Hartmann ekes out a win for Lompoc farm
By Tom Schultz, News-Press Staff Writer
A Lompoc couple celebrated Tuesday after elected officials erased their $65,840.11 tax bill.
In a 3-2 decision that highlighted how much sway elected officials can have over decisions affecting their own districts, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors called Dare 2 Dream Farms in Lompoc a public benefit worth protecting.
The vote capped a months-long effort by Jeremy and Megan Raff to overcome unpaid transient occupancy taxes, also called TOT or bed taxes, owed on four “farm stay” short-term rentals.
“Such a relief” was how Meghan Raff described the outcome.
Day after day, the Raffs welcome children and adults to their rolling Lassalle Canyon Road property. There they can explore the barnyard, learn about crops, shop the honor-system farm stand and depart with a habit-changing appreciation for healthy living.
Backers, including Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann and dozens of people who wrote letters of support, say the farm is an important node providing nutrition to the Lompoc Valley. It distributes food boxes and supplies mobile farmers’ markets, all while accepting EBT payments for people who receive government assistance.
‘Not worth a split’
The Raffs acknowledge they failed to pay TOT from April 2022 to September 2023 and February 2024 to March 2025. Their negligence, they say, stemmed from a period in which rules for short-term rentals on farmland weren’t clear.
Second District Supervisor Laura Capps said she was torn on how to proceed before casting a swing vote in support of Hartmann.
“This is your district,” Capps told Hartmann. “I want to support you on this. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I also don’t think it’s a huge amount of money and we should be going after things that are much more beneficial.”
Capps noted the Raffs paid the tax before stopping.
“I’ll vote with Supervisor Hartmann… out of deference,” Capps said. “The amount of money is not worth a split on this. I don’t think it’s the right thing just because of the admission that they knew what they were doing, and it wasn’t out of confusion. I heard that plain and clear.”
‘Trying to make a living’
Megan Raff told the board paying the tax would severely impact the farm’s ability to maintain its operations.
Hartmann said farm stay opportunities allow farmers to earn additional revenue. After the vote, she joined the Raff family in a group hug.
“When you’re talking about small farmers and ranchers, they’re trying to make a living on the land, which is hard enough,” Hartmann said. “They’re inviting people to come learn about that, but they’re not necessarily sophisticated about the TOT.”
First District Supervisor Roy Lee voted against the tax forgiveness. The Carpinteraia restaurateur said he and his family members are business people who always pay their taxes.
Board Chair Bob Nelson also voted no.
The Fourth District supervisor said he needed to stay consistent with his positions on previous TOT decisions.
Nelson wished the Raffs well: “Don’t take my vote as a lack of support.”
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino voted in favor of the Raffs.
“This is not what we’re supposed to be chasing,” he said. “We’re supposed to be chasing second and third palatial estates on the South Coast that people are renting out for thousands and tens of thousands of dollars. We do our best, but we don’t have enough people doing that.”
As the hearing closed, the board asked county staff members to suggest potential revisions to farm stay TOT rules. And they asked staff to explore whether the Board of Supervisors or a different panel should decide future TOT appeals.
Board tackles Grand Jury findings on Sheriff’s Office overtime and emergency readiness
By Tom Schultz, News-Press Staff Writer
When the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury issued a new round of reports in June, the clock started ticking.
County officials had 90 days to respond to What’s Up with the Excessive Overtime?, which criticized Sheriff’s Office operations.
Authorities had 90 days to react to Is the County Neglecting Emergency Preparedness?, which questioned disaster readiness.
In a series of votes on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors beat the deadlines and clapped back.
Overtime? ‘We’re on it’
Sheriff’s Office overtime has been a big issue for months, but officials point to a positive trend. Last week, the supervisors reviewed a 12-month analysis showing costs reached $17.6 million, or 17.7% of total Sheriff’s salary costs, in fiscal year 2025-26. The cost fell $3.4 million, or 16.4%, from 2024-25.
Among its findings, the Grand Jury urged the county to reach a better contract with the Deputy Sheriff’s Association. And It said the county should upgrade payroll technology and close the South Coast Main Jail as soon as possible.
In a 5-0 decision, the board approved a letter telling the Grand Jury a new contract with deputies curbs overtime.
In addition, a new Workday payroll and HR management system will be ready by January countywide. And supervisors in December will consider a plan to close the jail, the letter says.
“We’re on it,” Board Chair Nelson said.
Emergency response? ‘The county is not neglecting’
In its report on disaster response, the Grand Jury urged the county to reorganize the county Office of Emergency Management (OEM)out of the county Fire Department, where it landed in 2023, and back into the county CEO’s office.
The Grand Jury also said the OEM should grow staff numbers and boost emergency volunteers. And it said the OEM should reinstatement the Oil and Gas Program. That facilities oversight role shifted a decade ago to Fire personnel.
In a 5-0 decision, the board of supervisors shot down a majority of the suggestions. The board described some as already implemented and others as unnecessary.
“The county is not neglecting emergency preparedness, but we will continue to evaluate,” county Fire Chief Garrett Huff told the board.
County officials roll out red carpet to encourage more filmmaking
By Kaitlin Sweeney, News-Press Staff Writer
Santa Barbara County is looking to get more screen time.
In a 5-0 vote, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved funding for an initiative spearheaded by First District Supervisor Roy Lee—an effort to make the county more welcoming to film, television and commercial productions.
“We have the ocean, the mountains, the rolling hills,” Lee told the News-Press after the vote. “We have everything that would make amazing films, sitcoms or shows.”
Tuesday’s vote stopped short of creating a permanent county film office.
Instead, the county is now poised to hire a contractor for up to $150,000 to identify “film-ready” locations, create a list of helpful local contacts, steer producers toward useful online resources and evaluate other options for supporting long-term productions.
Streamlining the process
Officials say Hollywood sometimes hits a bureaucratic wall in Santa Barbara County. Cities, school districts, state and federal agencies and other entities—each with their own set of separate requirements, fees and points of contact—are often involved.
The new funds will help streamline the process, officials say.
Productions filming outside the Los Angeles area often generate more than $50,000 per day in local spending on lodging, dining, transportation, equipment rentals and workers, according to the county.
“This is about economic development,” Lee said, noting the success of the 2004 hit Sideways filmed in the Santa Ynez Valley.
“The film industry is here in Santa Barbara,” Lee said. “It always has been. We want to bring that industry here even more.”
In addition to its runaway critical success, Sideways generated a tourism surge to the county’s wine country still felt to this day.
News-Press Staff Writer Tom Schultz contributed to this report.
Inmates close to release from custody targeted with $1 million-plus in new health care funds
By Kaitlin Sweeney, News-Press Staff Writer
For many people incarcerated in Santa Barbara County, leaving custody brings uncertainty.
Navigating medical, behavioral or other health care can become a difficult hurdle.
Elected officials on Tuesday took a step toward easing the burden. In a 5-0 vote, the Board of Supervisors accepted $1.3 million in state funding to connect people leaving custody within 90 days with Medi-Cal services.
The goal is to make Medi-Cal “more equitable, coordinated and person-centered,” according to a county report.
In addition, the funding will support electronic health-record technology, staff training, software licensing and, among other uses, the coordination of patient information between the County Health Department and other agencies.
Money headed to two departments
The funding comes from the California Department of Health Care Services through its Providing Access and Transforming Health initiative, or PATH. The state awarded county Probation $1 million and the Sheriff’s Office $300,000.
Statewide, the pool of money is much larger. Officials have authorized up to $410 million in capacity-building funds for pre-release and reentry programs in state prisons, county jails and youth correctional facilities.
Santa Barbara County will use $650,000 during the 2026-27 fiscal year and the remaining $650,000 during 2027-28, officials say.
New bus shelters and benches planned for Orcutt, Tanglewood
By Kaitlin Sweeney, News-Press Staff Writer
North County bus riders will soon have more places to sit and take shelter while they wait for a ride.
In a 5-0 vote, the Board of Supervisors approved transferring $109,265 in state transportation funds to the city of Santa Maria for improvements to Santa Maria Regional Transit stops in the unincorporated Orcutt and Tanglewood.
The project includes 14 new benches and five shelters.
Officials have planned shelters are for stops at Lakeview and Orcutt roads, Santa Maria Way and College Drive, Bradley and Country Hill roads, Sandalwood Drive and Black Road, and Bradley Road and Parkland Drive.
Santa Maria Regional Transit operates five lines that serve more than 40 stops and connect residents with Santa Maria, Guadalupe, San Luis Obispo and Cuyama.
Crews, officials said, will complete the improvements by June 30.
Sleeper item: county moves beyond lowest bidder for construction contracts
By Kaitlin Sweeney, News-Press Staff Writer
Qualifications—not just cost—are Santa Barbara County’s new measuring stick for selecting construction contractors.
Most public construction contracts have traditionally gone to the lowest responsible bidder.
But in a 5-0 vote, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a new policy in support of a “best value” method for determining who to hire—for projects exceeding $1 million, and annual job-order contracts of up to $3 million.
That means the county will evaluate contractors on their experience, personnel, past performance, work plans, financial conditions, safety records and compliance with labor requirements—“factors that often determine whether a project is delivered on time and within budget,” according to a county report.
To accept such a bid, county officials must first find it would reduce costs, accelerate construction or provide benefits unavailable through a lowest-bid approach.
