Santa Barbara County Supervisors Janet Wolf and Steve Lavagnino refused to meet with me regarding Santa Barbara County’s Air Support Unit. I thought I would inform you, the public, as to what is actually going on. Some of the information below is from my 20 years assigned to this unit (I’m now retired from the county), and some is from the Public Records Act requests I filed to get the most up-to-date information.
On Aug. 25, 2016, I requested a meeting with supervisors Wolf and Lavagnino, who were the two supervisors in charge of the “Aviation Committee.” Department policy prohibits current employees from contacting and speaking with the Board of Supervisors and permission would never be permitted anyway. I wanted to inform them of important information in regards to the unit prior to the public meeting they were going to have to make important decisions going forward. Supervisor Wolf replied in an email dated Aug. 25, 2016, “If you have documents that you would like to share, please submit them to our CEO Mona Miyasato. I will not be meeting with you.”
Supervisor Lavagnino echoed Janet’s email a day later. So much for open communication and listening to a longtime county employee and taxpayer. I attempted to keep this in-house so that the powers that be could make informed decisions—but as you will see, they just don’t care.
Instead of keeping it “in-house” like I requested in writing, Supervisor Wolf decided to pass on my email to both the fire chief and sheriff including both their underlings. I guess when they want information it’s OK, but when you use it against them it’s not. There were several other emails sent back and forth. These leaders have no moral compass and will use whatever means they have to keep the truth from getting to the public.
If the two supervisors were actual leaders and stewards of the taxpayers’ monies they would have learned quite a bit from someone who was a 20-year member of the unit. Unfortunately, they keep listening to County Fire Chief Eric Peterson and Sheriff Bill Brown. Both have zero aviation experience yet are providing all the information to the supervisors who have never once visited the hangar and talked to any of the members who do the job daily. These politicians are total failures and have no business running county affairs.
Had they visited, they would have realized the total waste of taxpayer funds being spent on Fire Department aircraft. They have two large aircraft—on loan from the USDA’s Forest Service—that have never been overhauled. Copter 309 has been stored in a hangar in Santa Maria for more than five years. This aircraft has not been stored properly and has been so neglected it’s to the point it may never fly again. Yet, I received an email from Cal Fire saying the county fire department got a quote to get it flying for $240,000, sight unseen. This aircraft was supposed to be returned to the federal government when the Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department’s air units merged in 2012.
Copter 308, which is part of the five-helicopter inventory at the hangar in Santa Ynez, needs serious repairs and hasn’t flown in nearly a year. This aircraft has had two major cracks in the tail boom and one in the fuselage above where the pilot sits. There’s no way of knowing how many additional cracks there may be since this aircraft has never had a complete overhaul since county fire put it into service in 1999. When the county fire and sheriff’s aviation units merged in 2012, sheriff’s employees refused to fly it due to the gross neglect in maintenance. The cost just to get it to a satisfactory level was more than $400,000. This aircraft is currently grounded, this time due to avionics and electrical failures. Since 2012, the county has spent $853,000 to keep this one aircraft flying (40 percent of the maintenance budget), yet it handled only 15 percent of the calls for service in this four-year time frame.
Today, Chief Peterson has fooled the Board of Supervisors again with his claim they need Copter 308 in service. Currently, this same aircraft is in Van Nuys getting more work done and deferred maintenance completed. The cost was not to exceed $158,020 per the Board of Supervisors on March 14, 2017, with a contingency of 10 percent, or $15,802, for a total of $173,822. Current costs have now exceeded the total amount, and the aircraft is still being evaluated further with other repairs still to be done.
County fire again has to stand before the Board of Supervisors asking to spend more money. In a very short period of time, Copter 308’s engine will need to be overhauled at a cost of approximately $350,000. How will the county pay that bill when they are $40 million in the red? How many budgets will be cut or personnel let go to pay for an aircraft we don’t need? We certainly do not need Copters 308 or 309. They don’t even belong to the county, but you the taxpayers have sunk millions into them since 1999.
I have been trying for years to advise department heads that we do not need five helicopters, but sadly it has fallen on deaf ears all due to politics. Santa Barbara County cannot afford it. Sheriff Bill Brown has refused to do his duties and stop this fiscal mismanagement of public funds. Copters 1, 2, 3, and 4 are all that are needed to perform every mission the county responds too. All these aircraft have been completely rebuilt. Copters 3 and 4 were both completely rebuilt using donated money.
Based on their actions to date, supervisors Wolf and Lavagnino along with Sheriff Brown and Chief Peterson should resign or at the least not run for re-election. They are unworthy of the public’s trust and of holding a public office. It’s quite clear from their internal emails that they cover for each other while misleading the public at taxpayer expense. Supervisor Wolf’s campaign has been financed heavily by the county fire union. I guess money talks. As for Supervisor Lavagnino, my only explanation is that he is just a follower looking for his next political office.
The taxpayers of Santa Barbara County deserve better in their representation by these Board of Supervisors, sheriff, and fire chief. The men and women of both departments expect and deserve better in their leadership as well. I encourage all taxpayers to do their own research—the facts don’t lie.
Jon Simon is a retired Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office deputy and is a resident of Solvang. Send your thoughts to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 27 – May 4, 2017.