This past year was a bit of a rough one. Starting in Guadalupe—the littlest city that could, but only if the deadline is tomorrow and staff has to overnight something to a state agency after City Council approves it tonight.
Talk about last minute! That city is flying by the seat of its pantaloons.
The Royal Theater project is moving along, but barely, thanks to some extremely last-minute maneuvering by city staff that included a failed attempt to put a measure on the ballot that would have paid for part of the project because it’s now costing more than it was originally anticipated to cost.
Which, let’s be honest, was predictable.
What wasn’t predictable was how long the Santa Maria Riverbed cleanup would take. Nine months. Most cleanups are zip, zap, zop—in and out, baby; millions of dollars spent in a week! But not this one. Santa Barbara County, SLO County, Caltrans, and all of the respective nonprofits that pitched in to help took their sweet time on this go-around. And maybe, maybe, maybe, this time, this one time, a cleanup will have worked to connect unhoused people with resources and housing permanently.
But I’m not holding my breath.
The Firefighters Union Local 2020 in Santa Maria held its breath all through the election. And its 57 members might still be holding their breath, wondering when the hell they’re going to get a raise! After reaching a stalemate with the city early in 2024 over what the union saw as not a big enough pay raise, firefighters are still waiting for a pay bump.
And they’ll likely have to keep on waiting. The union spent more than $15,000 (possibly way more) backing City Council candidates in this year’s election, and none of those candidates will be taking seats on the Santa Maria dais.
But Jim Mosby is taking a seat on the Lompoc dais, and who knows what the city is in for next year! He has a bit of a reputation as a disruptor, so I’ll definitely be watching to see if he makes good on his promises to reel in government spending and redirect the city to the track it was on while he was last in office.
And I guess we’ll also see if Lompoc finally gets a space center! Voters decided to privatize Ken Adam Park so a private company can turn it into the place the city’s always dreamed about. Nobody’s been able to make it happen in yet. Maybe Pale Blue Dot Ventures is the one, you know? Or not.
Hopefully, this is the year that Allan Hancock College finally gets to offer local students a bachelor’s degree. And no, I don’t mean with the help of Cal Poly. I mean all on its own!
With provisional approval from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in applied professional studies, I’m crossing my fingers that none of the CSUs or UCs in the state object to the idea.
Cal Poly better stay in its lane!
I will hold my breath for this one and cross my feathered fingers and clawed toes.
Send your hopes and dreams to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 26, 2024 – Jan 5, 2025.