What is to be Gained

Dear Editor [Gwyn Lurie],

You wrote, “And I say, what do we have to lose by giving him [Roy Lee] a chance to prove it? Seems not much.” (Montecito Journal, Feb. 1-8, 2024)

It’s not a chance of losing anything. It’s a chance to gain a lot by electing Roy Lee 1st District County Supervisor!

As a Carpinteria city councilmember Roy has shown that he is open and honest. He has demonstrated that he truly cares about the people and the community he serves. He listens to
his constituents.

He is thoughtful and is concerned about protecting the qualities that make the 1st District a great place to live and work. He has a strong vision of how to do just that.

With Roy Lee as County Supervisor we gain a representative whom we can respect, and he will respect us. 

Please vote for Roy Lee for First District Supervisor and gain a great new County representative!

Sheila Lodge

Mayor, City of Santa Barbara,
1981-1993

Irreplaceable Storm Damage

Listening to the community update by the sheriff in advance of the storm on Feb. 3, 2024 – I heard him say “on Jan 9, 2023, there was $80 million in property damage.” 

I sensed he shared this data point to aim to create a compelling argument to encourage all community members to take this week’s storm seriously. I think what would have been even more compelling is to NOT focus on property damage but remind us all that 23 community members died in the Jan 9, 2018, storm. Over 150 community members were injured and over 1,000 rescues occurred over a 24-hour period. Our first responders saw trauma that will stay with them for far too long. 

It is about human life and safety.

Property can be repaired or replaced.

Family members or neighbors cannot.

It is a similar concern I had in November when I learned that our county supervisors could not come to an agreement to keep the safety nets on the mountain to catch deadly boulders and debris. 

Now – with what was being predicted as the worst storm in Santa Barbara history and more on the horizon – we are net free.

I hope all community members vote in upcoming elections for those candidates who take our safety as paramount. For important initiatives regarding prudent safety precautions, we can always find the money – but we can’t bring back those lost.

Kim Cantin

The Meaning of La Posada

Much of the national and world news is daunting and hard to watch. Locally, there is much to be hopeful about in 2024 thanks to the ways our community comes together to tackle hard challenges. Earlier last month, dozens of people gathered to break ground on La Posada, an innovative solution to our homelessness crisis. The project will provide shelter, substance abuse and mental health counseling, intensive case management, food and health care to over 80 people currently living in the encampments between the freeway and Hollister Ave. It’s a proven partnership between Dignity Moves, Good Samaritan, the County, and committed local philanthropists. 

On behalf of the County’s Second District where the project is housed, our sincerest thanks to the many ardent supporters of this project, including Sara Miller McCune, for your tremendous generosity in making the project a reality.

Fittingly, “La Posada” means shelter in Spanish. To me, La Posada means much more than that. First it means land: the land that the County is donating that allows the project to be financially feasible. The location was chosen because it is near where we know 60-90 people currently live unsafely in encampments. Second it means dignity: the program works because the residents are offered the dignity of what most of us take for granted – their own space with four walls, a door that locks, and a place to store their belongings. It also means help because of compassionate one-on-one services that residents must utilize. And lastly it means hope for the lifeline it will provide to our neighbors in need.

In 2024, I’m focusing on the spirit of La Posada – the ways we can make our community stronger and safer for us all. 

Supervisor Laura Capps

Representing the Spirit of the Carp Community

I deeply appreciate your editorial in the February 1 issue of the Montecito Journal. 

During my 35-year law career in Santa Barbara, I was a friend and supporter of Supervisor Salud Carbajal, who (as you said) was a true civil servant focused on the needs of his constituents. I still remain in contact with Salud and support him as a member of Congress. His hand-picked successor Das Williams, unfortunately, has been a total failure, but Das has been propped up by the local Democratic Party machine. Das has failed to exhibit leadership on so many issues, except for championing the cannabis industry in Carpinteria which has created grossly unacceptable impacts on the local community with its air quality impacts, while doing nothing to improve his promised financial benefits for schools. His efforts have also failed to reign in the illegal cannabis growers who continue to pay no taxes. Das has also, despite numerous and repeated pleas for help, done nothing to correct the totally backlogged County
Planning Department.

I have a special love for Carpinteria, which was our home for 35 years. It is a community of neighbors who care about each other and their community. I saw this firsthand when I negotiated the purchase of the Carpinteria Bluffs on behalf of the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County many years ago and saw the community step up to raise pennies and dollars at the supermarket while local residents contributed beyond their capacity to Save the Bluffs. That spirit has continued with the preservation of additional lands at the Bluffs and the restoration of the Carpinteria Marsh. I believe that Roy Lee represents that spirit of community service that Das Williams totally lacks. My hope is that he can survive the primary so that he can organize a true challenge to Das’ non-leadership in the general election and lead the First District going forward.

David H. Anderson

The State of State

Dear Mr. Mayor and City Council members,

As a long-time resident of Santa Barbara, I am very concerned as to the direction our once beautiful city is taking.

The downtown area is currently reminiscent of Fresno or Oxnard. A bunch of horrendous industrial barricades, shoddy planter boxes, temporary cheap outside structures for eateries, a no car zone for the entire main area of downtown but leaving plenty of room for reckless bicyclists, and skateboarders running people over, making myself and many of my friends shake our heads in disbelief.

Our wonderful State Street, once the Champs-Élysées of Santa Barbara, has been turned into a seedy downtown, full of empty stores, thrift and dime shops, homeless people, alcoholics and drug users, ugly structures, new modern buildings which are destroying the well-planned architecture of this city. Our city fathers would turn around in their graves if they saw what is happening here.

Do you think that Paris would allow their most prestigious avenue to be filled with low quality venues? Why is Santa Barbara, the American Riviera, allowing such deterioration in their once gorgeous downtown?

Please let us know how we can help turn this horrible situation around. We are afraid that in another five years, this city will be lost forever and will never be able to regain the elegance and beauty it was once known for.

Sincerely, 

Mia Voehl

Road Work Zones & Homes

Continuous loud, obnoxious noise. Work lights that blazed up and down Olive Mill. Incessant flashing yellow lights. Beeping and rumbling trucks. Loud, literally ground-shaking work.

We did not get much sleep last night.

What in God’s name was going on? And why weren’t we informed?

You have my email address. So do most people on this message. Did no one think it might be reasonable to give us a warning this major, intrusive work was going to happen? At night?

We can’t be the only neighbors who consider this unacceptable.

Will this be repeated tonight? Will someone reimburse us for a hotel room far, far away? Or at least supply us some ear plugs?

RR