Clarification
In
our editorial in last week’s edition of the Valley Journal, we referred to a
certain sum of money that had been given by the Chumash Foundation to the
Solvang Chamber of Commerce. We said that, when the Solvang City Council
debated and voted on a measure to send a letter to the governor of California
opposing expansion of casino gambling, the fact that Linda Jackson is both
mayor of Solvang, and therefore a member of the city council, and executive
director of the Chamber of Commerce created for her a conflict of interest. She
should have recused herself, we said. Instead, she
insisted on participating and helped defeat the measure.
Jackson
has since said that we had our facts wrong. Instead of having received a single
sum of $24,000 on the same day as the council vote, the chamber gets installments
of $6,000 four times a year.
While
we regret the error, we think it’s a rather technical one. Jackson’s employer
is on the tribal dole, and she votes on issues that affect the tribe’s
interests. Whether the chamber gets a $24,000 check or four $6,000 checks, it
still looks bad, and she still ought to take a powder when something related to
the people who write those checks comes up.