Regarding the March 9 article, “Santa Barbara’s 24/7 VCA Animal Hospital to Close Permanently,” I’ve lived in Santa Barbara for more than 40 years.
When I first moved here in 1961 it was not really on the map. Lemon orchards occupied the land where La Cumbre Plaza now is. I lived in the unincorporated area near San Marcos High School. Houses ran $20,000.
Now 60 years later, somehow these landlords got around case law and charge three months’ rent, to the tune of $3,500 for a 600-square-foot studio apartment and a $10,000 deposit. There is not one building in the city that is worth that.
I use this example because I have a feeling that is one underlying reason VCA Animal Hospital is closing: monthly rent on the building.
Something needs to be done to help the average Joe and business owners just like the emergency veterinarian to stay in business. Noozhawk should do some deep investigating behind the scenes and find out if anyone is greedy or at fault. If it is, you should expose them and win an award for good investigating journalism.
Vicki Shacklock
Santa Barbara
• • •
It’s not just the war in Iran driving up gas prices. By November gas in California will be $8 a gallon and everything is moved and delivered by gas-fueled trucks to restaurants and grocery stores.
Sure glad we got rid of oil production in Santa Barbara County. Sorry, folks, you will still have tar on the beaches. It’s natural seepage.
John Sween
Santa Barbara
• • •
Democrats in Santa Barbara County and Sacramento who control many parts of the economy have expressed concern about the cost of housing. Why can’t a family earning a modest income afford to buy a house, they ask.
One reason might be because of the mandates that local politicians support and state level politicians create in the name of “saving the environment.”
During a recent Lompoc City Council staff presentation. an interesting fact emerged about the 2025 solar mandate created in Sacramento.
The new regulations apply to “new single-family homes located in subdivisions of 10 or more” units. It does not apply to renovations, apartments or accessory dwelling units.
How much will this mandate impact on the new home buyer? According to staff: “This results in a potential financial loss of nearly $40,000 for the homeowner when compared to the lifetime energy benefit of just $8,832.”
So, next time you hear the political class moaning about the high cost of new housing, tell them to look in the mirror. It’s your poorly thought-out mandates that are causing the cost of new housing to rise and economic harm to your constituents.
Ron Fink
Lompoc
• • •
Regarding Charlotte Warner’s March 12 commentary, “Politics Driving Santa Barbara’s Flawed Short-Term Rental Ordinance,” I share her frustration.
As a Santa Barbara resident for 35 years, I have frequently referred friends and family (I have a very large family with several grandchildren) to rental properties when they visit, especially during summer and the holiday season.
It was troubling to see a map that showed the Mesa completely eliminated from further rentals. The map also displayed an area where rentals supposedly would be allowed only to find out through questions from the planning commissioners that they were not.
A large portion of East Beach condominiums — such as those at El Escorial — were displayed as eligible for short-term rental licensing. Yet, under the proposed rules requiring two on-site parking spaces for units with three bedrooms or less (and more for larger ones), many of these properties, which often only have one parking space per unit, would be disqualified outright, including apparently all of El Escorial.
This discrepancy made the rental allowance seem much more generous than it actually was, potentially misleading both commissioners and the public about the true scope of permitted STRs.
When a planning commissioner rightly called attention to this issue, staff dismissed it as a simple error. Whether an oversight or something more intentional, it speaks to a broader pattern of inadequate preparation.
Staff struggled to answer basic questions, leaving key issues like parking waivers, enforcement details, transient occupancy tax impacts, and protections against over-saturation unresolved.
Critical information such as how many STRs were currently operating and how many would be operating if this plan went through was unknown to staff. The city attorney’s push to advance the item quickly, as if approval were urgent, only heightened concerns about the process feeling rushed and haphazard.
This episode undermines confidence in Santa Barbara’s planning process at a time when thoughtful, transparent regulation of STRs is needed to balance tourism for families, housing availability and neighborhood quality of life.
Residents deserve better: Clear, accurate information and staff ready to address legitimate questions without deflection.
Ben Junka
Santa Barbara
• • •
Thank you for the March 11 commentary by Jeff Giordano and Brian Goebel, “Should AI Replace Our City Council?” The answer is: How soon can AI start?
Other than two separate, three-year work assignments in Arlington, Texas, I’ve lived in Santa Barbara for nearly 50 years. I have never seen such ignorance of basic government and economics — and plain common sense — than what we have now on the City Council.
Sure, we’ve had a couple of buffoons in the past but nothing this bad. Artificial intelligence would be a vast improvement!
Not only does this bunch not listen to the public, their constituents, they don’t even listen to the high-paid consultants they hire right and left to tell them what to do! At least AI is responsive.
B. Weitzel
Santa Barbara
• • •
In sharing their interaction with ChatGPT, the writers draw the conclusion that “a majority of the City Council is … pursuing a rent control ordinance that will almost certainly prove to be counterproductive in the mid- to long term.”
Interesting. I had my own discussion with ChatGPT on this subject and got a very different result:
“Economists normally oppose rent control because it reduces housing supply.
“But in Santa Barbara, the counterargument is: Housing supply is already extremely constrained. Even without rent control, very little new housing is being built.
“Supporters therefore argue:
- Rent stabilization may not reduce supply much further.
- But it could protect tenants from rapid rent increases.
“This is one of the few contexts where economists say the policy might have smaller long-term supply effects.
“Supporters argue the city is a ‘supply-locked’ market.
“Meaning:
- Zoning already blocks construction
- Land scarcity limits expansion
- Wealthy demand drives prices up
“In that situation, rent stabilization acts more like a consumer protection policy.”
So who’s right, ChatGPT or … ChatGPT? Maybe both? Or neither one? Maybe when prompts given to AI fail to feed it a complete nuanced picture (which I think is the case in the writers’ little experiment), the resulting output is going to be skewed in ways that fail to capture the full picture.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Hugh Brooks
Santa Barbara
• • •
Regarding D.C. Collier’s March 5 commentary, “So, You Are a Christian. Now What?,” really resonated with me. A total confirmation of what it means to be a Christian.
This Lent, I’ve decided to read something about Jesus written by Jim Bishop, The Day Christ Died, and have decided to meditate on the life of Christ through the various mysteries of the Rosary.
This book was an inheritance of my first wife and we’ve had it and a few others over the years. She died 16 years ago, and I’m just now reading it.
It dovetails with the Gospel of Mark, which my Bible study class studied, so it’s been an eye-opening Lent so far and I read a little and pray every day. It’s a habit I hope can continue well after Lent and Easter.
Collier has given me encouragement to try to continue. I appreciate his column.
Bill Potts
Santa Barbara
• • •
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.