I am supporting John Linn for mayor of Lompoc and Dirk Starbuck for City Council. These two small business owners have the life experiences necessary to help guide Lompoc through these tough times. They have made decisions that allowed their businesses to stay open and keep people employed, and I have all the confidence that they will be able to use this experience to help maintain critical services during this budget crunch.
Starbuck is homegrown; he was born and raised in the Lompoc Valley and has deep agricultural roots. He and his wife and children traveled to many places during his 20-year U.S. Navy career; they saw the world and chose to come back to Lompoc to stay. For him, serving the community is personal, and he will add an important element to council discussions.
Linn, with a long history in Lompoc, has a deep understanding of all the issues that face our city, and he has been engaged in the debate at every council meeting—in fact, more meetings than his competitor. Over the last couple of years, he has provided ideas to solve problems, and many of them were quietly adopted by the current council without fanfare or acknowledgment.
Both Linn and Starbuck will provide strong leadership for our community.
This article appears in Oct 7-14, 2010.