The Dark Underbelly of County Politics: Nets & the Tale of Two Floods

This has been an illuminating few months as it relates to the dark underbelly of County politics and disaster-related funding. Allow me to explain:

In November, our six ring nets were ripped from the canyons by the Project for Resilient Communities who privately funded their $6M installation. Now, I don’t pretend to know what behind-the-scenes promises First District Supervisor Williams may have made concerning future Net support from our $1.5B County (the Public Works Budget alone is $172M) but I’d bet it went something like this: “Trust me, complexity, nuance and details aside, I’ve got this handled.” Of course, the problem with “trust me” politics is that it requires someone who is, well, trustworthy. And, herein lies the more systemic issue: In our district, shadow-politics has become so pervasive that it is now the norm! 

Let’s compare this to other districts where the process of representative democracy, at least occasionally, occurs. In January, the Santa Maria River overflowed and while there were no injuries, 20 Guadalupe homes in the Fifth District were flooded. Just nine months later on September 12, 2023, the issue of the flooding was placed on a Tuesday Board agenda. At the hearing, Fifth District Supervisor Lavagnino advocated for an $8M off-budget expenditure to “temporarily” find a solution that was also supported by Public Works Director Scott McGolpin and the 20 or so Guadalupe residents who testified at the open hearing. The Board unanimously (5-0) voted to approve the $8M construction project which was fully funded by the County as the Feds and State did not consider the issue an “emergency.” Transparency and the all-important democratic process in action!

As Chairman of the Board, our Supervisor actually controls the Agenda – yet in the face of more than 500 resident emails, 1,000 donors, and a variety of complex expert opinions concerning Net effectiveness, impacts, and maintenance costs – the issue never saw the light of a public hearing. These folks DESERVED to be heard and the County writ large DESERVED to listen because, as we know, the Montecito slides killed 23 residents and caused more than $1B in damage. The unfortunate reality is that on the heels of the unanimous $8M Guadalupe vote, my guess is that some type of Net accommodation would very likely have passed. Of course, this assumes that our Supervisor truly supported the Nets – big assumption! 

Leadership is as much about taking responsibility for failure (remember JFK and the Bay of Pigs) as it is about creating a Zelig-like caricature who is drawn to the photo-op like a moth to a flame. The problem is that when it comes to Montecito, our Supervisor knows accountability is muted by the politics of the First District that stretches from Carpinteria to San Roque. Forget your “tribute” payments because they don’t mean nearly as much as the voting counts: Montecito has just 2,000 or so likely voters in a district that sports 24,000. This is something you should consider when you’re next asked to make a campaign contribution and to whom. 

Money matters only if it funds political competition, otherwise we’re all just part of a grand illusion.  

Jeff Giordano
Santa Barbara County Resident