City Council — June 16, 2026

So,

Welcome to Lompoc City Council meeting for January 16th 634 p.m.. Roll call, please

Mayor, the City Council met in closed session to discuss the labor negotiations item on the agenda. Council gave direction to staff on that item but no reportable action was taken.

Okay. Invocation, Pastor Ron, come on down.

Before we get started, I wonder if we'd take a moment of silence for the crew members on the B-52 that crashed at Edwards. Can we do that please? Father, we're so gracious Lord and you're gracious. And we're so thankful that you give us this opportunity to give us that we have so unique, so beautiful and you give us leaders. Thank you Mayor City Council, our Lompoc chief and our police department chief I want to thank you for giving us city manager and our city attorneys.

And all that work for the city. I would be amiss not to acknowledge you. Sorry, I don't have the time to list you by name but I will look around and I'll say thank you for your service. So we together, we come and we lift up your glorious name. We ask for help Lord. The matters that are at hand Lord only You can lead and guide and give us the wisdom that we need and I pray for that wisdom for our leadership And Father that we get the best outcome for our city, we ask your blessings Lord upon families of everyone that works so diligently in our city and our City Department. I want to thank you Lord for your kindness and mercy.

Thank you for giving this opportunity Lord that we can be civil and we can be understanding And we're all trying to get to that very objective of making our city, Lord, a livable and peaceful city. And we thank you for all things, Lord in your name. Amen. I

City Manager Report.

Thank you, Mayor. Applications are now open for people who are interested in the 4th of July block parties. You can get some of the booklets at the Anderson Rec Center. It's also available online. I wanted to highlight that our big city celebration that we have planned for the 4th of July this year. You can join us at Ryan Park to celebrate America's 250th birthday. We'll have live music, food trucks, inflatables and it's free admission.

I'm also excited to let you know that we have some youth programs that the recreation is adding to their programs. It'll be free teen flag football program, it'll be for kids ages 11 through 18, practice will be between 530 and 730 at the Lompoc Community Track and Field. This program will run from June 15th to August 7th. I also wanted to let everybody know that they have free lunches at the Anderson Rec Center from 12-12.30 for kids under 18, and that's also in support with the school district. That will be Monday through Friday.

The library will also be doing a garden workshop for kids 8-12 That'll be on June 17th of Wednesday, and it runs from 2 to 3.30. And like the Anderson Rec Center, the library also has free lunches but that will be from 1 to 1.30 Monday through Friday. It will be available June 15th through July 31st. I want to take a moment and recognize the Waste and Recycling Workers Week.

We've got a lot of great people that keep our streets clean and everything, and I wanted to thank them. Next, let me see. And then I'd also like to remind everybody that Flower Festival is coming up. It'll be June 25th through the 28th, and it will feature carnival rides, games, arts and crafts, exhibits, food booths, commercial vendors, live music. If you want to get more information on that, you need to go to Lompoc Valley Festival Association webpage.

Finally, I wanted to remind everybody we have a couple of holidays coming up. This Friday will be a holiday. City Hall and the library and some other facilities will be closed. And that'll delay our solid waste pickup. Also July 3rd, we'll observe July 4th. We'll have the delays too and hope everybody has a safe and fun Fourth. And that's all I have.

Any quick questions for the city manager? I've got a couple for you. Something that brought to my attention was the River Park Lake, I know you're aware of it now but what are you guys looking for solutions or time frame or something?

Yes we are aware that the situation and we're looking on ideas how to remedy that and that will probably happen after the new fiscal year Is our goal.

Okay So I got another question for you one of the I mean some of the potholes are really bad one on O and Laurel And there's several on V in Laurel and anyhow, I know it has to do with the train on there. Do you have the Solution I've kind of went around and I found out that because it's a railroad In I've been told it would be a good thing for us to do.

The city manager I heard has already said that he's going to work with me on that, so we're doing it. Yeah, we'll do it regardless.

And I think you got plenty of consensus back here as well. I know the public is like hey what's going on and it's complicated so help us out. Other thing, what's going on with the RV signs? Are we able to get them up or what's going on?

We're still waiting on approval from Caltrans. We're trying to get all the signage on one sign and get it approved through Caltrans. That's where we're at right now. That's where the delay is.

So are the signs approved or...

Yeah, the attorney work in engineering public works. Attorney, we've got the language. We're just now waiting on Caltrans to approve it.

Signs are made?

No not yet, we're still waiting on approval from Caltrans.

Okay, so we got about four or five Caltrans. I guess we've been letting them park in our parking lot. Maybe we can put a little leverage on them? I think we passed that quite a few months ago. So...

I know one thing too. I met today at the prison and it was Caltrans, SBCAG The third district supervisor wanted to spread that money towards Buellton too. We kind of told her no and keep it here, but And I did talk to the president, whatever her name is. The executive director for SBCAG about the four lanes going and educated her about what's going on in the base so good movement today.

So let me, I guess I'll reach out to Caltrans. Anybody else got some Caltrans people we can talk to that are not as forget about us or something? I don't know, Craig's not here today so... All right, we'll reach out to them on that. The other thing is we hear a lot of stories and I did meet with you and the chief and manager of Solving and manager of Buelton but you hear the talking it's about police department going to Solving in Buelton potentially?

Is that something that we should need A request so it can be agendized item for discussion, so we can I think the public would like to know what's going on too. I think the rest of council would like to know. I'd like to know what's going on.

Yeah, we will definitely be bringing it back. Right now it was supposed to be informal and we're just trying to work on what a proposal would look like and then bring it back to council. I know Randy Murphy the city manager in Solvang brought it so he could get funding to work on this. Kind of got ahead of us all but yes, we will be bringing that back to you.

Maybe we should have a staff report so we can even see if the council supports us even spending the money to do what you're doing?

I think it's a good idea.

I had another one that I'd asked you a while ago. Somebody brought to my attention they had closed one of their businesses in town with the cannabis fee and they were normally being charged, they didn't even open a business. They put an application in at a huge deposit and somehow the fee got changed. I think $3500 a year for somebody not even doing anything in business?

Do we need to bring that back, that fee back? Or is there some way you can fix those things or...

You could if you wanted to. It was part of the master fee schedule that we would no longer be tracking because we weren't doing a very good job at tracking hours and times so we just did a study as far as the master fee schedule and we looked at how much time it normally took to do one of these approvals and reviews and all that and we came up with that fee but we can bring it back if the council wanted to I think that the $200 was because we weren't tracking our hours. It was just too cumbersome and hard to do, If the Council thinks that fee is too high, we can bring it back and discuss that.

What are we bringing back? A master fee?

No, just about this cannabis freebade. They made everybody post a big... Just this one? Just that one.

Yeah. What we did is we passed just a flat fee and it covered everything that any cannabis license did. We did inspections, everything but we can bring it back and we can analyze how much time it takes for us to do that kind of yearly review and then the

council can... It simply came to my attention I thought we could fix it but we can't so I need to get two of you others to help me try something maybe somebody else is not getting paid enough I'm not sure I got Councillor Bridge and Starbuck to go with that coming back. Okay, anybody have any other questions? Councillor

Boehme. Just a couple quick ones. Dean just going through your reports over the last couple of weeks. A couple quick questions so case load for code enforcement jumped considerably is that because we have a lot more issues or we're actually starting to identify and get on top of stuff?

I don't have those numbers in front of me, but then we are proactively enforcing

city limits. I know I'm seeing a lot more come across my desk. I see most of them.

And again one number was like 15 and then it went to like 36 so I was just curious as you know is

that

time of year when everyone forgot to mow their

yard

or

were getting on top of stuff? Exactly I think you hit right on the head right now Thank you.

Last week we put out the intent to award, so currently we're under our five-day period. And so we are planning on coming back in the first meeting in July or the second meeting in July. So it will be coming back in July.

So by the end of July, we should have a roadmap for getting to the finish line. Yes. OK, perfect. And then one last question on public safety issues. Dean, the Air Force Community Partnership Agreement is that anything specific? I just didn't know what that was. Was under like key accomplishments or anything specific And I can circle back, I'm just always excited when the base and us are talking.

I'm not sure if all of you, is that part of the IGSA, the Intergovernment Service Agreement?

Uh, I am not sure. It was just under your accomplishments. Maybe

you could point it out to me later on and I can probably explain it to you sir. That's all I have, thank you.

Anybody else? Alright. Moves us to public comment on consent calendar. This is a comment on the nine items on consent calendar.

Mayor? Yes. I need to make a couple statements for the record about the consent calendar. First is on item number two, there's at least one check in item number two for approval to the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce In addition to that, Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce is a source of income to Councilmember Starbuck. So he will be recusing himself from any checks in item number two to the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce and because it's on the consent calendar, he does not need to leave the room.

He can still vote on it. It's just that the recusal will be stated for the record. I had a discussion with me today about potentially having a source of income from one of the businesses that is involved with item number nine, which is the Lompoc Tourism Improvement District. Haven't had a chance to really look into it and confirm it yet but in an absolute abundance of caution Council Member Ball is going to recuse himself from item number nine due And that is the same thing. It does not need to leave the room because it's on the consent calendar.

Mayor, if I could, there was also a couple on number three. We got contact from a couple of people that had stale dated checks. Check number 363420 for 227105 and check number 364300 for 4725. You want to take those off the stale dated check? And I don't know we had talked about some other stuff I'd want to take those off because they've been claimed.

There was one other check on that same item, check 365-588 for $17,048.56. It's the same vendor as one of the other checks. They have claimed theirs also.

The other check was 633420 for $2200.

Approval of minutes March 17, 2026 to April 7,

2026 and approval ratification expenditures payroll $2.1 million for May 22nd and a voucher register May 11th through 15th of 2026 for $883,000. Another voucher for May 18th to the 22nd for 2026 for 2.37 million. Number three is adoption of Resolution No. 68-20, Presidency's 26, transferring unclaimed property as stale dated checks to the general fund Number four is adoption of the fiscal year 2026 Gantt appropriation limitation, adopts resolution number 6822, parentheses 26. Number five is approval of supplemental appropriations for fleet fuel costs for fiscal year 2025-2026 and adoption resolution number 6823, parentheses 26. Number six is adoption of resolution number 6824, parentheses 26 ordering in the levy of special taxes for fiscal year 2026-2027 with the Community Facilities District number 2018-01, Summit View Homes.

Number 7 is Approval of First Amendment of Contract with Santa Barbara County for Collection of Special Taxes, Assessments and Other Charges. Number 8 is Adoption of Resolution 6825-26 Approving the Annual Operation Maintenance Plan for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. And number 9 is the Lompoc Tourism Improvement District 2026 Annual Report by Visit Lompoc Inc. One of the things I was going to do is, being that there is quite a few checks that were here, is...

I don't really want to read them into the record but if it was my money, I would somebody reading my name into the record. So if people want to bear with me real fast because There was $33,000 worth of checks that people weren't collecting. So I am going to read it through the record so the people would just understand that there is some money out there. A couple of people were able to come in. It was almost $19,000 somebody was able to come get of money that was owed them.

So these are checks have been written out to people for whatever reasons they didn't find him claim or otherwise. So if people happen to know these people's names be okay if I gave you its public records like at the dollar amount as well right? Okay so bear with me guys, we'll do the best we can. So we've got Benjamin Kiblinger $23.41, Dina Drake $53.64, Josiah Staten $24.24, Valley Garbage and Rubbish $43.69, Capital Retail Group $60, Craig Sadrach $69.07, David Isaac Quinones, $24.54. Matthew Davis, $46.31. Rafael Cardenas, $247.92. Paul Shows, $232.48. State Water Resource Control Board, 70 bucks. I'm surprised they haven't found us for that one right?

Colin Scott, $28.63. Kiana Campos, $15.09. Cordova for City Council District 1 2020, $336.41. Somebody let Gilda Curvova know she has some money hanging there. Paul Maurer, $377.48. Elizabeth Castellanos, $129.09. John Cruz, $25.14. Leticia Valdiva, $200.09 Martin Salazar, $188.70. Sydney Tomes, $66.97. Specific magazine billing, $42.95. Brianna Privet, $20. Addiction Medicine Consult Incorporated, 510.

Emanuel Maldonado, $204. Brittany Johnson, 6694. Furman Augustine, 3337, $33.37. Steven Brown, $100.54. Another, Stephen Boron $138.79 Anna Evangelista $129.97 Jason Carter $15 Central Coast Ag was $20,271.05 I guess they claim it got theirs right? SAC Wireless $2,000 Grace Baptist Church they got theirs right the 745 okay Julieta Ramirez, $98.97. Karina Shelley Walden, $63.56. Nebayu Yacob, $25.37. Reyna Morello, $67.78. Richard Young, $38.13. Rudy Martinez, $161.31.

Z World GIS LLC, $4,725. Emily Mullins, $196.06. Ethan Thomas, $376.97. Louis Legasione, $370.79. Dar Asia Elliott, $29.18. Ethan Thomas claimed his though didn't he? Okay let's see. Shakira Thomas $86.85. Mike McBride $22. And another Central Coast Act for 17, but that one's been claimed. Christopher Haynes $23.71, Nicholas Barcelona $18.17. Almost done, almost done.

If it's your money, you'd want to know what's out there too though right? Say the Bozar...oh wow. Bozarnia? 578 dollars and 55 cents. Susana Garcia 50 dollars and 43 cents. Veronica Morales 99 dollars 51 cents. Marcus Hubbard 21 dollars 13 cents. Chavez Family Trust Thank you Stephen Davina Burns, $14.34. Moot Barn, $9.52. Bucky Martinez, $10.76. Eugene Sendejas, $12.64. James Anthony Ballesteros, $15.57. Kimberly Smiths, $7.55. Michael McGee, $17.38. Chanel Overlay, $4.41. Is that our Chanel?

There's $4 and 41 cents hanging there. Raymundo Hernandez-Garrillo, $13.30. Felix Ibarra, $7.20. Joseph Estate, $12.91. Thanks for bearing with me, guys. Mayor, can I add something real quick?

I think the exciting thing, you went through all those checks. Do you see all those checks? One exciting thing right now is we've been working on going to ACH and a lot of this stale data check will eventually won't even have this report because if it doesn't make it to them, it bounces back to us so good thing.

Yeah well hopefully some other people can find some. So I would make a motion to approve consent. I had one other thing I wanted to point out on the consent is That if you look at our GAN numbers in the year 2000, our ending population was 40,082 people. And our ending in the GAN report for 26, 39,987. So according to the GAN limit appropriation numbers, those are pretty accurate numbers?

Pretty accurate. So our population went down in the last 26 years so... I think I understand what it's saying. Fiscal year for our fleet, for gas prices. Gas went up roughly 32% since February and the cost of the extra

gas that we didn't budget for for the city is going to cost us how much?

I'm going to let Bob answer that. He's looking it up right now.

So we have a limit on our purchase order for $800,000 with J.B. Dewar for our general cost and we need $150,000 or so to get through June. We've spent about $700,000 so far through mid-May Thank you.

Because these gas prices went up, they're asking for an additional $150,000 just to cover that gas because it went up since February. So again, that might be two employees and recreation department. That might be a police officer. So just understand the price of gas going up is definitely costing us

considerably. In February, we were paying 420 for diesel. We're paying 646 in May so... Thank you.

And we also started driving to Tahegas. I hear we're going back to Santa Maria now with our trash trucks, right? Somebody hear that? Going all the way down to Tahegas costs a lot more money with our trucks where the blue can recycles but now we're going out there so that's... Right? Isn't that true? Each other Director? We're taking our blue cans back to Santa Maria?

Maybe?

I believe we do both

Council Member Bridge.

I would like to pull five and nine.

Item number five and nine, okay.

And item four, I think it's really a knit but it says it's happening in a special session but I don't think it is. It's just a regular meeting. The second to the last line so just with that minor change

So item number five and nine will be for separate discussion, will be addressed immediately before second oral communications near the end of the meeting. Five and nine. Okay. I had a couple points of clarification. One was on the approval of the minutes for April 7th, 2026. There's You want to make a correction to the minutes? Yes. Of which date? It's April 7th.

Okay,

the last item number seven. Well it does say that council members above that does say he recused himself. The vote reflects that it was a 5-0 vote.

Oh.

See what I'm saying?

So it should say 4-0 with one recusal.

Correct okay making I think that was... So, I would make a motion to approve the balance of that with leaving out five and nine but with that correction in there. And giving 48 hours all those stale checks Giving it 48 hours before that, I guess if I give 48 hours for the people to collect the money of that list that we just read. Can I do that?

Yeah, what you could do if you wanted to do that was in the resolution for the stale checks. We could add to section one on or after June 18th 2026. The city treasurer is directed to transfer the unclaimed property so that would give people until the end

Okay. Let's have a motion.

I'll second the motion but with removing five and nine, and then I'm recused from nine.

And you're recused from yours, he's recused from his. Hold the others. Okay. Motion to second it? It's good. And that passes 5-0. Oral communications, you have three minutes for oral communications. Did you have something Council Member Ball? I'm

sorry, I left the mic on.

All right, so I apologize for last time. Didn't have much of a voice, was a little under the weather. So I'm not going to be here to talk about Bridge at this point it's a moot point we need someone in his district to recall him you know if we can't get Scrooge McDuck however let's talk about the three stooges. Dirk Starbuck age 67-ish right? was penalized for a conflict of interest when he first became a member of the council.

Mayor Mosby is a self-designated code enforcement agent apparently, and was also the reason for the Council getting the Brown Act investigated on them. He's 62. Vega is age 70. He fell asleep and voted to raise our taxes a few months ago. He ran on stagnation of the local economy, only improving current businesses and not expanding to more businesses. All three of these men are real estate people. They own business in real estate. They're landlords.

The fourth member here, Mr. Ball, he is a photographer and a teacher and I just don't feel like he has many conflicts of interest. This is the first time I've even seen a strange conflict of interest with him which is Fair, and he reported it. So we need to vote better people in the end. That's the long of the short of what I'm saying. We don't really have a stunning show of people up here. We have a lot of landlords who refuse to tax themselves.

I mean, we're geriatric up here almost. We got 60 and 70 year old people who, you know, obese overweight out of date. So I guess I'm gonna do what I can do about that. And I'm in district two which places me in a unique position to run against someone who is currently unopposed in the city council. So as of today, I'm announcing that I'm running for district two of the city council.

Good evening people of Lompoc. I came out of anger and concern for the future of our city. When I look at the city, I do not see a city without potential. I see families trying to build a better life. I see young people looking for an opportunity. And I see a community that deserves more than what it has been given. For years we have been told about pension debt, rising costs, budget challenges and financial obligations. And yes these problems are real but the question the people of Lompoc are answering is simple. What is our vision?

What kind of city are we building? Today we approximately have six dispensaries, more than 10 bars, more than 15 liquor stores and more than 15 smoke shops And how many major attractions for the youth do we have? A skate park, a movie theater and a few sports programs. And that is the problem because our young people deserve more than a handful of options. They deserve a place to learn, a place to create, a place to compete, a place to dream, a place to belong to.

When a city provides more opportunities to buy intoxicants than opportunities to build the future, something is wrong. I am here to ask a question. Are we investing enough in the next generation? Our city deserves progress. The mayor does nothing. He pushes a pen and sits down at the same time pushing our people to the side. He also gets mad at street vendors and records a person in our community nodding out on his bike instead of helping him, he called it the zombie apocalypse.

As a mayor he is supposed to help solve the problem not just point it out. I believe these actions were wrong and disgusting. He also was not present at our two graduations for high school which tells us he could care less about a big step in our youth's future And honestly, this city council has disappointed me as well. Except you, Bo. I came here last time. Victor Vega came out here eating a bag of Fritos and he's still eating the chips!

To me that showed a lack of respect for this council meeting and the people who took their time to come here. It was one of the most disrespectful and repulsive things I've seen in awhile. You are supposed to be respectful and honorable public servants. And you basically showed me what type of people you guys are. I would like to ask the people in this room, do these people deserve to be up there? Yeah they do. Yeah they do. I'm out of time but para la comunidad.

Today I was prepared to come up and ask you, Mr. Bridge, to stop wasting your constituents' time, step down and focus on the legal battles ahead of you. But after last meeting it's clear that's not going to happen. Instead of taking responsibility, you double down, even try to use a city attorney as a scapegoat. At this point, I can only assume that you're no longer concerned about the legacy you'll leave behind.

And Mr. Mayor, don't think the people of Lompoc have forgotten your Duck Dynasty moment when you decided to throw your weight around and remind everybody how important you think you are. No mayor should conduct themselves that way. You're the mayor. You're not the king of Lompoc. You work for the people, not the other way around. Dirk? Hey Dirk, are you awake buddy?

You were elected to represent the people of your district, not to treat City Council meetings like a naptime. The residents who sent you here deserve your attention and engagement. If time would allow I would also speak to Mr. Vega. As the only person of color on this dais, your voice carries weight. The silence of elected officials has consequences. The little black and brown boys and girls growing up in this city are watching. They're watching to see who speaks up, who stands firm, and who stays quiet when it matters the most. And by the way those good old boys aren't your friends Mr. Vega. The moment's convenient they'll remind you exactly where you think you belong But the person I really came here to address tonight is Jerry Mubal.

City Council, while your actions and decisions since taking office have been honorable, thoughtful, grounded in service, you've shown that leadership isn't about title, ego or political theater. It's about listening to the people who put you in office and showing up when it matters You have consistently put families and community concerns first. You led by example, or the people agree with you on every issue is not...

They know where you stand and know where you're willing to do the work. The people of Lompoc have been paying attention Mr. Ball. And what we've seen in this kind of leadership is a city that desperately needs. Thank you Mayor Ball. Oh I'm sorry Council Member Ball. Maybe I got a little ahead of myself. And thank you to the people of Lompoc for being here, for staying engaged and for continuing to raise your voice for a better Lompoc. Thank you.

I first just want to point out how all the people who are like rooting on the establishment is over the age of 60, but that's okay. Good evening! I only have a few words tonight because I have addressed you guys several times before. At the last City Council meeting, you released a statement re-establishing your innocence in your fraud case. While you did show an effort to mend your relationship with the public, it failed. It failed just like your properties. It failed just like your political career. It failed just like your ability to connect with the people of this community, and you are doing a great job.

Now, I have been told to let Steve Bridges' trial play out. So I will. I believe in due process and I believe in letting the facts come out. And if somehow by the grace of God you are found not guilty, I will personally apologize. But I have seen the evidence and from what I've seen, Steve, you told the investigators yourself. You told them that you Googled a contractor number. Who does that?

You literally told on yourself. And then you had the audacity to come up here and lie to us about it. And finally, while many of you continue to pray at the beginning of these meetings for solutions to what is becoming a stagnant town, we are organizing. We are working for solutions and we are paying attention. We are making sure that this November and every single November after it our voices are heard because power in this city does not belong to politicians. It belongs to the people who work and live here and we intend to remind you of that. Thank you.

Good evening council members. My name is Erika, I am the Associate Policy Director with CAWS and also a community member of Lompoc. I bring here today with me my daughter Iris. Members of the Council you are elected by the people of Lompoc for the values that this community had hoped would be upheld and reflected in the seats that you all hold. Integrity, transparency, change.

This is what the people of Lompoc believed in and what we still hope will actually be practiced by the folks who have persistently claimed to hold these values if elected. We are unfortunately living in a reality where people are too comfortable to continue holding positions of power while being charged with different counts, putting in jeopardy the trust of the community with our local government.

Lompoc deserves better. We deserve leaders who lead with integrity and transparency, and implement the changes for a better home for people, not abuse the power that's held for their own self-interest and benefit. I ask the council to truly reflect on the precedent you all established in continuing to allow for someone to hold this seat while facing serious charges, and to think about whether this is the reputation we would like Lompoc local government to hold.

I really urge this council to take a step into restoring community trust. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Andrea Pelagio and I'm the Lompoc Community Organizer with Future Leaders of America. I am here as a part of the community that has been watching what is going on in our city government and we will continue to voice our concerns. I want to acknowledge Councilmember Bridge for addressing the youth and the community at the last City Council meeting. I also want to thank the members of this council for agreeing to a public conversation about this situation. These were important first steps, and only the starting point to painting a much larger picture.

Like many of my fellow community members, I care about the integrity of our local government. I want to have faith that our city is being governed in a way that is transparent, accountable and worthy of the public's trust. What concerns me now is that opening the conversation should be the beginning not the end Residents have taken the time to attend meetings, share their views, ask questions.

Regardless of anyone's views about the underlying case there isn't clearly a need for continued conversation about how the city can maintain public confidence during this process. This is not about politics, personalities or prejudging the outcome of a legal matter. It is about the standards we expect of our elected officials public institutions and the importance of addressing community concerns openly and respectfully.

I encourage the council to continue this conversation thoughtfully and transparently. The community is looking for leadership communication and a commitment to maintaining public trust. These views matter regardless of political affiliation, and they are essential to effective local government. The people of Lompoc are watching, paying attention, and your constituents are continuing to watch. We're watching not only what happens in the courtroom but also how our elected officials respond to an obstacle that affects the public's confidence in its elected leaders. Thank you.

Good evening, Council Members. My name is Angie and I'm a Policy Advocate with CAUSE. I am here tonight to call for the kind of leadership and representation the residents of Lompoc deserve. As Council Members you are elected to be the voice of the community and represent integrity, honesty, and accountability. The recent charges against Council Member Steve Bridge go against the values a council should hold. This has led to concern and loss of trust among Lompoc residents. Many community members are now calling for his resignation. If council members are elected by residents, then they should also step down when residents call on them to do so.

Public trust is the foundation of effective leadership. When residents lose confidence in their elected officials it is important that those concerns are taken seriously and addressed with accountability and transparency. I stand with the Lompoc community in having leaders that are accountable and that recognize what it means to truly serve the community. The residents of Lompoc deserve a leadership that puts them first and maintains their trust. Thank you.

Karen Hallenstein, lifelong resident. Born in Lompoc. Okay so CAUSE is an organization looks like maybe from South County going after environmental issues and also building political power from South County. They say that on their website. So we have a group of political hitmen come here to share their opinions. They kind of Johnny-come-latelys. It'd be nice if you end up sticking around and actually volunteering for programs, maybe participating in city programs and learning more about why Lompoc doesn't have a tax base.

But really what you should be doing because Liliana Cecilia Zuniga was part of our working class community, our Hispanic community. Her mother retired from being a Spanish language DJ, one of the only ones in the entire Central Coast. I call the Santa Barbara County District Attorney out on the fact that they would spend so much time and energy investigating and prosecuting one of our council members when they ignore The suspicious death of Liliana Zuniga on the 13th of March, 2023.

Where's the investigation into that extremely suspicious death? And I also wonder why when The people get up here and talk before me how they're making personal attacks against the city councilman except for Jeremy, and then praising Jeremy. When you look at it from the inside out, you can see it's very partisan and lopsided. Yeah. Very, very lopsided. Also interesting, I would like to know from the district attorney's office because they prosecute all of the criminal charges that are brought in the Lompoc Valley by any law enforcement agency.

The reason why we're looking at them expending so much money on an issue like the city councilman's trouble and not on Liliana Zuniga. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Shauna Stilwell, I am a community member and I would just like to say to the Mayor, members of City Council and to the people of Lompoc what in the actual F are we really doing here? Tonight I'm asking Councilmember Steve Bridge to recuse himself from any discussion, vote, negotiation or decision involving taxes, public funds, city spending, contracts, grants or financial matters until his criminal case is resolved.

This isn't about guilt or innocence. The courts will sort that out. This is about public trust. Every time Councilmember Bridge votes on public money while facing allegations involving public money, the cloud over City Hall darkens. Whether those allegations are ultimately proven or disproven, the conflict is obvious. The appearance alone damages confidence in local government and while we're talking about public trust let's talk about leadership.

Our mayor continues to lecture struggling residents and spit at street vendors while the most visible symbol of neglect in this city sits right in front of all of us, the abandoned Texas Cattle Company property. It has become a monument to decay in the middle of Lompoc owned by our mayor. People notice things. People notice relationships. People notice who sits together on this dais. People notice who gets criticized and who gets protected.

People also notice that Lompoc has spent years talking about economic development while watching storefronts sit empty, buildings deteriorate and opportunities pass us by. The public deserves leaders who hold themselves to the same standards they expect from everyone else. So tonight, I'm asking for accountability. Councilmember Bridge should recuse himself from matters involving taxes and public funds.

And if he won't do it voluntarily, this council should seriously consider censuring him. The people of Lompoc deserve a government that looks less like a private club and more like public service. Only the people will save the people. Thank you.

It's a great vibe with the Luau shirts, gentlemen. I'm sorry this feels a little ridiculous but I think Sean, I kind of just hit it on the head in a pretty good, hi Mr. Mayor, in a pretty good and measured way. I am not into the whole personal attack things. I don't care if you're old. I don't care if you are overweight. I'm getting to both at this point. I don't care if you're tired during meetings, that's fine. I just think like guys this is getting a little ridiculous.

You know, I don't think it's that shocking that so many folks have left our town in the last 20 years I think it's sad to watch young folks be belittled and called Johnny come lately. He's like, you know, I'm sorry I wasn't born 20 years ago but I'm here now and we're here to stay. So again, I am not into all the personal attacks. You know, I definitely understand, you know, the position you guys feel like you are in. I do want the court process to play out and then I think, you know, Steve, again, we've been friends.

Maybe we still are, I don't know. I haven't seen you recently but I think you're allowed to have that play out as a private citizen but not as a council member. I think it's hurting our town. I think obviously again my thoughts on all of that so again it's more in my tone is more one of disappointment and I wish we could do better. Apparently we can't so I hope we can try