Ron Fink

Last week there was another senseless shooting death in Lompoc, and over the last couple of weeks there have been scores of murders, all caused by irresponsible people using guns all over the country. Eventually the Lompoc suspect was found dead of a gunshot wound in another county. The Second Amendment to the United States […]

When any plan is developed, there can be some questionable ideas as it makes its way through the process and is eventually implemented; but sometimes groupthink can produce an idea that’s a hit. Recreational bicycling has gained traction in the last couple of decades. In some countries, bicycles are used primarily for transportation, but that […]

This is the story of how early Santa Barbara’s moneyed ranchers forced their will upon the more rural ranchers and farmers who lived and ranched in the Santa Ynez River watershed. It has long been acknowledged that politics and political advantage can be used to accommodate the powerful near the seat of government; the trend […]

The availability of affordable housing has been a big issue in California for decades. I received a mass e-mail from the California attorney general, Rob Bonita, the other day and he is concerned about “skyrocketing housing costs” and “a housing crisis of epic proportions.” The current city of Lompoc Inclusionary Housing Ordinance specifies that “the […]

A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. First let’s stipulate that a community needs a recreational venue like an aquatic center; in Lompoc the city’s aquatic center currently serves about 10,000 users each month. The second […]

A recent headline in the Sun reported, “Lompoc officials, community organizations respond to violent crimes through investment in public safety and youth violence prevention” (“Pieces of the puzzle,” March 17), and a follow-up editorial opined that Mayor Jenelle “Osborne does a lot of glossing over of the violence that’s happening in Lompoc”; and claimed that […]

Inflation impacts everyone no matter what their political affiliation is. The Free Dictionary defines inflation as the “reduction in purchasing power of a currency.” Inflation has historically occurred when a country prints too much of its currency in too short a period of time. When COVID-19 surfaced two years ago, federal, state, and local governments […]

When the city of Lompoc considered licensing the manufacturing, distribution, sale, and on-site consumption of cannabis in our city, the subject of how many permits to issue was discussed.  If our City Council would have bothered to listen to the information presented by the staff when this issue was decided, they would have understood that […]

On Feb. 2, the Lompoc City Council and the public received a presentation concerning the need to adjust the four City Council districts. The staff report started with “Every 10 years, cities with by-district election systems must use new census data to review and, if needed, redraw, district lines to reflect how local populations have […]

Recently the county Board of Supervisors declined $17.9 million in grant funding and then later reinstated part of a request by the Housing Authority of Santa Barbara to purchase an old motel in Santa Maria and operate it as housing for the homeless. In the process, they reserved the right to deny the project at […]

The newly appointed city manager isn’t wasting any time establishing his priorities. In the first agenda of his administration, there are five consent calendar items and two public hearing items. One of the public hearing items is to restructure the Human Resources Division and make it a separate city department. In the process, the city […]

Lompoc taxpayers and those in many other cities of the county have a problem: The Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) is underfunded. This should concern everyone, and I’ll explain why. CalPERS was created to provide public (government) employees with a retirement fund paid by employee and taxpayer contributions. It replaces the federal Social Security program, […]