Six priorities
Everything the District does matters, but none of it matters as much as the first item below. These are ranked deliberately.
- Stabilize the treatment plantThe plant was built in the 1960s and much of it is original. Its electrical system is not grounded. Blowers central to treatment are no longer manufactured and parts are bought secondhand. Testing has confirmed a chemical reaction cracking the major in-ground concrete from the inside. None of it can be switched off while it is repaired — sewage arrives every hour, in every condition — which makes the plant’s condition a risk question rather than a budgeting question. Engineering studies commissioned in 2022 and 2023 identified the failing equipment in writing and ranked it urgent. Not one piece of that equipment has been replaced. The work needed to keep this plant safe and running is required whichever path the District takes, and it should not wait on a decision it does not depend on.
- Decide where wastewater is treated for the long termA rebuilt plant here, or conveyance to the City of Santa Barbara. An investment-grade audit begun since I joined the Board, and an evaluation of the alternatives, are both scheduled to reach the Board in 2027. That decision should rest on cost, risk, and control — including what Montecito gives up in control over its own rates and infrastructure to a body its residents do not elect. The analysis cannot run forever. When enough is known, study becomes decision.
- Execute the collection-system programThe District maintains roughly 74 miles of sewers, force mains and lift stations. The hard planning work is done — condition assessment, life-expectancy analysis, wet-weather study, prioritized project list, and a septic-to-sewer master plan. The Board’s job now is to fund it, schedule it, and finish it, ranked by risk rather than by age, with progress measured in miles relined and wet-weather flow actually coming down.
- Retain and protect the people who run the systemThe District had been losing staff to neighboring agencies. In an organization this small, where a handful of people carry most of the operating knowledge, a district that cannot keep its staff cannot execute a capital program however well that program is planned. Benefits have been updated and a multi-year agreement is in place. Training and safety come next — and safety matters more than usual at a plant with ungrounded electrical systems.
- Finance the capital program, and stay in complianceRates were studied and set in 2026. That was the revenue side. The harder question is still ahead: a long-term financial plan for the capital program — what it will cost, what reserves and revenues exist, where the gap sits, and how it closes. A plant decision of this size cannot be financed by hoping. All of it proceeds under a regulatory clock, with a discharge permit to renew while the work is under way.
- Cooperate regionally without consolidatingWe are stronger together, and we should be looking to cooperate whenever we can with our neighboring and sister districts. Cooperation can be achieved through shared services, joint projects, mutual aid, and joint powers agreements, all of which require no change in governance at all. Consolidation is a different question. I am opposed to it until there is a demonstrated need. The independent study found no meaningful financial case for merging, its strongest rationale was unified governance of a recycled-water program, and Montecito Water has since suspended recycling indefinitely as not financially feasible. If recycling becomes viable, I would welcome a conversation about a governance change.
What this adds up to
The District has capable staff, a great deal of completed engineering, and a far clearer picture of its own infrastructure than it had several years ago. What it lacked was the discipline to turn that into sequenced decisions and finished work.
Study has to become decision. Decision has to become execution. And execution has to produce results that Montecito residents can see and measure.