If my boss offered me a raise that was less than 20 cents an hour, I’d be offended.
That’s why I’m empathetic to the plight of Santa Maria-Bonita School District’s classified employees, who took a look at the district’s offer of a 1 percent raise and decided it was time for a mediator to step in!
Meanwhile a handful of higher-ups are getting $10,000 raises! That’s rude.
A woman who’s worked in the district’s kitchens for 31 years has wages that are about equal to most fast food employees on day 1. How?
“My family is needing to use our credit cards for basic necessities,” one employee told the classified employees union.
But the district is claiming that there’s no money, according to the union’s president, Melissa Gutierrez, who added that the district can find money for management positions.
“That’s been really upsetting,” she said.
And the union is threatening to upend the district’s board by running candidates against current board members.
“It’s time to find community leaders that will listen and will ask the hard questions, and not just rubber stamp everything, and just nod and agree with the district,” Gutierrez said.
Ooh. Them’s fighting words.
Are they taking a page out of the Santa Maria Firefighters Local 2020’s playbook and spending a bunch of money on candidates and a campaign against sitting elected officials? That union didn’t get what it wanted out of the election. But firefighters did get a significant raise—14 percent—although it wasn’t what the union initially fought for.
I guess if that tack sort of worked, it’s worth the good fight! Right?
At least it’s not a food fight! Santa Barbara County is dealing with the nuisance of unpermitted food vendors and the various ailments that go along with that—potential labor trafficking, food poisoning, unsafe roadways, etc. You know, code violations and legal issues.
Things are bad enough that the grand jury got involved and penned a report that was strikingly similar to the county’s own conclusions. What’s up with that? Two in row? Remember the cannabis?
The food vendors issue has been one of 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann’s policy issues for a while now, and she concurred with the grand jury and the county.
“This is an issue that we’ve identified and they validate that,” she said. “Many of their recommendations are right in sync with what we’ve been learning. So right on, grand jury.”
It is nice to be validated, isn’t it.
However, one of her colleagues decided to hop on her immigrant issue soap box.
“While I know that of course no one is in support of bad meat or open flames or public spaces being used improperly, … I just want to make sure that we keep things in balance,” 2nd District Supervisor Laura Capps said, adding that LA County paused enforcement due to the ICE raids.
Hartmann countered that many of the unpermitted vendors are exploitative of the very people that Capps is concerned about. So what’s the answer?
Roy Lee of the 1st District wondered whether the county could tell its employees not to eat at these roadside spots. Well, apparently, the county can’t tell people what to do in their free time.
So, not the answer?
The Canary wonders about these electeds sometimes. Send concerns to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 2 – Oct 9, 2025.