Despite optimism expressed by board members, appointing a new director to fill the seat left by vacant on the Santa Maria Airport District Board of Directors by the death of Ted Eckert has proved far more difficult than anticipated.
On July 28, the district’s Board of Directors was scheduled for a second chance at appointing a new director after deadlocking 2-2 in a vote on two of the candidates on July 14.
At the most recent meeting, the board again tied 2-2 over the same candidates: Santa Maria-based dentist Girard Brenneman and Santa Maria-based Industrial Welding business owner Donald Lahr.
Both candidates are aviation enthusiasts with previous histories with the district. Lahr served on the board for a single term in 2004, ultimately participating in the hiring of current District General Manager Chris Hastert. This is Brenneman’s third go for a seat on the board, having previously campaigned for a spot as recently as the November 2010 election, following behind current Director Chuck Damiano and Eckert.
Now the county will have its say. As required by state law, the district’s board of directors had a 60-day window in which to elect a new director. Eckert passed away on June 7, leaving an Aug. 8 deadline for the district, which won’t have another meeting until Aug. 11.
The district’s failure to elect one of its own puts the process in the hands of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, who have an additional 30 days to appoint Eckert’s replacement. That sets the county deadline at Sept. 6.
The district had its pick of six original candidates for the position: California Air National Guard satellite operator Denis Breslin, private pilot and entrepreneur Ken Dally, computer technician Richard Jensen, Realtor Tim Larson, and Brenneman and Lahr. But the board of supervisors isn’t limited to those candidates and may appoint whomever they wish.
If the county also fails to agree on an appointee, the entire matter may be put off to the district’s 47,655 registered voters in the next regularly scheduled election, currently slated for November 2012, according to Santa Barbara County Chief Deputy Registrar of Voters Billie Alvarez. If that’s the case, voters would be selecting four of the five positions on the district board, when the four-year terms of Rafferty, Engel, and Adams are set to expire.
The airport district board has historically split on many issues, often pitting industry professionals and private pilots against local residents and business people. Various board members previously told the Sun the disagreements were respectful and that most of the members were optimistic that they could come to an agreement without getting the county involved in what’s a district issue. According to District General Manager Hastert, that optimism was shared by other district personnel.
“Of course, we wished they could have come to an agreement over two very good candidates,” Hastert told the Sun. “After that first meeting, we knew it was going to be a tough vote. But it has been very respectful—nobody was upset with each other. There was just a difference of opinion.”
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors had yet to schedule a vote on the Sept. 6 agenda as of press time.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2011.
