What would the city of Lompoc give to have an extra $35,000 floating around in its general revenue fund just to spend on TV advertising? For one, it would mean the Lompoc Fire Department would have earthquake-retrofitted fire stations.
This year for the first time in more than a decade, Lompoc was able to balance its budget without any staff reductions, furloughs, or operational cuts. That’s thanks in part to years of thinning. And a police department that manages to function without being fully staffed.
At a certain point during the COVID-19 pandemic, the city had to furlough its spokesperson and all media inquiries were directed through Mayor Jenelle Osborne.
Meanwhile, just down the Great Wine Highway (246), Solvang was doing well enough that it managed to keep and renew its contracts with marketing company IDK Events during the pandemic. Yes, contracts, plural—the most recent was about $100,000 to run the Solvang Visitors Center for six months.
According to Solvang City Councilmember Claudia Orona, the city’s contracts with IDK are worth 300 big ones. She mentioned it during a Nov. 22 meeting when the Solvang Chamber of Commerce requested $35,000 from the city for TV advertising.
“We pay IDK $300,000 for these and other things … Is any of that budgeted towards … you know … .” she said. “We know that they produce videos, are these videos going to be broadcasted? Or is that all just social media?”
Meanwhile, Lompoc is probably wondering if they could get any of that money for any kind media. You know? Pass the cash, baby. Share some of that revenue stash with neighbors and friends.
The gap between the haves and have-nots is so glaring in this county sometimes; it’s absolutely ridiculous. As cities like Lompoc and Guadalupe are struggling to balance their budgets and find business revenue to pay for public safety services under every pot leaf and cannabis dispensary they can, Solvang Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tracy Beard seemed irritated that Orona and Councilmember Jim Thomas questioned whether $35,000 was really needed—or if it was a “duplication of services.”
“It’s not,” she said. “Or I would not be here this evening.”
It’s hard to believe that this obviously well-off city and the struggling cities of Lompoc and Guadalupe are part of the same supervisorial district.
I know, I know, current 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann and some of her compatriots in Guadalupe took issue with a column I wrote insinuating she struggled to balance the competing interests of Guadalupe and Solvang area communities.
But you have to admit, it’s a hard task to reconcile the difference in wealth and needs between one side of the county and the other—they are worlds apart. The Santa Barbara County Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission’s hard task is to redistrict in a way that keeps like-minded communities of interest together so they can effectively advocate for the things that they believe they need.
I’m not blaming Solvang for having enough revenue to spend more than $30K on television ads or blaming Lompoc for not having enough revenue to fix its fire stations.
I’m just saying the difference between them is hard to ignore.
The Canary is hard to ignore. Send love letters to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 2-9, 2021.
