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Local party chairs prep for recall vote By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
The recall election targeting Gov. Gavin Newsom will take place in about 10 weeks on Sept. 14. California registered voters will receive a ballot in the mail to vote in favor or against the recall effort.
Party chairs in Santa Barbara County are gearing up for a frenzied 10 weeks leading up to the Sept. 14 recall election targeted at Gov. Gavin Newsom. In just a few months, California voters will determine whether Gov. Gavin Newsom is voted out. All registered voters will receive a mail-in ballot leading up to the election where they can vote “yes” or “no” to the recall effort and decide on what candidate, if any, should replace the sitting governor. If 50% of California voters vote “yes” to the recall, Gov. Newsom will be removed
from office. With the Sept. 14 date now set, potential candidates have until July 16 to file for the election. That leaves about two months to campaign leading up to election day. A few weeks ago, businessman John Cox, former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer came forward to announce unofficial campaigns in their bid for the governorship. Bobbi McGinnis, the chairwoman of the Santa Barbara County Republican Party, told the News-Press Friday that in the next 10 weeks, her party will be knocking on doors and calling voters to encourage them to vote “yes” on the recall. She said she’s very confident the recall
effort can prevail. “We’re hoping that California is fed up and ready to have a leader that we can trust,” Ms. McGinnis said. Proponents of the recall election have pointed to the governor’s COVID-19 policies and his infamous party at the French Laundry restaurant back in December as some of the foremost reasons for spearheading the recall effort. In addition to these reasons, Ms. McGinnis said she supports the recall because she is looking for a leader who will champion “sensible government” and take a pro-business stance. “We need a governor who is going to be a leader,” Ms. McGinnis said.
Fireworks, parades and freedom Santa Barbara County prepares to celebrate the Fourth
Fireworks light up palm trees near the entrance of Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara on Independence Day on July 4, 2017.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The traditional Fourth of July is back. On Sunday, people can watch colorful fireworks explode in the night sky above Santa Barbara and Lompoc, gather with their extended family and friends in a backyard barbecue or march
down the street in a parade waving American flags. It’s a different story than last year when COVID-19 restrictions prevented the usual celebrations. While not all county traditions are taking place this year — such as fireworks shows in Santa Maria, Solvang or Goleta — many well-known events are returning this year.
MORE COVERAGE See Sunday’s News-Press for Fourth of July interviews with veterans and Monday’s News-Press for coverage of celebrations, including fireworks.
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For example, the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation is putting on a big Fourth of July celebration at the Santa Barbara Cemetery on Sunday. The free event marks Pierre Claeyssens’ first in-person event since November 2019. The program will feature an honor guard, the Gold Coast Pipe Band, keynote speakers and a crowd favorite — a flyover in the skies above the venue presented by the Condor Squadron based in Van Nuys. The Vandenberg Air Force Base Honor Guard will present the colors, and retired Sgt. David Gonzales from the Santa Barbara Police Department will sing
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
the national anthem. Musical performances will feature “After the Battle” by the Gold Coast Pipe Band,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “God Bless America” by the Kim Collins Quartet and “Taps” by Bob Burtness. Speakers will include PCVF co-founder Lt. John Blankenship (USN former), U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), special guest speaker Col. Robert A. Long and keynote speaker Capt. Charlie Plumb. Col. Long is the new commander of Space Launch Delta 30 and the Please see FOURTH on A6
“(The election) is so exciting because it means California gets to pick a new direction for the whole state,” she later added. Throughout the recall campaign, Gov. Newsom and his supporters have dismissed the recall effort as a Republican power grab with little support from the general population. According to the latest poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, 57% of Californians said they would vote “no” to the recall as of May. Looking ahead to the next 10 weeks, Darcel Elliott, the county’s Democratic Party chairwoman, said she remains confident that the governor will prevail Please see RECALL on A4
June Jobs report shows rejuvenation High number of positions added, wages increase By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The job market in the United States is showing strong signs again, after a long pandemic year. The U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June, and average wages rose 3.6% from the previous year, according to the Labor Department. The monthly jobs report showed the strongest job gain since August. The 850,000 additional jobs reportedly exceeded economists’ expectations, compared to May’s 583,000 jobs gain and April’s 269,000 new jobs. That being said, the unemployment rate rose 0.1%, to 5.9%, which could be due to the growing number of job seekers re-entering the labor market. However, the economy remains 6.8 million jobs short of the number of jobs it had in February 2020, according to The Associated Press. Dr. Peter Rupert, a professor of economics at UCSB and the director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project, said the numbers reflected pretty much what he predicted. “The report was great,” he told the News-Press Friday. “Things have really been moving up. Leisure and hospitality is one of the largest sectors that’s been steadily coming back: 300,000 roughly a month for the last four to five months, just like we thought it should come back. That’s my view.” The economist did say, though, that he noticed a “slight wrinkle” to the report — the average work week declined by 0.1 hour, from 34.8 to 34.7 hours. Dr. Rupert said that while it doesn’t seem like a big deal, dropping the average by 0.1 and multiplying it by 150 million means “that’s a lot of decline in hours.” He explained that many returning to the workforce took lower-hour jobs, which could mean the jobs are more temporary, or they just have fewer hours. Regarding the slight increase in unemployment, the economics professor said this is the trouble with the statistics, because they could indicate positive or negative trends. “It depends on why. If there’s unemployment because people lost their jobs, that’s
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Dr. Peter Rupert, a UCSB professor of economics and the director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project, described the Labor Department’s June jobs report as a “great report” and locally, a report that points to a “really strong labor market going forward for the next year.”
a bad thing. But if there’s more unemployment because everybody believes the jobs are plentiful and start coming out of the woodwork looking for jobs, that’s a good thing,” Dr. Rupert said. The economist believes the latter is occurring in this case, considering the labor force extended by 151,000 people. “People have gone from not in the labor force to into the labor force, and typically, you wouldn’t do that if you thought the labor market was so bad you’d never get a job,” he said. The wage increase slightly surprised Dr. Rupert, he said, because a high number of people are coming back to lower-paying occupations, so he expected the average to fall. However, he said that he and other economists have heard that the labor shortage has caused many firms to increase wages to recruit employees — they’re paying more bonuses and higher wages overall. In addition, in order to hire a new employee, the trends show that businesses can’t get new employees at the same rate. He described this trend as a “very positive sign for the labor market,” and a “win-win situation.” Please see JOBS on A4
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