Solvang Trolley and Carriage Company drama collided with Solvang City Council drama and exploded into a cacophony of voices during a recent meeting that got so out of control Mayor Ryan Toussaint slammed his gavel down at one point and broke it!
He totally doesn’t know his own strength.
Guess what it was about?
Something so mundane and boring you wouldn’t believe that a council member also stormed out of the meeting because of it. But that’s exactly what Councilmember Chris Djernaes did. And perhaps, that’s exactly why he’s the subject of a recall petition.
The trolley company was renewing its business license, which the City Council apparently needs to approve yearly for some reason. (That changed on July 13, thanks to the very strong Toussaint.) Claudia Orona, whose family owns the company, said the city had slighted the 50-year-old local business over the last year—especially when it hired out-of-towners Cinderalla Carriages to operate during Julefest!
Remember all that drama over shade structures for the company’s horses? Oy. I think that’s when I realized how much anger lives on the streets of cute ol’ Solvang, just waiting for a reason to be unleashed.
False rumors spread about how the company abused animals and just wanted the city’s money. The rumors were, of course, unsubstantiated and Santa Barbara County Animal Services said the Oronas were in compliance and cooperative. People can be so cruel to other people sometimes. For no other reason than it makes them feel better.
Well, Councilmember Robert Clarke, for one, doesn’t appreciate being lumped in with other City Council members. He’s an independent man, dammit!
“I’m in support of the trolley, but I’m tired of all the other garbage that goes on in this place,” he said on July 13.
Damn, Robert! I wonder what (who) he could be referring to—not! It’s definitely Djernaes, who doesn’t know how to take his foot out of his mouth. The guy believes this super old company with lots of community support is operating a monopoly. I mean, obviously there are several locally based, horse-drawn carriage companies just waiting to break out from under the oppressive hooves of the Solvang Trolley folks.
A quick internet search yields … no other local companies! Solvang had to go all the way to Riverside to find Cinderella Carriages, so could you be more specific, Djernaes, about the big, bad local trolley market monopoly?
He criticized people for making it an emotional issue before saying that he wouldn’t pander to the mob. “This is a business decision,” he claimed, continuing to engage with residents over the decision.
Toussaint tried to limit the discussion several times.
“I’m not done,” Djernaes said. Damn. OK. Temper tantrum much?
Does he actually like fighting with city residents? Like, he gets a kick out of it, maybe? And enjoys playing the victim?
Finally, the mayor got some support from fellow council members to put an end to the vocal shenanigans after banging his gavel onto the dais so hard it cracked! Wowwee!!!!
Casting the sole vote against approving the license, Djernaes stormed out of the meeting after telling his colleagues that they pandered to the mob (aka the majority of residents)—and there were still items left on the agenda! What?!
Talk about emotional! Amirite?
The canary is feeling emotional. Send comments to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 23-30, 2020.