There have been times when I’ve been accused of enjoying the power of the pen a little too much. That I love my position perched high above the ag fields of the Santa Maria Valley, wielding my pen like a scepter and spilling my bias all over the pages of the Sun like so much scattered bird seed.
Mostly those comments come from staunch, closed-minded conservatives. Except when those comments are coming from super liberal, embrace-everything, left-wing radicals. And that, my North County friends, is exactly the position I like to be in—smack in the middle of both sides. Riling up the right and stirring up the left.
I’ll tell you where I wouldn’t have wanted to be earlier this month: on the dais of the Lompoc City Council.
The council had a tough decision to make and it involved firefighters. Everyone loves a firefighter. But the Lompoc Fire Department didn’t get much love at the council’s March 1 meeting. Unfortunately, the city couldn’t afford it.
The council voted to put off building a new fire station to replace the cramped quarters that currently house the crew and equipment at Fire Station No. 2.
The council first turned down a proposal to build a replacement station several months ago but revisited the issue again in an attempt to make it work.
They couldn’t make it work.
Fire Chief Kurt Latipow appealed to the council saying that if something isn’t done, the department won’t be able to serve the projected call volume moving into the future. That’s scary stuff, people! Growth happens and Lompoc won’t stay at its current population forever. People want to know that their emergencies warrant a quick response. I know that if me or mine have an emergency I want emergency crews to be there the second I put down the phone—OK or as soon as reasonably possible thereafter.
However, I understand the pressure the council members shouldered.
The fire station was proposed to cost $29.8 million over 30 years. That’s a huge chunk of change that the city would be on the hook for, and the city would be on that hook for a long, long time.
The cost is what led Councilman Jim Mosby to move to postpone building the new station. He told the council that the city needs to step up and start setting money aside for future replacements of facilities.
Prior to voting, Mayor Bob Lingl made a point of highlighting the fact that 1) The councilmembers all agreed there is a need for a new fire station and 2) That postponing building the station would mean that there would be a long, undetermined amount of time before the station would get built. Probably many, many years and many, many additional residents from now.
Incur long-term debt to the detriment of other departments, or keep the status quo and hope that it isn’t to the detriment of public safety? See? I’d much rather be sandwiched between the right wing and the left.
Mosby’s motion to postpone the station passed in a 3-2 vote.
At least the council gave it thorough consideration. The project definitely deserved a second look. Hopefully it’s a project that doesn’t get swept under the rug for too long.
Now, who needs help opening up that savings account?
The Canary thinks someone should be raising money for the firefighters. Send her comments at canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2016.
