Regime change, again, at Montecito Sanitary  District

Montecito voters this week shook up their Sanitary District, restoring a board majority that favors shipping the community’s sewage to Santa Barbara, full speed ahead, instead of treating it locally. Unofficial election results show that Woody Barrett, an eight-year board incumbent, easily won another two-year term on the board with 62 percent of the vote, running against incumbent John Murphy, a relative newcomer who garnered 38 percent. Vying for a four-year term, Rock Rockenbach, the board president, kept his seat with 40 percent of the vote; and Floyd Wicks, a Montecito water board member, was elected to the Sanitary District board with 39 percent of the vote. Chris Francis, who ran on a slate with Barrett and Wicks, lost his bid for a board seat with 21 percent of the vote.  Wicks will join the Sanitary District board on Dec. 9. The Sanitary District election comes at a time when the board is facing its most consequential decision since the wastewater treatment