Radical Status

This past 4th of July, America celebrated her 246th birthday. Almost two and a half centuries ago, a press release announcing a radical experiment in self-government signed by 56 radicals created a new nation. These political upstarts alerted the old nation of their radical intentions with what to this day remains arguably the most radical document ever written which included these radical words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”

It might be a radical statement, but I’ll make it anyway, it’s the radicals who change the world. Reagan liked to say “Status Quo” is Latin for the mess we’re in. And I say status quo is the oppositive of disruption. Indeed, radical is the opposite of status quo.

So let’s consider the status quo 146 years ago according to America’s foremost radical Thomas Jefferson who wrote in the Declaration of Independence the following: “[t]he King has obstructed the administration of justice, has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives…” Is it any wonder such a radical letter was in order?

Let’s now consider today’s existing state of affairs, which is the Latin meaning of Status Quo, in Toro Canyon, specifically on Santa Claus Lane.

Rincon Events is allowed to hold events for up to 300 people despite not having any (Zero) dedicated customer parking spaces. The Garden Market has seating for 110 and they too have no (Zero) dedicated customer spaces, Thario’s Kitchen has seating for 84, again, no (Zero) dedicated customer parking spaces, and Padaro Beach Grill has seating for 410 and not a single dedicated customer parking space. That is the status quo, that is the mess we’re in. It might not be Latin, but it’s a mess, nonetheless.

But here’s something you might find as interesting as I do. The Latin word for “Radical” is Roots. And it just so happens that something quite radical is happening on Santa Claus Lane at 3823. A retail business called Roots Carpinteria was recently approved for a Coastal Development Permit by the County’s Zoning Administrator. But besides the name of the store, that’s not the only radical part of the project. Also radical is the fact that Roots Carpinteria will be the ONLY business on Santa Claus Lane with its own dedicated customer on-site parking. In fact, Roots Carpinteria will have 22 dedicated onsite parking spaces. Ten more than are required under the County’s code.

Ironically, a disgruntled neighbor, the owner of the four properties I mentioned that have no dedicated parking spaces, appealed the Roots project to the County Planning Commission due to (wait for it), the project’s impact on parking. As you’re digesting that concentrated dose of irony, I’ll share a few more radical tidbits about the Roots Carpinteria project.

When the store opens the community will have access to ethically and legally sourced cannabis and will contribute to the crowding out of illegal, unregulated, and untested cannabis from the illicit market and provide safe alternatives to opioids such as OxyContin and Vicodin. This is important and speaks to the issue of the public health and safety of our community. The store is also locally owned, minority owned, and woman-led.

Moreover, for every $10 spent at the Roots Carpinteria store, an additional $18 is projected to be injected back into the local economy. Roots Carpinteria will pay a living wage, and best-in-class health benefits, while sourcing at least 80 percent of its workforce from Santa Barbara County. Once operational, Roots Carpinteria’s mission is to be socially responsible, and inclusive. The majority owners, Pat and Maire Radis, have pledged 2% of their store’s annual gross receipts to be shared every year with local nonprofits for the betterment of the community.

This 2% of annual gross receipts to local nonprofits via the businesses Community Benefits program, which is a radical idea and something none of the other status quo businesses on Santa Claus Lane do, is above and beyond the quarterly sales, income, payroll, and property taxes Roots Carpinteria will also generate each year which will total in the tens of millions of dollars.

The only thing more powerful than an idea whose time has come is the power of a radical idea whose time has come.

Roots Carpinteria is a radical idea because it is a radical improvement for Santa Claus Lane, away from the existing state of affairs, or status quo. With the opening of Roots Carpinteria, the seaside village in Toro Canyon will finally have a business that not only abides by and adheres to all the County and Local Coastal Zone rules and regulations vis-a-vis parking, but also has an identifiable, and accountable program dedicated to sharing a percentage of the business’s wealth with the local community at the same time. That is radical, that is Roots Carpinteria.

 Joe Armendariz

Joe Armendariz is the Director of Government Affairs for Armendariz Partners. He is a former two-term member of the Carpinteria City Council and the former Executive Director of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association, and Santa Barbara Technology and Industry Association. He can be reached at (805) 990-2494.

Legal Reasonings

A June 30 editorial written by MJ’s Executive Editor strongly advocates free and unfettered access to all types of birth control for all women. This, she acknowledges, would require either: (1) The administrative branch (through the FDA) to grant over-the-counter status to birth control pills; or (2) The legislative branch to pass a law requiring the State to give out free birth control devices and pills to anyone who wanted them.

Ms. Lurie’s position on the issue is passionate and it correctly recognizes that the road to achieve her desired result is through the executive or legislative branches of Government, not the judicial. She doesn’t argue that the courts should order the government to give out free birth control pills. That would be making law, something solely within the realm of the legislative branch. 

Paradoxically, the predicate for her advocacy is criticism of the recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overruled a previous decision where the Supreme Court had done exactly that, made law. The case it overruled, Roe v Wade, held that abortion was a woman’s fundamental constitutional right and that hundreds of years of legislative laws making abortion illegal were repealed.

The Dobbs court was right to restore the issue of abortion to the legislative branch. Contrary to the editorial, Roe was not based on the right of privacy found in the contraceptive case of Griswold or the equal opportunity extension found in Eisenstadt. It was based on an oxymoronic concept called “substantive due process.” The 5th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution provide that no person may be deprived of life, liberty, or property… without “due process of law”. The Roe court took this clause, which had been traditionally viewed as a procedural limitation on how government could act against citizens, and tortured its plain meaning into a substantive restriction on what government may not do to its citizens. Once this leap was made, the Roe court was free to define liberty to mean whatever they wanted it to mean and in the case before them, they said it included the right to abort an unborn child.

The reasoning of Roe is dangerous. It allows a court to literally create fundamental constitutional rights where none existed before. It can go along with or against public opinion. It can go along with or against the decision of Congress. It can go along with or against the actions of the Executive Branch. To put it succinctly, it allows unelected and unaccountable judges to make the law. Under a “substantive due process” reasoning, there is nothing to stop a court from finding a person to have a constitutional right to unfettered use of his or her property without regard to zoning or architectural restrictions. There is nothing to stop a court from finding a person to have a constitutional right to unfettered liberty including the right to multiple and/or underage spouses. There is no limit to the rights a court might create or the restrictions it might impose on the other branches of government. Consider this most alarming possibility on the issue of abortion under the substantive due process rationale: a Supreme Court could reasonably hold that “life” under the 5th and 14th Amendments means all life (including a growing fetus) and that abortion violates the constitutional right of the unborn to life. Such a holding would effectively legislate that abortion is illegal under any circumstances.

The Dobbs court recognized the fallacy of such “outcome determinative” reasoning, particularly on political and moral issues where there are strong opinions on both sides. Absent the ability to invent a constitutional right, the Roe decision could not stand. It was the Roe court that legislated instead of judged. It was the Dobbs court that refused to legislate. Dobbs says nothing about abortion except who gets to decide whether it is legal or not. Should it be five of nine lawyers wearing robes in Washington, D.C. or should it be the people through their elected representatives? The majority in Dobbs put aside their personal views on the issue and correctly sided with the people. 

Lawrence W. Dam

Watersheds and Cannabis

I think that MJ readers who are concerned about the local “Cannabis Wars,” might be interested in the recently posted Zoom forum, “Industrial Cannabis in The Arroyo Paredon (Carpinteria) Watershed.” It is a thorough examination of the issues surrounding industrial Cannabis production in our local watersheds and provides some unique perspectives on the problems that we all face as a result.

It was hosted by the Santa Barbara Urban Creeks Council, and can be viewed on their YouTube Channel:
youtube.com/watch?v=ENAy4j0M_14 

Louis Andaloro