According to the Jan. 18 article, “Visitors Spent $2.24 Billion in Santa Barbara South Coast Last Year,” people want and did spend money coming to Santa Barbara.
However, the tourists fled from downtown (no stores, and they said it is dirty). They now go to Coast Village Road, to eat and shop.
Since the City of Santa Barbara opened just one lane of State Street where The Granada Theatre is located for the good of the community, it should reopen one lane of traffic from the beach up to the Arlington Theatre.
Business will come back if the city offers incentives to businesses and fines landlords for vacancies. Add restaurant dining on the sidewalks, which is more European and charming. Tourists do not like the dirty conditions (rats etc.) where the parklets are on the pavement, and it’s more romantic if the sidewalks were extended.
OPEN State Street for more revenue that it will generate. The city has already seen the importance of opening State Street for traffic, the elderly and business needs.
Writing letters to the editor is about the only way to show our concern for the livelihood of this city.
Dana Hansen
Santa Barbara
• • •
Just wanted to say how glad I was to see Mark Patton’s Jan. 14 column, “A Thunderdome By Any Other Name Wouldn’t Sound as Sweet.”
I attended all those crazy games back in the 1990s and Patton’s column brought back a lot of fun memories.
It was great also to see that Patton is still writing columns. His work is one of the (very) few things I miss about the Santa Barbara News-Press. I have been a big fan of all his columns over the years; his work always seem to evoke positive and humanistic emotions, regardless of the topic.
Keep up the great work!!
P.S. Don’t forget Gaucho Joe!! (Or did I miss that column :()
Ron Wopat
Santa Barbara
• • •
Regarding Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen’s Jan. 12 column, who the hell does he think he is calling Michigan “cheaters?” They beat up a really good football team fair and square.
Macfadyen should pull up his big boy pants — if he has any — and focus on the greatness of the national championship victory and the quality of the players.
Wayne Smith, Michigan ’63
Santa Barbara
• • •
I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for Santa Barbara County Supervisor Bob Nelson’s proposal to establish community services districts in unincorporated areas, including Los Alamos.
I have loved this proposal since my former supervisor, Joan Hartmann, began working on it before redistricting.
The great news for Los Alamos is that we already have an existing structure in place, the Los Alamos Planning Advisory Committee. Unfortunately, this committee has become defunct due to Nelson’s reluctance to make the necessary board appointments.
Nelson has made appointments to other boards, so it is confusing, but that’s neither here nor there. He acknowledges that local organizations would be better equipped to advocate for our needs than our representatives from a larger government body, such as the Board of Supervisors.
I eagerly anticipate Nelson’s revitalization of the Los Alamos Planning Advisory Committee in the near future, as the appointment of members holds the potential to strengthen our community and enhance its representation.
Christine Adams
Los Alamos
• • •
Leadership is action, not position. This quote sums up the difference between politicians and public servants quite clearly.
In my 6o years of living in Lompoc, I have seen many elected representatives come and go. But I have never seen anyone who more clearly represents a public servant than Joan Hartmann.
When Lompoc was added to the Third District in countywide redistricting, Hartmann and her staff quickly became part of the community. They returned phone call and emails, met with residents, attended meetings, and worked to meet the pressing needs of the community.
They didn’t just show up for photo opportunities, they came to work.
From farmers, nonprofit organizations,veterans, arts, small business, youth, family and public safety, Hartmann has shown her commitment to work with the community, for the community.
2024 will bring many challenges to Santa Barbara County and Lompoc. Who better to represent the Third District than someone with the proven ability to get the work done? Someone who has brought in needed resources, someone who has shown time and again how hard she works?
Joan Hartmann is a true public servant. Please join family and friends and vote for Supervisor Joan Hartmann.
Joyce Howerton
Santa Maria
• • •
As a member of the Society of Fearless Grandmothers, I’ve learned that some elected officials really “get it,” while others … not so much.
Supervisor Joan Hartmann totally gets it.
As the world becomes a scarier place — with more natural disasters, the threat of climate catastrophe, more people homeless — we need to keep Joan Hartmann on the Board of Supervisors to help us survive and thrive!
We Fearless Grandmothers are fighting for a world our grandchildren can live in. Hartmann is, too. She has been a leading advocate for green energy, recognizing both the need to get off of fossil fuels and the economic benefits of a green economy.
Confronting the now of increasing fire threats, she works on new programming via the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council to make communities safer. She is a leader in protecting the county’s open spaces, both to protect biodiversity and to support outdoor recreation to help us as residents and attract tourists (and their dollars!).
Hartmann’s credentials are impressive. She first taught government as a college professor, then got a law degree and worked for the federal government on environmental issues.
When she moved to this area 20-plus years ago, she dove right in both as a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County volunteer and an advocate for environmental conservation.
Her combination of knowledge and experience have been a huge asset to this county.
The Third District runs from Goleta to Lompoc to the Santa Ynez Valley. But Hartmann’s work benefits all of us. If she is on your ballot for March 5, please vote to re-elect her!
Maureen Ellenberger
Santa Barbara
• • •
As a board member of the nonprofit Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council and a former wildland firefighter, I have been amazed that Hartmann has found time to sit on our board and contribute her enthusiasm and energy to addressing one of the biggest problems many county residents face each summer, i.e. the threat of wildfires.
This is a problem that cannot be solved simply by waiting for fire engines to show up and save homes. It takes responsible government planning, focusing necessary fire department resources on wildfire defense and prevention, and citizens taking responsibility for making their own homes and neighborhoods defensible.
Hartmann has been uniquely able to serve as a bridge between interested citizens and county fire and planning personnel. During her tenure we have seen significant increases in county funds for wildfire protection, including two wildland fire crews, a brush crew and a state-of-the-art fire-equipped Blackhawk helicopter.
Hartmann has also helped us get state and federal funding and staffing for Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council programs such as neighborhood chipping, controlled grazing and developing firewise communities.
If you are concerned about protecting homes and protecting our beautiful but highly flammable county brush lands and grasslands, support Joan Hartmann for four more years as Third District supervisor.
Philip Seymour
Painted Cave
• • •
Mail Calls
Noozhawk welcomes and encourages expressions of all views on Santa Barbara County issues. Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
Letters should be BRIEF — as in 200 words-BRIEF — and letters under 150 words are given priority. Each must include a valid mailing address and contact information. Pseudonyms will not be accepted, and repeat letters will be skipped. Letters may be edited for clarity, length and style.
As a hyperlocal news site, we ask that you keep your opinions and information relevant to Santa Barbara County and the Central Coast. Letters about issues beyond our local region have the absolute lowest priority of everything we publish.
With rare exceptions, this feature is published on Saturdays.
By submitting any content to Noozhawk, you warrant that the material is your original expression, free of plagiarism, and does not violate any copyright, proprietary, contract or personal right of anyone else. Noozhawk reserves, at our sole discretion, the right to choose not to publish a submission.
Click here for Noozhawk’s Terms of Use, and click here for more information about how to submit letters to the editor and other announcements, tips and stories.