An accusation of favoritism, a threat to leave, testy exchanges and a handshake added up to a very different forum for the trio vying for the chance to represent the Third District on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.

Two days after a mostly congenial forum, incumbent Joan Hartmann plus challengers Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne and political newcomer Frank Troise sat side by side Thursday night, this time at Lompoc City Hall, where testy exchanges took place multiple times.

Balancing a need for housing and protecting prime agricultural land drew strong comments related to Lompoc’s attempts to annex agricultural land in the Bailey Avenue corridor west of the city. The incumbent supervisor and the mayor fall on opposite sides of the issue.

While aerospace firms and the military are expanding operations at Vandenberg Space Force Base, the employees are buying homes in other communities, meaning they’re not shopping at Lompoc businesses or volunteering locally, Osborne said.

“Prime ag land and protecting it is vital. Dropping housing all around Goleta when Goleta’s been the only South County town to build aggressively since its incorporation is a burden. And ignoring a community that’s willing to grow and have balanced housing that isn’t redlining on race anymore, but is redlining on socio-economics, is a dangerous path,” Osborne said.

Troise, who two nights earlier advocated for development in Lompoc, calling it a clean slate, said he agreed with Osborne.

He also vowed to reject state requirements, but didn’t expand on how.

“Who will have, of the three of us, no problem whatsoever standing up to Sacramento and using a key word that my wife keeps reminding me is a full sentence — no?” he said.

Noting that elected officials take oaths to uphold the California Constitution, Hartmann called Troise’s comments “bizarre to me.”

She added that the Santa Barbara County Local Agency Formation Commission deemed the Bailey Avenue corridor annexation as “not consistent with good land-use planning.” The panel voted 6-1 to reject the plan with Osborne as the lone opponent. 

The proposal would have created a thumb into agricultural land, meaning that new housing would have been surrounded on three sides by agriculture.

“It would have created greater nuisance and greater conflict,” Hartmann said. 

However, Osborne said the site has been targeted for a “builders’ remedy project,” meaning any development could increase the low-income housing while the city would lose out on roughly $8 million in fees but still need to supply services without financial benefits.

In her introduction, Hartmann said Lompoc is the only city she represents without a “community-driven vision.”

“This is a hindrance because there’s no consensus on the top issues, and it works against collaboration,” Hartmann said.

Hartmann also said she surveyed the community to determine their concerns, which ended up being homelessness, youth well-being and violence, and economic vitality.

Osborne disagreed, and called Hartmann’s opinion “a sad assessment by our current representation.”

As mayor, Osborne said she met with Hartmann about top concerns such as homelessness that the county controls funding for, only to not see results. After the 2018 riverbed cleanup, the city sought financial help from the county since the riverbed falls in multiple jurisdictions.  

“I’m running because I watched all the work we’re doing here locally to improve our community run into roadblocks at the county level,” Osborne said.

It’s been 30 years since Lompoc has had a representative on the Board of Supervisors, when Dianne Owens served from 1989 to 1993.

Two nights after dropping a binder to create a loud bang in the Los Olivos room and claiming he didn’t want to run for the job, Troise brought more drama for Thursday’s forum. 

Media stories about fundraising, or a lack of it by two of the candidates, apparently hit a nerve with Troise, after an email called him a sham since the investment banker hadn’t raised a significant amount of campaign donations. 

Saying he didn’t believe in coincidences, Troise blamed attacks on his performance at the Goleta forum, claiming, “I held the incumbent’s feet to the fire on her record, on her issues, on her eight years in office.”

“Since that hard discussion in Goleta, there have been hit pieces in the local media that have attacked me personally and this campaign,” said Troise, who also complained about the media trying “to create a spectacle about something that didn’t mean anything.” 

He also contended that a question about gun violence was “off menu,” accusing organizers of giving at least one other candidate the question ahead of time and threatening to leave. Organizers denied distributing the questions to other candidates.

A question about health care led to a vow between two candidates and confusion about another’s answers. 

Troise offered a vague response, leading the incumbent to tell him, “I don’t even understand what you’re talking about.” 

Hartmann suggested that she and Osborne should work together to bring a Planned Parenthood satellite office to Lompoc to provide low-cost birth control and health screenings.

“Sure,” Osborne said. 

“That’s a deal?” Hartmann asked as the two shook hands. 

“Absolutely,” Osborne said. 

The Third District now includes Lompoc along with the Santa Ynez Valley and a smaller area of the Goleta Valley. Noticeably absent after redistricting is Isla Vista, home to UCSB students.

If a candidate doesn’t receive more than 50% of the votes in the March 5 primary, the race will head to a runoff election Nov. 5 for the top two candidates.

Whether a winner is decided in March or November, the four-year term won’t start until January. 

The full video of the Third District candidates forum hosted by the Lompoc-Vandenberg Branch of the American Association of University Women along with the recently renamed League of Women Voters of North Santa Barbara County can be viewed by clicking here.