After a mind-numbing four-hour meeting that moved through the Tuesday agenda like molasses in the Arctic, the Lompoc City Council moved like lightning to vote 5-0 proclaiming support for undocumented residents of the city and the existing state laws impacting them.
Applause by the remaining audience, a bare remnant of the standing-room-only crowds that had jammed the chamber during the last two council meetings, was modest, but emotion-laden.
When this proclamation was open for public comment during two earlier council sessions, lines of people waiting to speak stretched the length of the chamber. In different ways, everyone told councilmembers about the lives of field workers, cleaning ladies, and their neighbors. Many were in tears.
“It’s a very heartwarming feeling being seen and heard, not only for us as a group, but for our community as a whole,” grinned Andrea Pelagio, spokesperson for Voces Sin Frontera (VSF), the youthful group of friends who first gathered on rainy Lompoc street corners in March and April to talk about how they could support those in the community affected by recent government actions.
It was this group who first proposed the proclamation, a group that has now coalesced into a potent political force. “I’ve never done anything like this before, not even in high school. I wasn’t in clubs or nothing. It’s nice to be taken seriously,” Pelagio said. “They could have blown us off, but they didn’t. They are acknowledging the problems we feel, and they’re taking action.“
“There was discomfort in the community,” agreed Councilmember Steve Bridge, who made the motion ending discussion at the previous meeting and played the same role Tuesday night. “This creates comfort that we support all immigrants. I’m happy the community feels comfortable.“
Councilmember Jeremy Ball, who passionately urged passage of the carefully worded resolution, stood afterward in the cold with the VSF leaders. “I’m really proud of Lompoc and its entire leadership for standing up for our neighbors,” he said. “This is the time to remember the people we call essential workers. Our society is turning their backs on them.”
Earlier in the meeting, a welcome bit of news came from Police Chief Kevin Martin, who presented the Police Department Annual Report for 2024. Amid the tallies of various crimes, the number for serious crimes on property, including auto theft, was down a whopping 21 percent.
Asked for explanation, he pointed to the installation of cameras and a return to nearly full staffing. The cameras catch license plates at all points of entry to the city and on Housing Authority properties. Staffing is now 49 officers, the highest in 15 years.
