Change to district-based system seeks to broaden representation on panels, but draws opposition By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North County Editor | @JaneneScully
January 12, 2021
| 3:13 p.m.
A switch to district-based elections has sparked a debate in some North County communities about whether it should matter where planning commissioners and others serving on city panels live.
The Lompoc City Council recently discussed how deep into the city government the district-based change should go, and whether most commissioners can continue to be appointed despite where they reside in the city.
Ultimately, the council voted 3-2 to ax members of certain commissions by March 15, and encourage any of those people to submit applications that include the district where they reside.
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Councilman Victor Vega was concerned about the lag between a council request being made and the council receiving a report. He reminded everyone that this issue had been discussed more than once, but little had been done to fix the problem. The city manager replied that his choices were to either have his limited staff work on active projects or council requests.
Vega then asked if it was possible for council requests to be responded to within 12 months of the request.
The city attorney said the council could identify an item as an “urgent request” and could specify a date when it would be returned. But he cautioned that the staff may advise the council that the item would require significant research or that because of inadequate staffing resources it wouldn’t be possible to meet the requested due date.
Lompoc Looks to Launch Weekly City-Operated Swap Meet
The Saturday event, expected to start in the spring, is proposed for a city-owned parking lot on Ocean Avenue between I and J streets
A parking lot on Ocean Avenue between I and J streets in Lompoc could become home to a weekly city-operated swap meet in 2021. (Janene Scully / Noozhawk photo) By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North County Editor | @JaneneScully
January 2, 2021
| 6:00 p.m.
A weekly swap meet could return to Old Town Lompoc sometime in 2021 with the city as the operator.
The Lompoc City Council recently approved the Recreation Division s proposal to develop and operate the event in a downtown parking lot after debating several aspects and delaying a decision last summer.
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By RON FINK
As 2020 comes to an end, it’s time to look forward. This year was one of the most chaotic of any in my adult life. Hopefully, the problems caused by a disease pass by and we can return to what was normal before politicians got into the doctoring business.
In September 2017, the Lompoc City Council agreed to divide the city into four political districts; each would have the same number of registered voters and was the result of a citizen complaint on April 25, 2017, alleging that the California Voters Rights Act was being violated. It’s interesting to note that neither of the complainants has since applied to serve on any city commission nor have they run for office.
The Lumpkin County Sheriff s Office said Thursday that 12 people were charged with RICO Act violations. Author: Jonathan Raymond (11Alive) Updated: 1:16 PM EST December 17, 2020
LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga.
(Editor s note: The video above this story is related to a GBI heroin bust from August.)
More than a dozen people were arrested this week in north Georgia as part of a sting on a drug trafficking ring, the Lumpkin County Sheriff s Office said Thursday.
The sheriff s office said 12 were arrested in connection to a yearlong investigation and charged with violations of the Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, while an additional two people were arrested while the original 12 warrants were being served.