Complaints from some Solvang officials about being blindsided by Mayor David Brown’s new side venture prompted an update to the City Council’s ethics code.
While Brown informed city staff about his plans for Solvang Passport—a mobile phone app he created that promotes specific tourism destinations and businesses in town for a monthly fee—in late 2025, the city’s municipal code did not require staff to explicitly share Brown’s disclosure with the council.
At its June 8 meeting, the council approved a code revision that tasks the city manager with periodically preparing staff reports with up-to-date information on each council members’ financial interests and Form 700 filings.
“It would also put an obligation on council members during the year to report when they acquire new financial interests to the city manager within 30 days of that interest,” City Attorney Chelsea O’Sullivan said at the meeting. “Then the city manager would report those new financial interests to the council on a quarterly basis.”
Brown dissented in the 4-1 vote to approve the policy.
“I’m not seeing how putting it in front of everybody every six months improves the situation,” Brown said. “I anticipated that there was going to be some additional add-ons to … reporting aspects of it, but this goes a lot further than that. … If nothing’s happened in a year, it’s [just] busy work.”
Brown also said the self-reporting obligation is redundant since it reiterates rules already in place through the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
“You’re correct in that what’s being disclosed is what is reportable under state law,” O’Sullivan said to Brown. “Under state law, all of you and myself included have to report on a Form 700 to the state. Anyone can look up those Form 700s, they’re public documents, … and, so, in some ways this is a little ‘belt and suspenders.’
“But it’s more about affirmatively getting the information in front of the council,” she continued, “and at a more frequent timing.”
In April, staff’s original pitch to the council was to add a single sentence to Solvang’s code of ethics that read: “Members of the City Council shall promptly notify staff and the City Council of any new material financial interests that arise during the members’ terms in office.”
Staff refined the code update with the 30-day timeline and other specifics after some officials said the original modification was too broad and vague.
“I think it’s an overstep, quite honestly,” Brown said. “I just have issues with the language.”
During past discussions about Brown’s Solvang Passport app, Councilmember Claudia Orona frequently encouraged anyone with conflict of interest concerns to report them to the FPPC.
Her family’s business, the Solvang Trolley Ice Cream Parlor, is a featured destination on the app with exclusive perks—such as a free ice cream cone—for users who rack up a certain amount of points.
As she was taking part in the vote to approve the ethics code amendment, she said: “I hope I don’t regret this, but yes.”
“We should act in favor of our constituents, not our colleagues,” Orona said. “While I don’t think this council would abuse this particularly, I could see how this could get abused to just target or bully a colleague, just because we don’t like them or we don’t like their opinions or something like that.”
This article appears in June 18 – June 25, 2026.
