Santa Barbara Current

Santa Barbara Current

As I Was Saying...

The Guillotine Arrives in Santa Barbara

By Brian Campbell

Aug 06, 2026
∙ Paid

I never imagined I would see a guillotine at a Santa Barbara City Council meeting. And this blade of retribution didn’t appear because of a war, a presidential election, or the Constitution. It was over Rent Control.

When I saw the photograph, I expected the news coverage to focus on the protester who chose to display a guillotine, a symbol historically …

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