On Nov. 5 Lompoc voters were asked: “Shall the measure, which would discontinue the public park use of the 82-acre parcel containing Ken Adam Park in order to allow other educational and recreational uses or other open space uses, or both, to be considered for establishment on the parcel, including a potential space-themed educational center, and to allow sale of the parcel for those uses, be adopted?”
 
Fifty-five percent of voters agreed to abandon Ken Adam Park.
 
Voters and the City Council majority that wanted the Pale Blue Dot Space Center project, which is why this matter appeared on the ballot, appear to have bought a “pig-in-a-poke.”

According to Wikipedia, a pig-in-a-poke means “a thing that is bought without first being inspected, and thus of unknown authenticity or quality.”

Over five years ago in July 2019 the city of Lompoc began negotiations exclusively with Pale Blue Dot, a private developer, toward the proposed eventual development of a Space Center project on a parcel of city-owned property including and adjacent to Ken Adam Park.

The developer has never produced any evidence that his team had acquired funding commitments to build the project.

In the meantime, nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base has partnered with the Lompoc Unified School District’s STEM program “focusing on space, rockets and technology,” and another group is starting to develop a space museum on the base which would be open to the public.

So, why do we need to duplicate that effort?

In December 2023 City Attorney Jeff Malawy stated: “There are true risks of the land not being returned to the city even if Pale Blue Dot fails to produce the proposed project.

“Even if a reverter is included in the negotiations and approved by both parties, if Pale Blue Dot does not just sign over the land back to the city, this could become a matter to be decided in the courts, which could be quite expensive and without a guarantee the city would receive the land.”

Ignoring these warnings, the council majority (Jeremy Ball, Dirk Starbuck and Victor Vega) continued to support the idea, and eventually the matter was placed before the voters.
 
The developer spent tens of thousands of dollars selling the idea to voters. It was an all-out campaign to gain control of the 82-acre parcel.

During the several years I was a planning commissioner I witnessed several developers come before the Planning Commission with large projects that boasted many amenities and attractive architecture.

Each claimed the project would bring a huge influx of jobs and new revenue to the General Fund. They would acquire property, commission an Environmental Impact Report, produce a development plan, file a project map and give the appearance that they were “ready to start construction.”

In many cases the first developer would then sell the project once the initial steps were complete to another developer at a substantial profit who would then “modify the development plan” to cut costs.

In the end, the final project wouldn’t have the same qualities as the original submittal and some still haven’t been built as decades slipped by.
 
Will this developer do the same thing; will they rush a development plan through the process to take advantage of a reduced price for the land and then sell it at substantial profit “in order to allow other educational and recreational uses”?
 
This has all the appearances of a pig-in-a-poke, and it’s a sad testimony to the judgement of the political leaders we elect.

Reference, VSFB STEM cooperation:
(1) Reaching for the stars! Team … – Vandenberg Space Force Base | Facebook