COUNTY TO PAY $215K FOR 'COMMON SENSE' CONSULTING, CALLS IT 'NOT ENVIRONMENTAL'

Your elected Santa Barbara County overlords are at it again, proving that when in doubt, just throw more money at the problem. The Board of Supervisors is poised to sign off on a $215,000 agreement with Serrano Advisors, LLC, for 'Administrative Efficiencies and Cost Savings Consulting Services.' This, gentle taxpayers, is what happens when government grows so bloated it needs hired guns just to find its own wallet.

Apparently, common sense and basic accounting principles are now premium-tier services, only available through high-priced consultants. For a cool quarter-million, Serrano Advisors will grace the county with advice on how not to squander your hard-earned dollars – advice one might expect from, say, a competent government body in the first place. The sheer irony, as reported in the dry-as-dust Board agenda, that they need to spend a fortune to learn how to save a fortune, seems utterly lost on our benevolent leaders.

But wait, there's more! Our Supervisors also solemnly declared that this grand expenditure, buying advice on how to be less wasteful, is 'not a project that is subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).' Because, naturally, hiring consultants has absolutely no 'direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.' One can only assume they're worried the sheer volume of wasted paper generated by the consultant's reports might upset a particularly sensitive gnat, but fear not, the Board has pre-approved this fiscal activity as environmentally benign.

The real angle here, utterly missed by the standard agenda blurb, is finding out which Supervisor's golf buddy or campaign donor is about to land a cozy $215,000 contract for telling the county what any small business owner already knows: stop wasting money. It's not about 'efficiencies;' it's about the ever-expanding gravy train for those connected enough to get a seat at the government's endlessly funded trough. Meanwhile, actual taxpayers just get to foot the bill for another round of 'consulting' from the self-proclaimed experts on not spending too much money.