Brava, Celeste! Cancel culture is about depriving communities of the very things that make communities cohere. Because these Cancellers want to destroy everything that holds the community of Santa Barbara together so they can refashion it into a 15-minute city that is nothing more than an ATM for them to withdraw bigger and bigger salaries from. They are more destructive than any earthquake. Time for us taxpayers to cancel them.
Sorry, but I get a big illegal-alien-sympathizer vibe on this article. It turns Fiesta into a de facto happy protest against the "injustice and fear" of immigration enforcement. If that's what Fiesta is, I have no use for it.
"given the ongoing presence of ICE law enforcement and the fear their presence has generated – unquestionably and understandably – among many in our community."
Really? Illegal aliens are part of "our community"? That's like calling a home invader a "roommate". They're not part of any legit community, certainly not mine.
"In celebrating our unique heritage, we stand up to fear and injustice. We proclaim that we are not a divided community, nor that we will tolerate being divided."
So, Fiesta is now a protest against the mean ICE-man's "fear and injustice"? What injustice? ICE is righteous. Illegals are *all* criminals. They don't belong here. They should be afraid.
The injustice was letting illegals invade & stay in the 1st place. The injustice is against *citizens* who incur a massive cost so "Democrats" can have future votes, and 1000x more cost than what businesses & consumers save through "cheap labor". It crushes real wages while jacking up housing cost, both directly responsible for the surge in homelessness & safety net spending. K-12 alone cost over $23,800 per student/year in Cali last year, not including capital cost of new schools. Not to mention crime, rapes, murders. Gee wasn't there one of them murders at Fiesta? Who's protesting that? Not the "Dems". Not Agribiz. Not the Chamber of Commerce.
Justice is DEI: Deport Every Illegal. I'll be pulling my money out of Montecito Bank, by the way.
Agree, HTF -P, that line put me off too. If you are here without legal permission and make no efforts to establish legal residency, why shouldn't one continue to live in "fear and uncertainty". This is a given. Nor is it our problem as legal residents to solve or even assuage. The burden is on the law-breaker.
Agree, except they should never be allowed to establish legal residency, any more than a home invader or squatter should be able to establish the right to live in my home.
The current US offer: get a free flight back to home country of citizenship, $1000 travel money, and the opportunity to apply for a legal right to reside in the US, along with with everyone else already waiting patiently in line.
I'm ok with the free flight and $1,000 travel, even though it's like paying a home invader or squatter to give us our property back. But no one who broke into the USA - OUR HOME - should ever be allowed back in or even in line.
NO ONE who broke the law to invade into our country and live here illegally should EVER be allowed to "get in line" to return. They are all criminals by definition. If they bred children and grandchildren while here, so sorry Dreamers, repatriate to your historic ethnic origin.
“Fear and Injustice” shows again the mass confusion regarding our country’s laws that dominates even college educated American citizens in SantaBarbara. The “Fear and Injustice” has been imposed on law abiding citizens by our leaders and their supporters.
For reference, the SCOTUS ruled right of illegal migrant residents addresses only minor children of persons unlawfully here. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in the case of Plyler v. Doe, regarding the provision of public education to children of undocumented aliens.  The Court struck down a Texas law that allowed public schools to deny enrollment to undocumented children or charge them tuition, holding that such denial violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Specifically, the decision required states to provide free K-12 public education to all children regardless of immigration status, as long as they reside in the school district. The ruling was narrowly focused on education and did not extend to broader benefits for undocumented residents, such as welfare or healthcare. 
Please reference the law that gives anyone the legal right to break the law to reside and/or to work here without authorization to eliminate citizen “Fear and Injustice”.
Yep. And Plyler v Doe was an extremely subversive decision. Almost as subversive as Reagan's refusal to honor his oath to faithfully execute and uphold the Constitution, specifically Article IV §4, "The US shall guarantee every state a republican form of gvt and protect them against invasion”, and his even more subversive amnesty push to cover his own dereliction. The "sucker deal" with congress is a fairy tale. Reagan ample budget, manpower, constitutional & statutory authority, duty and public support to easily deport every illegal during his presidency without congress's permission or new laws. Instead, he pushed amnesty as the "moral" thing to do. Now it's 100 times the problem and a vastly larger amnesties are likely be jammed down our throat.
Ok, then, I guess you meant "MOSTLY Brava, Celeste."
I'm going with "ZERO Brava, Celeste." The article encourages the would-be boycotters, the participants, and everyone else, to see Fiesta as a kind of non-protest protest against nonexistent ICE "injustice" and unjustified fear. Unless she's talking about some other injustice. 75 cent stamps? $5 gasoline?
I don’t have a Dog in this fight, I really couldn’t careless about Fiesta. No, you won’t catch me fighting crowds, dodging drunks, stepping over homeless, paying outrageous prices or trying to fit in a Fiesta outfit 2 sizes too small. Even though I started going to Fiesta in the early 60’s, watching Leo Carrillo on State Street on his horse. No, I’m over it, many folks I know use the week of Fiesta to get out of town. Just wondering, do Angelos realize how ridiculous they look in costume?
Just because I no longer participate with Fiesta of course doesn’t mean others should not. But this is what the Left does when “mean ol’” ICE rolls into town to cancel the fun. Yes, they throw their little hissy fit and want to cancel the whole thing. Couple this, with other nut jobs on the Left claiming “we are on sacred land” professing some mumbo-jumbo about being on Chumash sacred sites…who needs it?
The biggest irony? The danger after all the dust clears was NOT from ICE hauling off maids, gardeners and bus boys, no the REAL danger is from gangster thugs committing homicide in our community.
Maybe we should replace our world famous “Old Spanish Days” with “Indigenous Peoples Day”. Would that finally satisfy the white Lefty’s who run our town, while seemingly never ending their need for validation?
Hello LT and I quote from you "REAL danger is from gangster thugs committing homicide in our community" Maybe you would not be to surprised at WHO IS THE>
Real Santa Barbara Gangster-Thug-Mafia in our Lil Ole Beach Town.
I am so happy that you have pointed out the myriad reasons why fiesta needed to continue this year, despite ongoing problems in the world. The reasons given by Montecito bank and trust and the governors of SCC were totally bogus and I’m glad somebody called them out in print. so cheers to you, Celeste. Life goes on. Viva la !!
Great article, Celeste !We have been here for 45 years, as well, and have attended many Fiesta’s. The memories fill our photo albums, and we still attend some of the events. The one I enjoyed the most this year was going to the rodeo, which was nearly canceled. I enjoyed sitting there with the Noozhawk s Macfadyen one day and then came back the next day to attend with my grandchildren. Fiesta is a historic and treasured Santa Barbara tradition, and should not become just another opportunity for corporate posturing. Those who felt like it should not happen, due to the recent ICE activities, could have just stayed home. I doubt anyone would have missed them or even noticed.
Muy Bueno Celeste! my girls danced in the Old Spanish Day Parade for years & what a show & wonderful memories for all…sad to see local businesses not support this Great American tradition…I bet Michael Towbes is stirring in his grave, seeing his Montecito Bank not supporting.
The current elected SBCC board of trustees has publicly declared they choose to teach only faux, ideologically driven history, in direct contradiction the full range of foundational basics that support critical thinking. For this, the elected SBCC Board of Trustees should be soundly condemned.
Where was the on-campus public debate, in an atmosphere of academic freedom, before officially condemning our local Fiesta event as evidenced by their last minute withdrawal of prior community support? Will the seven member elected Board's official support of this ideologically driven capitulation to narrow interest group demands now chill free and balanced enquiry impacting all other SBCC campus divisions?
SBCC, like all other California Community Colleges, is tasked with providing lower-division education. This is but one of the important components of a community college's multipart mission: transfer education, vocational skills training, adult remedial education and local economic support training.
The first two lower-division transfer years is when one grounds themselves in foundational basics and survey courses, with the chance to explore a broad variety of subject matters. These first two years offer the splendid opportunity to discover the range of academic course work higher education offers, before choosing a major and advancing on to a four year college where deeper subject matter specialization takes place.
Good question, MS. They choose to support their own subjective versions of victim/oppressor instead. They chose to respond to a higher virtue in their own minds than civil peace and order. Their fatal tell however, is this higher virtue is only applied on their own strictly partisan criteria.
The current puffed shirts who have done their best to crush downtown with closed or barricaded streets were also doing their best to shut down Fiesta. Terms like appropriated, horses we don't want horses on State St., and more.
These are the same types who want 6 story buildings and reduced parking for a failed 15 minute city. Santa Barbara as a Charter City has a number of legal options to tell Sacramento to pound sand. It is a spineless council that refuses to see the failure of Frisco, Fresno (open their main street), Ventura (just voted to reopen its main street), Santa Monica's failure called 3rd street where they allow open carry of alcohol (causing more problems) trying rescue failure, and more.
Fiesta is the current button point. The symptom is a minimum of a 50 year cultural failure in the State of Calif. The last hold outs centered around UC campus' or CSU with ideology of the Paleolithic Age, wrapped in "we want 1800 walking" communities (but it is soooo cute). So why are they "forcing" high density that will produce increased criminal activity?
Viva La?????
Celestse this "We don’t buckle." is in fact exactly what the voters put in place with this Council. This is exactly what a Visionless Council pursues with a broken and faile Vision Zero street Grid destruction. This is exactly what more cement poured to pave over single family districts, and the creation of the Skinner box living.
Withstanding the tests of time over eons now, one needs to go back before the pre-Roman Etruscans (900-27 BCE) to find anything other than the preferred grid network when planning urban streets.
......."Etruscan City Layout and Street Planning
The city layout and street planning of ancient Etruscan civilization demonstrate a sophisticated and organized approach to urban design.
Etruscan cities were typically built on elevated ground, facilitating defense and visibility. Streets were arranged in a grid pattern, with main thoroughfares crossing at central points, often leading to significant public or religious structures.
"Key features of Etruscan street planning include the following elements:
Orthogonal street grids that promoted efficient movement and spatial organization.
Main roads (cardines and decumanus) which intersected at central squares or forums.
Private and public spaces clearly delineated, supporting community activities.
Narrow, winding alleys in certain sectors, possibly reflecting topographical constraints or social stratification.
This systematic approach to urban planning reflects the importance Etruscans placed on functionality, defense, and social cohesion. The street layout provided the foundation for the development of civic and religious architecture, shaping the character of Etruscan urban environments.".......
I am sad to learn my bank canceled. It makes no sense to me other than trying to make a political statement. It was a bad decision for all the reasons this article so clearly points out. And MBT, that’s not the role we as customers expect from our bank. We’re watching… and pondering.
Fear of circumstances which lead to denial of wholsome expressions of life are almost inevitably the wrong thing to do. History supports that...your article is so right on. Whether or not you agree with ICE activities we should not cancel our lives, but rather insist that our fears be assuaged by the exercise of our will to our governments behaving themselves to our betterment.
This is unbelievable and unacceptable for both of these institutions to pull out. Especially at the last minute. I want to know why they did this and I Hope that everyone will be up in arms over this.
I’m no longer living in SB but I still have a home there. My daughter was a flower girl for all 5 years and I was very involved in Fiesta.
Let’s not let this go by without an investigation and outrage.
That's 2 less organizations for you to deal with/support in the future. They show their opposition to enforcing federal law and contempt for most of us in their attempt to shut down the event-- and fail. There's a message there, Montecito Bank and SBCC. Read the room, chumps.
Does not the Montecito Bank and Trust Board of Directors have a fiduciary responsibility to their investors to not harm or damage the reputation of that Bank? If I was an investor I would strongly consider legal action against the board. Whether or not damage could be proven…it might if there is a drop in depositors they have acted recklessly driven by when appears to be a culture, not particularly supportive of our nation. The fact they are willing to risk that possibility and side with people who have broken federal law in such a dramatic manner is egregious.
MB&T Executive VP Megan Orloff issued a public statement indicating that many of their associates were concerned about the welfare of family, friends and communities, and did not feel safe within the context of recent immigration raids. Huh?? They felt more unsafe because laws were being enforced? Really? Good grief. Think about that. I always considered MB&T a great partner in the Santa Barbara community... unfortunately, their recent actions are very revealing.
I'm assuming that MB&T will suspend sponsorship at least through 2028. Such foolish arrogance.
Perhaps Ms. Orloff should also issue a public statement identifying what other laws, local, state, and federal for which they have an issue. The same could be said for the disgraceful Santa Barbara City Council, each member should publicly again read their oath and then renounce it and have the integrity to step down from office and make room for somebody who actually supports that oath. Again, disgraceful.
As for the SBCC Board of Trustees....zero surprise there... zero. I expect nothing from that group as a whole except to continue to diminish the formally fine reputation of that institution with their left wing agenda.
Apparently you care Dan...based on the fact that you felt compelled to comment on my post.
Are you suggesting that one has to be an investor to engage in civil commentary about a local banking institution that has taken a position opposing enforcing longstanding federal law?
MB&T has become continuation of the "covid" mob rule, pack-mentality, ungrounded hysteria and instant cancel culture that was so ruinous for so many .Now yet again being exercised by an institution that should be prudent, measured and sober.
Asking for a friend: do women as a rule make the best executive level decision makers or act their public spokespersons?
¡Viva la Fiesta! Dropping out of the festivities was an inappropriate response to the ICE raids. Whether it be a natural disaster, like the earthquake in 1925, or a man-made disaster, like Trump's masked secret police raids in 2025, the fiesta must and should go on! As a community Santa Barbara came together to show mother nature in 1925 and DJT in 2025 that we are resilient and proud. Likewise, California, as a great community, must now come together to resist Trump's attempt to extort $1 billion from us California taxpayers and our world class public university system. ¡Viva California! ¡Viva la Fiesta! ¡Viva la resistencia al fascismo!
There are no "Trump secret police raids" going on in 2025. That was back under Biden. Trump is making good on promises made, promises kept made in full public discourse with the US 2024 electorate.
I can tell you that our public universities are shitholes and deserve not a penny of taxpayer money. Brainwashing centers whose product is Democrat ideologues. In the 70's and 80's I spent 11 years earning a doctorate in physics from UCLA and it was $250 a quarter for tuition and no left wing brainwashing. Today it is about $5000 per quarter to be fed a diet of intellectual horseshit.
Where did I ever say I supported "anti-semitism" TVW? "More voted for DJT", but the increase was still not enough to make a difference in SB. GOP gerrymandering and voter purges in red states helped to tip the scales in favor of DJT. Why are you so afraid of democracy?
I am not going waste my time trying to bring you up to speed on gerrymandering but would suggest you do so... but I wouldn't use MSNBC or CNN is your source. Look at the hard data.... do your own homework....state by state.
Regarding the antisemitism issue, the administration is havingfining universities that have permitted anti-semitic activities. A number of universities have acknowledged the problem and have paid a fine relative to the violation of civil rights.. UCLA is very clearly in that category. You call it extortion. I think more reasonable people would call it a penalty for permitting anti-semitism on the campus. What do you think should be the response to UC?....unless you don't have a problem with antisemitism, of course.
You comment about being afraid of democracy is silly and juvenile. Have a great day.
The Ninth Circuit court issued a decision to maintain a temporary restraining order against ICE to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and raids. This occurred on Friday, August 1, 2025. The original order was issued by the District Court for the Central District of California on July 11, 2025.
These court orders fundamentally changed ICEs operations in CA and are why detentions have gone way down since mid-July.
So what ended up being a mostly peaceful event could have been a big stink. I understand why some businesses would not want their name attached to that.
...wait for it...Ninth Circuit the most overturned court in the nation...and if you pay attention you will see that ICE is executing existing court orders for criminal illegal aliens...if they encounter other illegals in the process...they necessarily get swept up too...which is great and efficient. If local authorities cooperated with ICE acting on those court issued order...collateral arrests would be minimized. Do you oppose enforcing immigration law and/or do you work for Montecito Bank and Trust...or just a supporter of Salud Carbajal? ??
Keep an eye on this case...it will end like the failed Judge Boasberg in DC as well... including the potential for the 9th CC not having jurisdiction on a TRO...temporary restraining order. I suspect the judge in this case...Frimpong, a Biden DEI hire...will have her head handed to her ala Boasberg. Would you stop that please? If you are interested, do a little digging...more complex than meets the eye. It will end up as just another fabricated bump in the road by the Left and open border advocates...not unlike some of our local banking institutions. These are the same people who torn down the border...euphemistically. Whatever the SC rules works for me. Stay tuned....
I'll note that as societies became more successful the widening and promoting of streets that help produce openness and commerce. Upon the demise of these societies the streets became less hospitable and encroachments (did someone mention parklets, and such?) that narrowed the thoroughfares.
The Eastside is a dangerous maze; downtown is a disaster zone. Resident safety is no longer a consideration. Access for responders is impaired. Our streets need to be widened, with no street parking, and more free public parking garages in neighborhoods.
Who is in charge? Why do we even have a city council, if bureaucrats and/or Sacramento are in control?
Brava, Celeste! Cancel culture is about depriving communities of the very things that make communities cohere. Because these Cancellers want to destroy everything that holds the community of Santa Barbara together so they can refashion it into a 15-minute city that is nothing more than an ATM for them to withdraw bigger and bigger salaries from. They are more destructive than any earthquake. Time for us taxpayers to cancel them.
Sorry, but I get a big illegal-alien-sympathizer vibe on this article. It turns Fiesta into a de facto happy protest against the "injustice and fear" of immigration enforcement. If that's what Fiesta is, I have no use for it.
"given the ongoing presence of ICE law enforcement and the fear their presence has generated – unquestionably and understandably – among many in our community."
Really? Illegal aliens are part of "our community"? That's like calling a home invader a "roommate". They're not part of any legit community, certainly not mine.
"In celebrating our unique heritage, we stand up to fear and injustice. We proclaim that we are not a divided community, nor that we will tolerate being divided."
So, Fiesta is now a protest against the mean ICE-man's "fear and injustice"? What injustice? ICE is righteous. Illegals are *all* criminals. They don't belong here. They should be afraid.
The injustice was letting illegals invade & stay in the 1st place. The injustice is against *citizens* who incur a massive cost so "Democrats" can have future votes, and 1000x more cost than what businesses & consumers save through "cheap labor". It crushes real wages while jacking up housing cost, both directly responsible for the surge in homelessness & safety net spending. K-12 alone cost over $23,800 per student/year in Cali last year, not including capital cost of new schools. Not to mention crime, rapes, murders. Gee wasn't there one of them murders at Fiesta? Who's protesting that? Not the "Dems". Not Agribiz. Not the Chamber of Commerce.
Justice is DEI: Deport Every Illegal. I'll be pulling my money out of Montecito Bank, by the way.
Agree, HTF -P, that line put me off too. If you are here without legal permission and make no efforts to establish legal residency, why shouldn't one continue to live in "fear and uncertainty". This is a given. Nor is it our problem as legal residents to solve or even assuage. The burden is on the law-breaker.
Agree, except they should never be allowed to establish legal residency, any more than a home invader or squatter should be able to establish the right to live in my home.
The current US offer: get a free flight back to home country of citizenship, $1000 travel money, and the opportunity to apply for a legal right to reside in the US, along with with everyone else already waiting patiently in line.
I'm ok with the free flight and $1,000 travel, even though it's like paying a home invader or squatter to give us our property back. But no one who broke into the USA - OUR HOME - should ever be allowed back in or even in line.
NO ONE who broke the law to invade into our country and live here illegally should EVER be allowed to "get in line" to return. They are all criminals by definition. If they bred children and grandchildren while here, so sorry Dreamers, repatriate to your historic ethnic origin.
“Fear and Injustice” shows again the mass confusion regarding our country’s laws that dominates even college educated American citizens in SantaBarbara. The “Fear and Injustice” has been imposed on law abiding citizens by our leaders and their supporters.
For reference, the SCOTUS ruled right of illegal migrant residents addresses only minor children of persons unlawfully here. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in the case of Plyler v. Doe, regarding the provision of public education to children of undocumented aliens.  The Court struck down a Texas law that allowed public schools to deny enrollment to undocumented children or charge them tuition, holding that such denial violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Specifically, the decision required states to provide free K-12 public education to all children regardless of immigration status, as long as they reside in the school district. The ruling was narrowly focused on education and did not extend to broader benefits for undocumented residents, such as welfare or healthcare. 
Please reference the law that gives anyone the legal right to break the law to reside and/or to work here without authorization to eliminate citizen “Fear and Injustice”.
Yep. And Plyler v Doe was an extremely subversive decision. Almost as subversive as Reagan's refusal to honor his oath to faithfully execute and uphold the Constitution, specifically Article IV §4, "The US shall guarantee every state a republican form of gvt and protect them against invasion”, and his even more subversive amnesty push to cover his own dereliction. The "sucker deal" with congress is a fairy tale. Reagan ample budget, manpower, constitutional & statutory authority, duty and public support to easily deport every illegal during his presidency without congress's permission or new laws. Instead, he pushed amnesty as the "moral" thing to do. Now it's 100 times the problem and a vastly larger amnesties are likely be jammed down our throat.
I'm not sure who you're arguing with, Pfauci, but it ain't me.
Ok, then, I guess you meant "MOSTLY Brava, Celeste."
I'm going with "ZERO Brava, Celeste." The article encourages the would-be boycotters, the participants, and everyone else, to see Fiesta as a kind of non-protest protest against nonexistent ICE "injustice" and unjustified fear. Unless she's talking about some other injustice. 75 cent stamps? $5 gasoline?
I don’t have a Dog in this fight, I really couldn’t careless about Fiesta. No, you won’t catch me fighting crowds, dodging drunks, stepping over homeless, paying outrageous prices or trying to fit in a Fiesta outfit 2 sizes too small. Even though I started going to Fiesta in the early 60’s, watching Leo Carrillo on State Street on his horse. No, I’m over it, many folks I know use the week of Fiesta to get out of town. Just wondering, do Angelos realize how ridiculous they look in costume?
Just because I no longer participate with Fiesta of course doesn’t mean others should not. But this is what the Left does when “mean ol’” ICE rolls into town to cancel the fun. Yes, they throw their little hissy fit and want to cancel the whole thing. Couple this, with other nut jobs on the Left claiming “we are on sacred land” professing some mumbo-jumbo about being on Chumash sacred sites…who needs it?
The biggest irony? The danger after all the dust clears was NOT from ICE hauling off maids, gardeners and bus boys, no the REAL danger is from gangster thugs committing homicide in our community.
Maybe we should replace our world famous “Old Spanish Days” with “Indigenous Peoples Day”. Would that finally satisfy the white Lefty’s who run our town, while seemingly never ending their need for validation?
Hello LT and I quote from you "REAL danger is from gangster thugs committing homicide in our community" Maybe you would not be to surprised at WHO IS THE>
Real Santa Barbara Gangster-Thug-Mafia in our Lil Ole Beach Town.
I am so happy that you have pointed out the myriad reasons why fiesta needed to continue this year, despite ongoing problems in the world. The reasons given by Montecito bank and trust and the governors of SCC were totally bogus and I’m glad somebody called them out in print. so cheers to you, Celeste. Life goes on. Viva la !!
Great article, Celeste !We have been here for 45 years, as well, and have attended many Fiesta’s. The memories fill our photo albums, and we still attend some of the events. The one I enjoyed the most this year was going to the rodeo, which was nearly canceled. I enjoyed sitting there with the Noozhawk s Macfadyen one day and then came back the next day to attend with my grandchildren. Fiesta is a historic and treasured Santa Barbara tradition, and should not become just another opportunity for corporate posturing. Those who felt like it should not happen, due to the recent ICE activities, could have just stayed home. I doubt anyone would have missed them or even noticed.
Muy Bueno Celeste! my girls danced in the Old Spanish Day Parade for years & what a show & wonderful memories for all…sad to see local businesses not support this Great American tradition…I bet Michael Towbes is stirring in his grave, seeing his Montecito Bank not supporting.
The current elected SBCC board of trustees has publicly declared they choose to teach only faux, ideologically driven history, in direct contradiction the full range of foundational basics that support critical thinking. For this, the elected SBCC Board of Trustees should be soundly condemned.
Where was the on-campus public debate, in an atmosphere of academic freedom, before officially condemning our local Fiesta event as evidenced by their last minute withdrawal of prior community support? Will the seven member elected Board's official support of this ideologically driven capitulation to narrow interest group demands now chill free and balanced enquiry impacting all other SBCC campus divisions?
SBCC, like all other California Community Colleges, is tasked with providing lower-division education. This is but one of the important components of a community college's multipart mission: transfer education, vocational skills training, adult remedial education and local economic support training.
The first two lower-division transfer years is when one grounds themselves in foundational basics and survey courses, with the chance to explore a broad variety of subject matters. These first two years offer the splendid opportunity to discover the range of academic course work higher education offers, before choosing a major and advancing on to a four year college where deeper subject matter specialization takes place.
Thank you Celeste
It appears Cancel Culture is still alive in Santa Barbara.
I find it hard to understand why people are in support of lawlessness.
Good question, MS. They choose to support their own subjective versions of victim/oppressor instead. They chose to respond to a higher virtue in their own minds than civil peace and order. Their fatal tell however, is this higher virtue is only applied on their own strictly partisan criteria.
The current puffed shirts who have done their best to crush downtown with closed or barricaded streets were also doing their best to shut down Fiesta. Terms like appropriated, horses we don't want horses on State St., and more.
These are the same types who want 6 story buildings and reduced parking for a failed 15 minute city. Santa Barbara as a Charter City has a number of legal options to tell Sacramento to pound sand. It is a spineless council that refuses to see the failure of Frisco, Fresno (open their main street), Ventura (just voted to reopen its main street), Santa Monica's failure called 3rd street where they allow open carry of alcohol (causing more problems) trying rescue failure, and more.
Fiesta is the current button point. The symptom is a minimum of a 50 year cultural failure in the State of Calif. The last hold outs centered around UC campus' or CSU with ideology of the Paleolithic Age, wrapped in "we want 1800 walking" communities (but it is soooo cute). So why are they "forcing" high density that will produce increased criminal activity?
Viva La?????
Celestse this "We don’t buckle." is in fact exactly what the voters put in place with this Council. This is exactly what a Visionless Council pursues with a broken and faile Vision Zero street Grid destruction. This is exactly what more cement poured to pave over single family districts, and the creation of the Skinner box living.
Withstanding the tests of time over eons now, one needs to go back before the pre-Roman Etruscans (900-27 BCE) to find anything other than the preferred grid network when planning urban streets.
......."Etruscan City Layout and Street Planning
The city layout and street planning of ancient Etruscan civilization demonstrate a sophisticated and organized approach to urban design.
Etruscan cities were typically built on elevated ground, facilitating defense and visibility. Streets were arranged in a grid pattern, with main thoroughfares crossing at central points, often leading to significant public or religious structures.
"Key features of Etruscan street planning include the following elements:
Orthogonal street grids that promoted efficient movement and spatial organization.
Main roads (cardines and decumanus) which intersected at central squares or forums.
Private and public spaces clearly delineated, supporting community activities.
Narrow, winding alleys in certain sectors, possibly reflecting topographical constraints or social stratification.
This systematic approach to urban planning reflects the importance Etruscans placed on functionality, defense, and social cohesion. The street layout provided the foundation for the development of civic and religious architecture, shaping the character of Etruscan urban environments.".......
I am sad to learn my bank canceled. It makes no sense to me other than trying to make a political statement. It was a bad decision for all the reasons this article so clearly points out. And MBT, that’s not the role we as customers expect from our bank. We’re watching… and pondering.
Time to find another bank,maybe?
Fear of circumstances which lead to denial of wholsome expressions of life are almost inevitably the wrong thing to do. History supports that...your article is so right on. Whether or not you agree with ICE activities we should not cancel our lives, but rather insist that our fears be assuaged by the exercise of our will to our governments behaving themselves to our betterment.
This is unbelievable and unacceptable for both of these institutions to pull out. Especially at the last minute. I want to know why they did this and I Hope that everyone will be up in arms over this.
I’m no longer living in SB but I still have a home there. My daughter was a flower girl for all 5 years and I was very involved in Fiesta.
Let’s not let this go by without an investigation and outrage.
That's 2 less organizations for you to deal with/support in the future. They show their opposition to enforcing federal law and contempt for most of us in their attempt to shut down the event-- and fail. There's a message there, Montecito Bank and SBCC. Read the room, chumps.
Does not the Montecito Bank and Trust Board of Directors have a fiduciary responsibility to their investors to not harm or damage the reputation of that Bank? If I was an investor I would strongly consider legal action against the board. Whether or not damage could be proven…it might if there is a drop in depositors they have acted recklessly driven by when appears to be a culture, not particularly supportive of our nation. The fact they are willing to risk that possibility and side with people who have broken federal law in such a dramatic manner is egregious.
MB&T Executive VP Megan Orloff issued a public statement indicating that many of their associates were concerned about the welfare of family, friends and communities, and did not feel safe within the context of recent immigration raids. Huh?? They felt more unsafe because laws were being enforced? Really? Good grief. Think about that. I always considered MB&T a great partner in the Santa Barbara community... unfortunately, their recent actions are very revealing.
I'm assuming that MB&T will suspend sponsorship at least through 2028. Such foolish arrogance.
Perhaps Ms. Orloff should also issue a public statement identifying what other laws, local, state, and federal for which they have an issue. The same could be said for the disgraceful Santa Barbara City Council, each member should publicly again read their oath and then renounce it and have the integrity to step down from office and make room for somebody who actually supports that oath. Again, disgraceful.
As for the SBCC Board of Trustees....zero surprise there... zero. I expect nothing from that group as a whole except to continue to diminish the formally fine reputation of that institution with their left wing agenda.
Well done Celeste !
By your own admission you are not an investor in the bank. So who cares what you post?
Apparently you care Dan...based on the fact that you felt compelled to comment on my post.
Are you suggesting that one has to be an investor to engage in civil commentary about a local banking institution that has taken a position opposing enforcing longstanding federal law?
MB&T has become continuation of the "covid" mob rule, pack-mentality, ungrounded hysteria and instant cancel culture that was so ruinous for so many .Now yet again being exercised by an institution that should be prudent, measured and sober.
Asking for a friend: do women as a rule make the best executive level decision makers or act their public spokespersons?
¡Viva la Fiesta! Dropping out of the festivities was an inappropriate response to the ICE raids. Whether it be a natural disaster, like the earthquake in 1925, or a man-made disaster, like Trump's masked secret police raids in 2025, the fiesta must and should go on! As a community Santa Barbara came together to show mother nature in 1925 and DJT in 2025 that we are resilient and proud. Likewise, California, as a great community, must now come together to resist Trump's attempt to extort $1 billion from us California taxpayers and our world class public university system. ¡Viva California! ¡Viva la Fiesta! ¡Viva la resistencia al fascismo!
There are no "Trump secret police raids" going on in 2025. That was back under Biden. Trump is making good on promises made, promises kept made in full public discourse with the US 2024 electorate.
Promises made, promises kept; like his “promise” to end the war on day one” in Ukraine?
PS: Promises made, promises kept. The war and the US engagement is ending.
Control your disappointment. But we are in luck: WIKI How - How to deal with Literal Thinkers: https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Along-With-Literal-Thinkers
I can tell you that our public universities are shitholes and deserve not a penny of taxpayer money. Brainwashing centers whose product is Democrat ideologues. In the 70's and 80's I spent 11 years earning a doctorate in physics from UCLA and it was $250 a quarter for tuition and no left wing brainwashing. Today it is about $5000 per quarter to be fed a diet of intellectual horseshit.
And rent was probably $250/mo.
Really Stephen?? You support UC's anti-Semitism...or just that there should be no consequences for demonstrable anti-Semitism?
Pssst...more Santa Barbarians voted for Trump in 2024 than in 2016 and even 2020...not so sure that qualifies as "resist"...but yes..."Viva"...
Where did I ever say I supported "anti-semitism" TVW? "More voted for DJT", but the increase was still not enough to make a difference in SB. GOP gerrymandering and voter purges in red states helped to tip the scales in favor of DJT. Why are you so afraid of democracy?
I am not going waste my time trying to bring you up to speed on gerrymandering but would suggest you do so... but I wouldn't use MSNBC or CNN is your source. Look at the hard data.... do your own homework....state by state.
Regarding the antisemitism issue, the administration is havingfining universities that have permitted anti-semitic activities. A number of universities have acknowledged the problem and have paid a fine relative to the violation of civil rights.. UCLA is very clearly in that category. You call it extortion. I think more reasonable people would call it a penalty for permitting anti-semitism on the campus. What do you think should be the response to UC?....unless you don't have a problem with antisemitism, of course.
You comment about being afraid of democracy is silly and juvenile. Have a great day.
Yawn.
All this Monday morning quarterbacking.
The Ninth Circuit court issued a decision to maintain a temporary restraining order against ICE to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and raids. This occurred on Friday, August 1, 2025. The original order was issued by the District Court for the Central District of California on July 11, 2025.
These court orders fundamentally changed ICEs operations in CA and are why detentions have gone way down since mid-July.
So what ended up being a mostly peaceful event could have been a big stink. I understand why some businesses would not want their name attached to that.
SBCC is not a business and funded by taxpayers.
I was referencing the bank.
...wait for it...Ninth Circuit the most overturned court in the nation...and if you pay attention you will see that ICE is executing existing court orders for criminal illegal aliens...if they encounter other illegals in the process...they necessarily get swept up too...which is great and efficient. If local authorities cooperated with ICE acting on those court issued order...collateral arrests would be minimized. Do you oppose enforcing immigration law and/or do you work for Montecito Bank and Trust...or just a supporter of Salud Carbajal? ??
'great and efficient' I don' think that is the issue. Lots of things are great and efficient and don't fly legally.
Keep an eye on this case...it will end like the failed Judge Boasberg in DC as well... including the potential for the 9th CC not having jurisdiction on a TRO...temporary restraining order. I suspect the judge in this case...Frimpong, a Biden DEI hire...will have her head handed to her ala Boasberg. Would you stop that please? If you are interested, do a little digging...more complex than meets the eye. It will end up as just another fabricated bump in the road by the Left and open border advocates...not unlike some of our local banking institutions. These are the same people who torn down the border...euphemistically. Whatever the SC rules works for me. Stay tuned....
The comments about street grids is correct.
I'll note that as societies became more successful the widening and promoting of streets that help produce openness and commerce. Upon the demise of these societies the streets became less hospitable and encroachments (did someone mention parklets, and such?) that narrowed the thoroughfares.
The Eastside is a dangerous maze; downtown is a disaster zone. Resident safety is no longer a consideration. Access for responders is impaired. Our streets need to be widened, with no street parking, and more free public parking garages in neighborhoods.
Who is in charge? Why do we even have a city council, if bureaucrats and/or Sacramento are in control?