This election season political junkies in Noozhawk country have lots of entertainment. My favorite contests are Santa Barbara County sheriff, Congress and county auditor-controller.
My reservations about Sheriff Bill Brown date to before the last election. Remember the Deltopia “riot” of 2014? That situation quickly went south because, in my opinion, Brown did not deploy assets properly and quickly.
He did not use his mounted unit. Mounted law enforcement is a proven tactic in control of loud, drunken and angry crowds. Worse yet, once Deltopia was out of control, Brown was slow to call in additional resources. The night ended in clouds of tear gas and a hail of rubber bullets, resulting in more than 100 arrests and injuries to civilians and officers, along with property damage.
I think Brown can be slow to make the key decisions the county’s top law enforcement officer needs to make. Sometimes, I think Brown chooses to defer decisions or not make them at all.
This sheriff’s election, my vote is going to Lt. Brian Olmstead because the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department needs change at the top and, of Brown’s two opponents, Olmstead is more experienced.
How about the 24th Congressional District seat, currently held by Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara? I disagree with Carbajal on many issues, but then I agree with him on a few, such as the need for a congressional solution to the deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) debacle, as well as solutions to the district’s problems with veterans affairs and homelessness.
Regardless of whether or not the representative and I agree, I believe all elected legislators — Carbajal included — have a duty to be responsive to constituents.
Like many in Congress, Carbajal is good at sending out email “blasts.” Last New Year’s Eve, one of his emails showed up in my in box. It reflected on what he felt were the high points of his first year in office. In that email was a data box titled “2017 by the Numbers” where he listed $1,586,422 as “returned to Central Coast residents.”
I wondered, “How did that $1.5 million came back to we taxpayers?” A week later, I wrote Carbajal, and not by email or fax. It was a real letter, on paper, sent through the physical mail. I asked, “As one of your constituents, I’d like an accounting of that sum. Please, write me back with some details of what the $1,586,422.00 was for and to what people or governmental entities did the money go?”
Carbajal never replied. Three weeks later, I sent a second letter asking the question a second time and, again, he never replied. Carbajal is a typical Washington, D.C., politician — not responsive to voters in his district.
My vote is going to Michael Erin Woody. Having served a term on the Fresno City Council and with a master’s degree in Public Administration, he has the experience and education in government that the third candidate, Justin Fareed, lacks. He will be more responsive to voters than Carbajal. His legislative agenda will be less progressive and more practical. His success as a civil engineer will be invaluable in an infrastructure-challenged district such as ours.
Finally, the election for county auditor-controller. The issues surrounding that race were covered in Josh Molina’s May 30 report on Noozhawk. What worries me about the auditor-controller’s election are the allegations of conflict of interest and corruption that seem to taint candidate Betsy Schaffer’s run for for the office, along with her murky role with one of the county’s major IT service suppliers.
Another problem I have with Schaffer is that she held senior positions in the auditor-controller’s office during the time convicted embezzler Lynn Hogan was stealing money from the county. Clearly, Mrs. Schaffer’s public accountant certification did taxpayers little good.
As for her opponent, Jennifer Christensen, not being a CPA doesn’t strike me as a problem. If Christensen were elected, she’d be managing the CPAs who work for her, not micromanaging the office by doing the accounting herself. She obviously has the financial chops to run that department, having spent a number of years managing the county’s investment portfolio. My vote for auditor-controller goes to Christensen.
Hib Halverson
Goleta
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