I recently received a mailer exhorting me to “vote against Joan Hartmann.” I wasn’t advised who I was supposed to vote for. However, in tiny letters I found the source: “Paid for by Porter for Supervisor.” Perhaps Bruce Porter was reluctant to ask people to vote for him because of his misleading statements.
Porter’s mailer claims that Joan broke a promise about the Vista Del Mar School, causing its financial difficulties. He footnotes his claim, but his source cites as causes a combination of the Refugio Oil Spill and state changes in education funding, issues over which Joan has no control. Then, without any authority, he contends that the negotiations over Camp 4 diverted tax money from education to the general fund. Sorry, wrong there too.
Next, Porter contends that Joan broke some promise about cannabis. Again, Porter’s citation doesn’t support his statement, and instead states that the county benefitted by an extra $1.2 million in revenue from cannabis operations. He wrongly contends that Joan allowed cannabis into the county without restrictions; Joan has in fact fought diligently to regulate the industry.
Third, Porter asserts that Joan broke a promise about infrastructure, resulting in unsafe parks, bridges, and roads. Yet again, Porter cites a document that doesn’t support his contention, the county road maintenance plan. In fact, Joan has consistently voted to fund deferred maintenance of county infrastructure.
If you value honesty and integrity in government over lies and innuendo, please join me in voting to re-elect Joan Hartmann.
France Komoroske
Santa Ynez
This article appears in Feb 6-13, 2020.