DAS, Dedicated Surfer

As of this writing, Das has made space in each of his busy days to hit the outstanding swell that has been in our waters this week.

As his father, it was a special treat to be out there with him on Tuesday and Wednesday, before work (that means, we got up an hour or two before the morning light first showed). It was big on Wednesday (12/21). I couldn't get out past the inside breaks in time before having to work, but Das made it out to surf with his friend Jim at a location I cannot devulge. You've seen the pictures in the News-Press of the surf on 12/20, 12/21 and 12/22, right? Well, where we were surfing, it was bigger than the surf caught in those pics.

On 12/22, we went out again. This time I took a vacation day and, since the swell had dropped, was able to get out. At one point, Das' leash broke. He swam in, got another and came back out. The big sets were still in the double-overhead range.

I can't help but share this personal look at my son. I am so proud of him and proud to have such a lover of the ocean an important part of my local government.

Malcolm Gault-Williams


Swell weather

Campaign Finance Reform

[ Letter to the Editor, SBN-P from David Wass, 12/22/2005 ]


When even the candidates themselves, without prompting, mention an issue, you know that it is time to address it and perhaps even do something about it. Perhaps you remember these post-election remarks, by both successful and unsuccessful office-seekers:

"We need to put a cap on campaign expenses" -- Mayor Blum.

"It is becoming more expensive and that creates some concern" -- Helene Schneider.

"To improve the system, we need to get around to public financing" -- Terry Tyler.

"The time for some kind of reform has come" -- Das Williams.

There are many examples to follow -- Albuquerque, Portland, Berkeley, and yes, Ventura. Both San Francisco and Los Angeles are organizing committees to study the problem.

Campaign Finance Reform is the next step in spreading democracy. How about a well-deserved gift for the voters of Santa Barbara -- organize a committee to study and create a Campaign Finance Reform ordinance, leading to approval of same by the City Council.

A great way to start the New Year.

David Wass, Santa Barbara


Letters to the News-Press

LW Hasn't Hurt Other Cities

[ Excerpt from SBN-P article on 12/21/05 By JOSHUA MOLINA from PUEBLO Newsletter of 12/22/2005 ]


The city of Santa Barbara moved a step toward adopting a living wage on
Tuesday when officials presented statistics suggesting that ordinances in
other communities have not had a substantial financial impact on those
municipalities...

"You are considering an ordinance that affects all companies in the city,"
said Steve Cushman, Chamber of Commerce executive director. "The businesses
who I have talked to do not consider it a business-friendly ordinance. I
think it's wrong. The chamber thinks it's wrong. And we will oppose it."

The ordinance will next go to the city's new Finance Committee early next
year. Living wage supporter and Councilwoman Helene Schneider will replace
opponent Councilman Dan Secord on the panel. The ordinance will ultimately
go before the full City Council next year...

As it stands now, the $14-, $12- and $11-an-hour proposal would not apply to
city workers -- only to companies that have service contracts of $15,000 or
more with the city. Private businesses that do not have city contracts would
not be directly affected.

Opponents, however, fear that the living wage ordinance would eventually
spread to the city's hourly employees, many of whom make below the proposed
living wage. Critics believe that once a living wage ordinance is adopted,
the city's powerful union leaders would use the pay scale as a baseline for
unionized employees.

... Even though hourly workers are not included in the
proposed ordinance, city staff studied the effect of the wage on them.
According to numbers released on Tuesday, paying citywide hourly workers a
living wage would have an annual cost of about $755,000. A three-year
contract for hourly workers was approved this year.

"These (numbers) are interesting as an academic exercise, but they are not
necessarily relevant," said Councilman Das Williams, who supports a living
wage.

"Seven months ago, the council made, by a 6-1 vote, the decision that the
temporary hourly workers would not be included in the living wage ordinance,
and six or seven months later we still have the bugaboo of the numbers."
Mr. Williams called Mr. Cushman's statement that businesses citywide would
be affected "fear-mongering."

... The Finance Committee chairman, Dr. Secord, said the City Council should not
impose the wage. Dr. Secord, who plans to run in the 2nd District
supervisorial race, possibly against Mr. Williams, said the living wage
ordinance should go before voters.

"It would be a lot easier for me to go along with this if the public said
'thou shalt,''" Dr. Secord said.

Living Wage Impact Unknown

[ Excerpt from SB Independent article by Nick Welsh, 12/15/2005 ]

After months of grueling hearings on a proposed Living Wage ordinance, members of the City Council Ordinance Committee conceded no reliable information is available on what effect such a measure would have on subcontractors doing business with City Hall. That’s because many of the business owners declined to participate in two city surveys that sought to ferret out such information. “Underwhelmingly responsive” was how city finance chief Robert Peirson characterized the subcontractors’ response.

Many councilmembers had hoped to have such information before voting on the controversial ordinance, which would increase the wages paid to the employees of city subcontractors to between $11-$14 an hour, depending on benefits provided. Without this data, it’s impossible to estimate what effect, if any, such a wage hike might have on city coffers. Peirson suggested that the bigger the pay increase, the higher the cost.

Councilmember Das Williams — an ardent advocate of the LivingWage — suggested the ultimate “pass-through” cost to City Hall would depend on how much market competition existed for a particular service and how tough city vending agents were in holding the line. Williams and Living Wage advocates cite studies indicating that in some cities, the cost of subcontracted services actually have gone down. More typically, the cost increases by a few percentage points.

Unlike past Finance Committee meetings, Tuesday’s offered no verbal sparring between councilmembers Williams and Dan Secord, an outspoken critic of the Living Wage proposal. Williams playfully asked Secord, “Are we going to disappoint everybody here now by not having a fight, Dr. Dan?” Secord replied, “One never knows.”


Living Wage Impact Unknown

United Council Support for Otters

[ Excerpt from SBN-P article 12/14/05 By JOSHUA MOLINA ]


... The Santa Barbara City Council voted 6-0 to send a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supporting a plan to allow sea otters to return to the Santa Barbara coast.

The vote was a striking contrast to last month's meeting, when several members of the council quarreled over the resolution and criticized Councilman Das Williams for allegedly sidestepping the process to place the matter on the agenda.

But on Tuesday night, the council was in harmony. After the vote, Mr. Williams hugged his colleague and political ally Helene Schneider, and he and his political rival Iya Falcone even shook hands.

Only Councilman Brian Barnwell expressed reluctance to support the letter. He was concerned that abolishing the otter-free zone would harm the fishing industry...

"My heart is heavy on this one," Mr. Barnwell said. "The fishermen (and women) are going to get hosed. There's just no way around it. It is going to happen."

The contentious issue centers around a report released in the fall by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which now wants to abolish an otter-free zone off the coast that it created in the late 1980s...

The City Council in 1999 approved a resolution supporting the relocation plan and otter-free zone. But since the Fish and Wildlife Service now wants to terminate the zone, Mr. Williams and Ms. Schneider brought the matter before the present council.

In addition to sending the letter, the council in a meeting next year plans to rescind the 1999 resolution. Mayor Marty Blum, who was on the council then, said she doesn't regret the decision because it was the right thing to do.

"We did the best with the information we had at the time," she said.

The council letter or resolution carries no weight, other than letting the federal agency know where the city of Santa Barbara stands. It's up to the Fish and Wildlife Service to abolish the zone.

The only surprise during the meeting came from Ms. Schneider, who recommended that two additional paragraphs, written by Mr. Williams, be added to the staff's draft letter. The new wording suggested a possible increase in the kelp forest if the sea otters return.

The revised letter also states that the city "strongly encourages the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to pursue mechanisms that afford protections for our commercial fisheries," in case fishermen accidently catch and kill a sea otter.

Although Mr. Williams empathizes with the plight of the fishing industry, he said the otters must be protected.

"There's a reason the otters are on the endangered species list," he said. "They are on the brink of extinction."

In a noticeable departure from her position at the last meeting, Ms. Falcone said she agreed "completely with Mr. Williams."

"We all live together," she said. "We all share this Earth together."


City Council united in support of otters

Battle for 2nd

[ Excerpt from the SB Independent, 12/8/2005 ]

BATTLE FOR THE 2ND: The posturing has begun in the upcoming fight for the 2nd District supervisor’s seat, with Santa Barbara Democrats throwing their support to former Goleta School Boardmember Janet Wolfe to replace Supervisor Susan Rose — who won’t seek reelection — while crossing their fingers that Santa Barbara City Councilmember Das Williams will decide not to run. Though Wolfe has not formally announced her candidacy, she already has Congresswoman Lois Capps in her corner, along with 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal and his predecessor Naomi Schwartz. Williams, now in the second year of his first council term, has not made up his mind. He said he would withdraw if he was convinced Wolfe could defeat Dan Secord, the sole Republican on the Santa Barbara City Council currently serving out his final year. The 2nd District election takes place next June; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will face off next November.

newsoftheweek

Rose's Wolf Free Pass

[ Excerpt from SBN-P editorial opinion, 12/7/2005 ]

Our Opinion: Why give Rose's Wolf a free pass?


... The local Democratic Party establishment continues to try to solidify support for a relatively unknown candidate to replace beleaguered county Supervisor Susan Rose.

The latest comes from a press release from Rep. Lois Capps titled "Capps Urges Janet Wolf to Run for Supervisor."

... mainstream Democratic leaders for months have been orchestrating Ms. Wolf's candidacy and working to shut out other candidates.

Santa Barbara City Councilman Das Williams angered some party leaders in the November city election when he worked to push Councilwoman Iya Falcone, a fellow Democratic officeholder, out of a job. Now it appears payback time for that behavior. There's also the concern of some that Mr. Williams is ill-suited for the supervisor's position.

We find all this back-room party wrangling -- for a supposedly nonpartisan position on the Board of Supervisors -- troubling.

Rather than trying to ace candidates out, let the voters hear directly from everyone who wants to run.

There's a primary election, in June, for exactly this purpose.

... Like many others, the News-Press has questions about Ms. Wolf's qualifications and stances on matters important to the 2nd District. For example, she has not been an active participant in her community's discussions to protect neighborhood character and rezone land for subsidized housing development in the unincorporated eastern Goleta Valley.

... Yet it appears, despite reports to the contrary, that Ms. Wolf is Ms. Rose's hand-picked successor. This raises a big red flag...


Our Opinion: Why give Rose's Wolf a free pass?

2nd District Field

[ Excerpt from SBN-P article 12/5/2005 by BARNEY McMANIGAL ]


... Struggling to hold their party's weakened position in county government, top-level local Democrats are urging Santa Barbara City Councilman Das Williams to not enter the race for 2nd District supervisor.

Citing concerns about his age, ambition and ability to win the June 2006 contest, retiring incumbent Susan Rose and former Supervisor Naomi Schwartz have rallied behind former Goleta school board trustee Janet Wolf's bid for the Board of Supervisors... While none of the potential candidates has formally begun a campaign, Ms. Wolf and Mr. Williams' Republican colleague on the council, Dan Secord, say they will enter the race.

Mr. Williams expects to make a decision early this month. The 31-year-old started his unofficial bid with an ambitious game plan -- strike early and take the neighborhoods.

That's what the first-term politician said he must do to buffer calls from party leaders for him to step aside.

After shoring up his progressive base in a high-profile push for a "living wage" this fall, Mr. Williams aggressively courted Goleta Valley residents who have opposed the high-density affordable housing proposals many of his supporters demand.

But as the charismatic Democrat contemplates his chances of winning in a suburban district that stretches from Santa Barbara to Goleta, his strategy so far has failed to gain traction.

... The candidate who captures more than 50 percent of the vote would win outright in the June 6 balloting. If no candidate prevails, the top two finishers would face off in November.

Since Ms. Wolf expressed an interest in succeeding Ms. Rose earlier this year, the soft-spoken vocational rehabilitation consultant and mother of three has gained support from several Democratic heavyweights.

First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal, Ms. Rose's sole Democratic colleague, has offered his "unequivocal and full support."

Ms. Rose, who hasn't formally endorsed a candidate, frequently sings her praises -- citing Ms. Wolf's 11 years on the school board, Goleta Valley address and her gender as strong cases for her candidacy.

The supervisor from Hope Ranch has told Mr. Williams and other progressives that Ms. Wolf has the best chance of holding the seat.

But to boost Ms. Wolf's chances, they need Mr. Williams out.

"We shouldn't be competing with each other," said Ms. Rose, echoing a sentiment of several party insiders who would prefer to run one candidate.

As the Democrats try to clear the field, they have taken issue with Mr. Williams' willingness to leave the council after two years.

Some, like Ms. Rose, say he has an obligation to voters to finish his term.

Others question whether he is ready to serve at the county level.

After 12 years as supervisor, Ms. Schwartz argues that the position requires skills and life experience that Mr. Williams doesn't have yet.

"We want people sitting in those seats who have a good balanced perspective and bring some maturity to it," Ms. Schwartz said.

"Das is a young man in a hurry, and I just wish he would slow down."

Mr. Williams said in an e-mail last week that the endorsement of 2nd District residents matters more than that of party leaders.

He said he would run if the South Coast needs his voice to fight runaway development and the policies of the board's North County majority.

"The right supervisor should be someone chosen because they fill a need for leadership against a (board) that has abandoned sound planning practices and our traditional defense of the environment."

... The growth issue could carry great weight in the Goleta and Las Positas valleys, and along upper State Street, where residents have criticized affordable housing proposals based on their effects on traffic, congestion and neighborhood character.

Ms. Rose herself describes the fight over how to address the region's housing crunch while preserving neighborhood character as the leading challenge facing her successor...


Democrats want a clear field for supervisor race