Mirroring the economic malaise around California and the nation, these are dark financial days for Santa Barbara County government, so much so that outgoing 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone recently suggested that the five-member Board of Supervisors declare a fiscal emergency.
With this in mind, the Nov. 4 election to succeed the retiring Firestone couldn’t be more important.
Especially in light of how the district is uniquely pivotal. The county is roughly split between the Democrat-leaning South Coast and the Republican-leaning North County. The 3rd District — encompassing the Goleta Valley, Isla Vista and the Santa Ynez Valley — has long been a swing district.
Santa Barbara County is the largest government entity in the county, with its Board of Supervisors watching over an $800 million budget. This year, it has suffered a $25 million shortfall, owing largely to the mortgage crisis and runaway retirement costs.
County government watchers and officials alike warn there will likely be more cuts to come, especially in light of the state’s fiscal misfortunes.
The responsibilities of the Board of Supervisors are vast. It has the final say on the budget of the Sheriff’s Department and Coroner’s Office, itself worth nearly $100 million. The supervisors are the primary local elected officials representing residents in unincorporated areas, which include the region between Goleta and Santa Barbara, as well as Isla Vista, Montecito and other areas in the North County.
They oversee the jail for the wayward, clinics for the downtrodden, as well as mental health services for those with disabilities, many of them just a threadbare safety net away from homelessness.
The Board of Supervisors will be the ultimate deciders on the extent of development on lots of pristine open land such as the Gaviota coast, and could soon be called upon to issue the final word on whether the Miramar Hotel gets re-built in Montecito.
Perhaps in part because the stakes are so high, the two remaining candidates in the run-off election for the 3rd District seat — Doreen Farr, a Democrat, and Steve Pappas, a registered “nonpartisan” — have thus far decided to run a cordial campaign. In a recent debate, and in this questionnaire, neither has taken a sharp jab at the other.
Both believe the gravity of the financial crisis probably means more budget cuts, and both have expressed wariness of more oil drilling off the coast.
But there are clear differences in form and substance alike between Farr, a former county planning commissioner, and Pappas, president of the Los Olivos school board.
Farr in many cases has displayed a deeper understanding of policy, and can come off as a knowledgeable insider. Pappas has been the more forthright speaker, showcasing a certain penchant for populism and reform.
On how to weather the financial storm, for instance, Farr calls for ideas such as reducing the costs of large-scale fires by updating disaster planning, and increasing revenue by reviewing county surplus properties to see if any can be sold.
Pappas calls for an outside audit, to find out “where all the money has gone,” and bluntly recommends “cutting the fat,” offering up a specific example of a department he believes is bloated: “The bureaucracy in both the Planning and Development office and Department of Long-Range Planning.”
On pensions, there seems to be a clear difference. Farr, whose biggest financial contributor is the Service Employees International Union, emphasizes the importance of a healthy benefits package to attract and retain excellent employees. Pappas, whose biggest financial backer is Nancy Crawford-Hall, publisher of the Santa Ynez Valley Journal, seems to call for a downgrade for new hires, saying “we cannot afford what we did five years ago.”
These are just a couple of the differences highlighted by the questionnaire. To learn more, please read their answers by clicking the links below.
Click here for Doreen Farr’s Q&A.
Click here for Steve Pappas’ Q&A.
Noozhawk staff writer Rob Kuznia can be reached at rkuznia@noozhawk.com.
