KAREN GARCIA

Solvang City Council held a special meeting on Nov. 30 to accept the recall of former Councilmember Chris Djernaes and swear in the candidate elected to fill the vacancy.  All members of the council were present except for Djernaes, leaving his seat already empty for the next council member.  The certified election results show 2,878 […]

Solvang’s citizen-led effort to recall City Councilmember Chris Djernaes on the Nov. 3 ballot passed with approximately 86 percent of voters supporting his removal.  Djernaes told the Sun that he’s accomplished what he set out to do when he was elected in 2018 and will continue to support his community regardless of the recall.  The […]

Solvang’s Branding and Design Committee revisited its design guidelines within the tourism-related commercial district (TRC) after businesses raised concerns over costs to meet the committee’s cohesive decor goals.  City Manager Xenia Bradford told Solvang City Council members during a Nov. 9 hearing that city staff held a meeting on Nov. 2 with impacted business owners, […]

Several Solvang business owners took issue with the newly established Branding and Design Committee’s first recommendations to the city, which called on all businesses operating outdoors to have specific barriers, furniture, and umbrellas.  During public comment of the Oct. 26 City Council meeting, Ingeborg’s Danish Chocolates’ owner Kim Jensen said the guidelines don’t fit with […]

A local business owner urged the Solvang City Council to place a moratorium on telecommunications companies during its Oct. 26 meeting, due to concerns associated with 5G cell towers.  Michael Mendizza, a writer and owner of Zfolio and Solvang Olive Press, spoke to the council for more than 30 minutes during an agendized “informational discussion” […]

Proposition 22 on this year’s California ballot reexamines whether gig workers for app-based transportation and delivery are independent contractors or if they’ll continue to be categorized as employees, which state law currently requires.  The proposed law—created by Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and Doordash—would exempt app-based transportation and delivery companies from providing employee benefits to certain drivers […]

The Solvang Trolley and Carriage Company is again at odds with City Council member Chris Djernaes, as the business’s owners claim Djernaes is the reason PETA protested outside their business on Oct. 10. Protesters stood outside of the Solvang Trolley on Copenhagen Drive, speaking into a megaphone and holding signs that read “Honor Hazel with […]

Solvang residents get to vote on whether to recall current City Councilmember Chris Djernaes in November, and if that recall passes, residents can choose between candidates Jim Thomas and Jaime Baker to fill the seat.  The recall question and candidate choice will both be on the ballot this November. Both candidates say they have the […]

Solvang’s four City Council candidates racing to fill the seats being vacated by current Councilmembers Karen Waite and Daniel Johnson were unanimous about one thing: They want to do things differently than the current council.  Former Architectural Review Board member Mark Infanti said that he feels the current councilmembers have not been responsive to what […]

Solvang residents have two choices for mayor, and neither one is current Mayor Ryan Toussaint. Current City Councilmember Karen Waite is running against Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriff Charlie Uhrig to fill the position that Toussaint is leaving.  Waite told the Sun she believes the position of mayor should be earned through experience and never […]

The 2019-20 Santa Barbara County grand jury recently released a report focused on homelessness in Santa Barbara County, which states that the county is in the midst of a homeless crisis that predates the challenges of the current COVID-19 pandemic.  “People are roaming the streets with no home of their own, and there is an […]

San Luis Obispo County is closing in on its $1.5 million funding goal for the Nipomo Skate Park with the hopes of breaking ground on construction next spring.  It’s taken more than six years to get to this point in the project process, but if you ask Wyatt Russell how he feels about it, he […]