Musical Chairs at Helm of Santa Barbara Public Library

Three weeks after Santa Barbara Library Director Jessica Cadiente and Library Services Manager Molly Wetta were placed on indefinite paid leave for undisclosed reasons, overall management for the city’s sprawling library system has been assigned to Senior Assistant to the City Administrator Brandon Beaudette, who for 25 years has been flying quietly below the radar of public controversy as a get-it-done City Hall functionary. 

Beaudette’s appointment as interim director comes after his boss, René Eyerly — Number Two in the City Administrator’s office — had been previously named temporary acting interim library chief. Eyerly will continue to be involved in library oversight, but Beaudette will oversee day-to-day operations.  

Given the cone of silence imposed on the shake-up at the library, one of City Hall’s most high-profile operations, the shift has activated yet another round of speculation but no real information. (Personnel matters, as a matter of law and policy, are not discussed.) 

The fact is that City Hall has been in a state of perpetual transition at the top for the past year. With Kelly McAdoo poised to take the helm as the new City Administrator, the third in three years, Eyerly’s hands-on experience and skills will be much in demand bringing McAdoo smoothly on board. 

Beaudette brings with him knowledge and familiarity with public works projects, budgets, and elevating City Hall’s legislative platform in Sacramento. Around City Hall, his political skills are said to match his policy chops. He reportedly led the push for the city to hire its own lobbyist, expanding beyond the representation afforded by the League of California Cities. 

“He has the skills necessary to handle this difficult assignment in a very difficult time,” said acting City Administrator Sarah Knecht. “I have 100 percent confidence.”

Santa Barbara’s libraries enjoy intense use, its central branch being one of the most visited locations in downtown Santa Barbara. Managing all the competing needs and constituencies that share that space requires a deft and sensitive touch; competing expectations are not easily navigated. 

In recent years, the downtown branch has become the site of a seemingly intractable construction project — three, actually — for what at some point will become downtown’s new Library Plaza. When that will happen has become a matter over which the odds-makers in Vegas differ. Sometime this summer is as precise a guess as City Hall will hazard. 

“We are down to the final punch list,” Knecht said. “I can tell you it looks beautiful; it looks great, but as to when we’ll have the grand opening, I can’t say yet.”

Cadiente took over the helm eight years ago, moving here from Lompoc where she held a similar post. While praised as a competent and even visionary administrator, Cadiente has been dogged by persistent controversy stemming from what even admirers concede have been rough edges when it comes to her personal administrative style. Whether that has anything to do with why she and Wetta were placed on administrative leave is not known.