Should someone who was caught lying to police and pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter after blaming the accident on another person be able to run for office?
No.
But, legally, yes. Yes, they can if the charge they pleaded guilty to is only a misdemeanor. And that’s exactly what’s happening in one of the races to sit on the Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District board
David Baskett, who actually sat on two different elected bodies before the accident in question, is running to retain his seat on the school board. The Santa Maria Public Airport Board managed to get rid of him after the 2024 incident, which took place as he was exiting airport property.
Of course, he sued the airport afterward for violating his rights. Which comes as no surprise to anyone who’s looked through Baskett’s history with the local court system. There’s a lot of suing.
So, to recap: He’s in the middle of serving the year of probation that he was sentenced to for his crime of killing another human, and he could get reelected to make decisions that are expected to enrich the lives of local high school students.
What does he have to say about it?
“We’ll see how it comes out,” he said. “We’ll see if the overall picture is stronger than the negative.”
Shrug.
His big plans? An aviation program at the district’s CTE center. Seems fitting. And a bond measure to build a new high school—which failed in 2024, and the board decided against putting it on the ballot again in 2026.
Baskett’s opponent, Joe Dana, chaired the Orcutt Union School District’s successful 2016 bond measure campaign and hopes to do something similar if he gets elected.
In fact, most of the candidates are ready to help the district build that new, sorely needed high school to address current classroom overcrowding. Voters don’t seem as eager!
High schools are boring, you know? ICE is much more galvanizing. After last week’s incident at Allan Hancock College, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement followed a man into a campus parking lot and arrested him while he was dropping his daughter off at school, the city of Santa Maria actually canceled its City Council meeting.
The reason? A lack of quorum—that’s what the city said on Oct. 6.
The real reason? City Council member safety, according to a release before the rescheduled meeting on Oct. 8. Interesting.
Apparently high-key threats were made against the council on social media following the Oct. 5 incident. The Sun asked for specifics from the city, as in who was threatened and what was said. Crickets!
The city beefed up security by adding one extra police officer to the rescheduled meeting. That’s a grand total of two police officers.
But the crowd of people who had lined up outside the council chambers door to speak on Oct. 6 had thinned considerably by Oct. 8, when 11 speakers gave the council their thoughts during public comment.
One of the speakers took the opportunity to put out a campaign talking point.
“We cannot claim to care about our community while ignoring the fear and harm our residents are experiencing,” 1st District City Council candidate Celest Mendoza said.
The Canary loves to eat crickets. Send some to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in October 15, 2026 – October 22, 2026.
