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.
Premier Events
Fri, May 10
6:00 PM
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Beau James Wilding Band at M Special Goleta
Sat, May 11
1:00 PM
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Camps, Classes, and Cones! Summer Program Fair
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Visionaries Then & Now Concert
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Friendship Center’s Mother’s Day Celebration
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Waldorf School Fundraising Presents: Live Music
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Dos Pueblos High School Presents: “Anything Goes”
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San Marcos High School Theater Presents, “Singin’ in the Rain”
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Covenant Living at the Samarkand Spring Art Show
Fri, May 10
12:00 PM
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Mother’s Day Weekend at Art & Soul
Fri, May 10
6:00 PM
Santa Barbara
Crepe Paper Flowers Workshop
Fri, May 10
7:00 PM
SANTA BARBARA
San Marcos High School Theater Presents, “Singin’ in the Rain”
Fri, May 10
7:30 PM
Santa Barbara
Nic & Joe Play Roy
Sat, May 11
11:00 AM
Solvang
Moms 4 Mutts! Humane Society Fundraiser
Fri, May 10 6:00 PM
Goleta
Beau James Wilding Band at M Special Goleta
Sat, May 11 1:00 PM
Santa Barbara
Camps, Classes, and Cones! Summer Program Fair
Sun, May 12 3:00 PM
Santa Barbara
Visionaries Then & Now Concert
Thu, May 09 11:00 AM
Santa Barbara
Friendship Center’s Mother’s Day Celebration
Thu, May 09 5:00 PM
Santa Barbara
Waldorf School Fundraising Presents: Live Music
Thu, May 09 7:00 PM
Goleta
Dos Pueblos High School Presents: “Anything Goes”
Thu, May 09 7:00 PM
SANTA BARBARA
San Marcos High School Theater Presents, “Singin’ in the Rain”
Fri, May 10 10:00 AM
Santa Barbara
Covenant Living at the Samarkand Spring Art Show
Fri, May 10 12:00 PM
Santa Barbara
Mother’s Day Weekend at Art & Soul
Fri, May 10 6:00 PM
Santa Barbara
Crepe Paper Flowers Workshop
Fri, May 10 7:00 PM
SANTA BARBARA
San Marcos High School Theater Presents, “Singin’ in the Rain”
Fri, May 10 7:30 PM
Santa Barbara
Nic & Joe Play Roy
Sat, May 11 11:00 AM
Solvang