Political Watch 1/12/17

Abel Maldonado, former California lieutenant governor and former Santa Maria mayor, is emerging as the front-runner for President-elect Donald Trump's choice of nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, according to cnn.com on Jan. 3. Others are being considered for the job: Chuck Connor, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; Ted McKinney, current director of the Indiana Department of Agriculture; Sonny Perdue III, former governor of Georgia; Sid Miller, current Texas agriculture commissioner; and former Texas A&M University President Elsa Murano. 

• Former state Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) was sworn in as California's newest senator on Jan. 3. In the general election on Nov. 8, Harris defeated former Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D.) to become the second African-American woman and first Indian-American to serve California in the U.S. Senate. Harris was assigned to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Committee on the Budget, according to her official website.

• On Jan. 4, California Sen. Diane Feinstein introduced legislation that would establish an independent and non-partisan commission to investigate incidents of recent alleged Russian hacking into U.S. political entities. The commission would investigate alleged attempts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 U.S. elections on Nov. 8. The commission would report its findings 18 months later in a report to Congress. Feinstein was one of several Democratic senators to write the bill, along with Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

• On Jan. 3, Salud Carbajal was sworn in as the Democratic representative of California's 24th Congressional District in the 115th U.S. House of Representatives. Carbajal was sworn in by Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wi.). Carbajal's first legislative action in Congress was voting for Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who represents California's 12th Congressional District, to be the House Minority Leader. The 24th District includes all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and a small portion of Ventura County.

Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara), who represents California's 37th Assembly District, was appointed assistant majority whip of the Assembly on Dec. 28. In this position, Limon assists Speaker of the House Anthony Rendon in "mobilizing votes for major issues and facilitating the process of floor sessions," according to the Assembly website. A "promising" new Assembly member is traditionally appointed to the position, the website states. 

• On Dec. 22, Santa Maria appointed Eddie Galarza to the city's newly created outreach coordinator position. As outreach coordinator, Galarza's job will be to "build community outreach and engage efforts" to reduce or end youth violence and juvenile delinquency in the city.

• On Dec. 22, the Santa Maria Public Airport District voted to approve Tartaglia Engineering for the construction and completion of phase 1 of the terminal apron rehabiliation project.

• On Jan. 5, the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission certified the Nov. 8 election results favoring the formation of the Isla Vista Community Services District. 

• The Jan. 5 meeting of the city of Lompoc Airport Commission was canceled.

• At a Jan. 10 special meeting of the Allan Hancock College (AHC) board of trustees, student service managers presented an overview of services provided to students who encounter challenges at AHC.

• On Jan. 11, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission considered a request by Sepulveda Building Materials to mine for stone in two sites near Lompoc totaling 35 acres. The decision to approve or deny the request came after press time, however a Planning and Commission staff report recommended denial for the project.

• The Jan. 12 and 26 meetings of the Operating Committee and board of directors of the Central Coast Water Authority were canceled, respectively.  

• The Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) board of education heard a request from the district to approve a contract between Strategic Vitality LLC and the Lompoc Adult School for technical skill training services for LUSD students. The contract doesn't exceed $15,000 and would be funded by an Adult Education Block Grant. 

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