Lompoc City Council challengers lining up

Drawn by a woeful economy, voters' rejection of a proposed public safety sales tax, and a perceived lack of city leadership, likely candidates for Lompoc City Council already are looking toward the November election.

The election qualifying period is July 14 through Aug. 8, but potential candidates already are announcing their intentions, soliciting voters' views and studying community issues.

“I have been telling people this is the first trimester of the campaign - listen, learn, soul-search and decide-time,” said Dulcie Sinn, a consultant, businesswoman and former city employee. Sinn said she will decide after the June election whether to run for Mayor Dick DeWees' seat.

DeWees said he is leaning toward seeking re-election to his sixth two-year term but will consult with his wife before deciding in a few weeks.

Veteran councilmen DeWayne Holmdahl and Will Schuyler said they will be on the Nov. 4 ballot. Among those likely to challenge them for a four-year term are Planning Commissioner Bob Lingl, engineer Cecilia Martner, and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Darrell Tullis, who ran for City Council in 2006.

Lompoc's economy and unmet public safety needs loom as top issues during this election cycle.

“We're coming into a time of YOYO economics - You're On Your Own,” said Sinn, citing the economy, loss of jobs, a flailing housing market and astronomical gas prices. She also cited county cuts in mental health services, the need to repair the county's local Veterans Memorial Building, and the budget woes of the Lompoc school district.

“When we see that happening to individuals, that's what Lompoc is going to be. We're on our own here,” Sinn said.

Martner said the way to boost the economy and provide jobs in Lompoc is to expand what is already working well, such as the community's fledgling wine industry, and to work more effectively to bring new business to town and to encourage more home-grown retail and service jobs.

How? “That's the $5 million question. First we need to get involved. We need to understand what attracts or doesn't attract businesses to Lompoc,” Martner said.

Tullis, who said he is likely to run but isn't ready to make an official announcement, echoed the concern about jobs. “We are losing so many families with school-age children, so many jobs - Celite, teachers - we need new ideas to bring livable wages into the Lompoc area,” he said.

As a councilman, Tullis said, he would see that the city takes advantage of the economic opportunities presented by the recent approval of a public safety academy at the Lompoc campus of Hancock College. He said the academy could attract high-paying high-tech jobs and many others that could sprout up to support the public safety academy.

“I want to see that that happens. Those new businesses will make Lompoc a thriving community,” Tullis said. If Lompoc's leadership doesn't prepare, that potential might be lost to more aggressive counties and states, he said.

“The academy will change the complexion of Lompoc,” Tullis said.

DeWees, Holmdahl and Schuyler said the council has brought more business to town than it is given credit for, including several in the wine industry.

“I'm 60 years old and I've lived through a number of economic downturns, but we've had five balanced budgets over the last 10 years. We've done a good financial job for the citizens,” DeWees said.

Holmdahl, who is finishing his third three-year term, said, “If you look at the businesses, our sales tax (revenue) is better than at any other time.”

He said that 12 years ago, the city lacked the housing necessary to attract businesses to town. Housing is now available and businesses have been settling in Lompoc, among them The Home Depot, Michael's and Pier 1, he said.

“The leadership is trying to get people into town,” Holmdahl said. “Six years ago we didn't have a wine industry. Now we're right in the middle of the largest wine expansion in the county.”

Lingl, director of laboratory services at Lompoc Hospital who recently presented the council with a proposal for taking over the Veterans building, credited Schuyler and Holmdahl, who appointed him to the Planning Commission, with doing “fabulous things for the city,” but said the council incumbents have lost sight of “what the people want.”

Lingl zeroed in on what he called the council's failure of leadership in convincing voters to approve a sales tax increase to provide better police and fire protection. “The city (council) really let us down. They did not demonstrate leadership,” he said.

Sinn, the city's family resources coordinator from 1997 through 2005, criticized the council's reliance on consultants, who she said many times simply confirm what citizen advisory groups have already said.

“We need to develop trust and respect for our citizens here,” she said, calling the council's handling of the proposed public safety tax a “classic case.”

“A citizens group did the ground work, then they brought in a consultant who validated that report, then they brought in a consultant group to help run the campaign,” Sinn said. “It's time for some fresh leadership.”

Tullis, who chaired the city's public safety tax support committee, noted that a majority of voters supported the tax proposal in the February referendum, although a two-thirds super-majority, or 66.7 percent, was needed for passage.

“Even though it failed, it was a successful measure of what the community believes we need,” Tullis said. “Those who fought against it, I would like to challenge them to come up with a viable way to finance the public safety needs that we have.”

DeWees said asking voters to increase the sales tax was a difficult decision for the council.

“Getting a tax issue passed in today's climate is very difficult. I wasn't thrilled with it. We turned over all the rocks and that seemed like the best alternative available to us at the time,” DeWees said. “You try to do what's best for the community, not what's politically expedient. There was not an upside for anybody on the council.”

Martner said the council must revisit and perhaps revise its budget “to try to understand the (public safety) needs and come up with a viable solution, not just put it on the ballot again.”

The council will hold a workshop at 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall on public safety needs. A second workshop is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 24, in the Grossman Gallery at the Lompoc Public Library, 501 E. North Ave.

Schuyler said his experience and performance will play a key role in the campaign. He said he had four projects that he wanted to complete when he joined the council in 1994, and three of the four have been accomplished - a new public swimming pool, acquisition of 100 acres along the Santa Ynez River, and a skateboard park. He said he wants to keep working on providing an area for off-highway vehicles.

“I've never run unopposed in the four elections I've gone through. It's good, I think it's healthy,” Schuyler said.

Schuyler also said he has always tried to keep a lid on the city budget, sometimes as a lone voice. He said he argued this budget cycle to start from scratch with the budget and justify each expenditure.

“There was a lot of laughter and it didn't happen. Some friends came up to me and said it's sure nice to have someone who signs the front of the check, not just the back,” Schuyler said. “I know where the money comes from.”

DeWees said there is unfinished business for the council, such as downtown redevelopment and growth issues to confront.

“I'm not supporting development from the river to Buellton. I don't want to see our hillsides look like Pismo Beach.

“I'm not a no-growther by any stretch of the imagination, but it really concerns me that this country is eating up its farmland for development.”

Bo Poertner can be reached at 737-1053 or bpoertner@santa

mariatimes.com.

May 5, 2008