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Public commenter alleges county employee conduct cost Santa Barbara County $1,000,000
Summary
At a special Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting, an unidentified public commenter alleged that conduct by a county employee named Tennis Bazani led to $1,000,000 in losses and urged supervisors to consider legal and moral responsibility when making decisions that expose the county to lawsuits.
An unidentified public commenter told the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on the call of a special meeting that personal conduct by a county employee named Tennis Bazani cost the county “1000000 de dólares” and harmed local cannabis industry interests.
The remarks came during the meeting’s general public comment period. The commenter said the board’s past decisions — including support in 2019 for an action involving Joyce Tatley — had exposed the county to costly litigation and urged supervisors to follow applicable law and “obligaciones morales” when making decisions that could result in financial liability for the county. “La conducta personal de un empleado del condado con el nombre de Tennis Bazani. Le costó a nuestro condado 1000000 de dólares,” the commenter said.
The speaker framed the claim as part of a larger pattern of decisions over the past three years that they said had fiscal consequences for county budgets and local cannabis producers. They called for accountability and said elected officials should not use their positions as a “caja de juguetes personales” without considering the “consecuencias drásticas, especialmente financieras, cuando el condado es demandado.”
The board did not take formal action on the allegation during the meeting. No county official response to the specific accusation was recorded in the public portion of the meeting transcript.
The public comment also referenced a 2019 county action involving Joyce Tatley; the commenter said that episode revealed problems in the district attorney’s office and in the county’s handling of decisions that could create fiscal exposure for taxpayers. The transcript does not provide additional documentary details or a record of payments tied to the specific claim beyond the amounts stated by the commenter.
Next steps: The meeting proceeded to scheduled closed-session matters; no vote or investigative assignment on this allegation was reported in the public portion of the transcript.
