Water Security Required

In his recent letter (“Recycled Water Warning,” MJ #24/28), Dr. Edo McGowan raises important issues associated with water quality. But these issues should not be a “stop sign” for water recycling. Instead, the issues need to be addressed as part of planning for water recycling and other new sources of water for our community.

As I understand it, the recycling project being considered by Carpinteria Valley Water District is very similar to what has been done successfully in Orange County for over 40 years. Israel, a desert country, survives droughts and periods of water scarcity by recycling almost 90% of its wastewater. Spain recycles 20% of its wastewater and Singapore uses reclaimed water for 40% of water demand from 5 million people. We need to leverage this experience.

We should be on a path to treat our wastewater to an advanced level that may be of higher quality than current sources and reuse it to preserve our beautiful community. The alternative is to continue to treat it to a lesser level and dump hundreds of thousands of gallons every day into the Pacific Ocean. With recycling, we can be far more environmentally responsible and not so dependent upon rainfall or erratic State water supplies to meet our needs. 

Recycling must be part of the water portfolio for the future: a reliable, local source of supply. With proper safeguards, recycling will help Montecito and Summerland achieve water security. 

Ken Coates
Montecito

(Editor’s note: Right you are, Mr. Coates. With the money and resources available to a prosperous place such as Montecito, recycling should have been part and parcel of village governance for a long time. We have lived with the knowledge that we inhabit a semi-arid area that experiences periodic droughts. Our antecedents knew that, hence construction of Juncal Dam and Jameson Lake, paid for with private funds raised by some 200 mostly Montecito families. The droughts that occurred intermittently from the early 1970s to the early 1990s were seen by many as ways to either halt or seriously impede feared “growth.” So, water meters were difficult to come by and building permits were limited to 19 per year in Montecito, based upon that fear.

It would be good to remind ourselves that in the mid-1950s, Montecito’s population was projected to have grown to many tens of thousands larger than it was then and is now by 1970! The three eight-story condominiums okayed by the Board of Supervisors in the late 1960s along Hill Road behind the Biltmore were finally quashed via a lawsuit. So, partly because of ongoing “drought” conditions, we have the size of a community most of us have wanted all along. Unfortunately, the rest of the state continues to grow apace and that growth has now surrounded us, evidenced by the regular glut of traffic on 101 and Coast Village Road.

Recycling water will neither alleviate that congestion nor impede growth. But, it will give us confidence that Montecito can and will remain a “semi-rural” enclave for at least another decade or two. After that, who knows? But, we really should get on to the task of recycling our water now. – J.B.)

Selective Social Sanctity

I recently received in the mail my new Medicare card, accompanied by a letter informing me that “Medicare is required by law to take Social Security Numbers off of Medicare cards. This will help keep your personal information more secure and help protect your identity. Your new Medicare card now has a new number that’s unique to you instead of a Social Security Number. This new number is used only for your Medicare coverage.”

“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice, and indeed them’s my sentiments exactly. Why?

This is a perfidious age, so one instinctively questions every utterance and action directed at our person, especially those purporting to be for our benefit, so let us look a little closer. “To be eligible for Medicare, an individual must either be at least 65 years old, under 65 and disabled, or any age with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure that requires dialysis or a transplant). In addition, eligibility for Medicare requires that an individual is a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident for five continuous years and is eligible for Social Security benefits with at least ten years of payments contributed into the system.”

The SSN was introduced in 1935 as a unique identifier and is used for many purposes. In 1965 when Medicare was added to the Social Security System, the SSN continued to be the unique identifier, until this sudden change. You’ll note that your SSN is not eliminated for any other purpose, just for the Medicare program. You will still retain your Social Security card and your SSN, but not for Medicare. You must replace your Medicare card, which uses your official SSN, with a new card bearing a generic type identifier that is randomly selected and has no apparent connection to your real identity at all. You are also directed to destroy the old Medicare card.

The Medicare program is an insurance program funded by the employee and the employer over a minimum specified time period. The SSN identifier was the proof that these commitments were met. As I understand it, the new randomly selected numbers have no link to a verifiable history of insurance payments. 

This change has been a long time coming, and its purpose as publicly stated is a noble one. But, was it necessary, and will it work? I’d like to think so, but the legitimate American population has, over the past several years, learned some horrible truths about the insidiously evil forces both global, and constitutionally treasonous, that are determined to destroy this country by any means and have been at it for many decades. So I should be forgiven for pointing out my concerns, which are: (a) the SSN is proof of insured legitimacy and (b) randomly selected numbers could allow anyone to be admitted to Medicare without meeting the requirements of legitimacy. Remember, this new number is abstract; designed to keep an identity confidential. 

I’m also uneasy about a trend toward federalization that is gaining traction behind the scenes (it seems everything is behind the scenes these days, despite transparency being the favored noun for all who wish to hide something from us). Perhaps a benign federalization is a good idea because the states certainly are unmanageable during this age of divisiveness that appears to be worsening; but federalization is not constitutionally acceptable except in the limited circumstances where it does apply, like national safety, and it is fraught with the potential to allow limited regulations and controls to become permanent to our detriment as a free and united nation. Yet, we are not a united nation at this time, and bits and pieces are gradually becoming known about a whole series of actions leading to federalization, separate actions which sound “reasonable” but as a whole are somewhat threatening. 

There is only one known exemption from this system as proposed, and that is for voting. Identification is not required. We all know the reason for this selective sanctity, don’t we?

Harry Wilmott
Goleta

(Editor’s note: We wouldn’t be the first publication to note that photo ID is required for virtually every important and financial transaction except one: voting. Only one political party benefits from that anomaly and it’s not the party currently in power. – J.B.)

The Ken Starr Defense

Supporters of President Trump are fond of equating every bogus manufactured scandal by Fox News with Watergate. First, it was unmasking, then the Steele dossier, which has not been disproven, then the FISA warrants, which proved appropriate given the 80-plus contacts with Russians by the Trump campaign team, at first denied or covered up until revealed by the press or by guilty pleas. They tried to label a confidential informant as a “Spygate,” who was questioning two Trump campaign people about their Russian contacts. Conservative Trey Gowdy investigated and pronounced it as appropriate and said it was what the American people would expect to be investigated. Not that Fox News did not mention or label Jared Kushner’s attempt to setup a secret back channel in the Russian embassy “Traitor-gate.”

Was any spy-derived information used against Trump during the campaign? The Trump tribe can’t name one item. Even Obama chose not to reveal the extent of the FBI-CIA Trump investigation of Russian contacts before the election. Indeed, if anything, the FBI, by only showcasing the Clinton investigation, helped, not hurt, the Trump campaign.

When you are guilty and the facts are against you, you attack the investigators. It’s the Johnny Cochran defense. Attack the cops and acquit O.J. Now, it’s attack the FBI and Mueller and acquit Trump.

Robert Abrams
Santa Barbara

(Editor’s note: Welcome to the beginning of an early election season, whereby letter writers on both sides will seek to discredit the opposition. We’d only point out that Mr. Abrams shouldn’t call attacking the investigators “the Johnny Cochran defense.” He should call such tactics “the Ken Starr defense,” as there hasn’t been a more unjustly maligned public prosecutor in the history of this nation. – J.B.)

Fears Survival

Not content to malign our free press, ridicule our national intelligence, and undermine our justice system, Trump’s outrageous surrender to the enemy of democracy has caused me to recall this quote from Cicero:

 “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

When will we learn?

How much longer can our democratic institutions survive?

Sue Mellor
Santa Barbara

(Editor’s note: Geez, I guess we’ll all have to learn how to wear those funny fur hats and drink excessive amounts of vodka. As for how much longer our democratic institutions can survive, we’re not quite sure what the Russians have in mind for that, but we’ll continue to monitor the situation. – J.B.)

Spendthrift President Putin

Putin has been meddling in Montenegro’s elections for years. Putin was behind the assassination attempt on Montenegro’s Prime Minister Djukanovic to prevent Montenegro from joining NATO. The government of Montenegro released photographs and documents as proof of Putin’s involvement. Despite Putin’s continual flow of black-market money into Montenegro, he failed to buy its people; however, we must give Putin credit, he bought an American president without spending a dime.

Bruce Savin
Santa Barbara

(Editor’s note: Meddling in the affairs of other countries, let’s use Viet Nam circa 1963 as an example, by aiding and abetting the removal and assassination of its duly elected president and installing a military man more amenable to U.S. interests didn’t really work out too well for us, so perhaps your fear of Putin having “bought an American president without spending a dime,” will backfire on the Russian president too. As for us, we posit that anyone who really believes what you apparently do has been seduced and deluded by a compliant press corps. – J.B.)

Thanks to All

My most sincere thanks to James Buckley, who covered and wrote such a terrific article on the Montecito Association’s (MA) 4th of July Celebration! He captured all so eloquently and with such great enthusiasm. Know that we so appreciate your support and excellent journalism.

The 4th of July event committee headed up by Mindy Denson, Kathi King, Trish Davis, and David Breed really outdid themselves this year in pulling together the best 4th of July celebration ever! 

Their tireless efforts in securing over 100 first responders to attend was truly a great feat! 

This was the first time that we were able to really appreciate and thank so many first responders for their selfless dedication to our community and residents on our own turf. And it seemed to me that not only were the spectators moved by all, so were the first responders. They were all so appreciative of the crowds cheering and genuine “thank yous.”

It does take a village to orchestrate all…

The Montecito Community Foundation is our financial supporter, and it was the first time that the Montecito Community Foundation board actually joined in to march in the parade. We were truly thrilled that they chose to participate and we so appreciate their ongoing support.

Additionally, there are so many dedicated board members (past and present), many beloved community volunteers, and the MA office staff, Susan Robles and Allison Marcillac – all of whom spent timeless hours in planning and executing all. 

The Montecito Association is truly the voice of our community, whether it be in our advocacy role with County and State governmental officials for the preservation, protection, and enhancement of the semi-rural residential character of our beloved community of Montecito.

It is my sincere hope that those readers of Montecito Journal who are not currently members of the MA will strongly consider supporting our continuing advocacy and celebratory events by joining the Montecito Association. You can easily join online at www.montecitoassociation.org or stop by the office located at 1469 E. Valley Road – Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 2 pm. Or just give us a call at (805) 969-2026.

Charlene Nagel
Montecito

(Ms Nagel is president of the Montecito Association.)