32 Comments
User's avatar
sommer's avatar

Wait until SpaceX is checked for emissions. Who knows what's in the tailpipe of a Falcon 9.

Emerald Eye's avatar

The Demented Against Fermented! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Guthre Leonard's avatar

That's a fascinating story, but the only fact you've shown any evidence for is that mid/north county receives more welfare. Who's even to say that's a bad thing? Welfare is income dependent, so I would imagine this just means there's a higher number of lower income families in north county. You're not analyzing any of the information you've found. Furthermore, citing a city council meeting that just says "Social Services Public Assistance Programs Overview" doesn't mean anything. All I know from that is social services have oversight. It doesn't state that any other industry doesn't.

But most importantly of all, you don't even have a conclusion. Let's say you're right, and this is a huge issue, which contrary to the tone of this comment, I am completely willing to believe. What do you actually suggest being done about it? You have no action step. Help me do something, don't just shove another problem with no hope of solution down my throat. Have a point to your journalism.

Emerald Eye's avatar

Marcel, it sounds to me that the point of the article is that over regulation is killing our local jobs and creating an entire population of government dependency. The obvious solution is to vote the inept politicians out of office which would be possible if we voted for the best and brightest every single time instead of ‘blue-no-matter-who”.

Guthre Leonard's avatar

That sounds great. What makes a politician the "best and brightest?" Where is the actual evidence that overregulation is killing jobs? These are the kinds of details I'm asking for from a publication.

Emerald Eye's avatar

Marcel, I appreciate your insistent nature towards facts and data. Imagine if everyone asked as many questions, how much better off we would be. Let’s start with the ‘best and brightest’ question. Sometimes an example is worth a thousand words. If you live in Santa Barbara, you’ll remember the mayoral race which put Cathy Murillo against Angel Martinez. Angel Martinez, a Cuban immigrant, who lived the American dream. A shoe executive who ran billion dollar companies, spoke fluent Spanish, raised his family in Santa Barbara and donated much time and resources to our non-profit community, a committed husband and father, wise and measured in temperament. He wasn’t even a (gasp) Republican! Angel was truly one of the most if not THE most qualified mayoral candidate we’ve ever been given the opportunity to vote for. Angel ran against Cathy Murillo who had less job experience on her resume than I did as a 19 year old. Cathy wasn’t known for any particular personal or work successes in life, which I think is a big deal if you are responsible for running a City with thousands of employees and a multi million dollar budget. She’d not created anything of much substance that I recall. I’ll be kind in saying that she wasn’t known for her ability to problem solve, or even for being bi-lingual. Yet with this being said, the DEM party put all of their might, weight, resources, and media support behind getting her elected as the mayor of Santa Barbara in a landslide victory. These results lack any common sense.

Regarding actual evidence of over-regulation killing jobs, I think we have several examples. The pot industry is the latest of course. Love it or hate it, the industry was making money hand over fist until the State of CA stepped in to ‘help’. As much as people love to blame high rents for our decaying downtown, the truth is that when it takes 5-6 years to sometimes pull permits (the City’s favorite form of over regulation), who can afford that kind of time? One of many beautiful restaurants to come and go, the Little Door was over regulated into bankruptcy over a 4 year period. Their trash enclosure deliberated into oblivion whilst being trapped in an ADA wheelchair lift nightmare that the DRB wouldn’t allow. I’ll give you a more personal example. My husband commissioned a beautiful mural from renowned local artist Thomas Van Stein. The permit cost us $60,000 and approximately 5 years of hell for a beautiful historic mural to be placed on our property in SB. Yet, many politically correct murals don’t even require a permit at all! The list of over regulation in our City, County and State is so long that that there isn’t enough room to write about it all, but I think you already know it.

Guthre Leonard's avatar

To Emerald Eye and J. Livingston. I apologize if I made my points feel directed at anyone. I understand that I am able to find these facts myself, but I believe that when a writer makes a statement in an article, the readers are relying on them to back up their argument. I have seen that when this is not done, it results in people staunchly believing things without reason and being frustrated when they struggle to convince others. It isn't your job or mine to support the original author's argument.

User's avatar
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Mar 3, 2024
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Guthre Leonard's avatar

Our astuteness is irrelevant. Look at any article in Wall Street Journal or New York Times; any reputable source from either side of the aisle provides valid sources, even in commentary.

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Mar 3, 2024
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Emerald Eye's avatar

If you knew they filthy, vile tricks they did to him, you’d understand why he disappeared away from the limelight and into the sanctuary of his loving family and friends.

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Mar 3, 2024
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Stephen H Siemsen's avatar

What an interesting article, thanks for sharing! As a Native Californian this is great news! But, people are still not leaving fast enough. It does beg the question, if so many people are leaving, why is there still so much demand for housing? Prices keep going up, and new housing needs to be built.

S Schroeder's avatar

I, too, am a native Californian. 4 generations of us in my family. I'm a rarity for sure. And I wonder about this too. SO many wealthy out of state people who own homes here that sit empty. When the prices are this high only those kinds of people can afford a home. It isn't paradise when locals cannot afford to live here.

Earl Brown's avatar

“homes that sit empty” Presumably ripe for squatters, except for the squatter squad. _Here’s_ how to get ‘em out: https://squattersquad.co

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Mar 3, 2024
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Guthre Leonard's avatar

But that's what I'm saying. It isn't anything. And if it's not going to provide any evidence for its claims, it's convincing people of a nonexistent problem.

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Mar 3, 2024
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Guthre Leonard's avatar

That’s not at all what I’m saying. I never made a claim. I was requesting that when a point is made, with the goal of influencing or informing people, it should have a foundation in fact.

STEPHEN HANSEN's avatar

Like I've said before. The morons at the county and cities of Santa Barbara want windmills that kill scores of birds, but that's okay. Now if the oil company(s) leak out a few hundred barrels of oil the county and city are all over them. Funny how it's okay for the county to accidentally (Accidentally being the key word) release 1,000,000 gallons of raw sewage into the Goleta oceans, and Meh, we, the County don't care.

THOMAS M. COLE JD's avatar

On the issue of housing and lack of it in our county and district. Can we just blame our existing politicians who make local and national rules? The over regulation that Mr. Caldwell is describing surely exists, and slows down all building projects, and stops most projects from getting off the ground. When builders cannot make a project pencil out, that is the end of the project. And this should be noted when the city or county wants to get involved with a building project like the Macy's downtown development that the city partnered with. Without the cities 'help' and tax breaks, these projects would not have penciled out and would have been abandoned. Now we can see these giant white elephants sitting empty, because of distortions caused by government butting into the building process.

In the area of housing, county wide, prices are too high for most people. Families must double up, young people must live two to a room and worse. But one of the biggest causes of so called housing shortage is an over population caused once again by government interference. If we look at the numbers - When our city votes to be a sanctuary city, or when our local Congressman Salud Carbajal votes in congress for open borders policies, the result has been to bring in 10 million illegal aliens in the last few years. And ten million is a 3.3% increase of our nations population.

In our 24th district of 750,711 people that 3.3%  increase means 750,711 X .03 = 24,773 new people living in our district. These are new, out of work, unemployed and unskilled men, just sitting around, collecting welfare, taking up space, hospital space, police, schools and housing space. These new unemployed, broke people that Congressman Salud has unwittingly brought into our neighborhoods are the main cause of our so called housing crises. If there were suddenly 24,773 fewer people in the county, there would suddenly be many places for rent over night and prices would drop accordingly.  

 Question is: did Salud create 24,774 new jobs for these new men? No. We are supposed to employ them all or else. How many gardeners and pot farmers do we need here? And did Salud create 24,774 new apartments for anyone?  And the answer is a resounding no. There are no new apartments and no new jobs because of excessive and unrelenting government regulation on building and business as Mr. Caldwell points out every other week!

And certainly Salud has not created a single job anywhere, except maybe a few staffers. And Carbajal is very proud of using taxpayer funding for one apartment building for 100 illegal aliens in Guadalupe, while he imported 24,773 new guys into our district. New illegal immigrants with no money, no skills to hang out on our streets and be given welfare, while our governments destroy the manufacturing business, and destroy the energy business and so what is left? Will everyone work for the government soon?

So it's no wonder there are not enough living units for average American families here. We could tell Salud NO, America is not your dumping ground. And say that our district is not a giant welfare hotel.  But unless we change politicians who vote for these policies, these are results of forces beyond our control. Forces in DC, the DNC, from Davos, from the central banks that decide America needs to be fortified with 10 million young men every few years.

I for one disagree with these policies of flooding America.

Thomas Cole for Congress. CA CD 24

Earl Brown's avatar

Good review Thomas, but don’t worry. When Trump gets elected that 24,773 - will be reduced to zero after he deports them all back to where they came from. If they want to then come in legally, fine. Btw, just reviewed your bio - excellent - https://ballotpedia.org/Thomas_Cole Finally . . . a true American!

Michael Brown's avatar

Gonna be kinda hard to do that from a prison cell.

Topeka's avatar

Maybe you can leave ... get a fake Venezuelan identity ... and swim back across the Rio Grande ... and Abbott can bus you back to Santa Barbara ... and then the county will care about you.

just a suggestion. I'm not sure it'll work. Individual results may vary.

Stephen H Siemsen's avatar

If I am reading Andy's charts correctly, for that to work for you, you would have to be sent to North County to pick strawberries, or some other crop in the rain or in the heat of day for minimum wage with no benefits and live in a crowded apartment with just one toilet. If you can afford a car, other options would include commuting to South County to work for minimum wage bussing some tourists dirty dishes or cleaning their soiled hotel bed linens.

Topeka's avatar

Stephen, Sounds almost like the deal I got being an American.

Maybe it's not worth it.

... have a great Sunday!

User's avatar
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Mar 3, 2024
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Topeka's avatar

Yep, that's what we did. And I pulled National Guard at the same time ...

... have a great Sunday, Livingston!!

Brent's Journal's avatar

This may explain why I have seen price increases at our local wineries but not in stores that carry wine from elsewhere.

Topeka's avatar

Yes. excellent article.

to be fair to your county officials though ... they sound positively reasonable compared to some.

I know a certain midwest state (take a guess) ... lost 98% of their manufacturers between 1974 and 2004. That's lots of jobs and opportunities. Many sold out to the Bigs, which kept the stats from falling 98%, but most just went bankrupt and shut their doors.

So y'all have a lot of "improvements" yet to come.

Janet conrad's avatar

How awful and sad. But they just don’t get it. Very unfortunate. Thanks for the insight.

Goleta Good's avatar

Don't forget jeep tours, hotels, restaurants. SB wine tours were birthday parties for LA people.

Michael Brown's avatar

I'd be upset by then I realized that this was written by Andy Caldwell so the chances of it being accurate are slim.

Nancy Catherine Panizzon's avatar

Wow this is so sad for South County! Thank you for the great informational news!

Paul Aijian MD's avatar

Roy Lee is a good alternative to the nonsense created by the current board of supervisors. Das Williams is the perfect example of why this is happening. Drive through Carpinteria and inhale

Mesa Rat's avatar

Are you suggesting that on the subject of marijuana, the government let the market be too free? That they should have centrally planned the permits or supply to ensure prices didn't crater?