No holiday parades again this year on State St.
Why?
Even if it’s on Cabrillo Blvd, a Fiesta Parade is still a gathering of celebration and tradition. Every main street in every town and/or city is the central artery of commerce and culture, which forms the foundation of community.
New York City is considered one of the three best Thanksgiving destinations in the country.
Why?
Solely because of the draw of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
We have no parades on State St., thanks to the actions or inactions of the past two City Councils. Yet, on Sunday, November 5th, the Half Marathon ran down State St., while the race organizers’ vans were parked along the Promenade. We have no objection to that event and applaud it as a Santa Barbara tradition to go down State to the beach. We find it a good use of our downtown corridor which brings people together. Somehow the organizers even managed to keep bikes off State St. for that event.
Not to Belittle a Lane in the Middle
Which brings us to the newly funded bicycle lanes, which call for $55,000 to – once again – paint new stripes down the middle of the road. For now, after all, this is the second attempt to rein in the bikes. “Their spot” is now designated down the middle of the road; it is no safer, given the speed and the weight of the bikes and the flagrant disregard for traffic signals and Stop signs. How does that make a pedestrian feel safer with bikes whizzing by?
What happened to “sharing” the road? Who will monitor the two-wheeled speedsters? Who is going to insist they stay within the lanes and heed the rules of traffic, just as cars do?
It All Comes Tumbling Down
Speaking of reining in bikes, what about reining in rocks when it rains? How could our elected officials* vote to dismantle the Montecito Creek ring nets used to hold back the debris flow? *(We use the term loosely, given the few government officials who are actually elected, but instead are installed by the dearth of choices given to the public. AKA the shell game of politics.)
Was it really over a disagreement over who would fund the maintenance, i.e., to clean out the rocks and debris captured by the ring nets? As this is reported to be an El Nino rain year, why the rush to balance the expense sheet, a rarity in government action, in any case?
After all, the donations and expenses to install the nets to halt whatever dangerous stuff is likely to cascade down the mountain when torrential rains make their way to the sea were raised by The Project for Resilient Communities (TPRC), a non-profit organization. However, the County Board of Supervisors and the non-profit cannot agree on who will pay to clear the nets.
Yet, who paid for the helicopter to remove the nets? Last year alone the city collected 26.2 million dollars from its TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax) after adding 2% for creeks. That 2% accrued $5.2 million just for creeks and since all creeks lead to the ocean and travel through the city, maybe someone should have thought about those funds.
According to former Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Pat McElroy, Executive Director of TPRC, it cost $60,000 a year to monitor (drive by) ring nets, and 1.2 million to clear them after a rain event.
Heal The Ocean founder Hillary Hauser reminds us that the ring nets were installed as a response to a major disaster and to prevent a future one. She references photos and video documentation of a net in Santa Ynez Creek filled with remnants of a debris flow just in January of this year.
Renovictions For All
Virtually every week people beg for help during City Council’s Public Comment from landlords handing out renovictions. The City Council laments the travesty against the most vulnerable of humanity – the homeless – as they engage in the same tactics. Meanwhile, the CC calls for new laws that work against private property owners.
Recently, the city renovicted New Beginnings from the once-upon-a-time commuter lot at Castillo and Carrillo, for maintenance. New Beginnings is a non-profit that places vetted people living in their cars and RVs to a designated safe spot to park and sleep. But the city’s renoviction of the RV’s safe parking was so that SB Housing Authority can begin building their high-rise apartment building in order to charge higher rents. Now other neighborhoods are dealing with the people living in cars, not so safely, and with no vetting. We think New Beginnings is a worthwhile investment and serves the public well.
The city employed the same tactics when they renovicted the long-time operator of the East Beach Grill, at the Cabrillo Pavilion. After the renovations, the city did not renew the lease of the long-time family operator, but instead leased it to Reunion, a Los Angeles restaurant chain, at higher rents.
Now that’s a double serving of hypocrisy!
...I'm still so upset about East Beach Grill and I avoid State St. - now it all looks like lower state with all the empty buildings and graffiti and homeless and there is no safe place to walk. I had a horrible experience running an errand on State. I didn't want to be on the sidewalk (which I would much prefer with its pretty tiles and nice landscaping, compared to the ugly asphalt) because of a homeless encampment. I tried to stay near the side of the street, but there was an ownerless dog with diarrhea in the bushes and bikes zooming on either side of me all while a homeless person was banging way on one of the pianos - it was hellacious. (I wondered what happened with commuter lot- what a shame, that seemed like a great solution to our growing homeless population.)
haven’t visited State Street in years, after living here for 50 years and visiting often prior to the last 10-15 years of neglect and changes…it’s a sad place to visit…