The sad decline of State Street is yet another example of the failed, radical activism which seems to continue on the SB City Council. When will they ever learn or do they even care? Let’s see, they’ve managed to chase out many businesses resulting in our once vibrant downtown becoming a ghost town. No businesses, means no sales tax, means no revenue, means higher deficits, means higher property taxes. Should be simple, right? No, the social warriors on the CC know exactly what they are doing. Close businesses, approve public housing, promote divisiveness and promote illegal migration. At the same time, coming down on business owners by way of regulations and regressive taxes, then look the other way when it comes to unlicensed taco stands, illegal immigration demonstrations and dangerous e-bike riders mowing down children. Are businesses able to go on a “tenant strike” as we now see apartment renters doing, or is this for only unrepresented groups of color? The taking over of our streets by immigration activists, waving their Mexican flags, puts the public in danger and is an embarrassment and outrage to our community. How can anyone continue to vote for this insanity? Oh that’s right, many are part of the problem and/or are on the public sector dole. We are close to the tipping point here locally, something has to give or we can look forward to becoming another cesspool like Venice.
What can this organization say? It is all true. Yet when faced with reality, increasing government costs, destruction of local cities centers of commerce what do they say? It is in your best interests. What?
Look at Old Town Goleta. It has been now estimated that 10% of the businesses will not survive with the Hollister Narrowing. Goleta Council is handing out welfare checks because they have failed (but it is in their best interests).
When faced with the reality of intentionally congested or closed main traffic arteries the Santa Barbara Council states "it is in your best interest. Remember when June Pujo wrote the circulation element almost 40 years ago promoting narrowing of State and removing parking? What was her conclusion? Businesses that depend on shoppers that drive will go out of business. This Council Ignores the reality of Death Valley aka State St. They fiddle as Rome burns.
Prediction the new BID will fail. The businesses and the Chamber that promoted it will not own up to this failure. There will be more and more expensive government handouts to paper over failure. City Council future renditions will state "it is in their best interest."
Bonnie Happy Valentine's Day. (now put down the magnifying glass for one day).
The malaise of downtown is now slopping onto Upper State Street - way to go city council district reps Kristen Sneddon and Eric Friedman.
Will the answer be to shut down Upper State Street and reserve it only for bikes, bums and illegal pop-ups too? Find a model for failure and then keep repeating it.
The City of Santa Barbara included in the West Side Capital Improvement item the Bicycle Master Plan. It is now an official planning document of the City of Santa Barbara.
That Bike Plan includes the narrowing of State Street to 2 Lanes of auto use, from Constance to 5 Points. The removal of on street parking, and the placement of Class 1 bike path.
That should be enough destroy the viable businesses on outer State just as has happened in Old Town.
It will be good to direct the chronic bike traffic overflow from the Micheltorena -Sola Street branch of the Bike Plan™ over to a new corridor. (Snark)
Ranger do a deep dive and see what the total government grants/income given to the bike boys (aka Move), the CEC (Community Environmental Council),ACT, & EDC, and perhaps one other group. What is the TOTAL DOLLAR AMOUNTS in the past 10 years?
I'll bet they are a minimum in the 10's of thousands and are the only reason they continue to exist. (They are the tin-cup fake non-profits who give political cover for failure)
Those bike groups are the same ones who continue to insist that the Board of Supervisors allow bicycle access to the Live Oak Trails at Lake Cachuma. After 3 years of meetings the issue was decided by a judge a year ago: keep it lightly used and equestrian only as it always has been since the lake was created. But no ! The bicycle people insist that this ONE last trail that they cannot ride on must also be opened to them. Their greed shouts for equity. And more meetings discuss it.
When the "locals" in the valley confronted the bike boys with their intentional lies about bike use and intentional congestion they folded. Does anyone remember Das Williams gave the bike boys $386,000 for their "Safe Routes to Schools" program they had already stated had failed. So why does the new mayor of Buellton continue to back them and their failures? Why does the 3rd Dist. Supervisor continue to do the same thing? Failure is failure just because you have a Ph.D. doesn't mean you are right.
Thanks for this comment exposing lost honesty and integrity.
Crazy drivers scared me off my own bike. Crazy bikers scared me off my favorite trails, downtown and many sidewalks. I guess there is always a treadmill inside gym.
Once again, Bonnie, I appreciate your updates on the running of Santa Barbara. I also found it interesting about S.B downtown rents being lower than Ventura and the CBID tax Santa Barabara puts on the property tax of the downtown businesses.
Please contact your county supervisor and tell them you don’t support them giving themselves a 48% raise! Time is of the essence as they are scheduled to vote on this on Feb. 25.
Bonnie - great article. Email addresses are always required when requesting a site-wide effort. I'll send'em a hot note but it won't do any good - it never does. The only thing that ever works is torches and pitchforks at city hall.
Every raise to any government worker means higher public pension payouts later. This means younger generations today are now forced to later make up the growing billions of dollars of unfunded government pension liabilities.
Do these current supervisors really want to push this burden out on future generations? Best they opt out of any defined-benefit government pension benefits for themselves and return to just being elected "public servants" for their terms of office only.
EG: Former 3rd District Supervisor Gail Marshall: Gail A. Marshall - $28,911.88/ year after 8 years of elected "public service" - well more than the average Social Security payment after a lifetime of work.
The rat nests of belongings that accumulate in the 'encampments" and on sidewalks are protected as the "personal possessions" of our urban outdoorsmen. I asked Police what it would take to have them moved and trashed and they said that even They are constrained from moving them, and they'd have to arrest any citizen attempting to do so. Of course, were I to pile junk in front of my own house that I own, well, then I could be cited. And to state the obvious, the items in those piles were stolen from the yards of our neighbors. It doesn't have to be this way.
Good change, but of course we the Citizen Taxpayers pay for the removal. And do they still have to STORE the "belongings" for x amount of days or can they be trashed?
Author asks: "Still my question is why doesn’t everyone have to follow the law?" Well, I have been wondering the same thing. Why isn't a convicted felon in jail instead of the White House? Why did a young woman go to jail for 5 years for stealing just one classified document, whereas someone else can steal hundreds and avoid prosecution and prison? Why do some people go to jail for attacking police officers, whereas 100's of others get a pardon for doing the same thing? What would happen to you if you walked up to a stranger on State Street and grabbed them by the crotch? Would you get elected to public office? I doubt it! Why are you and I threatened with fines and imprisonment if we don't pay our taxes, whereas billionaires don't pay a dime? Yes, it is quite obvious that we have a two-tiered justice system. If you are rich, and especially if you are rich and white, the likelihood of arrest for cheating people out of $millions is much less than if you are poor, brown, and a street vendor ducking a $25 fee. And SB Current is replete with the whiners who prove my point.
Someone pointed out the other day that the only billionaire that leftists don't like is Trump but have no problem at all with George Soros who has bought out more people in government than anyone around. Guess it just depends on what side you are on.
Too bad those charges were filed within 24 hours of Adams coming out against the NYC open borders scheme. Bad optics. Perceptions of conflicts of interests are as bad as actual conflicts of interests.
No, Adams got 'tough' on open boarders after his Sept. 2024 indictment with five fed counts of bribery, wire fraud, etc. Looks like he got his get out of jail free card from the current administration by agreeing to play ball with them on cranking down on illegal immigration. Now I'm all for this immigration crack down - but let's not pretend one team is the only one not enforcing the rules.
Sept 25, 2004 - Adams indicted. On Sept 26, 2024 Trump stated he is not surprised, since Adams **had been critical** about Biden open border policies. (ABC News)
Adams "got tough" and met with incoming Border Chief Holman in early December, 2024.
Oh, I get it. They were BS charges in Sept '24 according to you as a reprisal from Biden for not playing ball.... And then Trump had the charges dropped when he was going to play ball with him.
TJ: Just getting your own version of dates in order. The dates stand alone on their own. You can read anything you want into this. I stand by what I read into them. But you can't just change the goal posts on your own terms.
We have been through a rough past four years of "weaponized" legal retaliation, undergirded by bogus charges. Makes us all look askance our current legal system and its partisan players -when, where, how and why they act. This is not good, but it has been forced on us.
25.00 fee to make money (have a business) in SB while others have to pay Rent, Insurance, Health Dept fees, Workers Comp. Sales tax, City License fee etc etc it goes on. Yet others can set up on the streets (street vendors) and get everything in cash and pay no tax. Remember we now have an increased sales tax in SB 9.25% Then they get housing authority aka Section 8, Cal Fresh aka food stamps. When they get everything in cash there is no record of their income. They only pay 30% of their income for their housing. But bothers me isn't the local street vendors it is the LA (rumor has its cartel vendors coming up, large kitchen vendors, and fancy fruit vendors)
"rumor has its"? Rumor has it that any business owner can opt to avoid all the costs you mentioned simply by paying $25 and selling their merchandise or food from a street vending cart. Sounds like more of that whining to me. Rumor has it that there are people living in SB who don't even have a real job - they just sit home collecting inflated rents from tenants, or living off dividends and interest. Just a more sophisticated means of grifting than an unlicensed street cart.
I have a suspect that foreign aliens kinda don’t know the American way . All they get is rant pablum from the lefties. What about some of us plain folks chatting about how the good ‘ol USA really works in a meeting with aliens who wonder what Americans are really all about.
a) Trash and garbage goes in garbage cans and dumpsters _only_. Americans hate seeing garbage by the side of the road.
b) Cops are nice people. They are here to help you. Never be afraid to ask a cop for help. (If you are here _legally_)
c) We have lots of say and influence with our governments, unlike lots of foreign governments. If the government is leaning on you and you have a legit beef , there are lots of people, public defenders etc. who will stand up for you.
d) Don’t be afraid to ask a stranger for help - American are the most helpful people of all!
Bonnie, made it easy for everyone - providing the email links for all county supervisors. Use it to send a message to the BOS, in your own words. Keep it short, on point and put your key message in the subject line. "No on Pay Raise".... is good enough. Then add a few lines why this matters to you.
When 15 members of the Bike Lobby show up, they get listened to.
When 15 members of the Tenants Union/rent control crowd show up, they get listened to.
When 15 restaurants getting free rent on closed State Street show, they get listened too
Send a message. Let the BOS know there is are new voices in this town they need to also start listening to.
Ms. Donovan, you ask why doesn’t everyone have to follow the law?
I would say, look to our felon in chief as a shining example. Since his first administration through the present no one seems to care what crimes and corruption he is involved in. The Republican Congress at the time, even though they were presented with evidence to impeach decided against it. I guess his lawyers are earning their money. His lawyers have made an art of delaying court proceeds. So that court dates are pushed back over and over. Then, what do you know he’s elected and everything goes away.
Let’s not forget the J6, who after being tried, convicted and sentenced and serving their sentences, were just let go, just like that, all is forgiven. No matter how violent some of these criminals were, the felon just issued a blanket pardon for all. That was a campaign promise. Of course the magas loved it, and he knew it would bring in votes.
For his latest quid pro quo we turn to Mayor Adams of New York City. The felon demanded all charges be dropped on Adams corruption charges because he is going to help trump with the deportation matter and wanted it to be a priority for the mayor and didn’t want him distracted, with court hearings. We’re starting to get the picture that if the felon needs something from you, he can make your criminal actions go away.
Just a couple of added comments, first on Pete Hegseth, meeting with world leaders in Europe, and making a “rookie mistake” as a republican senator said, by making a misinformed statement regarding Ukraine and the United Nations.
Now let’s move on to JD Vance. He was also making a speech somewhere in Europe. He stated he fears for free speech in Europe, which is hilarious, since the Associated Press journalists have been banned from Air Force One and the briefing room, because they offended the felon while reporting a story about the Gulf of Mexico, by calling it the Gulf of Mexico.
Finally, I’m sure you’ve all heard the good news. The felon has made himself chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center. Aren’t you glad he has priorities? I’ll bet that sure gave inflation a kick in the butt.
Good to see Julia, how much mileage you are getting from your delicious recitation of the word "felon" which you now preface every mention of President Donald J Trump. There must be some deep cognitive dissonance going on since this lurid connection fell so flat with the overwhelming numbers of voters this past November. Certainly not from lack of trying by your team.
Carry on. Just like senile dementia never really clicked when used in connection with Biden. Or cackling incompetent never gained traction with Kamala Harris.
Curiously, do you intend to use this failed TDS "felon" connection as your own excuse to skirt the law anyway you want now too? Or use it to remind yourself no verdict is absolute, until the last appeal has been exhausted. I suggest your grave-stomping on Trump is premature. But it may be the only ray of sunshine left in your life. Cling to it jealously in that case.
Before I start my response, I just wanted to be sure you saw the good news about the felon naming himself chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center, just the good news everyone’s been waiting for. The other exciting announcement he made, that everyone’s also been waiting for, about February 9, it will now be called Gulf of America day. I can hardly wait for next years celebration, can’t wait for all the fireworks. So happy the felon has his priorities in order. OK, OK, I will retire felon, for now. I know that was painful for you, because they say the truth hurts.
My team? I have a team? You’re right, it did fall flat on the maga ears, then. Recently, though we’re hearing a lot of “we got played”, “we were betrayed”, “he lied”, from some of those that voted for “tired old grandpa”. Hey, renaming things is easy.
It sounds like you’re assuming I’m looking to commit a crime of some sort and then try to wiggle out of it like tired old grandpa does? Is it because I’m Mexican? Grave stomping, that’s a little macabre, don’t you think? You forgot to say, drab little life.
There are many of us waiting for that ray of sunshine, hoping for the day, when this dark cloud hanging over our country will be lifted. Hoping that the destruction being created, will be able to be undone. I hear tired old grandpa and some of his cronies are working on legislation, so they can skirt around the constitution, giving him a chance at a third term, and maybe more.
Oh, by the way, congratulations to musk, I hear he’s become a daddy for the 13th time. I bet tired old grandpa can’t wait till he has another rugrat running around at his press conferences in the Oval Office.
Fact devoid response, Julia. Be better. You get your turn in 2026 - sweep the House and take back the Senate. Then roll in with your best shot in 2028. Your new crack DNC VP David Hogg is already on a fund-raising roll - for himself. Good start.
One other thing, it is probably not too late for you to get a signed copy of Trump's mug shot, the one he now hanging outside the Oval Office to remind everyone who enters they are dealign with Convicted Felon™. Is full transparency great, or what?
For your reading pleasure Julia, Stanford Law Review has already discoursed on who owns the copyright to that mug shot photo and who can use it for commercial gain. Our crack higher education industry outdoes itself, in both timeliness and immediate gravitas.
JL, You should have said “Be best”? And actually isn’t that mug shot, in the Oval Office? Tired old grandpa’s ego likes his image no matter how old and tired it looks. As for an autograph that looks like an electrocardiogram,no thank you. Tired old grandpa thinks his photo looks tough, it actually looks like an over the hill playboy trying to pick up women.
JL, sorry, but “Be Best” was her project to stop cyber bullying. If it didn’t work for tired old grandpa it’s not gonna work for anyone else. I haven’t heard her say anything else about it, so I guess she knows that it’s a lost cause.
I try to avoid State St and Downtown Goleta, mainly out of access problems created by the confused leaders of both cities. I can’t imagine anyone signing a lease in these traffic restricted bike zones, Driving out business and eliminating functional traffic patterns seems insane . The lost tax revenue is not likely to be replaced by more weed tax. We live in a blue strip of coastal neo Marxist political control. We regularly say goodbye to fed up friends willing to endure much worse weather to avoid the political insanity being served up by Newscum, Weiner, Hart, Limon yadayada. Good friends soon moving to Tn bought 7 acres with a beautiful modern 5 bedroom 5 bath 3 car garage home for $1.3M. UHaul is still doing a booming business and will continue to until sanity overtakes the “ Golden State”
Does the second paragraph mean that you AGREE that the US should ban TikTok? I assumed it did and didn't read any further, since your credibility is in the toilet if you oppose free speech. Please correct me if that was not your intent.
TikTok has been one of few sources of truth and free speech for our pathetic foreign policy and genocide in Palestine. The dumbing down of America is mostly from our mainstream media. Glad I didn't bother with wasting my time reading the rest of your article.
Naw L. Angel, the "world" only hates Democrats who started and encourage these wars, and "tiny incursions". Get your players straight,
Sever the kickback schemes between Democrats and the military industrial complex would be a worthy start Most of the "world" grudgingly wants America to still play global policeman.
You can take off your K-12 teacher union hair-shirt now. (See Thomas Sowell's book "Inside American Education) It is safe to be a proud American again.
You are splitting hairs over semantics. 'The entire world' doesn't mean every single citizen in every country. You are honestly denying that our once revered reputation has been sullied badly by our endless wars and meddling in the Middle East, especially the genocide Palestine, which TikTok exposes? If so, you are being dishonest.
The sad decline of State Street is yet another example of the failed, radical activism which seems to continue on the SB City Council. When will they ever learn or do they even care? Let’s see, they’ve managed to chase out many businesses resulting in our once vibrant downtown becoming a ghost town. No businesses, means no sales tax, means no revenue, means higher deficits, means higher property taxes. Should be simple, right? No, the social warriors on the CC know exactly what they are doing. Close businesses, approve public housing, promote divisiveness and promote illegal migration. At the same time, coming down on business owners by way of regulations and regressive taxes, then look the other way when it comes to unlicensed taco stands, illegal immigration demonstrations and dangerous e-bike riders mowing down children. Are businesses able to go on a “tenant strike” as we now see apartment renters doing, or is this for only unrepresented groups of color? The taking over of our streets by immigration activists, waving their Mexican flags, puts the public in danger and is an embarrassment and outrage to our community. How can anyone continue to vote for this insanity? Oh that’s right, many are part of the problem and/or are on the public sector dole. We are close to the tipping point here locally, something has to give or we can look forward to becoming another cesspool like Venice.
Geez Bonnie what did you hold back?
What can this organization say? It is all true. Yet when faced with reality, increasing government costs, destruction of local cities centers of commerce what do they say? It is in your best interests. What?
Look at Old Town Goleta. It has been now estimated that 10% of the businesses will not survive with the Hollister Narrowing. Goleta Council is handing out welfare checks because they have failed (but it is in their best interests).
When faced with the reality of intentionally congested or closed main traffic arteries the Santa Barbara Council states "it is in your best interest. Remember when June Pujo wrote the circulation element almost 40 years ago promoting narrowing of State and removing parking? What was her conclusion? Businesses that depend on shoppers that drive will go out of business. This Council Ignores the reality of Death Valley aka State St. They fiddle as Rome burns.
Prediction the new BID will fail. The businesses and the Chamber that promoted it will not own up to this failure. There will be more and more expensive government handouts to paper over failure. City Council future renditions will state "it is in their best interest."
Bonnie Happy Valentine's Day. (now put down the magnifying glass for one day).
The malaise of downtown is now slopping onto Upper State Street - way to go city council district reps Kristen Sneddon and Eric Friedman.
Will the answer be to shut down Upper State Street and reserve it only for bikes, bums and illegal pop-ups too? Find a model for failure and then keep repeating it.
The City of Santa Barbara included in the West Side Capital Improvement item the Bicycle Master Plan. It is now an official planning document of the City of Santa Barbara.
That Bike Plan includes the narrowing of State Street to 2 Lanes of auto use, from Constance to 5 Points. The removal of on street parking, and the placement of Class 1 bike path.
That should be enough destroy the viable businesses on outer State just as has happened in Old Town.
It will be good to direct the chronic bike traffic overflow from the Micheltorena -Sola Street branch of the Bike Plan™ over to a new corridor. (Snark)
Bonnie, once again a great article of real investigative journalism.
The facts speak loudly about our corrupt elected officials.
I wonder how much kickbacks they are receiving from these NGOs and Federal agencies????
How about an audit of our elected officials??
Hmm..... Let's get Big Balls on these perps quickly.
Thanks
Ranger do a deep dive and see what the total government grants/income given to the bike boys (aka Move), the CEC (Community Environmental Council),ACT, & EDC, and perhaps one other group. What is the TOTAL DOLLAR AMOUNTS in the past 10 years?
I'll bet they are a minimum in the 10's of thousands and are the only reason they continue to exist. (They are the tin-cup fake non-profits who give political cover for failure)
Those bike groups are the same ones who continue to insist that the Board of Supervisors allow bicycle access to the Live Oak Trails at Lake Cachuma. After 3 years of meetings the issue was decided by a judge a year ago: keep it lightly used and equestrian only as it always has been since the lake was created. But no ! The bicycle people insist that this ONE last trail that they cannot ride on must also be opened to them. Their greed shouts for equity. And more meetings discuss it.
When the "locals" in the valley confronted the bike boys with their intentional lies about bike use and intentional congestion they folded. Does anyone remember Das Williams gave the bike boys $386,000 for their "Safe Routes to Schools" program they had already stated had failed. So why does the new mayor of Buellton continue to back them and their failures? Why does the 3rd Dist. Supervisor continue to do the same thing? Failure is failure just because you have a Ph.D. doesn't mean you are right.
Thanks for this comment exposing lost honesty and integrity.
Crazy drivers scared me off my own bike. Crazy bikers scared me off my favorite trails, downtown and many sidewalks. I guess there is always a treadmill inside gym.
Bonnie - will you be my Gal-entine?
Once again, Bonnie, I appreciate your updates on the running of Santa Barbara. I also found it interesting about S.B downtown rents being lower than Ventura and the CBID tax Santa Barabara puts on the property tax of the downtown businesses.
Please contact your county supervisor and tell them you don’t support them giving themselves a 48% raise! Time is of the essence as they are scheduled to vote on this on Feb. 25.
Supervisor Roy Lee at: roylee@countyofsb.org
Supervisor Laura Capps at: lcapps@countyofsb.org
Supervisor Joan Hartmann at: jhartmann@countyofsb.org
Supervisor Bob Nelson at: Bob.Nelson@countyofsb.org
Supervisor Steve Lavagnino at: steve.lavagnino@countyofsb.org
Thanks for posting all their email addresses. I just sent them this:
NOT the time to vote to raise the amount the Board of Supervisors are paid.
People are watching and DOGE is coming.
Set the right example and do not act with short-sighted greed.
Bonnie - great article. Email addresses are always required when requesting a site-wide effort. I'll send'em a hot note but it won't do any good - it never does. The only thing that ever works is torches and pitchforks at city hall.
Well said Mr. Brown.
Every raise to any government worker means higher public pension payouts later. This means younger generations today are now forced to later make up the growing billions of dollars of unfunded government pension liabilities.
Do these current supervisors really want to push this burden out on future generations? Best they opt out of any defined-benefit government pension benefits for themselves and return to just being elected "public servants" for their terms of office only.
EG: Former 3rd District Supervisor Gail Marshall: Gail A. Marshall - $28,911.88/ year after 8 years of elected "public service" - well more than the average Social Security payment after a lifetime of work.
Supervisor Elective
Pension: $26,527.88
Benefits: $384.00
Disability: $0.00
Total pension & benefits amount: $26,911.88
Last Employer: Santa Barbara County
Years of Service 8.00
Year of Retirement 2005
(Source: Transparent California)
The rat nests of belongings that accumulate in the 'encampments" and on sidewalks are protected as the "personal possessions" of our urban outdoorsmen. I asked Police what it would take to have them moved and trashed and they said that even They are constrained from moving them, and they'd have to arrest any citizen attempting to do so. Of course, were I to pile junk in front of my own house that I own, well, then I could be cited. And to state the obvious, the items in those piles were stolen from the yards of our neighbors. It doesn't have to be this way.
They can now remove all of it as long as they put a notice on them if they aren't moved within 4 hours of the notice.
Good change, but of course we the Citizen Taxpayers pay for the removal. And do they still have to STORE the "belongings" for x amount of days or can they be trashed?
I will check on that.
Author asks: "Still my question is why doesn’t everyone have to follow the law?" Well, I have been wondering the same thing. Why isn't a convicted felon in jail instead of the White House? Why did a young woman go to jail for 5 years for stealing just one classified document, whereas someone else can steal hundreds and avoid prosecution and prison? Why do some people go to jail for attacking police officers, whereas 100's of others get a pardon for doing the same thing? What would happen to you if you walked up to a stranger on State Street and grabbed them by the crotch? Would you get elected to public office? I doubt it! Why are you and I threatened with fines and imprisonment if we don't pay our taxes, whereas billionaires don't pay a dime? Yes, it is quite obvious that we have a two-tiered justice system. If you are rich, and especially if you are rich and white, the likelihood of arrest for cheating people out of $millions is much less than if you are poor, brown, and a street vendor ducking a $25 fee. And SB Current is replete with the whiners who prove my point.
Someone pointed out the other day that the only billionaire that leftists don't like is Trump but have no problem at all with George Soros who has bought out more people in government than anyone around. Guess it just depends on what side you are on.
TDS is junk food, S.S.
Or when the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors on Monday to drop the corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York City.
Too bad those charges were filed within 24 hours of Adams coming out against the NYC open borders scheme. Bad optics. Perceptions of conflicts of interests are as bad as actual conflicts of interests.
No, Adams got 'tough' on open boarders after his Sept. 2024 indictment with five fed counts of bribery, wire fraud, etc. Looks like he got his get out of jail free card from the current administration by agreeing to play ball with them on cranking down on illegal immigration. Now I'm all for this immigration crack down - but let's not pretend one team is the only one not enforcing the rules.
Sept 25, 2004 - Adams indicted. On Sept 26, 2024 Trump stated he is not surprised, since Adams **had been critical** about Biden open border policies. (ABC News)
Adams "got tough" and met with incoming Border Chief Holman in early December, 2024.
Oh, I get it. They were BS charges in Sept '24 according to you as a reprisal from Biden for not playing ball.... And then Trump had the charges dropped when he was going to play ball with him.
TJ: Just getting your own version of dates in order. The dates stand alone on their own. You can read anything you want into this. I stand by what I read into them. But you can't just change the goal posts on your own terms.
We have been through a rough past four years of "weaponized" legal retaliation, undergirded by bogus charges. Makes us all look askance our current legal system and its partisan players -when, where, how and why they act. This is not good, but it has been forced on us.
25.00 fee to make money (have a business) in SB while others have to pay Rent, Insurance, Health Dept fees, Workers Comp. Sales tax, City License fee etc etc it goes on. Yet others can set up on the streets (street vendors) and get everything in cash and pay no tax. Remember we now have an increased sales tax in SB 9.25% Then they get housing authority aka Section 8, Cal Fresh aka food stamps. When they get everything in cash there is no record of their income. They only pay 30% of their income for their housing. But bothers me isn't the local street vendors it is the LA (rumor has its cartel vendors coming up, large kitchen vendors, and fancy fruit vendors)
"rumor has its"? Rumor has it that any business owner can opt to avoid all the costs you mentioned simply by paying $25 and selling their merchandise or food from a street vending cart. Sounds like more of that whining to me. Rumor has it that there are people living in SB who don't even have a real job - they just sit home collecting inflated rents from tenants, or living off dividends and interest. Just a more sophisticated means of grifting than an unlicensed street cart.
.
Had a kooky idea - see whatcha think of it:
I have a suspect that foreign aliens kinda don’t know the American way . All they get is rant pablum from the lefties. What about some of us plain folks chatting about how the good ‘ol USA really works in a meeting with aliens who wonder what Americans are really all about.
a) Trash and garbage goes in garbage cans and dumpsters _only_. Americans hate seeing garbage by the side of the road.
b) Cops are nice people. They are here to help you. Never be afraid to ask a cop for help. (If you are here _legally_)
c) We have lots of say and influence with our governments, unlike lots of foreign governments. If the government is leaning on you and you have a legit beef , there are lots of people, public defenders etc. who will stand up for you.
d) Don’t be afraid to ask a stranger for help - American are the most helpful people of all!
e) Last but not least, . . . please flush ! :)
Thank you so much keeping us inform
Bonnie, made it easy for everyone - providing the email links for all county supervisors. Use it to send a message to the BOS, in your own words. Keep it short, on point and put your key message in the subject line. "No on Pay Raise".... is good enough. Then add a few lines why this matters to you.
When 15 members of the Bike Lobby show up, they get listened to.
When 15 members of the Tenants Union/rent control crowd show up, they get listened to.
When 15 restaurants getting free rent on closed State Street show, they get listened too
Send a message. Let the BOS know there is are new voices in this town they need to also start listening to.
Thanks, Bonnie.
Thank you JL, Why was Social Security only raised 3% yet they as a Newby, get this raise in cost and a lifelong retirement benefit???
We need a lawyer to help us get this on the ballot... Go back to the way it was in the 80's??? 400.00 max?
Why isn't every city, county, state and federal worker upset about this?
Ms. Donovan, you ask why doesn’t everyone have to follow the law?
I would say, look to our felon in chief as a shining example. Since his first administration through the present no one seems to care what crimes and corruption he is involved in. The Republican Congress at the time, even though they were presented with evidence to impeach decided against it. I guess his lawyers are earning their money. His lawyers have made an art of delaying court proceeds. So that court dates are pushed back over and over. Then, what do you know he’s elected and everything goes away.
Let’s not forget the J6, who after being tried, convicted and sentenced and serving their sentences, were just let go, just like that, all is forgiven. No matter how violent some of these criminals were, the felon just issued a blanket pardon for all. That was a campaign promise. Of course the magas loved it, and he knew it would bring in votes.
For his latest quid pro quo we turn to Mayor Adams of New York City. The felon demanded all charges be dropped on Adams corruption charges because he is going to help trump with the deportation matter and wanted it to be a priority for the mayor and didn’t want him distracted, with court hearings. We’re starting to get the picture that if the felon needs something from you, he can make your criminal actions go away.
Just a couple of added comments, first on Pete Hegseth, meeting with world leaders in Europe, and making a “rookie mistake” as a republican senator said, by making a misinformed statement regarding Ukraine and the United Nations.
Now let’s move on to JD Vance. He was also making a speech somewhere in Europe. He stated he fears for free speech in Europe, which is hilarious, since the Associated Press journalists have been banned from Air Force One and the briefing room, because they offended the felon while reporting a story about the Gulf of Mexico, by calling it the Gulf of Mexico.
Finally, I’m sure you’ve all heard the good news. The felon has made himself chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center. Aren’t you glad he has priorities? I’ll bet that sure gave inflation a kick in the butt.
Good to see Julia, how much mileage you are getting from your delicious recitation of the word "felon" which you now preface every mention of President Donald J Trump. There must be some deep cognitive dissonance going on since this lurid connection fell so flat with the overwhelming numbers of voters this past November. Certainly not from lack of trying by your team.
Carry on. Just like senile dementia never really clicked when used in connection with Biden. Or cackling incompetent never gained traction with Kamala Harris.
Curiously, do you intend to use this failed TDS "felon" connection as your own excuse to skirt the law anyway you want now too? Or use it to remind yourself no verdict is absolute, until the last appeal has been exhausted. I suggest your grave-stomping on Trump is premature. But it may be the only ray of sunshine left in your life. Cling to it jealously in that case.
Hey JL,
Before I start my response, I just wanted to be sure you saw the good news about the felon naming himself chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center, just the good news everyone’s been waiting for. The other exciting announcement he made, that everyone’s also been waiting for, about February 9, it will now be called Gulf of America day. I can hardly wait for next years celebration, can’t wait for all the fireworks. So happy the felon has his priorities in order. OK, OK, I will retire felon, for now. I know that was painful for you, because they say the truth hurts.
My team? I have a team? You’re right, it did fall flat on the maga ears, then. Recently, though we’re hearing a lot of “we got played”, “we were betrayed”, “he lied”, from some of those that voted for “tired old grandpa”. Hey, renaming things is easy.
It sounds like you’re assuming I’m looking to commit a crime of some sort and then try to wiggle out of it like tired old grandpa does? Is it because I’m Mexican? Grave stomping, that’s a little macabre, don’t you think? You forgot to say, drab little life.
There are many of us waiting for that ray of sunshine, hoping for the day, when this dark cloud hanging over our country will be lifted. Hoping that the destruction being created, will be able to be undone. I hear tired old grandpa and some of his cronies are working on legislation, so they can skirt around the constitution, giving him a chance at a third term, and maybe more.
Oh, by the way, congratulations to musk, I hear he’s become a daddy for the 13th time. I bet tired old grandpa can’t wait till he has another rugrat running around at his press conferences in the Oval Office.
Fact devoid response, Julia. Be better. You get your turn in 2026 - sweep the House and take back the Senate. Then roll in with your best shot in 2028. Your new crack DNC VP David Hogg is already on a fund-raising roll - for himself. Good start.
One other thing, it is probably not too late for you to get a signed copy of Trump's mug shot, the one he now hanging outside the Oval Office to remind everyone who enters they are dealign with Convicted Felon™. Is full transparency great, or what?
For your reading pleasure Julia, Stanford Law Review has already discoursed on who owns the copyright to that mug shot photo and who can use it for commercial gain. Our crack higher education industry outdoes itself, in both timeliness and immediate gravitas.
JL, You should have said “Be best”? And actually isn’t that mug shot, in the Oval Office? Tired old grandpa’s ego likes his image no matter how old and tired it looks. As for an autograph that looks like an electrocardiogram,no thank you. Tired old grandpa thinks his photo looks tough, it actually looks like an over the hill playboy trying to pick up women.
"Be Better" was Melania Trump's First Lady project during his Trump's first term - combatting bullying. As a dynamic; not an end goal.
JL, sorry, but “Be Best” was her project to stop cyber bullying. If it didn’t work for tired old grandpa it’s not gonna work for anyone else. I haven’t heard her say anything else about it, so I guess she knows that it’s a lost cause.
I try to avoid State St and Downtown Goleta, mainly out of access problems created by the confused leaders of both cities. I can’t imagine anyone signing a lease in these traffic restricted bike zones, Driving out business and eliminating functional traffic patterns seems insane . The lost tax revenue is not likely to be replaced by more weed tax. We live in a blue strip of coastal neo Marxist political control. We regularly say goodbye to fed up friends willing to endure much worse weather to avoid the political insanity being served up by Newscum, Weiner, Hart, Limon yadayada. Good friends soon moving to Tn bought 7 acres with a beautiful modern 5 bedroom 5 bath 3 car garage home for $1.3M. UHaul is still doing a booming business and will continue to until sanity overtakes the “ Golden State”
Does the second paragraph mean that you AGREE that the US should ban TikTok? I assumed it did and didn't read any further, since your credibility is in the toilet if you oppose free speech. Please correct me if that was not your intent.
HAHA, why can they ban us, yet we can't ban them?
Everything I watched on TikTok has to dumb the USA down and or challenge us to kill us off.
If they can cut us off, we should be able to cut them off... This part isn't freedom of speech it is the new war on America.
TikTok has been one of few sources of truth and free speech for our pathetic foreign policy and genocide in Palestine. The dumbing down of America is mostly from our mainstream media. Glad I didn't bother with wasting my time reading the rest of your article.
How about other countries block us? You should have read further...
Can you blame them? The entire world hates us after all the wars we've started. You aren't helping.
Naw L. Angel, the "world" only hates Democrats who started and encourage these wars, and "tiny incursions". Get your players straight,
Sever the kickback schemes between Democrats and the military industrial complex would be a worthy start Most of the "world" grudgingly wants America to still play global policeman.
You can take off your K-12 teacher union hair-shirt now. (See Thomas Sowell's book "Inside American Education) It is safe to be a proud American again.
Nope, the entire world doesn't hate us... Why did my tenants come here from their country??
You are splitting hairs over semantics. 'The entire world' doesn't mean every single citizen in every country. You are honestly denying that our once revered reputation has been sullied badly by our endless wars and meddling in the Middle East, especially the genocide Palestine, which TikTok exposes? If so, you are being dishonest.