Tag archives: Barney Melekian

On Monday, March 16, Santa Barbara Interim Police Chief Barney Melekian issued a statement responding to a March 12 Los Angeles Magazine article that raised allegations of corruption and undue influence involving Anthony Wagner, the department’s public information officer, who previously helped run the city’s cannabis dispensary licensing process. Melekian’s announcement stated that he was […]

If we’ve learned anything from the “post-truth” era in which we find ourselves, it’s that substantiated facts are critical to productive public discourse. Allegations and aspersions must be legitimately corroborated. This is the only way to emerge into what will hopefully become a post post-truth era. Across our nation there remain countless fires still smoldering […]

Earlier this month, Barney Melekian, Santa Barbara County’s former assistant executive officer for public safety, left his County job to become interim police chief for the City of Santa Barbara, replacing retiring Chief Lori Luhnow. One of Melekian’s key roles for the county was overseeing enforcement of the county’s legal cannabis industry. Replacing Melekian in […]