The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 this week in favor of a rescission ordinance that undoes the Naples coastal development agreement while retaining the inland agreement. The decision was made after the board heard from the Department of Conservation that, despite prior claims to the contrary, it had indeed signed off on Matt Osgood’s proposal to cancel the Williamson Act land contract and replace it with a Agricultural Conservation Easement. County staff assured the board that inland development would not begin until final approval was granted by the California Coastal Commission.

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Joshua Lynn, candidate for District Attorney in 2010, received perhaps the race’s biggest endorsement to date, picking up the support of the Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, which represents more than 300 law enforcement personnel around the county. Both Lynn and his opponent, Joyce Dudley-who has the support of Sheriff Bill Brown himself and says she anticipates endorsements from additional law enforcement associations-interviewed with the union’s board two weeks ago.

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On 10/23, approximately 100 UCSB students gathered outside of the Recreation Center to protest the Academic Senate’s decision to terminate the Exercise and Sports Studies Department (ESS) at the end of the academic year in 2010. Though the department only offers four minors, approximately 12,000 students enroll in ESS each year. Sources report that although the ESS costs approximately $900,000-$1,000,000 annually to run, it generates $3 million per year that is typically put right back into the school.

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After more than a year without a full-time manager at the helm, the Goleta Water District’s Board of Directors named John McInnes the new general manager this week. Currently the assistant county executive officer for Santa Barbara County, McInnes served as the county’s director of Long Range Planning from 2005 to 2008. An offer extended to Eric Ford, the district’s CFO, to serve as the permanent general manager was rescinded due to Ford’s alleged violation of district financial policy.

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