Santa Ynez Notebook: Solvang strike deadlock continues, Buellton advances plans for new downtown core

Talks remained stuck and new disputes flared as the employee strike rocking the city of Solvang entered its third week.

While city leaders emphasized City Hall is still open and services continue, representatives from Teamsters Local 986 predicted businesses, vendors, contractors and residents will increasingly notice disruptions.

While city leaders said the union backing the 30 striking workers broke a bargaining confidentiality agreement, the union said no agreement existed.

And while city leaders said they recently proposed a slate of dates aimed at getting negotiations back on track, union reps said they’d received no such overture.

City Attorney Chelsea O’Sullivan kicked off that last bit of news Monday evening, after the City Council emerged from a closed session meeting announcing a reportable action.

“The reportable action is that the city’s negotiator spoke with the union negotiator on Friday, and during that conversation the city’s negotiator offered to meet with the union this week and provided dates,” O’Sullivan said. “The City Council this evening directed the city negotiating team to hold those dates open.”

Afterward, Teamsters representative Jeff Lee said the union received no dates “in any format, formal or informal.”

“That’s a wild thing to report on the record,” Lee said, adding he nevertheless took it as a hopeful sign talks might resume soon.

At its core, the dispute boils down to disagreement over pay raises. Stung, they say, that senior City Hall leaders have received 20% to 40% increases over the past two budget cycles, the workers in June rejected a city offer of 4% raises each year over three years.

Negotiations deteriorated further when city leaders rejected a union offer of a 4% raise this fiscal year followed by 6% raises in each of the next two years. In other words, the two sides were effectively 2% apart.

Buellton leaders support Avenue of the Flags median redesign

The Buellton City Council on Monday largely backed proposed designs that would turn a prominent center divider into the heart of a proposed new downtown.

Providing feedback on plans and drawings, the council offered relatively small tweaks to the proposal to transform the median on the 500 block of Avenue of the Flags.

“I want this to be a spot people want to spend time at,” Mayor David Silva told city planners. “It’s interesting to look at, and the functionality should just be an add-on.

“I just want to be thoughtful that we aren’t overburdening it with, ‘It also needs to, you know, bop it, twist it, flick it,'” Silva said. “Sometimes it’s just nice to have an open space.”

Among other recommendations, Silva said the design should include public restrooms and plenty of trash and recycling options.

A beautiful fountain and a big flagpole would make Councilmember John Sanchez happy, he said.

Councilmember Carla Mead said she worries about pigeons in that fountain. “They’re disgusting.”

Planners should make sure entrances don’t feel too constrained, said Councilmember Elysia Lewis, pointing to one drawing in particular.

“It feels like walking into Disneyland,” Lewis said. “And it feels like it would create a bottleneck trying to get in and out of events.”

Monday’s comments will inform final designs that come back for formal Planning Commission and City Council consideration, official say.

In a related item, the city is considering new rules that would regulate food truck on Avenue of the Flags, at special events or elsewhere.

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