Jeremy Ball, Bottle Branding
Lompoc Mayor
Jenelle Osborne Working to Launch Cannabis Contributions to City’s Coffers By Dianne Armitage
When Jenelle Osborne and her husband Jason moved from Texas to Santa Barbara, in 1999, they began looking for a place to put down roots. They fell in love with Lompoc, making it their permanent home in late 2000. Jenelle explains her affinity for this community saying, “We grew up near air and naval bases, so it was exciting to be so close to Vandenberg. Living in Lompoc has been a gift in so many ways.” As a small business owner, Jenelle recognized the importance of civic stewardship. “While serving on the city’s Economic Development Committee as vice chair and chair, I spent a great deal of time out in the community trying to better understand our successes, failures, and needs. When I was appointed to the Economic Development Committee, I had no intention of running for city council. I had joined to give back and help improve the city that had become my home,” she shares. “Our economy was stagnant, our city was stuck in the past, and we were struggling to recover from the 2008 recession. As chair I presented committee recommendations to the city council on a regular basis.” When people in the community started asking her to consider a run for council, she began to examine how being on the council could impact change, improve the city, and enrich people’s lives. She decided she wanted the challenge of doing more for her adopted hometown. Lompoc Mayor, Jenelle Osborne
14 Cannabis by the Sea
Winter 2021
“As I began to campaign for city council in 2016, I was asked how we might fund needed improvements in our infrastructure, such as a new fire station and fire trucks. I took a risk and told the room that I might lose support for saying it, but that if California voted to legalize cannabis, then we should regulate and tax cannabis in Lompoc. The idea gained more support than it lost.”
