Regarding the Nov. 1 article, “Breakdown in Negotiations Spurs Decision to Remove Debris Nets from Montecito Canyons,” as the executive director of an environmental organization in Santa Barbara, I joined the board of The Project for Resilient Communities (TPRC) to watch the proceedings from an environmental point of view.
The ring nets were installed by TPRC as a response to a major disaster, the Jan. 9, 2018, debris flows, and to stop a future one.
Expert biologists were hired to ensure wildlife could get under and around the nets. The TPRC raised millions of dollars to ensure science, geology and environment were in place.
“They didn’t work” is an idiotic phrase when there are photos and video documentation of a net in San Ysidro Canyon filled with the remnants of a debris flow in January — this year. For those who have forgotten the floods of January 2023, click here for a New York Times article that will refresh the memory.
The failure of Santa Barbara County to ensure the maintenance of these nets is foolhardy. We on the county’s South Coast have not experienced the El Niño to come, the floods to come, the wildfires to come, the future to come.
Climate change IS happening, and we are seeing, as the old song says, “… the mountains crumbling to the sea.”
Good environmental work is to ensure our day-to-day activities are not harming the environment, and our work is to improve those processes the best we can.
Disasters that kill people are another thing entirely. That the county didn’t pick up where a group of dedicated people raised millions of dollars to protect the community from future climate change disasters is unbelievable.
Hillary Hauser
Heal the Ocean executive director
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Regarding the Nov. 8 article, “Feud Erupts Amid Decision to End Remote Public Comment During Santa Barbara Council Meetings,” I couldn’t help but notice a Saluad Carbajal protégé, Councilman Eric Friedman, voiced his support for silencing the voting public and declared how offended he was that Councilman Oscar Gutierrez used the word “shameful.”
Perhaps Friedman would like to stop letters to the editor, too, so he doesn’t have to hear what the public has to say and he will decide what’s best for us.
Someone needs to remind representatives and politicians that they represent us and not what they think is best for us.
This letter is my way of doing this. This is a reminder that Friedman can be replaced with someone who listens and wants to hear what we have to say.
Talk to your friends about this. Remember and spread the news that Friedman doesn’t want to hear what you have to say about your community.
He may be able to silence your remote public comment, but he can’t stop word of mouth.
Barton Bader
Goleta
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Regarding Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen’s Nov. 10 column, “Teenager’s Death on Train Tracks Leads an Awful Run of Bad News,” his words about Paul Burri were touching.
I only had a passing acquaintance with Burri, but he really was quite a character with an insatiable curiosity. It doesn’t surprise me that he would take such an interest in Noozhawk as a startup.
I also enjoyed the background about the early days of Noozhawk. Thank you for not listening to that consultant’s bad advice!
Leo Moore
Goleta
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After the George Floyd killing, there were a number of Black Lives Matter flags in the Santa Ynez Valley. After Russia invaded Ukraine, there were a number of Ukrainian flags visible. During Gay Pride Month, there were Gay Pride flags displayed.
So far, I have not seen an Israeli flag. Any in your area?
Stephen Pepe
Lompoc
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Mail Calls
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