Posers gonna pose, Liars gonna lie, Cheaters gonna cheat. Newscum has mastered all 3, and spent an absurd amount of tax dollars to document his narcissism. Please consider helping Charles Cole and Steve Garvey. More Salud and Shifty Schiff is just perpetuating insanity at the federal level. Looking forward to getting truly honest, representative government in California again. Truth is a rare and precious thing. Seek it, and recognize its source. It’s not the Father of Lies. Remember who said “ I am the way, the truth and the life”
Let me revise my comments, as they do on Capitol Hill. Did you Dr. Paul Aijian take the Hippocratic oath? First, do no harm. . . then please explain more your comments above. As a medical doctor you seem kind of mean.
You have a lot of stupid names for our elected officials. An I've never voted for most of them. I would say this to Dr. dipshit Aijian. How about you cool the name calling?
Hi Dan, I think the miss here is that there is truly a relationship between the horrible names we have for people and their horrible behavior which is quite a bit different than calling Dr. Aijian "dipshit" when clearly he is a good and decent soul unlike the politicians. It is truly apples and oranges. So it truly isn't about the name calling, but rather the correspondence of the degrading name to degraded character and behavior.
I am with you Dan, in the case of the pot calling the kettle black, it is more than fair to call out that hypocrisy. We are in a very unfortunate situation where there are two huge groups of US citizens who have opposite worldviews- I don't see a bridge between them and this to me is the saddest thing.
I wouldn't be able to explain such a thing. I have liked some of your comments and my impression of you is that you are honest and I suspect you are decent.
Yes, our Governor Newsom is about as slippery as a greased pig. Then again, he comes from quite a pedigree of grifters. His Father, William Newsom was a prominent Judge (appointed by Jerry Brown) and bag man/tax attorney for J. Paul Getty. Newsom Sr. even delivered the ransom money when JPG’s grandson was kidnapped.
Ironically, Newsom Sr. was on the Board of radical environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and EDC. Yet, he was the right hand man for an oil tycoon! Talk about a conflict of interest.
Sure, Gavin’s career has been full of conflicts, such as when he was spotted eating escargot and drinking Letour Gran Vin at the French Laundry during the height of a COVID lockdown! Check please! Forced lockdowns, closures of schools, restaurants, businesses and churches will go down as the biggest screw up in California history.
Then, how he exempted his billionaire buddy, owner or Panera from the $20/hr. minimum wage, when many other restaurants and food chains are going out of business. How convenient.
So, when I see him all decked out like a Hollywood model picking up squalor, I immediately thought of yet another photo op/con job. Shouldn’t the Governor be promoting our state and its economy?
Gavin Newsom is nothing more than a self promoting, narcissistic, arrogant politician who has done our golden state a monumental disservice. How can the good people of California keep voting these people into office? Unless of course, they have something to gain, on the dole or belong to a public sector union.
From any abnormal characteristics of one’s character or appearance, that would normally raise alarms instead of arithmetic. All in an effort to subvert societal norms in an attempt to destroy the American way of life. And unfortunately, they’ve done a wonderful job. The American Public is now so.” dumbed down.” and drug addicted we are on the precipice of total destruction. I could not be more frightened for the future of my children and grandchildren.
The scariest thing for our grandchildren is watching the pie chart on the back pages of the IRS 1040 booklet showing the amount of tax revenues that must be dedicated to just paying interest on the current public debt.
That debt that Kamala Harris and now all Democrats want to grow into even more next generational strangulation. (Biden-Harris: Free health care; free child care; free senior care; free houses; free guaranteed income, while micromanaging the US productive engine into restrictive oblivion.)
I see the WSJ is now trying to explain to "Gen Z and the Debt Trap" they are facing, though they are talking about their personal debt; not the massive Democrat public debt on they are now also required to pay off. Taxation without representation will soon be the Gen Z cri de guerre - thank every single Democrat for that ruinous privilege. They too are the ones who mainly benefit from these lifetime government dependencies created on their watch.
Sorry, but Biden name each of these goals specifically as his "unfinished business". Harris promised to pick up where Biden left off. Media just recently refused to ask Harris how will she pay for any of this. And out comes in the WSJ today ......"taxing unrealized capital gains".
With no reimbursement of tax paid on unrealized paper gains when there are subsequent losses. When Kamala and Walz are ever forced to talk money and taxation, may enthusiasm for their joy-filled vision of our debt-ridden country come to an end. Little will be affordable to the masses. There’s great uncertainty ahead for the non-government, non-union professional, middle and working classes regardless of which party wins in November.
Brian, you are absoultely rigth ........ "I could not be more frightened for the future of my children and grandchildren." They have and will be coming for our children beacuse they are worth ALOT OF MONEY.
Is there Child Trafficking here in little-ole Santa Barbara?
There is no homeless problem; only a refusal to relocate where very affordable housing is still available.
Trona California, being prime example of a former middle class town where the industry left behind a perfectly suitable housing infrastructure but left to deteriorate while still being potentially serviceable. Detroit obviously being another example of perfectly fine former middle class neighborhoods, left to neglect and abandonment and ultimately teardown.
The real housing "crisis" is the refusal of people to choose locations that remain affordable, even on SSI checks. Prove me wrong. This is not a "crisis", if you cannot afford to live where you alone demand to live at someone else's expense including removal of large swaths of local property from the property tax rolls.
There are a lot of people who’d rather be homeless in SB than non-homeless in Cincinnati.
Whatever the new wrinkles and complications are, the homeless have been part of the political landscape in SB for a long time. The community likes to think of itself as liberal and generous, yet practically speaking if we’re too liberal and generous, word will get out and we’ll be swamped by ‘way more homeless people than we can manage. Homeless people like nice weather, ocean views and a safe community too, after all.
There’s probably no one solution available. So we’re stuck trying to balance these factors. How to be relatively humane while not winding up with a lot more vagrants than we can handle? It’s something our politicians and law enforcement people have wrestled with for decades.
Why don't they want to be "homeless" in Montecito or Hope Ranch ? What prevents tents getting set up along their many leafy and quiet lanes? Why is downtown Solvang not riddled with aggressive pan handlers.
Why is the contrast so stark along the Amtrak route leaving Orange County with few RR tent encampments and entering Los Angeles County with its overwhelming numbers of RR tent encampments. Same welcoming Southern California weather.
I live a half block from the 7/Eleven on Castillo and Montecito streets. J.Liv, with all due respect you don't have a clue about live down here, and I've lived here for the past 21 years.
Dan, I and others have a clue what life is down by where you reside. Homeless choose to be where they are allowed to be. The residents in your immediate area do not object, don’t demand removal. Your district council rep or BOS rep, and police, and PATH aren’t being bombarded with calls from you or area residents to relocate homeless. Our neighborhoods, our communities are what property owners demand from government. Complicit property owners need to voice objections, even organize, if homeless or parked vehicles are undesired.
Remind me what they do all day in tents by the RR tracks on in the culverts and underpasses? We are looking solely at relocation to "more affordable areas" and out of public spaces per Newsom's new mandate, for those now in illegal encampments -but with the benefit of a utility infrastructure still in place in Trona - that is what is a shame to waste.
Funny, I too always use the example of Trona. With a mini-mart 7/11 booze source and a post office and a Government health clinic you'd have all the "infrastructure" you need. There is currently an 8 bedroom 4 bathroom house for sale for $37,499.
Thank you, Brent. Newsom's portraiture today is merely an extension of his 2004 “rug photo” with Kimberly Guilfoyle lying on Ann Getty's floor. As Nancy Collins', who did the article says “How many politicians curl up with their wife on the floor for Harper’s Bazaar? It was kind of a sexy picture in terms of politics. There they were, kind of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.”
Did Newsom know what he was doing with that ostentatious photo? Of course he did, just as he knew what he was doing during the lockdown being photographed at French Laundry, which is too small and controlled a restaurant for that to have been an accident. Sure, he apologized to the public. And if you look closely at his eyes you see he isn't really apologizing at all, but gloating.
It would seem that Newsom is obsessively turned on by what he can get away with and with who he can enlist to do it. People have said he's using Ommanney's photography to portray how caring he is. But I see something else. I see Newsom high on how he's sticking it to the middle-class taxpayers of California. He's saying “I'll see to it you die with your California dreams demolished, no money left, homeless people defecating in that yard you tended so carefully, where you hoped your grandkids would play. You will suffer your last weeks watching the homeless person you're sharing a hospital room with get treated like a human being, while you scream for help.”
Has any politician in America been as openly contemptuous of the middle-class as Newsom? Does he loathe his own dependence on the elite families so much? And what else is Newsom secretly doing just to show what he can get away with because he's their pretty boy?
A while ago I wondered if Newsom might be more than a narcissist. I decided to look up photos of famous sociopaths to make a comparison. It's worth doing. The similarity between his smile and that of Ted Bundy is really something.
“encampments that pose a threat to the life, health, and safety, of the community”
Devine health & safety. Homeless in camps or cars have no running water or bathroom facilities. Violating health codes.
Encampment fires kill & injure homeless.
The Mesa had a fire started by homeless living on a hill that threatened dozens of families and homes with a very poor communication of what was going on.
By definition all homeless are in danger and not living in healthy conditions.
But once again The Party of the People do not care. They just want them out of sight & out of mind.
"The entire DNC last night was built on the premise that living your entire life as a politician paid by the taxpayers, confiscating the wealth of others, and then making bank off said politics is legitimate — and that private wealth isn’t.” (Ben Shapiro)
Optics. Homelessness has always been optics and money laundering.
Not the humanitarian crisis it is.
Ask Newsom where the $24 Billion in homeless funds went. Crickets & “I don’t know” are the response.
Ask SB County where the $20 million/year goes. Not to housing. Not to getting people off the streets. As evidenced by our steady, relatively unchanging, PIT count. Around 1,800 homeless.
But our Democratic endorsed puppets & Democrat controlled propaganda media are always quick to pat themselves on the back when that base number decreases by a couple people. But never mention that the number is relatively stable for decades.
But back to the professional photographer & optics of Newsom cleaning up CA so he doesn’t look bad. Now with a presidential election approaching he “cares” No he doesn’t. He said kick out all the unsightly homeless and he doesn’t care where they go.
He’s not housing them & if they do it will be temporary hotel housing to get the u slightly off the streets to make it seem he’s doing something besides stealing $24 Billion.
"Homelessness" is just one more public sector union membership grift - making demands that each case needs five full time social workers(union members) to provide three shifts of 24 hour care to cover each "homeless person".
I believe the whole homeless problem has been manufactured by people wanting to normalize joblessness and vagrancy. They start with the kids in kindergarten teaching compassion rather than reading, tolerance rather than writing and two advert one eyes
They need to explain why some people make choices not to be "homeless". Teach why some people can afford to live in Santa Barbara; while others claim they cannot.
Best to teach why the former made it work for themselves, in the first place. One key is thrift, savings, sacrifice and long-term thinking no matter the starting point. As well as leveraging a less than desirable first home purchase into something later and closer to one's "dream home". Owning a home anywhere must matter first and foremost- not just this current demand someone else has the duty to hand subsidize one for you. and only where you want it located.
Hate seeing so many recent local land grabs in this town (La Cumber Plaza, Mission Canyon) always include the overwrought phrases they are necessary to solve the "affordable housing crisis". Specious window-dressing.
It should be very simple math, if you can’t afford a given area such as SB…move! We absolutely don’t need this to be an extension of the San Fernando Valley in order to solve homelessness or to make the left feel better about themselves. Plenty of land elsewhere, no human or civil right to live by the beach.
We need to re-open State Psychiatric Hospitals in order to treat those that cannot take care of themselves. That’s right, just like back in the day at the now Channel Islands State University, formerly Camarillo State Hospital. Ironically, it was
Reagan who curtailed our ability to commit patients. It should be simple, if you live on the street, use the toilet in public or have a need to shoot up in public, then you need to go!
All others can go into job training and rehabilitation. Start by cleaning up our freeways. Naturally, we need the politicians and Juris which agree that the interests of the public outweigh that of some crazy ass, potentially violent, junkie. Vagrancy laws need to be upheld and enforced. Oh and btw, the $24 Billion which was extorted from the public for homelessness, someone needs to go to jail, because it is criminal with what the taxpayers have to put up with!
ACLU court case forced Reagan to sign the patient release orders for the former state mental care facilities. Democrats insisted One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest was a documentary; not the extremely lovely Camarillo campus where many did not even want to leave - thank you very much ACLU. Time to bury the partisan bad rap that Reagan closed down all the state care facilities. He didn't; ACLU did.
DOS: Latest data shows ADU numbers in California have been "disappointing". Failure to blame California's current land-lord tenant laws is not mentioned as a factor for the poor performance of ADU's as an expanding "housing solution", but they should be.
Suspect many of those permitted units are now just owner-expanded living spaces. Or illegal STR's. Do you think? Who is paying to have the ADU's monitored for permitted uses?
I read this "Interesting" article by Attorney Zepke Esq Titled "Newsom's Nuances"
and I quote "Photographs, videos, and interviews can all be used to pose someone for creating a portraiture to be posted on social media; subtle differences between the posed photograph and reality make it a nuance."
So let's be very clear the "Nuance" of Governor and Leader Newsom, the State of California
and the So-Called Santa Barbara Leaders are all portraying, that is telling us all, soemthing
that they all are not. I quote Attorney Zepke again "The somewhat subtle difference could be considered Newsom’s Nuances."
There is no "Nuances" with these California Leaders and in particular the So-Called-Leaders for Santa Barbara they are after Power and the Money.
Now on a Different Topic of Leaders why has President Biden, out of all the places to vacation in the US, picked little-ole Santa Barbara that is "Solvang" and for FIVE DAYS. Is it possible that there is a POW-WOW a-going up in "Solvang. Does many of our So-Called SB Leaders live up in "The Valley", how about the Big-Wig-Attorneys any of them live up in "The Valley? I think we can all
expect some "Smoke Signals" coming our way managing "Damage Control"
Newsome is the most recklessly irresponsible politician I have ever heard speak- He is an enemy of the United States and a self-serving unhuman- his words and actions are pretense and subterfuge- his words don't correspond to reality, but to an agenda set by hollowed out humans. His wife does similar damage to the common good. Read C.S. Lewis' Abolition of Man and recognize Gavin as one on the cutting edge of destroying humanity- the very endeavor to abolish human nature.
I just can't get Harvey Weinstein and her casting couch capers out of my mind, whenever I hear her name. But Harvey did come with the Obama seal of approval.
I am not seeing a lot of Spanish-speaking homeless illegal immigrants here in Santa Maria. The "economically disadvantaged" people I have met were born in the USA, some with families who lost their homes as a result of the Bush-era mortgage scams, others in the wake of Trump's pathetic Covid response. Sadly, some are veterans suffering from the effects of their service in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead of bitching about Governor Newsom's effort to try to solve this problem, why don't you get out there and join those who are trying to help our fellow Americans who have fallen on hard times? As for the trash, the bag fulls of litter my group picks up along CA Hwy 166 and US 101 was not left there by the homeless. No, that trash was tossed out by the more "economically advantaged." Stop all this whining and get out there and lend a helping hand, or STFU.
Congratulations on yet another, albeit frequent, moronic response. You are consistent, I’ll give you that. Don’t see any illegals in Santa Maria, seriously? Why then does ICE have a field office there?
Having taken care of many, many patients who are undocumented, living on social services and are Mixtec in origin living in Santa Maria. Trust me they are here and are a financial drain on healthcare and local schools.
The Mixtec language is unwritten, so translation in schools and hospitals is almost impossible.
In fact, there are so many homeless migrants in SM that the old Valley Medical Center was converted to farm worker housing. Many are carriers and are suffering from ACTIVE tuberculosis, some of which are untreatable which is a public health nightmare.
So, STFU and just deal with it? Try showing some class and educating yourself.
Oh, I thought this was a discussion about the "homeless" situation, not immigration. Are there "illegals" in SM? Yes, there are many, but I don't see them living in tents in the riverbed, or pushing shopping carts around town. The rest of your response seems to confuse the "homeless" and "illegals" with H-4 dependents and H-series visa holders who are here from Mexico to harvest the volumes of crops SB county braggs about producing. If the Mixtec farmworkers and their families are residing in the old Valley Medical Center, then they are not "homeless." Should they just sleep in the fields between harvesting the strawberries you eat? Last time I checked, there was a vaccine for TB, so I hope you have one. Too bad the vaccine is not being made available in their home country. Left untreated it could morph into a deadlier strain. Finally, for the medical care that you are providing to the working poor whose life situation has forced them from their ancestral mountain home in Oaxaca to seek a better life for themselves and their children, I would like to say "Ta xa'u zin" ("thank you" in Mixtec -- oh, crap, I forgot it was an "unwritten language"!).
Farmworker housing is part of the deal for temporary worker visa;s and long has been. Just can't be woefully substandard ,as in the past. Fair enough .
"Part of the deal" because African chattel slavery was abolished and our local Indians were all but exterminated. So, we import Indians from Mexico on an "H-visa" in order to exploit their labor while denying them a path to citizenship. The least we can do is give them a place to sleep at night and give their children an education. Why are there so many at the Country Club complaining about the "cost"? What happens when the Mixtec learn that they have the right to form a Union and demand "a living wage"?
SS: What part of voluntary labor visa agreement is "chattel slavery"? What part of temporary work visas require bringing in families? Use our own US military deployments, or work on remote US pipeline projects as a better model for crafting temporary work visas. Willing buyers - willing sellers.
Having been a guest worker myself in Europe for a year and half, it was never part of my temporary visa to bring anyone other than myself -- nor make any demands on my host country to provide anything additional just because I wanted it? Not sure where you are coming from on this issue, SS.
Put on your reading glasses and look again; nowhere did I say that these agreements were "chattel slavery," which was abolished in the U.S.A. by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. What you really meant to say was "wage slavery," which is still legal in the United States, especially where labor is not protected by a Union. "Willing buyers - willing sellers" describes the miserable working arrangement of 1890's when mine workers, railroad workers, garment workers, and construction workers, toiled at the whim of the "owner" at a time when being in a Union was "illegal" and children toiled in factories. Such comments reflect someone who may sip a pinot noir while watching H-visa Indians pick their grapes in the hot sun with no path to citizenship.
"Use our own US military deployments...as a better model for crafting temporary work visas." You do realize that, not only was my family relocated at government expense to my overseas assignment, but the Army also shipped all my "household goods." None of the Mixtec have their "household goods" shipped to Santa Maria at "government expense." Some of the bilingual (German-English) soldiers in my unit in Germany in the 1970's were actively recruited by the Germans to stay in Germany. Guest workers in Germany also enjoy protections not extended to Mixtec Indians in Santa Maria. Being a native Californian married to a Californio, not returning to California was not an option for me. : )
Thanks, Howard. So many of the volunteers I work with are older and not wealthy. It does not cost anything to volunteer, just some of your precious time. Some people won't lift a finger unless they are getting a generous return for their effort - a sentiment shared by some of our wealthy SB neighbors, as well as some of the homeless. Picture two men sitting in the shade doing absolutely nothing, one under an umbrella next to his hillside estate's swimming pool and the other under a ragged tarp in the Santa Maria riverbed, both enjoying the beautiful climate here on the Central Coast!
SS: How do you know where the "wealthy" make their voluntary charitable philanthropy donations? Money is support too; as well as volunteering time. Baroness Leni fe Bland and many just like her were troopers and did both. This country, and especially this county, has long enjoyed and a very high level of personal philanthropy. Thank you, is the best response.
SS: VA has an entire division for "homeless veterans" that we are aflready funding. Trump worked like crazy to reform the VA and ran into those intractable lumps of long-serving and self- serving government bureaucrats that even he as POTUS was powerless to remove.
We are funding veterans program. We need to stop lying we are not, and ensure they are far more efficient and accountable for our promises we have made to all veterans. The VA was never intended to be just a full time employment office just for more government bureaucrats.
Hopefully, the recent judicial ruling will make more homeless veterans eligible for housing now that their disability payments are no longer considered "income" that disqualified them from participating in the program.
I’ve always considered Gruesome Newsom dangerous because he’s smart, slick and savvy, unlike most other Dopey-Dems.
You gotta hand it to him - he sure knows how to play, _and win_ the game, unfortunately at the expense of the rest of us poor slobs here in Commiefornia.
Just be glad he isn’t running for President - he’d probably become a media hero and win! Then where would we be? . . . in real deep Kimchee!
I live in SB, 39 years or so. Work in SB and Montecito as a gardener since 1988, including Mr. Jim Buckley, you might recognize his name. So yes, my life here is better in 2024 than any year since 1986!! Now Earl, where do you live?!!
Did anyone else find it rather specious that Mr. Zepke stated, "As you read this, the number is increasing, as the San Diego Border Patrol reported on June 25, 2024, that almost 200,000 people cross the border daily through California ports of entry. If only half need housing to accommodate their living four to a unit, it would require adding 25,000 new units a day."?
To me, Zepke seems to be intentionally conflating legal crossings with illegal crossings then assuming half of those coming through those California ports of entry (many of whom might be U.S. citizens) are attempting to immigrate. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, on the topic of Gavin Newsom and his father Bill: I personally know and knew them both. In fact, my family's burial plot is within a horseshoe toss from where Bill and Gavin's mother's graves are situated in the same cemetery in the tiny Gold Rush town, way up in the Sierra Nevada. Having known the Honorable William Newsom for many decades, I can attest to the fact that he was a generous defender of the environment admired by liberals and conservatives alike, often working pro bono to protect open space for fishermen and hunters and those who merely enjoyed wilderness.
Regarding Gavin, suffice it to say he is intelligent and articulate and, perhaps his greatest flaw, handsome. This quality may make every photo of him seem staged or narcissistic but what political figure doesn't try always to look his best? (Ever see Trump fuss over his hair and makeup?)
Regarding his politics, like it or not, they reflect his state's constituency, and his efforts to address homelessness should be applauded rather than assailed. (But if you have a better solution, as well as the heart and the time to do more than just criticize Gavin's efforts, well, please share!)
Suffice it to say, homelessness is a vexing problem caused by as much by mental illness as by poverty, and exasperated by overpopulation (worldwide, I might add). Want to really solve homelessness? -- as well as desperate migrations, habitat loss, climate change, war, famine, plastic waste, deforestation, traffic gridlock, species extinctions, fresh water depletions in aquifers and rivers, coral reef bleaching, inflation, ocean acidification, crime, air and water pollution, wildfires, human rights abuses, et al, ad infinitum, ad nauseam -- then encourage smaller families so that we can begin to draw down our numbers to get back to a sustainable population.
There ya go, that's my two cents' worth. Hope it helps.
Posers gonna pose, Liars gonna lie, Cheaters gonna cheat. Newscum has mastered all 3, and spent an absurd amount of tax dollars to document his narcissism. Please consider helping Charles Cole and Steve Garvey. More Salud and Shifty Schiff is just perpetuating insanity at the federal level. Looking forward to getting truly honest, representative government in California again. Truth is a rare and precious thing. Seek it, and recognize its source. It’s not the Father of Lies. Remember who said “ I am the way, the truth and the life”
Let me revise my comments, as they do on Capitol Hill. Did you Dr. Paul Aijian take the Hippocratic oath? First, do no harm. . . then please explain more your comments above. As a medical doctor you seem kind of mean.
Dan - Ridiculous, irrelevant, ignorant post.
Who are you? Insult me as much as you want but use your real name.
You have a lot of stupid names for our elected officials. An I've never voted for most of them. I would say this to Dr. dipshit Aijian. How about you cool the name calling?
Hi Dan, I think the miss here is that there is truly a relationship between the horrible names we have for people and their horrible behavior which is quite a bit different than calling Dr. Aijian "dipshit" when clearly he is a good and decent soul unlike the politicians. It is truly apples and oranges. So it truly isn't about the name calling, but rather the correspondence of the degrading name to degraded character and behavior.
Okay, you've got a point. In the future I'll just quote back to those that I believe are of lesser minds and manners.
I am with you Dan, in the case of the pot calling the kettle black, it is more than fair to call out that hypocrisy. We are in a very unfortunate situation where there are two huge groups of US citizens who have opposite worldviews- I don't see a bridge between them and this to me is the saddest thing.
Interesting to me that SB Current in red likes your comments and not mine, and I worked for John McCain.
I wouldn't be able to explain such a thing. I have liked some of your comments and my impression of you is that you are honest and I suspect you are decent.
Yes, our Governor Newsom is about as slippery as a greased pig. Then again, he comes from quite a pedigree of grifters. His Father, William Newsom was a prominent Judge (appointed by Jerry Brown) and bag man/tax attorney for J. Paul Getty. Newsom Sr. even delivered the ransom money when JPG’s grandson was kidnapped.
Ironically, Newsom Sr. was on the Board of radical environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and EDC. Yet, he was the right hand man for an oil tycoon! Talk about a conflict of interest.
Sure, Gavin’s career has been full of conflicts, such as when he was spotted eating escargot and drinking Letour Gran Vin at the French Laundry during the height of a COVID lockdown! Check please! Forced lockdowns, closures of schools, restaurants, businesses and churches will go down as the biggest screw up in California history.
Then, how he exempted his billionaire buddy, owner or Panera from the $20/hr. minimum wage, when many other restaurants and food chains are going out of business. How convenient.
So, when I see him all decked out like a Hollywood model picking up squalor, I immediately thought of yet another photo op/con job. Shouldn’t the Governor be promoting our state and its economy?
Gavin Newsom is nothing more than a self promoting, narcissistic, arrogant politician who has done our golden state a monumental disservice. How can the good people of California keep voting these people into office? Unless of course, they have something to gain, on the dole or belong to a public sector union.
Are there any non-radical environmental groups? I can see the some aspects of EDC. But the Sierra Club?
From any abnormal characteristics of one’s character or appearance, that would normally raise alarms instead of arithmetic. All in an effort to subvert societal norms in an attempt to destroy the American way of life. And unfortunately, they’ve done a wonderful job. The American Public is now so.” dumbed down.” and drug addicted we are on the precipice of total destruction. I could not be more frightened for the future of my children and grandchildren.
The scariest thing for our grandchildren is watching the pie chart on the back pages of the IRS 1040 booklet showing the amount of tax revenues that must be dedicated to just paying interest on the current public debt.
That debt that Kamala Harris and now all Democrats want to grow into even more next generational strangulation. (Biden-Harris: Free health care; free child care; free senior care; free houses; free guaranteed income, while micromanaging the US productive engine into restrictive oblivion.)
I see the WSJ is now trying to explain to "Gen Z and the Debt Trap" they are facing, though they are talking about their personal debt; not the massive Democrat public debt on they are now also required to pay off. Taxation without representation will soon be the Gen Z cri de guerre - thank every single Democrat for that ruinous privilege. They too are the ones who mainly benefit from these lifetime government dependencies created on their watch.
Pay up, Gen Z. You did this to yourselves.
Again, Biden, Biden Harris, Harris, have never advocated free health, child care. Expanded yes. You're exaggerating again....
Sorry, but Biden name each of these goals specifically as his "unfinished business". Harris promised to pick up where Biden left off. Media just recently refused to ask Harris how will she pay for any of this. And out comes in the WSJ today ......"taxing unrealized capital gains".
With no reimbursement of tax paid on unrealized paper gains when there are subsequent losses. When Kamala and Walz are ever forced to talk money and taxation, may enthusiasm for their joy-filled vision of our debt-ridden country come to an end. Little will be affordable to the masses. There’s great uncertainty ahead for the non-government, non-union professional, middle and working classes regardless of which party wins in November.
Brian, you are absoultely rigth ........ "I could not be more frightened for the future of my children and grandchildren." They have and will be coming for our children beacuse they are worth ALOT OF MONEY.
Is there Child Trafficking here in little-ole Santa Barbara?
You are Damn Rigth there is.
Howard Walther, member of a Military Family
There is no homeless problem; only a refusal to relocate where very affordable housing is still available.
Trona California, being prime example of a former middle class town where the industry left behind a perfectly suitable housing infrastructure but left to deteriorate while still being potentially serviceable. Detroit obviously being another example of perfectly fine former middle class neighborhoods, left to neglect and abandonment and ultimately teardown.
The real housing "crisis" is the refusal of people to choose locations that remain affordable, even on SSI checks. Prove me wrong. This is not a "crisis", if you cannot afford to live where you alone demand to live at someone else's expense including removal of large swaths of local property from the property tax rolls.
There are a lot of people who’d rather be homeless in SB than non-homeless in Cincinnati.
Whatever the new wrinkles and complications are, the homeless have been part of the political landscape in SB for a long time. The community likes to think of itself as liberal and generous, yet practically speaking if we’re too liberal and generous, word will get out and we’ll be swamped by ‘way more homeless people than we can manage. Homeless people like nice weather, ocean views and a safe community too, after all.
There’s probably no one solution available. So we’re stuck trying to balance these factors. How to be relatively humane while not winding up with a lot more vagrants than we can handle? It’s something our politicians and law enforcement people have wrestled with for decades.
Why don't they want to be "homeless" in Montecito or Hope Ranch ? What prevents tents getting set up along their many leafy and quiet lanes? Why is downtown Solvang not riddled with aggressive pan handlers.
Why is the contrast so stark along the Amtrak route leaving Orange County with few RR tent encampments and entering Los Angeles County with its overwhelming numbers of RR tent encampments. Same welcoming Southern California weather.
Question du jour
I live a half block from the 7/Eleven on Castillo and Montecito streets. J.Liv, with all due respect you don't have a clue about live down here, and I've lived here for the past 21 years.
Dan, I and others have a clue what life is down by where you reside. Homeless choose to be where they are allowed to be. The residents in your immediate area do not object, don’t demand removal. Your district council rep or BOS rep, and police, and PATH aren’t being bombarded with calls from you or area residents to relocate homeless. Our neighborhoods, our communities are what property owners demand from government. Complicit property owners need to voice objections, even organize, if homeless or parked vehicles are undesired.
So, what would all the new home owners do for work in Trona? The mine has enough folks as does the gas station and new burger spot.
Remind me what they do all day in tents by the RR tracks on in the culverts and underpasses? We are looking solely at relocation to "more affordable areas" and out of public spaces per Newsom's new mandate, for those now in illegal encampments -but with the benefit of a utility infrastructure still in place in Trona - that is what is a shame to waste.
Funny, I too always use the example of Trona. With a mini-mart 7/11 booze source and a post office and a Government health clinic you'd have all the "infrastructure" you need. There is currently an 8 bedroom 4 bathroom house for sale for $37,499.
Typical Liberal cycle. Create a problem. Blame it on someone else. Then pretend to 'solve' the problem you created.
Thank you, Brent. Newsom's portraiture today is merely an extension of his 2004 “rug photo” with Kimberly Guilfoyle lying on Ann Getty's floor. As Nancy Collins', who did the article says “How many politicians curl up with their wife on the floor for Harper’s Bazaar? It was kind of a sexy picture in terms of politics. There they were, kind of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.”
Did Newsom know what he was doing with that ostentatious photo? Of course he did, just as he knew what he was doing during the lockdown being photographed at French Laundry, which is too small and controlled a restaurant for that to have been an accident. Sure, he apologized to the public. And if you look closely at his eyes you see he isn't really apologizing at all, but gloating.
It would seem that Newsom is obsessively turned on by what he can get away with and with who he can enlist to do it. People have said he's using Ommanney's photography to portray how caring he is. But I see something else. I see Newsom high on how he's sticking it to the middle-class taxpayers of California. He's saying “I'll see to it you die with your California dreams demolished, no money left, homeless people defecating in that yard you tended so carefully, where you hoped your grandkids would play. You will suffer your last weeks watching the homeless person you're sharing a hospital room with get treated like a human being, while you scream for help.”
Has any politician in America been as openly contemptuous of the middle-class as Newsom? Does he loathe his own dependence on the elite families so much? And what else is Newsom secretly doing just to show what he can get away with because he's their pretty boy?
A while ago I wondered if Newsom might be more than a narcissist. I decided to look up photos of famous sociopaths to make a comparison. It's worth doing. The similarity between his smile and that of Ted Bundy is really something.
“encampments that pose a threat to the life, health, and safety, of the community”
Devine health & safety. Homeless in camps or cars have no running water or bathroom facilities. Violating health codes.
Encampment fires kill & injure homeless.
The Mesa had a fire started by homeless living on a hill that threatened dozens of families and homes with a very poor communication of what was going on.
By definition all homeless are in danger and not living in healthy conditions.
But once again The Party of the People do not care. They just want them out of sight & out of mind.
Not nuance:
"The entire DNC last night was built on the premise that living your entire life as a politician paid by the taxpayers, confiscating the wealth of others, and then making bank off said politics is legitimate — and that private wealth isn’t.” (Ben Shapiro)
I saw Ben Shapiro on a recent Real Time with Bill Maher. Sorry but Ben is an idiot.
No message that supports private enterprise and conservatism is ever "idiotic". Sorry too.
Optics. Homelessness has always been optics and money laundering.
Not the humanitarian crisis it is.
Ask Newsom where the $24 Billion in homeless funds went. Crickets & “I don’t know” are the response.
Ask SB County where the $20 million/year goes. Not to housing. Not to getting people off the streets. As evidenced by our steady, relatively unchanging, PIT count. Around 1,800 homeless.
But our Democratic endorsed puppets & Democrat controlled propaganda media are always quick to pat themselves on the back when that base number decreases by a couple people. But never mention that the number is relatively stable for decades.
But back to the professional photographer & optics of Newsom cleaning up CA so he doesn’t look bad. Now with a presidential election approaching he “cares” No he doesn’t. He said kick out all the unsightly homeless and he doesn’t care where they go.
He’s not housing them & if they do it will be temporary hotel housing to get the u slightly off the streets to make it seem he’s doing something besides stealing $24 Billion.
"Homelessness" is just one more public sector union membership grift - making demands that each case needs five full time social workers(union members) to provide three shifts of 24 hour care to cover each "homeless person".
I believe the whole homeless problem has been manufactured by people wanting to normalize joblessness and vagrancy. They start with the kids in kindergarten teaching compassion rather than reading, tolerance rather than writing and two advert one eyes
They need to explain why some people make choices not to be "homeless". Teach why some people can afford to live in Santa Barbara; while others claim they cannot.
Best to teach why the former made it work for themselves, in the first place. One key is thrift, savings, sacrifice and long-term thinking no matter the starting point. As well as leveraging a less than desirable first home purchase into something later and closer to one's "dream home". Owning a home anywhere must matter first and foremost- not just this current demand someone else has the duty to hand subsidize one for you. and only where you want it located.
Hate seeing so many recent local land grabs in this town (La Cumber Plaza, Mission Canyon) always include the overwrought phrases they are necessary to solve the "affordable housing crisis". Specious window-dressing.
It should be very simple math, if you can’t afford a given area such as SB…move! We absolutely don’t need this to be an extension of the San Fernando Valley in order to solve homelessness or to make the left feel better about themselves. Plenty of land elsewhere, no human or civil right to live by the beach.
We need to re-open State Psychiatric Hospitals in order to treat those that cannot take care of themselves. That’s right, just like back in the day at the now Channel Islands State University, formerly Camarillo State Hospital. Ironically, it was
Reagan who curtailed our ability to commit patients. It should be simple, if you live on the street, use the toilet in public or have a need to shoot up in public, then you need to go!
All others can go into job training and rehabilitation. Start by cleaning up our freeways. Naturally, we need the politicians and Juris which agree that the interests of the public outweigh that of some crazy ass, potentially violent, junkie. Vagrancy laws need to be upheld and enforced. Oh and btw, the $24 Billion which was extorted from the public for homelessness, someone needs to go to jail, because it is criminal with what the taxpayers have to put up with!
ACLU court case forced Reagan to sign the patient release orders for the former state mental care facilities. Democrats insisted One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest was a documentary; not the extremely lovely Camarillo campus where many did not even want to leave - thank you very much ACLU. Time to bury the partisan bad rap that Reagan closed down all the state care facilities. He didn't; ACLU did.
Or, the city of SB could state all AUD units are fast tracked with no board or commission influence. Build baby build.
DOS: Latest data shows ADU numbers in California have been "disappointing". Failure to blame California's current land-lord tenant laws is not mentioned as a factor for the poor performance of ADU's as an expanding "housing solution", but they should be.
Suspect many of those permitted units are now just owner-expanded living spaces. Or illegal STR's. Do you think? Who is paying to have the ADU's monitored for permitted uses?
I read this "Interesting" article by Attorney Zepke Esq Titled "Newsom's Nuances"
and I quote "Photographs, videos, and interviews can all be used to pose someone for creating a portraiture to be posted on social media; subtle differences between the posed photograph and reality make it a nuance."
So let's be very clear the "Nuance" of Governor and Leader Newsom, the State of California
and the So-Called Santa Barbara Leaders are all portraying, that is telling us all, soemthing
that they all are not. I quote Attorney Zepke again "The somewhat subtle difference could be considered Newsom’s Nuances."
There is no "Nuances" with these California Leaders and in particular the So-Called-Leaders for Santa Barbara they are after Power and the Money.
Now on a Different Topic of Leaders why has President Biden, out of all the places to vacation in the US, picked little-ole Santa Barbara that is "Solvang" and for FIVE DAYS. Is it possible that there is a POW-WOW a-going up in "Solvang. Does many of our So-Called SB Leaders live up in "The Valley", how about the Big-Wig-Attorneys any of them live up in "The Valley? I think we can all
expect some "Smoke Signals" coming our way managing "Damage Control"
Howard Walther, member of a Military Family
Excellent article Esquire Zepke!
Newsome is the most recklessly irresponsible politician I have ever heard speak- He is an enemy of the United States and a self-serving unhuman- his words and actions are pretense and subterfuge- his words don't correspond to reality, but to an agenda set by hollowed out humans. His wife does similar damage to the common good. Read C.S. Lewis' Abolition of Man and recognize Gavin as one on the cutting edge of destroying humanity- the very endeavor to abolish human nature.
Newsom is little more than Nancy Pelosi's boy toy. There is that too.
Pure evil
His wife’s duties are going to school libraries delivering “Gender Queer “ type books to children.
I hear she makes videos too- what despicable people!
I just can't get Harvey Weinstein and her casting couch capers out of my mind, whenever I hear her name. But Harvey did come with the Obama seal of approval.
Super gross J, but appropriate for this vile conversation. I always appreciate you!
I am not seeing a lot of Spanish-speaking homeless illegal immigrants here in Santa Maria. The "economically disadvantaged" people I have met were born in the USA, some with families who lost their homes as a result of the Bush-era mortgage scams, others in the wake of Trump's pathetic Covid response. Sadly, some are veterans suffering from the effects of their service in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead of bitching about Governor Newsom's effort to try to solve this problem, why don't you get out there and join those who are trying to help our fellow Americans who have fallen on hard times? As for the trash, the bag fulls of litter my group picks up along CA Hwy 166 and US 101 was not left there by the homeless. No, that trash was tossed out by the more "economically advantaged." Stop all this whining and get out there and lend a helping hand, or STFU.
Siemsen,
Congratulations on yet another, albeit frequent, moronic response. You are consistent, I’ll give you that. Don’t see any illegals in Santa Maria, seriously? Why then does ICE have a field office there?
Having taken care of many, many patients who are undocumented, living on social services and are Mixtec in origin living in Santa Maria. Trust me they are here and are a financial drain on healthcare and local schools.
The Mixtec language is unwritten, so translation in schools and hospitals is almost impossible.
In fact, there are so many homeless migrants in SM that the old Valley Medical Center was converted to farm worker housing. Many are carriers and are suffering from ACTIVE tuberculosis, some of which are untreatable which is a public health nightmare.
So, STFU and just deal with it? Try showing some class and educating yourself.
Oh, I thought this was a discussion about the "homeless" situation, not immigration. Are there "illegals" in SM? Yes, there are many, but I don't see them living in tents in the riverbed, or pushing shopping carts around town. The rest of your response seems to confuse the "homeless" and "illegals" with H-4 dependents and H-series visa holders who are here from Mexico to harvest the volumes of crops SB county braggs about producing. If the Mixtec farmworkers and their families are residing in the old Valley Medical Center, then they are not "homeless." Should they just sleep in the fields between harvesting the strawberries you eat? Last time I checked, there was a vaccine for TB, so I hope you have one. Too bad the vaccine is not being made available in their home country. Left untreated it could morph into a deadlier strain. Finally, for the medical care that you are providing to the working poor whose life situation has forced them from their ancestral mountain home in Oaxaca to seek a better life for themselves and their children, I would like to say "Ta xa'u zin" ("thank you" in Mixtec -- oh, crap, I forgot it was an "unwritten language"!).
Farmworker housing is part of the deal for temporary worker visa;s and long has been. Just can't be woefully substandard ,as in the past. Fair enough .
"Part of the deal" because African chattel slavery was abolished and our local Indians were all but exterminated. So, we import Indians from Mexico on an "H-visa" in order to exploit their labor while denying them a path to citizenship. The least we can do is give them a place to sleep at night and give their children an education. Why are there so many at the Country Club complaining about the "cost"? What happens when the Mixtec learn that they have the right to form a Union and demand "a living wage"?
SS: What part of voluntary labor visa agreement is "chattel slavery"? What part of temporary work visas require bringing in families? Use our own US military deployments, or work on remote US pipeline projects as a better model for crafting temporary work visas. Willing buyers - willing sellers.
Having been a guest worker myself in Europe for a year and half, it was never part of my temporary visa to bring anyone other than myself -- nor make any demands on my host country to provide anything additional just because I wanted it? Not sure where you are coming from on this issue, SS.
Put on your reading glasses and look again; nowhere did I say that these agreements were "chattel slavery," which was abolished in the U.S.A. by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. What you really meant to say was "wage slavery," which is still legal in the United States, especially where labor is not protected by a Union. "Willing buyers - willing sellers" describes the miserable working arrangement of 1890's when mine workers, railroad workers, garment workers, and construction workers, toiled at the whim of the "owner" at a time when being in a Union was "illegal" and children toiled in factories. Such comments reflect someone who may sip a pinot noir while watching H-visa Indians pick their grapes in the hot sun with no path to citizenship.
"Use our own US military deployments...as a better model for crafting temporary work visas." You do realize that, not only was my family relocated at government expense to my overseas assignment, but the Army also shipped all my "household goods." None of the Mixtec have their "household goods" shipped to Santa Maria at "government expense." Some of the bilingual (German-English) soldiers in my unit in Germany in the 1970's were actively recruited by the Germans to stay in Germany. Guest workers in Germany also enjoy protections not extended to Mixtec Indians in Santa Maria. Being a native Californian married to a Californio, not returning to California was not an option for me. : )
His first sentence is "not seeing a lot of Spanish-speaking homeless...."
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Excellently stated!
Hello Stephen that is a "Good Thing' you are out there helping in your way. Not to many
people are willing to do that.
Thanks, Howard. So many of the volunteers I work with are older and not wealthy. It does not cost anything to volunteer, just some of your precious time. Some people won't lift a finger unless they are getting a generous return for their effort - a sentiment shared by some of our wealthy SB neighbors, as well as some of the homeless. Picture two men sitting in the shade doing absolutely nothing, one under an umbrella next to his hillside estate's swimming pool and the other under a ragged tarp in the Santa Maria riverbed, both enjoying the beautiful climate here on the Central Coast!
SS: How do you know where the "wealthy" make their voluntary charitable philanthropy donations? Money is support too; as well as volunteering time. Baroness Leni fe Bland and many just like her were troopers and did both. This country, and especially this county, has long enjoyed and a very high level of personal philanthropy. Thank you, is the best response.
As I look around and see the high cost of housing, the poverty, and the trash along the highways, I hope they start writing some more of those checks.
Yes no problem Stephen, you are very accurate, there are alot of wealthy folks
here in SB that could be more helpful and even address additional problems in
thier community that everyone would agree must be addressed but then are not.
Sad where things have gotten to.
H
SS: VA has an entire division for "homeless veterans" that we are aflready funding. Trump worked like crazy to reform the VA and ran into those intractable lumps of long-serving and self- serving government bureaucrats that even he as POTUS was powerless to remove.
We are funding veterans program. We need to stop lying we are not, and ensure they are far more efficient and accountable for our promises we have made to all veterans. The VA was never intended to be just a full time employment office just for more government bureaucrats.
Hopefully, the recent judicial ruling will make more homeless veterans eligible for housing now that their disability payments are no longer considered "income" that disqualified them from participating in the program.
VA "homeless" benefits: https://www.benefits.va.gov/persona/veteran-homeless.asp
I’ve always considered Gruesome Newsom dangerous because he’s smart, slick and savvy, unlike most other Dopey-Dems.
You gotta hand it to him - he sure knows how to play, _and win_ the game, unfortunately at the expense of the rest of us poor slobs here in Commiefornia.
Just be glad he isn’t running for President - he’d probably become a media hero and win! Then where would we be? . . . in real deep Kimchee!
Earl, Trump met with Putin in Helsinki for two hours without any American transcribing the meeting. You think Newsom is gruesome. . . really?
I guess I live in a different California than you do because I think life is great, in the Golden State.
If you think life is great in the Golden State you're right - you _must_ live in a different California! :)
I live in SB, 39 years or so. Work in SB and Montecito as a gardener since 1988, including Mr. Jim Buckley, you might recognize his name. So yes, my life here is better in 2024 than any year since 1986!! Now Earl, where do you live?!!
Did anyone else find it rather specious that Mr. Zepke stated, "As you read this, the number is increasing, as the San Diego Border Patrol reported on June 25, 2024, that almost 200,000 people cross the border daily through California ports of entry. If only half need housing to accommodate their living four to a unit, it would require adding 25,000 new units a day."?
To me, Zepke seems to be intentionally conflating legal crossings with illegal crossings then assuming half of those coming through those California ports of entry (many of whom might be U.S. citizens) are attempting to immigrate. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyway, on the topic of Gavin Newsom and his father Bill: I personally know and knew them both. In fact, my family's burial plot is within a horseshoe toss from where Bill and Gavin's mother's graves are situated in the same cemetery in the tiny Gold Rush town, way up in the Sierra Nevada. Having known the Honorable William Newsom for many decades, I can attest to the fact that he was a generous defender of the environment admired by liberals and conservatives alike, often working pro bono to protect open space for fishermen and hunters and those who merely enjoyed wilderness.
Regarding Gavin, suffice it to say he is intelligent and articulate and, perhaps his greatest flaw, handsome. This quality may make every photo of him seem staged or narcissistic but what political figure doesn't try always to look his best? (Ever see Trump fuss over his hair and makeup?)
Regarding his politics, like it or not, they reflect his state's constituency, and his efforts to address homelessness should be applauded rather than assailed. (But if you have a better solution, as well as the heart and the time to do more than just criticize Gavin's efforts, well, please share!)
Suffice it to say, homelessness is a vexing problem caused by as much by mental illness as by poverty, and exasperated by overpopulation (worldwide, I might add). Want to really solve homelessness? -- as well as desperate migrations, habitat loss, climate change, war, famine, plastic waste, deforestation, traffic gridlock, species extinctions, fresh water depletions in aquifers and rivers, coral reef bleaching, inflation, ocean acidification, crime, air and water pollution, wildfires, human rights abuses, et al, ad infinitum, ad nauseam -- then encourage smaller families so that we can begin to draw down our numbers to get back to a sustainable population.
There ya go, that's my two cents' worth. Hope it helps.
Newsom - the gift that keeps on giving.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/california-democrats-advance-bill-allow-illegal-aliens-buy/