Two days before Lompoc City Councilmember Steve Bridge’s arraignment in late 2025, one of his peers on the dais asked him to step down from his role as an elected official.
When Bridge—who pled not guilty to forgery, identity theft, and misusing city funds—showed no sign of resigning, Councilmember Jeremy Ball motioned for the council to consider taking disciplinary action in December 2025.
But he failed to get a second.
Nine months later, the council changed its tune and Ball finally got his second, followed swiftly by a third in a 3-1 vote that set the stage for an upcoming censure hearing.
“I think the public’s been pushing for something, and inaction is becoming more and more awkward for certain leaders,” Ball told the Sun.
Consistent outcry from public speakers at several council meetings made the council’s consideration of a formal censure “harder and harder to avoid,” he explained.
“The public showed up, and they continue to show up. They’ve cared enough to make sure not to let this go away or be swept under the rug,” Ball said. “And that’s where we are now.”
During its Aug. 18 meeting, the Lompoc City Council voted 3-1 (Bridge abstained, while Councilmember Dirk Starbuck dissented) to bring a censure forward.
Ball volunteered to draft the censure resolution—agendized for a Sept. 15 hearing.
The Sun reached out to Bridge, but he declined to comment about the censure hearing, which will grant him the opportunity to refute any allegations, and his ongoing court appearances.
His next court conference hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9, with Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Juan Higuera presiding.
“I don’t have anything personal against Mr. Bridge,” Councilmember Ball said. “I just know that if I was in the same boat, I just know the other side—whoever that may be—would be trying to show me the exits and anything at their disposal to help me leave.”
One of the reasons Ball said he’s been so adamant about the City Council censure happening ahead of any court trial or verdict is because of what Bridge has already said about the crimes he’s charged with.
When asked about past Lompoc city rebate applications he had filled out in 2024 and 2025, Bridge told a Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office investigator that he used a contractor’s license number he found on the internet to qualify for more than $10,000 in rebates, according to court documents.
“They needed a receipt to document the work that was done, so I ginned that thing up,” Bridge told the investigator.
He was referring to rebate applications tied to a handful of contract repair projects at properties across town completed by himself and his son, Scott Turner, “neither of whom is a licensed contractor,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Cota stated in court documents.
“Bridge knew that the work needed to be performed by a licensed contractor, and he knew that had not occurred,” Cota wrote. “He further acknowledged that ‘maybe that’s fraud’ and that it was ‘probably a little shady.’”
“Whatever disputes may exist regarding the facts or the law in this matter,” Cota continued, “one point is beyond debate: Those statements—made about the manner in which Bridge obtained public funds—are words no sitting member of the Lompoc City Council should ever utter. … He was a member of the legislative body that created, funded, and exercised ultimate authority over the rebate program from which he stole.”
The license number Bridge allegedly lifted from an internet search for his rebate applications belonged to an Escondido-based contractor known as Turner & Associate. That license expired in 1994.
“Even in just normal public life, you’re supposed to hesitate before you fill out a form fraudulently. That’s kind of a given,” Ball told the Sun. “Every single time we’re talking about something important, how we push money around as a city, as a council, we’re sitting next to someone that is charged with misusing funds.”
If the council were to approve Ball’s censure draft in mid-September, it would be the first resolution of its kind to formally reprimand a Lompoc official.
“At no point in Lompoc city history has a mayor or council member been censured,” Lompoc Community Relations Manager and Public Information Officer Emily Prueitt told the Sun via email.
As of Aug. 20, Ball said he was in the middle of drafting the censure resolution and will eventually give it to City Attorney Jeff Malawy for staff input.
“I think maybe there was an assumption that … this would kind of fizzle out and no one will care,” Ball said. “But I think you’re finding the opposite: People are still really annoyed that their city’s being defined by this.”
During public comment at the council’s Aug. 18 meeting, participating speakers included Lompoc resident Carl Jones, who described the council’s slow pace toward agendizing a censure discussion as damaging the council’s reputation.
“To sit back for this long of a time and do nothing is not OK. Multiple people will probably lose their seats this November because of it. That’s the truth,” Jones said. “He might be innocent, he might be guilty, but the public doesn’t trust you. … The council as a whole has lost the trust of the people.”
Lompoc officials with term limits expiring by the end of 2026 include Mayor Jim Mosby, and City Council members Victor Vega and Dirk Starbuck.
Vega will run against Sharlameigne Segovia to keep his 2nd District post. Starbuck didn’t file for reelection in the 3rd District—in which voters will decide between candidates Sarah Anne Read and Nick Gonzales.
While both Bridge’s and Ball’s terms run through 2028, Ball is running against Mosby for the mayor’s seat in November’s general election.
“I think you should do your best to save some face moving forward,” Jones told the council. “At a minimum, we should be doing a verbal censure saying, ‘Hey, you’re wrong for putting yourself in this position; for putting the council into this position where it’s created so much mistrust in this council.’” m
Reach Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in August 27 – September 3, 2026.
