Lompoc City Counclimember Dirk Starbuck’s got flair—I won’t say what type of flair it is, but it’s flair nonetheless.
I’m not sure if he was trying to be funny or serious when he made this comment during the May 17 City Council meeting: “Some dogs are identifying as cats in town because of this.” Because he achieved neither!
I’m pretty sure that Santa Barbara County Animal Services is there to help both Lompoc’s dogs and cats—but then again I’m not sure at all, because it didn’t sound like anyone knew exactly what services the county department provides to the city as part of its contract. And those services weren’t specified in the staff report accompanying the agenda item, either.
All anyone knew was that it’s costing the city about $30,000 a month, even after the county closed its Lompoc animal shelter in 2021 and started providing services to Lompoc from Santa Maria. How exactly can we provide services in one city, when all of the actual services are located in another?
Ooh, I know! Lompoc residents, whose city is paying $30,000 a month for services, have to travel to Santa Maria to receive said services. And gas is expensive!
“For $30,000, I’d expect a lot more,” Starbuck said.
Yes, me too!
“For $30,000 a month, maybe we can get on the ballot and get somebody to run for dog catcher, too,” he added.
Wait, was that another joke?
See, he’s got flair!
In all seriousness though, Councilmember Jeremy Ball said that the level of service from the county has decreased while costs are doing the opposite—isn’t that everything these days.
“I just really challenge all parties, give us a competitive system, teach us what we are actually getting for the money we invest,” he said.
And I can’t believe that neither county staff, who phoned into the meeting (See what I did there?), or city staff could tell the City Council exactly what the city was actually getting for its money. They couldn’t tell council members exactly when the new five-year contract would be ready to look at, either.
What kind of presentation was this exactly? A get ready to pay more and know less presentation! The county anticipates that costs will increase between 1.6 and 4.1 percent over the next five years, as it stops using county funds to supplement Lompoc’s costs.
I looked at the accompanying city staff documents, and if I sat on that dais, I would make jokes, too. But I also would ask why Solvang and Buellton are paying less than $50,000 per year for services. What kind of county animal services are they using? How does it compare? Is there a closer shelter for Lompoc residents?
Lompoc council members seem to be thinking that the city may be able to run a more efficient, more economic operation than the county.
“If we can do it cheaper and more efficiently, I want someone to prove it to me. If the county can do that, it’s reasonable for us to request that they prove it to us too,” Ball said.
It’s 100 percent reasonable. And it’s unreasonable that the City Council has to ask at all.
The Canary is always unreasonable. Send reason to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 2, 2022.
