A former University of California, Santa Barbara, employee could be facing investigation with the state’s political practices enforcement agency after guiding funds from the club to an environmental group and using school equipment to promote Democratic political causes.
Scott Bull, a former adviser with UCSB’s Coastal Fund, resigned from his position with the organization after the Santa Barbara News-Press uncovered he had steered funds from the group to Goleta Valley Beautiful, which he did consulting work for. Now, Bull could face further scrutiny by the California Fair Political Practices Commission for sending emails pertaining to local Democratic political causes from his university account to a university email list.
Bull served UCSB in a variety of capacities beyond his role as Coastal Fund adviser. According to his biography on the Fund’s website, the environmental activist was employed with the university in its Associated Students division and worked as a Student Affairs adviser for a number of student organizations.
The Santa Barbara News-Press, through a state public records request, uncovered emails between Bull and at least two other people through a university email list. The school has not disclosed the recipients’ names for their privacy.
According to the News-Press, Bull’s email states, “We are hiring a person to do admin, event planing [sic] king of work for [1st District County Supervisor] Salud Carbajal. The person would also work with Lois Capps campaing [sic] a little. … It is good for someone who wants to make connections and is interested in political work.
“…We are also hiring paid interns for the Capps and [3rd District Supervisor Doreen] Farr campaigns. A lot of campaign work is being done by campus dems and we need to diversify the effort. It would be about 300$ a month.”
Director of News Media and Relations for UCSB George Foulsham told Red Alert Politics in an email that Bull’s email was simply “the forwarding of a student employment opportunity” and was not a violation of university policy. However, the university did review the case to “strengthen protocol, improve training, and increase administrative oversight.”
Though Bull was not formally working for Carbajal and Farr’s campaign, multiple reports demonstrate the environmentalist had a close relationship with both. Bull — who served as volunteer coordinator for Goleta Valley Beautiful — and Farr have close ties with the organization. And Bull is related to Carbajal through a number of environmental campaigns, including the Environmental Defense Center, which pushes United Nations’ initiatives. Last year, Carbajal — serving as First District supervisor — and Farr — as Third District Supervisor — even proposed a resolution of commendation honoring Bull for his work.
The environmentalist is potentially facing an investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission, Tara Stock, legislative coordinator for the group, told Red Alert Politics. But the commission has not yet decided if he will undergo an investigation for both the conflict of interest and the use of taxpayer-funded equipment — his email address — and campus resources — the university list — for political efforts.
The Enforcement Division of the Commission continues to review a referral from the North County District Attorney’s office, Stock said.
But, she said, the Fair Political Practices Commission could not comment further on the case.
This piece has been updated to include new information.
