As a general rule, when the
Santa Barbara County Grand Jury speaks, people listen — and on occasion, some
of those people speak back.
Such is the case with city
officials in Guadalupe, concerning the panel’s recent report critical of the
city’s fiscal situation and leading to a recommendation that Guadalupe
disincorporate.
According to law, the city has
90 days to respond to the grand jury’s recommendation, but judging from the
quick and verbal response from City Council members and administrators, we’re
confident the blowback at the panel’s report won’t take three months.
For one thing, problems
identified in the report are based on information and data supplied to the
grand jury by city officials. So, they already knew what the jury’s findings
would likely be, long before the report came out a week ago Friday.
Basically, the report boils
down to the city demonstrating a history of fiscal mismanagement, a lack of
revenue to make things better, with the only logical conclusion being to give
up cityhood and convert to a community services district, because solvency is
out of the question.
In other words, the grand jury
recommends Guadalupe give up its identity, and throw itself on the mercy of a
benevolent county government.
Giving up is the last thing
Guadalupe should do.
That sentiment will likely be
expressed in the city’s response to the grand jury report. We say that with
some confidence, because the city’s voters recently took steps to help remedy
some of the fiscal issues by passing ballot measures meant to increase the
city’s revenue stream.
Members of the City Council and
recent additions to city staff have been acutely aware of financial
mismanagement in years past. The panel’s allegation that the city owes the IRS
more than $450,000 is just flat wrong, according to City Administrator Andrew
Carter.
Misstatement of facts in final
reports from grand juries over the years is not uncommon. The jury is comprised
of what are essentially citizen volunteers, some of whom have personal agendas
that often are reflected in the research that goes into each grand jury
project. Civil grand juries are anything but infallible.
All that being said, one
undeniable fact is that such reports serve as a wake-up call for whomever or
whatever is being reported upon. And while the facts of the Guadalupe report
were known to all the city’s elected officials and staff, having the report on
the public record is a kind of insurance that the proper steps will be taken to
clean up the city’s house, so to speak.
The Guadalupe report, as
scathing as it may have seemed to city officials, also serves as a reminder to
officials in other cities and taxing districts in the county that being asleep
at the wheel, or outright malfeasance when it comes to government entities’
fiscal responsibilities is unacceptable. The laid-back, good-ol’-boy approach
to municipal management is a thing of the distant past.
The three ballot measures
approved by voters last November signaled citizens’ faith in elected and hired
city officials to get Guadalupe on the right track, and keep it there. We
believe the voters’ confidence easily trumps the grand jury’s conclusion that
the city is headed toward insolvency, with the only path being
disincorporation.
Besides, following the grand
jury’s suggestion would only throw Guadalupe in with a county government that
has a long history of fiscal problems.
April
18, 2015
Lompoc
Record
Editorial
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