Board Appoints CJ
Jackson as New 3rd District Planning Commissioner
After delaying its response, the Santa
Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of CJ Jackson as
the 3rd District Planning Commissioner, Sept. 25. The appointment of
Jackson has been topic of debate recently because of his property and business
interests in the Santa Ynez Valley and his
involvement in the organization Concerned Citizens of the Santa Ynez Valley.
The board expressed its concern over the possibility
that Jackson would not recuse himself from issues
that he may potentially have a bias or personal interest in.
“This
whole discussion concerns me greatly, for instance, if someone has taken a
position regarding oil, been a member of get oil out, should they recuse themselves from ever being involved in oil, because
what it means essentially at the end of the day is those who have been vitally
concerned in the issues of the day are in jeopardy of participating in the
decisions and those are the people we want the most, because they are the
people who have been involved and thoughtful,” said 3rd District
Supervisor Brooks Firestone in the Sept. 25 meeting.
Man Falls Asleep
with Cigarette; Buellton Motel Scorched
Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to a fire at the
Farm House in Buellton, a residential motel, Thursday morning. When
firefighters arrived at approximately 7:40, it was reported that smoke was
coming out of at least six residential dwellings. Fire crews were able to kill the
blaze before it spread to additional units.
One man was taken into custody for alleged public intoxication.
“The gentleman we arrested was arrested for being drunk in public
and the fire investigators determined that it was that individual who started
the fire by falling asleep with a lit cigarette,” said Sergeant Erik Raney. “He
is not being charged with anything to do with the fire, but for being
intoxicated in public. I don’t think that fire investigators believe that this
was anything criminal. He is a local Buellton guy and law enforcement has dealt
with him in the past, so he’s no stranger to us.”
Besides the six rooms that were completely destroyed, some
vehicles were damaged in the fire. No injuries were reported. The fire was
declared contained at approximately 8 a.m. Damages were estimated at $500,000.
According to the Santa Barbara Fire Department, smoking is the number one cause
of fire-related deaths in the U.S.
Zaca Fire Areas Still Closed to Public
Some areas in the Los Padres National Forest
remain closed to the public due to hazards associated with the recent
wildfires. These closures includes all the areas
burned by the Zaca Fire and some additional areas
close to burned areas also are closed.
“It is a very unstable environment right now
with active landslides, rockslides, rolling boulders and debris, burned trees
and deep stump holes,” said Ken Heffner, forest supervisor, in a statement
released to the public.
All national forest lands roughly between
Highways 166 and 33 remain closed. This includes Pine Mountain Road, Boulder
Canyon Trail, Figueroa Mountain Road, Happy Canyon Road and the Santa Ynez River, beyond the first crossing.
For more information about road
closures or wildfires in the Los Padres National Forest visit www.fs.fed.us
Board Suspends Santa Ynez Baseline Study
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
voted unanimously to terminate the Greater Santa Ynez
Valley Baseline Report Sept. 25. After almost a year in the making, the report
was initiated in early 2007. It was meant to study the impacts that the Chumash
Casino is having on the Valley. It was also meant to study the potential
impacts that any expansion of gaming might have as well.
“I have gotten a lot of e-mails from folks in
the Santa Ynez Valley suggesting that we aught to push this aside and not do it, and I don’t have
any problems with that,” said 2nd District Supervisor Joeseph Centeno at the Sept. 25
board meeting.
The board listened to eight public comments
from people who all agreed and urged the board to discontinue the baseline
report.