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Fire District morale soars
Beach cruising
Study to assess health of district, way forward BY LEA BOYD
There is new transparency within the district, firefighter Kelly Baker said, and the board is no longer in the center of a tug-ofwar between firefighters and the chief.
Carpinteria-Summerland Fire District appears to be rising from the ashes of a failed bond measure and an administration/ labor relationship gone bad. Firefighters, management and the board of directors all support a recent contract for an $86,000 Standards of Coverage Study aimed at identifying the best path forward: how and where to build new stations, whether to consolidate with another agency and how well the district is currently serving the public. “It will be a great report card on how we’re doing,” said Interim Fire Chief Jim Rampton. “At the end of the day, we hope to have enough information on where we need to go.” Six months ago, the district underwent a major upheaval. Measure Z, a bond initiative to raise $10.65 million for a new fire station in Summerland and a remodeled Carpinteria station, failed to meet the two-thirds approval threshold in the May 5 election. Just two weeks later, Fire Chief Mike Mingee, whose relationship with firefighters had been contentious for years, announced he would step down before his contract ended. His early departure was one of the terms that settled a lawsuit brought on by three firefighters against the chief and district. Kelly Baker, president of the CSFPD Firefighters Association, said that the firefighters’ relationship with Interim Chief Rampton is “night and day” from the adversarial one they had with Mingee. There is new transparency within the district, Baker said, and the board is no longer in the center of a tug-of-war between firefighters and the chief. Trust was lost on both sides of that relationship, Rampton said. He meets regularly with Baker so that decisions are made together for the best of the district. “Let’s try to mend those relationships and build those relationships back,” he said of his approach to the predicament. As a result, there has been a “huge boost in morale” among firefighters, Baker said. “All the successful agencies out there have positive collaborative relationship between labor and management,” he added.
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ROBIN KARLSSON
The Anderson family—Ben and Leigh-Anne with tykes Luke, 7, and Liam, 2—test their Xtracycle in the wet sand of the city beaches last Saturday evening. The new moon brought about minus tides over the weekend, widening the well-used sandy playground. On Monday morning, the city berm arose—a sandy wall of storm protection between Linden and Ash avenues.
Alleged cocaine dealer busted
Following a two-month investigation, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Detectives with the Special Investigations Bureau arrested Duke Overbach on Nov. 11 and seized more than one pound of cocaine. Overbach, 37, a convicted felon, was under investigation for suspicion of selling cocaine. A search warrant was served at Overbach’s residence in the 4700 block of Carpinteria Duke Overbach Avenue. In the home, Sheriff’s detectives discovered more than one pound of cocaine worth an estimated street value of $42,000. They also found other evidence related to the sales of narcotics, including cash suspected as profits and proceeds of cocaine sales. Overbach was also found to be in possession of a semi-automatic firearm, ammunition and an illegal belt-buckle knife. Overbach was booked on charges of possession of cocaine for sales, being a felon in possession of a firearm, a felon in possession of ammunition and a felon in possession of an illegal belt-buckle knife. His bail was set at $35,000.
Detectives seized more than a pound of cocaine, a firearm, ammunition and cash at a Carpinteria Avenue residence on Nov. 11. Sheriff’s detectives are also requesting the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office review the case and file child endangerment charges due to the fact there were children living in the home where the alleged drug trafficking occurred.