Crazy or arrogant
I know that everybody knows that this county, indeed this whole country, is in a bad financial position currently. There are a number of reasons for it and both political parties are to blame so name-calling is stupid. It really boils down to something quite simple to understand and not so difficult to fix. The reason we can’t meet our budgets is because we are spending more than we are taking in. There I’ve said it!
It is pretty obvious to most people, even though our legislators think we’re dumber than dirt, that those very same legislators are the ones causing the problem. Now, to be fair, it is not all their fault because they could not have predicted the enormity of the decline of income, but given that they do know now, who among the legislators you are most familiar with has tried to make significant changes to the programs they are responsible for? Have they tried to eliminate waste and reduce duplication of effort? Have they put forth plans to hold off on some programs that they would like to do but know that now is not the time to pursue those until the economic forecast has returned to a more prosperous time? Have they said to you, we know you are hurting right now and in the spirit of being a community, we will also tighten our belts?
Apparently our Board of Supervisors, or a majority of them it looks like, have not noticed the decline except to pay it lip service. While slashing the budgets of essential services that THEY ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO PROVIDE, such as police (sheriffs), fire and those entrusted to punish miscreants judiciously, while perusing their Office of Long Range Planning, I see that they have no intentions of slowing or foregoing their agenda to change this county forever by strangling what businesses are still left.
In the next year they are planning to spend around $1.127 million dollars on projects such as Santa Claus Lane ($267,600), Visitor Serving Uses on Ag Properties ($246,150- whatever that is), Santa Ynez Valley Townships Design Guidelines ($125,955- didn’t they do that in the Valley Plan?), Lighting Standards & Regulations (didn’t they also do that in the Valley Plan?), and Montecito Design Guidelines ($129,705).
Over the next 10 years, this county plans to spend in this one department up to $10,000,000 on plans ranging from regional plans with Santa Ynez being first at $1,459,458 to a new circulation element, an update of the Comprehensive General Plan ($3,047,490- didn’t we just do that a few years back?) and a 2015-2023 Housing Element (you remember how successful the last one was).
Are these people serious? It is no wonder they’re broke and in the hole. Apparently they have no interest in digging out except to perhaps raise all of the fees they can get away with and some they think you won’t fight. I guess they intend to just keep spending your money - until you make them stop. According to our current representative’s thought process, the community plans are important to create jobs and make for orderly development such that when people want to invest in an area, they know what they can and can’t do. Unfortunately, that individual, not being in the same position as the rest of us doesn’t apparently realize that all the busywork coming out of planning is leaving very little that anyone can do. I don’t mean to sound anti-government because I am not, but I am anti-bad government that we seem to have a lot of these days. And we are going to be “greener” too, whether we like it or not. Part of the plan to make our county greener is to make our transportation work better. That is a great idea and should have been thought of a long time ago before housing in Santa Barbara became too expensive for the workers there creating a housing boom in Lompoc and Santa Maria and rush hours on the San Marcos Pass. This began in the 1960s and has continued with each road widening to increase until the peace and quiet of the valley no longer exists. If you live near any of the major roads, you know that not only has the traffic increased exponentially but the number of thoughtless, dangerous and just plain rude drivers has increased as well.
Unlike what I would envision as a solution for this problem, the county’s solution is to simply move people out of the rural areas to the cities. Makes me think of Van Jones’s remark about the changes coming to America saying “We’re gonna take your farms.”
Other “greening” projects include making a “solar financing district” where home and business owners could voluntarily tax themselves to pay for solar panels. I have some familiarity with solar as I have, in Hawai`i a solar water system and a solar heated pool. That house is on the electrical grid so when the sun is not adequate to heat things, I don’t have to go without hot water. I can just flip the switch and heat the water electrically. Every time there is a rainstorm that may last several days, I need to do this. My farm, however, is off the grid and when the sun doesn’t shine, I don’t have hot water, plain and simple. Here in Santa Ynez I have a solar heated pool that I exercise in. I cannot use it in the wintertime because the sun is not strong enough to heat it.
So do you really think very many people are going to “tax themselves” to install solar? While it is a wonderful feeling to know that you are tapping into the power of the sun, not to mention lessening your dependence on the power company, it may be a bit premature to think we can all just abandon our traditional ways of powering our lives.
Also on the county’s website I read about some of the many legislative efforts to green up our lives. A couple of items caught my eye; the first was AB 1470 (2007) by Huffman to provide an incentive program for 10 years to install 500,000 solar water heaters instead of natural gas water heaters. We happen to have lots of natural gas in the U.S. so I wondered what was the motivation for that change and what will happen to that industry? There was also an Executive Order 5-17-08 that talked about the 3 E’s of sustainable growth: a prosperous Economy, quality Environment and Social Equity in the San Joaquin Valley. Whoa! Sounds like the Progressives already have their hand firmly in planning our future! Time to take back our country!
In the meantime, the county has approved the construction of another home where three houses already exist on a 23-acre parcel that is 100-AG zoned. How does this follow the zoning rules or is this a case of “special treatment?”
It’s springtime!
Or so say the turkeys! All of the males have been strutting around, flexing their feathers, blowing up the red under their beaks and making a lot of fuss in order to attract the most females. They are quite a sight to see!
The spring flowers are just beginning to pop out of the ground, and I think this will be one of the best wildflower seasons ever. The shooting stars are already in full swing and the only ones still missing are the Johnny-jump-ups. The ceonothus or wild lilac is in full bloom, both white and light blue varieties. It is a sure sign that we will soon move from the gloomy days of winter into those exhilarating days of spring. It is anybody’s guess how long spring will last as I have experienced one spring that lasted only one day before we launched right into summer with a blistering 100-degree temperature. All of the spring flowers that hadn’t yet reached their full glory, by the end of the day, had fried to a crisp and dropped off. I kind of like to enjoy a longer spring than that. Here’s hoping for a full and glorious springtime for us all to enjoy with wildflowers and green hills spreading all around.
Flash
What’s this I hear about the local casino folks buying up some very large properties in the Valley? According to some, the properties are the Fess Parker 1400 acres at Highways 154 & 246, the corner of Happy Canyon Road and Armour Ranch Road and the parcel next to the Park and Ride. Wow! Anybody else know more details?