How Do City Council Members Get to Work?
by Bonnie Donovan
Part-Time Santa Barbara City Council Members
It is interesting to observe that sometimes – despite providing information – there are individuals who choose not to believe.
In the comments section of my previous column, a reader claimed that city council members are part-time and therefore do not receive benefits or a pension.
However, a different reader shared a link that allows users to input the name of any California government employee and obtain information regarding their regular pay, overtime pay, other pay, benefit pay, pension pay, and the total amount.
Sharing links and additional resources can help support our points, but ultimately, it's up to readers to click on those sites and delve deeper into the information provided.
Therefore, instead of solely sharing the link to Transparent California's 2022 salaries for Santa Barbara I will include the pay information of three out of the six council members.
Why limit it to just these three individuals? They are campaigning to retain their seats in November. While they may have flexible hours as part-time workers, their compensation and perks do not match up.
Have YOU ever contemplated running for city council?
Do you know how to conduct thorough research before casting your vote on how our tax money should be spent?
Are you aware of the importance of doing your homework before attending the Tuesday meeting?
Are you concerned about the safety of all Santa Barbara residents?
Ensuring safety would be your primary responsibility in exchange for this salary!
When you vote to convert vehicle lanes into multi-million-dollar bike lanes to encourage people to abandon their cars, shouldn't you set an example?
In my opinion, one way to do so would be to eliminate the additional pay.
What does that entail?
Well, it refers to expenses related to using your car for meetings, events, and so on. By doing so, we could save $8,864.00 multiplied by 6 council members, resulting in $53,184.00 annually. The second way is they should all be traveling exclusively by bicycle or bus.
As the reader suggested, they should all have another job that provides their benefits.
SHOCKER
It was quite surprising to see that the top earner of all city employees had such a high wage.
What was the reason behind Ariel Calonne receiving an additional pay of $383,185? It is important for transparency that the City Council clarifies the circumstances surrounding Ariel's significant extra pay.
Talking about multi millions in bike paths.
Discover the exciting invitation from the city to all cyclists to explore the latest CycleMAYnia event.
Despite the large investments already made in De La Guerra Plaza (planning), the city is now promoting CycleMAYnia, contradicting the initial intention of creating a bike-free plaza.
“The City of Santa Barbara and MOVE Santa Barbara County invite the public to attend CycleMAYnia at De La Guerra Plaza on Saturday, May 18 from 9 am to 1 pm. This event includes safety checks for participants’ e-bikes, a skills course to practice safe e-bike handling techniques, and a group e-bike ride through the community to build confidence for interacting safely with traffic while exploring new bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
The Plaza will be closed to vehicle traffic during the event.
To participate in the group ride and receive giveaways, you must register below and complete all pre-ride activities. All e-bike riders aged 10 and older are invited to attend. You must bring your own e-bike and wear a helmet when riding.
To register, click here or access the event flyer.
The Community E-Bike Skills Class and Ride event is part of Santa Barbara County Association of Government’s CycleMAYnia. CycleMAYnia is a public-private collaboration that uses community resources and South Coast Measure A Bicycle and Pedestrian funds to provide a series of community events, workshops, and rides to promote the benefits of biking, encourage active lifestyles, bike safety, and advocate for safer and more accessible cycling infrastructure.”
Or maybe you want cash to help buy your new electric car? …
But before you go out and buy that new car prepare for more rate hikes…
Reminder: to get all city media releases click here and subscribe to media releases.
What happened to Measure C tax funds to repair our infrastructure?
Heads up: the city is also asking for another sales tax increase! Could it be because they need to raise an additional $383,185?
Did you see Jordan's screed about how we need to provide more language services to immigrants? He thought Los Angeles' provision of language services in 20 languages was a good idea. As I recall, this article was in Noozhawk last week. I can't believe Jordan's disconnect from the real world, or is it a conscious effort to balkanize us?
It’s crazy how the Government can break laws and pay for their Defence with our taxes using a blank check to Government Attorneys. They get paid no matter the outcome. SBCC and SBUSD have the same attorney who covers for all their mistakes and bully’s the public.