Excellent as always, Bonnie. Fixing things is just not good enough for our elected officials. No, they insist on redoing things that aren't broken so that they *are* now broken.
IT WOULD SEEM that once revealed these financial shennanigans would be reversed, or that someone in Government would show remorse or shame. But no, where money is involved there is no sense of propriety or accountability. Slowly, inexorably, our beautiful city is being eroded and what made it so lovely ruined.
As always Bonnie, another great article. There's something like 171,146 words in the English language and "pedlet or pedlets" isn't one of them. But if you can give something a name, then it's real ... at least in the minds in the politicians of SB. It appears the city is trying to polish-a-turd with regards to the so-called pedlets creating a labyrinth of discontinuity ... an unsafe pathway for pedestrians. It's the same problem with roundabouts ... most people haven't experienced them, and they are very scary to newcomers to navigate (I still hate them). Since my comments from your last chat about State Street, the city has now projected some concerns about safety because of my inference they were trying to "kill off the local homeowners for property tax increases resulting in home sale tax gains." But we know better <g>. As Arlo Guthry shouted in Alice's Restaurant, "I wanna kill, kill, kill!"
Thanks Bonnie. You can't make this stuff up and sounds more like Babylon Bee than reality.
BTW protestors are always paid. I understand that they fill out a form from Indivisible and they can get paid up to $200 each protest.
How else would these older government pension residents be able to constantly participate in these protests without being paid for it. They are not grassroots at all and or always local residents.
D and I enjoyed dinner at Holdren's yesterday. What a joke the 500 block of State St makeover is. Joke on us! The potted plants look cheap -- better without them. And the ped walkway is more like a maze. God help the disabled trying to navigate. Folks -- this Tuesday, October 12, is an important Council meeting when 2% rent control is presented by Sneddon and sidekick Santamaria . Show Up and Speak Out. If you have the time, come earlier to observe Finance Committee. (Pack a lunch for between, you'll need the nourishment.) Save what's left of our Santa Barbara. Good Luck.
An immediate and FULL refund of taxes collected for Measure C is due to taxpayers. A good faith vote and taxes paid have been grossly misused. Measure C has abused the public trust. Dissolve it. Refund the taxes paid. Make appropriate consequences for those responsible for this public theft.
My first thought when I first saw the new "pedlets" on the 500 block was "trip hazards!" Lots of potential for slips, trips, and injuries. Insufficient visual cues for everyone. Hopefully they will be addressing this.
Bonnie. Unbelievable bot not in Santa Barbara. Hey guys ( the city council) we have this bushel of money it doesn’t matter where it was intended we need to spend it as we want to. The council of clowns
Fix what is broken? Did anyone see the "Safe Streets"??? memo by the city? Now there is a joke.
They co-opted the name of a former NGO to continue their destruction of the street grid and parking. SB Safe Streets stood for open and efficient streets.
Bonnie good that you were able to get some response about the costs. Locals are up to their noses with this joke of the 500 block of State St.
Does anyone else find it strange and corrupt that the City and its anti car trolls have dismissed without comment the option of opening State St. from Victoria to Carrillo to find out if (as Harmon would state) vibrancy and resiliency to the downtown business core?
Remember this council and "Central Committee" demand failures would not happen if you had not voted for them. More and more are complaining...but more and more are not willing to make McAdoo face her failures and then make the Council sweat over the continuing destruction of the City's transportation grid.
Simple when she refuses to answer questions under Public Records that either prove or disprove the past 7 years she is a failure.
There have been plenty of times she could have exposed street and downtown failures. Did she? Wait until the social services draw back hit the city. Just as the County found out there isn't going to be money to suck on. Then she can state how successful her tenure has been.
Are you listening Council. The money train has left the building.
Thank you Bonnie for doing real, impactful journalism and exposing the waste, fraud and abuse by our local officials. Admittedly, nothing glamorous about exposing cracked, broken sidewalks and infrastructure, while the rest of the local “media” is foaming at the mouth over “No Kings,” and the seemingly never ending collective meltdown by local leftists.
Follow the money, and if indeed public funds from Measures “C” are being misappropriated from what we the voters have approved, then it may be a matter for the Grand Jury to determine and act upon.
It seems likely that, in many cases, in government, funding approved for one purpose are available for some level of misappropriation to pay for other, unfunded, objectives. Once the government has your money, you as the taxpayer have lost control of its use, no matter what purpose you approved. I do not believe this practice is limited to Santa Barbara, or to city staffs. I doubt that the city council can stop it.
Thanks Bonnie, I didn't know things were this bad on State street. I agree with a lot of the comments here, but I'm disappointed I'm the 15th one. There should be 75 comments. This type of abuse of taxpayer funds is what I'm most outraged about. It seems crazy to keep spending money on trying to "fix" State street.
Excellent as always, Bonnie. Fixing things is just not good enough for our elected officials. No, they insist on redoing things that aren't broken so that they *are* now broken.
IT WOULD SEEM that once revealed these financial shennanigans would be reversed, or that someone in Government would show remorse or shame. But no, where money is involved there is no sense of propriety or accountability. Slowly, inexorably, our beautiful city is being eroded and what made it so lovely ruined.
Thank you Bonnie for all your hard work and insights…
As always Bonnie, another great article. There's something like 171,146 words in the English language and "pedlet or pedlets" isn't one of them. But if you can give something a name, then it's real ... at least in the minds in the politicians of SB. It appears the city is trying to polish-a-turd with regards to the so-called pedlets creating a labyrinth of discontinuity ... an unsafe pathway for pedestrians. It's the same problem with roundabouts ... most people haven't experienced them, and they are very scary to newcomers to navigate (I still hate them). Since my comments from your last chat about State Street, the city has now projected some concerns about safety because of my inference they were trying to "kill off the local homeowners for property tax increases resulting in home sale tax gains." But we know better <g>. As Arlo Guthry shouted in Alice's Restaurant, "I wanna kill, kill, kill!"
Thanks Bonnie. You can't make this stuff up and sounds more like Babylon Bee than reality.
BTW protestors are always paid. I understand that they fill out a form from Indivisible and they can get paid up to $200 each protest.
How else would these older government pension residents be able to constantly participate in these protests without being paid for it. They are not grassroots at all and or always local residents.
D and I enjoyed dinner at Holdren's yesterday. What a joke the 500 block of State St makeover is. Joke on us! The potted plants look cheap -- better without them. And the ped walkway is more like a maze. God help the disabled trying to navigate. Folks -- this Tuesday, October 12, is an important Council meeting when 2% rent control is presented by Sneddon and sidekick Santamaria . Show Up and Speak Out. If you have the time, come earlier to observe Finance Committee. (Pack a lunch for between, you'll need the nourishment.) Save what's left of our Santa Barbara. Good Luck.
An immediate and FULL refund of taxes collected for Measure C is due to taxpayers. A good faith vote and taxes paid have been grossly misused. Measure C has abused the public trust. Dissolve it. Refund the taxes paid. Make appropriate consequences for those responsible for this public theft.
My first thought when I first saw the new "pedlets" on the 500 block was "trip hazards!" Lots of potential for slips, trips, and injuries. Insufficient visual cues for everyone. Hopefully they will be addressing this.
Bonnie. Unbelievable bot not in Santa Barbara. Hey guys ( the city council) we have this bushel of money it doesn’t matter where it was intended we need to spend it as we want to. The council of clowns
Great work, Bonnie, thanks. Love the photos of the sidewalks!
Really???
Fix what is broken? Did anyone see the "Safe Streets"??? memo by the city? Now there is a joke.
They co-opted the name of a former NGO to continue their destruction of the street grid and parking. SB Safe Streets stood for open and efficient streets.
Bonnie good that you were able to get some response about the costs. Locals are up to their noses with this joke of the 500 block of State St.
Does anyone else find it strange and corrupt that the City and its anti car trolls have dismissed without comment the option of opening State St. from Victoria to Carrillo to find out if (as Harmon would state) vibrancy and resiliency to the downtown business core?
Remember this council and "Central Committee" demand failures would not happen if you had not voted for them. More and more are complaining...but more and more are not willing to make McAdoo face her failures and then make the Council sweat over the continuing destruction of the City's transportation grid.
Thanks for the list
Scott -- What failures does McAdoo need to face?
Simple when she refuses to answer questions under Public Records that either prove or disprove the past 7 years she is a failure.
There have been plenty of times she could have exposed street and downtown failures. Did she? Wait until the social services draw back hit the city. Just as the County found out there isn't going to be money to suck on. Then she can state how successful her tenure has been.
Are you listening Council. The money train has left the building.
Scott, Kelly McAdoo has only worked for the City of Santa Barbara for 1 year and 5 months! Where do you get 7 years?
Thank you Bonnie for doing real, impactful journalism and exposing the waste, fraud and abuse by our local officials. Admittedly, nothing glamorous about exposing cracked, broken sidewalks and infrastructure, while the rest of the local “media” is foaming at the mouth over “No Kings,” and the seemingly never ending collective meltdown by local leftists.
Follow the money, and if indeed public funds from Measures “C” are being misappropriated from what we the voters have approved, then it may be a matter for the Grand Jury to determine and act upon.
It seems likely that, in many cases, in government, funding approved for one purpose are available for some level of misappropriation to pay for other, unfunded, objectives. Once the government has your money, you as the taxpayer have lost control of its use, no matter what purpose you approved. I do not believe this practice is limited to Santa Barbara, or to city staffs. I doubt that the city council can stop it.
Uhhh, I’m not a mathematician but I learned in the 4th grade that 1600 + 4400 = 6,000 not 5,000. Are these people even competent?
Thanks Bonnie, I didn't know things were this bad on State street. I agree with a lot of the comments here, but I'm disappointed I'm the 15th one. There should be 75 comments. This type of abuse of taxpayer funds is what I'm most outraged about. It seems crazy to keep spending money on trying to "fix" State street.
All of this is ADA compliant I’m guessing?
How can the blind follow the maze without an aid?