Mike Barber is board president of the Garden Acres Mutual Water Company serving the unincorporated community of Nyeland Acres next to the 101 Freeway. He is probably better known, however, as the person who rescued a huge Santa Claus statue slated for demolition in Carpinteria, moving it to its new home on water district property near Oxnard in 2003. He’s also the founder of the Santa to the Sea Half Marathon.
On Friday, May 17, Barber’s tiny utility serving around half the homes in Nyeland Acres hosted a news conference detailing how $17.6 million in state funding will be spent on several projects across Ventura County, while also honoring the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) grant funding recipients.