PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
Time to rewind The Sun takes a look back BY AMY ASMAN Let’s face it—there were some hard hits in 2010: The effects of a fledgling economy still trying desperately to recover; foreclosures and bank failures; and the loss of several community pillars, including Santa Barbara County District Attorney Christie Stanley and resort mogul Fess Parker. But here’s the good news: No matter what happened in 2010—whatever burden there was to shoulder—there was always the promise of better things to come. When Bodger Seeds closed its doors in the Lompoc Valley, another company showed up to keep the flower industry alive. When County Executive Officer Mike Brown packed his bags and left, the Board of Supervisors found an experienced leader, Chandra Wallar, to take his place. And if all else fails to cheer you, dear reader, let’s not forget that ice cream conquered all in Arroyo Grande. m Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
Congrats, Katcho! Come election time, former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Katcho Achadjian (right) ended up as the voters’ choice for the coveted 33rd District State Assembly seat, previously occupied by Sam Blakeslee. Achadjian beat out fellow Republicans Etta Waterfield, Fred Strong, and Matt Kokkonen in the June primary before taking on sole Democratic candidate Hilda Zacarias in November. The politician and gas station owner took the oath of office in early December.
PHOTO BY HENRY HOUSTON
PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
Rare beauty: The Sun paid homage to Lompoc’s dwindling flower fields in July. Forty or 50 years ago, sweet peas and other blossoms covered the Lompoc Valley as far as the eye could see. Today, however, only a scattered few remain. Earlier in 2010, Bodger Seeds, the last major flower seed producer in the valley, closed its Lompoc facility doors for good. But there’s still a sliver of hope: After Bodger bailed, Dutch company Hem Zaden purchased several product lines, then contracted a local farmer to plant 45 acres of sweet peas for seeds.
So long, May: Members of the Orcutt Union School District Board of Education voted unanimously at their Dec. 15 meeting to close May Grisham, one of Orcutt’s top-performing schools and one of Old Town Orcutt’s only elementary schools, to give Orcutt Academy a permanent home. Come 2011, the school’s students and teachers will be transferred to other nearby campuses. The district, meanwhile, expects to receive a budget boost of $300,000 per year through rent payments. The decision generated outrage among many parents, including a grassroots group called Save May Grisham, which claimed the district waited too long to notify affected families. However, board member Bob Hatch told them the idea had been mentioned many times in the past, and that in the future, they should attend more school board meetings. PHOTO BY JEREMY THOMAS
They’re Orthodox: Santa Maria’s first Orthodox Christian church, the Orthodox Church of the Assumption, opened its doors in November 2010. The congregation was actually established in the late 1970s by 15 local families, but it wasn’t able to build a parish hall until this year. The golden cupola atop the hall had some people wondering if Santa Maria now had a mosque. The question caught Father Lawrence Russell off-guard: “I typically say, ‘Doesn’t the 10-foot cross on top give it away?’” The cupola is in fact modeled after a monastery near Smolensk, Russia, where Orthodox Christianity is more widespread.
PHOTO COURTESY VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE
Honoring the fallen: October was a somber month for Vandenberg Air Force Base. On Oct. 13, the Vandenberg community gathered to say goodbye to one of its own: Senior Airman Daniel Johnson, 23, who was killed on Oct. 5 in Afghanistan while conducting an explosive ordnance disposal operation. Another operation member, Tech. Sgt. Robert Butler, sustained unidentified injuries. Airman Johnson’s body was flown to the base from Afghanistan, and Air Force officials organized an on-base memorial. Another memorial was held at First Christian Church in Santa Maria.
Bridge to somewhere: On March 30, 2009, Santa Barbara County officials met with contractors and other community members in the Tepusquet area to break ground on the Tepusquet Bridge project. The bridge has since been completed and will serve as a connection between the rural community and the rest of the Santa Maria Valley.
PHOTO COURTESY SAN DIEGO COUNTY
She’s the boss: In late September, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors announced it selected former San Diego County administrator Chandra Wallar to replace the retiring Mike Brown as county executive officer. Wallar served for almost a decade as San Diego’s deputy chief administrative officer and general manager of the Land Use and Environment Group. She was officially sworn in as Santa Barbara’s top employee on Nov. 1. Wallar is faced with managing a budget gap of anywhere from $60 to $90 million in 2011-12.
PHOTO BY JEREMY THOMAS
PHOTO BY NICHOLAS WALTER
Ice cream wars: The protesting fever over Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab reached its pinnacle during the summer when employees and Doc supporters took to the streets in Arroyo Grande refuting Carpenters Local 150’s claims of a labor dispute. The union started “bannering” the business in January, alleging owner Greg Steinberg used non-union carpenters at the shop’s new locale in the Town Center mall. Steinberg, however, said he had nothing to do with construction decisions at the mall. Nine months later, the banners came down after Arroyo Grande Mayor Tony Ferrara mediated discussions between the opposing groups.
Rest in peace: Christie Stanley (far right), Santa Barbara County’s first female District Attorney, died on April 25 at the age of 61 after a long battle with lung cancer. Several days later, hundreds of people filled the sanctuary of Pacific Christian Center to honor Stanley’s life. Stanley graduated magna cum laude from Ventura College of Law while raising two daughters. She then spent two years in private civil practice before joining the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office in 1980. She was the first female prosecutor in the District Attorney’s North County offices, where she went on to serve as assistant district attorney for more than 15 years.
PHOTO COURTESY COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA PHOTO BY HENRY HOUSTON
PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
PHOTO COURTESY JOYCE DUDLEY
Win some, lose some: Then-Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado made a stop in his home town in early June to do some last-minute campaigning for his baby, Proposition 14, a ballot measure proposing that California run open primaries. Maldonado spent an evening talking to voters at Pappy’s Restaurant off Betteravia Road. However, the proposition ended up faring better than its creator: Voters passed the measure by a fairly large margin in the June election; Maldonado ended up losing his position as lieutenant governor to Democrat Gavin Newsom in November.
And the supe seat goes to … : Santa Maria City Council member Alice Patino and Steve Lavagnino, a former political aide to U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, gave their all in the race to replace retiring Santa Barbara County 5th District Supervisor Joe Centeno. The position ultimately went to Lavagnino, but the juiciest part of the campaign wasn’t who won, but rather who supported whom. Controversy arose leading up to the June election when current 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray gave her support to Lavagnino over Patino, her longtime political aide.
PHOTO BY HENRY HOUSTON
Los Padres fail: The prolonged banking crisis hit close to home in August when the federal government shut down branches of Los Padres Bank, headquartered in Solvang. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named temporary receiver of the failed bank, and all of Los Padres’ 14 offices including locations in Santa Maria, Nipomo, and Buellton, reopened as branches of Pacific Western. Normal banking services weren’t disrupted during the transfer, and Los Padres customers were notified via the company’s website to continue using their existing branches, ATMs, and online accounts until further notice from Pacific Western.
She won the case: After a long and downright ugly campaign for Santa Barbara County District Attorney, Senior Deputy District Attorney Joyce Dudley proved victorious in June over Deputy District Attorney Josh Lynn. The two vied relentlessly to fill the position left vacant by Christie Stanley, who died in April of cancer. Before Dudley took office, however, acting District Attorney Ann Bramsen issued a statement announcing her decision to fire Lynn. Bramsen said she fired Lynn because he was negatively impacting the department by badmouthing the way she handled the leadership transition. PHOTO BY JEREMY THOMAS
The F word: Home foreclosure, unfortunately, was still a common occurrence in 2010. One of the strangest cases could be found at Maria Vista Estates in Nipomo. A squabble over water with the Nipomo Community Services District and other more serious legal troubles prevented the property’s developers from finishing the project, and many of the homes were foreclosed on.
PHOTO COURTESY WIKI COMMONS
Tip your coonskin cap: Fess Parker, Santa Barbara County’s original movie star and the 1950s face of Davey Crockett, died on March 18 at the age of 85. Parker was known throughout the county as a successful entrepreneur and businessman because of his popular enterprises: Fess Parker Winery and Vineyards and Inn & Spa in Los Olivos and the Fess Parker DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara. He is survived by his wife, Marcella, his two children, and 11 grandchildren.