was on the June 5 ballot passed with 75 percent of the vote! When was the last time the county’s voters agreed on anything in those numbers?
While the Lompoc City Council’s majority—that’s Jim Mosby, Dirk Starbuck, and Victor Vega—were against creating a city tax on cannabis, they seem to have woken up and smelled that skunky green kush! Lompoc’s voters will decide this November whether to tax cannabis operations in the city after the majority changed its collective mind and allowed a tax measure on the ballot.
Those three really fought for Lompoc’s libertarian stance on allowing an unfettered cannabis industry in Lompoc, but to not even tax the new cash crop? That was pretty dopey, especially considering all of Lompoc’s budget woes.
Cannabis doesn’t look like a dumb prospect to many of Lompoc’s flower farmers (see page 10), some of which have already uprooted the hydrangeas in their greenhouses for a more fragrant flower. They have the land and infrastructure in place already to rake in plenty of green, some of that should go to the struggling city or the county that’s still in recovery mode.
Lompoc has been going through a slow-burning identity crisis ever since the cut flower industry started to dwindle. I definitely don’t think Lompoc is a “city in decline,” as Ron Fink argues on page 14, but it could definitely use some more cash in its coffers. The Lompoc Police Department and Lompoc Fire Department are in need of new facilities, for starters, but Fink is right about the state of Lompoc’s parks. I’d bet you a joint that Lompoc’s voters will reflect the countywide sentiment that cannabis can be a cash cow come November!
That’s certainly not how the Santa Maria City Council sees weed. It banned all recreational sale, distribution, and cultivation in city limits. Mayor Alice Patino and Councilmember Etta Waterfield even considered a ban on medical deliveries last year before Councilmember Mike Cordero—a former DARE cop, for cryin’ out loud—swatted that idea down. Etta and Alice also wanted to ban any billboards advertising pot, all to protect the children!
Yeah, wouldn’t want any Santa Maria High School students (congrats class of 2018!) to see any weed-leafed billboards as they walk past the liquor stores, gun stores, and Spearmint Rhino on the way to school!
Talk about an identity crisis, Santa Maria will also have its first district elections this year for City Council, something many on the council and the mayor weren’t happy about. At her last State of the City address, Patino said it “wouldn’t change anything at all.”
Well, well Alice, that remains to be seen!
Districts 3 and 4 are up first, and will be decided in November this year (see page 7). Waterfield has been in go-mode ever since last November to keep her seat as District 4’s council member. She lost a bid for state Assembly against Katcho Achadjian in 2010 and sat on Santa Maria’s Planning Commission for nearly a decade before finally getting voted to the council—she’s not giving up her seat without a fight!
But wait, what’s that I hear? A challenger approaches!
Local attorney and youngblood Rafael Gutierrez just announced that he wants Etta’s seat, making things oh-so-interesting for this election season. And then Councilmember Jack Boysen said he wouldn’t run for re-election, leaving Santa Maria’s District 3 totally up for grabs!
Gutierrez is the kind of candidate that proponents of district elections were hoping for—young, hispanic, and liberal-leaning. He’s also not too bad on the eyes, if you don’t mind my saying so. Etta has been the hot one on a council of retirement-age officials for a while now, but both of those facts could change after voters decide in November if Gutierrez takes it from Waterfield.
Busy with all their pearl-clutching over pot, Etta and Alice might have forgotten that a majority of Santa Marians voted for legalization in 2016. The margin was slim, but with district elections, the City Council’s candidates are going to need every vote they can get.
And with fresh, new faces running for election, it’s anyone’s guess who will win in November!
The Canary is all out of Clear Eyes. Send your thoughts to [email protected].
