Regarding the July 19 article, “Santa Barbara’s Cliff Drive Headed for ‘Revolutionary’ Transformation,” planners are running amok! Santa Barbara’s army of planners has found something to plan!
Except for something around Santa Barbara City College, we don’t need more crosswalks, more traffic lights, wider sidewalks, another bike lane, potted plants, gravel medians, palm trees, etc.
I walk Cliff Drive almost every day for exercise and I am alone. I hardly see anyone — no walkers and no cyclists. The bikes all use Shoreline Drive. The area around the Mesa shopping center is functional; no bulb-outs needed.
When the California Air Resources Board shuts down those two oil refineries next year and gas hits $8.44 per gallon, I will still drive to Goleta for shopping because it has PARKING!
This proposal takes out 42 parking spaces and makes the area “pretty.” Next, they will agree to build 1,000 apartments with no parking. Oh, they already did that.
All of those tenants will bike or use the bus? No! 99% of people want a car, need a car, and cannot be coerced into biking or busing no matter what “pretty” infrastructure is provided.
The road up Leadbetter Hill used to be two lanes each way. Officials made it one lane each way and had a fatality the first year.
On Cliff Drive, we already have sidewalks (seldom used) and bike lanes (seldom used). It ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
This atrocious plan is an afront to the people who live here, being forced on us by a bunch of city planners who are all giddy that they are building something.
I wish there was some way to stop them.
Fred Sanford
Santa Barbara
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Regarding Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen’s July 25 column, “Simple 8-1-1 Call Might Have Averted 9-1-1 Outage Debacle,” while the outage has been well covered by Noozhawk, this incident exposed an even larger, big-picture issue that should be of concern.
Apparently, even though these services are critically important, we have no backup. The implication for potential service disruption by any malign actor, foreign or domestic, or an even major natural disaster, is significant.
I wonder if our leaders understand that and will work to remedy this vulnerability?
Addison Thompson
Santa Barbara
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I was really touched by Wayne Mellinger’s July 21 commentary, “A Housing First Priority to Rethinking Homelessness in Santa Barbara,” so I decided to go back and read more of his articles.
Such heart, compassion and understanding! Keep putting this issue in our faces; I’m sure it gets discouraging, but some of us out here are listening, wondering how we can help.
Compassion fatigue is real, hopefully this will lighten his.
Candice Etz
Santa Barbara
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Letter writers should follow Noozhawk’s rules for letters to the editor, that “Letters should be BRIEF — as in 200 words-BRIEF.”
Some letter writers need more and exceptions are warranted. But speeches, even if I agree with the opinion expressed, do not belong here.
To Noozhawk, please reinforce the suggested limits, which will allow more readers to make their views known to others.
See? Way less than 200 words!
Stephen Weiss
Montecito
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What service can I do to make a difference during this time of disequilibrium, chaos, disintegration and fear — nationally and in the world?
I thought let us meet and greet our neighbors, sharing thoughts of friendship and caring. My roommate and I planned a gathering on July 19 in Cannon Green, put up signs and had about 60 families. It was a lovely gathering of sharing, delicious food, joy and laughter.
We can make a difference with our neighbors. We can smile, we can visit and eat together, we can socialize, we can visit and care for the lonely, and be of help to heal the pain. We can be best of friends. Kindness is supreme.
I encourage other communities to do the same and have neighborhood gatherings.
Mollie DeWald
Goleta
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It is very disconcerting to see Noozhawk and local news stations report the recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in the Glass House marijuana facility in Carpinteria as just a deportation action, and then have local politicians taking misguided actions at the request of activists.
ICE rescued 14 unaccompanied children, 10 of whom are under the age of 12, from child slavery. They also arrested known child slavery smugglers. It is good that these child slavery smugglers are now out of business.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch is in office to uphold the law. He and other politicians such as Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, would be well advised to know the facts of a matter before taking public positions to make points with their supporters.
Douglas Scott
Santa Barbara
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Regarding Bobbi McGinnis’ July 18 letter to the editor, why is Noozhawk giving a platform to the chairwoman of the Santa Barbara County Republican Party to spew xenophobic lies and disinformation?
Republicans should go where they’re wanted, in Texas or Florida. And Noozhawk should be ashamed.
Jim Mabry
Santa Barbara
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Regarding Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch’s July 12 commentary, “Appalled, Disheartened by ICE Actions,” our federal immigration laws provide “due process” of notice and an opportunity for a hearing by an impartial magistrate to determine whether deportation should occur.
The recent actions by ICE agents appear to have circumvented the rule of law, and as the chief law enforcement officer of Santa Barbara County, District Attorney John Savrnoch should be applauded and not vilified for having the courage to express his feelings about their apparent disregard for our system of justice.
George Eskin
Retired Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge
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I recently read an article exposing how most of our local elected officials have expressed outrage and irresponsible rhetoric concerning the ICE investigation involving Glass House Brands’ pot operations in Carpinteria and Camarillo.
The author explained how the officials ignore the three priorities of ICE as they carry out the deportation of illegal immigrants.
Priority one is to deport convicted criminals and others who have received their final orders to deport.
A second priority is rescuing the hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors who disappeared after having crossed the border. Many of these children are being trafficked.
A third priority is shutting down drug cartel-related businesses enterprises. That includes those that appear legal and those engaged in violence, illicit drug sales and human trafficking, including the prostitution of children. It has been reported that ICE rescued eight unaccompanied minors and two juveniles at the Glass House properties.
Going forward, the questions should be asked: Did the Glass House check all of these boxes? If so, the raids were justified. And as a country, state and local community, do we need to improve and improve our immigration system?
Diana Thorn
Carpinteria
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I take issue with the claims that ICE “rescued” children who were “working” at the cannabis facilities in Carpinteria and Camarillo.
I have been told that the kids were not “working” but were there with their parents, who worked at the facilities, because school was out for the summer and the parents had no alternative child care.
As ICE continues to operate with impunity to fulfill some xenophobic quota of deportations, I predict we will see even more of these so-called “rescues” as immigrant parents try to keep their children close.
W. Taylor
Santa Barbara
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Our local ICE is doing a great job of catching illegal immigrant criminals. Let’s clean up our city and make it safe again. Vote Republican.
Brad Blue
Santa Barbara
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The American Immigration Council compared crime data to demographic data from 1980 to 2022, the most recent data available. The data showed that as the immigrant share of the population grew, the crime rate declined.
Studies consistently find no correlation between higher immigrant populations and higher violent crime rates. In fact, as immigration has increased, violent crime rates have declined nationally.
Multiple analyses show that immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated for violent crime than U.S.-born citizens.
In Texas, 1,000 out of 100,000 native-born citizens are arrested for violent crimes, but only 400 illegal immigrants are.
These rates are drawn from Texas law enforcement data, the most comprehensive available by immigration status in the United States.
This means you are more than twice as likely to be a victim of violent crime by a U.S. citizen than by an illegal immigrant!
These numbers come from the Migration Policy Institute, the National Institute of Justice (part of the Justice Department), and PNAS, the research journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
The number of citizens convicted of violent crimes is around 308,000 annually in recent years. The number of Tren de Aragua gang members who have been convicted of violent crimes is in the low dozens in the United States — since the beginning of the country.
Even the conservative Cato Institute says U.S. citizens commit violent crimes at a higher rate than illegal immigrants.
This is just plain common sense. Illegal immigrants come to the United States to escape crime or for better economic opportunities. They don’t want to get arrested because they don’t want to return to the conditions they fled.
Brian Epstein
Santa Barbara
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As elected leaders in our community, we are horrified by the violent and militarized mass deportation campaign that is unfolding.
Every day, we hear from our constituents who are fearful and anxious about the heavy-handed immigration enforcement operations taking place.
Most recently, federal agents provoked chaos in our region through raids designed to instill fear.
Hardworking people have been taken into custody at gunpoint by masked agents. Young children have been left to survive without their parents. Community members have been detained because their race and appearance trigger agents’ “reasonable suspicion.”
From immigrants being sent to an El Salvador megaprison without any due process to U.S. citizens being detained, our nation is experiencing unprecedented challenges to human dignity and civil liberties.
Our community cannot accept this.
As president of the Major County Sheriffs of America, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown is in a unique position to call for the de-escalation of the attack on our immigrant communities.
We call on Brown to do everything within his power as the leader of this national law enforcement advocacy organization to publicly stand up against the Trump administration’s dangerous immigration enforcement campaign that is putting our constituents in harm’s way.
As our elected sheriff, we are counting on Brown to be a voice for our shared constituents as he advocates for change in Washington, D.C., and we expect nothing less.
Principled law enforcement leaders must stand up against this attack on our civil liberties and the values that define our nation. This moment demands Brown’s leadership. His voice can make a difference.
Salud Carbajal
U.S. congressman
Monique Limón
State senator
Gregg Hart
Assemblyman
Laura Capps
Santa Barbara County supervisor
Roy Lee
Santa Barbara County supervisor
Julia Mayer
Carpinteria city councilwoman
Monica Solorzano
Carpinteria city councilwoman and vice mayor
James Kyriaco
Goleta city councilman
Jennifer Smith
Goleta city councilwoman
Christina Hernandez
Guadalupe city councilwoman
Jeremy Ball
Lompoc city councilman
Oscar Gutierrez
Santa Barbara city councilman
Wendy Santamaria
Santa Barbara city councilwoman
Kristen Sneddon
Santa Barbara city councilwoman
Gloria Soto
Santa Maria city councilman
Alejandra Enciso
Allan Hancock Joint Community College District trustee
Ethan Bertrand
Goleta Union School District board vice president
Emily Zacarias
Goleta Union School District trustee
Spencer Brandt
Isla Vista Community Services District board president
Jonathan Abboud
Santa Barbara City College board president
Kyle Richards
Santa Barbara City College board vice president
Katya Armistead
Santa Barbara County Board of Education member
Nadra Ehrman
Santa Barbara County Board of Education member
Gabe Escobedo
Santa Barbara Unified School District board president
Rose Muñoz
Santa Barbara Unified School District trustee
Luz Maria Cabral
Santa Maria-Bonita School District trustee
Ricardo Valencia
Santa Maria-Bonita School District trustee
Alma Hernandez
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District trustee
Peter Wright
Santa Ynez College School District trustee
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