The Lompoc City Council added one newcomer to the dais, but the addition of Jeremy Ball may have a more far-reaching impact on the future.
Mayor Jenelle Osborne and Councilwoman Gilda Cordova plus Ball took the oath of office during the meeting Tuesday night.
The council also bid farewell to Councilman Jim Mosby, who was not re-elected to another term, losing to Ball. The final tally saw District 4 voters give Ball 58.5% compared with 41.3% for Mosby.
The departing councilman declined to make a statement Tuesday night after the mayor recognized his six years on the council.
In her second successful bid to wield the gavel, Osborne bested challenger Victor Vega, who will remain on the council to complete the final two years of that term. The incumbent mayor received 53.6% compared with 45.8% for Vega.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, Vega was appointed mayor pro-tem.
Cordova, who ran unopposed for the District 1 seat but still campaigned, received 95.4%. She has served for two years on the council after being appointed to complete Osborne’s term when she was elected mayor.
Osborne and Cordova often ended up on the losing side of 3-2 votes, setting the stage for a shift since Ball aligns more with them than Vega and Councilman Dirk Starbuck.
The city has struggled financially in recent years, finally putting a sales tax hike before voters after the trio of Mosby, Vega and Starbuck had balked. Public safety budgets have been tight as homicide rates have climbed. Residents have complained about neglected parks. Council members also have wrestled with recruiting businesses to the city and dealt with the decision to embrace cannabis businesses.
Osborne said she believes the five members making up the panel will unite around their love for Lompoc.
“I think you have a new group that has a really positive outlook on how we can improve our community, and I think you have current council members with two years left who believe in the same thing,” the mayor said.
“So it’s really an exciting time for our community to reset and also a really stressful time,” she said, noting the panel must tackle the pandemic effects on the city, its businesses and residents.
Osborne and Cordova often ended up on the losing side of 3-2 votes, setting the stage for a shift since Ball aligns more with them than Vega and Councilman Dirk Starbuck.
“It’s not a power shift in my opinion,” Osborne said. “What it is, is an opportunity for us to reset as a community.
“That’s my overall goal is not to look at it as a power shift but as an opportunity for us to have success and improvements and strengthen our community as a whole.”
She encouraged members of the public to continuing participating in council meetings to share their ideas and concerns.
Cordova said she expects the panel to work hard for the community.
“I am anticipating a clear-minded council. I’m anticipating a council that can learn to come together and work together,” she said. “I’m not anticipating a new majority. What I’m anticipating is an independent-minded council that can work hard for our community and be able to tackle all of our issues and know that we are putting our community residents at No. 1.”
Cordova, who works in the hospitality industry, said she campaigned as if she had a challenger to let the voters in District 1 know more about her and encourage them to bring her any concerns.
“I think an open dialogue is so important to get the community involved, and that’s my purpose for educating my community, too, and letting them know their voice is what counts,” she said.
Ball is a businessman and community advocate who grew up in Lompoc. While new to the council, he has been active in other aspects of the community.
“I just want to report that I am excited to be here, happy to get started working with fresh ideas and collaborating with the entire community,” Ball said after taking a seat on the dais.
He said his approach will be to keep lines of communication open despite disagreements.
“If you have to disagree with about 80 percent of the stuff, that’s OK. Let’s keep talking,” he said. “Let’s agree to figure out the 20% so we can work together to better our community.”
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
