It was a wild ride, but 2015 is almost over. A lot happened in the past 12 months, which may explain why the year went by so fast. We’re all one year closer to death, but so much more experienced at the same time.
So from the future, we take a look back at the past. Santa Barbara County came under the scrutiny of the national press several times. The Refugio oil spill, immigration policy, and the Katrina pararescue specialist all come to mind.
All of those stories matter, but the ones in between are equally important to the community, perhaps even more so. That includes the stories not presented on these two pages.
The Sun covered a lot of ground, but there’s more work to be done. So as we look back, we also anticipate heading into the future and what 2016 brings with it. In the meantime, take a few minutes to reflect on last year’s stories.
Railspur showdown
Crude oil is still one of the most in-demand commodities on the planet, but it’s been on the decline in Santa Barbara County in recent years. When Phillips 66 wanted to extend a rail spur directly to its refinery in Nipomo in order to keep up with production, groups—citizens, activists, etc.—showed up in droves to local government meetings urging civic leaders to take action against the refinery’s plan. Gary McKible (left) and Laurance Shinderman (right) of the Mesa Refinery Watchdog Group were extremely vocal in their opposition. “There is no benefit with this project—we are all subject to collateral damage with what they’ll be doing up and down the rail line,” McKible said. “We derive no benefit, and we take on all the risk.” Concerns focused on whether or not it’s safe to transport volatile crude oil through residential communities such as Guadalupe (which sits along the rail path close to the refinery). However, if there is no spur, then the refinery is at risk of shutting down, and if that happened, then it’s 135 good-paying jobs would go bye-bye.
Thin blue line
Former Santa Maria Police Department Lt. Dan Ast (center) challenged his firing through arbitration and sued the city of Santa Maria at the same time. In February 2015, a Sacramento-based arbitrator ruled that Ast was unjustly fired. The arbitrator blasted SMPD Chief Ralph Martin for unjustly firing Ast for whistleblower activities stemming from reporting alleged illegal and unethical behavior by other officers in the department leading up to the shooting death of officer Alberto Covarrubias Jr. by a fellow officer in 2012.
Vexing debate
The passing of Senate Bill 277—which removed the personal exemption belief for vaccines for public school children in California—didn’t sit too well with a group of mothers in Santa Maria. Even though the county enjoys a relatively high vaccination rate, a measles outbreak at Disneyland prompted concerns about greater overall immunity. A state petition being circulated by a group of “anti-vaxxers” in the city to repeal SB 277 eventually failed to gather enough signatures to get on the 2016 ballot.
Rise of the drones
St. Joseph High School graduate Joseph Tolentino preps his three-winged drone for a test flight at the Santa Maria Elks rodeo grounds. On Feb. 15, the Federal Aviation Administration released its proposed rules for regulating drones—essentially remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles—followed by a 60-day comment period. The proliferation of drones and concerns for privacy prompted California lawmakers, including Santa Barbara County’s Hannah-Beth Jackson, to introduce bills that would’ve limited their use. However, the bills didn’t pass muster at the governor’s desk; Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a trio of drone bills in September of 2015.
Bulldog sluggers
The Allan Hancock College women’s softball team won 34 straight games last season, seemingly guaranteeing a spot in the state championships. However, the lady Bulldogs’ season was cut short on May 8 after losing 8-2 to Santa Ana College in the Super Regional Tournament. Despite the loss, pitcher Katie Chenault was named an All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association—one of two junior college softball pitchers in the state to earn this distinction.
Slick move
On May 19 an oil pipeline owned by Texas-based Plains All-American Pipeline discharged more than 100,000 gallons of oil into the ocean off Refugio State Beach, covering the beach and much of the surrounding area with smelly crude oil. It was much smaller in comparison to the 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil that spilled into the Santa Barbara Channel in 1969, an event that contributed to the beginning of the modern day environmental movement in the United States. The financial impact of the Refugio spill to the county is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars, while costs to the company and legal settlements are expected to reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Corrosion and lack of a shut-off valve are suspected to be the cause of the leak and has prompted calls for greater regulatory oversight of how crude oil is shipped via pipeline.
A tale of two jails
With an aging, overcrowded jail on his hands, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown is pushing to get started with building a new, $120 million facility in Santa Maria, which would have included a STAR facility to house the mentally ill. Plans have been in the works for almost a decade, but county supervisors have threatened to pull the plug on the project unless the Sheriff’s Office can drastically bring down costs of operating both jails. Many say that the old jail is antiquated and not designed to house inmates for a long period of time. Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office as well as Corizon Health—the jail’s inmate health provider—are facing several lawsuits by former inmates at the jail who allege medical neglect and improper care.
Revamped rules
The year 2015 may be remembered as the year when the use of excessive police force became a national debate topic. The Sun profiled the Santa Maria Police and how SMPD Chief Ralph Martin has instituted a change in the use of force tactics within his department since taking over as chief in 2013.
Rescuer reunited
Aug. 29 marked the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused along the Gulf Coast. One man who was there to witness the chaos unfold was Santa Maria resident and former U.S. Air Force pararescue specialist Mike Maroney. In the weeks following the storm, Maroney rescued 142 people who were trapped in the city of New Orleans. One was 3-year-old LeShay Brown, who is shown embracing Maroney in a photograph that went viral. Maroney spent a decade searching for the identity of Brown, who was referred to as “Katrina girl.” Within a week of publishing our story on Maroney, he and Brown were reunited in Waveland, Miss.
Saint or sinner?
This year, Spanish priest and Franciscan monk Junipero Serra was declared a saint. Serra founded the first nine of California’s 21 missions in the 18th century. His sainthood is considered controversial because of how Chumash natives claim Serra treated their people at the time. Some Chumash referred to him as the “Adolf Hitler of California.” Allegations of slave labor and genocide abound, but the Pope canonized Serra on Sept. 23.
Buy sexual
In September, the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission took issue with the removal of a controversial piece of art displayed at a county building. The piece of art—a painting by Los Angeles-based skateboarder and artist Steve Olsen depicting prominent red lettering reading “BUY SEXUAL” over a grid of $69.99 price tags—hung on the wall of the county government building on Betteravia in Santa Maria for less than a week before Bob Nelson, chief of staff for 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam, took it down at the behest of Adam. Both Nelson and Adam agreed that the piece was “inappropriate,” although the painting was eventually put back up.
Ice box
Last June, the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency opened its new holding facility on the south side of Santa Maria. The new facility became a point of contention between members of the Latino population, city officials, and advocates for strong immigration enforcement in the community. Offering up transparency and wanting to alleviate misconceptions about the facility, ICE officials gave a tour to members of the local news media in October. ICE officials say the building is not a detention facility and will only be used to temporarily house “criminal aliens” coming out of prison or jail who will eventually be deported to their native countries. Despite this, undocumented immigrants in North County still feel uneasy, and even afraid, of having an ICE presence in the community.
Reefer madness
Following the signing of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act in October, municipal governments across the Central Coast began considering local ordinances to completely ban dispensaries and all cultivation of medical marijuana, even for personal use, within their jurisdictions. Santa Maria passed such an ordinance in early December, as did Lompoc and Guadalupe, although they left dispensary deliveries from outside the cities intact. These ordinances clash with Proposition 215, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 1996. It gives medical marijuana patients the right to grow their medicine without fear of criminal prosecution. With less than a year before voters in 2016 decide whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana, it’s unclear how these local ordinances will play out.
Staff Writer David Minsky can be reached at dminsky@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 31, 2015 – Jan 7, 2016.