Since last December, Lompoc City Councilmember Jeremy Ball has been asking his colleagues on the dais to join him in doing something about fellow Councilmember Steve Bridge’s predicament.
No, not to help the guy. To slap him on the wrist.
Ball finally got his wish, kind of.
The council agreed 3-1, with Bridge abstaining and Councilmember Dirk Starbuck opposed, to take up the discussion of whether to officially censure Bridge for the felony charges against him.
It’s about time.
Earlier this year, Bridge’s conversation with a District Attorney’s Office investigator really shined a light on the situation. Bridge, who’s being charged with forgery, identity theft, and misusing city funds, told the investigator that he used a contractor’s license number he found on the internet to qualify for more than $10,000 in city rebates.
“They needed a receipt to document the work that was done, so I ginned that thing up,” Bridge said.
That statement and other statements similar to it are enough for the council to take action, Ball argued.
“Even in just normal public life, you’re supposed to hesitate before you fill out a form fraudulently. That’s kind of a given,” Ball said. “Every single time we’re talking about something important, how we push money around as a city, as a council, we’re sitting next to someone that is charged with misusing funds.”
Mayor Jim Mosby has been reticent to take public action against Bridge for the charges against him, saying the council doesn’t wear the black robes of the justice system. During the Aug. 18 meeting, Mosby referred to the potential censure as a form of bullying—but he voted to have the discussion anyway.
A censure really has no teeth. It’s other council members’ way of saying they disapprove of a colleague’s actions and that those actions don’t conform with city policies or ethics. Censuring someone who admits to falsifying records isn’t bullying. It’s appropriate.
If Bridge were a city employee, he would have been placed on leave or even fired.
I don’t have a lot of faith that Ball will get what he wants in September, no matter what the public has to say about it: “The public showed up, and they continue to show up. They’ve cared enough to make sure not to let this go away or be swept under the rug. … And that’s where we are now.”
Well, there’s also a whole court case dedicated to the issue, so I don’t think this is getting swept under the rug. But you know what is? Call boxes.
Santa Barbara County wants to sweep them out the door, actually. The county Association of Governments (SBCAG) is weighing whether to pull the remaining 47 call boxes off the road. On average those boxes are used 1.5 times a year, Transportation Planner Peter Williamson told the SBCAG board. As board member and Solvang Mayor David Brown put it: “What you’re telling us is it’s so antiquated that it’s gone the way of the buggy whip?”
Well, I wouldn’t go that far! As Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino said, there are plenty of spots with bad or no cell service. It would suck to be stranded without a yellow box in sight. μ
The Canary loves yellow! Send some color to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in August 27 – September 3, 2026.
