Former Lompoc City Councilmember Jim Mosby is returning to politics after losing his seat to Jeremy Ball in 2020. Only this time around, Mosby’s running for mayor.
“I’ve been paying attention and I’m invested in this community, and I see it drastically stepping backwards,” he said. “We need to stop making excuses and come up with solutions. The last four years, we heard many excuses from the mayor and why things can’t get done. I’m a person who’s solutions-driven; I know how to get it done.”
If elected, Mosby said his priorities include investing in public safety, addressing the opioid and homelessness crisis, and improving the city’s infrastructure through budget reprioritization and revenue redirection.
“The safety of the public is definitely a priority. We need to not just say that public safety is a priority, we need to prove it and adjust the budget to show that. It’s also safety in recreation fields; our soccer fields are in horrible state and conditions,” he explained. “The public works director said we need $5 million to improve the drivability and walkability of the streets. We need to focus revenues toward these critical areas before they completely fall a part.”
In November, Mosby will be running against current Mayor Jenelle Osborne—who said she’s glad the community has a choice on the ballot and welcomed the competition.
“My opponent created many of the problems we are struggling to overcome, and I want to make sure that attitude doesn’t return to the council,” Osborne said. “There’s a difference in leadership, and my focus is really listening to the community, staff, and fellow members [to find] a collaborative way to move forward.”
During her tenure, the city’s replaced public safety radio equipment, purchased a new fire engine along with new police patrol vehicles, returned Lompoc’s community open markets, upgraded several parks’ playground equipment, and funded the city’s recreation master plan to be ready for future grant opportunities, according to her campaign website.
Moving forward, her priorities are the same—with a focus on growing the public safety departments, expanding housing options, and investing in city and recreation infrastructure—because the council’s only just started to see improvement, she explained.
“We’ve made some huge inroads over the last two years, [but] so much is still needed,” she said. “We are much better off, but it’s still really important for us to stay focused so the community can improve and the quality of life can improve for everyone.”
Building relationships with leaders at county, state, and federal levels is essential because it opens doors for future investment and collaboration, Osborne added.
“I think that’s been a huge key to our recent successes and additional funding, and I want to keep doing that but it doesn’t happen overnight. We had a great relationship with [4th District Supervisor] Bob Nelson, and now we’re building our relationship with [3rd District Supervisor] Joan Hartmann,” she said
Traveling to Sacramento and meeting with higher officials to keep Lompoc at the decision-making table and part of discussions is another priority for Osborne, she said.
“Those are long investments and strong partnerships that I want to keep growing. I want to keep being a cheerleader for our community and fighting the negativity that exists because of our prior situations,” she said. “I really think having someone in the leadership position that doesn’t just see the problems, but the successes and positivity, is really important and it builds support for each other.”
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2022.