Recently the Canary pointed out regarding the upcoming election that “this year feels like a rerun in some parts of Northern Santa Barbara County,” (“Deja vu?” Sept. 19).
That is especially true with the Lompoc mayor’s race. Two seasoned veterans and a newcomer are vying for the center seat on the council dais. The Lompoc City Council is supposed to be a nonpartisan political body, but in this election, there is only one nonpartisan candidate.
Three-time loser Jim Mosby hosts the election headquarters of the Republican Party in one of his poorly kept empty commercial properties, and newcomer Lydia Perez is strongly supported by the Democratic Party.
Current Mayor Jenelle Osborne is a true nonpartisan and isn’t beholden to either of the major political parties’ agendas. This enables her to carefully consider all the opinions of other council members equally and then help create a consensus among the group when crafting public policy.
But to be fair, let’s examine the public record of her challengers.
Lydia Perez is a newcomer to Lompoc and has some grand, large-scale ideas on her website, none of which are achievable in a two-year mayor’s term. It would take a massive infusion of revenue to accomplish any of those goals. One example is improving the roads; some people in city government who are familiar with the cost to upgrade roads to minimum national standards estimate it would take more than $75 million.
And, since she is currently employed by People’s Self-Help Housing in Goleta, a nonprofit that develops low-income housing and provides housing assistance to its clients, she would likely have to recuse herself from all housing assistance and/or low-income housing discussions.
Former Councilmember Mosby has many issues as explained in the Sun article “Mosby tries again” (Sept. 19) and the aforementioned Canary’s editorial.
According to reliable sources, he was delinquent in paying his agricultural water pump taxes for five years. These taxes go to the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation district. He just recently paid them, probably hoping no one would notice, but people might think twice about voting for someone to manage the city budget if he won’t even pay his own tax bills.
Probably the most serious and damaging thing he strongly supported during his tenure on the council was to cut the public safety positions in 2019. The immediate result was that the Lompoc Police Department lost a third of its full-time officer allocation. This action plus budget cuts added to equipment failures, which hindered immediate responses, causing “an unrelenting upward trend in violent crime,” according to the 2021 Santa Barbara County grand jury report, “Lompoc Police Department: Moving Toward a Safe and Proud Community.”
Mosby also worked feverishly to divert a 1 percent sales tax increase, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters to make tangible improvements in public safety, to pay down the retirement debt. Unfortunately, that debt isn’t controlled by the city, so it didn’t work as planned, leaving voters with none of the things the tax measure promised.
In contrast, Mayor Osborne is well respected on regional boards, including the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments and the Northern California Power Agency. As a nonpartisan, she has the ear of both conservative and liberal elected officials, which is of great benefit to our city.
During her tenure as mayor, she has been a constant cheerleader for Lompoc.
According to her website, she says, “I have worked to restore our General Fund Reserve; upgraded JM, Thompson, Beattie, Ryon, Pioneer, and soon, College Park. To address our public safety needs, I voted to replace 30-year-old firetrucks with two new trucks while adding a second brush firetruck; modernized the Police Department’s radios, added body cameras and new dispatch system as well as new lighting on H Street.”
All these contributions helped improve the quality of life for every man, woman, and child in our city.
Her competitors may claim that “change is needed,” but newcomer Lydia Perez’s plans are grandiose, and Mosby’s mode of operation has proved destructive in the past. In contrast, Mayor Osborne has delivered and continues to deliver the needed changes.
Reelect Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne; she is the only nonpartisan candidate for mayor and has demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that she is the most qualified person to be mayor.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 17-27, 2024.