Solvang’s still down 30 city staffers after more than two weeks of a strike over the City Council’s “last, best, and final” salary offer: 4 percent raises in each of the next three consecutive years.
What do employees want? For two of those years to have 6 percent raises, instead. They want it so badly that they haven’t taken a paycheck for two weeks and are starting a third week, after a negotiating session on Sept. 28 didn’t go their way.
It’s the first strike in Solvang’s city history. Milestone!
The city isn’t happy.
“They do get a fair living wage. It’s $75,000 a year on average,” City Manager Randy Murphy said.
So, after two-plus weeks of striking without pay, union members have already lost more than 2 percent of their yearly salary. How long does it make sense to strike?
As for Danish Days, which we were all worried about, Mayor David Brown essentially said the city didn’t need those strikers anyway!
“Danish Days went by very smoothly I think, in large part to our city management team that picked up the slack during the strike,” Brown said.
Well, those managers are likely not making any more money for all their extra work. So, looks like things might be getting a bit testy in the little Danish city that could. Murphy said the union was “holding the city hostage with its efforts to shut down city services.”
Oh boy! Shots fired.
The union said the city was making “false and misleading assertions.”
Fake news!
“City workers deeply value serving the Solvang community. All they are asking for is a fair wage agreement, … fair wage increases to keep up with economic realities,” union Central Coast Coordinator Cliff Reynolds said.
And they’re “fully prepared to stay the course,” he added.
I wonder how long things will last if the negotiators can’t agree on what a “fair wage” is.
If the “whimsical,” half-finished hotel development downtown is any indicator of what the city is willing to put up with once it puts its foot down, this strike could be a while. The scaffolding and chain-link fencing should start paying rent, they’ve been up for so long.
The developer, Ed St. George, is as stubborn as the city of Solvang. He sued the city over its decision to issue a stop work order over discrepancies with the project’s city-approved plans. The city then tried, unsuccessfully, to get the lawsuit thrown out. Here we are, a year later—all scaffolding and no windmill!
Apparently, there are settlement talks, so the little Danish hotel village that could, might just.
Meanwhile, in Guadalupe, parking is apparently tight—so tight that neighbors aren’t being very nice to neighbors.
“I was going down the street, and I already saw people flipping each other off because one wanted a spot over somebody else,” resident Edward Zarati told City Council members on Sept. 22 during a hearing about building more affordable housing on Pioneer Street. “I’m not opposed to having a place for people to live, but I think we’ve already done a lot on Pioneer Street.”
With state rules falling on the side of building affordable housing, parking isn’t a priority, so get those middle fingers in shape, people!
The Canary is a middle finger. Send angry words to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in October 1 – October 8, 2026.
