• On Dec. 29, the Solvang City Council chose a familiar face to fill a seat left open by Councilmember Jim Richardson who was elected mayor in November. Council members had discussed the possibility of holding a special election to fill the position, but ultimately appointed former mayor and city councilmember Ken Palmer to fill the seat. Palmer finished second to Hans Duus in the city council race during the Nov. 4 general election. Palmer will now serve the remainder of the two-year term. A total of nine people, including Palmer, applied to fill the vacant seat. Palmer, however, was considered by many to be a shoe-in because council members Ed Skytt and Linda Jackson made clear in the past their desire to appoint him to the position. They have gone on record saying that appointing Palmer to the position is the right thing to do since he finished second, losing to Duus by only 32 votes. In the past, the council was in a 2-2 deadlock over appointing Palmer, with Mayor Jim Richardson and Duus opposing. However, the council members voted unanimously on Dec. 29 to appoint Palmer to the position.
• U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) recently released a statement criticizing regulations approved by the Bush Administration on Dec. 18 that could hurt access to basic family planning services. According to press reports from Capps’ office, the Department of Health and Human Services has published a new rule that would restrict women’s healthcare options, thus undermining the ability of healthcare providers to secure funding and provide essential services. The rule requires all recipients of federal health care funding to sign a written certification that they won’t discriminate against health care entities who refuse to provide patients with abortions or even birth control. “Even in its waning final days, the Bush Administration cannot resist recklessly playing partisan politics with women’s healthcare,” Capps, a former nurse and vice-chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, said in the release. “This rule is unnecessary, harmful to women’s health, and one last parting gift to conservative ideologues.” Capps also said in the release that the new rule goes far beyond current federal protections against abortion by attempting to define abortion services so broadly that it could include many types of birth control, such as oral contraception and emergency contraception. Capps has worked in the past to maintain access to family planning services and contraception. She was part of the successful efforts to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B emergency contraception and also to prevent attempts to restrict funding from certain health providers who provide comprehensive family planning services.
This article appears in Jan 1-8, 2009.
