Nick Welsh Gets His Dog On

SB Independent:

OILS WELL THAT ENDS WELL: I’m flat-out jealous. Not only does Mike Brown, the CEO and reigning über boss of the sprawling county bureaucracy, manage to walk on water, he doesn’t even get his feet wet. It just ain’t fair.

When most people get egg on their face, they have to wash it off. Not Mike Brown. He makes a meringue. And the rest of us have to eat it.

S.B. County puts most unbudgeted requests on hold

Santa Maria Times: After debating among themselves whether or not Santa Barbara County's financial future is bleak, county supervisors listened Monday to departments ask for more funding than proposed in a 2007-08 budget -- pleas that ranged from hiring extra sheriff's deputies to providing a social worker for inmates needing treatment programs after jail.

Goleta the Fleeceable?

"Along with the proposed contract for police services it would appear SB County and Goleta City council have driven a stake into the heart of Goleta."

The Community Post at BlogaBarbara goes on to ask, "So the question is are we better off now than we were 6 years ago or are the taxpayers getting fleeced?"

County Investigates Misconduct Claims Against Brown

SB Independent
Chris Meagher
May 31, 2007

A spokesman for the County of Santa Barbara said Wednesday the county is currently investigating allegations that Chief Executive Officer Mike Brown behaved inappropriately, as outlined in a lawsuit filed May 18 against Brown and the county by former public defender James Egar. The county has hired an outside investigator, Joseph B. Scudiero of Torrance.

This isn’t the first lawsuit filed against the county because of Brown’s behavior. In 2001, former Human Resources Director Ann Goodrich filed suit, eventually settling for $900,000.

Boyer called the investigation ongoing because of a lack of cooperation on Egar’s part. “The investigator needs to be able to talk to the person making the allegations,” Boyer said. But in a letter to Scudiero dated May 1, Egar’s attorney Janean Acevedo Daniels said her client, as a former employee of the county, wasn’t obligated to participate in the investigation, but that he could rely on a detailed draft complaint with his allegations and claims, along with more than 600 pages of documents which support those claims. The information is “more than sufficient” for a thorough investigation, Daniels wrote.

Despite an ongoing investigation, the county believes the lawsuit is “without merit,” Boyer said, based on the information already gathered. “The county will defend itself even though it wastes taxpayer’s money.”

For more about the lawsuit, read the original article about Egar’s departure.

Goleta Council Talks Tax Negotiations

SB Independent: The Goleta City Council pushed city staff on 5/21 to renegotiate the city's revenue neutrality agreement with the county. Currently, half of Goleta's taxes flow to county coffers so as to prevent financial strain to the county stemming from the city's incorporation in 2002. City Manager Dan Singer said that staff would prepare a report in six months, and that the city might see some relief in 2012 — when taxes might be reduced. Singer said that staff needed to study the issue further before approaching the county, noting that it “takes two parties to negotiate.”

Will There Be A Brown Out At The County?

Craig Smith looks at Santa Barbara County Chief Executive Officer Mike Brown surving a lawsuit that was filed last Friday by former Santa Barbara County Public Defender Jim Egar. Craig goes on to say that if "...Mike Brown survives this, he can survive anything."