Santa Barbara Progressives have made it clear—they want the poor to stay poor and the middle class to be endangered of becoming poor. California imports 56% of our oil from the Middle East—many terrorist nations. The Democrats prefer to enrich terrorists and haters of Israel than provide well paying jobs for Californians—and lower energy costs for all of us.
“The population not meeting the U.S. poverty level in north county is twice as high as the population not meeting that threshold in the south county. Moreover, it even eclipses the percentage of people not reaching the poverty level for the nation. Did you know that ExxonMobil’s Restart of their Santa Ynez Unit, including Platform Hondo, which had been operating offshore without incident since 1981, once approved by the Board of Supervisors, will bring back hundreds of the highest-paying jobs for working families living in the north county?
This is good news, assuming you have a heart for the low-income working families in the north county.
Republicans want to help those in poverty. Democrats want to keep people in poverty. When will the voters allow the poor to succeed?
Joe Armendariz, Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association, 2/5/20 g
| Before I proceed to the issue at hand, allow me a quick observation about Tuesday night’s State of the Union. Long live Rush Limbaugh and civility and decorum in American politics are dead. Now for the rest of the story. The City of Santa Maria is the largest in Santa Barbara County. In the north county, there are twice as many students enrolled in our k-12 public schools than in the south county. And even though k-12 schools are located throughout Santa Barbara County, the vast majority of student enrollment is concentrated in the north county. In fact, north county student enrollment continues to increase even as it is declining in the south county. I’ve written about this before. But wait, it gets worse, assuming you have a heart for the low-income working families in the north county. The population not meeting the U.S. poverty level in north county is twice as high as the population not meeting that threshold in the south county. Moreover, it even eclipses the percentage of people not reaching the poverty level for the nation. Did you know that ExxonMobil’s Restart of their Santa Ynez Unit, including Platform Hondo, which had been operating offshore without incident since 1981, once approved by the Board of Supervisors, will bring back hundreds of the highest-paying jobs for working families living in the north county? This is good news, assuming you have a heart for the low-income working families in the north county. Today, in Santa Barbara County, a place many people around the country likely assume is a place where only the very wealthy live, the number of families receiving reduced, or free lunches at school are substantial. And in fact, it is unusually high in the north county when compared to the south county. Again, ExxonMobil’s Restart, which had been operating off our shore for roughly 12,400 days without an accident, will generate millions of new tax revenues for the public school system in the north county. This is significant in light of the disparity of student enrollment between the north and south. More students require more resources. ExxonMobil’s offshore production would provide those needed resources. This is good news, assuming you have a heart for the kids who come from low-income working families in north county. By the way, since we’re on the subject of haves and have nots, did you know more residents in the south county are employed than in the north county, despite having less population? When the Board of Supervisors finally gets around to approving ExxonMobil’s Restart, hundreds of high-paying, head-of-household jobs will be created in Santa Barbara County with many of those jobs being filled by residents of the north county. This is excellent news, assuming you have a heart for men and women in the north county who are in desperate search of upward economic mobility and the opportunity to provide their families with a middle-class lifestyle. To be clear, in the north county, the production industries of farming, manufacturing, and construction provide tens of thousands of jobs. These jobs are essential. But jobs in the oil and gas sector provide the most significant economic bang…a shock and awe if you will. Oil and gas production is the highest paying sector of the north county economy, with an average salary exceeding $112,000 per worker. For nearly all industries, average wages and salaries are higher in the south county than in the north county. In fact, for all industries, average annual earnings per worker are nearly $30,000 higher in the south county than in the north county. So, by allowing ExxonMobil to “restart” its offshore production, where they’ve been operating safely since 1981, the company will bring back hundreds of high paying jobs for families, including and especially in the north county. And this is good news, assuming you have a heart for our friends, families, and neighbors living in the north county. |
| Joe Armendariz is a former Carpinteria City Councilman, and the Director of Public Affairs for the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association. |
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