For the past 17 years, I have attended virtually
every meeting of the County Board of Supervisors. I have seen a lot of
supervisors come and go during that period of time, and I have witnessed
first-hand how different supervisors treated one another and the public. As
such, I am going to miss Brooks Firestone upon his
retirement from the Board.
Some folks in the POLO, POSY, Concerned
Citizen and Chumash camps may in fact have something in common, in that they
may all be a little bit glad that Brooks is leaving. But that is an indication,
in my opinion, that these Valley residents have forgotten how bad county
government was before Brooks came into office.
Brooks, I believe, did his best to be a true
public servant to this community and our county. Was he perfect? No. Did he
please everybody? No. Did he make some mistakes? Certainly.
But throughout the course of his tenure, he tended to do the best job he could
for the community as a whole, which is more than I can say for his immediate
predecessor Gail Marshall.
I was painfully reminded this past week of
what life was like when Gail was Third District Supervisor. She was quoted in a
local newspaper as indicating that she was happy Brooks wasn’t running again
because he failed to “support clean air, open space and quality of life.” What
a crock!
This was a painful reminder of the typical
insipid rhetoric one could always expect from Gail Marshall. Remember when she
precipitated a controversy over a simple post- Sept. 11 flag salute? Do you
recall her outrageous, demeaning and blatantly racist comments about tribal
members? The Gail Marshall I remember never once faltered in her unquestioning
allegiance, faith and reliance upon the misfits running the county’s planning
and development department. In my opinion, she was the worst supervisor this
county has ever had, and people in the Valley need to remember just how bad it
was in light of today’s conflicts, as this could be a rare point of agreement
in the community! We need to remember how bad it was as we consider the tantamount question; “Who will be the next Third District
Supervisor?” (Gail is supporting the candidacy of Doreen Farr and that is all I need to know about
Doreen!)
I fear that the splintered Valley comprised
of various factions will each nominate a candidate representative that will
seek only to serve and represent their own. That is, each group will nominate
something akin to an activist who will seek to accomplish nothing more than to
pursue a narrowly focused cause of action. Shouldn’t the community want to find
the best leader, not just for the Valley, but the county as a whole? Would it
not be better for the community to come together and seek out a public servant,
a statesmen if you will, who will do his or her best to facilitate dialogue,
discussion, and debate in a manner that commands respect from all? Let’s not go
back to the acrimony and division fostered by the likes of another Gail
Marshall!
Perhaps, the community is so polarized and
fractionalized that such a non-partisan, baggage-free candidate can only be
found outside of the Valley!
Land use in Santa Barbara County is a blood sport.
Recent and current battles have dealt with the Santa Ynez
Community Plan, the Airport Plan, the Buellton Sphere of Influence Study, the
State Housing Mandate, various land use, housing and winery projects, and of
course, projects involving the Santa Ynez Band of
Chumash Indians. Who can truly help the
community get through these issues in one peace? That is what is at stake here,
and no, I did not use the wrong word in that sentence!
Andy Caldwell is
the Executive Director of COLAB and a 39 year resident of the Central Coast.
Contact information can be found at the COLAB Web site at www.colabsbc.org.