Montecito Sanitary District adopts 2026–2028 mission and ranked strategic priorities

The Montecito Sanitary District board voted unanimously Feb. 11 to adopt a district mission and its 2026–2028 strategic priorities as ordered in the board packet. President Rockenbach moved the measure and Director Roman seconded; the roll-call vote was unanimous.

General Manager Weigel said the proposal follows a December workshop facilitated by consultant Jacob Green and that the board’s ranked order will guide staff work over the next 2–3 years. "So this is in follow-up to the workshop, that Jacob Green facilitated in December," Weigel said. Director Roman urged colleagues to respect the consultant-driven process: "So we all signed up for this Jacob Green process, and Jacob Green has told us how we can manage ourselves better and some things that we can do, to make the board operate more efficiently and the plant operate more efficiently."

Some directors pressed for different emphasis. Director Barrett said employee safety and retention should be prioritized higher, citing past consultant work and plant safety items. Rockenbach and other directors said adopting the ranked priorities now will allow staff to return with concrete objectives for each priority. The board directed staff to develop three to six objectives under each priority and report back with recommendations.