Carbajal: comments 'mean spirited'

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

After the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors awarded $1.5 million in federal money to outside agencies that will go toward providing jobs and educational training to local youth, a rowdy public comment period followed, during which a man made what some board members believed were inappropriate comments about Jewish people.
The man’s comments were followed by another member of the public who made similar statements about Jewish people and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
First District Supervisor Carbajal said the statements were “not right,” and basically “damned the Jewish community.”

“This was a day of mean spirited public comment,” Carbajal said. “We always want to provide to the public a chance to speak, [but] I think there’s a way of expressing frustrations and concerns without being mean spirited and without creating foul language.”
The two men’s comments prompted Carbajal to ask county staff if language could be drafted into the board’s weekly agenda that elaborates on what kind of speech is appropriate at the public meeting.
Carbajal said county legal counsel is looking into doing just that.
He said the amendments to the agenda could be completed in the next couple of weeks.
But the tone of yesterday’s public comment wasn’t immediately watered down as a result of the supervisor’s statements.
In response to Carbajal’s request, the day’s last public speaker, who did so remotely from the Betteravia Government Center in Santa Maria, raised his voice and said, “Personally Mr. Carbajal, I think you suck as an American.”
Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf then chimed in, raising the question of how people expect their children to behave cordial and non violent, when adults can’t seem to express themselves appropriately at a public meeting.
“Here we are as adults and can’t treat each other with respect,” Wolf said. “We have to look at ourselves sometimes.”
Wolf told the Daily Sound after the meeting that she understands she and her fellow board members are elected public figures and therefore are often targets of criticism. But she said random and harsh comments about religious groups serve no purpose.
Carbajal noted that the majority of public comments are appropriate, but wants the new language on the agenda to encourage the few who insist on using “mean spirited” comments, to soften their tone.
“Free speech and public comment can cross the line with mean spirited, divisive public comment that has nothing to do with the issue at hand,” Carbajal said.
And according to Wolf, if one wants to get a point across to her, it’s more effective if the comment is well thought out and not offensive.
“I would just prefer that people choose their words wisely,” she said. “Because when they do that, I feel like it’s more powerful.”