Thank You, Supervisor Hartmann

One of my longtime friends who lives here in Lompoc had a mental-health crisis while I was in Los Angeles for college. We had been on a Zoom call for hours, it was 4 a.m., and he wasn’t getting any better. When I tried calling 9-1-1 to get him some help, I was put on hold by L.A. County dispatch for around 15 minutes. All I could do was hope that a dispatcher would pick up while I listened to my friend sob uncontrollably through the headphones I had set down on my desk.

When L.A. County dispatch finally answered, I got transferred to Santa Barbara County dispatch and within three minutes responders were on their way to help my friend. Santa Barbara County dispatch could have gotten responders deployed five times while L.A. County was still picking up the phone. This is why I support Supervisor Joan Hartmann for reelection. Her actions over the past few years have dramatically improved the quality of emergency services in Santa Barbara County, especially compared to other counties in California.

There’s a simple reason why first responders like the Santa Barbara County Firefighters have endorsed her: Joan Hartmann has never faltered in supporting those who provide and use emergency services. There is still much work to do, but she is the only candidate in her race who has a track record of never backing down from the challenges that Santa Barbara County faces.