Self-employed math tutor and board chair for SYV Humane is expected to be sworn in for council’s Thursday, Sept. 25, meeting
Buellton will soon have a full City Council. Santa Barbara County certified the city’s Aug. 26 Special Election on Sept. 12, with Carla Mead earning the District 4 seat. The math tutor and board chair for the SYV Humane Society earned 269 votes (60%) to defeat former Buellton City Council member and Mayor Dave King, who received 179 votes (40%). The vote total was unchanged from the previous update that was released on Aug. 29.
“It’s official! Santa Barbara County has certified the election results and I’m honored to share that I’ve been elected to represent District 4 on Buellton City Council,” Mead posted on Instagram after the certification was announced. “Thank you to everyone who believed in me, knocked on doors, and cast a ballot. I promise to be a leader who listens, serves, and works every day for our community.”
Mead also invited Buellton residents to attend the Sept. 25 meeting where she is expected to be sworn in, and encouraged everyone to dress in pink.
The mail-only election involved only those voters living in the city’s District 4, which consists of all the city area east of Highway 101, and a strip of land east of 101 and north of Central Avenue and Avenue of Flags. The county reported 449 of 879 registered voters in the area (51%) sent in ballots.
In Buellton’s Sept. 11 City Council meeting, City Manager Scott Wolfe said the winner of the special election will be sworn in and take the District 4 seat at the Thursday, Sept. 25, City Council meeting.
The seat was vacated when previous District 4 City Councilmember David Silva assumed the mayor’s seat in January. Silva had defeated the incumbent King in last November’s mayoral election.
Mead expressed her interest in the seat early on and had met with the members of the current City Council before stating her case for the position at the Jan. 9 meeting, with many residents coming to support her bid. However, King, also at that meeting, then expressed his interest in the vacancy. The councilmembers, some of whom hoped to appoint a councilmember that night, then deadlocked on the candidates, with Silva and Vice Mayor Elysia Lewis supporting Mead, and City Councilmembers Hudson Hornick (who said at the time he preferred an election to decide the seat) and John Sanchez backing King. At the next meeting, on Jan. 23, the councilmembers deadlocked again and then decided to have a special election.
City Council reclassifies two city positions in short meeting
The Buellton City Council, cognizant of the imminent retirement of two city employees, voted to reclassify two city positions during its regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11. It was the only business item for the meeting, which last about half an hour. The council was at three members on the night with the absence of Hudson Hornick.
The two positions being reclassified were Administrative Assistant to Administrative Assistant/Deputy City Clerk, and Staff Assistant/Planning Technician to Planning Assistant/Code Enforcement Officer. The adjustments are being done because the city will be seeing or have seen a retirement with current employees taking on additional duties onto their own.
City Clerk Linda Reid said the employees whose positions have been reclassified would each get a 10% raise, which would be an increase of $17,942 in the city budget. Reid said the increase would be taken out of a city operating surplus, making the fiscal impact on the city minor.
City Councilmembers were pleased with the move, which they said dealt with the succession of the positions. Reid herself is planning to retire next year.
“I see it as a fiscally responsible move,” Silva said. “I like the idea of additional compensation for employees as they seek retention and growth, and there’s a saving by not having another full-time position. I’m grateful for the staff thinking outside.”
Vice Mayor Elysia Lewis thought it was a forward-thinking move.
“I think it’s also important for retention planning; when you’ve had someone working there for several years and is a staple of the place, you forget and realize you don’t know much they do,” said Lewis, referring to Reid. “Getting somebody new in, it takes awhile for someone new to get that same expertise, and it can burn them out when they don’t know stuff right away.”
Sanchez moved to approve the item, with Lewis seconding, and it passed 3-0.
In other business:
Silva read a proclomation to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
In his council comments, Silva requested a moment of silence for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Silva also inquired about makes a Request for Proposals to look into getting a new vendor for its city website, which Wolfe said he would look into. Silva also mentioned the Chumash tribe being open to sharing artifiacts with Buellton entities, and discussion about a tree canopy, which Hornick has express support for in the past.
In his City Manager’s Report, Scott Wolfe said the new City Councilperson would be sworn in the next meeting on Thursday, Sept. 25, and the meeting after that, on Thursday, Oct. 9, would be cancelled.
