When the Lompoc City Council once again discussed the plight of a staff proposal to build a new fire station to replace the existing undersized and strategically misplaced station, the discussion took some interesting twists and turns.
Keep in mind that the council has publicly discussed this specific proposal and asked numerous questions three times since Dec. 15, 2015, and is slated to discuss it once more at some point in the future. Meanwhile the citizens living in neighborhoods in the north and west portions of town are underserved as pointed out several times to the council.
Council Member Jim Mosby seems to be the chief critic of both cost and design of the new facility. How he became an expert in fire station design and government financing is a mystery.
Mosby was not elected but appointed to his position by three other council members, all long-time residents with deep roots in the community. Although not the person I would have chosen, initially it appeared that he might make a good addition to the council lineup — but as time has moved on he has firmly established himself as a poor fit for the job.
The first lesson he and the others who voted “no” on the project in December should understand is how public infrastructure is planned. For example, let’s visualize the national highway system as it was in the 1950s.
Some of you reading this, like myself, were around then and may remember how it was. For the younger folks ask your grandpa and he will explain what I am talking about.
As a youth I traveled from Los Angeles to the bay area by car with my dad at the helm a couple of times a year — it was a long, bumpy journey taking nearly a day to complete.
In those days Highway 1 was a two lane road as it meandered through every small town along the route.
Politicians of the day were visionaries; they knew that the state was growing and that a well-planned road transportation system was essential to commerce.
I watched as Highway 101 was built and marveled at how much time was saved on our pilgrimage north when it was done. Had those political leaders had the same mentality as Mosby and other old timers in Lompoc we would still be traveling on two-lane roads and wondering why it took so long to get the where we wanted to go.
My point is that government facilities, including fire stations, should not be designed and constructed for today’s needs but rather for the needs of the future, because this facility will serve the community for another 50-75 years.
The critics of this project and specifically council member Mosby can’t seem to grasp this concept as they continue their incessant questioning which has now quickly becoming a circular conversation with no meaningful end in sight.
Questions are a good way to acquire information; but questions asked with a specific agenda to alter the outcome of a project for which you have acknowledged that you have no talent to help design just wastes time.
Simply put Mosby will not be satisfied until another facility is proposed that will likely be undersized before it is opened as the city continues to grow. This kind of thinking is both wasteful and counterproductive and clearly establishes him as a poor fit to make decisions that will affect the future of Lompoc.
One of his concerns last week was how the new station would be staffed — “Why would we ask the people living in Lompoc today to pay for a fire station that we can’t man (for) 15 to 20 years?” he asked.
In the short term, the crew at the existing station and administrative staff will simply move to their new quarters. In case he forgot, they are already paid for in the current budget as is their equipment.
City growth produces an additional source of revenue (taxes/fees) to the city coffers, and as the city grows so does the need for additional firefighters. The budget for these new positions would come from those additional revenues.
Once again, for someone who views himself as some sort of budgetary wizard it seems that he misses the lesson of long-range strategic thinking when it comes to public financing.
The Lompoc City Council, as all other elective bodies, comprises folks just like you and me who have no particular education or training in how governments are run.
Some accept the fact that they lack technical expertise and they rely on the professional staff that runs the city to provide the technical input needed to effectively manage things like fire protection services.
Others, like Mosby view themselves as instant experts on every facet of government.
The three council members who voted against this project should now put their knowledgeless opinions aside and support this project.
The time for questioning has passed, now it’s time stop the endless loop-de-loop and take positive action.
— Ron Fink, a Lompoc resident since 1975, is retired from the aerospace industry and has been active with Lompoc municipal government commissions and committee since 1992, including 12 years on the Lompoc Planning Commission. He is also a voting member of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association. Contact him at news@noozhawk.com. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
