Mayor John H Linn

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The Committee to elect John H Linn 2014
PO Box 2525
Lompoc CA 93438

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1. Assist the Fallen Warriors Committee in completing the Veterans Memorial they will build around the flag pole at Beattie Park. This will honor all Lompoc area veterans who gave their lives in the military.

2. Assist the Motor Sports Committee in completing the Motor Sports Park on unused land on the north side of the Lompoc Airport. The City has already received an almost one million dollar grant from the Off Road Vehicle Division of California State Parks for the Motocross tracks in the park. The Committee continues to raise money for the International Hot Rod Association sanctioned one eighth mile drag strip to provide legal, supervised racing and at the same time, promoting racing as a competitive sport and tourist draw.

3. Carry forward a down payment assistance program to help qualified Lompoc residents buy homes. The council has voted to use most of the three million dollar housing in lieu money we have in the bank to fund second trust deeds that must be repaid when the home is sold or refinanced. This is similar to a successful city program in the 1980s.

4. With the coming of our new industrial park next year we must develop better promotional materials and a solicitation plan to bring business and jobs to the industrial park. As in the past, some prospective businesses will want to talk with the Mayor, some with Staff and some with both. We will have an approach to meet each need.

5. The Fire Department has had three great successes to reduce the response time to medical calls and save lives. The six additional fire fighters funded with a federal grant along with adding the third response unit, Rescue One, has made a unit available when one is needed without having to wait for County Fire to come from the Village. The new Police and Fire dispatch system will connect directly to the Mobile Data Terminals in the fire vehicles and cut response time. The last improvement we need is the automated traffic signal control system that turns lights green for approaching fire units and red in all other directions. This is our next objective to fund.

6. The gangs in Lompoc have been brought under control over the last four years by the efforts of the Lompoc Police Department. Our new Police Chief brings experience from another state that will provide new ideas to reduce gangs. The gang life takes away the life opportunities of its members and our community.

7. I have worked closely with the Hancock College President Kevin Walthers and the Petroleum Education Council to bring more oil industry training to the Lompoc Campus. We are also working together to bring some oil industry specific fire training props to the campus for additional classes.

8. Youth sports facility improvements are great for our youth to use but also provide economic benefits to the community from visiting teams. With ideas from the Economic Development Committee we have made progress but there is much more we can do. As our tourism grows we will have more funds available to expand and improve our youth sports facilities.

9. With the budget cuts of the last six years our parks have deteriorated. The gopher abatement program I lead in 2011 has helped but it is time to look at our parks and determine what changes we need to make to create more easily maintained and functional parks. The long leaning Ryon Park arch is on this list.

10. The downtown Lompoc Theater has been tied up in the State’s liquidation of the former Lompoc City Redevelopment Agency. By year end we hope to have it released and begin the restoration that will bring new life to downtown.

11. With the increase of wineries in Lompoc to 38, it is now time to work with the Hotel Association and the Wineries to increase the number of wine tourists that visit Lompoc and the number that stay here, recreate here and return again soon.

12. Santa Barbara County has an effective program for purchasing and contracting locally with little or no cost. It is time to move this forward and keep city dollars with local businesses that employ local workers.

13. Currently the city has replaced only a few hundred of its 2,297 sodium street lights with LED lights. The LED lights provide better light for residents and the police. They reduce electric consumption by over 50%. Financing is available for a replacement program that uses the electricity savings to pay for the new LED lights. Additionally, not all streets and alleys in town have the same number of lights. This upgrade will be the opportunity to provide equal lighting to all areas and additional lights in areas with gang problems.

14. The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments has just completed a Regional Transportation Needs Assessment covering from now through 2040. The key concept in the assessment is to move the jobs to where the workers live. I have reviewed our future land needs. Next year the council must have a detailed discussion of the City’s future needs. We have been fortunate that decisions made by the city councils in the 1970s have provided for our needs until now. We must provide the same foresight for future councils.

1. Leadership that creates results.

I am your 60 hour a week Mayor with over 11,000 hours serving Lompoc. I am only a cell phone call away for every resident and business that needs help. I have lead the council and staff in changing theatmosphere of the City to providing outstanding customer service and becoming the most business friendly city in Santa Barbara County. Workshops at the beginning of each council term provide council members a place to bring in resident’s ideas to improve Lompoc. Thanks to everyone who brought their ideas to me.

2. Economic Development that creates jobs.

Each day 6,000 workers leave Lompoc. Workers who commute lose valuable time with their families and time to be part of our community. Many commuters often shop where they work depriving the city of sales tax revenue for essential services. I have worked continuously to facilitate the creation of new local businesses and the expansion of existing local businesses. The results are over 1,100 new jobs. I am particularly proud that my direct assistance helped Grocery Outlet, DenMat and Chrysler Corporation open in Lompoc. The result of new local jobs and stores shows 12 consecutive quarters of sales tax increases since the second the quarter of 2011. The City Of Lompoc sales tax revenues now exceed the previous best year in 2007. Increased sales tax revenue has provided substantial funds for City services such as Police, Fire and Parks and Recreation.

3. Budget changes that reduce costs.

In each of the two year budget cycles I have made specific recommendations that have resulted in substantial savings. These savings have allowed us to maintain our Police and Fire services during the economic downturn.

4. Government that includes citizens.

The 10 day council advance agenda I proposed now allows residents time to review and intelligently comment on items before and at the council meeting. II have never had a ‘small group of advisors’. Instead I have reached out to knowledgeable individuals in the community on each subject including many of you.

5. Accountability for council and staff.

First, as the City Council Chairman, I extended Oral Communications to 5 minutes so that all residents could provide their detailed input. Second, I opposed and continue to oppose putting items residents need to know about and understand on the Consent Calendar. Third, I frequently challenge Staff to take customer service to the next level.

       6. Adequate Police and Fire Services.

The City has been successful in receiving grants that have returned our police to full staffing. Fire grants have added an additional 6 fire fighters. The $65,000 raised by the Fire Foundation allowed the City to add Rescue 1, a multi-purpose quick response unit. Now the City will have THREE response units on duty. This has reduced response time and is saving lives in Lompoc now and for the future.

Future financial challenges.

Review of the 2015/2017 budget cycle in early 2012 made it very clear that the City would have a 4 to 5 million dollar shortfall. I knew the City needed to have a plan. The causes of the anticipated budget deficits are the rapidly escalating pension costs from the state fund, the council’s decision to end furloughs using one time reserves funds, and the expiration of the police and fire staff funding grants. Today the shortfall is estimated at 4.2 million dollars.

The long range plan I formulated in 2012 to increase city revenues includes:

1. Increasing sales tax by adding stores and creating jobs in Lompoc so workers shop in Lompoc. To date we have added 7 large retailers along with many smaller ones.
2. Establishing a Hotel Improvement District that is now taxing room stays. The revenues generated are then used for advertising and promotion of Lompoc. The goal is to provide additional bed tax and sales tax revenues. The District was formed and already has collected over $110,000 to promote Tourism in Lompoc.
3. Assist local Vintners with the establishment of an upscale hotel in the Wine Ghetto. Council Member Holmdahl and I have worked with the Ayers Hotels for almost a year. I recently provided ideas to City Staff that solved the last two remaining issues which will allow the hotel to proceed.
4. The establishment of a Four Star Hotel in Lompoc so that upscale customers who visit Lompoc and work in our area will stay in Lompoc rather than in Santa Maria or Buellton. Plans for this hotel are now proceeding.
5. It became clear in early 2012 that available vacant industrial buildings were becoming very scarce. I then began a two year effort to assist the owners of the forty acre parcel at Central and V Street to re-start their project. They had tried to start the project in 2005 but stopped as a result of City actions. The owners of the industrial project have now submitted their plans for City approval which include about 800,000 square feet of buildings that will accommodate 500 to 2,000 jobs.
6. The Economic Development Committee identified the need for a gathering place, such as a brew pub for locals and attendees at the Hancock College Public Safety Training Center. Working on a referral from the Mayor of Solvang I assisted a new restaurant-brewery in coming to the forever vacant Beattie Ford buildings at Chestnut and H. Street.
7. Joe Lazaer and I envisioned and founded the Lompoc Valley Parks Recreation and Pool Foundation in 2008. Since inception the Foundation has completed the dog park, operates a radio controlled car track, is near completion on the River Bend BMX bicycle park and plans are now ready for submission and environmental review on the Motor Sports Park at the Lompoc Airport. Design work is also nearly complete for the Fallen Warriors Committee memorial to all those that have served and died in the United States Armed Forces. The facilities created by the Foundation will increase tourism dramatically.
8. Other projects are in the works including over 44 acres of new industrial space in the Bailey Corridor project. This industrial space will ultimately provide over 2 million square feet of buildings to provide more jobs and bring more of our 6000 commuting workers home.